Roadrunner

Ten years ago today we lost my grandma. You may remember a little about her from my previous posts. She is the biggest influence on my life, even to this day. Not one single day goes by that she is not thought of or talked to or about. Lately, I have caught a few minutes here or there of her favorite soap operas and can hear her talking about these people that she came to know. This was her vice. She did not leave the house until they had all finished and the mail had come. The one exception to this was vacation. She took vacation with us every summer. We had a pretty standard routine. Laughlin, Yuma,Phoenix,Bisbee (where she grew up) and the capper, Disneyland. Through Arizona and Nevada she stayed in the hotel and watched her soaps, made friends with fellow hotel guests and let me and my sisters sleep in her bed. She always brought a train case packed with anything you could think of medicine wise. At Disneyland she rode few rides. Pirates of the Carribean, Small world and the Haunted Mansion . After an exciting day of rides for us the best part was still to come. We would find Grandma at her bench on Main Street, shopping bags pooled at her feet. We'd head back to the hotel and she would unveil all the treasures she had found for us.
Eating out was so fun. She was partial to Tom Tates, where she was almost thrown out for feeding us off of her plate from the buffet. And Sambos, anyone remember that? I wish these prices were current......
As I get older, I am more and more grateful to my parents for making that possible. Family vacations are great memories and they are made all the more special for the fact that Grandma was a part of them. This has been on my mind recently as we get ready for our vacation at the end of this month. I am filled with love and admiration for my husband for allowing me to continue these memories with my children. My mom will be here two weeks from today to go away with us. Our kids are so happy that Grandma will be with us and I am so happy to follow in my mothers footsteps. With every passing year, she becomes more and more like her mother. It makes Grandmas being gone a little more bearable when I am reminded so much of her by my mama. I hope that my kids will look back on this time in their lives and remember how much they are loved as I do. I miss you so much Grandma and when we buckle in for our trip this month I know you will be with us too. All my love always, Matilda

Fort Lindgren

When we moved into our house we had this big, unruly tree stump. We weren't sure what to do with it. It was half dead and collected all the trash that blew through the alley. Well, this weekend Pete was ambitious and started cutting away at it. Our neighbor offered to help pull it out using his truck next weekend. Well, guess what has way more power and weight behind it. Me. After a small misstep, I fell on the center and guess what? Huge chunks of it fell off. Although my self esteem was bruised for a moment, I quickly recovered some pride when I realized that I am becoming more video game like in real life. I liken it to stomping on a question block, Super Mario style.
The hole we now have has been a bonanza for the Boulevard Boys. They carefully arranged all the dead stumps and made it into a fort. All good forts need a sentry.
Of course when the crowd gets real rowdy, a shovel comes in handy. Hopefully the weather turns nice again tomorrow and they can get a little bit more use out of it before all the debris is hauled away this weekend. The bonus is all the extra room we will have for the garden this summer. Or maybe, I will finally convince Pete how badly we need chickens. On another note, the boys school had family night tonight. We attended three different seminar/classes. One on homework routines,one where we just did yoga(Hans refused participation) and one on bedtime routines. Not surprisingly, Hans is not getting enough sleep. I really enjoyed what we learned and the activities they had for the kids. Olive was willing to go to the childcare room and enjoyed it.
It was fun to see some of the kids from the boys classes with their parents. Unfortunately, Pete always seems to be out of town during school functions and I have had more than one person ask if I am a single mom. One of them was one of the four lesbian couples I met this evening. I love that my kids go to such a diverse school. It is truly a mixed bag there and I like that my kids have learned so much about other races and religions. I do have to say that there were a few kids that my heart absolutely ached for. They looked so sad and alone. One boy, Oscars age ate dinner with his mom, who had headphones on the entire time, listening to her Ipod. I wanted so bad to ask if he would like to sit with us. Absent was a student from Hans' class that had asked if I could take her to family night with me. I would have too. Oh, some of those kids keep me up at night wondering about them. Pete's lucky that I listen to him, or else we would have a house of kids. More than we do already that is. Let's leave this evening on a light note. Food picture! It's been awhile, huh?

Johannes Peter Lindgren - Age 7

Hopefully he will grow in the same teeth his Dad has now.

Boys

I grew up in a house that consisted of mainly females. The oldest of three girls, I led a charmed life where no little boys were around to ruin the atmosphere. We played Barbies and kitchen. We loved to play school with the dozens and dozens of obsolete textbooks my Grandma would buy for us. We played Ms. America with bags of fabric. Wrapping them around us like a strapless dress and taking turns walking through Grandmas front door so she could applaud for us. We once came up with a great idea when some of our parents friends were visiting with their three boys from Australia. Playing county fair allowed for a kissing booth! Beauty parlor was fun but not as great as when my aunt turned it into a short play for us to perform. Most of the humor was over our heads but we loved to be the center of attention. Especially when the play called for cocktail glasses and Coors beer cans. We had our fair share of teasing and roughhousing from our Dad. Maybe even more than our fair share. But mostly we had a pretty strong female influence from our Mom and Grandma.
When I had Oscar it was such a novelty! What do you do with a boy? His first years were all sticks and army guys. He carried a stick everywhere he went and when his mini backpack of army guys was accidentally left on a plane once, it was nearly a crisis until I was able to procure some more. Things were dismantled and studied from an early age. Hours could be spent in the dirt. I worried that Siobhan would miss out on the sisterhood that I had. Who would she divulge her deepest secrets too? Who could she cry too when things were just not fair? I needn't have worried. Oscar and Siobhan have been each others confidant and support for as long as they have been together. I am so amazed at how well they can get along and how much they love each other. This has extended to Hans and Olive as well. I am happy that my girls have each other but cannot imagine their or my life without our boys. Watching this has made me wonder what it would have been like to have a brother. What kind of influence would that have had on my life.
Maybe, like Olive, I would have been fascinated by a boys obsession with "potty humor" and learned to write the most hilarious words first.

Maybe we would have taught him about fashion week. Or maybe, just maybe, he would have taught us a thing or two........

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.