treehouse!

Last weekend we were out in our back yard hanging out when I scanned the scene, taking inventory of projects that needed to be tackled to spruce up the place. I concluded that the overall picture was sad and neglected. As I mentally perused the landscape, my eyes rested on the huge sycamore right next to the back of the house and I commented nonchalantly, "Ya know...it would be kind of cool to have a tree house in that tree..." It was one of my "dreamings" which Bryan is very used to hearing me verbalize, and most often filters out due to time or finances (or possibly annoyance :P). But he perked up at this particular idea. He's become a bit of a handy man since our humble DIY beginnings as newly marrieds. Over the years he's installed a bathroom, remodeled a kitchen, installed siding, laid tile, and accomplished lots of other feats involving carpentry, plumbing and electricity. He's often itching to tackle a project, especially a building one, but time is at a minimum these days.

The mere mention of a tree house seemed to push an "on" button. As soon as the kids got wind that there was even TALK of the subject, they latched on and there was no turning back. Simon especially has asked about it every other second. Even at a wedding last weekend, (the day after the idea was mentioned) he asked in the middle of the ceremony if we could go home and start building. And he has decided that it belongs to him, but that he will share with his sisters.

Bryan has been online doing research, looking at architectural drawings and budgeting out materials. He even went old school and checked out a book from the library. Today was building day.

We all pitched in, though Daddy and Papa (Bryan's dad) did all the carpentry work. The kids and I, along with Grandma, did a lot of yard work, weed pulling, raking, trimming, cleaning, mulching, arranging bricks, etc. Much of our efforts focused on removing English ivy which was used as ground cover on a lot of our property before we moved in. I have decided it's the Devil's weed. It is such a nuisance and is so invasive. It covers most of the trunk of the hefty sycamore that the tree house is being built into, and as we removed the vines, most of the bark came tearing off at the same time. Grrrr....

Working together, we had one of the most productive days around the house we've had in a long while. I tidied the whole back yard and am so pleased with it! And Bryan completed the  first phase of building (framework of the floor plan and supports). The next phase will involve building the ladder and laying the flooring. We hope to have it complete by the end of April! And, Oh. My. Goodness...The kids better play with it every day until they leave for college.

Anyone out there have tree house experience? I always wanted one, especially after watching the movie Swiss Family Robinson.

Floor plan view. Also note my nice black mulch around the tree in the back? Pay no attention to all the bald spots where grass should be growing...that's the sad and neglected part. Grass will not survive back here!

camping trip & date night

Spring hasn't even started and it's felt like summer the past week! I don't know whether to feel thankful or afraid for what the real summer holds...

In honor of the balmy weather, Bryan took Simon on an overnight camping trip with Uncle Dwight and cousin Cody. It's a dude's getaway with fishing and campfires, mud and junk food. Probably a ride on some ATVs too. I like it when Bryan spends one-on-one time with our kids...I think it is very special and I'm almost always up for sending one of them off. The happy flip side is that I end up doing what I can to get a date night with whichever older kid is left behind. (Josie hasn't quite hit the age to enjoy a night on the town. But her day is coming!)

Last time Bryan went out of town with one of the kids, it was Ella who got to go and Simon and I watched the latest Chipmunk movie and went to Burger King (his pick.) We played on the indoor playground and he was so TALKATIVE! I really enjoyed that time together and so did he...he has requested multiple times since that we go out again. But when he heard I was taking Ella out on a date while he was away, he decided that was "weird." I guess moms are only supposed to date the men in the family.

Tonight Ella and I splurged on the full date treatment! We started with a 3D movie (The Lorax) which she was over the moon about. And after, we indulged in the fast food delicacy that is Culvers. Ugh. It was amazing, delicious and disgusting in the most wonderful way. Ella got chicken tenders and french fries and especially enjoyed using the cool ketchup dispenser where you squirt your own dollop of ketchup into a serving sized container. (My kids don't partake of fast food much...these types of things are still magnificent to them.) I don't know what it is about chicken in a "tender" or "nugget" form, but that's all they ever request when we give them a vote. One of these days, I hope one of them requests seaweed salad. But I digress...

Ella upgraded her drink to a shake to which she added Twix bits AND peanut butter cup chunks. Wowza. But my meal took the prize...A cheeseburger called "The Single BUTTERBURGER" (so healthy!) and onion rings and I even drank a diet soda. And THEN...I got a custard concrete with Reese's peanut butter cups too! Gasp! It was an insane treat and we loved every minute of it. But we promised we'd exercise tomorrow.

night at the carnival

Today was family day and what a great day we had together! We started with a lazy breakfast, coffee and cartoons, then dressed ourselves for a walk in the woods. We visited Powder Valley which is a favorite place of ours for walking because the path is a "doable" distance for each of us, fully shaded, brimming with woodland creature like deer who are very used to people in their space, and lots of spots for walking across logs, skipping stones over creeks and stamping over wooden footbridges. We spent most of our time skipping stones and getting dirty.

After lunch we rested and then the kids did a 20 minute workout dvd with me (this point deserves a post all to itself...what a sight to see the kids engaged in this activity, with me huffing and puffing and them using cans for weights.) Then we needed more rest and baths.

In early evening, we visited a small carnival close by our neighborhood. It was just the sort of carnival I grew up with...very small town, about five large rides and lots of smells of corndogs, funnel cake and popcorn. Our kids are very wary of carnivals and rides in general and were squeamish at first at the thought of riding ANYTHING. But I talked them into a small inflatable obstacle course, knowing it would warm them up and wouldn't frighten them (at least not after they gave their tickets to the strange lady at the entrance). They took their time and seemed a bit more secure by the end of it. The inflatable served as a great primer and got them acclimated to the excitement that is the carnival.

Next I was able to get them to agree to riding a more legit ride called "The Frog Hopper." Basically, it was a row of seats you get strapped into and then slowly hoisted up and dropped down quickly so that your stomach ends up in your esophagus. I promised to ride it with them so they reluctantly boarded the ride, one on either side of me. We all held hands and screamed as the seats seemed to drop out from under us for a two second free fall. They loved it after the first couple of jolts and were begging to do it again by the end!

Unfortunately, the ferris wheel wasn't working which was a huge disappointment since it was the only grown up ride I could get the kids excited for. So we spent the remainder of our tickets on the frog hopper, the baby cars that drive in a circle and the inflatable mega slide. At the end, Simon piped up that he wanted to ride on the one that flipped upside down. Shocked, I questioned his statement. And he was serious. Even though we were out of tickets, I told Bryan I thought, if he was willing to take a risk, I wanted to jump on it! (Simon is characteristically shy and reserved and slow to draw attention to himself. His teacher last year described him as "careful and observant.") So, Daddy took the girls to get a snow cone while Simon and I got tickets for the upside down ride (four "cages" on two parallel pendulums that swing back and forth gathering momentum till you flip upside down and do a full 360° flip around.)

As we stood in line, we watched the people riding, screaming and some younger ones crying. I thought for sure he'd want to back out as I, myself, began to get a nervous stomach. I asked him, "Simon? Are you SURE you want to ride this ride?" He nodded excitedly, clenching his three tickets and smiling. He said, "I might scream but I won't be scared!" So we waited our turn. As the ride slowed to a halt and the passengers deboarded, the carnie worker approached us at the front of the line and said, "Its gonna be a while. I had a puker." I thought he meant he had to go throw up, but I figured out as he poured buckets of water in one of the cages it actually meant that one of the passengers we couldn't see had thrown up during the ride. Geeeee-Rooossss. After dousing the thing with water, he sent the ride spinning once on empty to rid the seats of ghastly watered down vomit. I began to get even more queasy at the thought of any of these droplets landing on me while we spun through the air and thanked God that I hadn't had any dinner yet. Simon's courage didn't waver. We boarded the ride and buckled in.

Soon we were waving slowly, backward and forward through the air, the large grin still plastered across Simon's face. He laughed nervously and kept his little hand under mine as we grasped the lap bar. It didn't take long to gather speed and as we looped up, it felt as though we were hanging in mid air. Our bodies came up out of our seats and rested on the lap bar and we both freaked out. His eyes were wide and his voice was panicky as he cried out, "MOM! MOM!" I didn't look forward but kept my face fixed on him and demanded he look into my eyes as I reassured him we were alright. (I didn't feel alright...it was seriously scary and I felt like I might throw up too while at the same time wanting to shriek out for my own mother!) The ride felt like an eternity. He never cried, but he seemed in a wide eyed, fixated trance and wouldn't take his eyes off the spinning landscape in order to gain security in my face. As the flipping ceased and we began the slow rocking to a full stop, he turned to finally face me and relaxed. The smile returned and he was proud of himself.

As we made the trek across the pavement to join the rest of our family on the other side of the observation fence, we felt bonded...like we'd won a battle together. I was proud of my little guy. Only four years old and willing to fight a giant! I'm wondering what chapter of courageous exploits this boy may have ahead.

Simon is my little hero today. Oh how I love that boy.

school's out for summer!

Simon has been finished with preschool for nearly two weeks now. But Ella's kindergarten graduation was yesterday and the final day of school was today. After her graduation and awards ceremony (she received awards for perfect spelling, excellent grades, a citizenship award, whatever that is, a character word of the month award for displaying respect, and an attendance award which was clearly a mistake because she missed ten days of school!) the school allowed kids to leave early with parents to celebrate.

Ella's class waiting for their awards

So we took Simon and Ella out for lunch at the Murdoch Perk where Simon ordered a big Belgian waffle and Ella got the hungryman's breakfast! Yowzers...scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of toast and potatoes! She shared with Josie. The sweetest thing was that Simon insisted on dressing up. He's still stuck on his new clothes we got him for the wedding. It ended up being great that he did that as I was able to get a picture with them both dressed up!

Check out the huge bruise on Ella's cheek. It's a big one. She ran into the wall somehow in our hotel room while she and Simon were playing. It totally looks like she took a beating. But she still looks pretty in her graduation dress! Isn't Simon sharp in his tie?? He is all about looking handsome these days and is particular about picking out his own clothes.

I'm ready for summer, but we'll miss Mrs. Morton. Ella truly loves this woman! She wants to invite her to her seventh birthday party.

Bring on the summer!!

lake of the ozarks

We got away for a quick family vacation last weekend. It's the off season at Lake of the Ozarks so we were able to stay for next to nothing and have some down time together. As quickly as the time passed, we were able to really enjoy each other and the beautiful fall weather.

The biggest news of the trip was that Ella caught a fish all by herself! Mind you, this came right before she brushed her face with the hook which ended up catching in her hair. And then she threw the pole in the water on accident and Bryan injured himself trying to retrieve it (another story to be told at a later date when Bryan can laugh about it.)

The fish! So glad she hooked him and not herself!

There was a pumpkin festival going on not far from where we were staying but the kids didn't want to leave the condo. I found it rather sweet actually. It seems like Ella is so in need of real bonding time with her family, that she would much rather spend the moments lounging around doing "normal activities" rather than play in a bounce house or whatever...Fine by me. That is so much easier! Simon was the same way...every time we left the condo (like, to go buy a first aid kit a Walgreens...again, another story) he would ask, "Are we going back to our vatation now?" meaning, back to the condo?

So, aside from all around RELAXING, we visited the little playground on the rental property which consisted of a slide, monkey bars and a teeter totter. Ella mastered the monkey bars so the kids were quite content to visit this small, unimpressive playground multiple times. Next to the playground was a pecan tree that was dropping hundreds of nuts. We gathered up two bagfuls in hopes of cracking them open and enjoying them in some oatmeal or something (well, that was my hope. Nobody else really likes oatmeal.) But even after I bought a nut cracker, the cracking didn't really produce an "uncrushed" nut. Oh well. We had fun collecting them all.

In order to convince our kids to go on a long walk, we turned it into a treasure hunt. The kids loved that idea and were very successful at finding all the things I listed off, like:

1. a red leaf
2. something white
3. a purple flower
4. an acorn
5. something orange

I will definitely use this game again when trying to manipulate my children to exercise.

The loot

 As we packed to leave, we discovered a turtle outside our door. The kids were mesmerized and tried to feed it lettuce. Ella wrote a story/list of observations to show her teacher. Under a rather lovely drawing of the turtle were these sentences:
I saw a turtle on my vacation. It had red spots all over it. I gave the turtle some lettuce. But it wouldn't eat it.
Ella is in school even when she's not in school!

Other happenings were:

1. Making s'mores with marshmallows we roasted in the fireplace. (Oh how I wish we had a working fireplace at home!)
2. Playing lots of Miss Pac Man
3. Reading on the front deck
4. Simon falling out of bed
5. Attending Christ's Church (one of our sister churches) and reconnecting with our friends there. What a great group of folks!

Reading in the crisp morning air. Bryan-The Bible, Ella-Curious George, Simon-Harold and the Purple Crayon

Every time we visit Lake of the Ozarks, Bryan gets the itch to buy a used boat. He almost has me convinced! Almost.

apples, bikes and a couple of gorgeous girls

We made our annual trip to Eckert's Farm last week to pick apples. I look forward to this event every year for multiple reasons: 1) the kids have a blast, 2) it's one of the first signs of autumn for us, 3) the apples are AMAZING and 4) I always make it an opportunity to take lots of photos of the kids.

Simon and Ella in the tunnel

Looking Back: The tunnel photo from two years ago. They change so fast!

The new rocket ships were a big hit

Looking Back: No rockets last year. Last season was all about the airplanes.

 

More news: Ella still loves wearing all her bike gear. But it's not motivation enough to learn to ride without training wheels. She's still too jittery about it and won't let Bryan let her go. It didn't seem to make it any more tempting when I told her how my dad taught me how to ride a bike by taking me to the top of a hill and letting go without warning. I learned quickly. Maybe we're just too warm and fuzzy?

The gear: all looks and no action!

And here is one extra sweet little squish. Man is she adorable. Her personality is so enjoyable, her smile is warm and friendly and she's started sprouting a silly little tooth! Now if she'd only start sleeping a little more at night I might officially change her name to "Angel Baby".

Gorgeous Girl #1

 

 

The original Gorgeous Girl. She just gets prettier every day I think.

And this one is just for good measure. She is such a little lady. She's getting prettier all the time and it's a little scary. What happens when those little boys she tells me she chases on the playground (I shudder at these stories) decide she doesn't have cooties? I'm praying she thinks they're dumb dumbs by then. :)

And that's a wrap for now...

nostalgia

School starts in a couple of weeks and we're squeezing in some pretty intensive travel before getting away becomes increasingly difficult. We're visiting Mimi (my mom) in Edina, Missouri for a few days right now. I drove up with the kids without the husband...it takes about three hours and they did so well on the drive. We didn't have to stop a single time for little bladders or nursing baby! Wowie! That's definitely a first.

The trip has a special sweetness this time around. Ella has really been interested in hearing stories about me when I was a little girl. I remember feeling the same way about my own mother and grandmother. Something about learning more about their childhood gives us a sense of who we are and where our roots are. And there's a sense of magic and mystery about imagining what your own mother was like when she was little like you. So this trip has a bit of that mixed in. Recently, Ella has been asking for lots of stories about me as a girl, you might remember me referencing this curiosity in an earlier post.

One of the stories I've told her was about how my cousin Katie and I (most stories of any interest involve my cousin Katie) left our beloved Cabbage Patch dolls at the park underneath the slide and when we went to retreive them, they had vanished. We posted MISSING signs all over town and cried ourselves to sleep. The climax to that story was when our grandma Florence showed up to school the following week with them in her arms as the local sheriff had seen them as he closed up the park that night and claimed them for lost and found. Today I took my kids to that park and they slid down the slide. They also rode on the metal rocking horses that I sat on at my birthday party and got stung by a bee right on my wee little bottom. (Oh how I remember that day!)

After the park we climbed back in the car to partake of a kiddie cone in Rutledge, Missouri. My grandparents lived there when my mom was little and my grandpa Jack always kept a residence there even after my grandma Florence moved to Edina to start her beauty shop. His house still stands overlooking the pond that he dug out himself for fishing. We visited the Minnonite Store called Zimmerman's, which I always have to make time for. They have all kinds of bulk goods like organic spelt flour and rolled oats and fresh local produce. And they've been around since before it was cool to buy local. Their freshly baked breads are amazing...we bought a loaf of organinc whole wheat and it's scruptuous toasted with butter. Anyway....the ice cream there is 30 cents for a kid size cone which was perfect since I only had one dollar in my billfold! (Totally have to have cash and a check book in rural communities!)

Zimmerman's Minnonnite Store: Groceries, fabric, general store and restaurant!

After Zimmerman's, we went over a couple of blocks to the old Rutledge School. We played on the slide and teeter totters where my grandparents played. I love all the history. I think these places won't be around much longer since all the small towns I grew up around seem to be slowly dying.

The most exciting part of this trip is that we'll be visiting my Uncle Steve and Aunt Elaine. They are my cousin Katie's parents and Ella is so pumped. In her mind, Katie is like a fairy tale and she is going to see the house where Katie and I had many of our adventures. I'm so thrilled to introduce her to my aunt and uncle who have never met any of my kids. It's a pretty exciting day for me too! Hopefully they won't bang the keys on the grand piano!

fantastic friday

We had our first family day in three weeks today. It started out lazy and slow...we all felt like sleeping in which, in my mind, is the perfect start to a day. Mid morning, Josie needed a nap, so while she slept, Bryan took the older two to Tower Grove to play in the fountains and wading pool. They came back and had baths and a yummy lunch and then we rested a bit and got ready for a movie. We trekked across town to the dollar theater to see "How to Train Your Dragon". What a treat! We've only been to the movie theater as a family one time before and that was before Josie was born. The kids loved it. They enjoyed the show and it was the kind of kid's movie that a parent doesn't mind sitting through. We treated ourselves to icy Pepsis, which tasted amazing on a 100° day.


By the time we made it home, it was getting well past normal dinnertime, so we chucked the menu and had breakfast for dinner: waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, strawberries and smoothies. We ended the day with a pile of books in Ella's bed. We laughed, snuggled, and nearly fell off the bed several times.

Aside from Simon's meltdown when we ran out of quarters for video games, it was the perfect day. I just love Fridays.

citygarden

We love Fridays around here. Friday is what we call "Family Day" since it's Bryan's day off and we keep it pretty sacred to spend quality time enjoying each other. We had a great time today at Citygarden. Mainly, we played in the wading pool where there are amazing stepping stones and a waterfall. There were short visits to the fountains that shoot up out of the ground, but the pool is by far the kids favorite part of the park. I wanted to spend some time shooting artsy pictures of the kids among the sculpture installations, but no one else seemed to want to make time for art. That's ok though. It was still a great time. Ella made friends with another little girl named Ella and Simon looked so forlorn as she left him on the sidelines. That was a little sad, but Bryan dipped in and played with Simon even though he didn't have swim trunks. We ended the visit by splurging on the most amazing drumsticks I've ever eaten! Parked near the garden was a 1950s era firetruck that had been converted into an ice cream truck. And that wasn't even the coolest part...all their products were homemade–freshly squeezed lemonade, homemade ice cream which you could eat in a cup or in an ice cream sandwich. The drumsticks were the best though...they were dipped in chocolate and covered in salty roasted almonds! Wish I coulda had one!!! Fortunately, the kids were generous enough to share their spoils. Good kids and good, clean fun.

water works

Summer has begun. We had our first trip to the Tower Grove fountains. We'll probably go there at least once a week until summer is over. I just love St. Louis and all the wonderful parks!

Also, we visited some friends who live on a lake and had so much fun doing all kinds of water activities. The kids swam, fed fish, had a boat ride and they even reeled in a little blue gill! Ella said she wanted to spend the night for 100 days, but we forgot to pack a bag. :)

gobbling fish

Ok, so this entry is really more of an excuse to post this humorous moment I captured of Ella at the zoo the other day. As noted in the earlier post, we were in the herpetarium with the fish and lizards and such and I caught her "gobbling" at the fish. And so the hilarity ensues...enjoy...

's' is for snake

We took a trip to the zoo last week for our family day on Bryan's day off and we had loads of fun! The highlight of the excursion was visiting the herpetarium near the end of the journey. This is the building where all the snakes, lizards, fish and turtles live. Simon is 20 months now and still only has a handful of words though his understanding is pretty vast. His speech is funny though because he acts like he's really telling us something but everything comes out sounding like a bunch of s'es ("sssssss" or "thsssssss"). This actually ended up working for his favor in the herpetarium as you will see in the following video.