Summer Fun, week 9

We all did chores on Saturday and got the kids ready for their sleepover party at Auntie Cynthia's house. They were excited to see Papa too, who was there for the weekend. 

Lane and I had an anniversary date. Can you believe it's been fifteen years since this???

We went out to an Italian place in Walnut Creek.  We remembered how in ninth or tenth grade, our friend Tim announced that Lane and I would get married and we thought he was crazy (I think Lane more so than I did), we talked about this new baby of ours and just enjoyed a real grown up meal together with uninterrupted conversation. 

We met Auntie Cunthia at the park near her house the next morning. As soon as we parked, we spotted Gabriela running toward us to greet us with gigantic hugs. Easton ran after us too, stopped half way, waved, and turned around and ran away. I think he was anxious to get back to his motorcycle. 

Lane thoroughly enjoyed himself at the park wth the kids. 

I didn't catch any photos, but we headed to farmers market after that. The kids picked out fruit, sampled all the goodies, planted seeds, dug for worms in a compost bin, and enjoyed some sweet treats as well. We came home and knocked that off our summer fun list, though I hope we go again soon. 

Gabriela has been a reading machine this summer. For her birthday last week, we gave her The Series of Unfortunate Events books and she is already on the eleventh one; she has also read some other books in between. I stayed busy sewing some reusable baby wipes. 

Our next two days were beyond crazy. I had some very misbehaved children who were quite possibly possessed by the upcoming full moon. They wouldn't listen, fought with each other and colored furniture, ripped doors off furniture, poured coconut oil all over the place, clogged the toilet, wrote on the house, pooped outside.  It was too much for this mama. We spent the entire afternoon at the pool on Tuesday. Thank goodness, because it was so sweltering hot. I needed some breathing room and they needed to get those crazies out.

Wednesday, Gabriela did her math and journal without any problems. She and easton were so well behaved and got along for hours playing school together. I overheard story time, sharing time, snack time, drawing time, and arts and crafts. I read to them during lunch, which they happily ate. After a little mama nap, I announced it was frozen yogurt and pool time. The kids were happy to have a treat and I was happy to be somewhere air conditioned. It was another scorcher of a day. Thank goodness for spring rolls. Healthy veggie rainbow goodness that takes fewer than ten minutes to prepare and requires no cooking. Why don't I make these more often?!? How refreshing to have a day like this after the previous two. 

My fishies. 

Thursday was Harry Potter's birthday, you know. The kids both helped do chores to get dinner ready quickly and we watched a Harry Potter movie together, taking a mid viewing break for butterbeer and chocolate frogs, of course. They spent their afternoon outside coloring and writing in their journals

We were supposed to go to park day on Friday, but the kids were having so much fun playing school and I was really getting a lot of work done organizing and cleaning up our homeschool room in preparation for the end of this month, that we were all happy to stay home. 

I took some pictures because I have my doubts about this room staying neat and organized by the time school starts. 

Gabriela insists that the table is her desk, and hers only. She immediately started filling every empty spot up with whatever she could gather from around the room and decided to bring in the red table so Easton can have his desk. But then she told him to sit on the floor when I explained that preschoolers don't really enjoy sitting in a desk all day long. 

Refreshing this space is getting my girl excited for more learning. Getting all our supplies is making this mama excited. I am trying to plan what books and activities we will be doing for various subjects now, so it goes more smoothly after we are homeschooling with three kids to care for and a mama with some bonkers hormones. 

This is Gabriela's writing center. She has all her stationary, stamps, address book, journals, stories, and writing books, as well as a suitcase full of her treasured little books, post its, notecards, handmade books, and anything else she can find to write on. 

We picked up some books at the library late in the afternoon and then visited our friend's garden. They are out of town for a couple weeks and said we could pick peaches from their tree and veggies from their garden. How sweet and generous of them to share their garden goodness. Easton loved picking fruit!

He could reach peaches from the trees and loved finding some red ripe strawberries. 

The kids and I were all wishing we had an amazing garden like this. And this is only part of one of the beds!! Maybe next year we can expand. 

We needed a quiet week at home. I have been feeling productive around the house and my kiddos have been keeping themselves busy and spending time together. 

Only a couple more weeks until summer fun is done. 

Sharing Simone's Story

I submitted a story about Simone's birth to the New York Times since they are collecting reader stories to increase awareness of stillbirth. 

So hard to fit my story into 300 words. Each one was so carefully chosen.

 It took about a month, but they just let me know that they selected my story for publishing. 

Hoping this helps others experiencing similar tragic losses. 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/health/stillbirth-reader-stories.html?_r=0#elena-grover

Summer Fun, week 8

Saturday was a big day full of long waits at the ER, and a magical Harry Potter birthday party, both of which I have ready documented in previous posts. 

Sunday, we were in post party clean up mode, while the kids had another round of potion making outside.  It was a lazy day around here. Lane and easton played together outside, Gabriela tested out birthday gifts and she and I both wrote letters to her for her birthday book, not to be opened until she turns 18. I put loads of mementos in both her and Easton's birthday books, and it felt good to catch up on saving special parts of their childhood for them.  Lane grilled a delicious birthday dinner for me tonight. What a treat to not decide what to cook, or have to prepare it. Thanks, honey. 

Monday was my birthday girl's actual birthday. We started out with her special request for breakfast - pumpkin chocolate chip waffles. 

After a birthday taqueria lunch, also a special request, we spent the entire rest of the afternoon at the pool with Gabriela's friends from our homeschool group. 

Easton was sure to let me know when he was done for the day at the pool. It was Gabriela's birthday, so we stayed all afternoon and into the early evening. I wasn't complaining with this love bug in my lap. 

The birthday girl had every detail planned for her special day, including the post swimming entertainment ( a showing of The Parent Trap) and menu for the night: "the cutting board dinner"

After spending all day at the pool with her friends, we went to a birthday party the next day, and saw everyone all over again. This time, for park play and bike riding and, of course, cake. 

Wednesday I felt so productive in the morning; I started dinner, made breakfast, hard boiled eggs, made chicken stock. But then, I started feeling all crampy. I got nervous and called my midwife. The last thing I wanted was to be going into pre-term labor. I had to lay down for a while and drink water so the cramping stopped. That was a little scary. I felt silly calling my midwife at the slightest worry, but thought about how upset I would be if something went terribly wrong and I hadn't called, when I thought I should have. Worth looking silly, if you ask me. 

Later, my poor Easton went into absolute hysterics, and understandably so, when the toilet seat crashed down on him while he was trying to pee standing up. There was a lot of blood, a frantic call to the doctor, a shrieking child, some major convincing to get him to take medicine and have a bath. My poor poor baby. 

After all that drama was over, the kids watched a movie while I napped. I had enough mama trauma for the day and needed a break! And then we were finally ready for our actual plan for the day. The botanic gardens at Tilden Park. 

They had fun rolling down the hills, taking turns being the leader, Gabriela was the guide and shared details about the plants and trees. They searched for rocks and climbed around, pretending to be bears. 

Thursday we headed to Auntie Liss's house because she is hosting a little seeing circle with some homeschool kids. So sweet. Here everything is, all set up!

Gabriela made a needle book to hold her needles, and decorated a pouch to keep her sewing supplies. 

She absolutely adores her sewing projects, having her auntie for a teacher, and making some new friends. 

When we left, we headed straight to the Chabot Space and Science Center. 

Here we are, waiting in the planetarium for our show of The Mayan Skies. 

That day was also our fifteenth wedding anniversary. Fifteen years!! We went out to dinner to celebrate with the little family we created. 

We dined outside and played Go Fish all together while we waited for our food. The kids were delightfully behaved. It was just magical to have that special family time. Our fig and prosciutto and arugula pizza was divine, and Gabriela and Easton both charmed our server. That girl is always looking out for me. We ordered tiramisu, and when the server came out apologizing that someone else had just ordered the last piece, my Gabriela informed her that it was mommy and daddy's wedding anniversary. And we had been married for fifteen years that day. This may have had something to do with all our gelatos being comped that night. 

The kids were great at park day. Easton is so big. He pumps on the swing and played with different groups of kids, l different ages, giving this mama a chance to rest. 

We enjoyed dinner on the rug, listened to music, and played several board games together. Yay, family fun njght!

My birthday ER visit

First, I'd like to congratulate myself for staying updated with this blog so far this summer. I totally fell off the blogging bandwagon after Simone died. I have had a lot going on the last year, and have basically been in survival mode. 

But this blog has been a history for our family. It helps us remember things we otherwise would have forgotten, the kids adore when I read entries, and I love going back and reading details about my babies, all the way back to my pregnancies with them and their precious births. So, I've been trying to make a real effort to record our story here. For us. 

And so begins the eighth week of summer fun. It all started with me waking up at midnight on my birthday. I woke up because my eye was in such excruciating pain that I couldn't sleep. Around 2 that afternoon, Easton pointed to me and said enthusiastically, "I love YOU!!!" It was sweet and cute, except he poked me very hard in the eye.  I just covered my eye and breathed deeply for a while, keeping my eyes shut. I quickly felt Easton's little arms around me and heard his sweet voice telling me, "mama, I'm sowwy, are you okay???"

Hours later, it still felt like I had sand and grit underneath my eyelid, rubbing across my eye. It was red and constantly tearing up. I couldn't stand it. I am not exaggerating when I say that the only thing more painful than this has been childbirth. And even the pain of childbirth never made me cry. I also was feeling sorry for myself about the possibility of spending the night in the ER on my birthday, worried about whether or not I'd get back in time to prep for Gabriela's party, what if I missed it?!

I called my brother, Matthew, who came immediately from oakland to take me to the hospital. It only took four hours for them to tell me what I already suspected. That my cornea was scratched and that I needed prescription eye drops. 

Unfortunately, I was in tears and just as much pain when I returned home as when I left to go to the hospital. They gave me my antibiotic drops at the hospital, but just a prescription for the pain relief drops so we had to wait until 9am to get them. I could not even open my eye. 

I got a few hours rest in the early morning, got my pain relief drops, and took some Tylenol so I could finish cleaning house, and getting ready for G's party. 

Lane got me an eye patch to help me keep my eye shut all day. It was really helpful. I decided I would be Mad Eye Mommy instead of Mad Eye Moody for Gabriela's Harry Potter party. 

Everything went splendidly and then, after our last guests left, I crawled into bed, while Lane took care of our kids, he served me dinner in bed and I stayed there for 14 hours. Hey, I had two nights of sleep to catch up on!  

It was kind of a sucky way to start my birthday. I mean, when some of the first people to wish you happy birthday are the triage nurses, it's a little disappointing. But I'm grateful that my brother was able to help me out and keep me company. I'm grateful this happened to me, and not my kids. They would have been in hysterics. I'm grateful that we were still able to give Gabriela to party she and I had been planning for a while now. And, I am okay.  I had visions for a moment of not being able to see our new baby or homeschool our children anymore because of my ruined vision. 

So watch out everyone, and keep your children's fingernails far, far away from your eyeballs. And if they get you, make sure you have some awesome people to take care of you because that makes all the difference. 

Summer fun, week 7

Week seven of Summer?? It's going to be finished before we know it. I just ordered a bunch of materials for homeschool this fall. And if the school year is starting soon, that means the baby will be here soon, Halloween, Easton's birthday, and bam! The holidays. I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it. 

Our weekend started with special daddy time, something on the Summer fun list. Lane took the kids to the movies to see Inside Out. We rarely go to the theater, so this was a big treat for them, and another item on their Summer fun list. We had a tasty bbq dinner outside and then headed to the John Muir National Historic Site for a campfire (knocking off two more Summer fun list items).  

We sang songs, heard stories of John Muir's adventures, talked about national parks, and learned fun facts. The kids ran all over the grounds, playing tag, with old and new friends. We roasted marshmallows, and on our way out, picked some plums from the trees in the orchard. 

Sunday we just relaxed and did some preparations for Gabriela's birthday part, which we still are not ready for. Lane made an awesome brick wall for our Platform 9 3/4. The kids rode their bikes and just enjoyed an easy day at home. 

Monday was a pool day with friends and Tuesday. The kids both had a play date while I went to the midwife. I did the grocery shopping, packed snacks and swimsuits, picked them up and we went straight to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. They are thoroughly enjoying days at the pool with friends this summer. Easton is truly swimming, though limiting himself to the 2 foot deep area of the pool, which is just fine with me. I am really happy we decided to join the pool, and we are certainly getting our money's worth!

After two very busy days of play and no party prep, we stayed home on Wednesday so I could clean things up around here. Easton was eager to help me, Gabriela disappeared and read for hours, and I actually got some work done! 

Auntie Cynthia came to watch the kids so we could go to our SAND meeting. They are always so thrilled to have special auntie time. We mixed things up a bit by meeting for dinner at Off The Grid. Part of the street is closed off, there is seating, live music, and tons of delicious food trucks so everyone can try something different. 

The kids loved their sandwiches from the Bacon truck, Lane had a dumpling plate, Cynthia got bbq, and I had a burrito with Korean beef and lots of other yummy goodness. 

Auntie Cynthia wanted to get Gabriela an early birthday cupcake to celebrate her coming birthday. What better way to celebrate early than on her due date?

  We spent Thursday and Friday both running errands, shopping, cleaning, and setting up for the most epic 7 year old birthday party I ever hosted. Well worth the extra time preparing for the final result. 

Gabriela's Harry Potter party

For her seventh birthday, Gabriela celebrated with a Harry Potter theme. We had so much fun planning together and making crafts in preparation for the big day.

We used a tutorial for wand making. Basically, you go to crazy town with the glue gun, paint it, and presto! You have wands! We passed out wands to everyone as they arrived, and presented them with a roll of parchment containing a list of spells and what they do. 

Gabriela helped Lane make our entrance to Platform 9 3/4. We used an old sheet, a sponge, and left over paint the color of our front door. 

I had so much fun putting together our Harey Potter mantle.

This last photo is of some of our ingredients for the potions table. The kids really  went for it with the potions! 

Potions table before: Colored vinegar, baking soda with sparkles, and dish soap which all made for some colorful, sparkly, sudsy, overflowing potions and giggles and gasps to go with them. 

See what I mean?

And here is the potions table after the kids had their fill of potion making, after multiple refills of baking soda and vinegar. 

I think it's safe to say they enjoyed themselves. 

We also blew up balloons so they could practice making things float in the air with their Wingardium Leviosa spells. 

Gabriela and I enjoyed choosing and putting up details all around the house including a restricted section of the library  

Some special touches to the bathroom 

Miss Moaning Myrtle, herself. 

Enemies of the heir, beware!

We made a Mirror of Erised with gold tape framing, and Fluffy the three headed dog guarded my messy bedroom. 

Dessert included Hedwig cupcakes, butterbeer, and chocolate covered wizard wands. 

Now there's a happy birthday girl! And as people left, we passed out homemade chocolate frogs. 

Lane was feeling the Harry Potter spirit; now it's time to rest. he dressed like a wizard trying to disguise himself as a muggle. And, well, he totally nailed it. 

As I write this post, my kids are watching the first Harry potter movie. They really wore themselves out being wizards all day, casting spells, making potions, and enjoying treats from the wizarding world. 

Gabriela came and thanked me for giving her such a wonderful party. I enjoyed every moment of putting this celebration together for her. Even if I was up at the emergency room all night trying to get my scratched cornea treated. On my birthday. That's mama love. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I love that spunky, sensational seven year old of mine. And now it's time to rest. If only I knew a spell that would clean up after the party. That would be truly magical.