Everyday Fun

Two things I need to get used to now that we live in Pennsylvania.  

ONE- I used to be surprised it was so hot in May.  Now I'm surprised it's still cool in June.

TWO- When people say "beach" or "sand", they are probably talking about a lake of some sort.  That's not a 'beach' to me- what I think of as the beach, ppl around here think of as 'the shore', which sounds a little overpopulated and scary to me. Caveat- if they mention "vacation", they mean a real beach, but that's 6+ hours away.

Kaden's helping me with the rest of this post:

Hulk picks up Robin and says "HEY! I'm picking you up and then I'm going to throw you down because I am your villian"  Phewch (fighting noise)!  Ow! 

"I got you because you were a good guy and then you turned in a villian, but now we're going to turn you back into a good guy! Yay!  We win again!" 

I got a new toy, and I'm going to play with these Star Wars guys after my mom opens them!  

Thank you Gary! 

I am not very fast, this guy in front of me is faster than everybody.

me: did you try your best?  him:  yes.

me: did you have fun?  him:  yes, I used all my energy.

Thank you for taking me to that race, mom. 

Me:  this is the bike Uncle Steve bought him, but he outgrew it in just a year. 

This is Kaden, he starts with K.  That's what you say about that one and that's IT. 

This is L and N and K.  They are superheros saving the day.

A long time ago... and right now too

The pictures in this post are from a while ago. We took Kaden to his first real "carnival" - a local night time fair with expensive rides and crazy eats and new! things! everywhere! We went with some friends (his age and ours!) and had a blast. He was totally blown away by every ride, and only a little apprehensive at times. Otherwise, a real pro at adapting his reality to this new, fast and furious life.



So tonight, some relatives arrived for a visit. As I type, there's six kids sleeping all over the floor in one bedroom, 2 parentals with a one year old babe in the other, and Jim snoring on the air mattress. We have plans to go to the beach, to church, to find wild alligators. I imagine this weekend will be just like that fair: a lot of noise, a lot of excitement, a lot of fun, and passing by in a blur, over way too soon.



And isn't that Holy Week, too? Things that aren't that different somehow seem exciting because of the light we shine on them, the attention we give to symbol and detail, the way we dive to the bottom of our own personal and communal suffering barrels... all to have it end in a mad rush of excitement and celebration on Sunday. It's a blur, but it only feels right, makes any sense or is any fun if our friends are nearby. And then we go back to normal life, except sometimes we have to adjust 'normal' to somehow include an understanding of this latest stuff.

But maybe that's not it at all, and maybe it's just where my head is right now. A very close friend of ours lost her mom last week. I can't stop praying for her. Thinking about everything- palm sunday, old fair visits- and trying to make it fit her new reality. How the life of our relationships are stretched and gathered and let loose... it may be that everyone else has or will someday go through this... but we are caught up in the newness of it all, along for the ride in the dark of night, looking for friends to help us through the apprehension.

Fire Trucks, Treasure Maps and Puppet Shows

Today was a good day. Fridays tend to be my favorite days, mostly because I rarely work on Friday. Sometimes I plan on cleaning or running fun errands, but some days we just play. We had lots to play with today. Earlier this week, Grandma and Pop sent Kaden an awesome little fire truck. It's loud, but not annoyingly so :)


Then yesterday we came home to a package on the doorstep. "For meeeeeee?" Kaden asked? Yup, it's all yours little man. Turns out a cool uncle and his family sent a great envelope stuffed with kaden's favorite things: superheros, pirates, coloring and stickers!

There was one very intricate drawing from our nephew with lots of pirates on a boat. First, our boy ran for his sword and tried to find his 'pirate hat' (a bandanna). Then, he studied his cousin's creation for a while, before declaring it his treasure map. It was awesome, as he pointed out who was who (here's Tali, and here's me and here's you Mommy).


We had another fun playdate today, with 3 friends coming over. I had bought some cute foam-y Easter crafts last night, when I realized I hadn't prepared any cool recycling ones :) There were stick puppets, which resulted in hilarious "shows" - one or more kids hiding behind the chair, shouting somewhat recognizable phrases and then falling down laughing. They were pretty good at taking turns, and I think the 20 second actual show time helped!!

Oh, and here's Sir Kaden, knight of all Florida and Pennsylvania too. You can see his knight hat, his sword, his trusty steed who is apparently named "My Turtle" and his maniacal laugh and he rides to rescue someone.

Here the 4 kids are crafting nicely. Hey, maybe I should plan ahead for when the 6 cousins all come to stay, too :)

What a day!

Saturday was quite the day in these parts. I was up at the crack of dawn (literally) since a few area churches were partnering together on a women's retreat day. Mom and I arrived at 8am to set up, and found a handful of early bird attendees! Then one of our awesome teen volunteers didn't show up to babysit-- turns out someone had sideswiped her on the drive in! She was okay, thank God, but her pride and joy mustang shelby wasn't. Yikes. It was go-go-go all day-- but totally worth it. If you haven't heard the inspiration music of Sarah Hart, do yourself a favor and check her out. She is down to earth and goofy and easy to relate to... and when she sings, it's honest and just wow. I'd really like to attend one of her days as a regular attendee...

 ... Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the boys were getting ready for our neighbor twins bday party at the park. They got down there about 10 am, and stayed over 3 hours! Kade had lots of stories to tell about the swings, digging in the dirt (?!), the cupcakes and the water balloons...

Then, the fam met up at Applebee's for dinner- it's hard to believe, but Saturday was the 11th anniversary of Dad's death. We try to do something nice that reminds him of us - and that was one of his restaurants. Though, to be fair, in 11 years it's quite possible he'd be mad at them for something and have moved on to another place! ...

Afterwards, continuing the remembering-dad-theme, we were walking around Mom's backyard. There's a H-U-G-E moringa tree that he planted as a wee seedling... we were picking the seed pods, and I was thinking that it'd be nice to plant more trees... when there was a sudden CRACK!!!! and the ENTIRE TREE BRANCH fell on me. I'd very much like to say that I nimbly stepped out of the way, but that is patently untrue. I'd also like to claim that I shouldered the branch in order to protect my young son, but I was told after the fact that HE was quick enough to get out of the way. The truth is, as much as it pains me to admit, I simply screamed and ducked like a coward, and the 4 foot branch whacked me good. Ow.

... Later, we headed home and I jumped on facebook to check for a msg reply when a notice popped up: "Event- EARTH HOUR. Happening - Now." Oh, shoot, I yelled to the family- it's Earth Hour- turn everything off already! We were only 4 minutes behind, but I figured we needed to act quick or we'd drift into missing it. You probably know this, but it is much easier to live without electricity when you properly plan. The first flashlight we grabbed had dead batteries, we couldn't find the second, and the only candles in the house were the tea lights (the hurricane kit apparently was disbanded). Picture me running around the house turning off lights, with Kade following and saying "whatcha doing, mama" and Jim yelling "leave ONE on so I can find these batteries!" It was a very amusing 3 minute drill. ... In the end, we had "practice camping" with a flashlight lantern. I mentioned that I couldn't believe we hadn't taken Kaden camping for real yet, and Jim replied "He's not even three yet. (pause.) So what if he's been to scotland and on a cruise? He's a bit young to do everything!"

Fall = Football (and laughter)

I know you THINK we're 100% Steelers around here, and that is mostly true most of the time, but Mama still likes the Bucs a teensy bit, and don't forget our college's football program: undefeated since 1965, or something like that.


Why, no, the University formerly known as Allentown does NOT have a football program.



That doesn't stop us from practicing our tackling.

I don't think I'm ever quite as happy as I am with a lot of little faces right in mine, all of us laughing...

Happy Birthday Friends!

Did you know that this week is my Uncle's birthday? I'd like to give him a proper shout out, since he is the coolest uncle around. Even if he does live in NY. Even though it's not too often, we've had some great vacation times together: sometimes at his house, which was a vacation for me, not him. But even if he was working, he found time to save me from being drowned in the pool by my boy cousin (not that we're naming names, RUSS). When I was in high school, we headed to Puerto Rico- and he translated almost everything for me and Kerri, except that one time in that mountaintop diner when that lady got arrested for "a disagreement" but now looking back it was probably, ah, solicitation. Or maybe not, my spanish isn't that great you know, and he's always looking out for us.

And then there was that one time we celebrated his 60th birthday in the mountains of Tennessee... where he officially became my mom's older brother, because everyone knows she's only 58. And some sad get togethers too, like my nana's funeral up in NY or when he came to visit us after dad died. So you know, for living so far away, we still have some pretty cool memories... mostly because Uncle Bob is a pretty cool guy, and an awesome uncle. I'm lucky to be related and if you're not, I hope you have someone like him in your family too :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

But of course, we can't mention him without also embarrassing Aunt Jeanne. Who also lives far, far away and wishes she could see and hold and spoil Kaden up close. I know this because she emails me after every post, reassuring me of the Babe's cuteness and helpfully pointing out parenting errors. Like mentioning a sister in law, for example, instead of a blood aunt. So here's to you, Aunt Jeanne, faithful reader and wife of the birthday boy. Enjoy "your" pics!

Now, how do I get out of this thing again?

Kaden, meet.... Kaden.

Happy Birthday, Nickers! You're too cute!

Happy Birthday, Lexi! You're also so cute, it's like you're twins!

Birthday friends with Kaden.

Note to self: photographing multiple children under 2 is not a good career choice.

Happy Birthday to Nick, Lexi, Kerri, Russ and Uncle Bob!!

(all within 7 days of each other)

Happy Hearts, Everyone!

It's only just begun...

Kaden and friends up above. The twins are about a year and a half older, and have much fun figuring him out. Generally, they're getting the hang of "gentle" and have quit poking him the eye! What's much fun now is that Kaden is aware of them, and starting to try and join them in their play. We'll see how excited/tolerant they are when he's mobile enough to mess their stuff up!

And because I forgot to post it two weeks ago, here's Kaden at 5 months. He's now a bit more reachy, grabby, and generally more squirmy than ever before! Church is a bit less of a long reflective time and more of snatched prayers between bouncing him away from the hymnals.

Kaden's Christmas gift to us last week? TWO - yes, one and then another, TWO nights of 12 straight hours of sleep. We'll take 'em, because the rest of the time he's a bit more fussy about going to bed or being t-i-r-e-d in general. We're thinking a tooth or two might make an appearance soon.

And here's to 2009! May we all be blessed with health, happiness, and the courage to widen our circle of friends :)

Would you believe...

On average, more people die each year from falling coconuts (3) than shark attacks (1)?




That adorable toddlers are hard to get photos of because they won't back away from the camera? or stop moving in general?

That Kaden is so used to adult adulation, he'll get annoyed when his little friend, God bless his heart, trys to teach him where eyes are?

More details than you probably care about...

Here Kaden is having fun on his surfboard - actually a "tummy time" activity mat, but the tummy photos weren't as cute. He's settling into a night routine, eating around 8pm, midnight, 3am, 6am, and then around 8am. So during the night, he goes 3-4 hours between eating and has been fairly good about sleeping in between.

During the day, not so much! Then he'll eat about every 2 hours- sometimes stretching it to 3 hours, sometimes wanting a snack after an hour. He's got LOTS of awake time during the day now- unfortunately, most of it is spend staring at me. He will take naps, from 20-90 minutes. He's also *starting* to agree to time by himself (i.e. not being held) as long as I am within view. He seems to like the bouncy chair and being outside- sometimes just being by a window is enough.

Tonight we visited our friends with the twins. It was a nice trade- their mom got to hold the baby, which she loved, and I got to roll around and giggle and play, which I love. The kids seemed to enjoy it too- Kaden spent some time watching the twins play (the little girl in particular). His attention span is shorter than theirs, of course, but still. And when we left, both Nick & Lexi gave him a soft kiss on the head, which was very sweet.