Luminous Spirit

When I ask Zoe to get her pajamas on and she returns with a tiara, flower lei and princess dress fashioned into wings and then swoops through the room like a weird magical bluebird, my heart sighs a little.

County Fair

Mimi loves county fairs. She's also one of those people who enjoy the smell of horse poo. So when I realized she would be visiting on the last day of our local county fair, we just had to go.

Athena had already been there with her class earlier this week so she gave us the guided tour:
"The pigs just lay down and they have flies all over them" (it was true).

The girls opted for facepainting over pony rides.

The Dude sort of liked the toy tractor and corn pit but was a little too fastidious to really dig in.

He preferred the art area or "creation station" better.


The mini-circus was lame but Athena enjoyed loudly telling us what the magician and juggler were just about to do.

It was hot, it was dusty, but it was a great day. We're so happy to have our Mimi back on the West Coast from such a loooong trip in New York. She left in June and in little people time that is forever. They did not want to leave her side for a minute today and Athena kept saying
"Today is a celebration, Mimi's home!"

October brings...

Pumpkin painting,

the return of our beloved Mimi to the West Coast,

clouds (a welcome sight after months of blaring hot sun),

a purple paper countdown to Zoe's 4th birthday,

and Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Happy October everyone!

Fancy Dinner

Mid-week dinners are not fancy affairs. On Tuesdays I have Yoga and skip out on dinner to go stretch and sweat and on Wednesdays Chris has softball and usually the kids and I make do with a quick, easy dinner. Tonight's dinner was following that pattern, except when I asked the girls to help me set the table, Athena dug out my favorite 70's crochet tablecloth from Yiayia.
"Fancy!' I said.

Suddenly matching white ceramic plates and mugs were in order and pink napkins. Zoe suggested we get fresh roses from the garden and helped me pick them. Athena dug out some old Christmas ribbons and tied them around the chairs. I added the candles.

Athena put on a fancy dress, hat and jewelry. Zoe put a flower in her hair.

They requested that the Dude wear a suit jacket, but he refused.

Zoe lingered at dinner long past the time her siblings were finished

because, she informed me, she does not like square carrots or those kinds of beans.

The Triple Tickle

And I used to think this was impressive.
Daddy's got skillz.

A Morning with the Dude *

7:55 am - After waving "Bah-Bay!" to Athena and Daddy, our little Dude begins his day with a breakfast of milk, apples, bananas and vanilla yogurt. The milk is devoured, bananas appreciated and apples thrown on the floor. He drops his spoon and the yogurt becomes finger food.

8:44 am - Wiped down (but still slightly sticky) he tears apart the pantry. Ripping the straws off his sister's juice boxes is the most fun. Proof that third babies do get away with murder.

9:01 am - Spent some time digging through a toy box.

9:22 am - Dressed for the day, the Dude plays with his Lil' People bus in the hallway while I start some laundry and make beds.

9:32 am - Gravity is fun.

9:37 am - However its much more fun to play on the bed that has just been made.

9:42 am - When playing on the bed, head bonks are inevitable and par for the course. Big sister, Zoe offers some comfort.

9:43 am - Head bonk is quickly forgotten and he's off to bang his bicycle against the door frame.

9:59 am - The Dude is found putting his sisters' headbands under water after I made the mistake of leaving him alone for a few minutes.

10:42 am - At his 18 month old well baby visit, Jack is unfazed by the poking and prodding. He takes two vaccinations without a peep. He weighs in at 30 pounds 4 ounces and is exactly 36 inches. That puts him off the charts in height - as tall as an average three year old, yet only five pounds more than a typical 18 month old - yep, tall and skinny. The Doctor confirms him to be "perfect in every way."

11:37 am - Crashed out and drooling, he will not wake up again until after 2 pm.

* Our little Dude in now 18 months old. That's incredibly big. I spent part of yesterday looking at pictures of him as a teeny tiny babe and wondering where the time went. This is an attempt to mark time, to say this is where it went, this is what he was doing everyday when he was just a wee little Dude, because before you know it...

Picture Day

I have a mental block about School Picture Days - it is my own personal waterloo. I mark it on calendars and remind myself not to forget and tell the children to remind me not to forget and put notes in the car so I won't forget, but still I find myself walking into school holding the hand of a kid wearing a Hello Kitty t-shirt and bicycle shorts on Picture Day.

It's particularly ironic because my Mom often forgot Picture Day and there are multiple class photos of my sister and I in Mickey Mouse t-shirts and stretched out sundresses with crazy hair looking very surprised to be having our pictures taken. We've mocked her endlessly over those photos so this is totally karma coming back to haunt me. I just cannot seem to keep it in my head, I've forgotten three out of four preschool picture days for the girls - but who remembers preschool, right?

This year, on Picture Day for Athena, the children were allowed to "free dress" for their individual photos, but I forgot and she went to school in her uniform. Now, I don't really mind having a school picture in uniform, but her best friend wore a pink taffeta rhinestone encrusted party dress with Shirley Temple ringlets down her back. You can imagine the rest. Tears. Guilt. Resolution to never let that happen again. Until...

One week later (one week!) I find myself walking Zoe to school with said Hello Kitty t-shirt and wouldn't you know it? Picture Day! (G'ah *face palm*).

But I was not having it again. We spun right around, zipped back home (with Jack in tow), put on the prettiest of party dresses we could find in her closet, re-fixed her hair and even finished with a pink flower on top. We walked back in just as they were lining the kids up in front of the photographer (just in time - phew).

Take that Picture Day!

Skyping

We're all Skyped up. I know it took me like four years to get on that bandwagon. But it really is the only way we can talk to Stu and Mimi in Greece so we just had to make it happen. We chatted with them this morning and Stu walked me through a few technical difficulties and then the Dude kept trying to eat the external microphone and we had to go.

Calistogahhhhh

Have you ever laughed until your face hurt? And then been so relaxed you were just on the conscious side of sleep? All the while being with friends who know you better than yourself and love you anyway? If so, then you know the indescribably feeling of being totally refreshed and deeply soul satisfied from all the love and laughter and blissed-out peace.

Oh what a weekend! We soaked in mud and mineral water and a pool-sized hot tub and we steamed in the steam room and napped in the nap room and got massages and facial masks and drank wine in the sun by the pool. But mostly we laughed, and we laughed, and then we laughed at how much we were laughing.

Alaine, Mariana and Miranda -we've known each other for more than 20 years and when we're together it feels like we're 19 again except that we don't drink as much and can't stay awake past 10 p.m. I love that we put family and boyfriends and work and responsibilities on the back burner for a couple of days and made time for ourselves and each other. I love how we balance each other: air, water, fire and earth and how we don't need the back story and just get each other (even though you all think I'm stubborn! ) It was a magical weekend on so many levels. There's a reason why you three have always been in my life and always will be.

Can't wait until next year because this is now an annual event.

Refueling

Life with three kids is not all Teddy Bear Picnics and parties, it's an endless stream of chores and errands and activities and breaking up fights and cleaning up messes and a constant busyness sandwiched by a brief few minutes in the morning and hour or so at night of quiet child-free time, usually used to fold laundry. So every now and again, in order to not burn out, the grown ups in this family need to get away to just be grown ups. Sometimes we get to go away together and sometimes alone.

This weekend it's my alone time get away. We've been planning it for over a year and finally my three wonderful friends and I are escaping to Calistoga, the land of mud baths and whirlpool mineral springs and California wine.

So if you see Chris, be kind, lend a hand or just give him an understanding look, because he is earning huge husband points and will have the kids all to himself until Sunday evening. He's played up the "Daddy Weekend" and has Chuck-E-Cheese plans and high expectations of what he will accomplish, but the girls are a little less than understanding.

My explanation of "Mommy's going on a sleepover with my friends!" didn't sit well with them, because now they want to go to, and they are most definitely not invited.