My favorite photo-op!

It seems as though it takes some kind of special alignment of the planets and fortune cookies for me to get my two kids in close proximity, happy and smiling, and happen to have a camera nearby. But, as I was snapping away today while the kids were in the bathtub, I realized that I do this ALL the time. Bathtub photo sessions! So, I decided to dig back through all the old files that I have within easy clicking-distance on my computer and put together a "through the years" homage to my kids in the bath. Fingers crossed for chronological order and correct dates...

Jan 2007, Tyce was two years old, Laney 2 months

March 2007

May 2007

October 2007, Laney is almost one and a new walker!

April 2008

June 2008, Feet!

February 2009, Tyce is four, Laney is two

July 2009, After trip to Hawaii and addition of Skippyjon

September 2009

December 2009

January 2010, Tyce is five, Laney is three

March 2010, hey, there are some extra body parts in this pic!

May 2010

June 14, 2010

June 14, 2010

Now, seriously contemplating buying photoshop software, so my photos don't all look like they were taken in a bathtub. Any suggestions?

Preschool, 2010

Oh my goodness, I think the emotions are finally under control and I can stand to share details of Tyce's LAST DAY of preschool. Can you believe that sweet little bright-eyed boy that you see below will be a kindergartner next year? It is not so much that I am worried about him moving on, I am just incredibly proud of the little boy he is becoming. C'mon, when have you ever seen a brother give his sister such a hug?!? Incidentally, it was also Delaney's last day of preschool, but she will be back for two more years, so that didn't induce quite the waterworks from her mother.


The day started with an hour of open "stations" where the kids got to play/work at whatever they wished. Here are Laney and Daddy working on a squirrel puzzle.


Tyce was on his way to the "blocks area" when he was distracted by the mother lode, to the right. Have you ever seen cake those colors before? Wow, all I can say is that I'm glad the kids' babysitter got to deal with the poop the next day, not me.


The kids also did a little demonstration of their circle-time songs, and these four girls all insisted on sitting next to Tyce. He didn't seem to mind the attention one little bit.


Here is the graduate receiving his diploma from Mrs. Hanson and Mrs. Lotz. Mrs. Lotz confided to me (cue the tears...), "I know that we're not supposed to have favorites, but I'm just going to miss that Tyce so much!"

Laney accepts her diploma and hugs and attempts a mouth kiss with one teacher.
Tyce and Delaney pose with their favorite preschool friend, Olivia.

Experiment in Frugality, Haircutting Edition

For most of my life, I have believed that hair cuts were best performed by the experts. Well... I actually still believe that. This belief is firmly ingrained after looking back at some of my childhood haircuts. However, now that there are six hair or fur-covered bodies in our house, four of whom require regular grooming by a second-party (the cats pretty much manage their own hair care needs, thankfully), I have decided that although it is a job best done by an expert, hair cutting will also be done by this sloppy imperfectionist.

Let's do a cost-analysis and slide show of this month's results.

First up, poor, poor SkippyJon Jones Rogers, the dog of questionable pedigree. This little doggie costs $40-$60 to get shaved by a groomer. And he needs to be groomed about three times during the summer and probably needs at least a comb-out once over the winter, but I neglected that this year. His shave-job took me at least three hours, with him trembling the whole time and avoiding me for days afterward. It came out looking patchy but dog-ish and I think he might have had a little razor-burn on the backside. Poor doggie. Cost: I did spend $35 on a new pair of clippers for Skippy since it just didn't seem right to cut Skippy's hair with the same clippers that I use on Tyce (who knows what kind of little boy cooties he might have caught!).



Next, Miss Lane. Surprisingly, the easiest of the bunch. I avoided doing her trim for so long thinking that all of her hair was just about to be long enough to reach a ponytail in the back, but it just never seemed to get there. It was looking scraggly and I was feeling brave, so I took off about an inch all the way around. No fancy layering, no cutesy style, but luckily she is a cutesy kid and the new cut lays really nicely on her adorable little head. In fact, she can actually wear her hair down occasionally now and low-and-behold, somehow it almost all reaches a ponytail in the back now. Will wonders never cease? Savings: $15. All "profit" here, baby!

One day I decide that I need bangs. No, I need botox and highlights. No, I need bangs and highlights. No, I need a new outfit and new shoes and new jewelry. Hmmm... what's the affordable option here? Bangs and highlights in the bathroom while the kids are in the tub. Results are OK. Bangs didn't come out too short, which was my biggest fear, and cover the wrinkles pretty darn well. Unfortunately, they also cover my eyes and drive my batty, so they get clipped back half the time or brushed to the side, like they are in this picture. I was really conservative with the highlights, so there was almost no visible effect, but I'm OK with that. I can always add more later. All in all, it will stretch my salon "do" for at least a month or two. Cost: $5 for (sale-priced) highlights-in-a-box. Savings: $100 for haircut/highlights and $250 for botox, which I was never seriously considering. Seriously...

Now the hardest haircut in the family is the head that I've been working on the longest, little buddy Tyce's. Boys' cuts are really hard! It looks like it is just buzzed off and all one length, but it actually requires twenty minutes of sweat-inducing work with the clippers. I use four different height guards for the clippers and gradually fade down to the shortest length around the neck and ears. And poor kiddo is squirming and sneezing and itching the whole time. Then, I have to vacuum my whole house and scrub the tub after his bath. And wash a bunch of hair-covered clothing, his and mine. Not easy. All for $15 savings. I'm thinking this one might not pay off in the end, except for the convenience of not having to book an appointment, load everyone into the car and make two kids sit still during a salon visit. Of course, the kids might disagree since the suckers that are dispensed after salon haircuts are apparently the greatest confection ever created.























I think we are all summer-ready with our spiffy new 'dos, which should look absolutely amazing soaking wet in a pool! And just in case you need a daily dose of cuteness, here ya go:

Get that girl a show!

The one-minute April Update

OK, things just got seriously busy in my life somehow. Mostly due to my inability to focus on homework in the two hours between the kids' bedtime and mine, when I should be doing it. So, here we are on Thursday, me with hours of homework (at least it is very interesting homework) to do and no time to update the blog. But these kids are so, so cute and sweet and funny, that I just couldn't let today go by without sharing a recent video. I like to call this one "Little Sisters are Such a Drag!" Enjoy.

Bittersweet March

The last few months have been a whirlwind for me, as you can probably tell by the drought of blog postings. I'll try to get to some of these topics later: I've been visited by my dear friend Melyssa and her adorable family & sister, I had an wonderful birthday with my friends followed by another wonderful day with tons of members of my family, I started a new job and hired a nanny, and am battling a lingering cold. And among everything else I am mourning the closing of a happy chapter of my life while looking forward to healing and finding a new path. But none of that is what this blog is about.

One of my closest and most supportive friends, Jana, and her family have decided to embark on the Great Californian Adventure, and return to the land of sunshine and triathlons. I am so excited for her and am already plotting my first visit (I might give her time to unload the UHaul, if she's quick). However, the kids and I are going to miss them so much! Luckily, while her husband is scouting out living arrangements and getting settled into his new job, Jana and the boys, Henry and Tommy are staying with us. It has been a fun couple of weeks so far and we practically have to pry the kids off of one another every night and into their separate beds. Jana and I have been enjoying some solo shopping trips and lots of relaxing girl-movie nights. We find the kids playing in all different combinations of ages and gender and coming up with new, messy things to do every day. There have been frequent campfires and probably about 10 gallons of "Power Oatmeal" prepared (my sure-fire recipe of quick cook oats, walnuts, raisins, wheat germ, and blueberries). Jana has gamely eaten my whole-wheat bread and home-grown sprouts (unfortunately, I can't say the same for any of the kids) and makes a killer salad.

I'm going to miss coming home to her and the boys and our long talks in the evenings. I know that the kids are going to miss having their great friends in the same house, or just down the street (where they used to live). I feel so fortunate that we've had the last few weeks to hang out together and nurse our kids through colds, ear infections, mild pneumonia, tantrums, and the "Naughty Rules" (Rule #1: Never Listen to your Mother!!!).

Here are some pictures from the kids together:





































































The unprecedented "Triple Timeout." It proved quite ineffective...

Adventures in Vermicomposting...

That's right folks, you are reading correctly, for under $15 you too can have a limitless supply of worm poop! Oh wait, the politically correct term, within the gardening community anyway, is "worm castings."

I undertook this composting project with two aims in mind: first, to produce some affordable organic fertilizer for my garden and second, to further cut down on the amount of garbage our household produces. We are already avid recyclers, electricity savers (otherwise known as "Laney and Tyce, the two person light-turning off crew"), water conservationists, and all around nature enthusiasts, so the kids were eager to help with this project and excited about the fact that they get 100 pet worms. I am already plotting my garden in my head and can hardly wait to pick up my promised "all you can haul" rabbit manure from my friend Molly. So, I am really hoping that this project works out and that these worms get busy and make copious amounts of "black gold" (as compost is known by gardeners) for my precious little seedlings.

I was chatting with an old high-school friend about composting and she recommended adding "red wrigglers" to my compost bin, for faster results. After doing further research, I decided to make a bin designed especially with worms in mind (called vermicomposting). The worms used are Eisenia foetida, commonly called red wrigglers. These are different than Night Crawlers or other larger worms which would be unable to survive in a bin due to their need to burrow deeply. Since I wasn't sure how well these little wormies would survive the grueling Kennewick heat (they thrive at 55-77 degrees Fahrenheit), I decided to do a portable bin so that I can have them inside or in the garage whenever the weather seems like it might be too much for them. Supposedly, when worms are involved, this process is odor free. Check with me in a month to see if that ends up being the case...

So here is the system that I decided on and that the kids helped me assemble:

First, for $7, we got this 19-gallon tupperware and a smaller tupperware for it to drain into and allow us to collect the "compost tea," which is also a valuable by-product of vermicomposting. After a fruitless search of the local bait shops, we finally were able to purchase $8 worth of worms (100 worms) at PetCo. Who would have guessed? The worms and microorganisms that turn organic scraps into compost require oxygen to live, so a drill was used to put small holes in each side of the tupperware and also a few holes along one end of the bottom of the bin to allow for drainage.
Next up, preparing the worm bedding. We decided on some damp old leaves and some shredded paper, which also had to be soggy. Here Laney is preparing the bedding.

The bedding goes into the compost bin and the kids "release" the red wrigglers. Very exciting moment.


Here are the little beauties:

Now we are supposed to wait patiently while our worms burrow through their bedding and adjust to their new home. As anyone who knows me can attest to, waiting patiently is not my forte. Instead, I decide to hurry along their homecoming by adding a first meal. Since they are still babies, I blended up their celery snack which will help them break it down more quickly.

And here is the finished product and my two proud little composters.