Look Who's Decided to Blog

And on a Friday night, no less!  What a life I have!  In my defense, I am still a tiny bit cool because I went to a concert last night, on a school night, and my head didn't hit the pillow until after midnight.  And I wore lots of makeup, cute shoes, and bought a rock and roll t-shirt.

But anyway, tonight I am dead tired and catching up on blogging.  Our internet is giving us fits still, so I'm making hay while it's day here and getting it done.  We don't know why our internet only works 30% of the time, especially considering that we pay for it 100% of the time.  My personal theory is that Verizon wants us to switch to FIOS, so they are trying to bully us, but maybe that's a little too 'Conspiracy Theory'?

Anyway.  Here's a few things you can get caught up on too.  Or not!  Up to you!
Our Village
A Face Only a Mom Could Love
Hip to the Hop
Honestly.
Snippets
More about Pee. (More than you ever want to know!)

More About Pee

So see this darling little picnic basket.  It's totally vintage.  It was made by Fisher Price, and it was mine when I was little.  There is this adorable bear 'thermos' that went with it, along with some other miscellaneous picnic gear.  I checked on ebay, and while it's not worth much, the vintage is apparently around 1974.  I wasn't born then, so I don't know about that, but I'm telling you, it's relatively old.  And very cute.

Oh my goodness, I promise those are not pee droplets on that thing.

It's been a favorite toy of each of my kids- and it's historically lived at Nana Pam's house.  Carter is currently into it, (more obsessed than you know, but you're about to find out), and for some reason it's here now.

So, last night the kids stayed at my mom's overnight because Joel and I had tickets to see The Killers (oh my word, it was SO good, and even though I thought for a moment I was too old for such things, I was totally wrong).  This morning, bright and way too early I went to get them, and brought them home to get ready for school.  On the quick drive back to our house they received strict instructions to go potty and get dressed- quickly!  They all three ran upstairs and got started.  A few minutes later I noticed that Carter's door was shut, so I thought I'd better peek in to see what he was up to.

Oh boy.  I was not prepared for this, not at all.  Not even a little.  (Are you?)  He was sitting on his soft, over sized, stuffed monkey chair, with his pjs pulled down, just a little, and peeing into the vintage, Fisher Price, darling, picnic basket!  PEEING INTO IT.  And the worst part about all of this?  IT WAS FULL OF PEE.  This was not the first time.  The puzzle pieces started coming together in my mind- a few days earlier I felt like his room smelled faintly of pee, but I sniffed all around his dirty clothes, etc.  To make matters beyond worse, he'd been storing his picnic basket full of URINE URINE! in his BOOK BASKET.  And now that it was quite full, there were wet books.  Wet from pee.  Wet from pee that my cutie pie, darling son had been STORING.  IN HIS ROOM.  IN HIS BOOK BASKET.  Oh my word, I swear my adrenaline is rising again just telling you about it.

I'll leave out the account of the following 20 minutes.  It included a lot of Not Fun.  I am pretty sure that we've established that peeing will only happen in the proper receptacle in the future.  We threw away some books (sob), blah blah blah.  Of course I can't, won't throw away my picnic basket.  It was soaked, sprayed, scrubbed . . . rinse, repeat.  I'm hoping the stickers on it dry decently, but really, what was I to do?  It WAS FULL OF URINE.  (ACK!  Still not used to it!  FULL OF URINE!)

The lid fits on pretty well.  Perfect for carrying pee around.  It's empty here, however.

So see?  Life in the Gibson house?  Not always rosy!  (But very often good for a story.)

Snippets

Carter: What's this?
Garrett: It's a parsnip!
Carter, nervously: Eeeeep!. Will it snip me?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Garrett:  Mom, if we didn't get Sammy all fixed up, would she have kittens by now?

Me:  All fixed up?  Yes, she probably would have.

G:  Oh man!  Can we get her all fixed up the other way now?

Honestly.

Usually on my blog I tell you about some of the highlights of our life- the fun things, the cute things, and the things that paint me in a fairly good light.  Unless it's funny, and then I make some exceptions, because what do we have if not a little sarcasm and humor, right?

I'm wild about my kids and Joel, but let me tell you.  WE DO HAVE OUR MOMENTS.  SERIOUSLY.

And in the past 2 days, there were definitely some moments.  Ahem.  The theme of the past 2 days?  Pee.  As in, urine.

Thursday morning, I was woken up by my sweet 3 (and a half!) year old who had wet the bed in his sleep.  "I didn't pee, Mom!  I just woke up and was all wet!"  Fair enough.  Sometimes sound asleep three year olds wet the bed, and while washing sheets and remaking the bed is a pain in my big toe, (actually hasn't happened yet!), it's not a big deal and par for the course while parenting preschoolers.

After we'd stripped the bed, washed the boy, and I crawled back in bed for a few minutes of quiet while the kids got dressed and didn't need me yet, Maddy runs up the stairs crying.  "Sammy peed on our homework in the living room!"  Sammy is our cat who we've technically had for over 4 years, but has just made the transition to house cat in the past month.  She's made the transition quite well, and spends the day using the cat door to the garage that Joel installed for her (I just couldn't put the litter box in the house), sleeping in Maddy's room, and begging to be pet.  We have had zero potty issues with her, so I don't know what the H the problem was, but I have pretty much zero tolerance for potty issues with cats!  (I know, not good for a pet owner.)  Thankfully, it wasn't actually homework, but some papers they'd brought home that I'd already read, and was ready to toss.  But still.  Gross.  Joel pointed out that maybe we shouldn't put papers on the floor.  Thanks, Honey!  Helpful!  There was maybe even a tiny bit of pee spray on my CAMERA AND MY CAMERA strap, which is why if you see me at the soccer field in the morning I will be holding my camera and it will not be around my neck because OH MY WORD I don't think I can ever wear it again.  I wiped my camera down with clorox wipes I still had from before my green days, and I do believe I will always have some on hand.

Three strikes, kitty.  That's ONE.

After we cleaned the carpet and recovered from that yuckness, I thought we were set.  Little did I know, the worst was still to come.  (To be continued.)

Hip to the Hop

Well, dance started this past week.  Madeline is taking several classes, and loving every minute of it.  She was invited to be in the Performing Company for her studio, and she is pretty excited.  This will be a year of hard work for her, and extreme growth.  She couldn't be more pumped about it!

And then there is this guy.  He is taking Hip Hop!  It makes me giggle every time I think of it, actually.  I can't wait until Parent Watch Week coming up next month!  A few days before it started Maddy said to him, "Hey G, are you excited about starting Hip Hop?"  He replied, "What's Hip Hop?"  That was after we'd talked at length about him doing it!

After his first class, his only complaint was that it was too short (30 minutes), and why couldn't he stay for tap?!?!  Why not?  (It actually helps the transportation a LOT to have him there for another 30 minutes)  He's doing it!  We picked up his tap shoes yesterday, which he was quite pleased with, despite the pink box they came in.  (The shoes themselves look pretty gender neutral . . . considering they are, in fact, tap shoes.)  He is super excited about the whole thing, and I am looking forward to watching it all unfold.  One thing is for sure, this guys has plenty of energy to burn!

A Face Only a Mom Could Love

Garrett's self portrait at school today cracked me up. First of all,
he was the only kid in the class who chose the 'darker' skin color
paint. In a class with 50% of native Spanish speakers, I found it
(more than) a little humorous. And then, while most boys gave
themselves a neat little helmet of hair, my boy gave himself dreads.
Sweeet.

Our Village

This is a picture of the other moms in our village.  You know, the village that it takes to raise our kids?  These are the key players, for sure.  These ladies have become some of my very closest friends over the past 8 years.  There are constantly emails going back and forth and around and around about car pooling, 'baby sitting' (although there are no more babies, and none of our kids sit for very long), and maybe best of all, Mom's Night Out.  We've been through a lot together.  A lot.  Some good stuff like birthday parties, huge group dinners (is our group really 31 now?), Back to School Breakfasts, Disneyland, and lots and lots of new babies.  We've been through some of lives really hard stuff together too- divorces, cancer, tough extended family situations, and times when we were just stuck on issues with one of our kids.

As time goes on I am reminded over and over again how rare it is to have a couple of super good friends- the kind you can count on no matter what.  But to have an actual village?  To have the list of 'emergency contacts' for your kids so long, you have to write sideways?  To not need to write notes to teachers about who can pick up your kids, because they know that everyone is this group is safe?  Unheard of!

So thanks, Friends, for being part of our village!  Our kids are so lucky to have all of you . . . and I feel pretty blessed as well!
(P.S.  I totally stole this picture from Allison's blog!  But she's part of the village, so I know she won't care.)

Opening Day

Today was Opening Day of soccer season. (I may be the only person who
calls it that.) We aren't coaching this year, so our morning was
nearly leisurely preparing for our 10:30 game.

Usually Opening Day occurs on a crisp, clear, bight Fall morning. Of
which we've had several this week. Thanks to Murphy's law though, this
morning was gray, dark, and POURING. I didn't bring my camera, so the
only picture I got was this on my phone.

Thankfully by game time, the downpour stopped and it was actually
pretty nice. The boys played hard (and were so cute), and best of all
had great fun!

Our G scored a goal, so he was pretty pumped. I have to say, I'm
pretty thrilled to have soccer season here again, just hoping that we
have some of those bright Autumn days during the next several weeks!

School Night Sleepover

At soccer practice on Wednesday night Miss Molly had quite a mishap, which, long story short led to Grayson having a spontaneous sleepover at our house.  The boys were quite happy, especially when Joel sweetened the deal with 30 minutes of 'Star Wars Lego' video game.  I should mention that they obviously had no idea that Molly was at the Emergency Room!

Our wiped out Maddy happened to be spending the night with Nana Pam, and having Grayson here just seemed normal.  Although, I did hear 6 year old giggles well after 9:00!  The next morning Grayson declared it, "The Best Sleepover EVER!"

(P.S.  Miss Molly is fine now, but it sounds like quite an unfun evening for her, her parents, and all of us worrying about her!)

Tampico! Dos!

Last year Madeline's class learned a Costa Rican dance called, "Tampico."  They performed in the school gym and it was so dang cute.

Well, in celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, the fourth graders were invited to 3rd Street to perform Tampico again.  It was a neat thing to be a part of.  A block of Third Street was closed, and there was a Mariachi band too.

Carter Goes to School

Carter Mac started preschool this past Monday.  He was pretty darn excited about the whole thing.  I thought he'd be a little nervous about me leaving him, but in truth he wasn't.  At all.  Not even a little.  I almost had my feelings hurt about the whole thing, but then I went to have coffee with a long lost friend, so I recovered pretty quickly.

This is his impromptu 'preschool dance.'  It's pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen.  EVER.

He marched down that hallway with some serious purpose.  I could have dropped him off down the street, and he would have been just fine.

He went straight to paint.  He asked for a kiss and a squeeze hug.  Then he said, "Mama?"  I turned, thinking that maybe he didn't want me to leave?  "DIVE SEEFE!"  (Drive safe!)- his standard farewell.  Then he turned to paint some more.  I watched him from the door for a minute or two, wondering what he was thinking of.  Apparently his mind was too busy thinking of green paint and brush strokes to worry about where his Mama went.

Coming through to door to see me!

He seriously loved it.  AND, when I came to pick him up?  THRILLED to see me.  Best of both worlds here, for real.

It's unreal that he's preschool age.  It's unreal that my baby has no problem with me dropping him off, squeezing him tight, and then leaving him for three hours.  What will I do with my 'spare' time?  Well I will spend it doing my super very part time job (supervising a student teacher), or working in any and all of my kids' 3 classrooms.  And hopefully I can sneak in a run now and then too.  (And the bon bons, don't forget about that!)

Fishing

We were supposed to go camping on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend.  A few days before, the forecast looked like low 60s and RAIN, so we decided to cancel.

When Saturday rolled around, it did indeed rain a lot.  But by late afternoon it was actually pretty nice out, and Joel texted our friends who were spending the day at the lake (where we'd intended to camp).  They were about to go fishing, and in 10 minutes Joel had our three kids loaded up in the car and all the fishing gear thrown in too, and they were off.  I was feeling super cruddy and decided to stay home.

They had a blast though, and I owe a HUGE 'THANK YOU' to Hannah and Melissa (and their hubbies) for having fun with and helping my crew!  (And taking pictures!)

Madeline ended up catching 4 fish, and Carter caught one too- when no one was looking!

They were pretty happy to get to see their buddy, Gracie too!

He Still Remembers

I went in to tuck in G tonight and found him laying quietly in his bed, with his small Tower of Pisa ceramic replica in his hand.  He was turning it over, looking at it, and obviously thinking.

"Mama?  Do you think I'll ever see the Leaning Tower of Pisa again?"

He asked it with a lot of care, and I knew I had to answer it that way too.  "I hope so, I think you will."

He set the small statue on his nightstand and said, "Remember when Maddy, Carter and me played on the grass there?  We wrestled?  That was so fun."

We then talked about how it was such a bummer we didn't get to go up the tower when we were there.  He was asking me what it was like, and I reminded him I'd never been up it either.  I said, "How about we make a deal?  Let's go back together after you are 18."

He thought for a moment and said, "How about our whole family goes back, but after Carter is 18?"

"It's a deal."

"What if you forget that deal, Mama?"

I have a feeling I won't.

Punch Line

Oh Thursday I got up at 5:45 to do yoga- some (stupid) show I'd recorded.  15 minutes or so into it, I heard Carter yell, "Mom!  Mooooooooommmmmmmmmmm!"  I ran upstairs to see what the deal is.

He says, "Can I wake up yet?  Is it morning?"

"No, baby, it's not quite wake up time yet.  Do you want to read books for a little bit?"

"Show."  (Sure, in Carterspeak.)

So, I tuned on his lamp, got him some of his favorites, and headed back downstairs to do downward dog or whatever the weirdo lady on the show wanted me to try.

10 minutes later:
"MOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!"

I headed back up there.  The smell hit my nose, and I knew what happened before he told me.  "I peed."

I was surprised because he is totally potty trained and hardly ever has an accident.  "Why didn't you get up and go?  You are awake!"

He looks at me like I'm an idiot and he says, "Mom.  I was in the middle of reading this book!"  Like, 'You idiot, why would I stop reading to pee?' 

Nice.

I asked his permission to tell this story at the dinner table last night, and of course it got a round of laughs- none louder than his though.

Week One- Check!

Well, we've survied the first week of school.  Altough on Tuesday and Wednesday I wasn't sure, I am now fairly optimistic that we will survive the first quarter, and possibly even the entire year.  (Wouldn't want to get ahead of myself!)  This post is mostly for me, so I can remember all the funny and trying times of this week.  Highlights (and lowlights) of the week:

Madeline:  Loves school.  No really, loves it.  Like she needs school to breathe.  Adores her teacher.  Takes everything (EVERYTHING) her teacher says as gospel.  She's done her homework faithfully each night, enthusiastically even.  Including writing over a page en español last night!  She says things like, "It's important that I own my education!" and "Be a learner, not a finisher!"  She told me the other morning that one thing she really liked about Ms K was that if someone gave an answer that was wrong, Ms K would make it right.  Madeline said it much more articulately than I just did, but basically what she meant was that her teacher values the students' approximations and the process over the product.  I love that she's that kind of teacher, and I also love that Madeline observed that and vocalized it.  She's going to have a great year.

Garrett:  Each day has been a little better for Garrett.
Tuesday- gets in the car and says, matter of factly, "They are speaking Spanish tomorrow, so I can't go.  I don't speak Spanish."  Keep in mind that he was in dual language last year as well.  Also shrugged his shoulders and said, "Mom, I'm just not a 1st grade kid!"  I envisioned my son as an kindergarten educated 30 year old and then told him it just wasn't a choice, he was going to have to become a '1st grade kid.'  During the evening and following morning he became less matter of fact and more weepy about it.  Not fun.  (AT ALL!)
Wednesday- I walked him in and he cried (barely, but still) when I left him.  I peeked in at him later and he seemed fine.  Came home that night and said that school was 'ok'.  We went on a family run/bike ride that night and he crashed.  Cried a bunch after that and said, "I don't want to go to school if my elbow is going to hurt!"  (It did, but he still went.)  Also, when we talked about PE being the following day he said, "Hmm, yeah, I want to learn more about that PE."  Incidentally, PE turned out to be a big hit.  When describing a recess today he said, "And I think one of the recesses today was the best one yet!"  And then he told me a story about he and James chasing girls.  Yikes.
Thursday- On the way to school he sighed and moaned, "I hope today isn't going to be another horrible day!"  I said, "What are you talking about?  Yesterday wasn't horrible!"  He said, "Um, yeah it was!  SILENT READING?!?!"
Friday- Came home and actually said that he had a good day and that maybe school was fun.  Okay, so he didn't declare it or anything, I asked him leading questions to get him there, but there haven't been tears for quite a while.  He is very excited that he gets a TWO DAY BREAK!

Carter doesn't start preschool until Monday.  It's been really weird having The Bigs gone all day.  It's a long day, and we miss them!  

Carter's Day with Mom

 
Just before school started Nana Pam took The Bigs school shopping in downtown Portland.  (They came home with darling clothes, that they won't be able to wear until NOVEMBER BECAUSE IT'S 90 DEGREES HERE RIGHT NOW.)  Carter was invited, (so was I), but I was pretty sure the day would be a little more enjoyable for everyone if Carter The Three Year Old did not join.  I told him that The Bigs would be shopping with Nana, and that he and I would make playdough.

Sold.

We had such a nice, quiet day together.  He is a hilarious kid, and also very sweet and charming.  We ran errands, stopped for coffee, and then of course I held up my end of the deal and made playdough- 2 kinds!

I'm going to miss The Bigs so much this year while they are at school and I'm not, but thankfully I have this sidekick to keep me company.

Who's THAT?

Maddy's always wanted a little sister . . .

Last week I was watching Maddy's friend, and they were playing dress up.  Pretty soon, they introduced me to Maddy's new little sister.  The funny thing is that a few people I've shown this picture too (including my mom and Joel) have said, "Who's THAT?"

The Yellow Jackets Won

(From Tuesday, September 1)
We have an annual tradition of spending a late August or early September evening on my dad's farm filling our pails with blackberries, and our tummies too.  Last week the weather was right, so we all headed out there.  The kids were going to spend the night there too, and sleep on the airstrip, under the stars, which is another tradition the kids have. 

The evening started out innocent enough, a picnic on the airstrip under the setting sun, kids excited.

 Joel and I forgot our sweatshirts (again) so we (again!) used blankets- Joel is the one in the pink striped!

We'd picked for 10 minutes or so and were eyeing some of the Christmas trees for a few months from now when G started screaming.  At first we all froze, not sure what was going on.  Then my dad sprung into action and yelled, "BEES!"  The next several minutes are a blur now.  I know Dad grabbed Garrett, and I remember seeing his red sweatshirt covered in yellow jackets.  There was plenty of screaming and yelling, and lots of running.  It was so awful and just seemed to never end, we kept running and stripping clothes off of kids, but it seemed like we couldn't get away.  Finally it was over and we got back to the van, which was a couple of hundred yards away.  We applied mud to all the stings and bites, and shook sweat shirts.  Joel went back to recover blankets, bowls and clothes that had gotten left behind.  Kids were still crying and snuffling and grown ups were shell shocked.  It was NOT FUN.  We decided to cancel the sleepover and we brought three very sad, sore, and scared kids home.

Thankfully by the next day the kids were all feeling so much better.  Papa had them out again for 'take 2' of the play day and camp out, and thankfully they all wanted to go - and had a great time.  Relief!

Magic

So, not 10 minutes (okay, maybe 20) after the last post, Joel worked his computer-savy-magic-mojo on the modem and who knows what else and now we have internet again!  Yahoo!  So here are a few 'real' pics of my big kids this morning.  We were in a hurry and they were nervous, so they aren't fab . . .

Carter says, "Can you take a picture of me doing my tricks?"  Of course.

Here is our 'Tween.'  She is sweet and funny and we wouldn't trade her.  She loves, loves, LOVES school so far and talked about it solid from the time she got in the car until she went to bed.  We had to reign her in a little so her brother could get a word in edgewise.

He is a mix of annoyed with and nervous about school.  He is nervous about the unknown parts, and he's annoyed about everything else (except lunch, recess, and friends).  It's not that it's hard for him, mostly he just would rather be jumping on the trampoline, playing soccer or basketball, or, well, pretty much anything that isn't school.  I would never admit to him that I know he feels this way though.  Tonight we were talking about school tomorrow and he said to me, deadly serious, "I told you, I'm not going tomorrow."  Like, "I tried it, didn't like it, and I'm done."  I have a feeling the next 16 years are going to be entertaining.  For you.

My mom said, "Was he excited to see James?"  I said, "Define excited," and then showed her this photo.  That about does it.  And yes, that is pretty much excited for them.

Speaking of excited, that's what Carter, Molly and I were after we left school.  We hightailed it to Starbucks and met up with Teresa, and Allison, and Abby who didn't have to be at work until later!

I don't really have it in me tonight to detail everything about today.  It's weird to have a 4th grader.  It's weird to think that 10 years ago right now she was just a little alien in my belly and now she's this smart, funny, loveable girl who gives her brother lectures about choosing to be a 'learner and not a finisher' and talks about 'taking responsibility' for her own education.  She's like a walking after school special, and that's one of the things I love about her.

It's also weird that Garrett is a first grader.  It's weird that our afternoons together alone (while Carter napped) are over.  It's weird that he will eat lunch at school every day.  So weird.  He's tall and lanky and funny and smart, but he's also such a little guy inside.  He's tender and unsure and melts my heart ALL OF THE TIME.

So.  Here's to another weird year of life.  It's sure to bring plenty of laughs, memories, adventures and tears.  (And hopefully a little magic.)  Bring.  It.  On.

 (And yes, Garrett IS going to school tomorrow.)

Fake First Day of School Post

We haven't had Internet at home for over a week now- we don't know why- just not working. Long story.  So here I am, blogging with my thumb, yes, my THUMB on my phone. If I had Internet, this is where I'd post cute pics of my big school kids with their cute new school clothes and their nervous smiles. I'd write about how big they seemed, and yet so small at the same time and how the inside of my cheek nearly bled this morning because I was biting it so hard trying not to cry.  Then I'd write about how Carter, Molly, and I met our friends (and the rest of McMinnville) for coffee and after that the day just crawled until it was time to get The Bigs from school. Then I would tell you all about the ride home from school and how Madeline is an exact clone of me, I'm not even kidding, and how my Garrett is cut from such different cloth that I don't know if I should laugh or cry but either way I love them both fiercely and I think they are both going to have a memorable school year, in their very unique ways.

But my dang Internet doesn't work (isn't it funny that my spell check always capitalizes 'internet'?  Except right there!) so you just get this cruddy pic from my phone and some veiled references about it all.  And probably a bunch of typos because I'm TYPING WITH MY THUMB.

Sent from my iPhone