Tolay Fall Festival

Last Thursday Arran had a school field trip to the Tolay Fall Festival. We had stumbled across it as a family a couple of years ago, before he had started school so I knew it would be a fun outing to take the girls on too. I feel bad that I cannot get more involved at the school, but a lot of things just do not work with two more little children in tow. I asked ahead of time though, if this one would be OK to bring them on and got the all clear. His teacher was very gracious, or wise, as the case may be, knowing I would have the girls with me she opted not to assign me as an official helper, responsible for anyone, but instead let me tag along with Arran and his assigned parent-helper.

Checking out some snakes!

We started in the Nocturnal Animal Barn which was packed, not only with kids, but starfish and snakes and spiders and scorpions and a very 'interesting' taxidermy collection with everything from a fawn to a bear, all sorts of amphibians and I am sure we only saw about on third of the collection.

A very important part of every day is, of course, snack time. We all met up again briefly for bottles of water, Graham Crackers and cheese sticks. The girls were so great, I had told them that it was Arran's trip and there might not be enough snack for them but they didn't complain or whine, just waited patiently. Fortunately there was plenty and Asia carried her water bottle around with her and (her piglet) the rest of the morning.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin field and thus began the search for the perfect pumpkin. I have no idea what makes the perfect pumpkin on any given day, but this can be quite the process; how it looks, how it feels, how heavy it is. It is a task to be taken most seriously...and not to be rushed. Fortunately Arran had both his sisters on hand to 'help'. The one rule I gave him was that he had to be able to carry it, it was his responsibility not mine. I was, on and off, busy carrying an almost three-year-old!

                                                                              Once the selection had been made, each child wrote

their name on the bottom of their pumpkin. Perish the
thought that a fight might erupt on the bus ride back to school as to the rightful owner of any given pumpkin.

We took the hay ride back then checked out some farm animal, ran through the hay maze and did some potato prints and seed planting in the eco-village. There was so much more that we could have done, but by then it was time to head back to school and for me to get the girls home for naps.

 

Snug as six bugs in a rug

Can you tell that I am going through long neglected photos?

At the end of September we packed up the van and headed to Sacramento to visit some old YWAM friends from our Chico days. James was playing for a worship night they were holding and as he had to be there two nights in a row, for practice and then the event, we did a sleepover, family style on the Friday.

The kids were so excited, to see their friends who they adore, and to get to have a sleepover was the icing on the cake. They were all up way too late, I mean probably the latest ever, outside of traveling adventures. Their little friend had set up their play tent in their sun room and somewhere along the way, the children decided that all six of them would sleep there, together!

I seriously wondered how it would play out, two two-year olds, a four-year old, five-year old, six and seven-year olds, side by side on the floor. Well the lateness of the hour definitely played to our advantage and they all crashed quickly and actually, amazingly, stayed there all night. Poor Arran apparently got woken by Asia several times, asking him to put her covers back on and the next day they were all pretty tired, especially as they woke up just as early as usual. But it was fun.

It was great to hang out with friends (we also stayed up way too late) and Amy took us out to do family photos too on the Saturday, which we had been talking about forever. I am so grateful for the friends we have in our life, near and far. It does not matter how often or, in this case, infrequently we see each other - we can pick up where we left off and just be ourselves.

Just hanging out together...

A couple of weeks ago, after the kids were ready for bed, I told them they could read for a little while, before it was time to go to sleep. James was out at music practice and I just needed a few extra minutes, for them to actually wind down.

When I walked into their room ready to pray and sing for them, they were all three of them in Asia's crib, with Arran reading to them, it was wonderful. They are so cute together and he is such a great big brother and it just thoroughly blessed me... again! I love my children!

AWANAs - Crazy Hair Night

There are many Thursday nights, when the kids are once again getting to bed later than their usual bedtime, when James is at music practice and I am at the end of myself, trying to get them settled and not completely lose it, when I wonder if it is all worth it. But it is! They love going to AWANAs, they feel accomplished learning and reciting their verses, they have fun with friends, playing games, and Asia is counting down the days until she turns three, because then she too will be able to go to Cubbies.

Yesterday was 'Crazy Hair Night', which they had of course been looking forward to. At least this year decisions had (somewhat) been made in advance, so we were not scrambling quite as much as years past, trying to come up with ideas of what to do.

 Of  course Asia did not want to be left out, so we did her hair too.

Sweetness

My lovely Bryttain. She napped in my bed today, it is just easier to separate the two girls at nap time, the point being for them to nap and not just play. I was exhausted too and fell asleep before her as she lay quietly playing with a doll. When I woke up, this is what I found; she had zipped her baby inside her cardigan and fallen fast asleep. So precious.

Happy Birthday to Me

It was my birthday last weekend. Another year older, most definitely grayer, hopefully (but I doubt it) wiser. I know I am loved, and that is a great feeling, there may be plenty of things that we do not have, but I am blessed.
I was brought breakfast in bed (a little earlier than would have been my preference) and hand-made candles and cards and decorations.

Children provide such a wonderful perspective on life. It is so easy as we get older to forgo things, such as parties (which inevitably I would end up doing all the work for anyway) but Arran was determined that we should do something to celebrate my day. Well a month or so back I had bought tickets for Six Flags on one of those online deals, the kids have never been, the weather was going to be great so it seemed like it would be a fun way to spend our day. Between animals and rides the kids had a blast. It was hot and sweaty and exhausting but it was fun. Just watching my children enjoying themselves, brings me so much joy.

On entering the park, maps had to be scrutinized and decisions made. Arran especially. loves this job.

The kids loved the seal and sea lion show. They actually thought they were talking and did not quite connect that there were people behind the scenes talking into the microphones. So cute!

Up close and personal with the stingrays.

Walrus.

As Arran and Bryttain prepared for this ride, Asia was absolutely devastated to not be able to go on. She was truly confused, heart-broken, and finally a little mad!

To distract her, I took her over to another ride. I had not realized that adults could not go on with their children on this one, so I wondered if she would change her mind. This little girl is fearless though, she got right on, sat next to a little boy she had never met before and held on for dear life. She never ceases to amaze me.

Then she forlornly watched as the other two finished up on their ride. She was pretty sad. Good news was though, that man behind her seeing how sad she was, filled us in that she could in fact go on with an adult, just not on her own, because of her size.

I love this shot James captured...just a tiny bit out of focus, but I like that it captures the motion. She was SO happy to get to ride the giant swing.

She is such a mommy's girl right now. We took photos of each other as we waited very patiently (for a VERY long time) as James stood in line to get cold drinks for us. Yes, she really took this picture! I helped with some of the weight, but she put it up to her eye and composed and pressed the button. That's my two year old!

There were many rides.

It really was a pretty hot day, so the water sprinkler areas were a huge hit.

After cooling off, we heading to the warm and humid butterfly house.

There were many animals, not all of which I got pictures of. It has been so long since we have been to the zoo, so this made up for it a little.

Fun times all around.

Pure Mischief

Saturday morning started off innocently enough. Arran's soccer practice was at 9am and James took him, with Bryttain joining the excursion, to hang out with daddy and watch her big brother. I finished my breakfast and decided I should tackle the mountain of clean laundry that needed folding, I had, after all, procrastinated long enough. Asia was busy playing, but had transferred the play stable with some other toys to our bedroom floor so that she could play and be with me at the same time.

She is such a sweet, chubby-cheeked nugget of love. As the piles of folded clothes grew larger on our bed I remember her saying

"Mommy, I found a bead!"

I did not think too much of it, she is after all my third child and we have never had any untoward incidents with beads. Of course, all of that was about to change. I have no idea what went through that little girl's head, or why. It would maybe have made sense if she had snuck it into her mouth, would a pink bead taste like strawberry, or some other tasty pink morsel? But no! The next thing I hear is her crying and it was then that she informed me that the bead was stuck up her nose!

I felt so bad for her, she was obviously in pain, but I could not see it. I spent the next half an hour trying to get her to blow her nose, no, not sniff, blow (two years old, remember), sneeze, cough...anything. I wanted to see if I could gently massage it down from the outside, but she complained that it hurt. The tears were increasing.

I went online and found it to be quite a common problem, although it seems raisins and peanuts are equally as popular with young children for sticking up noses. Several pages I found suggested a simple CPR type maneuver where you press on the empty nostril and gently blow in the mouth to see if that will dislodge the blockage. That did not work either and she was none too impressed. Soccer practice was due to be over so I called James; I needed fresh ideas.

We tried all the previous suggestions again, with one of us (trying) to hold her still this time. By now we could see the evil bead, as daddy had brought his flashlight in from his truck, but that thing was not budging. With the flashlight we could clearly see the hole in the bead, so her airway was not being badly obstructed and James thought that with a thin enough piece of wire he could maybe hook it out, but she was pretty freaked out and very much over the whole ordeal. She did not want anything else going up her nose.

I finally decided that we were probably going to need some professionals, so got on the phone with an advice nurse to see if we could get her in to the Saturday pediatric clinic. I had no desire whatsoever to head to an ER where we would be kept waiting for goodness knows how long and (this is America after all) end up paying who knows how much? There was an appointment available for later that afternoon, so I took it, but I was still reluctant to declare defeat. I knew it would be way more traumatic for her to have some stranger poking around her nose and to be honest it was not exactly how I had envisioned spending our Saturday afternoon together.

As James made the kiddos lunch I had the bright idea to hunt around for one of our bulb syringes. We had used them when the children were smaller to suck out mucus or snot when they had colds and were too young to know how to blow. But could I find one? No! Of course we have not needed to use one in years.

Some good friends live nearby and I figured I would try them as a last resort - they had one, and more importantly knew where it was in their house (amazing)! I jumped in the car and drove over there immediately. They also offered a saline rinse, which sounded like it would be an ordeal to try on a reluctant child, but anything would be worth a try. Their 'grandma' mentioned a sheet wrap if we needed help keeping her still.

I tried sucking the wretched bead out, but she was pretty nervous and would either try to bat it away, or turn her head at the last moment, even with one of us holding her, it was not happening. We both tried. Finally I decided we needed to use a swaddle. I had a piece of stretchy fleece which I lay down on the floor and told her to lay on top of. What a fun game! I put her little arms down by her sides and wrapped her up tight, then as James held her head still and I blocked her legs, her arms contained, four good suctions and that sucker came out! Her panic turned to relief and the ordeal was over.

Lots of hugs and kisses later, the doctor's appointment canceled, we think a lesson was learned. I asked her later that afternoon if she will ever put another bead up her nose and she was very emphatic with her

"NO!"

There's a ball to be kicked

Today was Arran's first meet-up and practice with his little team, as part of the Petaluma Youth Soccer League.

When he was much younger, two or three (I cannot exactly recall) we had signed him up for Lil' Kickers, but that was a long time ago. It is still sad to me that there is so little physical activity in schools over here and that sports really have to be done in your own time, but it is what it is.

He had really been looking forward to it, which I am sure was aided by his recent watching of bits of games in the recent World Cup. He certainly looked the part in his new shinguard covered, knee-high socks and his soccer cleats.

Our little boy did so great, none of my fears of him being nervous or reticent at meeting a bunch of new kids, were realized. He jumped right in. There is a lot to learn, but I think it is going to be a fun, growing experience for him. Next practice is on Saturday morning.

The girls watched from the sidelines whilst chomping on pretzels, they played on the playground a bit too.

I have no idea how we will manage our schedules when we have three kids doing different activities, I think life is going to get very busy.

My other problem is that before this I wanted  a 70-200mm lens, now I know I NEED one!!!

What a big girl

Asia's potty training has been very self-paced. We had the usual incentive (one M & M for a wee, two for something more substantial!) but other than that, have not pushed it. She was never very interested in the little potty and went for the regular toilet, which was more than fine by me. One less thing to empty and clean!

It is so different than when Arran was a baby. Of course at that point it was me and him at home and I could give him my undivided attention, but I think the truth is that although he did great, it was more a case of me staying on top of it, I would set the timer at 30 minute intervals and ask him to try, we had stickers and rewards, we went from nappies to pull-ups and finally when several MONTHS later he was there, underwear. It was a lot of work.

I was WAY more relaxed by the time Bryttain came around and waited for her to be pretty interested.

Now Asia is finally there. I have known for a while that she got it. She could produce every time she went to the bathroom, half the time she was taking herself, but I had just left her in nappies (diapers), and occasionally tried a pull-up. She knows the difference though and would just get lazy.

She could run around naked though, for hours, with no accidents, so today I decided, out of curiosity more than anything else, to just put her in regular underwear. Not one accident! She told us each time she needed the bathroom and even fell asleep in her bed at nap time, before we registered that she was not in a pull-up...and stayed dry the whole time. You could have picked up my jaw from the floor at that point (we will not be trying to repeat that one for a while though).

Anyway, I am INCREDIBLY proud of her...and here she can tell you the news for herself.

Another one bites the dust

Last Saturday the kids were running around being totally crazy, when all of a sudden Arran came rushing in, completely devastated. His top tooth, which had been hanging precariously for days, had finally in the midst of the chasing and wrestling, been knocked out. He did NOT want to show us, but Bryttain excitedly showed off the booty, as proud as could be. She is so funny, it was not even her tooth.

Try as hard as I might, Arran did not want to let me take a photo, and James scolded me for trying to catch the moment as my little boy cried (I was not completely heartless, daddy was cuddling him at the time already). Finally after some tickling we got half a reluctant smile. My little boy looks so different now.