Six years of living completed

 Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream, his request.

As of last Thursday, Reece is now six years old. I had a whole other post half written on this subject but deleted it all. I'm telling you this just so you know that sometimes I actually do edit the things I post. Not usually, but sometimes.

So, about that six year old boy in our house...I have to say, he just doesn't seem six to me! Maybe because he's a bitty thing compared to most other kids his age, although when he talks sometimes I think he's 12. Or a teenager in need of an attitude adjustment. Dan is looking into military schools just in case.

I think in general the change from five to six isn't as dramatic as four to five (or any of the other age increased before that). We're now in more of a holding pattern that can only be seen by viewing each year's school pictures side-by-side. I put the new picture on top of the old ones when I replace them every year and like to do just that. And for the most part, he's doing and saying similar things as he was last year at this time. He jumps and runs around the house like he'll never run out of energy, and then he meanders so slowly on the walk to the bus stop in the morning (when we're usually late), that it seems he will never actually get there, kind of like how if you divide a number in half and then keep dividing each subsequent one in half, you never actually reach zero. He is kind of quiet and reserved at school, apparently, but at home he is vocal and argumentative when he thinks it's necessary. He has decided not to continue with chess club at school and has not latched on to any one sport or activity. He does really like ice skating, but none of the class times fit in with my schedule this semester, and he doesn't seem bothered by that. Reece, Dan and Greyson will be taking skiing lessons in February (well, Dan will do snowboarding), and I've signed Reece up for tennis lessons starting that month as well at his request. Mostly, he likes to play his DS, the Wii, Legos sometimes, and Nerf guns much of the time. As you can see, we have been stuck indoors a lot recently! Overall, our now six year old is sweet, cute, cuddly, and most definitely his own person. While Greyson gave me confidence in my parenting abilities, Reece has shown me that there are lots of other, equally good if not better, ways to do things. Happy birthday, Bean!

Newness in 2011

New office! With a window!

And already cluttered. Plus, please notice the very droopy flowering plant on the right. The woman at the garden center wasn't even sure she should sell it to me when I described how bad I am at keeping plants alive. I'm happy to report that a strong dose of water perked it right back up. The next step is to get some inexpensive but meaningful artwork and to seriously look for my diplomas to hang on the wall. Hey, I'm a professor!

2010, a year in review (from my perspective, at least)

I didn't write a newsletter to go into the Christmas cards (the last of which didn't even get sent out until today), and I included this blog's address in the cards, so I'm just going to do a recap of the past year here, and then people are free to read or not as they desire. I'm all about free will over here.

January: Reece turned five and I cried a little. He'll be six in 13 days, and I may just weep. This month was also the first time we really got to test out our new mudroom, and it proved itself many times over.

February: I don't remember anything of interest happening this month, except that there was snow. And more snow. At least according to the pictures I took this month. We also took Reece to a bunch of specialists to check on his weight gain (or lack thereof). Oh, yes, and I turned 40.

March: I met Greyson's class at the Cleveland Orchestra, and I went to a conference in Bethesda, MD. Greyson had his birthday party a month early because the laser tag facility had a special Star Wars event planned the end of March.

April: Easter in Columbus with Dan's cousins, Dan's brother visited, Greyson turned 10. I realized how much my life has changed in the past ten years. In ten more, Greyson will be in college and Reece will be a sophomore in high school. Unbelievable.

May: Reece and I planted a garden in the backyard. Both boys started baseball practice. My mom visited over Memorial Day (and to watch the kids).

June: Dan and I visited San Francisco for the first time and had a great tour guide in the form of Nick, who was still living there then. We got home just in time for Greyson's 4th grade clap-out and the end of the school year. The boys' baseball games started.

July: Baseball STILL going on. My mom came back to watch the kids so Dan and I could go to Florida for a friend's wedding (Dan) and to help Becka with the new baby (me). Instead, Dan go so sick that he was hospitalized for five days with what turned out to be infectious colitis. He recovered quickly but is laying off the really spicy foods. Nick stopped by on his move from CA to VT, and my cousins from Michigan came down to spend the weekend with all of us. Greyson's baseball team won the championship.

August: The boys and I took our annual trip to northern Michigan and ventured to Mackinac Island for a day of biking with my cousin, Jackie. We also got to spend time with my friend, Lynnette, and her son, Nathan. I spent a weekend at a spa resort in southwestern Pennsylvania with my friend, Bernadette, to celebrate (belatedly) our 40th birthdays. I started my new job on the faculty of Kent State University's new College of Public Health, and both boys started new schools (all in the same week. NEVER again.) The garden just kept growing (and growing, and growing).

September: Dan's brother and friends from high school visited for the annual guys' weekend in Cleveland, which involves Indians and Browns games, Great Lakes Brewing Company, and occasional sleeping. The after school babysitter quit. Via text.

October: Found a new babysitter who lives within walking distance and the kids love. I can breathe again. My mom visited again to make applesauce with the kids and hand out candy for Halloween so the parents could walk the neighborhood while the kids trick or treated. (Tricked or treated?)

November: School conferences, boys are doing fine except that Greyson needs to get more organized - fast. Dan and I helped him clean out his desk, and it took all three of us. Thanksgiving in Michigan, which introduced our boys to Nerf guns in earnest and some new Wii games.

December: Trip to Chicago that included a conference for Dan, shopping on Miracle Mile for the boys and me, a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry and to Three Floyds Brewing Co. for all of us, and time with my relatives. Trip to Florida for Christmas (see most recent posts).

And here we are, a year later but mostly the same. My hope for this year is more travel and many fewer visits to medical professionals. That's not too much to ask, right? RIGHT??

Holiday post, part II

Where was I? Oh, yes, we'd been to Universal Studios and enjoyed ourselves. When we were exhausted, we headed to Dan's parents' house for the duration of our Florida visit. Played lots of games, got some sun, was entertained by our niece (age 4 1/2) and her new baby brother (almost 7 months), spent one afternoon at a pretty chilly beach (water temp was 61 degrees, but Dan and the boys went in anyway), had a visit from Santa and a very large meal, and then the day after Christmas, we headed home, just missing two pretty major storms.

SO CUTE!

Everyone was thrilled that she got to open presents.

Even Reed gets a holiday popper.

Then began round two of the holiday celebrating - spending time with my family in the cold north! My mom and my brother came to visit, and we spent the rest of the week playing lots of games, trying not to get shot by Nerf guns, eating, and trying to get the boys' clothes dry between trips outside in the snow/mud. Much time was spent with "the cousins", as my brother Nat's kids are called around here. The out of town visitors left Jan. 2nd, the boys started back to school and Dan went back to work on the 3rd, and I've spent the last week just trying to clean up, catch up, and generally get our lives back into some kind of pattern again. Oh, and moving into my new office at work (3/4 of my College moved to a new building). I officially start back to work on Monday.

The youngest are the most dangerous.

 

For anyone who wanted to see what Nick looks like these days. He's wearing his winter growth.
 

And for your viewing pleasure, Nerf guns in use. Notice Isaac sitting on the floor in the midst of all the shooting. Now THAT's a boy you want with you for calm in the center of a storm.

Holiday travels 2010, part 1

Almost as soon as the kids' school ended on the last day before winter break, we loaded up the van and headed south. First stop (after a night at a hotel along the way) was to Uncle Greg and Aunt Judy's house in northern Florida, where they were kind enough to take us out on the pontoon boat on a portion of the St. Johns River even though it was 50-some degrees outside and misty.

 

Pointing out the water birds as we drove past.

 

Cold but happy

The kids got to squeeze the orange juice for our breakfast, and we had shrimp caught fresh last summer in the St. Johns River for lunch.

Next stop, Orlando and Universal Studios. The kids' "big" present for Christmas was a visit to the park that has the Harry Potter rides (Islands of Adventure). We met Dan's mom and brother at a hotel on site, staying overnight in a Jurassic Park room) and got up WAY too early to walk for 10 minutes in the near-dark to the entrance of the Harry Potter adventure. Reece and Dan got in line for Ollivander's Wand Shop while the rest of us headed to the Forbidden Journey. We were near the front of the line and waiting when we started to hear announcements that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties. Long story short, after half an hour in line and no sign of the ride starting anytime soon, we jumped out of line and headed to the shops in the HP area (technically Hogsmede, the town where Hogwarts is, but it included stores from Diagon Alley, for those who actually know what any of this means). After we'd had enough of that area, we branched out to the rest of the park where we spent the remainder of the day.

 The Caro-Seuss-el in Seuss Landing

Boys at the entrance wearing their Gryffindor t-shirts

The kids and Grandma T. on the "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" ride

Greyson in the superhero area

Reece on Popeye's boat

To be continued, hopefully tomorrow but no promises.

Reece the scientist - everyone beware

We visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago today, splitting into two groups (Dan/Reece, Greyson/me) for a large part of the time. Dan and Reece spent a lot of time in the science experiments area, where apparently molecules can be assembled using atoms from the periodic table and you can find out what would happen in real life if you made those specific combinations, eg. salt and bombs.

This evening, Reece asked me what you make if you combine hydrogen and oxygen. He told me I was right when I said "water". Then he said, in a very thoughtful tone of voice, "You know, there's a lot of ways to make explosions." I'm warning his future high school chemistry lab teacher now.

What I'm thankful for

Relatives who are willing to host Thanksgiving every other year (thanks Sheila and Dave!).
Family who care about my kids nearly as much as I do.
A reliable vehicle to get us to visit family safely.
Vaccines and antibiotics.
Friends and relatives who let me hold their babies whenever I need a fix.
A job I truly enjoy and colleagues who respect my opinion.
The internet. Because how else could I save all these mundane parts of our lives for posterity??

We had a fun, relaxing time at my cousins' over Thanksgiving. Lots of food, drink, football, Wii, Nerf dart gun wars, and Dan and Jackie even ran in the Detroit Turkey Trot (5k). The topper to an already awesome weekend was getting to see my cousin, Christian, who we hardly ever get to see, and meet his 10 month old son, Lincoln.

I took almost no pictures of the food, apparently because I was too busy eating it, and no photos of the Nerf wars because I was too busy trying not to get hit! But here are some football videos and pictures of other activities throughout the weekend.

Pie! Pumpkin, Cherry/blueberry, and Apple.

Football team 1 on day 1.

Elliott recovering from the latest Nerf gun war.

Lincoln, Christian and Susie

Sheila the master chef.

Grace, Greyson, and Isaac playing a Wii game that they now all desperately want, of course.

Mutual admiration society. Dave and Lincoln, with Nat in the background.

Possibly the cutest baby ever (my own notwithstanding).

 Elliott gets clonked by Nat.

  Reece and Elliott clonk each other.

Nat's touchdown.

Greyson runs the ball.

Reece runs the ball - the wrong way at first.

 The ball was very slippery that day.

Reece's touchdown.

Jill's touchdown.

Happy Thanksgiving to Nick!

At the last minute, my brother, Nick, decided not to make the long trip to us for Thanksgiving. So we made these videos to show him he was missed:

Even in beautiful weather, accidents happen

My van (with me in it) got hit while I was driving to a salon appointment. See the evidence:

I could reprint the police report I submitted, but I'm assuming anyone reading this does not want to fall instantly asleep. So the short version is, I was turning left with a left-turn arrow, a gray sedan (driven by an ancient man - I forgot to check his birthdate on his license, but suffice it to say that I thought he'd gotten hurt because he was so shaky and seemed confused, but it turned out that's how he normally is) decided to turn right into me instead of waiting for me (and those behind me) to turn. He didn't want to call the police and had the gall to say that he didn't think it was his fault (!), I called anyway and found out they wouldn't come out since we were on private property, we exchanged info and then after conversing with my insurance company I drove to the police department to make a report anyway. There's still a chance it will be come a he-said-she-said since there were no other witnesses who stepped forward (believe me, there were LOTS of witnesses). Oh, and did I mention that Ancient Man is a lawyer? Joy. I'll know more after my insurance person talks to him and his insurance company. The van still runs fine (in fact, the door still opens electrically), I wasn't hurt and was the only one in the vehicle (thank goodness, because if he'd caused injury to my children, I might now be in jail for assault on a frail human), and even in the worst case we just have to cover the deductible and maybe our rates would go up.

I would like to take this opportunity, though, to put in print that if/when I ever get to the point where my driving is a danger to others, PLEASE take away my license and vehicle. And I will do the same for you, m'kay?

On a much happier note, it's been gorgeous here the past few days, and today the boys played dodge ball and kick ball with neighbor kids for a few hours. Then Reece ran around the playground for a while and asked me to take these pictures. And then print them so he can frame them and hang them up around the house. No lack of self esteem with that one.

Making applesauce to last us until next year at this time

It's become an annual tradition that my mom comes to visit toward the end of October to make applesauce with the boys. And it's now become somewhat necessary, since neither of my boys will eat any applesauce besides this homemade type! The boys remember the process from year to year, so it seems to go pretty smoothly. This was the first year I was here to witness the procedure and document it.

First, the apples have to be cut into quarters and cooked. We had a whole bushel, so it took multiple pots on the stove and some in the oven.

Grandma loads up the bowl on the top, Greyson presses it into the hole, and Reece turns the crank.

Quality control check.

Working together as a team, and no arguing! Borderline miracle, here.