facebook

so i went to elementary school with this guy, david (and middle school and high school.) and either he found me on facebook, or i found him, it doesn't matter. but he messaged me something like, "my old oak park elementary crush...how's it been?" wait. what?! i was someone's crush? your crush? get out of town! you must be joking. and then he proceeded to tell me all of these things that he remembers, but i haven't a clue about. and it was so fun to talk to him. and then, since i found him, i found about a dozen other people that i hadn't thought about in decades but it is so fun to have funny 5th grade memories take over my mind and to hear what they are doing now. and it's made me glad that i was a pretty good kid. that i can reconnect with these people and i don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed. (but that may be because i have a terrible memory.) and i'm happy that i have since led a pretty good life. i don't have to say things like, "since i've been released from prison..." or "rehab has been really good for me." i'm happy that facebook has been a pleasant little experience full of smiles and giggles and "remember when", not avoiding questions and people and "i'm sorry about that time..." it's like a mini high school reunion, but over the net, so i get to say "hi" and hear what everyone is doing with their lives but i don't have to buy a new outfit or lose 10 lbs. if you're not on facebook, i highly recommend it. unless you are currently experimenting with drugs or have otherwise made a silly little mess of your life. in which case, i might suggest post-poning facebook while you get your life together and prepare for endless apologies to people you barely remember.

we are all enlisted

blue blankie is missing. and we are not happy about it. we have searched high and low. in baskets. under beds. in drawers. in clean and dirty laundry. under the sink. closets. the backyard. the car. i found $1.13 in change. a few marbles. but no blue blankie. pink blankie was pulled from her lovely little rubbermaid slumber in the garage. and she will do. but she is not blue blankie. i'm surprised at how well the little girl is handling it, though. she only asks for him once, maybe twice throughout the day. and always as she's falling asleep (and first thing in the morning.) but i can see it in her eyes, sometimes, as she's looking at me. like she thinks i have something to do with this, but am too ashamed to admit it. i swear it wasn't me! your daddy was the last one that had it. folded up nicely over his arm as we were leaving church. who knows what happened to it between the hallway and the car. but we will find it. even if i have to make another one myself and wash it 3,000 times until it feels just like the original. so, we need your help. keep your eyes peeled for a blue flannel blanket with orbiting planets on one side and cozy gingham on the other. we are offering a reward of chocolate chip cookies, that may or may not be partially eaten by the time they reach you. (unless it's john paul that finds it, and then his reward will have to be his little girl's complete and total adoration reinstated.)

accents part 2

overheard at our house this week:

zoe: what's that other language that only you and i know?

john paul: ...?...mm...southern?

zoe: yeah! southern.

john paul: but it's not really another language. it's english.

zoe: oh. then how come mommy and jakob can't understand it?

daddy: they're weird.

zoe: ooohhh. that makes sense.

our first visitors

nana and grandad + uncle joseph and aunt lauren came to visit over christmas break and it was perfect. just way too short. they were here 4 days (not counting travel days) and 1 day they were all really sick. so that doesn't count. but somehow in the 3 (real) days we got to spend with them, they crammed it all in. the american girl doll store & bistro, making and decorating sugar cookies, babysitting all the monkeys so we could act like adults and go out with joseph and lauren, pf chang's lettuce wraps (that i think about daily), playing in the backyard, making little ones laugh, going to the children's museum and the coolest park, strengthening the bonds of our family. after they had gone, riley was playing in the living room and heard someone at the front door. "dem guys is here!!! dem guys is here!!!" but it was john paul who walked through the door, and she was less than thrilled. i am so lucky to have such great in laws. we love and miss you guys. and uncle "dofus", there are requests to play trains and soccer at your earliest convenience.

this little piggy stayed home

i want my kids to eat healthy. fruits and vegetables...and a lot of them. i don't think that's too much to ask. but maybe i took it for granted when little bitty zoe lane started eating solid foods. she was completely compliant and willing to eat whatever we gave her. she refused nothing. then jakob came along. and it took a lot more persuading to get that boy to eat anything other than apples, bananas and grapes. and vegetables were tricky, but eventually accepted. then little miss riley grace came and changed everything. i could occasionally pry her dainty little mouth open long enough for the strained peas to touch her tongue. but she was never well pleased. by the time she started to toddle, she basically refused to eat anything that wasn't partially homogenized. so her diet consisted of crackers and pasta and cheese. and it hasn't changed much. when i try to sneak veggies in the sauce or fruit in the yogurt, i get a "dis taste cucky." so i was a little nervous how max would be when he was big enough for real food. he's been pretty good about it. but not in love with it. until now. and that boy can eat. and does eat. everything. he is particularly fond of green beans, carrots, apples, peas, bananas and yogurt. and he grunts constantly for mashed potatoes. and will occasionally lick the tray of the high chair to make sure he got everything. i am so happy. i hope this lasts.

**notice the extended pinky. this reminds me of how bobby used to drink water (or maybe still does. i haven't noticed.)

like my new shoes?

riley does too. they are highly impractical. and pretty much the anti-flip flop, which are comfortable and convenient and can be found on my feet every single day. but every once in a while a girl's gotta have a pair of shoes she can strut in (and by "strut" i mean concentrate and focus with each step so as not to fall) and these little puppies were 90% off at tj maxx. and although i've never been much of a shopper (i can remember sitting in the oldsmobile in the parking lot during my early teens while mom hunted for bargains in richmond gordman's) if i've learned anything from my mother, it's that you should never pay full price. not ever. especially on things that you don't absolutely need. but a part of me does need these. to remind myself i am more than a "mom" wiping noses. and i may have somewhere to go other than the grocery store. and even though i don't have anything to wear with them, for $8 i can wear whatever i want. john paul said, "you haven't gotten a new pair of shoes in 2 years, and this is what you come home with?" i could have a life that involves 4 inch heels with sling backs and peep toes that reveal my freshly painted toe nails. you don't know. the more i think about this, i'm pretty sure i saved the receipt.

guess who

guess who got straight a's as a doctoral student. guess who's hilarious and fun and started running in the a.m. guess who is a good hubby and a loving and attentive daddy. guess who is a talented teacher and an "extremely desirable candidate". guess who we are so proud of. i'll give you a little hint.

for those of you (and you know who you are)

who ate jp's salsa and said "even mexicans don't use that much cilantro." i beg to differ. this picture was taken in texas (that's on the border of mexico) at a real deal mexican restaurant, owned and operated by real life born and bred mexicans. so there.

9 years ago today...

we got married. 2 crazy kids who hardly knew each other. 9 years ago plus one day, i was freaking out. and had suggested "postponing" (calling off) the wedding about 3 times. poor john paul. but i had a difficult time seeing myself as someones wife. and it was all too real and way too fast for me. and i was scared. to death. but the next morning i woke up early and felt completely at peace. i quietly got ready in my sister's bathroom and felt like i was somehow gliding. i wasn't giddy. i wasn't hyper. i was just completely content. and ready. to start a new life. with him. and if i could send a secret message to my panicked and nervous self from 9 years ago i would tell her, "you're right to be scared. but it will all be okay. you will be happy. you do not have to lose yourself. you will find your own way, your own style of doing things. and it will all come much easier than you have ever imagined. you will laugh every day. every single day. but your fear is real because sometimes he will be selfish and want to complain, but he'll get over it. and it can get confusing or boring or exhausting. but those moments are rare. because usually it is hilarious and kissy and fun. and you will be amazed how fast the time goes and how happy you are to wake up next to him. and you will hug him in the kitchen and think how crazy it is that you still love him this much. even more. crazy. it's okay. it will be incredible." i wonder if my secret message would scare my single self even more. the reality of it all. but i'm so happy i did this. with him. because we are living happily ever after.

hello?...hello?...hold on. i can't hear you. i've got a banana in my ear.

i did that "joke" today at lunch, while attempting to get the kids to eat more fruit, and they loved it. so riley adopted it as her own and proceeded to carry that 'nana around til it was bruised and squished and inedible. she kept getting the punchline wrong, though. she kept saying something like,"hello? i'm be coming to you house." but no one corrected her since her version was way cuter than mine.

afternoon of the living dead

when our geriatric (and quite senile) computer finally joined the giant hard drive in the sky, we researched laptops. and discovered the one that we wanted was perfect, but far too expensive for a grad student with 4 little monkeys who would be pleading to use it. and the idea of grubby little hands and electronics makes john paul cringe. so we felt a more family friendly computer would be best for now. (at least until graduation.) and then the kids would inherit this one and we could finally get our macbook. (or...my macbook.) but somewhere between "i'm bored" and 29 degree weather the internet became a nice little form of entertainment. (which, like all electronics at this house, had to have a time limit attached.) but their faces, oh the faces. they've become zombies for the allotted 25 minutes a day.

close encounters of the red kind

i think i might have one lone picture of zoe on santa's lap stashed away somewhere. she would have been about 10 months old, and thinking something like,"hey, there. how's it goin'?" other than that, my kids have all been quite stand-off-ish to the white haired old man from another state...or planet...depending on which one is telling you about him. and i never pushed it, never really wanting to wait in line, not really desiring one of those photographs of panicked babies and desperate st. nicks. you don't have to tell him directly, anyway, i've heard. you can send letters, or so i've been told. (or yell across a crowded mall like the 3 year old zoe lane. "HEY, SANTA!! I WANT A BARBIE! A BARRRBIEEE!) and, to be perfectly honest, i never really know how to handle the whole "santa claus" issue. what form of christmas do i really want to perpetuate, here? but on the other hand, who am i to say he doesn't exist? after all, to this day my own mother claims there is a santa. so i find myself still believing. at 32. and when my children ask me details about the jolly man's personal life, i pull a louise. "how do you think he gets in to a house with no chimney?" (wait for answer) "hmmm. that sounds like a good idea." but this year the primary had a real life santa-sitting. and with no expectations, i found myself last in line with my 3 oldest. all of which completely and totally surprised me by sitting on that guy's lap and telling him what they would love most for christmas. after the fact, i inquired about their new found experience. jakob expressed some disbelief that he was in fact the real santa clause, because his hair and beard looked an awful lot like "grass". and when i asked what they told him they desired above all else, i discovered that silly little santa put words in their mouths! (i'm assuming that it was an attempt to counter act their hesitant requests, but come on.) "how about a really big race car!" excuse me? he's been asking for star wars for the last 11 months. let's not shake things up now. and baby bird informs us constantly that "santa say he bing me fee bahbies. pincess bahbies." that's "3 princess barbies" for those of you who do not speak riley's dialect. (but she's not all that reliable.) hmm. well, santa had you pegged for a dora girl. when did this princess business start? and zoe was feeling a bit too tall to be sitting on a stranger's lap, but forgot all about that when she was presented with a goody bag bursting with candy canes and chocolates. they were all really happy with the whole situation. and i found my smile permanently attached that morning. maybe because i had a pretty good idea of what was coming. or perhaps because my babies were so well behaved as they stood in line for so long. but it could have been because if that guy wasn't the real deal, there is a very likely possibility he knows the big man personally. so i imagine that very soon, they will have a brief, yet effective, discussion on the word "vague".

max's greatest day ever

1 crushingly adorable baby boy + 1/2 peppermint oreo on the floor (no one's claiming responsibility) = 1 happy little maxwell

bittersweet

a couple of weeks ago we noticed jakob saying things like "sLide" and "sLick" and "pLay". as opposed to the previous forms of "sWide" and "sWick" and "pWay". it's the end of an era. i'm not quite sure how i feel about this.

accents

about a month after we moved to texas, zoe started giving us accent lessons. "you don't have to say potato, you can just say 'tata. and if you are talking to a lot of people at once you just say "y'all" which stands for "you all". instead of saying "you guys" or "all of you". and words like "friends" and "hey" can have 2 syllables, if you want." we thought that was so observant of her. and just about a week ago, she pulled out her very own "y'all." "hey, do y'all want to go in the backyard?" john paul and i smiled at each other. so proud of our little texan.

sick sick sick

in the last 3 days:

• 2 ear infections have been diagnosed and treated.


• 2 top teeth are coming in all lopsided and adorable and owie.


• 1 case of the chicken pox has reared it's ugly little head.


• and 2 stomachs have thrown it all up...multiple times (one while sleeping, so all over the poor little one and then, stumbling in the dark, finally made it to the bathroom. put the dirty jammies in the laundry basket and changed into clean sweats, all while the rest of us slept. came in to my room, after the fact, simply to inform me of the goings on, then immediately fell asleep next to me. the other barfer, however, cried for 2 hours, layed down on the floor, then puked all over said floor. took a big, fat, long nap. then woke up crying and whining {sometimes yelling} went back and forth between the bed and the couch, continuously expressing pain and discomfort and unhappiness. and in response to our inquiries of how we could help, would yell "I DON'T KNOW!" finally stayed in bed long enough to puke all over the blankets, carpet and clothes. the throw up trash can was literally right next to the bed, surrounded by puke, but nevertheless, untouched.)

so far:

• 4 doses of amoxicillin have been administered


• 2 teaspoons of tylenol have been chugged


• 8 ear drops have tickled on the way down


• and 1 children's chewable pepto has been chewed up and spit out

we average:

• 4.5 hours of sleep a night


• 3 movies a day


• 1 nap per person (everyone but me, that is)

the best part of having sick kids:

• 4 for 4 have fallen asleep in my arms


• they are all a bit more snugly, allowing me to hold them, rock them, hug them a little longer


• their appetites have faded (so i don't have to make lunch)


• and what with all the napping going on around here, i get to watch something that isn't animated, for a change.

a thanksgiving in pictures (none of which i took)

this has been one of our favorite thanksgivings yet! and here's why:
we went here: because these guys ROCK! and let all 17 of us invade.
we ate something that resembled this: and all of the other warm thanksgiving-y goodness that you're supposed to eat.
we played this:with these guys:
and these guys, too: the final score said we tied, but bobby debated that. he may have been right. how could we tell, after all, since katherine kept leaning on the dry erase board that tallied our final score and it ended up all over her forearms. 78..79..freckle. good thing i'm the least competitive person ever, or there could have been a good old fashioned brawl.
and these guys: took all of us:here:
plus they watched the remaining 9 kids so we could go with these guys: to see this movie:and it was OH SO FUN!! plus they had one of these:in the bathrooms. and even though i didn't have to "go" i HAD to try it out. so i washed my hands about 3 times. and it totally lived up to all my expectations.
it snowed our last morning in kansas,so the monkeys filled up on snowball fights with the cousins and froze their little noses off for a little while so they could take some of it back to texas. (if only in their minds.)

!!!WE MISSED YOU, ASKEWS!!!

**somehow i escaped thanksgiving with no pictures of my own, so i stole these from google images, my ghetto scanner, her and her, who just so happen to be my diggety-dope sisters in law.

and, at risk of going way too cliche, here are some things i'm especially thankful for this year:

• my husband who knows his way around a stove, ironing board and washing machine. (thanks, paula.) we're still working on the dishwasher.


• my babies' health, happiness and their "i-just-can't-help-but-squish-you" adorable-ness.


• texas a&m's late acceptance date.


• my family, who i would want as my friends even if we weren't related.


• my faith that gives me a deeper understanding.


• and last but not least, the absolutely AWESOME friends we have fallen in love with in texas. (you can meet some of these little lovelies here, here, here, and here.)

pretty much

riley was hugging and snuggling with us on the couch last night (or was it the night before) and out of the blue she said, "i pitty." and it reminded me of another little girl i know. when zoe was about 18 months, john paul was always telling her how pretty she was, but in an effort to express that beauty wasn't the only desirable quality, he also added that she was smart and nice and sweet and fun and happy and...so she would walk around informing all, "i pitty. i smawt." and we loved it. i quickly realized that i also want this precious little girl to know that looks aren't everything. so as riley had me in a headlock (which was meant to be affectionate) i told her, "and you're smart" to which she replied, "but i pitty." "and you're nice," i coaxed. riley's response,"i pitty, too." "but you are also sweet." "but i mo' pitty den sweet." so i gave up. "yes, you are very pretty, birdie...and...you are funny." "mm hmm. i pitty funny."
so true.

what must it be like...

to have a mommy and daddy always kissing you at the same time. one on each cheek. to have a zoe and a jakob fight over who gets to sit by you in the car. to always wake up smiley and sweet. to have a riley who is so concerned if you utter any type of discontented grumble. "you okay you okay you okay." to have a zoe who laughs and smiles at you even when you are pulling her hair. to have a mommy who will bark like a dog to make you laugh and keep you distracted in the midst of continuous diaper changes. to have a big brother who falls asleep asking about you, wakes up looking for you and goes to school missing you. to melt hearts with each "gah!". to have nothing to fear. to be thoroughly entertained splashing in the water, not caring in the least who the bath was intended for. to be adored by all clerks, tellers and sweet old ladies (not to mention the old men). to have no prejudices, few demands, and rare complaints. to make everyone around you happy just by being. to be max.

ham and eggs

zoe and i were on the trampoline when she started showing me some stretches she had learned in p.e. "this is how you stretch your triceps." "you do this if you want to stretch your quadriceps." "and this is to stretch your hamstrings. see this?" and she poked her calf. "that's where the ham is." poke poke poke. "i have a lot of ham in there, huh?" cute little girlie.