Ring Ding a Ding

This past Saturday my dear, darling Oscar Valenzuela turned 12. As is usual for Oscar, he opted out of any sort of friend/class party and instead chose to be with just the family. His dad was here and spent most of the day shuttling him around to some favorite spots. Donut shop, laser tag, skating.
Oscar has really matured a lot this past year. He still loves his Legos, but now it is more about what he can create and how he can modify the kits rather than the play that usually happens once they are built. He has developed quite a sense of humor. We have had so much fun together these last few months. He definitely is very much like his dad but I am happy that he has picked up quite a bit of Sheppard as well.
He is so smart. I appreciate that his knowledge extends to most any subject. He is an entrepreneur and has started many business endeavours in this past year. The most recent has been a shoe shining business. He built himself a shoe shine kit with a little help from Pete. Being the shrewd businessman that he is, he negotiated a limited number of free shines for the supplies.
He is a generous and loving brother. Lately he has learned to stand his ground and not be guilted into "lending" money to his sister. The ironic thing is that he usually saves up all his money just so he can buy his sisters and brothers presents at Christmas.

He has been a very good influence on Olive. His patience with her is endless and he has mastered the art of distracting her from her tantrums. She adores him and made him this pillow all by herself( I just helped with the sewing machine). Her best drawing yet!
I have made Oscar a blanket for each of his birthdays for the past 5 or so years. I usually stick with the flavor of the week. Pokemon, Star Wars, there was a McDonald's theme a few years back. This year I went for something a little more academic. The periodic table of elements is now a regular part of my dreams. This was truly a labor of love. It is so hard to keep a secret from Oscar. I spread some false rumors around the house as I am wont to do now and then. This led him to believe that there was no way I had time to finish a blanket this year. I was happy he was surprised and liked it. He also received an amazing rock tumbler from Grandma Cathy and a cool fossil collecting set and tons of fossils from Grandpa Pat. A microscope and Lego's and Nerf. I also bought him a watch that he wanted so bad. A "real" watch. "Not digital mom, it has to have hands."

So Happy Birthday Oscar!One more year until you are a teen. I can only imagine what that will be like. If you continue to be as disciplined and responsible as you are now I am guessing it will be nothing like my teen years. Also, if you keep doing your exercise routine that you keep in your wallet for nightly use, you will also be very healthy. I love you O.R.!! FWA!!!!

Home Alone

The kids and I have been spending a lot of time without Pete this month due to his busy traveling schedule. It has been a really long adjustment period, as Pete pointed out. I feel like we do really well on our own. Breakfast, lunch and dinner still happen. Books and books are read, homework done, the kids are bathed and teeth are brushed, did I already say we read books?. we have come up with our own "without dad" routine. I enjoy the evenings and like a little time at night to sew or read and not feel like I am keeping anyone up.This is not to say that I don't have my moments. A few really. We miss him a lot. Luckily, Hans is a great impressionist and plays the part well. I guess it's lucky for him that it's Dad traveling and not me.
My original plan in adopting Spike was to have a lookout dog. He earned his keep this week, that is all I will say. We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday and he was not pleased. He barks at it and shook his feet at every step. I think this may be a long winter for him.

Olive was so happy. She immediately changed into full snow regalia.
It barely dusted and only stuck for about an hour and a half but she was fully entertained just by making tracks. This was great for me because for the last couple of months she has stuck to me like glue. She requires complete, undivided attention if there are no siblings around and even then it is only a momentary reprieve. Most of the time I have to watch her paint or call out letters or shapes for numbers for her to write. I introduced her to a stash of paint with water books I had and they are extremely popular although she has no idea who the snorks or monchichis are. Her favorite activity by far is dancing. Dancing outfits are a must, the living room must be cleared and she also has strict musical requirements. Namely, Spongebob Squarepants or Sound of Music. This is one of her favorite things. Want to know a few of mine? Let me tell you in the form of a new list.
Five of a few of my favorite things(right now).

#1. Our myriad of pets. Spike, Hans' bird Isabella, Max the turtle, the caterpillars we are growing into painted ladies and our 5 Mexican jumping beans, who apparently can live for up to three years.

#2. Western Barbie. I had her when I was younger and recently found her at the DI. I am not letting anyone play with her which is causing drama because she winks! A big blue eye-shadowed 1980's wink.

#3. Winco. I had never shopped there until Alex turned me on to them. We had one in Washington and I loved it. I was sad when we moved and had to give up both Winco and Trader Joes. But then a great thing happened. They opened two new ones this past week here! Now if I can get a Trader Joes and a Grocery Outlet(I like their cheese selection), I will be happy.

#4. My "Ladies Knife". When I bought my Bernina a couple of years ago I poured over every piece of paper it came with. When my eyes landed on this pocket knife I knew it had to be mine. As is customary for me I put my good vibes out and waited for one to find me. When we were in Sequim last visit we went to a garage sale where we actually lined up and waited. They let only a few people inside at a time so there was no crowding. When it is an older persons home there is usually some sort of a sewing area and this lady had a whole room. There were several people in there already but my eyes fell to a little black box. One brand new Bernina swiss army knife. It has done me well and this past week of Halloween costume making it has been a dream come true.

#5. My house. I love my home. I have such plans for it. Mostly I just love that we have a comfortable, happy place to live in and I am grateful to Pete for providing for us. I especially love my room with all of my things and all of my mess.

I know I left out the obvious kids and husband. I feel that it was an assumed favorite thing. What about you?

HALF GANGSTER

Pete and I are back from our trip. We spent a couple of days in San Diego at this hotel. It was almost exclusively older, retired couples which is why I will refer to it as "the old folks home". We really enjoyed it though, it was quirky and comfortable. Mostly it was nice to be just the two of us. We never took a honeymoon and have had maybe two or three nights without kids in the last almost seven years. We spent a lot of time in Old Town, mostly because it was right at the transit center but it was also really fun and interesting. We did a lot of walking. On Tuesday we took the railway to Tijuana. We walked the hell out of that place. I was determined to find this market. After a great amount of walking we finally headed into this shop. Not only did I find some great things, but the owner and his wife were so friendly. We stayed and chatted with them for quite awhile and he gave us a great map and told exactly how to get to the market. His wife and I talked about our favorite saints and reminded me so much of my Grandma. I left there with a couple of treasures but my favorite is this picture of Anima Sola, who will now go over my fireplace. I think she is beautiful although this picture is not great.
Following that we headed over to the market to collect some treats for the kids. Pete wisely chose these for the boys and we have been watching puppet shows ever since. I am hoping Oscar will use this to annoy his friend who lives down the street. His father is Latin and when he learned Oscars middle name was Valenzuela he asked Oscar if he was Latin also. Oscar advised him that his mother is half Mexican. The boy turned to me and replied"no offense, all the Mexicans I know are either gangsters or drug dealers." Yeah, but does your culture have these puppets?
We also brought back some classics. Lucky rabbit foot,sugar skulls, candy cigarettes. Hans was stoked on the Mexican paper.

Olive got a ring.
I am happy with my "skells".

And we got some great Halloween decorations. All in all a much needed break and fun,fun,fun. I have to thank Tara and Kim for taking the kids and the dog, respectively. I really appreciate it and it was nice to know that they were so well cared for. Now, onto the rest of Pete's vacation. I will post a list tomorrow!!

Tea Party.

Isn't it funny that when you are driving back home from a trip it always seems longer? It may have something to do with three kids and no "backseat" parent. We had such a nice time with Pete. The highlight for Olive was the dinners. Hans' was breakfast and they all LOVED the pool. We hit as many thrift stores as Olive could handle but no great finds.
This picture is an accurate depiction of Oscar over the last few days. He is a hyper-hypo or a gloomy gus. Not much in between. All of his muscles ache and I can see the beginnings of a breakout on his forehead. Definite awkward age. I think this will be hard for Oscar because he really loves being a kid. I mean really.
Case in point? This morning he organized a tea party. I think the initial reason is that he really loves tea and where as his Dad has tea several times a day, I do not all that often. Secondary was keeping Olive entertained so that she would stay away from the paper airplane air force that is currently residing downstairs. Hans decided a tie, jacket and pocket scarf was in order.
I love this about Oscar. He is a sweet boy. He kisses me goodnight every night without fail. Pete too. I do not feel this is odd or that a boy of his age needs to toughen up. Sometimes Pete mentions this and I know that it is because he loves Oscar and doesn't want to see him pushed around. I really want to help him make the transition to teenager painless but I don't want that to involve him giving up the person he is. Luckily he is not self conscious at all and once again I feel like I put way more thought into these things than the kids do. One thing that Oscar has always been obsessed with is sticks and rocks. Ask anyone that knew Oscar between the ages of 1 and 4 and they will tell you he always had at least one stick with him. He and Hans have a renewed interest in rocks and fossils. So along the way back home I had to make several stops at possible collection sites. I was happy to do it because it made the kids happy but we also had a chance to make Olive forget the last song that she requested demanded over and over.

This brings me to a new list. I wasn't sure if I should attempt a return yet again but luckily Kim helped push me in that direction. It's been awhile so I feel we could maybe repeat some. But, for today I would like to list our current 5 favorite travel songs, based on this last trip.

1. Sixteen Going on Seventeen. Olive is heavily into Sound of music right now. I am required to watch her dance to this song no less that three times a day.

2. Paper Planes by MIA. I love this song. Not aimed for kids but they came up with some pretty sweet choreography and even Oscar took part in that.

3. I Saw the Light by Hank Williams Sr. This Hans' all time favorite song and always his first
request.

4. Raz by Tim and Eric. Just in case you click on this link, the kids just know the song. I love Tim and Eric but it is not for kids. I have the album though and a few songs they love.

5. A Lot of Moving by The Avett Brothers. I believe my sister Alex is in love with these boys. After her several testimonials I added them on my Zune and I really like a lot of their songs. The kids liked this one a lot and it became our trip anthem. Olive is particularly obsessed and knows all the words. Oh, and do not feel threatened Alex, my current raging crush is this guy.

My own private Idaho.

Tonight we are lounging around,waiting for Chinese food to be delivered to us at our hotel. The kids and I drove up here to Nampa yesterday to meet Pete. he is helping to open up a new store and will be here a week. We decided to take advantage of his king suite and pool access. I am so grateful that Pete has not only a great job, but all these extra perks that we get to take advantage of. The boys have the next two weeks off as a fall break and thrilled to be out of school for a bit. The ride up was fun, Oscar must have danced in his seat for a couple of hours. I was given the distinct honor of driving Petes car and the kids were so happy. Upon arrival we headed straight for the pool. We ordered a great pizza and watched Marley and Me which ended with us all missing Spike who is staying with Aunt Kim(thanks!). Today we hit the home show that was taking place in the Idaho Center behind the hotel for the specific purpose of getting as much free candy as we could handle. Mission accomplished and we were back to the pool. Tomorrow Pete will be back at the store and the kids and I plan on discovering all the thrift stores there is to be offered here. Then a stop at the museum of mining and geology for these rock obsessed boys. I am also hoping to grab a cup of coffee with a friend from high school that lives up here. Then we will head back, Pete- less for a few days of Halloween preparations. Next week will be a week off for Pete. We are taking a few days away together. No kids. I am pretty excited about the idea but know that once it is time to go I will hate to say goodbye to them. I know this is a pretty boring post but I am determined to get back to my regular posting. Well, that king bed is calling me. Cable television awaits. See you in a few days with some Idaho vacation photos!

My girl.

I will be the first to admit that I have it a little easy. Siobhan is, for the most part, a really good girl. She doesn't smoke,drink or do drugs. She has worked really hard at keeping her grades up this year. She doesn't skip classes or show up late. She is a good, loyal friend. She is fun and outgoing and makes a lot of friends. When the mood hits her she can be really helpful. Despite all these things I feel that there is a daily conflict. She pushes things, but isn't that kind of the job of a young adult? I give Siobhan a lot of freedom. I trust her and I pray that she will always make good choices and be a good person. I make rules for her safety. Some might think I let her get away with a lot or let her mature a little too fast.
Tonight I am reflecting on all this in the wake of a car crash that took the life of one of Siobhans friends this week. It has been on my mind all day. I pray for the mother, who survived the crash. I think of all the things that I would want to be able to say to my child if I knew it would be the last thing that day. Do I really want it to be about how messy her room was or how her attitude needs to change? No doubt there will be always be something for us to argue about but for tonight I am going to think about how lucky and grateful I am that I have a daughter to test me and to love me. And no matter how embarrassing I will continue to tell my kids that I love them at every parting.

Now, because I have been away so long I feel like I can't leave it on a sad, melancholy note, so here is this.......

For Mom and anyone else that cruises by here.

Yep, it's been awhile. Much has happened in our lives, as I'm sure it has in yours. I will be honest and say that these past couple of months have been difficult for me. I haven't had much desire to get on and post about anything. It is difficult for me to feel a slump coming on. Usually Pete tries to hope for the best and give me a little space but then I can feel myself affecting everybody else's mood in the house. Finally, the bottom and back to the doctor for me. I have been on medication for depression and anxiety for 6 years now. It feels like a constant struggle to maintain and cope. I have done therapy as well for you pill naysayers. Since I have started my new duo I have felt a million times better and it is such a relief to feel excitement over things I thought would never hold my interest again. I think the best part though is letting go of the things that I felt were important and have now realized have no place in my life. I will say once again, I am so grateful for Pete and the kids, Spike too.
I have enjoyed Facebook in the past couple of months for the ease in catching up on everybody and maybe throwing up a picture or two but then I remembered that I have family and friends that don't Facebook. Yes there are really those people out there. So , here comes a barrage of photos to catch you up on us.
The kids have been outdoors for three months now. They watch TV maybe 2 hours in a week. Big improvement. They all have bunches of friends and have started several different clubs and a neighborhood patrol. Olive has learned to ride a two wheeler. Now that she has mastered that Hans has had to one up her by trick riding and once he gets a good start will ride his bike standing on the seat. I am sure Olive will attempt this soon.
We did do some camping this summer. We wen to Yellowstone with the Sculleys which was the highlight of my summer. I would love to share the photos but I am saving them for a special purpose. The boys did some whittling.
And there was some fishing at the Lindgren family campout.
Even Olive gets in on that.
We went to the zoo a lot. There were a great number of babies born this summer. Our last visit was the best. We met the Jeremy and Annisha and the kids and were able to catch the most anticipated baby of all.
Baby elephant!
School started early, in August and the boys have enjoyed it. Olive is eagerly anticipating Kindergarten (I'm not). Hans loves his class and his teacher and has done really well. He is in Chess club and we have been regularly playing on his Lord of the Rings chess set. Next stop? Dungeons and Dragons!
Oscar tested for the Extended Learning Program after his first couple of weeks in 6th grade. He made it in and has never been happier. He is also in the chess club as well as the Lego League.


Another big step for Oscar was this.....
Finally, a haircut. He is so handsome.
Siobhan started high school this year. Yeah, that's right, I am that old. She is doing very well....knock on wood.....the fact that I can check daily on her assignments and grades is a huge motivator.
She went to homecoming with a friend. She had been asked by several boys but turned them down since they were not "the" boy. Isn't she beautiful.

Spike has adjusted well. I absolutely adore him. He drives me insane when he runs off and won't come back or when he barks at everything that moves beyond our front door but I forgive him that for the joy he brings us. Well, five of the six of us.
.This weekend we lit our fire place for the first time. It is cold here and snow has fallen on the mountains and a little in the city. I am happy for the change in seasons and looking forwards to the holidays.

For The Girl Who Has Brothers

I'd like to start with a belated birthday to Pete. Yankee Doodle turned 34 on the 4th. He had 4 days off and we went to Wendover for an overnight trip. WITHOUT KIDS. There was a king sized bed and no kids and no dog to sleep in it with us. There was Keno and free drinks and plenty of people watching. Oh yeah, we even went to the pool and didn't have to carry anyone around on our backs as we swam.
On the actual birthday we went to the Syracuse Lindgrens (Pete's brother Jeremy and Annisha). It was so nice of them to have all of us over and the kids had a blast. Can you believe that this isn't even all of the cousins?
Now, onto my title subject. Little Miss Olive is surrounded by boys. All of the neighborhood kids are boys. She holds her own and has a lot of fun playing with them. They are up and at each others doors by 9AM and not back in the house until 9PM or sometimes later. There has not been one fight or argument. There has been no TV at all. Nintendo DS was brought out once and was not even played for 5 minutes before being abandoned on the lawn. There is too much bike riding and Star Wars play to be had. Barbie has been quickly replaced with He-Man, Master of the Universe. He is only the most fierce action figure and once he is put down you have lost him to Hans. I am hoping to eventually find him a She-Ra so that Olive can make them get married.
Another favorite boulevard activity is army day, recently created by Hans and his BFF that lives across the street. His Dad is in the Air Force and his coming home is a huge occasion. The kids LOVE the uniform. So, they declared July 15, army day and advised all the kids that there would be refreshments and to wear your camouflage. What's a girl to do? BEG Mom, who happens to keep a supply of camo fabric on hand. I was a little concerned about what Army day would entail. Luckily it was all treats, water balloons and face paint.
We wrapped it up with a much anticipated trip to Build A Bear with Magnolia. While the kids had fun, they have a hard time leaving our house for more that an hour. There is too much to do on the Boulevard. What a summer.

The Measure of My Dreams

On our 7th anniversary I feel this song best captures my feelings for you Pete. Happy Anniversary! I love you.

Working For A Living

Well, we are settling into dog ownership quite nicely. I do think that I need to take him to training. He chases cats and barks at funny things. Hans is in heaven and is so glad the adoption is complete after the three day trial. Hans has been really funny and emotional lately. Also, he has chosen some really interesting outfits.
He has been riding his bike a lot and is so proud that he rides a two wheeler. Today we took the dog for a good walk and he and Oscar rode their bikes. Last night Hans watched Get a Life with Oscar and spent all night talking about getting a job delivering papers. I do mean all night, he talks in his sleep. He woke this morning telling me how rested he was for an interview and first day on the job. He was not pleased that I didn't give him a ride to the Tribune but instead folded and rubber banded the City Weekly and delivered them to all our neighbors. He still hasn't bought my story of my past in the newspaper business. Guess he doesn't think I'm cool enough.

Hans, being Petes son, tries to make a stop at Club Expose. Dancers and TV sports? What more can you ask for.

I think we may have worn the dog out.

I had an appointment this afternoon and when I returned home this was how I found Hans. Oscar did the artwork. A little red on the cheeks and nose for the cold effect.

I'm not sure what effect the beard was trying to convey but I'm pretty sure that the tattoos were to hopefully give it a little masculine feel. Here he is trying to make the snake on his arm move.

And because Olive cannot stand to be upstaged she insisted on the same exact number of photos of just her.



Just in case you were curious, she also watched Get a Life, and is also a graduate of the Handsome Boy Modeling School.