Wednesday, December 14, 2011

conversations in the car

So we're driving along, and I'm trying to lead the conversation away from "what I want for Christmas" and toward "what would Jesus like for a birthday present? What makes Jesus happy?"

Miles responds, "but we haven't SEEN Jesus...not for a while."

Eleanor, in utter disdain, retorts, "No, you have to DIE to see Jesus."

Miles objects rather incoherently.

With total confidence, Eleanor assures him, "Oh yes. You are going to die."

Thursday, November 10, 2011

boy or girl?

So today at one of Scott's innumerable doctor's appointments, a well-meaning older lady asked if Juliet was a boy or a girl.

This is what she was wearing:



We've got a pink outfit with embroidered flowers, pink satin bows, a pink tulle ruffle, and pink-and-purple butterfly shoes.

People, I realize this may not be the face that launched a thousand ships, but surely that outfit doesn't scream "BOY" in our culture, does it?

Incidentally, Juliet is getting better at sitting up. That's not to say "good", but she can balance for a while if we're lucky. Here she is midway down on the descent - I'm just including this photo because it's about the only one where we've caught her smiling so far!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

another new hairdo and the comment that inspired it

And I outdid myself this time. At least, Eleanor sure thinks so, judging from the amount of complaining she did. We did "star" braids on each side of her head, coming together to form two little pigtails of braids.




The problem here is that, because her hair is so short and fine, these braids will start to get fuzzy in just a few days, and will be past my fuzziness-toleration-quotient in a couple weeks. So all this work will need to be picked out and redone. On the plus side, I think I'm getting faster; this style only took about two-three hours over the course of two days.

Funny story (or funny if you weren't me): I was down at the Moody Church Halloween festival with the kids, and it was a nice diverse crowd. Eleanor's costume is a flamingo with a big feathered flamingo hat. Very cute. But she stopped wanting to wear the hat about halfway through the evening, and so I was holding it. Unfortunately, we had taken out her last set of braids the previous evening, then washed her hair and combed it out into what was (I thought) a cute little Afro with a headband. I usually let her hair "rest" for a few days between braided styles, both to let her follicles relax and because after picking it all out, I just don't have the energy or time to tackle another complicated hairstyle immediately.

But I guess I should have taken the trouble this time. Her little Afro got smashed flat and funny looking under the hat, and in addition gathered tiny pink feather lint all over it. And then she insists on removing the hat. And this very kind, well-intentioned African-American woman walks over to me, and asks, "Are those your foster kids?" I say, "Well, they're adopted, but they're my kids, yes." She takes my hand, leans in, and gently asks, "Do you have any African-American friends who can help you with her hair? Do you know how to do it? I would be glad to help out if you need some help."

Sigh.

It was a kind offer, and I admit, Eleanor's hair did look unfortunately like "white mama hair." I politely tried to explain the situation and I hope I came across not too defensive. But now I know I need to plan better: if we're going to be in public, I guess her hair needs a bit more style (this coming from the woman whose only hairdo is a ponytail).

Or else we need to invest in hats.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

the aviary



Our thanks to Aunt Cammie for the hand-me-down mother/baby flamingo costumes! We got lots of compliments on them. And Miles was an owl, in case you couldn't tell.

Monday, October 31, 2011

a warning

If you drill a hole into your femur, you might end up looking like this:

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

my first 10k...almost

Gratuitous bragging and self-aggrandizement ahead; be warned!

OK, it was actually a 9k. But who runs a 9k? Now I feel slightly guilty, though, as if I need to run a REAL 10k in order to validate myself saying I ran one. But I doubt I feel guilty enough to actually sign up for one, since it's getting colder and mornings are almost too dark for running. Wait, will going off Daylight Savings Time help there, or not...think think think...fall BACK...so yes, that means I will have more morning daylight! Bummer. It was a good excuse.

For the race planners, I note: it's discouraging to be told that there will be pace markers set up to get us organized at the start line, and then to discover that the markers are for 6, 8, and 10 minute mile pace, and anyone slower than 10 minutes per miles is relegated to the baby jogger section. Couldn't you have stuck in an 11 or 12 minute pace marker, just to make me feel like a real runner?

On the plus side: our race times came out today, and while I am definitely in the slower 50% of the "racers", only ONE woman over age 70 finished before me! Actually, I am wondering if their timer was a bit off, because it says I ran, on average, a 10:38 mile. People, for me, that's FAST; compare that to the previous weekend's 5k where I ran about a 11:20 mile (which actually was fast for me, too; I tend to estimate a 12:00 mile). And I didn't feel fast; I felt like I could barely shuffle my Sudafed-and-Mucinex-laden body along. So my theory is that their timer is off, rather like my iPod pedometer which insists that I actually ran 8 miles or so. I know there's a way to calibrate the darn thing, but I followed the instructions and ended up with it still thinking I'm running 6-7 minute miles. Heh.

The best part of this race? I actually remembered to bring a wad of Kleenex with me. Being able to blow my nose every kilometer or so was pure heaven, compared to just trying to sniff and dab ineffectually at the corners of my nose with my race T-shirt.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

things I might want to remember someday

my kids, sitting around the dinner table, loudly singing, "I love rock-n-roll; put another dime in the JUICEBOX baby!"

Classic example of American overconfidence: I'm explaining to the kids why I would not be a good gymnastics teacher. For one thing, I can't even do a cartwheel! In perfect unison, both kids chime in with an, "I CAN!!" And no, they can't. Aunt Cammie spent a few minutes over Labor Day showing them the general concept, but their version is not even close yet.

Miles, talking about his tap class: "It was all commotion-ful!"

Juliet's first almost-laugh!

Eleanor, cheerfully: "Mommy, if our new baby dies, I can scoot my bed back in that room!"

Monday, September 26, 2011

My new pet

After 12 years of sewing with the machine my dear husband bought me for our first anniversary (or was it my birthday? Anyway, it was early in our marriage) I have finally upgraded. Technology has come a long way, and I feel like I've been driving my whole life in a 1985 Dodge Colt and have suddenly been plopped in a...well, OK, perhaps not a Bentley, but at least a Honda Accord?

In short, I am really enjoying my new sewing machine. Yes, I spent about four months of my monthly cash allowance on it, but normally I would just put that in my "Ski Fund" and then not actually get to go skiing more than once each winter anyway.

Why, you ask, do I not go skiing when I do indeed love it so much, I do actually own my own gear, and it is one of the few sports I'm actually pretty good at? Well, several reasons, most of them having to do with my inner cheapskate. First, the skiing near Chicago is pretty bad, AND a long drive, AND still costs at least $50/day. Second, I don't always have someone to go with; Scott doesn't really enjoy skiing or snowboarding and my few friends who ski don't necessarily want to take an entire weekend away from their families to ski on hills with only a 400 foot drop. Third, the three dwarfish humans living in my house don't like being left behind, and yet I am FAR too cheap to shell out an additional $45 per child for ski "daycare." Yes, I have had dreams of teaching my children to ski and all of us happily inhabiting the slopes in our winter free time. And then I notice my budget and my snow-hating husband and realize there are better ways to spend family bonding time. So skiing really is a "me" thing, and any of you who are married or moms know that "me" things often need to take a back seat to "us" things.

But back to my sewing. Anyway, I am not a brilliant, extremely skilled, or terribly creative seamstress, but my mom did teach me the basics as a kid, and I'm trying to learn a bit more off the internet where I can. I have a backlog of about 12 projects, and I've worked my way through six of them in the last week or two. Now, unfortunately, I've done all the quick, easy, and interesting projects and am left with the painful, the tedious, or the dauntingly difficult. But here's what we've got so far:



A red satin brocade dress for Nora. The mandarin collar was a total pain, but the rest of it was pretty straightforward. Sadly for me, I didn't realize that satin MELTS, so the dress has a couple scorched spots from a too-high iron setting. Since I had put a lot of work into it already before I cooked it, I figured I'd go ahead and finish it and make her wear it anyway; maybe no one will notice those strange splotches on the side seam...



A pleated pink corduroy skirt, also for Nora (Juliet got a matching one, not pictured, which has to be the fastest thing I've ever made; it took about 11 minutes to sew a tiny, elastic-topped skirt for her.) I'm not thrilled with this; the corduroy is actually too lightweight for what I had envisioned, and I need to add some sort of trim because it's a bit boring looking. Maybe a contrasting fabric rosette? Ideas, anyone? Also, even though I took in 2 1/2 inches on the skirt, it is still baggy on my skinny daughter. OK, when her waist size is 18", why does a 3T pattern come in a 22" waist size? Guess I should've gone with my instincts and shrunk it even more.



This was inspired by an adorable dress I saw at Janie and Jack. I fell in love with it, but seriously, $49.99 for a knit T-shirt dress with some ribbon? I can do that. And I did. This was way easy, and almost identical to the one at J&J, except that I made it 2 inches skinnier and an inch longer. It fits Eleanor like a dream, and looks really cute over black leggings (which I bought; why sew something you can buy for $5 at Target?) Cost: about $7. HA!



Finally (and I'm most proud of these) cute plaid jumpers for both girls. This is Juliet's. I sort of went out on a limb and tried some ideas out. Here, I added black velveteen seam binding to the arm and neck holes. This was also my first experience trying to match plaids, and I must admit, it turned out great! (Although, I ask you, since when is a "wool blend" actually 95% polyester? Hmm? Oh well, at least maybe they won't shrink terribly if I accidentally dry them.)



The trim on the bottom is kind of spiffy; it's black jumbo rickrack holding the band to the main part of the dress, so you can actually see through the gaps. Cool.



And here's the one for Eleanor. It's actually not lopsided; that's just how it's hanging on the hanger. I think I overdid the ruffles a bit - they're puffier than I would have liked - but it's pretty cute on her. I still need to make a black velveteen bow to stick on the drop-waist there, so it's not quite done.

Remaining projects: two gifts, one owl Halloween costume, and two "fancy" taffeta Christmas dresses with, of all things, hand-embroidery on them (well, the pattern says they're SUPPOSED to have embroidery; I am not sure that's within my grasp). Oh, and one pile of material intended, in a moment of supreme foolishness, to produce a skirt for myself. No pattern; I just saw fabric I liked and thought, oh, I bet I can design a skirt. Um, hello? Know thyself, right? Wrong.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

just a few photos

Mommy is finally getting better at Eleanor's hair - we got a pretty good braided hairstyle in less than two hours! Yippee!



Eleanor, however, did NOT want her photo taken. Grouchy girl.




from a recent playground trip: my handsome son



Daddy and Nora swinging



Miles can finally make it across the monkey bars! Now if he'll just let us take the training wheels off his bike...



So the weather's getting cooler, and we REALLY need to buy Juliet some socks. She's borrowing Eleanor's right now:



And finally, an almost-decent photo of all three children (Juliet is truly more attractive than this, but she was on the brink of a meltdown and NOT smiling). Thanks to my friend Kris for sewing Eleanor, yes, a dress that matches the one she made for Juliet! The girls looked pretty cute, and Miles his usual dapper self.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

bedtime stories with Daddy



OK, so this went on for an hour before someone noticed and said, "Hey, I thought Scott was reading TO Miles?"

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Bringing home Juliet

So a lot has been happening, but I do owe it to our new arrival to put up some photos!

Juliet Thalia Lee, born August 2, adopted August 4, home from Utah August 14. Here she is, wearing a gorgeous hand-sewn dress from our dear friend Kris. How she sewed this and mailed it in time to reach us a few days after we got home ourselves, I have no idea. It's also the only thing we own tiny enough to fit Juliet.



Both big brother and sister are enamored.




Of course, their enthusiastic "helping" has to be carefully monitored; Eleanor in particular thinks she herself is much stronger and wiser in baby lore than she actually is. ("But mommy, baby Juliet WANTS a pruntzel (pretzel)!" "OK, mommy, I will carry Juliet downstairs and hold her on my lap for you." "Mommy, the baby is CRYING!" (while we are driving home from church, stating the painfully obvious))

But they are pretty sweet together...



And of course, the obligatory bathtub photo (with gracefully draped washcloth). She really loves her bath!

Juliet had her first doctor's appointment today, and apparently is pretty healthy and normal, by the way. But ridiculously short (3rd percentile for height)! At this rate she'll never be able to wear Eleanor's clothes, which would be a tragedy to make me weep...

Nora's first professional hairstyle


We had our first morning with "Miss Tamekia" today, and I am totally sold! This wonderful stylist/hair consultant came to our house, gave me a 45-minute lesson on improving my hairstyling techniques, then braided Eleanor's hair (about six times faster than I can), and THEN took me to the store to buy styling products so I can try to copy the process. Eleanor has "fancy" hair now, and I have a new arsenal of ideas and equipment (and now I know why my braids get fuzzy so quickly, how to get my twists to stay put, how to get my knots not to come undone, etc). Besides being good at what she does, this is a lovely and friendly woman who answered all my questions and made both of us feel totally comfortable. I am DEFINITELY bringing her back.

A couple photos (I added the beads myself):






In case you can't tell, she has a zigzag part in front with braids going perpendicular to each other, with two "star" clusters of braids in back coming together to make pigtails of braids, and then some vertical braids at the bottom.

Incidentally, doesn't my daughter have a lovely profile?

Monday, August 1, 2011

How kids perceive race?

You've probably heard that, in general, people have more trouble distinguishing members of other races than members of their own, right? That is, white people have trouble telling Asians apart; Asians have trouble telling African-Americans apart, etc.

So we're looking at photos this afternoon, and Eleanor says, "Is that you, Mommy?"

I say, "No, that's Aunt Gina. And we don't really look very much alike!"

Miles contradicts, "But you have the same skin!"

OK, if that's all it takes, I guess we do look alike... For that matter, how many times have I been asked if Miles and Eleanor are twins? And so far, with only one exception, it's never been African-Americans making that comment. So truly, do my children look that alike to white people? Because they don't to me.

Just an interesting point to ponder.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

brief followup to the randomness

We're walking through the grocery store, and I tell Eleanor, "OK, we've got to look for some Worcestershire sauce."

She cheerfully responds, "WE worship GOD!"

Sunday, July 24, 2011

misdirected prayer

So we're driving home from church and I ask Miles about the lion puppets he made in Sunday School. It turns out they're learning about Daniel and the lions, and (after some prodding) he tells me Daniel had to go in there because he disobeyed God.

I try to clarify: no, Daniel obeyed God and disobeyed the king, who made a rule that you could only pray to the king, not to God. I go on to say that the Bible tells us we should always only pray to God.

"Why?" asks my practical son. "We could just pray to both; that would be OK!"

Well, no, I explain. Praying to someone else would hurt God's feelings (I left it at that).

Silent until now, Eleanor pipes up. "How about we pray to chickens?!"

Um....

Thursday, June 9, 2011

in search of free kindle books

From the back-of-book blurb: "Romanced by the light of the triple moons, entranced by Mathin’s fiery kisses, will Andrea give up her home on Earth in exchange for something wild?'"

And the author's name is - wait for it...Autumn Dawn!

Um, I'm almost tempted to download it just to see if it could possibly be as bad as these indicators would suggest. Or maybe not.

Dentist battle won!

This is a very boring post, but I needed to vent!

A couple months ago, I was at my dentist checking out, and the chipper administrative girl tells me that if I sign up for their in-office savings plan, it will allow me to pay less than my dental insurance plan will. Hmm. I look at the numbers she's showing me, and they don't seem to make sense. I am pretty good at math, and it seems like my overall liability OUGHT to be less than the $95 she's quoting me (and I'm not complaining; $95 for a same-day visit to fill in a chipped tooth is not a bad deal). But I can't seem to make the girl understand the math as I see it, so I just pay the $95 and leave.

Last week, I get an EOB from our dental plan, which says I SHOULD have owed only $79.60. I call the office, and they say, no, because they're not in-network, so I would be liable for the full amount, not the "contracted" amount. But they told me they were in network! And so did my dental plan! The woman is getting rather snippy and fed up with me now.

I call my dental plan, who says, yes, they ARE in network, and the amount on my EOB is the total I should pay. She offers to call Miss Snippy for me. I accept gratefully.

A few minutes later, I hear from Miss Snippy, who is now Miss Polite and Apologetic. She says, well, whaddya know, they are in network for my super-special plan, apparently. She still thinks I owe them an extra $50 for my deductible. I go over the math with her again to show her that it's already included in my total. She is confused, and calls my dental plan back.

A few minutes later, she calls back, confirms that I was right from the beginning, and will issue me a check to refund my $15.40.

Was it worth it for $15? Probably not, particularly as I get all adrenaline-full and miserable and stomach-upset when I'm in conflict with anyone, even a dental billing office. But I knew I was right. And I have to hope that maybe I'm striking a blow for the other confused customers who are maybe not as good at math, not as assertive, or don't have the time to put up a fight for a few bucks. I wonder how much extra a doctor or dentist can take in "accidentally" simply because of people who don't have the time or knowledge to get errors corrected?

Besides, it was a nice break from cleaning my oven.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A first lost tooth...

...and I DO mean lost. It's probably being slowly digested along with tonight's chicken pot pie.



Miles is very proud (and also slightly worried, I think).

Now I'm wishing I hadn't spent the money to take him to the dentist yesterday (yesterday!) I was worried because his gums had been bleeding a lot and looked like they were receding. (The dentist said he was fine and offered to pull the tooth out; Miles politely declined.) Now I just feel like a type-A overprotective mommy.

Our even-more-gap-toothed son is now out with Daddy getting some ice cream, the treat I had promised. I hadn't yet decided whether to do the tooth fairy routine or not, and since this tooth has conveniently disappeared, maybe I won't need to decide for a while yet.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A few Memorial Day photos

It was a long road trip to Baltimore. Yes, I'm grateful for the minivan and the newly-repaired DVD player (which we hardly used, actually). But I was less grateful for the pouring rain we experienced along almost the entire drive, turning our trip into a grueling 14.5 hours - we arrived at about 5 am, and the last three hours were by far the hardest.

It's great to be here with Uncle David, Aunt Gina, and cousin Isaac, though. Miles and Eleanor took to baby Isaac (aka "MY cousin" as per Eleanor) right away.



Charlie the cat took a little longer to warm up, and Elmer the mostly-labrador is still the terror of Nora's young life, causing shrieks of panic whenever he enters the room. Seriously, I don't remember ever being scared of dogs; how did fear develop?

Uncle David made Miles' day by finding him a helicopter to visit, at the Fort Mead museum.



We also climbed around on the tanks...





---until we noticed this sign. Oops!



Yesterday morning we went strawberry picking. The kids helped mostly by eating, but the adults managed to collect enough for a strawberry custard, strawberry pie, strawberry syrup, and who knows what else.






We also splashed around in David's tiny backyard pool. Here's my photogenic husband with the dripping kids:



David also took some family photos, which were unusual in that I looked pretty decent (as if I have a chin) in most of them, while the kids were both grouchy and glaring in most.


Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day...

...and I finally received the traditional pasta necklace! You know you're a real mom when your kids make you a necklace out of dyed penne, right?

And yes, I am being the good mom and WEARING the pasta necklaces. Today, at least.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

backhanded compliment

As I was leaving tonight for an audition, Eleanor says,

"Wow, you look really pretty, Mommy!"

Miles chimes in, "Yeah. Much better than before."

Thanks, kid.

Eleanor's butterfly birthday party

So I settled on a butterfly theme for Nora's 3rd birthday. We invited over six of her three- and almost-three-year-old girlfriends, played a couple games, made a craft, and ate snacks and cupcakes. It went off pretty well! I am convinced that for this age, a morning time slot and brief duration (less than 90 minutes) are key.

Here's Eleanor in her butterfly dress (which I made last fall, but she hadn't gotten to wear yet), matching beads on her braids, and the blingy necklace and bracelet I made her for her birthday (real pearls and Swarovski crystal, thank you very much!) Of course, after about five minutes, she got tired of them and whined until I took the necklace and bracelet off. Sigh. Oh well; maybe in a few months I can win her over.



The bracelet, complete with butterfly charm.



I also made matching name bracelets as party favors for all her little friends, rather than the usual goody bags full of candy and small things to lose or throw away.


As the girls arrived, we gave them each "butterfly antenna" headbands to wear. We played "pin (well, tape) the antenna on the butterfly" first. Butterfly poster courtesy of Scott!








Then we headed downstairs to make our craft: tissue paper flowers. I tried to pick something within a three-year-old's grasp, but I overestimated; it was beyond one of the parents, too! The girls liked the flowers, though their involvement basically extended to choosing the colors of tissue paper.

Our final activity was supposed to be a butterfly hunt (like an Easter Egg hunt ) but I couldn't find any tiny plastic butterflies, so instead we hunted for the butterfly's "friends" (snakes, lizards, frogs, and other bugs), which Scott hid around the upstairs during craft time.





For snack/lunch, we had fruit, "caterpillars in cocoons" (aka pigs in blankets, but I thought my renaming was fairly clever), and tiny finger sandwiches in the shapes of butterflies and flowers.

And of course, the piece de resistance: butterfly cupcakes!



I made eighteen of them, in pink and yellow. The wings and antenna are made out of chocolate and pastel melts, freehanded onto wax paper and then wedged into the frosting with some chocolate frosting for bodies. Pretty cute!


It was kind of hard to fit candles on, though!


All in all, a good party! And this afternoon, the whole family got naps, so a good day for all!