OCD

Most people would look at this picture and not think anything of it. I look at this and I know that Leo has been here. The night before when I went to bed these hangers were in a jumbled pile. Yet when I came down the stairs in the morning they were categorized into piles according to color and composition. The blues all together, whites in a separate pile, yellow and green were designated into different piles, the wire one was by itself because come on wire can't mix with plastic. The irony is that when looking at the picture I realized that the green one's hook is facing the opposite way of the others. The only reason for this is because I kicked it when I came down the stairs and I put it back into the row wrong. These kinds of groupings are characteristic of our little guy. He sees things in everyday life that the rest of us don't. Often we will catch him in deep thought watching things. During bathtime last night he asked me if I saw anything in the ceiling. In my rushed eyes I saw a generic pattern of plaster. Yet when I asked him what he saw he said he could see the outline of a ghost, and sure enough when he pointed it out I could see a little bit of old Casper's shape. It will be interesting to see what Leo grows up to be.

Our Animal Lover

At our house we have a large sun room. For the first time since we have lived here we had a bird hit the window. Both Ken and I heard a loud thump and when Ken went outside to investigate he found this beautiful little yellow bird lying beneath the window. When he first approached it the bird looked dead. He picked it up and the kids came out to see it. Midge has always been our animal lover. She immediately went into vet mode and took over the care of the bird.

I think animals have a certain sense about her and are calmed by her. The bird sat in her hands and started to slowly revive itself. Leo would check in every once in awhile, but honestly the bird seemed kind of agitated by him. The irony is that when it comes to humans Leo is the most sensitive and loving out of our kids, but he doesn't seem to really care about animals like Midge. Recently his fish died and he could have cared less. Now granted a fish isn't the easiest animal to bond with but when Midge's fish died we had a funeral in the backyard...in the rain...with a eulogy. Midge has always bonded with her animals. We are on her 4th hamster and she is amazing with them. She trains them and they are extremely mild with her.

So in no time she had a little bed for the bird. We brought a chair over for her and she curled up next to the bird to monitor his progress. Leo came out to check out what was happening and the bird flew off. Today we have seen the same bird back with his friends, and Midge feels pretty lucky to have a bond with him.

S stands for Shots

When I came down this morning Midge was telling Leo about his kindergarten check-up he would be going to. She had told him he would be getting shots. She told him they would sing the alphabet to him and every time they said a letter he would receive a shot. Needless to say by the time I showed up at the end of this conversation he was in a state of panic. On the ride to the doctor's office I tried to reverse the damage by telling him that the visit would be to see how big he was getting and tell if he was ready for kindergarten. I knew my words were not making much of an impact on him. When the nurse tried to get his blood pressure and put the cuff on him he was already starting to freak out. By the end of the visit he had relaxed and was having fun, then two nurses came in to give him 3 shots. They got on either side of him and told him that they were going to sing the alphabet song and by the time they were done with the song they would be done with his shots. All he heard was the alphabet song and his eye's got huge. I kept telling him it is only 3 shots but he wasn't listening, rather he kept looking at the needles on either side of him. He ended up doing great and true to their word by the time we finished the song the nurses were done and walking out the door. Although I am a little frightened that he will now be traumatized any time he has to sing the alphabet song. Thanks Midge.

Picking Strawberries and Birthday Cake

I love this below picture of Midge with her freckles and long eye lashes. I think that she looks like strawberry shortcake.

We had a great time going to Herrick's Farm on Leo's birthday. We picked 4 full buckets of gorgeous sweet Oregon Strawberries. The kids always eat at least a pound of strawberries when we go. We always joke that they should weigh each of us before and after. Today we are going to have strawberry shortcake. I love summer fruit.

This was Little Miss's first time picking and she took her job very seriously. She insisted on carrying her own bucket even when it got too heavy for her to carry it.

She was a great little worker until she tasted the first one. Then we had to race to fill the rest of her bucket before she could eat them all.

Eventually she just sat down in the middle of the patch and started popping them into her mouth. All you could hear was her chewing.

This picture cracks me up because it shows what a boss she is turning in to. At this point she is telling me to leave her alone so she could pick by herself.

When we got back we had Leo's birthday cake. Little Miss is such a big girl now she feeds herself. I love the fact that on my new camera you can put it on burst mode and take a series of pictures. I just keep it on this mode most of the time because my kids move so fast.

Big boy Leo and his adoring ladies.

These next pictures crack me up. When Leo was one my sister snapped this picture of him on his second birthday.

Yesterday when I took this photo I remembered the older one. Not too much of a difference! I love that smile.

My Boy Turns 5

Yesterday was Leo's 5th Birthday. There is always such a big change in kids when they turn 5. Maybe it is the whole starting kindergarten, but he doesn't seem to be a little boy anymore. He has grown so much. He isn't a baby any more. At the doctor's office they gave us a sheet that lists all of the things a 5 year old should be doing. He is so much more independent now, and yet he still is my little buddy. He wants to still snuggle and help me out, but when it comes to getting dressed, making his bed, brushing his teeth he can do so much of it on his own. You are such a bright, loving, handsome boy. We love you.

What my children have taught me.

I was responding to a post from my sister, and when it started getting to long I decided to just post it. My sister had commented that she liked how I describe our vivacious Midge. What can I say in so many ways she is the mirror image of myself. I often see her struggling with some of the same issues I strive to overcome. When you have a child who is so similar to your virtues as well as vices you forge a bond, because otherwise you would be denying part of who you are as well. When I became a mother I had no idea how much influence my actions would have on my child. I still remember Midge standing at the end of our street at the age of 18 months. She had one hand on her hip, one finger pointed at me, and was telling me what for. I turned to my friend in exasperation and said where did she learn that from. She laughed and responded, "Ah Kirsten look at yourself". I looked down and sure enough there I was standing with one hand on my hip, a finger in the air, and a breath away from telling Midge what for.

At times you wish your children would simply skip over the challenges you have faced as an individual. It can be disheartening to watch them struggle with things. It can be daunting to realize that your example influences them so much in the early years. Yet I have come to realize that perfection isn't something that is useful to them. They need to see you make mistakes. Sometimes your children seeing you struggle can be more powerful than maintaining an image that everything is perfect. Midge and I can push one another's buttons like no one else, but at the same time we are each other's greatest allies. When Ken will state, "What in the world is she thinking". I can almost always respond with a statement of, "I know exactly what she is thinking." Just the other day I was working with Midge on telling time, something she has been struggling with this year (can't she just use a digital clock for the rest of her life - says the teacher?). Anyway she was giving me all kinds of attitude. I turned to her and looked her straight in the eye and said, "what is really going on here? Why are you acting like this?" Immediately she let down her guard and said, "I worry that other people will find out I don't know how to tell time. There is a girl in my class who usually struggles with everything and she knows how to tell time. If others find out that I can't do this they will make fun of me." When I told her that no one else was here now and we could work on this over the summer so she could go back to school and understand how to tell time she breathed a sigh of relief and had no problem working with me. Where do we learn that we have to be perfect? Who teaches us that making mistakes is something to be avoided? The biggest gift we can often give our children is the ability to fail at times, and then learn to pick ourselves back up and move on.

My new camera

After several years I ended up having to purchase a new camera. My beloved old camera started having computer problems and wouldn't recognize the memory stick. I was a little worried because I told Ken I couldn't handle not having a camera, but he wasn't sure where we would come up with the money for a new one. Then all of the sudden I was offered two days of extra pay for this summer that ended up paying for the new camera I wanted. I ended up going with another Sony H20. It is an upgraded camera of what I previously had. It is definately ungraded. It has everything that I loved before, yet it is only better. One of the features that I love is it has an easy shooting option, which is what I switch it to when Ken is taking pictures. It does everything for him and adjusts without having to do anything, but then I have the option to switch it back so I can still play around. I have had a lot of fun experimenting. It is great at taking photos of the kids when they are active (which for us is 90% of the day). I also can set it to take a rapid burst of pictures which with a toddler is crucial.