Five years old

Dear Reece,

A week ago, you turned five. And I can tell that this year is going to be the best yet with you, especially since life with you has improved every year since you entered the world screaming at the nurses for daring to take you from Mama's warmth and security and give you a bath. Really, you've been a pistol ever since but have settled down by now to a steady level of pistol-ness that allows you to be yourself without making the people around you ready to give you away to the nearest unsuspecting stranger. You hardly ever have any sort of melt down, but you let your brother or anyone else know when you are (justifiably) annoyed or offended. You still make the "stinker face", but it now indicates that you're being silly rather than obstinate. Mostly, you're sweet, cuddly, clever, and full of energy, and we all love to be around you.

You have a tendency to travel via hops and skips rather than just walking, so Grandma Phillips dubbed you "Mr. Hippity-Hop Skippedy-Doo". Your favorite thing lately is to see just how far you can jump, either off of something to the floor or into someone's arms. This routinely gives your dad heart palpitations, since your landings make such a loud and shocking sound. I've been amazed at how far you truly can jump, and I'm thrilled that you are not afraid to keep trying.

You also love your brother so much that it just overwhelms you sometimes. Just this morning, you decided you really wanted to catch up to him at the bus stop before he got on so that you could give him one more hug, and your despair at not making it nearly broke my heart. You want to do everything that Greyson does and sometimes have trouble understanding that there are things you need to wait to do until you are closer to the age Greyson is now. Although you don't realize this, there are many things we let you do that we never would have let Greyson do at five. I guess that's the trade-off for not having us to yourself ever.

You know how to read but would prefer to have someone read to you. But you do enjoy showing when you can read something - mostly signs when we are out running errands. You do a great job using the information around you to figure out what words are when you can't exactly sound them out. You are starting to figure out time - telling time and understanding it. You like big numbers, so whenever I mention a length of time in minutes, you ask me how many seconds that is. This has forced me to do some very quick multiplication in my head, and occasionally I have to ask Greyson to check my work.

You are also very logical. When I asked you, the day before your birthday, if you could please just stay four forever, you very matter-of-factly replied, "You know I can't do that, Mom. I just have to keep growing and growing." Because you are our second, and unless something bizarre happens, our last, I'm really trying to hold onto this time with you. Everything about you is still so little and cute but you can handle so much on your own. I even find myself asking if you will run an errand with me so I can have your company. Now if we could only get you to keep your clothes on when you go to the bathroom...

Love,
Mom

The elements of a successful (at least to me) 5-year old's birthday party

A fun location where the kids can run around with supervision and direction (thanks Miss Lauren!) and I don't have to clean up before or after:

A reasonable number (13) of well-behaved children:

All the set-up and goodie bags done for me:

And all I have to bring are the birthday boy and the cake:

(For anyone who doesn't know, the cake theme is from the movie Bolt. And no, I didn't make it.)

A disaster to give me perspective

My original plan for this post was a lamentation of our luck, or unluck if you will, with kitchen drains/garbage disposals. We've only lived in two houses, and in both we've had annoying backups due to clogs somewhere in the pipes under the kitchen sink resulting in (minor) gunky flooding. However, the earthquake in Haiti has made me thankful that I even have a pipe, or kitchen, or even house to complain about, as these things tend to do for those of us who are so far removed from anything so horrendous.

So instead, this post is about the American Red Cross, which has been featured prominently in the earthquake newscasts. Until Dan was deployed to Iraq in 2003, I had always thought of the Red Cross as an organization that took my donated blood but to which I neither had nor would have any real connection. However, two and a half months after Dan left, he called me (which was no small feat, as he was basically in the middle of the desert using bottled water for showering and a plastic bag-lined box for a toilet) to say that he'd received a letter from his parents saying his dad's heart tests were not good. I was surprised, of course, because here I was within a quick and inexpensive phone call from them and hadn't heard anything. Apparently, they were trying to downplay it to Dan so he wouldn't worry, but he figured it out and asked that I call the Red Cross and have him sent home. I didn't even know they did that sort of thing, but I hung up, called the local number, and a lovely lady took all my information about the situation quickly and efficiently. Long story short, within four days Dan was home. Sand caked behind his ears and only a backpack on his back, but there he was at the Fayetteville Airport. And I will be forever grateful to the Red Cross for that.

I don't know anything about the business side of the Red Cross - how much money goes to overhead or whatever - and I'm not saying anyone should or shouldn't donate to them or any other organization. I am saying that, in our situation, they showed how a relief organization should work. And from my privileged corner of the world, I'm saying Thanks.

Scenes from the holidays

The kids participated in the Christmas Eve pageant at our church, my mom flew into Cleveland on Christmas morning, and our holidays really kicked off. Highlights included:

~ Having a lovely Christmas dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's
~ A leisurely drive from Cleveland to Florida the next day with a stop-over in Charlotte, NC, to visit Discovery Place and meet up with old friends
~ Getting lots of time with our 3 1/2 year old niece (and the only female grandchild on either side of the family)
~ Fitting in one day at the beach before the coldest weather in over 100 years hit Florida (the water was very cold, even for someone used to swimming in the Great Lakes)
~ Disney World, where we attended the Hoop-De-Doo (which Greyson proclaimed as having his kind of humor), visited the Magic Kingdom, and ate lunch with Chip, Dale, Minnie, and Pluto
~ Having dinner with my aunt and uncle and catching up with them
~ Finding the perfect hotel for a stop-over in Princeton, WV, on the way home when we decided it was just time to stop driving
~ Returning home to a winter wonderland and putting the new garage and mudroom to the first test of the winter season (they both performed beautifully - all the debt was worth it!)

And some photos...

 

 

A clarification, or People! Let me have some creative license

My self-described contrarian brother, Nick, pointed out that I could have accomplished everything I did on the New Year's Eve lock-out of 2009 with any smartphone and that it wasn't because it was an iPhone that everything worked out. And I fully agree. But I find that just mentioning its name ensures that everyone knows all about the phone so I have no explaining to do, as I would with some random Nokia techno-whatever phone. Also, my sister-in-law was not impressed with my slight exaggeration about the risk of having to sleep in the van that evening if we couldn't get into the house. OF COURSE we wouldn't have had to do so, but it sounded dramatic and I went with it. In fact, I think Greyson was a little disappointed that we didn't get to sleep there. The reality was, we had family friends who lived just a few blocks away and would have gladly taken us in, or we could have stayed at any number of area hotels. We even had food and beverages because we could get onto my in-laws' back porch and into the fridge/freezer that resides there. Heck, we had leftovers from Outback, freshly-bought ice cream, and Great Lakes Brewing Company beer! I don't know why we even bothered with the locksmith.

I would like to mention that I am not completely taken with the iPhone. I would actually rather have the individual keys for the QWERTY keyboard, because I have small enough fingers and think I would make fewer mistakes when typing if I could feel them (I manage to push the delete button EVERY time I try to type an M). I also have discovered, thanks to the bitterly cold weather here, that you can't use the touchpad on the iPhone with gloves on. I'm sure no one will be surprised that, for $15, you can buy gloves that work with the iPhone (and other similar phones/etc. - NICK). It has also been pointed out to me that the tongue works, but I have to look like a professional while I'm walking from my office to my car, and I don't think licking my iPhone in subzero conditions qualifies.

So, is everyone happy now? Great! We can all relax and enjoy our weekends now.

How my iPhone kept us from having to sleep in the van on New Year's Eve

We're at Dan's parents' house with his brother and his sister and her family. His parents went to the Keys yesterday morning to spend the night with friends. The rest of us decided to go to Outback for an early dinner out, and Dan, his brother, and Greyson headed out to make sure we could get seated. The rest of us were to follow. As his sister, the last one out of the house, closed the door, she asked if anyone had a key to get back in. However, the door closed all the way before the question was answered, and - long story short - no one did. We decided to just continue on with the food plans and worry about what to do after our bellies were full.

So we ate and enjoyed ourselves, and then we headed back home. In a short period of time, we discovered that 1) we didn't have his parents' correct cell phone number, 2) no key was hidden anywhere we could think of as a possible hiding place outside, 3) the next-door neighbor we thought might have a key was not home, and 4) their close friends a few blocks away were home but did not have a key. So, I used my iPhone to first locate what we thought was a home phone number for the friends Dan's parents were with in the Keys and turned out to be their cell phone. Through them, we reached my in-laws and confirmed that, in fact, there was no key hidden outside. So then I used the iPhone to locate a locksmith who happened to be in the very near vicinity. Within 15 minutes, we were in the house! The best part of it all was that the weather was beautiful, so we didn't even mind being stuck outside for a while.

The only thing I didn't use my iPhone for during this adventure? Taking pictures.

The Christmas devil

At church this evening, waiting for the pageant to start...Reece and Greyson keep goofing around, with Reece being especially defiant.

Me: Reece, you need to stop touching your brother and sit still, or I'll have to let Santa know he can take a present back.
Reece: No, I'll stop!

A little while later, when nothing has changed AND Reece has shown his "stinker" face a couple of times...
Me: Reece, that's it, Santa is taking one toy back.
Rather than being upset, Reece looks at me and gives me a smirk. I say, "What does that face mean?" He replies, "I think you're going to forget."

Merry Christmas everyone!

Updates, and OMG Christmas is Only a Week Away

Reece turned to me this morning during our walk to his school and said that there are two weeks left until Christmas. I forced my brain to unfreeze long enough to realize that, in fact, there is ONE week left until Christmas. After I corrected him, I think my head exploded from the shock. Now, I must be honest and admit that I'm pretty much done with gift-related preparations, I don't have to make a big meal because my lovely sister-in-law and brother are handling that and we're just bringing beer (and probably cookies), and the decorations that are going to go up already have. My problem with there only being a week left is that my favorite time of the year is basically Advent - the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas with all the anticipation, the decorations, the holiday songs, and often the first snow. I like to drag that time out as long as possible, and I'm always a little let down after the presents are all unwrapped and everything has been used at least once. This year we have a lot to look forward to even after the present frenzy has ended, so I'll be fine, but I'm going to have to ramp up my awareness of all things holiday between now and next Friday.

On to the updates. The biggest one, I have been sitting on for a while because I wanted to be sure everything was a go before announcing it to the world. However, I've signed the appropriate documents and can now tell anyone who doesn't already know - I have a job that starts when my postdoctoral fellowship ends this coming year. Whoo hoo! I'll be a tenure-track assistant professor at Kent State University's brand new College of Public Health starting in August. And I'm thrilled. The whole situation fits me very well, and I'm shocked that this has all worked out. We really didn't want to move, but I also didn't want to take a job just because it was convenient. The only semi-drawback is that it's a 45 minute drive. However, it's against traffic, a beautiful drive, I will be able to be somewhat flexible on when I go in and leave, and I know that tons of people have longer and more stressful drives. It's just that I've gotten used to being only 5 miles from home and have enjoyed being able to even bike to work when the stars and everything else align correctly.

The other update is that the last of the (current) renovations were completed today. The built-ins are in, and I can get the mudroom organized and clear out the remaining extraneous items from the basement. And finally organize the tools, and our winter gear, and our cleaning supplies, and...you see where I'm going with this. I'll post photos when I've reached a stopping point - hopefully at the end of the weekend.

Mr. Wiseacre

I told Reece he couldn't do something and then he asked me again if he could.
I replied, "Reece, what part of 'No' don't you understand?"
He said right back, "No. 'No' is the part I don't understand."

Here he is making his crazy faces:

Thanksgiving 2009

The holiday officially started for us when Dan picked up my brother, Nick, at the airport Tuesday evening (and then took him to Great Lakes Brewing Company for some Lake Erie Monster beer). The next day, while Reece was at school, Greyson and Nick helped me get many of the preparations for the feast and more visitors done. My cousin, Jackie, arrived just in time to have lasagna with us for dinner. If I'd had any idea at that point the quantity of carbs and fat we would consume over the rest of the long weekend, I would have served raw vegetables instead.

My mom got to take a bump on her flight from Detroit, so instead of coming on Wednesday night, she arrived Thursday morning. She was pressed into stuffing duty right away, while I made the turkey and did other prep. The men entertained the boys (or vice versa) with a rousing game of Sorry:

My brother, Nat, and his family came over later in the afternoon and we ate a lovely traditional Thanksgiving meal:

On Friday, my friend Kimberly came over to take family photos and then my cousin Dave and his family arrived in the afternoon. The last two visitors, my cousins Jill and Susie, arrived at dinner time and then the festivities really took off. Lots of Wii and board game playing, and the kids got to sleep in the basement together while the adults played more games and got silly. As usual, Reece riled up the older kids and had to be removed from their sleeping area, ending up on the floor next to my side of the bed.

Saturday was The Football Game. Reece got clonked on the head early on so watched for the rest of the game. Dan pulled a muscle and Dave jammed his finger but both soldiered on and everyone had a great time. Some action photos and a group shot of the players:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was as filled with family, fun, and good food as ours.