Groundhog Day

By now, my life in many ways feels like a real-life version of Groundhog Day. Wake up, feed the animals, make the coffee, feed the cat and the guinea pig (ha ha ha), unload dishwasher and clean up anything still left from night before, go for a walk if weather is okay, take a shower, start my workday, break for lunch, activity with Seth (bike ride or ping pong or walk), more work, more quick breaks to interact with William and Seth as they begin to get restless, quit work sometime between 4 and 5, more interacting with the boys, make dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner,  watch a TV show with the boys, read with Seth, boys to bed, zone out with TV or Twitter or Insta or Sudoku, bed.

The weekend was a break in that routine. And next week will be spring break, so that will take some creativity. Things are still pretty good though. Today the boys and I played Clue and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and ping pong. We started watching an old season of Amazing Race. I canceled the rental car and hotel rooms that we had booked for spring break. I finished sorting through my huge collection of recipes and managed to pitch more than half. Now I just need to organize them.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get a little crazy and clean the bathrooms and change the sheets on the bed. Maybe I’ll even do a load of laundry. The possibilities are endless.

Somehow, I’m still super tired by the end of the day. Go figure!

Two Weeks (Feels like Two Months)

We’ve made it through two weeks of social distancing, online school, teleworking.  And it definitely has been a long two weeks. But honestly—it has not been nearly as bad as I feared. I know—there’s still plenty of time for break downs and freak outs. But so far, it has not sucked.

Today I took William fishing at the Georgetown Waterfront and our friends met us there. We sat 6 feet apart and the boys fished and it was nice. The weather wasn’t great, but it’s always soothing to be by the water and to chat with a friend.

The weather finally turned nice in the afternoon and Seth begged me to go bike riding down this hill near our house. Before Corona, I probably wouldn’t have done that. He probably wouldn’t have asked me to because he would have been with friends. But today, he asked so off we went. We rode around and went up and down the hill several times. It was fun. Then we rode around a little more and he asked if I could ride with no hands. He has just recently acquired this skill and as I watched him practice and grow more confident, I could so clearly remember my 11-year-old self watching older kids ride with no hands, and wishing I could be that cool, and then learning to ride with no hands, and then feeling so cool and confident when I mastered it. So I took my hands off the handlebars and got the hang of riding with no hands again, and Seth and I cruised down the street, feeling pretty darn cool.

So my bike ride with Seth and my fishing session with William and having friends to chat with are two things today that I feel grateful for. The third thing I’m grateful for is the sunshine and warmth that came out this afternoon.

As we head into week 3, I just hope things continue this way. I know it sounds really corny, and I know we have a way to go, but I’m actually enjoying spending times with my kids and my family. What a crazy time!

What's Different?

Now that we've been through one full week of work/school, I'm reflecting on how things are different now (other than the obvious--that we're all home!)

For one thing, I haven't blown dry my hair since this all started. I'm just working in some kind of curly hair product and letting it air dry. Another thing--I've been making my bed every day. I have time, and my "office" is the sitting room off the bedroom, and a made bed makes a bedroom look SO MUCH BETTER, so it's kind of a no-brainer.

Something else that is different is that I'm making lunch for the boys almost every day. Some days we've just scrounged, and some days Ed has gotten them situated. But for the most part, we are all breaking for lunch around the same time and I'm preparing something or putting things out to eat.

Another different thing is that I'm doing a LOT more puzzles. I don't know what it is about puzzles that I find so soothing, but I'm happy to have periods throughout the day when I just zone out with the puzzle.

Here are things I'm not doing, that I really should be doing. I'm not reading as much. I attribute this to trauma, and hopefully, I can overcome this soon. I'm also not exercising, which I attribute this to just plain laziness. I'm also not cleaning/organizing as much. I'm wiping surfaces a lot (door handles and things we touch all the time), but I have yet to mop floors or organize the pantry or go through recipes or photographs. There's still time, though. This is a marathon, not a sprint! And it's not like I have TONS of free time. I am still working full time during the week. And the boys still require a good amount of my time.

Still, I will feel like a dolt if I don't get at least a few significant projects done. So on that note, I'm off to sort through my recipe folder! (Not only does it need sorting, but I need to get back into menu planning. But that's a thought for another post.)

Routines

Now that I have a considerable amount of time to read, I can't seem to read anything other than texts, tweets, and news headlines. In all truthfulness, this has been a trend for a while. I'm spending way more time scrolling through online newspapers, Instagram, and Twitter than I am reading actual books--even Ebooks. The dopamine-charging effect of smartphones is no joke!

Anyway, we are almost through week two and I feel like we've established a little bit of a routine. We wake up, Ed usually showers, I usually head to the kitchen to clean up and make coffee and feed animals, Seth usually begs me to make him something to eat that he can easily make for himself (like a bowl of cereal, for example), and then I go back upstairs to shower or change or just start working. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach to the shower-every-day thing. If I exercise and get sweaty, well then--duh, I'll shower. If not, and my hair doesn't look terrible (like today), I'll just put on clean clothes and call it a win.

My boss established "core hours" from 10:00 to 11:30, when everyone in our office should be at our computers and available. The boys are usually doing their school work at this time, although some days they have finished by 10:00. Regardless, they manage to keep themselves occupied in the morning. By 11:30, though, they're starting to get bored. So I've been breaking around then or noon and we've all been eating lunch together. The best lunch we had was when I made grilled cheese sandwiches using the homemade bread Seth and I made. Those were awesome. Today the boys had sandwiches and I had leftover pizza. We all ate standing up in the kitchen. Seth and I went outside to throw the football around, and then we went for a bike ride to deliver a puzzle to the Hills. Weather was nice today so I wanted to make sure we took advantage of it.

The afternoons have been a mix of working and trying to get the boys to do creative things while they complain of being bored and ask for screen time. Good times. Now that the Senate is out of session, I can knock off at 4:00, so today, I took William fishing at the Georgetown Waterfront. A lot of people were out enjoying the weather, but the steps were pretty empty, so it was a very pleasant hour or so. Then we came home and I made dinner. I've been cooking but we've also ordered in a few times. Gotta do our part to try to help our restaurants stay in business! I'd like to get the boys to take some responsibility and cook a meal, but neither one is even remotely interested. Not sure if it's worth the fight I'd have to undertake to get them to do it. Tonight I had a much-needed "happy hour" at 6:30 with my book club friends, so the boys ate dinner without me.

After dinner, we've been watching an episode of The Mandalorian. Tomorrow night will be the last episode of the season, so I'm not sure what we'll watch together next, but I hope we keep up with this ritual. It's a good way to end the evening and signal the bedtime routine. We have kept to the 9:00 bedtime, which is really nice. (Although William has been staying up later to read, and I'm all in for that! My biggest failure as a parent is that my kids claim they don't like to read!)

I'll end my with my three bits of gratitude for today. I'm grateful for this beautiful spring.  I'm grateful for Winston, our cat, who is such a nuisance but so precious. And I'm grateful for sharing the bike ride with Seth today and the fishing time with William today.

Life in the Time of Covid-19

We're halfway through our second week of social distancing/teleworking/homeschooling. I felt a little less panicked today. I had a pretty specific and monotonous task for work that kept me occupied. And I didn't pay a lot of attention to Twitter or the news, so that helped. It rained most of the day, so that wasn't great for the boys. They were done with school by late morning and then they were bored. They both had virtual music lessons, so that took up a little bit of time. Ed is pretty adamant about no screen time on school days (other than their obvious screen time for school, and texting, face time, Spotify, or news apps). I know it's ultimately a good thing, but they're really struggling to find things to do. Maybe it will get easier as the weather gets nicer. Things might also change again when they stop doing review lessons for school and start actually learning new things and engaging more with their teachers.

Now that I'm sitting here blogging again, I'm remembering why I quit in the first place. By the end of the day, I am spent. I don't know how I kept it up so long when the boys were so little. At any rate, I will do my best to keep this going. And I will end with small gratitudes. I'm working on a cool puzzle (Disney Pixar movies); the grocery store had almost everything in stock that I was looking for; I got to face time with Tina and Morgan and got a Marco Polo from Heather.

We're Still Working It Out

Well, it's taken a national calamity to get me blogging again. As a historian, I know that accounts of what it's been like to live through the Covid-19 pandemic are going to help tell the full story of this time. And I've been trying to put pen to paper and record my thoughts, but I've been too sporadic and unmotivated at the end of the day. And then I remembered this old thing! So here goes nothing.

So, what's it like to live through this Covid-19 pandemic? Let me see if I can reconstruct my timeline. We started hearing about this novel coronavirus showing up in China in January. I can't remember when cases started showing up in Washington State and California, maybe early February. A bunch of cruise ship passengers from a cruise out of Japan started getting sick and all of the passengers had to be quarantined. By the middle of February, people in Italy and Iran started to get sick. It hit a nursing home in Seattle really hard and at the end of February or the beginning of March, and then there was the day (March 11) that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson announced they tested positive for Covid-19, and the NBA canceled its season when several players tested positive. After that, things seemed to suddenly get real. The boys were out of school on Friday, March 13, for a teacher workday, and over the weekend, the superintendent made the decision to close schools until after spring break (April 15). We had to go to the school to pick up their laptops. They would be off Monday through Wednesday, March 16-18, and then they would begin online learning on March 19. The teachers prepared 10 days worth of review lessons that they posted to Schoology.

Meanwhile, restaurants, malls, movie theaters, bars, churches, parks--basically everything is closed. Grocery stores and pharmacies and Targets/Walmarts are open, but other than that, we are basically sheltering in place. We saw this happen in China and Hong Kong and Italy--the idea of "social distancing" and "flattening the curve." I can't say that I really thought about what it must be like when I read about it happening in those places. It completely tanked the stock market and has severely slowed the gears of the economy. The House and Senate are desperately trying to pass legislation to alleviate the fallout--cash payments to individuals, loans and bailouts to businesses, increased unemployment insurance, free healthcare, etc. etc. etc. As always, the devil is in the details.

Yesterday, March 23, Virginia's governor announced that schools in Virginia would close for the rest of the school year. Even though I think we all kind of expected that this would be the case, it still seemed to catch everyone off guard, kind of like a punch in the gut. Until now, I guess there was a small part of us that thought, maybe, maybe we could still salvage something of "normal" for our kids. But maybe it's better to rip off that bandaid and get on with figuring things out.

As for my own situation, I am now telecommuting full time. Fortunately, our office had started a telecommuting pilot program in November, so the transition has not been too bad. Our office had three laptops that we shared among eight staff members. Last week, we weren't sure if we would all be telecommuting, or taking turns as skeletal staff in the office, or if we'd just have pandemic leave and only work once in a while, trading around the available laptops. Our IT people managed to pull together enough laptops for almost all of us to work from home, so for the foreseeable future, Ed and I both are juggling work and kids.

The boys are adjusting pretty well. They enjoyed their three days off last week. Seth was still playing outside with a few neighborhood kids. I took William fishing several times--to the tidal basin and Georgetown Waterfront. Thank goodness the weather was gorgeous! They seem to be fine with doing their schoolwork online. It doesn't take them much time at all. We are trying to stick to the no-screentime-on-school-days regimen, which is really, really tough and requires much more of me. We've been doing some game playing (we LOVE Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza), baking (Seth and I are figuring out how to make homemade bread), lots of walking and riding bikes, making fires in the chiminea, puzzles. And we are making one exception to the screen time rule. After dinner, we started watching The Mandalorian. I fear that all of these diversions will quickly lose their charm, and we will all be at each other's throats in no time.

William got really sad today because I let the boys know that we will most likely not be able to go to Florida for our spring break. We're supposed to go to Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the week. We rented a house with a private pool about a block from the beach. I booked a fly fishing guide for William. We were really, really looking forward to it. And we were thinking that since we were planning to drive anyway, and the house and pool are private, and the beach is just a block away, and we can bring our own food and eat at home or order takeout, and we can just as easily social distance there as here--that maybe, just maybe, we could still go. But as I'm reading about traveling right now, it just isn't a good idea. No one wants tourists right now, using up valuable resources like groceries and toilet paper and God forbid hospital supplies if they get sick while they're there. We can hopefully get a credit and do it all again next year. And there's a slight possibility we can rent a yurt in Virginia for a few days instead so William can get his fishing on and we wouldn't be putting anyone out. But I don't want to promise anything this far out. We just have to take a "wait and see" position.

But man, breaking that news was hard. I think it really hit William what this all means. There have definitely been some really nice things about this togetherness, this slowing down, this culture shock of not having the social outlets and the "business" that we are all so used to. I know that if I can remain positive and calm and empathetic and creative, the boys will follow my lead. I know there will be moments when I crack, but I just hope I can hold it together in their presence. They need to not see the panic I sometimes feel welling up inside of me.

And then I start to think of the kids and the wives and the husbands who feel trapped, who no longer have the refuge of school or the office or the house to themselves during the day. How many people will suffer horribly during this time? And it breaks my heart. That's when I start to cry--when I think about the unbearable stress that so many people are dealing with out there. This is all unprecedented and who knows what we will be on the other side. I can't do much more than pray for people right now. Make donations where I can. Spend as much money as I can to help the economy. Look out for neighbors and others in my community. And good Lord--reach out to my friends and family, as often as I can.

I started this blog 13 years ago, and at the time, I really was working it out. I'm not sure if I realized then that I'd probably always be working it out, but as it turns out, that was a really good title for my blog.

Happy 9th Birthday, William!

Dear William,

Happy 9th birthday! Man--it's hard to accept that you are 9 years old. It seems like a year or two ago that you were taking your first steps, singing, "A pirate...a pirate...a pirate" in the bathtub, obsessing over each and every construction vehicle, playing in the sandbox, becoming a big brother; just a few months ago that you were starting school, learning to read, taking Taekwondo, playing baseball, catching your first fish. What an awesome, exciting, sometimes anxious, joyful, adventurous 9 years we've had!

In your 9th year, you finished 2nd grade, learned to fish (and found a new obsession), went to some awesome summer camps where you learned to rock climb and kayak, among other things; you finally jumped off the diving board at the pool; went camping in the rain; stayed with Baba and your cousins in North Carolina, took an awesome road trip to Maine; started 3rd grade; and earned your orange, then green, then purple belt in Taekwondo. You accomplished so much in one year, and learned so much. You should be very proud of yourself!

William, Daddy and I are so proud of the young man you are becoming. Your enthusiasm for learning is such  a joy to behold. We love how you are willing to try new things and are not afraid to fail. This will serve you so well in the future. You are inquisitive and kind, quick to laugh and so easy to get along with. Although Daddy and I often nag you about staying on task and doing what needs to be done, we hope you know how much we love you, no matter what, and that we see what a capable, responsible kid you are. We hope that, as you become more independent--and more annoyed by us--you will always know that we support you and we will help you as much as we know how. We will do our best to encourage you and gently guide you, and then we will stand back to let you make your own way, your own decisions, your own mistakes, and your own accomplishments. We hope your tenth year of life is full of love, laughter, learning, contentment, challenges, successes, and peace.

Love,
Mom and Dad

 

Happy 7th Birthday Seth!

Dear Seth,

Happy 7th birthday! Each year, time seems to pass in a whirling blur, and your 7th year was no exception. You finished kindergarten, played soccer, learned to jump off the diving board, attended soccer camp, attended an awesome outdoor camp where you learned to rock climb, kayak, fish, and how to swim even better than before. We went camping in the rain. You guys stayed with your cousins and Baba and Uncle Chris in North Carolina. Then we took a road trip to Maine and LOVED it, even though you got sick. When summer ended, you started 1st grade with Mrs. Lightbourne. You have thrived in 1st grade! You also played baseball for the 1st time, played basketball in the winter, and soccer again in the spring. You were "Millner Monty" in the school musical production. And you lost your two top teeth, and another one on the bottom! Your top two teeth haven't started growing in yet--not sure what that's all about--but we will always remember your 7th year by that adorable, toothless grin! It has been a fun, busy, exciting, happy year.

You have learned a TON in your 7th year. Your reading skills have improved by leaps and bounds. Your teachers are so impressed by how hard you work and how hard you try and how committed you are to figuring things out. In school you are respectful and kind and helpful to your friends and teachers and we are so proud of you for being such a good friend and student. Your earnestness and work ethic are going to take your very far in life!

Seth, you are such a funny, bright, engaging, charismatic kid. Although you like to argue a lot with Daddy and William and me, you are also so loving and witty and clever. We wouldn't want you any other way. I love to listen to you making up story lines with William for your Playmobil and Lego guys. I love how you like to plan everything out, and I love how thoughtful you are with your friends and neighbors. I can't wait to see what your 8th year of life has to offer. I know you will grow and change and become more independent, but I hope you will always know how much Daddy and I love you and support you and respect the amazing person you are becoming. We want you to feel capable and confident and empowered to keep taking risks, keep learning, and to love and be loved.

Happy birthday to the most awesome 7-year-old we know! We love you,

Mom and Dad

 

Spoken like a True Fisherman

Here we are in mid-July, months after my last post. And I know I have a lot of catching up to do! But I won't let perfect be the enemy of the good. So I'm making a note of this little gem.

William has been in fishing camp this week, and he absolutely LOVES it. They've gone to a different lake or pond each day to fish. They go out in row boats or fish from the shore or even wade into the water. Tomorrow they're going on a boat in the Chesapeake. Yesterday he came home with a container of chicken livers that he bought to use as bait for catfish. (I was thinking he'd spend his money on a Slurpee or something, but whatever!) On Monday, he caught five fish. On Tuesday, he caught three. Yesterday, however, he only caught one.

I asked him if he was disappointed that he only caught one, even though they fished for close to 4 hours. With a huge smile on his face, he said, "No way, Mama. Even if you only catch one, it's still totally worth it."

Next weekend, we are going camping with three other families. Fishing is DEFINITELY on the agenda, and William proudly proclaimed that he will be in charge. Fingers crossed that the fish will be biting at the campsite!

Happy 8th Birthday William!

Dear William,

Today you turn 8 years old. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone by, and yet, it's sometimes hard to remember the shy, focused baby or the happy, truck-loving toddler that you once were. Your 8th year of life has been pretty awesome. You traveled to Mexico (and loved it!). You finished 1st grade and started 2nd grade and made a lot of new friends. You learned to write in cursive. You went camping twice. You wore a tuxedo in your cousin Ashley's wedding. You spent lots of time sledding in the snow. You played t-ball and baseball and earned your gold belt in Taekwondo. You went to Sea World, Legoland, and the Kennedy Space Center. You played on the beach and spent time with your cousins and friends. It has been a busy year!

Daddy and I are so proud of the young man you have become. You continue to soak up information like a sponge. When you're interested in something, all you want to do is learn more about that subject. We love that about you! This year, you have explored lots of different interests, but you are drawn most to the ocean, reptiles, and space. You are reading a lot these days, and with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, you have finally found fiction books that you enjoy reading cover to cover. You still prefer for me to read to you, though, which I am more than happy to do.

You enjoy school and love your 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Plata, as much as you loved Ms. Lightbourne (your 1st grade teacher). You have lots of friends and love nothing more than being silly and making your friends laugh. You are an enthusiastic student and a good friend--you like to include everyone and you have such an easy-going personality. You are a wonderful big brother to Seth. Even though you guys fight a lot, you are so protective of him, and you take him under your wing immediately when you guys are part of a bigger group of kids. I love to listen to you two playing together--making up adventures and staging epic battles. You have a fantastic imagination! As much as you love playing with others, though, you also love retreating to your own world, where it seems you can play endlessly with all kinds of different toys: Legos, Playmobil, army guys, blocks, rockets, airplanes, action figures, and anything else that happens to be lying around.

William--it has been an awesome adventure being your mom and dad. Most of the time, Daddy and I have no idea what we're doing, and we're so lucky that you are our first-born. You are loving and happy and forgiving and you're not afraid to tell us what we're doing wrong. We hope that you feel loved and safe and confident to try new things, to make mistakes, to stand up for yourself, and admit when you're wrong. We hope that we are helping you learn all the important lessons in life, and we hope you know how much we love you. We hope that you can look back on your 8th year of life and remember all the wonderful things you learned and experienced. And we hope that your 9th year is full of more of the same. We will do our best to guide you--to encourage you, support you, and most importantly, to stand back so that you can grow into the independent, responsible, caring, capable, and loving person that you are so obviously on your way to becoming. Happy birthday, William! We love you.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Happy 6th Birthday Seth!

Dear Seth,

Happy 6^th birthday to you! The year has flown by and once again, you have grown so, so much. In your 6th year of life, you finished preschool and started kindergarten, learned to ride a bike, lost two teeth, went camping twice, learned to swim, played at the beach, got a passport and went to Mexico, wore a tux and served as a ring bearer in Cousin Ashley’s wedding, played on a soccer team, had play dates with new friends, enjoyed a LOT of snow and sledding, went snowboarding at Jack and Kate’s house, visited Sea World, Legoland, and Kennedy Space Center, and spent time with your cousins and aunts and uncles. It has been a very busy year!

Daddy and I are so proud of the young man you are becoming. When you set your mind to it, you can do anything. (Of course, you can set your mind to not doing things, too, which does not always end well, but you’re a quick learner!) You have a great work ethic and love to see the results of your labor. Whether it’s helping in the yard or in the kitchen, organizing toys or cleaning your bedroom, or coming up with some way to make money (Lemonade stand? Selling tomatoes?), you take on tasks with an intensity and focus that is admirable.

In school, your teachers tell us that you are delightful. You are a rule follower and you get along well with everyone. You have worked hard learning to write and read. You have even started reading Magic Tree House books by yourself! (You read them out loud to Daddy and me so we can help you with the hard words.) You are a little bit impatient with sounding out the words, preferring to guess at what the word might be. But your vocabulary is growing, and you are getting better and better at being a word detective. Your math skills are growing every day, too—especially as you like to count out money! It has taken a while, but you've finally figured out that 5 one-dollar bills is the same as 1 five-dollar bill. Progress! Most importantly, you are a good friend to your classmates. You are considerate and thoughtful, taking great care to please others. We love this about you, Seth!

There is so much that we love about you--your passion and energy and sense of humor and even your stubbornness. You are so much fun to be around and to have around. You are a good brother (most of the time) and we love how you and William play together, look out for each other, and look forward to seeing each other and sharing experiences. We couldn't imagine our lives without you and can't wait to see what your seventh year has in store for you. We hope that you will have an awesome year, full of learning, loving, and living life to its fullest. We will do our best to guide you--to encourage you, support you, and most importantly, to stand back so that you can grow into the independent, responsible, caring, capable, and loving person that you are so obviously on your way to becoming. We hope that you feel happy, safe, and loved, today and every day. 

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy

Goodbye Winter

Today I stayed home from work. I'm fighting a sinus infection and relishing a few quiet hours to myself. It's early release day, so I only get a few hours, but I'll take it! Of course, the first thing I did this morning after the boys got on their bus was log into my work e-mail and draft a Tweet for approval today. You can take the girl out of the office . . .

Anyway, it's been a while since I've posted anything. And it looks like my new normal of not blogging is probably not going to change much. But I'll slip 'em in when I can so I can try to keep tabs on my life. Our winter has been pretty good. We've had lots of cold and snowy weather--much more so this winter than the past few years. Lots of snow days and building snow caves and sledding. I had it in the back of my mind that we would try to hit a local ski resort for a day of ski lessons and snow tubing. But alas, that didn't happen. Maybe next winter. We have had a relatively healthy winter, too. I think I've had two colds (including my present one), and Seth hasn't had any sick days. William had Strep twice, and he got a crazy rash and hives that we're still not sure what caused it. But I'm knocking hard on my desk that we've seen the worst of it. For all of you struggling with sick little ones, I swear--it gets better! It seems like age 5 was our turning point.

William has been busy this winter with Taekwondo and a program called Odyssey of the Mind. He has really gotten into Taekwondo and is eager to learn each skill so he can progress to his next belt. He's not the most flexible or coordinated kid, so he struggles a bit (I'm afraid he gets that from me), but I'm proud of him for pushing himself and sticking with it. (We haven't really given him a choice about sticking with it, though. This is one of those things where we think it's important for his development and confidence, so while he might have wanted to quit several times along the way, we haven't let him.)

Odyssey of the Mind has been a whole new kind of adventure. For those of you who have never heard of it, it's an international competition for kids from kindergarten all the way through high school. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. For William's group, they solve a performance-based problem. Basically, they are given a prompt and they have to put on an 8-minute play that includes all the elements listed. This year's prompt is to create a prehistoric arts festival that includes three pieces of art, music, a song (with lyrics), and a dance, an audience made up of at least 10 characters that reacts to the festival, and a cave painting back drop that replicates a real cave painting. William's team consists of 6 2nd-grade boys, and guess who's coaching? Yep--me. Thankfully, I'm co-coaching with another mom, which has made it infinitely easier and more enjoyable. It has been really HARD to get the boys to focus, however. And it's hard for 7 year olds to think realistically about what they can achieve. They are full of awesomely big ideas, so we have had to do a lot of "guiding" to get them to be practical and to think about time and material constraints. Despite all of the headaches, they have managed to put together a pretty funny skit. The "competition" is this Saturday, although at their level, they don't actually compete against the other teams. They do get a score, however, to help introduce them to the idea of competition. I think it has been a good experience for William. But I doubt we'll do it again next year. 

That said, we are gearing up for our very busy spring season. Seth will be playing soccer and William has decided to play baseball again. He'll be doing single-A, which is coach pitch. And I agreed to co-coach again. I love the coach I'm working with this spring. He has twin boys and his wife is fabulous and I think it will be a good season. The only difficulty will be that spring ball has one practice and two games a week. So combine this with Seth's soccer and William's TKD (which is two times a week) and we will be doing some major schedule juggling. I'm hoping that our babysitter can step up and help us get the boys to their practices. This is where the fact that I am not Type-A comes in handy. You just have to go with the flow and know that things change from week to week. 

Overall it has been a really good winter. In January we went to New York to visit one of my best friends and her family. We had an awesome weekend. Seth even got to snowboard for the first time. (And did very well, I might add!) The boys spent time with Ed's parents and Ed and I got some much-needed couple time. We rearranged a bunch of furniture in our house, which was exciting. We moved the piano out of the living room into the dining, freeing up the space for a better layout in our living room. We moved the sofa-bed out of Ed's office into the playroom, providing somewhere to sit in the playroom and giving Ed carte-blanche to do what he wants with his office. (The playroom can be closed off, making it an acceptable space for a guest room.) I've been scouring the 'net and various stores for rugs and window treatments. It might be a while before we make more purchases. Ed has been busy tricking out his office, but otherwise, we want to wait 'till the boys are a little bit older before getting new living room furniture. 

We also have already figured out most of our summer plans. I have the boys enrolled in summer camps, including a 3-week summer camp in Maryland that includes hiking, rock climbing, swimming, kayaking, archery and air guns--all the classic summer camp activities. The camp sends a bus for the kids in the morning and drives them back in the afternoons. I hope it is awesome for them! Ed and I also planned our 10-year anniversary trip. We're spending a week at a Sandals resort in Jamaica. We decided we wanted to relax and do lots of nothing on our vacation, so the tropics sounded pretty appealing. We enjoyed the all-inclusive amenities on our Mexico vacation, so a Sandals resort it is. We're going at the end of August, while the boys spend the week in Charlotte with my mom and brother and Ed's sister and her family. We can't wait!

I think that's enough of an update for one day. I would have included some pictures, but that would have required more time than I am willing to spend on my computer on a day off. Maybe next time! For now, I have a date with the shower, a cup of hot tea, and a good book!

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

Man--I did so well in November with my posting, but since then? Let's just say that blogging has fallen completely out of my routine. But I'm not giving up! I love looking back too much to give it up yet.

So, where have we been? December was a crazy, whirlwind month (as always), but fun and magical and enjoyable all the same. I think I'll go back and do a retrospective post on Christmas, but in the meantime, suffice it to say that the boys had a great holiday, spent time with family and friends, got some really cool toys (although Seth was underwhelmed by his haul this year--that's what Santa gets for trying to go low key!), and generally enjoyed the break from school and routine. They had the full two weeks off, and I got quite a few days off from work in that time, too. And Ed took off the rest of the time, so we were fully covered.

We mixed things up a little bit this year, though, by spending the night on Christmas Eve with Ed's parents. They live in Maryland, about 50 minutes from us, and our usual routine is that we sleep at our house on Christmas Eve, open our presents in the morning on Christmas Day, and then head over to Ed's parents' around noon. What complicates this a little bit is that on Christmas Eve, Ed's aunt and uncle, who live in Damascus, MD (also about 50 minutes from us), have a big party. Ed's cousin dresses up as Santa Claus and hands out presents, sometimes they have Karaoke--the kids love it. So in the past, we drive all the way to MD Christmas Eve, drive all the way back to VA and usually don't get home 'till 11:00 p.m. Then on Christmas Day (after very little sleep for everyone), we head back to MD to Ed's parents.' That's a lot of back and forth. So this year, instead of driving all the way back to VA on Christmas Eve, we drove 15 minutes to Eds' Parents' and slept there. It was a little weird for me not to have Christmas morning at our house. Ed's parents don't have a Christmas Tree or decorations (they're Jewish), but the kids didn't mind at all. And it turned out to be a relaxing morning. (Although we still didn't get a lot of sleep since the boys woke up at 4:00 a.m.--4:00 A.M.!!!!--and decided it would be okay to go downstairs and open their stockings. But I digress.) I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. It's not something we'll do every year, since Ed's sister and BIL and their 3 boys stay at Ed's parents' every other year for Christmas. But it worked this year.

Sooooo, since the holidays, we've been back at school and work for a week. It's been crazy cold but we're coping. We're actually having an energy efficiency expert do a home evaluation tomorrow to see if we can do anything more to better insulate our house. It's pretty drafty! Plus our hot water heater is in the attic (I KNOW, right?), and there's never enough hot water in the winter. So short of moving it out of the attic, we'll find out if we can do anything extra to insulate it. (It already has an insulation blanket around it, but clearly, it needs more.) Hopefully there will be at least a few more things we can do (cheaply) to make our house a little cozier.

Unfortunately, William came down with some kind of bug this weekend, so we're home today (just a low-grade fever, sore throat, stuffy nose). He's better today--no fever--so hopefully he'll be back at school tomorrow. But in the meantime I'm going to try to get a few things done that got neglected over the weekend. Sick days are good for stuff like that. William was actually disappointed that he didn't get to go to school today. They're learning about Egypt in Inquiry and he looks forward to it, so that's always a good sign that things are going well. Seth is fully into learning sight words, but he is reluctant to read when he doesn't know exactly what the words are. He's the perfectionist who gets frustrated when he doesn't get something right away. I know it will "click" for him soon, though.

So that's my update for now. January is humming right along, and I'm working hard to enjoy all the moments, not let life pass me by, to balance the schedule with free time and room for spontaneity, and to be mindful and appreciative of all that I have. 2013 was not a bad year for us (lots of my friends had a really sucky 2013, so I'm lucky in that respect), but I want to look back at 2014 with more than just, "It was okay." And hopefully, I'll keep recording it all here so I can have some proof that it was a kick-ass year!

Snow and Food Pantries and Chippy and Some Sickness for Good Measure

It's been a busy, but not altogether unpleasant, few weeks at Casa Hahn. The worst of it was me getting sick on Sunday and Monday this week. (Well, the worst of it was actually that on my sick day, school was cancelled due to freezing rain and sleet, so instead of peace and time to rest, I got to deal with the boys all day, but I digress.) But it seems to just be a cold and hopefully I'm on the mend.

The best of it was the snow day we got on Tuesday. We only got about two inches of snow, but school was canceled (again) and my work was canceled, and I was feeling better (yay!) so we met some friends at a local hill for an hour and a half of sledding. Can't hardly beat that!

On Saturday, the boys and I volunteered at a local food pantry. When we got there, we made bags of groceries by following a list of items and retrieving them from the shelves. Each bag got a bag of rice, a box of pasta, a can of tomato sauce, canned soup, 4 types of canned vegetables, etc. etc. The boys enjoyed picking out the items and following the list. After we filled up lots of bags, all the volunteers listened to the director talk about what fresh produce and specialty items they were offering this day. Then we went upstairs to meet with the people who would be receiving the food. We introduced ourselves and asked the people which of the fresh produce items they wanted, and what other items they might want. There were several different cereals to choose from, milk, sweet or salty snacks, and sometimes there were extra things they wanted, like tea bags or flour. If the pantry had those items, we could give them away. Once we had their list, we went back downstairs to put together their groceries, and then we brought everything to them. The boys did not enjoy this part as much. It was a little uncomfortable for them to be around so many strangers. I'm not sure if it made a strong impression on them or not. There were families there who needed food--with kids their own age. But I'm not sure that they fully comprehended what it must be like to go to a food pantry to get food, rather than going to the grocery store. I plan to volunteer at the food pantry again, both on my own and with the boys. Because this food pantry is so open to allowing kids to volunteer directly, it is very popular, and you have to sign up in advance to help out. But I think a few times a year is a good goal for the boys. I'm sure if they're exposed to it enough, they'll begin to understand it better.

What they're much more excited about these days is Chippy, our Elf on the Shelf. Chippy is not nearly as organized this year as he was last year. This year, he's more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants elf. But it seems to be working out. On his first day he brought Playmobil Advent calendars for the boys. They are totally into Playmobil right now, so these were a big hit.

Other highlights have been getting hung up in a pretty fierce battle against the army guys, bringing a huge box for the boys to play in, tee-peeing the Christmas tree, and putting underwear in our stockings.

Last night, Chippy got out the boys' Rainbow Loom and made little candy cane and snowflake charms. I was way more impressed with this effort than the boys were.

Apparently, the boys have no idea that after a long night of flying to the North Pole to report to Santa, coming back home to weave rubber bands into cute little shapes is kind of a pain in the ass. But whatever! I'm sure Chippy is having lots of fun.

I can't believe there are only two weeks 'till Christmas. I still have some Christmas shopping to finish up. And we still have to take the boys to the mall to see Santa. On Sunday we're having the neighborhood kids over to decorate gingerbread houses. And we have our neighborhood holiday party later that evening. No one said the Christmas season was easy!

For now I plan to help Chippy find the Polar Express train to set up around the Christmas Tree and then I'm going to bed. All this holiday cheer makes me tired.

Growing Up

Today William came home from school with another kid's phone number scribbled on a piece of paper. He said they were working on a project idea and he really needed to call his friend on the phone. After dinner, I let him call his friend, but the voice mail came on. William hung up, but wanted to try calling again. So I helped him write out the message he wanted to leave on voice mail. He called back and then carefully read his message. "Hi. This is William Hahn calling for Conner. Can you please have him call me? My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX."

A little while later, the phone rang, and it was William's friend. I handed him the phone and he proceeded to talk to his buddy for more than 20 minutes. I finally told him he needed to wrap it up so we could get ready for bed. Turns out, they were just talking about something they've dreamed up about helping NASA make Jupiter's moons ready for habitation. (?!?)

Regardless of what they wanted to talk about, William was so excited to talk to his friend on the phone. I could tell that he felt so grown up dialing the phone himself and then leaving a message. The ginormous smile on his face as he hung up the phone after talking to his friend said it all. It's a small thing that probably doesn't count for much, but man--why does it feel like a major milestone? My baby is growing up!

He's Baaaaaaack!

Well, I guess my attempt at NaBloPoMo was a failure. But I posted a LOT more than I have been, and that counts for something, right?

Thanksgiving was lovely, with family, great food, lots of laughter and smiles and even some relaxing. The boys loved being around their cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. They were sad to see everyone go. Everyone left on Saturday morning, which gave us the rest of the weekend to recover. And this morning, the boys woke us up with squeals of delight when they finally noticed that Chippy, our scout elf, had returned.

He brought each of the boys a Playmobil Advent calendar, which was really quite generous and, in hindsight, a bit over the top. But Chippy probably just got caught up in the season a bit. Regardless, he also left the boys a letter in which he explained that Santa said the boys have been pretty good this year, so Chippy might not need to come check on them every day. Brilliant, right?

And since Chippy arrived, the boys decided that we needed to go ahead and get our Christmas decorations out. Seth "decorated" our living room while I worked on our playroom mantel. I think I'm going to leave the living room as is. I had these big red bows that I haven't actually used in years, and Seth found them and placed one on each of the living room chairs and three along the back of the sofa. He was quite pleased with his efforts, so who am I to move things around? We haven't gotten our tree, yet, (Still debating whether or not to go artificial--I love the real thing! But completely see the appeal of an artificial tree.) but we'll probably get it one night this week. We'll stick to our tradition of grabbing dinner after work and then heading to Home Depot to pick out a $35 tree.

Even though this fall has blown by in a blur of school and sports and holidays, I'm excited that Christmas is here. I'm laying off the list of activities and the pressure to "experience" the joy of the season this year. I'm going to try to focus instead on the joy of giving. In years past, I haven't really engaged the boys in picking out the gifts we give to others. I mean, I've involved them in a rather perfunctorily way, but this year, I want them to really take ownership of the gifts they give and I want them to really enjoy giving to others. I'm not sure that I can pull this off, but I'm going to try. So, let the season begin!

I Guess I Was Tired Yesterday

After the boys went to bed last night, I lay down on my bed for few minutes. That few minutes turned into all night. Clark (our cat) woke me up at 5:30 a.m. I was fully dressed, including the scarf I wore yesterday. I guess I needed the sleep!

Today I am off from work, since the kids are off from school. I have a list of things I want to get done today--haircuts, a Target run, make a meatloaf for tonight, change sheets on William's bed, sort through the school paper pile. And Seth is having a friend over this afternoon. My mom and brother will be arriving some time this evening. There's a lot to be grateful for in all those mostly mundane things. Target, for starters. Ha ha. But also for being financially comfortable (even if I don't always feel that way), for family close enough in distance and heart to visit, for food on our table (this goes back to the financially comfortable thing), and shelter that we love.

Yesterday I didn't actually think actively of what I was grateful for. I would have, had I sat down in front of my computer to blog, but it reminds me to try to be more mindful throughout the day--not just at the end of the day because I need something to blog about.

And now we're off as the boys are whining to go and starting to fight each other. Just another day in the Hahn household.

Grateful for Online Shopping

I am so, so SO grateful for online shopping. Granted, I spend inordinate amounts of time virtually perusing merchandise and filling shopping carts and making wish lists. But it is so much more convenient than having to get off my ass actually GO somewhere to look at stuff. Seth has been wanting a new lunch box, so I figured that's a great gift for Santa to give him. (We follow the "something you want, something you need, something to play with, and something to read" rule with gifts, so this would probably fall under his "need" category.) He wants one like William's, which is from Pottery Barn. But I decided to check out Lands End and LL Bean to see what they offered in the way of lunch boxes. Lands End's lunch box was a bit bigger than the PB one, and included a side pocket. Click! They were offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more, so of course I had to scroll through all of their clearance items. And what do you know! I found a pair of nude patent-leather pumps--real leather--on sale for $37. Yes, please! I think Santa would approve. Then I did a search for discount code and found one for 30% off! So I saved an additional $17. Not too shabby for a night's worth of shopping.

I also love Amazon. And their wish lists. Which I use religiously for the boys. It helps the inlaws with ideas. And I love reading through reviews and searching for popular items, and the best-rated items. The Internet is freakin' awesome.

Brrrrrr

A cold front came through our area overnight and the temperature did not get out of the 30s today. It's cold! So, among lots of other things, I'm grateful today for our gas fireplace. (Don't mind the washed out, slightly crooked picture I took.)

I used to think gas fireplaces were lame, and that wood-burning was the only way to go. I have since changed my mind, however. Turning a fireplace on with a switch is HEAVEN. This fireplace is in our playroom (what will eventually be our family room), and the boys' table and chairs sit in front of it. On cold winter mornings, the boys ask to turn the fireplace on so they can eat their breakfast by the fire. The mantle is super fancy marble and there isn't a blower, so it's not super efficient at throwing heat out. But I think it warms up the room. The only bummer is that since it's the playroom, we don't actually have any other furniture in there right now, so there's nowhere for me to curl up and get cozy. But all in good time!

In the meantime, I'm just trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK and Christmas is right around the corner. We took the boys to the mall yesterday afternoon and Santa was there! William said that it was not fair to Thanksgiving and Hanukkah that Christmas stuff was out already. He said we needed to celebrate one holiday at a time. I agree, except that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to get shorter and shorter each year, and harder and harder to actually enjoy. So I kind of don't mind getting into the Christmas spirit a little early. I even finished our holiday cards and calendar. If only the rest of my holiday shopping was that easy. (Well, I wouldn't say spending hours choosing the holiday cards and choosing the photos and layout for the calendar was easy, but it is done, which is more than I can say for the rest of my holiday shopping.)

This week, my mom and brother are coming to stay with us for Thanksgiving. We can't wait! We'll all go over to Ed's parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. Ed's sister and BIL and their 3 boys will be there, so the boys are super excited to spend time with their cousins. It will be loud but fun. Lots to look forward to!

Grateful for Pizza Friday and School Pictures

First off, I've been forgetting to post my daily gratitude, so I'll start with that. Today, I'm grateful for pizza on Fridays. The boys bring their lunch to school almost every day, and it's one of the chores I loathe--having to pack lunches at night. They pretty much eat the exact same thing every day. Seth eats a ham-and-cheese sandwich (whole wheat bread, "white circle cheese"--aka Provolone, mayo), pretzels (or sometimes plain potato chips), fruit (either apple, banana, sometimes grapes), and 2 cookies; William eats a Nutella sandwich on whole wheat bread, goldfish (or pretzels or chips or Pirate Booty), fruit or carrots, and 2 cookies. So it's really not that hard. But on Fridays, the school serves pizza, and if it's just plain pizza (and not bagel pizza or Mexican pizza, which the boys don't like), they'll buy lunch! I can't even describe the relief I feel knowing I don't have to pack a lunch tonight. (And yes--eventually we'll work on them packing their own lunches. For now, it's way too messy and troublesome to have them do it. They're just not that great at cleaning up after themselves.)\

Second, School pictures--Seth's school picture was not that great. He was not thrilled this year about taking them in the first place, though, and when I broached the subject of retakes, well, let's just say that based on his attitude, I was pretty sure retakes wouldn't be any better. You can lead a horse to water . . . . So I'm sticking with the original and we'll all just have to laugh about it:

Just for comparison, here was his picture from one year ago, complete with shirt and tie that he picked out himself:

And here's his second pose from that session, just for good measure:

So stinkin' cute! 

For what it's worth, William looks a little bit possessed in his school picture, too:

And again for good measure, here he is one year ago:

And in the fall of 2011, when he was 5 and 1/2, the same age as Seth

Man, their pictures were so cute in preschool. What is it about elementary school photos that makes them smile so awkwardly? Regardless, I'm buying the pics and dutifully labeling each pack and filing them away. It's fun to see how much they've changed over the years.