Mia madre

Today is my mom's birthday. When I was a kid, it seems like she went through a '37' phase--meaning every year she turned 37. Again and again and again. Since that's only two years older than I am right now (yeah, I'm an oldie but goody), I can't really say she's 37 anymore. Sorry, mom. But trust me, she isn't a day past 48. 

In recent years, I've sent flowers to my mom for her birthday. I know my mom has always appreciated the flowers and the gesture; but of course they're gone in a few days, and yet another vase is cluttering her cupboard. I wanted to do something a little more meaningful. 

Rewind to 7 years ago. I was pregnant with Aubrey. My mom had recently been diagnosed with endometrial cancer. I will never forget the day she received the results of her biopsy. I had a doctor's appointment and called my mom from the waiting room. I just had to know. 

The news wasn't good. We had hoped the cancer was only in her uterus, but it had spread. The worst part was that some cells were found in her lymph nodes. I was devastated. I sat in the chair in my doctor's waiting room, asked my mom questions, and sobbed. I think I left the office that day without even seeing my doctor--just rescheduled so I could go be with my mom.

My mom took her treatments like a champion, and I'm happy to say that she is a survivor. She had several weeks of radiation treatment, including one internal radiation procedure hours before Aubrey was born. She was literally 'radioactive' and had certain restrictions about being around babies, but fortunately she was cleared before my daughter entered the world.

Gavin and I called my parents on the way to the hospital when my water broke. We were living in Utah at the time. My dad answered, was business as usual, and said to keep him posted. Apparently when he hung up the phone, my mom asked who it was. Dad answered nonchalantly, "Sarah. She's on her way to the hospital. Her water just broke." 

I can only imagine the flurry of activity that took place then, because mom arrived at the hospital not much after we did. Remember--she was recently discharged herself from the same hospital for her radiation procedure. 

She was tired, she was in pain, yet she was THERE. All night. Smiling and watching and waiting. There for me when I needed her.

Aubrey was born at 6:18 a.m. the next morning. My mom probably hadn't slept in 48 hours. That's just the kind of woman she is. I call her Mother Theresa. If we were Catholic, she'd definitely be nominated for Sainthood.

In the following weeks, my mom started chemotherapy. I think she had a total of six treatments, three weeks apart. I never heard a single complaint from her. She did what she had to do, and she made it!

So mom, instead of flowers this year, I made a donation in your name to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. 

Thank you for your example of strength and taking care of what matters most in life. I love you. Happy Birthday!

Let it snow, let it snow . . .

. . .  let it please stop snowing. 

I never thought I would be so happy to see rain in Washington. But the rain that fell recently meant the snow was finally being washed away. Thank goodness for that.

I don't mean to be a total humbug, but I really don't like snow. I don't like driving in it (and I especially don't like how others drive in it). I don't like being homebound because the roads aren't cleared (I was astonished several days after the storm how many roads were still a disaster--it was pathetic). I don't like shoveling snow off my walk and driveway. I don't like taking 20 minutes to find all the hats, mittens, scarves, and boots only to take them all off again 10 minutes later (while mopping up a puddle of water on my floor). And I especially don't like school being cancelled because of it (although I loved no school as a kid).

The only redeeming factor of snow is that it is pretty, but it's just as pretty in pictures as it is in real life. My apologies to all you Winter-wonderland lovers. It's just not me.

Western Washington hasn't seen snow like this in decades. Our babysitter never remembered the snow as deep as it was, and her mom said she only remembered once or twice in her lifetime where there was that much snow. So, while it was here and since I knew it wouldn't be around for long, we tried to get out and enjoy it.

There is a great drainage area just down the street from our house, and its slope is perfect for little kids and sledding. Aubrey begged and pleaded to go after the first snowfall, so I drove her and Lincoln over there (like a block away), while Jace and I stayed in the warm car. A couple of days later, Gavin was a good sport and took Aubrey and Lincoln. Jace was napping, but we joined them when he woke up.

I love how Lincoln has his eyes closed. He closed them every time--my cute little scaredy cat.

Aaaah, so cute.

And still so cute, but a different cute. Notice the snow on his left lapel--Aubrey was aiming her snowball at her daddy, but Jace caught it. Poor baby. And that massive bruise in the middle of his forehead was from Lincoln knocking him into the doorframe a day or two earlier. It's like WWF at our house sometimes.

Proof that I was actually there--out in the snow, smiling. The snow is not so bad I guess, and I can only say that now because it's gone! Hooray!

Naughty or nice?

He came . . .

He saw . .  .

He delivered!

The kids had a great Christmas this year. Notice the 'Jacerimeter' around the bottom of the tree. We had to keep the ornaments out of reach of tiny, curious hands. It worked out pretty well.

As you can see, Aubrey's list was quite extensive. She wanted bendaroos, Miley's house (the one thing Santa obliged her with), East high from High School Musical (a gargantuan toy similar to the Hannah Montana house), a TV, a Wii, a Nintendo DS, Little Pet Shop, My Little Pony, and a magic elf (I still don't know what this is--but she told Gav all about it too, it disappears to people you don't want to see it). Her list would have made a great MasterCard commercial.

The kids were thrilled Christmas morning. For the first time, we incorporated one of my family's traditions growing up and moved Lincoln's mattress in Aubrey's bedroom so they could sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve. I think my parents sequestered all six of us into the same bedroom to keep tabs on us so we wouldn't sneak out. Luckily our little tykes haven't discovered the fun of sneak peeks . . . just yet anyway.

Lincoln didn't make it all night in Aubrey's room. As he has done for the past six months or so, he ventured down to our bedroom and some point in the night and made himself comfy on our overstuffed chair and ottoman. Aubrey awoke a little after 5 a.m., but we convinced her to go back to bed until 7:00. By then, Aubrey and Lincoln were both awake, and they were happy to sing a Christmas song softly to Jace while he woke up.

Jace loved his little puppy dog, and still gives him big cuddles whenever he holds him. He's so cute and loves to snuggle stuff, and especially likes dogs. Outside of 'ma' and 'da', we're pretty sure 'daah!' was his first word. Santa was so smart to bring Jace a big puppy to love (but not one that barks and poops).

When Aubrey and Lincoln were done opening presents and ready to play, we had to block little Jace from the fun. Poor baby. He only watched pathetically for a minute or two, then found other stuff to do. He'd check back on his big brother and big sister from time to time though. 

They played for hours in the exercise room--I think Aubrey even let some of Lincoln's jungle animals be a part of Miley's Malibu beach party. And Miley might have gone on a jungle safari or two of her own. 

And here they are, hours later, still going strong. Notice we moved the toys up to the bar, once again out of reach of sweet little Jace. 

Aubrey didn't even get dressed on Christmas day--just stayed in her PJs until bedtime (when we made her change into a fresh pair). 

A full day in pajamas with happy, cooperating children is my kind of 'Merry.'

Happy 4th Birthday, little Linc

The overly excited birthday boys. 

Sweet Lincoln turned 4 on December 23rd. This year was really fun. He is old enough to know it's his birthday and be excited about it, yet not quite old enough to know what a bummer it is to share his big day with Christmas. A friend of his has a birthday on December 22, so being the smart mommy that I am, we combined parties. 

I loved how careful Lincoln was about lining up his presents--each present went right behind the other one like a train. Cute kid.

Lincoln and Kai had a blast at Charlie's Safari with their buddies. They played, bounced, ate pizza and cupcakes, opened presents, and played some more. 

The party animals having a blast.

A few days later on his actual birthday, we had a family party at home. Lincoln was confused about two parties--he thought maybe he was turning 5, having already turned 4 at Charlie's Safari. Then he wondered why more people weren't coming over if it was his birthday. I had to repeatedly tell him about friend parties and family parties, but he still thinks he's going to be 7 soon. Ah well.

So to my sweet little four year old--here's what your mom loves most about you:

*I love your kindness. Out of the blue, you give Jace little kisses and snuggles. You also tell me several times a day, "Mommy, I yuv you," or "Mommy, you wuk bootiful." Melts my heart. 

*I love your energy and imagination. Sometimes you get a little crazy, but it's fun to watch you learn new things.

*I love your cautiousness. I love how you cover your eyes, but spread your fingers to peek out when something is scary (like the dragon in 'Sleeping Beauty').

*I love your snuggles. I may love hugs more during the day than I do when you sneak in my bed at night, but I always love it. 

Happy Birthday, my handsome little man. May you always be this enthusiastic with life!

O Christmas Tree

One of the best parts (okay, probably the only good part) about living in such a rainy state is the prevalence of fantastic Christmas trees at great prices. Schilter Family Farm (the same place where we went to the pumpkin patch) is just a couple miles down the road, and we love it.

It's fun to wander among all the Christmas trees and let the kids pick out their favorite. 

After the perfect tree is found, Gavin gets to be a lumberjack and cut it down, with a little help from his tiny tot assistant.

A nice guy on a tractor comes to tag our tree and haul it back to the front of the lot. We walk back leisurely and claim our tree.

While we pay, the kids play.

Then Gavin uses his mad skills (think Boy Scout knots/surgery sutures) to tie the tree to the top of the car.

We hear a thump thump thump on the roof of the car while driving on the freeway, and then we actually see our prized Christmas tree through the back window--making its way lower and lower down . . . we drive home very slowly.

Phew! We made it home safely. (Maybe Gav's knot tying skills could use a little more practice. Love you, babe!)

My Little Marathon Runner

The Seattle Marathon was the weekend after Thanksgiving. Along with the full marathon, they offer a 'Kids Marathon.' Kids are supposed to keep track of 25 miles worth of activity before the marathon, then run the final 1.2 miles in Seattle. Kids also keep track of 13 good deeds and 13 books they read before the big day.

The elementary school track club encourages students to run laps during recess and P.E. time, and tracks them on a little punch card. Aubrey has run a little over 13 miles so far this year in school. Add that to the running she did in 12 soccer practices and 6 games, plus walking to piano lessons weekly after school, and family trips to the park behind our house, and I'm pretty sure we hit the 25 miles mark. (At least I wrote it down as such on her mileage tracker.)

Some families actually train with their kids and have a running schedule, but marathoning is in Aubrey's blood, so I figured we were good to go.

Aubrey had kind of a sour attitude heading up there. We'd arrived home late from Great Wolf Lodge the night before, so I had to wake her up to get dressed and drive up to Seattle. I'm sure she was thinking, "Why am I getting out of bed to drive somewhere far away and run?" (Believe me, I've thought the exact same thing a time or two myself.)

We got up there, found parking, and met up with the other runners from Aubrey's school. There was pre-race entertainment sponsored by Radio Disney, so the kids had fun rockin' out to the music. After a brief welcome and instructions, we left for the starting line.

Whatever bad attitude Aubrey had initially was completely gone when the gun went off. She bolted out of there like a mad woman, and hardly stopped. I was not prepared for my little girl to be Speedy Gonzales, but I was sure proud. Her skinny little self weaved in and out of the crowd of over 3000 runners like they were standing still. I was doing my best to keep up, hauling my purse, camera, and her water bottle. (I really didn't anticipate that she would actually run, or I never would have carried so much gear.)

This was my view for most of the race--her back. Notice the person running with a purple top and black pants up ahead . . .

. . . and she's getting ready to pass Ms. Purple shirt. 

It was a blast. Every time I saw her blonde hair swaying and 'Marathoner' on the back of her green T-shirt, I couldn't help but smile. My darling daughter ran 1.2 miles in 13:44, and that time includes a wardrobe change (taking off her sweatshirt and putting back on the T-shirt--she was smokin' hot from running so fast).

This shot was taken after the 'wardrobe change'--no more bulky sweatshirt. I love how blurry it is because it captures the moment. My little runner was moving too fast.

After the race, we went to the 'recovery area' where there were refreshments, goody bags, and more entertainment from Radio Disney. I didn't realize how much in the front of the pack Aubrey had finished until I saw the line that had formed when we were ready to leave. Where we had walked up easily to the large convention room and collected our stuff, there was soon a throng of people with standing room only waiting for their stash.

On our way back to the car, we passed this fun fountain. Remember, we had been at Great Wolf Lodge only the day before. Aubrey and her friend (and many other kids) thought it would be fun to play in the water. She soon realized that an indoor water park heated to a balmy 85 degrees feels much different than Seattle's outdoor fountains in November. 

Brrr, it's cold now.

Aubrey and I stopped for lunch on our way home. The best part of this whole day for me was spending one on one time with my daughter.  I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.

Like Mother, like daughter? 

If it were legal . . .

. . . I would put GPS implants in my kids before the sun set tomorrow. Household pets can have GPS, this baby has GPS, why can't I put a tracker in my kids? Maybe someday . . . 

In the mean time, I'll keep a close eye on my nativity sets.