today was gorgeous -- it climbed to a whopping 50 degrees, folks, and it was glorious. i had the kids out all day (rhys and ransom at the park in the morning, after i drove along ocean drive) and the the girls (while ransom napped) outside the rest of the day. in the sunshine. in sundresses (although i think they were still a bit chilly). on picnic blankets with all their dolls etc. nearby. first we sat out on the front porch. i read. they chalked. then out in the back yard. i read and soaked it all in. they played. laughed. they were so cheerful. it was marvelous. and the best thing about it - we didn't watch a stitch of t.v.!! i can't tell you the last time that has happened. probably last summer. i got a babysitter for two hours and headed out to walmart's gardening center.
the sun was streaming down on all of the rosy, sweet pansies and other flowers. stacks and stacks of soil, fertilizer and other garden dirt varieties greeted my senses. it smelled like warmed dirt. it was lovely. i picked out a few cheep plants, some indoor seed starters and some seed packets. we are going out tomorrow to plant them. i hear that it is going to be around 60 degrees. dare i say that spring is here in newport? glory to the lord on high.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
a healthy update
today was our first full day back in the land of the living - well - school wise that is. kyrie went to school finally!! yeah everyone is back from being so so sick all last week. we had the stomach bug for a week and then both parents caught a nasty head cold. i am almost all recovered. its sunny today and mid 40's - and i have seen a white crocus in bloom. how exciting. oh happy st. patrick's day everyone.
we leave for annapolis on wed after work and i can't wait. warmer weather and family too. easter is next sunday - can't wait for that! we are going to the easter egg roll in front of the naval academy chapel. our first ever. i am still working on something to wear for ransom but the girls are covered except for white socks and easter shoes. i need something to wear as well. but i will worry about that when we get down there.
today i went to several fun stores and got some things to work on this week with the girls. we'll be making easter cards and easter cookies (bunnies and ducks with almond extract - yummo!)
i have also been completing some of those projects i blogged about earlier - i finally got a huge cork board up in our kitchen and posted pictures and important information on it and oh man have cleared the frig and the closet clutter from unnecessary piles of papers. it feels so good! i have also started my thank you notes for my birthday party and rhys' too! and in an attempt to get more organized in my life as mama of four i bought a one dollar purse size weekly calendar so that i don't flake out on appointments etc!
speaking of appointments. i had my 16 week check up - i am either 16 or 16.5 weeks depending on the date of my last period or my dating ultrasound. we'll be having our big ultrasound in 2 weeks on april 2 to find out the sex - this is oh so exciting as this will be our last baby!! graham is going to be coming with me.
well i hope to some recent pictures soon. enjoy. and may christ dwell in you richly as you contemplate all that he has done for you and all that you can do for his kingdom. blessings!
we leave for annapolis on wed after work and i can't wait. warmer weather and family too. easter is next sunday - can't wait for that! we are going to the easter egg roll in front of the naval academy chapel. our first ever. i am still working on something to wear for ransom but the girls are covered except for white socks and easter shoes. i need something to wear as well. but i will worry about that when we get down there.
today i went to several fun stores and got some things to work on this week with the girls. we'll be making easter cards and easter cookies (bunnies and ducks with almond extract - yummo!)
i have also been completing some of those projects i blogged about earlier - i finally got a huge cork board up in our kitchen and posted pictures and important information on it and oh man have cleared the frig and the closet clutter from unnecessary piles of papers. it feels so good! i have also started my thank you notes for my birthday party and rhys' too! and in an attempt to get more organized in my life as mama of four i bought a one dollar purse size weekly calendar so that i don't flake out on appointments etc!
speaking of appointments. i had my 16 week check up - i am either 16 or 16.5 weeks depending on the date of my last period or my dating ultrasound. we'll be having our big ultrasound in 2 weeks on april 2 to find out the sex - this is oh so exciting as this will be our last baby!! graham is going to be coming with me.
well i hope to some recent pictures soon. enjoy. and may christ dwell in you richly as you contemplate all that he has done for you and all that you can do for his kingdom. blessings!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
my projects now and later on
i am sitting in a very sunny bedroom staring at the ever growing piles of clean laundry that needs to be folded, sorted and put away ... much to my dear husband's credit there actually is clean laundry in the house. sometimes it just doesn't get done, for various reasons - well it does it just doesn't get done b/c i get distracted with kid stuff. so then along with tons of laundry there are also some organizational projects i really want to complete before the spring hits and i WILL be outside as much as i can. ie. our pantry room, our bedroom closet, our cds, baby stuff (what can i get rid of ie. be as minimalist as i can for this shall i dare say "last" baby?), and toys.
spring will come one of these days - oh i think in may or something and i want to be working on projects outside: a vegetable garden, my potted plants, herbs, weeding, watering, fertilizing - oh the very smell of wet, soft earth makes me even more motivated to get my indoor projects completed. you see the idea is that when we move next summer (2009) i will have gone through most of our stuff and pitched the 'not seen in a year junk'. instead of waiting til we have moved to maryland to do the deed. this has been my moving habit all times before b/c i always have just had a baby when we move and its been too much for me to tackle. not this time.
so right now i day dream of soft, wet, dark earth, new seeds, new plants, green things. buds on trees, bulbs, hydrangeas, rhodies, magnolias, warm sunshine on my back, garden tools, dirt in my fingernails, green hoses spraying cool water, little ones learning to plant and watching things grow. and then i dream of delicious fresh picked salads during the summertime..ummmm.
anyone else so ready for spring?
bye for now all. i am tackling my laundry.
spring will come one of these days - oh i think in may or something and i want to be working on projects outside: a vegetable garden, my potted plants, herbs, weeding, watering, fertilizing - oh the very smell of wet, soft earth makes me even more motivated to get my indoor projects completed. you see the idea is that when we move next summer (2009) i will have gone through most of our stuff and pitched the 'not seen in a year junk'. instead of waiting til we have moved to maryland to do the deed. this has been my moving habit all times before b/c i always have just had a baby when we move and its been too much for me to tackle. not this time.
so right now i day dream of soft, wet, dark earth, new seeds, new plants, green things. buds on trees, bulbs, hydrangeas, rhodies, magnolias, warm sunshine on my back, garden tools, dirt in my fingernails, green hoses spraying cool water, little ones learning to plant and watching things grow. and then i dream of delicious fresh picked salads during the summertime..ummmm.
anyone else so ready for spring?
bye for now all. i am tackling my laundry.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
inklings book club
yesterday was not all bad though...we had our first women's inklings book club by our fireplace last night. we are reading surprised by joy, the autobiography of c.s. lewis. it was so great to share with the salve regina girls. we really connected and i think this little community is going to deepen and grow in fellowship. each one was so insightful and open to sharing. thank you ladies for making me apart of your friendship circle. it was so rosy and cozy by the warm glow. blessings to these ladies.
a close call
before i begin, let me first say that i love the ymca, i love their mission, what they stand for etc. i have been very pleased with my time at our y here in newport, and until yesterday was happy to have a membership. however, after yesterday i am compelled to move my membership over to the newport athletic club.
so here is the story:
yesterday i dropped the kids off at the treehouse so that i could workout. about an hour and half later, i came walking down the hallway to pick the kids up. i noticed that two of the workers were coming out of the bathroom with my kids - both of them. rhys and ransom. now rhys is potty trained but ransom is not - he is 16 months old. as i approached the workers and the kids, one new worker (sorry i don't have her name), who was holding ransom said that he had escaped (!!!!) was wandering the hallway and she had seen him about to tumble down the stairs --- okay wait a minute - he was supposed to be in the treehouse (it has a gate and a door!) and why is he out on his own? the poor little fellow was red cheeked and flustered and very glad to see mama. so i brought my kids in to the treehouse and asked them to explain the story. i remained very calm and was able to keep the growing hysteria bottled up. there were three workers for the kids. two workers always have to go with the kids to the bathroom for legal purposes. so there was one worker left. she apparently was cleaning up applesauce on the floor and didn't see ransom walk out of the kids' area. as i was leaving i suggested that they make an incident report about this with the director of the treehouse. then i decided that they might not do that so i was going to do it - i mean if a mother isn't the advocate for her child who is? so i was able to have someone track down the director. she apologized up and down and had the two workers involved explain what happened. then it became more clear what happened. the new worker (who isn't "familiar" with which kid goes with which mom) saw a mom lead her three kids out and leave the door open and ransom followed her out. so the worker "assumed" that he was with the mom. yep that's right folks. assumed. never checked an id, or the list. just let some stranger walk out with my kid. so here ransom was wandering around by himself. the pool is just down the hallway from the treehouse room - where he could have just easily wandered in and fallen in the pool. or fallen down the steps, had not the worker rescued him. the director said that they had never had an incident like this and that she had been there for 2 years in charge. she apologized up and down as did the workers. they were very understanding and professional but it was obvious that this system ain't workin!! i said this is very serious and you might think about putting a system in place whereby you give out a sticker that coincides with the child so that only a parent with the sticker that matches their kid, takes their kid. it should NOT be this loosy goosy. i said that every church nursery i have ever been in has some sort of accountability system in place to prevent this kind of thing or worse from happening. the incident ended with them apologizing and me thanking them for being honest and talking about it with me. but in no way did i let them think i was going to continue going to the treehouse. i just let that be the unspoken decision. plus i wanted to talk it over with graham before i made my final decision. its always best to leave on a polite note then burn bridges or say something that can't be take back.
and so under the direction of my husband i am going to write a business letter explaining the incident and letting them know why i am not going to renew my membership. i think this problem can be easily fixed. but for now the system is broken and its not safe for my children to be there. there needs to be a change with the signing out and picking up the kids - checking of ids etc. if it means that they need to have two facilities b/c of overcrowding then do it. or if they need to hire more workers (since it seems chaotic anyway) then do it. other ymca's have really good systems (ie the mission valley y in san diego) in place and don't encounter these issues. i think with a little tweeking, the treehouse can really become an even better facility to its members. the workers were always very sweet to my children and i have appreciated being able to drop them off and get some free time to myself. but i just don't feel that they can be trusted to keep a watchful eye on where my children are and who is picking them up.
so here is the story:
yesterday i dropped the kids off at the treehouse so that i could workout. about an hour and half later, i came walking down the hallway to pick the kids up. i noticed that two of the workers were coming out of the bathroom with my kids - both of them. rhys and ransom. now rhys is potty trained but ransom is not - he is 16 months old. as i approached the workers and the kids, one new worker (sorry i don't have her name), who was holding ransom said that he had escaped (!!!!) was wandering the hallway and she had seen him about to tumble down the stairs --- okay wait a minute - he was supposed to be in the treehouse (it has a gate and a door!) and why is he out on his own? the poor little fellow was red cheeked and flustered and very glad to see mama. so i brought my kids in to the treehouse and asked them to explain the story. i remained very calm and was able to keep the growing hysteria bottled up. there were three workers for the kids. two workers always have to go with the kids to the bathroom for legal purposes. so there was one worker left. she apparently was cleaning up applesauce on the floor and didn't see ransom walk out of the kids' area. as i was leaving i suggested that they make an incident report about this with the director of the treehouse. then i decided that they might not do that so i was going to do it - i mean if a mother isn't the advocate for her child who is? so i was able to have someone track down the director. she apologized up and down and had the two workers involved explain what happened. then it became more clear what happened. the new worker (who isn't "familiar" with which kid goes with which mom) saw a mom lead her three kids out and leave the door open and ransom followed her out. so the worker "assumed" that he was with the mom. yep that's right folks. assumed. never checked an id, or the list. just let some stranger walk out with my kid. so here ransom was wandering around by himself. the pool is just down the hallway from the treehouse room - where he could have just easily wandered in and fallen in the pool. or fallen down the steps, had not the worker rescued him. the director said that they had never had an incident like this and that she had been there for 2 years in charge. she apologized up and down as did the workers. they were very understanding and professional but it was obvious that this system ain't workin!! i said this is very serious and you might think about putting a system in place whereby you give out a sticker that coincides with the child so that only a parent with the sticker that matches their kid, takes their kid. it should NOT be this loosy goosy. i said that every church nursery i have ever been in has some sort of accountability system in place to prevent this kind of thing or worse from happening. the incident ended with them apologizing and me thanking them for being honest and talking about it with me. but in no way did i let them think i was going to continue going to the treehouse. i just let that be the unspoken decision. plus i wanted to talk it over with graham before i made my final decision. its always best to leave on a polite note then burn bridges or say something that can't be take back.
and so under the direction of my husband i am going to write a business letter explaining the incident and letting them know why i am not going to renew my membership. i think this problem can be easily fixed. but for now the system is broken and its not safe for my children to be there. there needs to be a change with the signing out and picking up the kids - checking of ids etc. if it means that they need to have two facilities b/c of overcrowding then do it. or if they need to hire more workers (since it seems chaotic anyway) then do it. other ymca's have really good systems (ie the mission valley y in san diego) in place and don't encounter these issues. i think with a little tweeking, the treehouse can really become an even better facility to its members. the workers were always very sweet to my children and i have appreciated being able to drop them off and get some free time to myself. but i just don't feel that they can be trusted to keep a watchful eye on where my children are and who is picking them up.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Kite Runner
we saw kite runner this weekend down at jane pickens. i have read the book - one of my most favorite books of all time. i must admit i was really hesitating seeing the movie b/c well you know how movies v. books are - the book is always better. at least it used to be. nowadays, as my sister in law whitney reminded me, the movies really are comparable. this was no exception. kite runner was absolutly phenomenol. one of the neatest things about it was that graham and i understood a lot of the dari dialect b/c he has been learning farsi (persian) and has been teaching me. i was amazed at how easy it would be to pick it up if we were immersed. this book and learning the language, along with other films and literature graham discovers from that region is making me have a love for afganistan and iran. for muslim culture. for the plight of women and children. for what they have and what they had. so today i picked up a thousand splendid sins, housseini's second novel (a mother daughter story) and have been burning through it. sitting by the warm, hot fireplace, whilst the children are coloring, watching movies, and playing picnic and house. i am about to run back to my story. i would like to post a link to graham's paper on iranian freedom in blogging. i think it will shed some light on this beautiful and repressed country. also i might post some rumi too - i gave him a book of rumi's poetry for christmas. its gorgeous. enjoy.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
moms in motion
last night i took my moms in motion class at the y. its for prego moms or moms with newborns. i love it. love it. we did boxing with weights and all these cool stretches and exercises that felt like i was giving my body a vacation - i know it sounds funny - i was working out - but i was stretching all these joints and muscles that get so tense being a mama and arent' used - despite the 15 million times i go up and down the stairs and the heavy children that i regularly carry all over tarnation!:) i truly feel that i am doing something for my baby and for myself - taking time out to be healthy is so important. it motivates me.
of course - right before i went i made tuna noodle casserole (which i was craving and salavating for all day!) and homemade warm banana bread! oh baby the baby loved it!
but seriously, at the end of the workout for the cool down session my instructor (she is awesome!) had us lay on our sides and just talk to our babies for a bit, taking time out to recognize our unborn children. it was really neat. i realized that this pregnancy has not been bad at all (so far) and that i may just change that maxim i have been saying after three babies that "i hate being pregnant." i want to embrace this time. its about being aware. and of course about not having morning sickness, which i have been blessed to not have ... yet. :)
of course - right before i went i made tuna noodle casserole (which i was craving and salavating for all day!) and homemade warm banana bread! oh baby the baby loved it!
but seriously, at the end of the workout for the cool down session my instructor (she is awesome!) had us lay on our sides and just talk to our babies for a bit, taking time out to recognize our unborn children. it was really neat. i realized that this pregnancy has not been bad at all (so far) and that i may just change that maxim i have been saying after three babies that "i hate being pregnant." i want to embrace this time. its about being aware. and of course about not having morning sickness, which i have been blessed to not have ... yet. :)
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