I Can't Remember!!

There were some good moments with the kids today, and now I can't really remember what they were! I can't even remember if they were cute, funny, or sweet. Such a bummer when this happens!

I'll tell you what I do remember...

Vincent went to preschool this morning, as usual. Tyler and I met up with Eva and Andrea at Factoria Mall, and went to Kids Quest. The tots had a pretty good time there. Tyler and Eva did get into a tiff over some plush flowers. Tyler wanted to hold a few in his hands, and Eva wanted them in the vessel they were in, or so that's what I think. Sadly, it ended with both of them crying. Here they are at the start of it all...

Other than that, they got along well. 

Tyler was a bit wild at lunch and needed to stand in a corner for a few minutes. The rest of the time he did well, once he got his food.

I somehow was able to buy him a few Christmas gifts at TJ Max without him realizing what I was getting. It pays that he's so short compared to me, I guess.

Vincent was cute when I picked him up from school. He said to me, "Mommy, I couldn't finish all my burrito because we ran out of time..." When I questioned him about what that meant, his story remained consistent, and it seems that maybe he truly did run out of time because lunch was shorter than usual and not that he was messing around. When I asked if he wanted to finish it when we get home, he happily replied, "Sure!" 

During his quiet time, he was a bit annoying because he kept needing me for this and that. Finally, he stayed in the room for more than 10 minutes. I think he was there for about 30-40 minutes when I decided he had settled down enough. And, he did. When I went into the room, he was just laying on the floor, on his belly with his legs up behind him, looking at something. I asked what he was doing and he casually said, "Just resting."

We had leftovers turned into soup for dinner. I made sort of a pumped up chicken noodle soup. The boys did pretty well with it, but what really surprised us was that they ate their Brussels sprouts without complaining, and even asked for more! Tyler was singing "Funky Town," and at one point sang "Brussels sprouts, Brussels sprouts" to the tune of Funky Town. Wow. Now, that's music to my ears.

And, finally, after I put the boys to bed, Tyler came back down about 10 minutes later, wearing only a pull-up and holding his pajamas in one hand. "Mommy, I don't want this pajama." My response? "Okay. Now go back to bed without jammies." He did.

Okay, okay!! I went back up a few minutes later and put pajamas on him!


I feel like there were more moments throughout the day that I wanted to share, but, all these here were pretty great, too. 

Tyler's Eyes & Belt Testing

This morning, Tyler woke up with slightly swollen, slightly pink, slightly crusty eyes. After a little warm wash cloth, they cleared up, but by mid-morning, his eyes pinkish, again. I called the pediatric nurse line and it sounds like it's something we need to just monitor. Gosh, this kid sure gets hit with all the junk out there.

This afternoon, Vincent had his belt test for karate and passed! He wasn't 100% but neither were any of the other kids. The older kids may have gotten the actual steps correctly, but their form wasn't perfect. I think they all tried so hard, and the teacher seems to pass them based on that. I thought he did great, nonetheless. I was so proud of him when we did a little practice run at home, and he ended up correcting me on my form. Cool. 


I had a hard time uploading to the blog, so check it out on YouTube.

Vincent is 5th in line.

"I Want Jagger"

I had quite a busy day, even with both boys out of the house all morning. I have to admit that even though I am happy with the daycare that Tyler goes to, it sure is a trek to get him there and back. Yes, it's worth it, but while I'm trekkin', it feels a bit like a drag.

I dropped the boys off in their respective places, then got gas at Costco. Another little bit of trek, but I was almost there already, so why not? It was actually the cheapest gas fill-up I've had in ages. I came home afterwards and had a big list of stuff to do before picking up Vincent. Those 4 hours sure whiz by quickly!

After I picked Tyler up, we stopped at Starbucks to get a treat. I normally have some kind of treat for him when I pick him up. It was something I would have him look forward to at the end of his long day away from me. Now, he expects it. I'm not condoning this bribery, but it's what I needed to do to comfort him. *Sigh* Food comforts Tyler. *Sigh* Anyway, he picked out a cake pop, got one for Vincent as well, and I got myself a drink. Whoah! Those things are intensely sweet. And, to think, I used to get stuff like that all the time. I could barely finish my drink. I had to add leftover coffee and hot water to it when I got home.

OH! So, when I got Tyler and started driving off, he says to me, "I want Jagger," as in the Maroon 5 song, "Moves Like Jagger." It turns out, he loves that song. I think it was a different song that was playing on the car radio one morning while Ty and I were driving to the gym. I didn't like it so I changed the station. Tyler started complaining, "Go back, go back!" I figured out he meant the radio & turned it back. A giant grin came across his face. 

The next day, we were listening to the radio, again, and that "Moves Like Jagger" song came on. I said to Ty, "Is this the song you like?" He smirked and nodded. Since then, he's been into it. 

When he asked this afternoon, I answered with, "I don't know if it'll be on, but we can see." Sure enough, it was. Thrilled. Thrilled.


*Today was also my Mt. Townsend Creamery day. 

Santa Train

We brought up the idea of going on the Santa Train to Tyler a few weeks ago. Since then, he's been talking about it, a lot. We finally decided that we should buy tickets and go. 

I had reserved us some for today at noon. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day. Luckily, the whole of the event is indoors, but there was a lot of running from place to place in the rain. Though it was a wet mess of a day for us, they boys seemed to be really into it. 

Our train left the North Bend depot at noon, arriving in Snoqualmie about 12:30pm. We got cookies and hot chocolate from this old army box car, where they baked the cookies, and ate them in another box car behind it. Tyler didn't like his cookies, saying, "They're too crunchy." Vincent didn't like his hot cocoa, saying, "This hot chocolate is not very good." I have to agree with both of them a little. Nonetheless, it's a nice experience. They even had a train table for the kids in the back, which was surprising not too crowded.

We lined up and waited to meet Santa. Unlike the last two years, Tyler ran right up to Santa and climbed on to his lap. I had a video going, trying to get the boys telling Santa what they wanted, but Santa thought I was taking their picture and it didn't quite turn out the way I hoped. Oh well. I'll still have the memory of Tyler being so brave this year. And, of course, Vincent was way into it. He told him two things he wanted, forgot the third, but I reminded him. He said, "It's a special Spiderman book..."

Each boy received a wooden top to take home. That was nice. It was a sweet event, even though it was a bit uncomfortable. I'm on the fence if we'd do it again next year. We'll see how much they're into trains by then, I guess.

Ho-hum

Without a plan for the day, other than me spending $25 at a local business, we were sort of getting on each others' nerves this morning. Was it that we've spent so much time together the past couple of days? Or, just that the boys had cabin fever by 10am already? Sheesh.

Eventually, I dropped David and the kids off at the community center for a little indoor playtime, and I went to City People's, my local small business of choice, to spend my $25. What's up with that, you ask? American Express was doing this offer where you get back $25 in credit if you spend it at a small business. You have to spend $25 or more, of course, but I bought a Christmas tree skirt and will get part of it paid for. Works for me. Ooh, and I had a 15% off coupon, so even better.

I guess Tyler was being difficult at the community center. I packed each boy a small snack. Tyler ate all of his and complained the rest of the time for more. He tried to get some from Vincent, too. Sounds like David experienced first-hand one of Tyler's "snack attacks." Seriously, when he gets it set in his head he wants to snack, he's determined. Relentless, more like it.

We ordered Thai food, to go, for lunch and ate it at home. Ty was happy with Thai.

I went to work at 2pm. The boys dropped me off. Tyler wanted to go inside to see it, but Vincent didn't. I took him in, showed him where I get changed, and then introduced him to the crew. Then, he said, "Hey, Mommy," looking around, "we've been here before!" We sure have, Kiddo. 

It was a slow night at work. I helped prep some food, hung out in the pantry station a little, and shucked a couple dozen oysters. That was the most I've done in a long, long time. I even bent my oyster shucker slightly! Ugh.

David ate leftover Thai for dinner, while the boys had corn dogs. They rented Cars 2, watched it, and picked me up around 9pm.

Black Friday

Though we did not brave the sales this Black Friday, we did brave going out. C'mon, we had to or we'd go crazy with the restless boys of ours!

After a little breakfast, we went down to the Seattle Center to watch "The Rocky Mountain Express" at the Science Center's IMAX theater. This would be the second time for us all, except for David. We didn't tell the boys what we were doing until we got our tickets. And, since we got there a little early, there was even time for Vincent and David to get a little, or shall I say LARGE game of chess in. (Photos to come of them playing with the giant-sized game board)

When the movie was over, we let the boys play in the science center for a little while, until David and I felt like we'd had enough. Then, it was time to see the model train set at the Center House. It's so awesome.

We were just about running out of time on our parking, so rather than re-feed the meter, we opted to drive off to free parking at The Old Spaghetti Factory, where Vincent was able to redeem his free birthday meal. We sat in the trolly, as usual, and two trains drove by while we ate. 

Yes, it was a train movie, then a model train exhibit, and real trains at lunch. A heavenly morning for Tyler. It was alright for Vincent, too. He claims, "I still like trains, but I don't love trains."

The remainder of the day we spent at home. We put up the Christmas tree, at leftovers from Thanksgiving, and then put ornaments on the tree after dinner.

David and I ended the evening with online shopping for the boys' gifts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent our Thanksgiving dinner down in Federal Way with our family away from family, the Hutyras. As always, they are so warm and welcoming to me, and now my family. AND, they love to get our boys nice and wound up! 

We feel so blessed that when we are not near our families, we are still welcomed with open arms into another. The treat us like their own, and it means so much. Heck, I treat them like my own! 

MOD Kids

Vincent didn't have school today because of Thanksgiving so he joined Tyler at Discovery Bay at the gym this morning. They were pretty good, according to Nicole. They were playing together when I picked them up, and it was only then that they started to bicker over a toy.

My original plan for after the gym was to take them to a pizza place that's on the way to our house. The problem was that Tyler was snacking on Cheerios. I only packed them fish crackers knowing we'd eat right after, but TyTy gets those gals to give him Cheerios when he runs out of snacks. Oh boy. 

Not knowing what to do until lunch, I drove us around Capitol Hill until I came up with a plan. We went to the bank, then to the library. Vincent picked out about 4 books based on the illustrations. Yup, he's definitely my son. He would pick the book, ask me what it's called and then set it in our pile. Tyler looked for train books, but couldn't find any. We asked for help and walked out with two that we haven't seen before.

Okay, now lunch. And, the pizza joint, MOD, was just around the corner from the library. I love Capitol Hill. We all ordered Mini MODs and I had a salad. I knew I'd be eating some parts of the kids' pizzas, too, so I didn't order a regular size. Regular sized ones aren't super big, either, but the minis are perfect. I actually ate a lot, if I stop and think about it. I had a protein bar after my workout, then my mini pizza, a salad, and parts of Tyler's crust. The boys ate about 90% of their pizzas. Impressive.

 Ty's doing a little jig here.

 V's been working on his wink.

My happy eaters!

After Ty finished eating, he got up a did a little dance to the music. And, when everyone was all done, we split a vanilla milkshake 3 ways for the road. Talk about a couple of delighted children.

Getting Ready For Belt Testing

Vincent's karate school is having their belt testing next week. I think this means that they Vincent will have a chance to move from a white belt with a black tip to a white and yellow striped belt. Not sure, though. They have to perform a 10-move sequence to pass the test. Let me tell you, the kid has gotten SO much better since he started in October, but "coordination set" is a lot for a little guy to remember. And, he gets mixed up with which side to kick and punch. Nonetheless, there have been great improvements and he loves this activity. 

As you can see, Vincent gets a little mixed up with his arms and legs, but he's trying hard and paying attention. And, this is just half of what they have to do. I didn't quite get the rest, but it's a bunch of kicking that he's got down. And, there will be a bonus set of moves they can do.

Along with the testing, there will be an all school graduation ceremony at the end of next week. With demos and such. How cool is that?! Yes, I'll be posting that footage next week.

Furnace, Pie Making, Playing

There's been a strange noise coming from our furnace the past week. David stayed home from work so we could have someone come out to look at it. I happened to walk into the basement as the guy was saying, "and when that happens, your furnace is done." WHAT?! I stay calm, pretend like I'm not listening, but I must've looked concerned because he quickly said, "Yours is not there." Whew! We had a part that was cracked in three spots that needed to be replaced. And, he gave us a quote for what it would cost to replace the whole thing completely, and said that ours probably has another 3 years on it. Double whew!

At noon, I dropped by my friends house for a pie making demo from local coffee shop owner and pie maker, Dani Cone. Dani is the mastermind behind Fuel Coffee and High-5 Pies. She's hip, creative, been on the Martha Stewart show, and so super down to earth and nice. I was only able to stick around long enough to see how to works her ingredients into a dough, and how she creates her cute-cute crusts. 

Ooh, and while I was there, I got to hold a 4-month old baby girl and I made her belly laugh more than her mom has ever heard her do. 

Then, it was time to go pick up Vincent and Taylor. Yes, you read that correctly, Taylor, Vincent's school friend. Tyler was in daycare today (which he had the best drop off to date). The boys got right into the house and played with Ninjago Legos. They actually play too long at it. I offered to play a card game with them when I heard them talking about cleaning up. To my surprise, Vincent responded, "Yeah, but first, can I please have a snack?" So polite. The boys ate their snack while I peppered Taylor with a bunch of questions like, "What's your favorite thing to eat?" or "What's your favorite color?" He loved answering my questions, and Vincent loved listening. 

We played a couple of games of Frank's Zoo, which Taylor already knew how to play! I did my best to let each boy win, but Vincent actually does have some strategy, to my surprise, so he actually won both games. Of course, I think I would have totally whooped them both if I wasn't trying so hard to lose. Uh-huh.

After dinner, the boys played Zingo with David and then we all played more Frank's Zoo. This is the kind of playing I can do with my kids...not battling.

Now Relax

Yesterday was actually not that stressful, overall, given how busy I was. I just had to be in three places back-to-back.

Today, we had to be nowhere. The boys were invited across the street for a birthday party at 2pm. We were going to have their kids come over for the morning so that the mom, Allison, could get the place ready for the party. Since Tyler just got better this morning, but was still super snotty, we thought it best to keep other kids away from the house for now. So, we had no plans.

I made those waffles! Tyler helped me a little, but he was coughing and snotty so we had to stop a lot to blow, wipe, and sanitize. Ugh. 

After waffles and cleaning up, we took the kids to QFC. Vincent was dropped off at the daycare while Tyler rode around in the cart with us. Groceries done, now lunch. Oh wait, here's a little video from just before we left the house:

Did he do it?

Apparently, he lost because the ninja fell off.

David and I had already decided on where we were going to eat, without telling the kids, but when I asked Tyler what he wanted to eat, he said, "noodles and soup." That's exactly where we were going! Boom: they have noodles and soup, and other stuff, too. Ty requested the green beans as well, and was happy to use his kids' chopsticks to eat them.

Tyler also said that Vincent would like apples with his meal, which meant that Tyler remembered that apples come in the bento box, what Vincent always gets. Until today. He chose to have a chicken ramen, just like Tyler. And, he went on to eat the whole thing! Check out our hungry boy. Hehehe, I like how this picture makes him look tiny. 

Back on Miller Street, Tyler took a nap, Vincent and David went to the birthday party, and I surfed the Net for Black Friday deals (just for fun). There was a magician at the party. Vincent got to participate. 

Yes, the man with the Sponge Bob shirt was the magician. David said he was really good, even if a little non-magician looking. Vincent ate it up. And, then when they got home, he tried to do his own magic show for us. Cute.

Dinner tonight, chicken or beef nachos. Vincent's idea. And, my idea: Brussels sprouts with carrots, shallots, and bacon. 

My Nonstop Day

The day started with Tyler waking around 2am due to his congestion from his cold. I comforted him for a while, then we all went back to sleep. Then, he was up again, but I don't know the time. David went to check on him and he had wet through his diaper on to his bed. Changed him, etc., went back to sleep. Around 6:30am, Ty woke, again, and we brought him to bed with us. He did fall back to sleep, but I pretty much laid awake until Vincent came down about an hour later. 

I got out of bed and had a bee in my bonnet (I get those a lot) for homemade waffles. So, I pulled out the iron, my recipe and the ingredients. Then, I saw the time. Darn. We have to get to Chinese school. 

Unfortunately, we only had about 30 minutes. This included getting Vincent dressed, myself dressed both of us fed, and driving there. And, I didn't want to go back into our room to get my clothes because I didn't want to wake David and Tyler.

We eventually did all those things, made it to class a half our late, and Vincent managed to completely piss me off on the ride there. That boy has little patience, and even less respect for me. Or, so it seems. 

While Vincent was in class, David texted me, asking if I could send a picture of myself waving. Apparently, when I pulled out of the garage, Tyler was upstairs looking out the window and waving to me, the way he always does if I leave somewhere without him. I failed to notice and drove off without waving back. He was very upset over this and dwelled on it for a long time. Again, love the iPhone. I sent a picture of me waving, and David sent one back of Tyler.

That's all it took to put him in a better mood. Cute.

After Chinese school, I brought Vincent home, loaded up some stuff I needed for a "catering" gig, and stuffed my face with a microwave burritos, before dashing out the door. 

This catering gig wasn't really that. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to my friend, Irma, at the gym that if she knows anyone looking to do small parties and need food made, please consider letting me know. Especially with the upcoming holidays, I figured I may be able to pick up a couple of gigs here and there. Maybe. 

So, Irma hired me to cook risotto for a bridal shower. I made two kinds: plain and mushroom. I haven't made risotto in a long time. Yum, it was tasty. I felt proud.

Soon as I finished cooking, I rushed off, again, to go cook some more, at Lark. Tonight, I made individual cheesecakes, peeled and poached prawns, peeled and cut carrots, and then I got called up to help out on the line. 

This is exciting stuff, if not a little stressful. The thing is, I used to help out like this all the time back in the day. No, I used to be the one cooking, plating, rushing around, looking like a bad-ass-rockstar-cooker. Now, it's 25 year old Evan. He's good. But, it's so exciting to be in the middle of it all, called to back them up. The stressful thing about it was that I didn't want to mess up and make it worse for them. Thankfully, at the end of the night, the servers said, "I think you really helped them a lot tonight." And, the angels sang, "Aaaahhhhhhh!"

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, David and the boys had corn dogs and a burrito for lunch. Tyler didn't take much of a nap, because he was having trouble with his cough. The boys hung out and played a lot. They ordered Indian food to be delivered for dinner ( www.eat24hours.com ), played some more, then watched T.V. and had popcorn. The boys made sure that David saved me some naan and basmati rice. So sweet.

Seattle Outing

What am I saying? It's a Seattle outing everyday. But, we were mini tourists in our own city this morning. 

First, we went to the gym. Vincent still enjoys going there, but is wondering now when he will be able to take David's iPad with him to the daycare. Yes, the older kids get this type of privilege. He's not old enough, in my opinion.

Next, we went to the science center. We had just missed the seating for Happy Feet 2 by 10 minutes. They don't let people enter after the show has begun. So, we went to check out the exhibits, but Tyler complained, and I wasn't really into it either, so we left. We rode the monorail downtown for lunch. 

The boys enjoyed the monorail, but look frightened. Or, at least, Vincent does.

Ty has a cold. I could tell he was running out of steam. It was about nap time anyway, so we headed home. He passed out in the car, woke up when I was changing him to tell me he didn't want to sleep with socks on. He was able to fall back to sleep, until a car alarm went off outside. Poor kid. I went up to comfort him and he fell back to sleep, again. I think Vincent is napping, too. He looked tired as well. I think he may be starting to catch the cold, too, so is getting run down. Plus, it's about 39 degrees outside today. Brrrrrrr.

Family Games

Not too much happened today. Of course, plenty happens, but not much to report. 

Vincent went to preschool. Tyler went to the gym daycare. I worked out at the gym. Vincent had karate in the afternoon. I made dinner. We ate dinner. Same ol', same ol'. 

Oh, Ty and I did go to Trader Joe's real quick. He wanted to go for a sample, but didn't like the offering. And, I dropped Vincent off at karate today, rather than staying to watch. I took Ty up to Walgreens to buy a bunch of cards for the many birthdays coming up.

After dinner, we sat at the dinner table and played a couple of rounds of Frank's Zoo. In fact, games have become something we are starting to be able to do together. Obviously, we let the kids have the advantage, but it's just fun to be able to do this kind of stuff with them now. I actually had an image of our life for the next 10 years flash before my eyes. Seriously, we are mostly each others' company now. Hopefully, we'll be able to do game night with other families soon, but we really have entered into the "family game night" times of our lives. It's exciting to me, to tell you the truth. Games are fun. Of late, Tyler's favorite is "Zingo" and Vincent's is "War."

Haircut and Gnocchi

The boys have been waking up before 7am just about every morning since the time change. They started going to bed a little earlier, so waking earlier is understandable. But, bedtime is back to 8/8:30pm, yet waking is before 7am. Even when he knows he needs to stay in bed until the clock says 7am, Vincent still wakes up, and checks out the time. This seems to rouse Tyler and then they whisper to each other until it's 7am. Sigh.

The upside of all this is that we actually make it out the door on time. No, wait, we don't. We are almost always 10-15 minutes late for school. Nevermind.

After dropping Vincent off at school, we headed to Columbia City to meet friends at the community center. We got there early, so we stopped to get coffee and pastries at Columbia City Bakery. After our mid-morning snack, as we headed to meet friends, we saw a car accident right in front of us, and a hit and run! Lucky for the victim, enough people saw and stopped to help out. I felt so bad for the guy because he clearly had no clue as to what to do.

As much as I love my boys having long hair, I didn't love the way Tyler's hair has been looking lately. I must've trimmed his bangs about 4 months ago, and it still looked like it was freshly done yesterday. And, the rest of his was starting to look much like a helmet.

Little bit dorky, eh?

No, my kids are not dorks! They get haircuts when needed and look like hip young men. I'm joking. Nonetheless, after the community center, he finally cooperated, sat on my lap, and was a total angel getting his hair cut. Look at him now.

This afternoon, Vincent had a play date at a friend's house. I didn't have to pick him up until 4pm. I've had a bee in my bonnet for homemade gnocchi. I bought a russet potato yesterday for such a thing, and with the extra time, I was determined to make it. So, I did!

Here's my recipe:

1 pound russet potato, steamed (I poked several times with a fork, wrapped it in foil, and baked it until it was soft)

3/4C all purpose flour (I used unbleached whole wheat white flour)

1 medium egg, beaten

salt to taste

*I also grated a little bit of parmesan cheese into the mix, probably only a tablespoon. Don't know if that was necessary, or even did anything.

Once the potato is soft, allow it to cool until you can handle it, but still hot. Peel it, then pass it through a food mill or ricer. Add the remaining ingredients and work into a dough. Pinch off a small piece and test it by cooking it in boiling water until it floats. It should hold it's shape, but not be hard. If it starts to fall apart, you need more flour.

Okay, I need to stop. This is where you will need to do a search on making gnocchi for the proper method of shaping. I don't think I can quite explain it eloquently (or correct) enough.

I was sort of a cooking machine this afternoon. All I managed to produce was one meal, but it was a mighty tasty one.

(Clockwise from top) Sauteed cabbage with onions and apples, whole wheat gnocchi with roasted acorn squash and basil puree, chicken breast poached in chicken broth, and Columbia City Bakery pretzel knot.

The kids ate up all their gnocchi and most of the squash, picked the apples out of the cabbage (they did try a bite each of cabbage), and Vincent finished his chicken but Tyler didn't. It's unusual because Tyler normally eats chicken like it's candy. Go figure.

After dinner, we all danced with the XBox. I rule that Dance Central.

Bedspread

I'm becoming more and more like my mother, so it seems. It's not a bad thing, as I saved us about 75% off a new bedspread this morning. No, it's not super high quality, super soft, Egyptian 1000 thread count cotton. That's just the thing, neither is the stuff my mom finds on clearance. But, from my personal experience, they've all been comfortable enough and lasted us a really long time. 

So, that's exactly it. I went to Macy's with Tyler in search of a new mattress pad and, if possible, a new bedspread. I almost purchased the one that was discounted from $400 to $98. It was one of those "8am-1pm" only deals. I thought I could do better. And, I did. I found a king, not queen, set on the clearance table, marked an extra 40% off. My mom does this, too. She'll buy a king size if that's all she can find, since it's such a good deal. In my defense, our mattress is super thick - something like 17". I figured I'd try it out and return it if it's too big. Then, I took it up to the register and dared to ask if I could use my coupon, too. The cashier said she didn't think so, but we could try. Cha-ching! $10 extra dollars off. On top of that, my mattress pad was and extra 40% off, and I had another $10 off coupon. Oh yes, my Mama taught me well. A $75 and a $95 saving. Boo ya!

Nice? Okay, looking at it from this picture, it's a little drab. I assure you, it's much nicer in person. Bad lighting.

I Forgot The Whipped Cream!

Just like any other Monday morning, we pulled up to Vincent's preschool, went inside, and started getting Vincent's stuff put in their specific places. As I was doing this, I noticed that it was extra chattery all around. I looked up and saw that the tables all had been set up for eating. Oh my gosh. Today was Vincent's volcano class pancake breakfast. And, I was in charge of bringing whipped cream. I sheepishly go over to the director, as she is cooking the pancakes, and tell her of my goof up. It was no big deal, but I felt like a doofus. Luckily, there were many, many choices in sprinkles that nobody seemed to miss the whipped cream. Ty and I stuck around for a few minutes before I remembered that I had a coffee date with a friend, and had to scoot.

 I dropped Tylie off at Panda and headed down the street to meet Hannah. We had a lovely chat over coffee and tea. Too soon, it was time to part. I went to PCC Natural Market to buy bread, and came out $60 poorer. Easy to do there. I came home to put the groceries away and have lunch. Before I knew it, it was time to pick Vincent up from school.

We spent the afternoon reading a the book from his human body kit that we go yesterday. We discussed the many organs of the body, then took the plastic model apart and put it back together again. We also drank hot cocoa. During part of the book, there was mention of exercising to stay healthy, and Vincent said, "Mommy, I want to exercise every morning." I asked him what kind of exercise he plans to do. He said running. Hmmm. Not in the house first thing in the morning. I suggested to him he do cherry pickers. We stood up, and I showed him how to do them. We did a set of ten. Then, I showed him how to properly do jumping jacks, something he has to do in karate.

By the time we were done, an hour and a half had passed. I still needed to work on getting dinner ready before picking up Tyler. On the ride south for Tyler, Vincent started to get tired, but did not fall asleep until I got out of the car and left him to wait. Yes, I know. But, it was for about 2 and half minutes. And, he fell asleep in that time. It was so cute: when Tyler got in, Vincent woke briefly to tell him that there was a gummy frog that he got for him from a friend at school.

Dinner tonight: for the kids, they had a chicken, mozzerella, and spinach quesadilla on a spinach tortilla. David and I had sauteed mushrooms and kale with pan roasted ling cod. Mmmm.

After dinner, I read Vincent his Kai, Ninja of Fire book, while David and Tyler played together. Oh my, the book is small and short, but there are no pictures, so it was actually pretty long to read out loud. I'm hoarse now. He did such a nice job listening. 

Better Than Bieber

A college friend of David's is in town: Justin. Oh, yeah, I think I mentioned that on Friday. But, thanks to Justin's visit, we had friends over for brunch this morning. Yes, we should do it more often, in general, but since we don't, I'm glad we had a reason today. There was lots of yummy food. Nate and Kate brought over bacon and Mighty O donuts, Zoe brought tons of fruit, Paul brought sausage and some eggs from his chickens, I cooked up some eggs that Paul brought the previous time he was here, and sausages, and John and Andrea brought hot cocoa fixins. 

I personally don't know Justin Bieber, but I know that our Justin is better, fo' sho'. 

My favorite part of this morning was when Vincent said to the guys, "Guys, I was thinking I wanted to have you all over for a play date, and now look, you're all here!" He gathered all the men, and one woman, and they were all going to have a ninja battle. He excluded all the moms. He said that I couldn't battle because I'm the "ninja cooker."

After everyone left, we all rested. Actually, the boys did. David raked leaves for a while, I swept and mopped the floors, and then David napped. 

For dinner, I made this beef stir fry with sliced flat iron steak that I had marinated a few days ago. I used sesame oil, salt, ginger, garlic and a touch of brown sugar. I rarely cook with cornstarch, but this was one of those dishes that could stand to have it. We ate it with brown rice. It was delicious, and the beef was super tender.

After dinner, we all tried to go to Barnes and Noble, but Tyler was misbehaving. He just wouldn't listen to David, so after one meltdown, he said he was going to be better, but then reverted to his messing around. Yes, he's only 2. But, his behavior needed to be addressed, and so he and David stayed home. It turned out nice, though, for us all. Vincent and I enjoyed each others' company at the bookstore, while David played trains with Tyler and gave him a bath. 

When we got to the store, there was stuff on clearance. I love a good bargain. So, we browsed, and found this science kit on the human body. It came with a clear plastic model of a human, with squishy body parts that you can take apart. There was also a book talking about the different parts. Vincent studied that thing for a while, and then asked if we could get it. It wasn't cheap, but it was on sale. I figured it's educational, so I caved. Now, I need to commit to exploring the human body with him. We actually have already because of this book I bought for him a couple years ago called, "Why We Eat." It talks about how food helps different parts of the body and how it gets used to keep us healthy. We also found him a Lego Ninjago book. It has a story about Kai, the Fire Ninja. We also got a book for Tyler, and some beginner math books for Vincent.

Ooh, and V and I had a dessert!

Unstoppable Energy

How does Vincent do it? It seems like he can run on so little sleep. I swear, since the time change, he hasn't been going to bed much earlier, but he's definitely waking earlier. It feels to me like he's losing about an hour of sleep a day. That seems like a lot to me. Plus, the kid barely rests in the middle of the day. I guess if I was actually getting 9-10 hours of sleep each night, I might feel as great as he does. Since I'm not disciplined enough to get to bed early, I don't get nearly as much sleep as I need. He did take a short nap today. Every few days it does catch up with him.

I went to work tonight. It was busy and fun.

I got to sleep in this morning. Thank goodness, cuz I woke up at 4am and couldn't fall back to sleep for 2 hours. Sheesh! David took the boys to Chinese school, dropped off Vincent, then went to Bellevue Square with Tyler. It's like their little routine now. They get coffee and breakfast at McD's, then head to the Microsoft and Apple Store for some tinkering around on computers.

11/11/11 Was Veteran's Day

Though it was a holiday today, the only place that seemed quieter than usual was the parking garage at the gym. The gym itself was about it's usual, but the daycare was full. All the regular parents that come to work out had brought their grade school aged kids along. It was good for Vincent because he had several older kids to hang out with. Normally, he's the big kid on Fridays.

Afterwards, we went to REI to return some stuff, play and eat lunch. Oh. My. Goodness. The place was so busy. The play area was especially crazy. We barely found a seat at World Wrapps, sitting up high on bar stools, crammed knee-to-knee from one another. The kids barely ate because they were so excited to join in on the playtime madness. I ran out of steam super quickly. 

Since the boys woke early, I didn't feel so bad about getting them to rest at an earlier time. Vincent didn't nap. He wanted to lay on the futon and just look at the sparkly wand he got from a birthday party last weekend. O-kay.

When Tyler got up from his nap, I let the boys watch some Curious George while I iced a cake that I made yesterday.

I was flattered when I let the boys eat the top of the cake that I cut off and Vincent loved it so much, he wanted seconds and Tyler's portion. Nice. Okay, not so flattered by Ty not liking it.

For dinner, we met up with friends at Naked City Brewery. It was surprisingly very full of kids. I think it must be the place where parents go to get a good pint with their kids. The food was decent, though the bread to my sandwich was wayyyy too hard. You know the kind of sandwich that make the roof of your mouth hurt. Tasty, though.

Vincent was shy for about, oh, 2 minutes. Then, quickly opened. This was a group of guys from Case Western getting together. One was visiting from out of town. He stepped out once to "get some fresh air." This is what we told Vincent when wondered where the other guys went. After that, he decided that he also wanted to get some fresh air with the guys next time. So, they did. They walked to the Mexican store down the block and looked at Spiderman pinatas with big bellies. There was also some ro-sham-bo happening at the table before our food arrived. OH! And, Vincent got everyone's attention to ask, "Who wants to take a picture of my light up shoes? Raise your hand." When Kate said she would be didn't have a camera, he responded with, "Yes, you do, you have your iPhone." Whoah-ho!

Some ro-sham-bo action.

Pumpkin Cupcake

Yesterday's pumpkin puree got turned into this:

Annoyed and Amazed

Ugh, I was annoyed with the boys this morning. Thinking back, now, I can't even really remember what for. Oh, they kept messing with each other when I was trying to do something real quick before taking V to school. I asked them to stop, which Vincent did, but Tyler didn't. So, I then say to Ty, "Come sit over here," pointing to a spot next to me on the floor. He was so sad about this, and wouldn't do it. I counted to three, and he didn't budge. I had to move him myself, which upset him even more. Oh geez. I was just trying to separate the two of them.

Luckily, the rest of our day was pretty good. Sometimes they can amaze me by just being themselves. 

This morning, Tyler put on my shoes.

I should also mention that when Ty and I drop V off at school, Ty makes a point of giving V a hug every time. I may not actually say, "bye," but it's implied. Vincent usually shrugs him off, but every once in a while, he'll notice and hug back. Today, I had to nudge him.

On our way to the gym, Tyler asked, "What are we doing after Pro Club, Mommy?" Cute. I didn't have a plan, but later decided to go to Costco. The sun was out, so we got a car wash, and we needed gas. Since we were there and had time, we went inside to browse...and eat samples. Hello, Lunch. Actually, just for Ty, I had eaten my packed lunch at the gym.

This afternoon, while Tyler napped, Vincent and I had a play date. My friend, Jean, brought her daughter, Serenna, over. Vincent loves her. They played so well together, and Jean and I got to sit and chat. At one point, S and V were under a blanket on the floor, and I saw V pucker up so big to give S a kiss. She was a little embarrassed, but let him kiss her on the cheek.

Vincent had karate today, too. Before we left, I told him that I'd really like to him work on focusing during class. He did great. He's improving each day. 

For dinner, we had balsamic chicken with mushrooms, and a butternut squash and apple soup (I made at our "community kitchen" night). The kids didn't love the soup, but Tyler really wanted a treat after dinner, so he finished his whole meal. Vincent just couldn't finish, and opted to give up his treat.

At bedtime, Vincent put on his new Spiderman jammies. When I went to get picture of him, he said, "Mommy, Spiderman doesn't smile."

There were some other pretty normal things that these kids did today that were amazing. Like, Vincent showing Serenna how to play the Frank's Zoo card game. Aren't they just amazing? 

Mommy Time

This morning, when Tyler asked, "Where am I going today?" I responded with, "I was thinking that you would just stay home and hangout with Mommy." He replied with, "Yay!"

Wow. I'm flattered.

We ended up at Pike Place Market, and then home for lunch, and made pumpkin puree together.

It's Tough Sometimes

Being a kid, that is. Well, parenting, too. 

Being a kid: Vincent woke up from his afternoon nap (I'm assuming he fell asleep), and struggled. He almost always does when he wakes from a nap. 

Parenting: Vincent woke right after Audrey arrived to take care of the boys the for evening. He was clingy and weepy, but also wanted to tell Audrey all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately, he had to wait his turn, as I needed to get her set up so I could leave. 

Being a kid: This makes Vincent very angry and he storms off into the living room, then stomps his feet, making loud protesting noises. This results in him being sent to his room to wait until I am finished talking to Audrey.

Parenting: More stomping and loud protesting noises coming from upstairs. Sigh. I go and clear up this mess, but have a very, very emotional, weepy boy on my hands. After much reassurance of my love for him, and that Mommy and Daddy just need to have to our own "play date," I can finally leave. But, feel like crap because he's still sad, even though he accepts his fate of being left with the sitter and his brother.

It's tough sometimes.

Hello Sunshine

I love a sunny, fall day in Seattle. It's gorgeous. I love that the leaves change colors here, but there are still so many evergreens. It's just lovely this time of year.

Tyler and I went to the gym this morning. He was only the tiniest bit clingy. When I was done, I decided that we needed to be outside. There's a decent sized playground near our gym with very few trees. This was ideal to get as much sunshine as we could. Ty was so pleasantly surprised when he saw me pulling up to the park. He ate a bit of his lunch first, then wanted to dig in the sandbox.

He's seriously getting to be such a big boy. I think the last time the boys were at this playground was over the summer. Tyler could barely even reach the handles of this digger. Even though he didn't quite get how to make this work as well as I did, he still managed to do some digging. Oh, they grow up so fast!

After some digging, he played on the big kid side of the playground, where I tried to help in with the monkey bars and accidentally dropped him from a couple of feet up. It freaked me out because of the way he landed. But, he was fine. Mostly just angry with me.  He played really well, and then finished the rest of his food. On the way out, he said to me, "I'm ready to have lunch now." Um, that was your lunch, kiddo. Since we had some time, I stopped to get coffee for me and a donut for him at Top Pot. Plain donut.

We picked up Vincent and his friend, Henry from school. Henry's dad met us there to lend us their booster seat for Henry. As he was illegally parked in the middle of the street and handing me the seat, the boys came out of the building. More like ran out. First thing Vincent yells at me was, "Mommy, I want Henry to come over for a play date!!" I told him he was, and then he so excited I couldn't get him to stop talking. Meanwhile, Henry has climbed up a tree and his dad is trying to get him down. While up there, I noticed he had poop on the bottom of his shoe. His dad didn't. I had to get the poop off, Vincent's still talking, Tyler's trying to get in on the action from his seat in the car, and Henry's dad's trying to say 'bye to Henry, etc. Then, Henry forgot his lunchbox, so we had to locate that. 

Finally, poop off, and boys loaded in. Oh wait, there seems to be poop on the shoe, still. Stinky ride home.

Tyler took a deep afternoon nap while V and H played...you guessed it, ninja Legos. After Henry left, I let my boys veg out to Super Why for 20 minutes while I quickly cut up some fixins for dinner. Then, we headed out to karate.

I could tell Vincent was tired because he was sort of wild at karate. It's a reverse effect on him when he's tired. There are some days when he gets disorganized and cranky when he's over-tired, and other days when he gets disorganized and excited when over-tired. Today was the latter. His teacher kept having to tell him to focus. On the up side, though, even though he's not 100%, or 85%, on his karate skills, he is showing improvement. Yes, even when he's disorganized.

Dinner tonight was whole wheat spaghetti noodles with cut up chicken/apple sausage, broccoli, and chopped parsley. Ooh, there were bits of pancetta in there, too. We also had sauteed Swiss chard on the side. Delicious meal.

What Happened Today?

Ever get like that at the end of your day? Where you sit down and think, "What happened today?" 

Monday. Oh yes, due to the time change, we were all up early, and managed to get our acts together so quickly that I left the house by 8:30am and took Tyler to daycare before Vincent to school. This is a first. And, my coffee date had to postpone to next week due to lice in one of her kids' hair, so my morning was wide open after dropping Vincent off.

I ended up at the gym, of all places. And, I've gained some weight. It's those darn candies from Halloween!! That Halloween Fairy better come and take them away soon. After the gym, I came home to have lunch and just chill out before dashing off to pick up Vincent.

Vincent accompanied me to this Chinese foot massage place. David and I have been there before. It looks shady from the outside, but it's totally clean and legit. A one hour massage is $25. Yeah, no kidding. It's not fancy, and you are fully clothed, but it's a good massage. No kidding. Vincent sat in a chair by the door and played games on my iPhone. God bless Steve Jobs.

Next, we went to QFC, practically next door, where Vincent spent time in their free childcare. I know, this is starting to sound like such a luxurious day for me, huh? I'll admit that it was pretty nice. I bought groceries without having any children demanding this or that, or "this way, Mommy!" We dropped the groceries off at home, then headed pick up Tyler.

Vincent totally conked out in the car about 3 minutes before we got there. He was out. He was even hard to wake when we got home. I think the time change caught up with him. Somehow, it has thrown us all off.

For dinner, we had the Tuscan bean soup from my cook-a-thon with the gals. If you like beans, this is a must make. It's so yummy. Even the kids ate it all up. I served theirs with whole wheat noodles. It's a little spicy, so Vincent didn't eat as much, but Ty gobbled it up.