Locked up for Mother's Day...

Mother's Day at our house usually consists of breakfast in bed, handmade cards, gifts purchased with Dad the day before, church, and me taking the rest of the day off of making lunch or dinner. I nap, I read the newspaper...basically veg.


This year started the same with cinnamon rolls, oranges eggs and toast--YUM, however, it ended really really different. And I'm glad.


The L-iL mentioned a couple of days ago that he was thinking of inviting friends over for a barbecue today. That meant smoking, beer and swearing--not exactly the best atmosphere for my children to be in, if you know what I mean. So I've been brainstorming Things To Do With The Children For Hours On End That Won't Drive Me Batty for a couple of days. Oh and PS--Dad's in school. So for Mother's Day I get to be a Park Mom (I am not, and have about a 10-minute park tolerance) AND a Single Mom in the same day.


Yay.


*groan*


I looked at zoos, aquariums, kids museums, etc, and no matter what I looked at, admission alone would cost over $50. No thanks. I decided on the Ballard Locks, a localish attraction that I'd been to on a 'field trip' with friends years ago. I distinctly remembered a few things about it: boats, green grassy areas, a fish ladder and NO ADMISSION.


So I packed a picnic, some sports equipment, umbrellas for the chancy weather, a blanket & tarp for damp ground, a few extra pairs of bottoms for Cora & we were off!


I really had no expectations, but it ended up to be a GREAT day! To start with, I went to pay for parking and it was a weekend!!! No parking fees on weekends!!! Yay!!!!


On the non-list of things to do (can you believe it? I didn't even have a list!!!) but what we ended up doing anyway because it just worked out that way:


1--Bathrooms (Cora's been potty trained for almost 2 months now. 'nuf said.)


2--Backtrack to the ones that we passed in the gift shop because the ones by the locks were closed for cleaning.


3--Be alerted by the employee outside the bathroom that Lee was not, in fact, with us--he was continuing on his merry little way.


4--Send Abby & Alex to chase him down because he's too far to hear me holler at him.


5--Have The Discussion with Lee. Again.


6--Juggle mens/womens bathrooms with 4 children in a gift shop while keeping someone on guard at the backpack hanging on the stroller. Are we having fun yet?

6a--Be complimented by a complete stranger in the bathroom that Abby is a really great big sister/helper. She was right. Ab did GREAT ALL DAY!!!! She was fabulous!

7--GET STARTED!!!!!



8--The thing that the kids were most looking forward to was the fish ladder. [The locks are really fascinating things to watch. Lake Union & Lake Washington are at a higher elevation than the Puget Sound (which changes, as it's salt water), but boats come & go all the time between them, so the locks provide a way for boats to overcome a varying-height obstacle. How it works: boats come in from the Ship Canal (the lakes), putt into a long, skinny enclosure & the doors are closed behind them. The water is then drained out until it's the same level as the water in the Sound. The doors in front of them open and then motor away. Sailboats, yachts, barges, tugboats...whatever can fit, goes. Check out the site. It's pretty cool, and it has pics of the actual location--I didn't take many pictures of that. Just my kids. And yes, Lee's feet are completely off the ground. The kids' just crazy strong.]

Oh--the fish ladder. There's one of those, too, with a viewing room where you can go down into a room next to the canal & look through the glass to see the fish swimming up the fish ladder. Well, you can if it's the right time of year. We missed it by a couple of months either way, but there was one little fishy hanging out there. It sorta looked troutish to me, but who knows? So the kids learned more about fish eggs, development, etc.

9--Then we went to look at the boats coming & going. It sort of takes a while, but it's still cool to watch.

10--The walkway from the locks to the fish ladder is wet & misty from the water being shot out of the spillway (check out the pics of it on the website), and the kids were fascinated with the rainbows they could see in the mist. It was also a bit of a game to find the one harbor seal that was hanging out looking for food. In salmon season the area's full of sea lions glutting themselves on the salmon waiting their turn to figure out how to get into the lake. Pigs.

11--Tire of hearing how hungry the kids are, so hit the bathrooms on the way to the car, where the food is.

12--Lunch was light, so we treated ourselves to an early dinner. Tarp. Blanket. Subs, Pirate's Booty, Capri Sun & chocolate covered mini-donuts. The dinner of champions.

13--Play. Wiffle-ball baseball, roll down the hill, climb the trees. Just have a good time. I found one tree full of a particularly adorable breed of Apple-Cheeked Monkeys. Love it.


14--Go for a walk. The signs boast of a world-renowned botanical garden, but I have to say that it doesn't really hold a match to the one up the road from home. Oh well.

15--Be told by the park people that we don't climb the trees. Oops. I didn't let them climb the one with the fence around it, and this one was definitely not fenced!

16--Continue on our walk. Stop beneath a cherry-blossoming tree to enjoy the 'snow' as it drifts down. The ones around Abby are from the handful she just tossed up. And I love the petals stuck in Cora's curls.



17--Have mild panic attack when Cora announces, "Mom! Pee! Mom! Pee!"

18--Score her first successful peeing in the woods.

19--All around the inlet from the Puget Sound are high, grassy, terraced hills. Perfect for rolling! Roll and roll and roll some more!

20--At the bottom, Lee found some mussel shell fragments left by the seagulls. He kept some for his 'collection.' He had more, but there was water, and it was within throwing distance.... Cora found some mud that collected in her crocs. "Mom. Luck. Toes." So her crocs & socs came off. I guess her pants got a little wet too. *sigh*



21--Put pants back on the child.

22--Standing here we were right next to the large locks, which hadn't been used the whole time we were there. But we waited just a bit to watch a big tugboat with a little tugboat tied on like a dinghy pulling a LOOOOOOOONG trail of logs. What they were for I'm not sure, but it was cool to watch.

23-Bathrooms. Again.

24--Make our way back to the locks, over the walkway, to the other end of the other side because Alex wants to go throw rocks from a sandy area he can see. Nevermind that it's 6:30 on a school night. Whatever.

25--Go even further because...well...I have no idea why. But we did. We eventually were under a train trestle climbing on barnacle-covered rocks. Abby--bless her heart--commented that it was too bad that we didn't have a garbage bag, because there was some litter lying around.

26--Get back from the stroller that was so loaded down with bags, coats & hats that it looked like our homeless shopping cart, give it to the kids to tidy up a bit.



27--Try to convince the kids to come back. (The pic was actually taken from the base of the train trestle because I couldn't see them around the corner & I was wondering what the heck was taking so long!)

28--Enjoy the view of a train passing RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS!!!!! So cool. (Notice how teeny Lee and Abby are compared to the trestle & train.)

29--Head back.

30--Watch boys race. Then notice them stop for Lee to pout because Alex is winning. Rinse and repeat. Again and again.

31--Let Abby roll down the other terraced hillside just once.

32--Request her to fetch Cora because while Abby was coming down, she was making her way up. To the top. (Boys are far ahead of me, girls are behind. Thank Heaven that most of the crowds were gone. They were home putting their children to bed.)

33--Gather everyone back together and make our way back to the car, saying goodbye to our friend the harbor seal.

34--Let the kids walk the railroad tracks that run the length of the parking lot for the 4th time.

35--Wonder where Cora's shoe is.

36--Find it about 25' away, sitting on a railroad tie.

37--Thank Lee for returning it.

38--Change Cora's wet pants. "Pee. Tain. Tack. Pee. Tain. Tack." Hey--you can't really expect to go for over 5 hours without changing wet unders once, can you?

39--Finish Pirate's Booty on the way home while listening to the kids declare that "This is the best day ever" (Alex). "This is the most fun I've had all month!" (Abby), and that I'm "...the bestest Mom EVER!!!" (Lee).

40--Put things away, collecting the important stuff: Lee's collection, and the bits of love they gathered for me all day:



(Today in church the line from the childrens' song choked me up as I thought of all the flowers Lee has brought me lately: "Dear Mother, I give you my love with each flower...")

41--Be thankful for the four crazy monkeys that call me 'Mom.'

I'm not dead yet!

You have to read that in a British accent to fully do it right. I'm just sayin'.

Life is crazy sometimes. Our current temporary situation has its ups and downs. I love the big windows with windowsills where my African Violets are actually blooming again. I love that I can let the kids wander around the yard outside and my biggest worry is bothering the neighbors. I love that I don't have a single pressure to take care of anyone's needs outside of my family. I love that my phone is quiet. Dead quiet.

But it's weird.

The live-in landlord is great--he showed a really cool amount of interest in Abby & Alex's science fair projects, asking them what they were, how they worked, what was supposed to happen, etc. He's just...live-in. And he's a bachelor. So on a very small scale, my children are being exposed to life in a bachelor pad. Which is odd.

That's not what this post is meant to be about, though. I just figured that while I'm here, I should probably give you a little bit of a low-down as to our current state of being.

Frankly, sometimes I fall off the face of the earth and retreat into my own little world of me, the fam and the house. That's it. And I'm there. I have my own reasons (whether or not they make sense to anyone else is irrelevant to me) and I'll come out in my own due time. But for now, I'll just stay in my little Cocoon of Life, dealing with Life as it comes to me.

(Oh and PS we just found out that the house we liked way out in the boonies won't be ready until July/August & the guy bumped the rent from $800 to $1200. Yeah, maybe not. But our time here is still up May 31, as June 1 marks the day that Live-in Landlord's parents put the house on the market. It'll all work out...somehow.)

Today's post really is about my two youngest cute kids. Particularly the things that come out of their mouths.

A couple of weeks ago, Lee lamented that he didn't "...want Cora to grow up because she's so cute."

Just a few days ago, he announced, "Mom, I want to marry Cora when she grows up because she's so cute." Funny boy.

Then last night while he was folding his laundry he said, "Mom, we can pee in the ocean because it's already dirty." Um...yeah. That's true. I guess we can.

Cora is really starting to grasp onto this 'talking' thing, and cracks us up with her little mispronunciations. She's also really into the whole process and routine of whatever is going on. She knows that when I get out of bed, I pull on my purple fleecy pj bottoms and my big soft white robe. So a couple months ago, as I was climbing out of bed, she held up my pjs & said, "Dammies." When I took them, she ran to the back of the back of the bathroom door, pulled on the hem of my robe and said, "Dis." "That's Mom's robe." "Woe-bot." "Yes, it's Mom's robot." And it still is.

The place we're in has little sugar ants that come in to help clean up the floor underneath the dining room table. They're so helpful! The kids think they're pretty cool, and they don't really irritate, so whatever. Shortly after Easter, Lee was trying to convince one of his new little 6-legged friends to climb into his bug-magnifying container the Easter Bunny left in his basket. He said something like, "Come on Buddy. Go in." Now whenever he or Cora find one (they come through the bathroom heater vent, too), Cora picks one up and carries it around saying, "Buddy. At. Buddy. At." Unfortunately, she's not too delicate about her collection method, and often crushes them. Poor things. One time, she reported, "Boke-it. Buddy. Boke-it. Buddy." I looked and sure enough, its head was removed from its still-wiggling body.

About a month ago the kids were watching a nature program with Ryan, the L-iL. It had snakes and frogs & such. Her commentary:
"Mom! Wibbit! Mom! Wibbit!
"Wibbit. Walk. Wibbit. Walk.
"Mom! Take! Mom! Take!"
Then the snake caught & ate the frog.
"Take eat-it. Take eat-it.
"Eat-it. Wibbit. Eat-it. Wibbit...
She thought about it for a moment, then decided it was disgusting, because she then announced,
"GooOOOOOooooSSSSE!!!"

We all got a good laugh!

Here's your blasted update

Okay, okay, I've had enough people whine and complain about needing an update that I'll give you one. Jeez! Only kidding. If any of my friends had a major transition in their lives and were subsequently as close-lipped (well, -fingered) as I have been, I'd have some ants in my pants, too. So here goes: We moved out of our 7-year home on March 31st. Well, moving never goes as quickly as it's expected, so we finished early evening April 1st, cold, wet and hungry. And that goes for all of us--not just the kids. As we are not currently in a life-situation that would work well with a standard lease or any home attached to another (preferred, for the sake of any neighbors), our options were limited--to say the least. There's a house that we really like that'll be ready in a couple months, so we don't want to get locked in and miss out on it. Our temporary situation is this: Hubby has a friend from work years ago (I know him too--really nice guy about our age with a little girl about Alex's age) who lives alone in his grandparents' 3-bedroom home and is allowing us to stay with him at a really, really low rent rate. We asked for a miracle & got it! Two sets of bunkbeds are all set up in one big room with toys, clothes & a 1/2 bath. We have a bookshelf in our room with clothes, and another with kitchen pantry stuff because the cupboards are already full. The house is in a great neighborhood, closer to the church & preschool than we were before, on a quiet little dead-end street where the kids can play. Lots of trees to hide in when spring finally decides to set in for good, too. The 'landlord' has been really gracious. He gives us a really, really wide berth & doesn't mind when he comes home & we're watching Dancing With the Stars on his big flatscreen tv, but visits for a few minutes, then holes up in his room & watches something else on his smaller tv. The whole situation is weird, but I'm trying my best--well, I'm trying--not to look a gift house in the mouth and ignore the odor and idiosyncracies of a 1950s original windows/wood paneling/wallpaper house. (His grandfather bought it in 1954 for $10,500. Excuse me while I go curl up & cry in self-pity.) To avoid too many transitions, we're driving the kids to & from the bus stop, have kept the same church attendance and aren't changing much...on the outside. So now you know. There will be many more changes as the months go on, and I'll keep you updated on those, too...I promise.

Hell in the Hallway

Recently I posted a status update on my fb account expressing that my brain is worn out from working overtime ALL THE TIME to find a home, negotiate with the ex-boss, deal with normal day-to-day motherhood adventures, find a home, feed the family, keep house quasi-tidy and find a home. My dear, wonderful, very real friend Melani responded with a priceless quote:

"When God closes a door, He always opens another one...but it can be Hell in the Hallway."

I love Love LOVE this! Because I'm in the hallway.

My ex-boss has agreed to an eye-rollingly generous $75 rent decrease on this $1650 apartment we're in. Gee. Thanks. That helps us to be able to afford it a lot more. *sigh*

Riah & I have looked at no less than 10 homes sort of in the area that are in our teensy tiny budget and that have enough bedrooms for our passel o monkeys. The good ones were rented, leaving the ones that...well...could work if they had to. But if you're advertising a vacant duplex, please wipe the mud splattered on the wall, repair the hole in the siding & get rid of the mossy carpet on the slippery back deck. The one that we like the most won't be ready for at least 2 months. *sigh*

Have you ever tried to pack the contents of a cabinet with very interested preschool/toddler-aged children around? If you enjoy giving instructions repetetively, reorganizing the cabinet contents multiple times and packing the same doo-dads & trinkets 14 times, GO FOR IT!!! It's lots of fun. *sigh*

When something crazy and life-altering (not life-shattering, just altering) happens, there are normal stages of emotion that people go through: shock, anger, grief, avoidance, tantrums, pouting, etc. (Not necessarily in that order, and sometimes I go back for do-overs in some categories multiple times.) Through the hard junk, there's always prayer, and right when I feel like I can't persevere anymore and my long-suffering is stretched taut, I need to keep going just a little more. Just when I really can't go much further, the Lord provides His miracle.

I'm ready for my Miracle.

I know it's there, I know it'll be good, I know it'll be just what we need or will work for now until something better comes along. And I'd like it sooner than later, please.

'Cause this hallway sucks.

The laundry fairy

You know, I really don't have anything better to with my time than sort dirty laundry multiple times.



Dontcha just love that charming little dimply smile? Goober.

The End...or is it just the Beginning?

This is it.

Today is my last day managing this 45-unit apartment complex. In it, I've conceived twice, borne 2 children, taught 4 to stop at the end of the sidewalk before entering the parking lot, buried 2 pets, flushed about a dozen fish, mourned the loss of a 3.5mo-old angel nephew, rejoiced at the marriage of my brother and the birth of 9 other niecephews, taught 3 children to pee on the toilet, expanded the approved unsupervised play area from the backyard to the courtyard to the front parking lot to the swampy foresty area across the stream, learned to allow the big yellow school bus to take my babies, laughed, cried, and make a home. Albeit a neglected, dirty, biohazard of a home, but a home nonetheless.

Though we do not have a home to move into yet, and we aren't packed or totally organized, I am ready to hand over the keys to the kingdom that I have created here. (I have no idea how many leases I've signed or how many people I've moved out or how many apartments I've shown, but of the 122 people currently living in the 44 occupied units at this complex, there are 5 who were here before I was. 2 old bachelor brothers, 1 retired lawyer who signed a lease in 1987 (he still has chocolate shag carpet), 1 middle-aged single woman and the recently-fired maintenance lead who knows more about this property than anyone in the world.

I am...

...Feeling hurt, hopeful, angry, mournful, resentful, excited, nervous, relieved, frightened.

...Resenting the way that I was let go, without the personal consideration and professional courtesy that I deserve after the 7 years of sacrifice that my family and I have given.

...Celebrating not having to pick up other people's litter and cigarette butts, pick up after their lazy children, answer the door at every knock, forward my phone when I leave for vacation, and pussyfoot around a boss who may or may not be about to bite my head off at any given moment.

...Anticipating teaching my children what a clean house is, spending more time with them, staying on top of the laundry, getting more disciplined about using my time wisely, playing outside, teaching Lee to read, and having more time doing what I want to do, which is be a fabulous mom.

A handful of years ago, Abby was next to me as I was working at the computer and asked, "Mom? When we buy a house will you not spend so much time on the computer?" At that moment, I knew that my job was affecting my family. They notice the time away from them. They notice that I put them off because I'm working on something. They notice.

While the title of this post could have been "Up Yours" or "Kiss Off" or some other genteel ladylike phrase (and it would have if I had posted this morning), I recognize that Life may currently have me looking at an end, but it's also put me right at the beginning.

Of something.

On the ball!

This morning our friend Mei is visiting for a short play date. Lee invented a game called "Stand On The Basketball Behind The Couch Then Fall Off Dramatically And Make Mei Laugh."

It's a pretty good game.

As I sat and watched, cuddling a grumpy wakey Cora, I almost made a comment about Lee's fleeting proximity to the ball, and I caught myself, noting the idiomatic play on words that would go right over his head.

And that got me to thinking.

Why the heck does "on the ball" mean being in control, and having everything going the way you planned it?

Because as I watch my son stand on the basketball--using the back of the couch for support--it sure doesn't look like he is in control! When a person is standing on top of a ball, balance is elusive and gravity becomes the seemingly most powerful force, wreaking havoc on the grace, control and 'plans' that the person atop that orb may try to possess.

Which gets me thinking about my own life and its current events. And you know what?

I'm totally on the ball!!!