It's become real, by necessity, that we are moving in a little over 1 week. We started the packing process yesterday. Doug's mom came over in the afternoon to help me pack and boy did we get to it! Mary swept through the house gathering knick knacks and decorative items. They are easy to pack for storage, since they are not necessities. The house immediately looked barren and devoid of personality. Meanwhile, I dug into the kitchen and sorted things by which would go to storage, which to the apartment and which to give away. It's a healthy process to clean out every few years and I think the 6 years that we've been in this house was a little too long. We had so many kitchen-y things, many of which I no longer used. Plenty of them are from our wedding registry, but because I had so much of some things, some of it was bound to be unused. I also had an extra set of pots and pans. I only have 4 burners, so...
Now the kitchen has been swiped out and the clean-out process has left me wondering if I ever want to unpack my stuff or if we should just live the simple life. We'll get a taste of the simple life for the next 6 months as we eat from only 4 plastic plates and bowls, the usual kids dishes and disposables. I just hate the idea of packing up all of our dishes, unpacking and then packing again in 6 months, so I'm minimizing what goes to the apartment. We currently have a large stash of well-packed boxes in our front room, but only 2 are going to the apartment. There are still a few things in the kitchen cabinets that we'll use this week until we are absolutely forced to pack them to take to the apartment.
I've also packed the kids' toys. They each chose 2 toy-types to go with us and I chose a couple of standards, like Legos. The rest have been packed into boxes for storage. It will be like Christmas all over again when we arrive in the new house and open all of their long-lost toys.
The kids' rooms have been cleared of all wall-art and personality and it's really starting to feel like we're leaving. I look around and see the shell of our home, but it's stripped of it's substance. I'm beginning to wonder if the buyers could still like such an empty, hollow looking place. It also makes me wonder how long it will be before we feel at home in the new house. The regretful part is that with all the busyness of packing and moving and getting every tiny task accomplished, I'm sure I will feel more resentment toward this house and the stuff inside it than I will sadness about leaving. Perhaps it is just a distraction from the feeling we will have that first night when we just want to go home, but realize that someone else lives in our home now... and all of our keys are gone...and we'll never see inside the house again.
It's all very bittersweet, but mainly back breaking and exhausting at this point.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
He's too big!!
I mentioned below a canoe trip during our Ozark vacation. We rented a canoe with the plan to travel down the Buffalo River, just Doug, myself and Mary and William. We prepared them mentally for life jackets and oars and rapids and NEVER standing up in a canoe. On the windy drive to park our car at the exit point Mary and William eagerly asked questions about the boat and whether it would tip, promising never to stand up in the boat. Mary then volunteered that perhaps we should get two canoes. She would ride with Mommy and William could ride with Daddy because Daddy is just too big to ride in the boat with all of us and she doesn't want him to sink the boat. We got a chuckle and assured her that the boat was plenty big to hold us all.
We parked our car and boarded the bus that would take us to the starting point. The issue had clearly been settled and the kids were excited to see all those canoes resting at the edge of the water. We put them in life jackets and chose a canoe with 2 seats, front and rear. The kids sat on the floor of the boat between the seats and used a cross beam as a handle. I sat in the front and Doug shoved us away from the shore before hopping in. Naturally, with his first attempt to board there was a bit of rocking of our tiny vessel. He stood upright again in the water to set us right before trying again, but it was too late. We had taken on a bit of water, nothing worrisome, but enough to soak the preschool bottoms resting on the floor of the boat. As if the splashing wasn't enough commotion to attract the attention of our fellow canoers, Mary began to scream in terror, "Daddy, get out of the boat! You're too big!!". William joined her in wailing with fright. At this, some others approached to help steady the boat for a second try. Mary began shouting to them "He's too big!! He's too big for the boat!!" Before help had arrived Doug was already in the boat and we were drifting peacefully down river. Mary and William were anything but peaceful though. They sat with their eyes wide open and their hands gripping the cross beam for life, certain that they were moments away from an untimely death at the bottom of a winding river. Doug and I worked out the mechanics of paddling and avoiding other canoes. Less than 5 minutes in, William said, "My fingers hurt." I couldn't imagine why until I turned around to see his little snow-capped knuckles gripping to his last hope of staying alive.
The whole experience was rather uneventful except for the start and the kids eventually loosened up enough to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. We spent about an hour being swept swiftly down the river by the high water. It was enjoyable to us and the kids did decide that seeing the fish and turtles was worth some of the terror. We found it quite funny what a 3 and 4 year old can come up with. I doubt it would have been quite so funny had Doug not just shed 85 pounds of extra weight over the previous year, but I can hardly imagine Mary was referring to any excess around his middle. {As an aside: In Mary’s 4 year old mind, size and age are of a direct correlation. At the sight of an overweight person who otherwise looked like a particularly thin friend of ours, Mary commented on the resemblance. To be honest, only she saw it and we asked her if she noticed any differences in their appearances. She replied that the stranger had longer hair (which we also noticed was a completely different color) and that the man must be older than [our friend] because he is bigger. It’s as simple as that...the older you are, the bigger you get. Thankfully, Mary did not pick up on the fact that Mommy is 2 years older than Daddy or I most certainly would not have thought this story was as funny as I do and it would be the last thing I’d post about on our blog.} But, I digress…
The simple fact is that Mary’s sees her daddy as a big, strong hero. Nevertheless, people of such stature should not be in a canoe with three other people, regardless of strength, lest we all die a terrible, watery death. I doubt I will ever forget the sound of her voice, as though she were warning us all of our impending doom. “He’s too big for the boat!!”
We parked our car and boarded the bus that would take us to the starting point. The issue had clearly been settled and the kids were excited to see all those canoes resting at the edge of the water. We put them in life jackets and chose a canoe with 2 seats, front and rear. The kids sat on the floor of the boat between the seats and used a cross beam as a handle. I sat in the front and Doug shoved us away from the shore before hopping in. Naturally, with his first attempt to board there was a bit of rocking of our tiny vessel. He stood upright again in the water to set us right before trying again, but it was too late. We had taken on a bit of water, nothing worrisome, but enough to soak the preschool bottoms resting on the floor of the boat. As if the splashing wasn't enough commotion to attract the attention of our fellow canoers, Mary began to scream in terror, "Daddy, get out of the boat! You're too big!!". William joined her in wailing with fright. At this, some others approached to help steady the boat for a second try. Mary began shouting to them "He's too big!! He's too big for the boat!!" Before help had arrived Doug was already in the boat and we were drifting peacefully down river. Mary and William were anything but peaceful though. They sat with their eyes wide open and their hands gripping the cross beam for life, certain that they were moments away from an untimely death at the bottom of a winding river. Doug and I worked out the mechanics of paddling and avoiding other canoes. Less than 5 minutes in, William said, "My fingers hurt." I couldn't imagine why until I turned around to see his little snow-capped knuckles gripping to his last hope of staying alive.
The whole experience was rather uneventful except for the start and the kids eventually loosened up enough to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. We spent about an hour being swept swiftly down the river by the high water. It was enjoyable to us and the kids did decide that seeing the fish and turtles was worth some of the terror. We found it quite funny what a 3 and 4 year old can come up with. I doubt it would have been quite so funny had Doug not just shed 85 pounds of extra weight over the previous year, but I can hardly imagine Mary was referring to any excess around his middle. {As an aside: In Mary’s 4 year old mind, size and age are of a direct correlation. At the sight of an overweight person who otherwise looked like a particularly thin friend of ours, Mary commented on the resemblance. To be honest, only she saw it and we asked her if she noticed any differences in their appearances. She replied that the stranger had longer hair (which we also noticed was a completely different color) and that the man must be older than [our friend] because he is bigger. It’s as simple as that...the older you are, the bigger you get. Thankfully, Mary did not pick up on the fact that Mommy is 2 years older than Daddy or I most certainly would not have thought this story was as funny as I do and it would be the last thing I’d post about on our blog.} But, I digress…
The simple fact is that Mary’s sees her daddy as a big, strong hero. Nevertheless, people of such stature should not be in a canoe with three other people, regardless of strength, lest we all die a terrible, watery death. I doubt I will ever forget the sound of her voice, as though she were warning us all of our impending doom. “He’s too big for the boat!!”
Friday, August 15, 2008
Since we chatted last...
I realize that we are way behind on keeping our blog up-to-date, but that has been type of time we've been having these past couple of months. B-U-S-Y!
Back in June, we did such things as study Dr. Seuss' Horton books and then take a trip to the dollar theatre to see the recently released movie, Horton Hears A Who. We celebrated a cousin's pirate birthday party, curled Mary's hair for the first time, attended the Turner family reunion and hosted a baby shower for Sean and Anya. They are expecting a little baby boy in October.
In July, we celebrated America's independence, but spent most of our time preparing to sell our house. We made repairs, cleaned out junk, and staged our house for showings. We signed a contract with Ashton Woods to build our new home, which will be complete sometime in February or March of next year. We left our house in showcase condition and left for one week for a vacation in the Ozarks. It was a great trip. We visited a family camp near the Buffalo river and stayed entertained the entire time. The kids rode a pony and a fire truck in the evenings before dinner, Doug and I rode horses one morning. We hiked a few trails, traveled to the Blanchard Springs Caverns, and played in the creek just outside our lodge doors. We rented a canoe and traveled down the Buffalo river...a story for another blog post. It was a fantastic trip that we will take again in the next few years.
After our return, we continued showing our house with only an hour's notice, which was no small task, but to our surprise, we received an offer not even 3 weeks after we listed. After a bit of negotiation, we agreed to a selling price on August 1st. Now our focus remains on getting ourselves out of here by the end of this month. We aren't quite sure where we'll live after closing, as most rental house require a year lease and 3 bedroom apartments are a bit harder to find, especially on the first floor. But, we'll work it all out before then.
This August, Mary participated in the Read to Rover program at the public library, which allows her to read a book to a service dog. She loved it and was thrilled that it was a slow day at the library and she was able to take two turns with the dogs. Her book of choice was, Hot Dog, about a dog in the summer just looking for a place to cool off, but all the great places have been taken by the other animals. She carefully showed each illustrations to Dasher and Tina while she read. It was Tina, the Chihuahua's, favorite book. Later that evening we visited the Mesquite Rodeo, where Mary decided that the mounted drill team was her favorite. William liked the bull riding best. Since then, they have been roping each other all around the house, using Mary's jump rope. Tonight, as we ate steak (not very good steak, I might add) they came to the conclusion that the cowboys must be roping those cows so we can get meat from them. Mary decided that the cowboys tried to rope them as quickly as possible so we can have meat right away for dinner. While quite astute, I did not point out that in order to get such "meat" the cows had to be slaughtered and butchered. Tonight's steak could have been a much better cut, but perhaps this was a particularly difficult cow to rope and they had run out of time to do the job right.
This week in Kindergarten, we are studying water. We've explored it's 3 states, splashed in the back yard, and experimented with buoyancy. It's been a very memorable week of activities and the kids have certainly been showing off their skills in identifying solids, liquids and gases.
We are certainly looking forward to closing on our house, but not so much the 6 months of renting. The real thrill will be moving into our brand new dream home in February. All of this commotion surely means that the updates will be sporadic for a while longer, but we'll try to hit the highlights when we can.
Back in June, we did such things as study Dr. Seuss' Horton books and then take a trip to the dollar theatre to see the recently released movie, Horton Hears A Who. We celebrated a cousin's pirate birthday party, curled Mary's hair for the first time, attended the Turner family reunion and hosted a baby shower for Sean and Anya. They are expecting a little baby boy in October.
In July, we celebrated America's independence, but spent most of our time preparing to sell our house. We made repairs, cleaned out junk, and staged our house for showings. We signed a contract with Ashton Woods to build our new home, which will be complete sometime in February or March of next year. We left our house in showcase condition and left for one week for a vacation in the Ozarks. It was a great trip. We visited a family camp near the Buffalo river and stayed entertained the entire time. The kids rode a pony and a fire truck in the evenings before dinner, Doug and I rode horses one morning. We hiked a few trails, traveled to the Blanchard Springs Caverns, and played in the creek just outside our lodge doors. We rented a canoe and traveled down the Buffalo river...a story for another blog post. It was a fantastic trip that we will take again in the next few years.
After our return, we continued showing our house with only an hour's notice, which was no small task, but to our surprise, we received an offer not even 3 weeks after we listed. After a bit of negotiation, we agreed to a selling price on August 1st. Now our focus remains on getting ourselves out of here by the end of this month. We aren't quite sure where we'll live after closing, as most rental house require a year lease and 3 bedroom apartments are a bit harder to find, especially on the first floor. But, we'll work it all out before then.
This August, Mary participated in the Read to Rover program at the public library, which allows her to read a book to a service dog. She loved it and was thrilled that it was a slow day at the library and she was able to take two turns with the dogs. Her book of choice was, Hot Dog, about a dog in the summer just looking for a place to cool off, but all the great places have been taken by the other animals. She carefully showed each illustrations to Dasher and Tina while she read. It was Tina, the Chihuahua's, favorite book. Later that evening we visited the Mesquite Rodeo, where Mary decided that the mounted drill team was her favorite. William liked the bull riding best. Since then, they have been roping each other all around the house, using Mary's jump rope. Tonight, as we ate steak (not very good steak, I might add) they came to the conclusion that the cowboys must be roping those cows so we can get meat from them. Mary decided that the cowboys tried to rope them as quickly as possible so we can have meat right away for dinner. While quite astute, I did not point out that in order to get such "meat" the cows had to be slaughtered and butchered. Tonight's steak could have been a much better cut, but perhaps this was a particularly difficult cow to rope and they had run out of time to do the job right.
This week in Kindergarten, we are studying water. We've explored it's 3 states, splashed in the back yard, and experimented with buoyancy. It's been a very memorable week of activities and the kids have certainly been showing off their skills in identifying solids, liquids and gases.
We are certainly looking forward to closing on our house, but not so much the 6 months of renting. The real thrill will be moving into our brand new dream home in February. All of this commotion surely means that the updates will be sporadic for a while longer, but we'll try to hit the highlights when we can.
Friday, June 20, 2008
How does such a little guy appear to be such a big boy?
Since Robert has started walking everywhere he goes, he's gotten a new perspective and so have I. He now walks up to me, but keeps enough distance from my legs so he can tilt his head back to see me without toppling over. It seems like a small thing, but the lack of ankle clinging is a nice bonus to the walking stage. For some reason, when he looks up at me from his new position, with his blue eyes he looks so much older. Yet, he's so petite that he barely reaches my knee. He stands there as if he's a grown man and awaits my answers with those puppy dog eyes, but he's not even 3 feet tall. I still have to stoop to pat the top of his head.
My favorite recent change is that he has adopted a plethora of new words in the last two weeks, including complete sentences. He's probably learned 40-50 words and phrases in the last 2 weeks for a total of about a 100. His newest word-game is to ask for a sandwich. We've eaten a lot of sandwiches while Doug has been away and he's learned the word very well. Now he asks, in experimental tones, for sandwiches around the clock. He looks at me with a tilted head, wiggles his eyebrows and shows his sideways grin, and says, "Sanweesh?" He answers his own question with a sweet little nod that says, "come on, you know you wanna give me a sandwich." If that doesn't work, he tests out the demanding whine. "I want a sandweesh!!" After a cocked eyebrow from me, he reverts back to the cuteness of nodding and smiling. It's no surprise to me that a great percentage of his vocabulary is food related. Sandwich, apple, grapes, banana, cheese, chicken, ucky, mmmMMMMmmm... He's all about the food. The next great category of verbiage is toys. Car, cow, book, ball, balloon, hat, color, dog... The next most frequent category has to do with Daddy. Where is he? What's he doing? How did he get there? What's he wearing? Is he sleeping? Daddy is about action and going places. Mommy is about sandwiches.
A new world has opened up for Robert and he is far more relational than before, too. He says all of our names now, except for William, whom he calls "brother." He calls himself Bobby. This little boy is making a big place for himself in our family. He's the joy of my day, most days.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I want a sandweesh.
My favorite recent change is that he has adopted a plethora of new words in the last two weeks, including complete sentences. He's probably learned 40-50 words and phrases in the last 2 weeks for a total of about a 100. His newest word-game is to ask for a sandwich. We've eaten a lot of sandwiches while Doug has been away and he's learned the word very well. Now he asks, in experimental tones, for sandwiches around the clock. He looks at me with a tilted head, wiggles his eyebrows and shows his sideways grin, and says, "Sanweesh?" He answers his own question with a sweet little nod that says, "come on, you know you wanna give me a sandwich." If that doesn't work, he tests out the demanding whine. "I want a sandweesh!!" After a cocked eyebrow from me, he reverts back to the cuteness of nodding and smiling. It's no surprise to me that a great percentage of his vocabulary is food related. Sandwich, apple, grapes, banana, cheese, chicken, ucky, mmmMMMMmmm... He's all about the food. The next great category of verbiage is toys. Car, cow, book, ball, balloon, hat, color, dog... The next most frequent category has to do with Daddy. Where is he? What's he doing? How did he get there? What's he wearing? Is he sleeping? Daddy is about action and going places. Mommy is about sandwiches.
A new world has opened up for Robert and he is far more relational than before, too. He says all of our names now, except for William, whom he calls "brother." He calls himself Bobby. This little boy is making a big place for himself in our family. He's the joy of my day, most days.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I want a sandweesh.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
We have a walker!!
Robert is walking! He finally did it on his 18 month birthday (today). The past couple of days have been a lot of practice for him with a lot of crawling still. But, today, he's walking around and when he falls, every 10-20 steps, he stands up again and walks. He's so proud of himself. We'll be capturing some video soon of this early, wobbly, high-knee stage. He's really adorable toddling around, walking his diaper to the trash, etc.
Hooray! He finally did it!
Hooray! He finally did it!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Mother's Day
It's a little late in coming, but I wanted to report on my wonderful Mother's Day.
The day before Mother's Day, I spent the vast majority of the day at a homeschool bookfair in Arlington. But, before I left, William ever-so-sneakily asked me what my favorite kind of cookie was. I listed a few and got out my Cookie Cookbook just in case. :-) When I returned home, there were no signs of cookies, but William informed me that he would make some cookies tomorrow.
Since Mother's Day is always on a Sunday there is no chance of me sleeping in. We have to leave our house at 7:45 to get Doug to church on time for rehearsal before the service. I thought, of course, that this would also mean that I would never have a breakfast in bed. But, I woke Sunday morning to find Doug "missing" at 6:30am. If you know Doug, the house has to be on fire for him to be up at 6:30 in the morning. He returned a few minutes later with donuts for me, which he served on a breakfast tray with orange juice. There were so many donuts, I couldn't eat them all right away!
So, we dressed and left for church. Afterward, our lunch plans were foiled by a 2 hour wait at the restaurant, so we stopped for a little Boston Market instead. When I returned from picking it up, I found our 2 oldest kids scooping cookie dough onto pans. They baked while we ate lunch and I enjoyed warm, delicious sugar cookies after my meal. Then, I opened the presents the kids made at Mother's Day Out. Mary made a beaded frame with hand-stitched artwork inside. William made a little paper tea pot with tea bag and a poem. Each of them had made a sweet card to go with the gift.
After lunch and gifts, we drove around to look at houses and then made our way to Michelle's house for dinner with Nisey. It was such a beautiful day that we ate outside on the patio and enjoyed the sunshine. Stephen cooked a delicious meal for all the mommies. My mom gave me a gift, too! She gave me a giant tea canister for serving iced tea at parties. I can't wait to use it!
It was a lovely day and I got to spend it with the people I love. Thanks to everyone who made the day special.
The day before Mother's Day, I spent the vast majority of the day at a homeschool bookfair in Arlington. But, before I left, William ever-so-sneakily asked me what my favorite kind of cookie was. I listed a few and got out my Cookie Cookbook just in case. :-) When I returned home, there were no signs of cookies, but William informed me that he would make some cookies tomorrow.
Since Mother's Day is always on a Sunday there is no chance of me sleeping in. We have to leave our house at 7:45 to get Doug to church on time for rehearsal before the service. I thought, of course, that this would also mean that I would never have a breakfast in bed. But, I woke Sunday morning to find Doug "missing" at 6:30am. If you know Doug, the house has to be on fire for him to be up at 6:30 in the morning. He returned a few minutes later with donuts for me, which he served on a breakfast tray with orange juice. There were so many donuts, I couldn't eat them all right away!
So, we dressed and left for church. Afterward, our lunch plans were foiled by a 2 hour wait at the restaurant, so we stopped for a little Boston Market instead. When I returned from picking it up, I found our 2 oldest kids scooping cookie dough onto pans. They baked while we ate lunch and I enjoyed warm, delicious sugar cookies after my meal. Then, I opened the presents the kids made at Mother's Day Out. Mary made a beaded frame with hand-stitched artwork inside. William made a little paper tea pot with tea bag and a poem. Each of them had made a sweet card to go with the gift.
After lunch and gifts, we drove around to look at houses and then made our way to Michelle's house for dinner with Nisey. It was such a beautiful day that we ate outside on the patio and enjoyed the sunshine. Stephen cooked a delicious meal for all the mommies. My mom gave me a gift, too! She gave me a giant tea canister for serving iced tea at parties. I can't wait to use it!
It was a lovely day and I got to spend it with the people I love. Thanks to everyone who made the day special.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
For My Great Uncle Henry...
Here it is! You made it.
I know you've been missing the monthly Lisa-grams (as have I, really), but this is the next best thing.
Enjoy the smaller, but more frequent updates!
Here's a new picture of our everyday life:
William on the play ground:
There are lots more pictures at http://clarks.smugmug.com/
I know you've been missing the monthly Lisa-grams (as have I, really), but this is the next best thing.
Enjoy the smaller, but more frequent updates!
Here's a new picture of our everyday life:
William on the play ground:
There are lots more pictures at http://clarks.smugmug.com/
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