2013 in review.

This list is from the blog All and Sundry.  

1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?

We took a wonderful road trip with the kids to Colorado.  In almost ten years of marriage, Nate has never taken that much time off of work.  We had a blast.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Last year my main goal was to get more sleep.  I think I did pretty well, except for the weeks leading up to Christmas when we got all kinds of sick and I kept pushing myself to get all of the things done.  

I'll make some goals.  I might not keep them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not really.  

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.  But a sister of a close friend died and she has a kid Everett's age, so that sort of broke my heart.

5. What countries did you visit?

None.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?

Girls' nights, one on one dates with my kids, cheesecake.

7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Summer.  We just had a wondrous summer.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Keeping three kids alive.  Having regular date nights with Nater.  

9. What was your biggest failure?

Well, I starved a hamster to death, that sucked.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope.  Still fighting insomnia.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Amazon Prime membership.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Private school, food, babysitters.

13. What did you get really excited about?

I was thrilled to take the kids on our roadtrip. I saw several great concerts.  Started a monthly dinner group with some ladies.  Pretty-ing up our house.

14. What songs will always remind you of 2013?

The music of the concerts that I went to this year- the Avett Brothers, Lumineers, Ben Harper, JJ Heller & The National.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? About the same.  Slightly sadder?

– thinner or fatter? Fatter, could be why I'm sadder?

– richer or poorer? Financially better off -although nervous after paying our new insurance premiums.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Run.  Nap.  

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Zone out online.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas morning was at home and then we went to Oma and Papa's for the day.  Dessert with the cousins after that.  Whew!

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Parenthood, Parks and Rec.  Also, Nate and I watched five seasons of Fringe this year, so that was basically it for TV.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I read a lot.  Where did you go, Bernadette, Allegient, Attachments, and Bread & Wine all come to mind.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Thanks to my husband, this will always be the year of The Lumineers and Avett Brothers on vinyl.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

I can't remember any.  But taking Claire to see Frozen was fun because she is a great date.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 36, and I have no idea what we did.  I seem to remember Nate and Claire making a cheesecake.  If they really did make one, I'm sure it was tasty.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? 

A closer to commute to see my dear friend.

25.  How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?

Clean?

26.  What kept you sane?

Phone calls, coffee, date nights, Jesus.

27. Share a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.

Waking up 15 minutes before the kids makes all the difference, also if someone offers you a breath mint, take it.

some things i forgot to mention.

*Not pictured, Mister Baby.

During the week that sucked beyond compare, we took our kids to The Oregon Garden to see Santa and the lights.  We lasted less than an hour.  It was like 9 degrees that Sunday night up there.  Everett forgot his gloves, kids were crying (not ours, thankfully) because it was so darn cold and we Oregonians are not used to that kind of weather.  We had planned to meet friends, but it was too cold for community.

In the rush to load our frigid kids into the car, one of us ran over my well-loved jogging stroller.  Oops.

That night, my very sweet 2 1/2 year old asked me to lay with her in her bed.

"No, honey.  I can't lay with you."  I answered.

"No, Mommy.  Can you pway with me?"  She asked.

"No, honey, I can't play with you right now."  I answered.

"Mommy, can you please PWAY with me?"  She asked again.

And because we both knew that this was the answer to our horrible week, I sat beside her and we prayed.  And somehow there was gratitude after all of this nonsense.

a series of unfortunate events.

Maybe your week was bad like mine.

Excuse me for a moment while I channel my inner-Debbie downer.  Because in all of my life, I've never had a week like this one.

Maybe your weekend in the city with a friend (and no kids!) was cancelled due to snow.  Perhaps you and your friend ended up determined to get a night away and walked the slippery streets of your own town, despite everything being closed, queasy after questionable meatballs and checking your watches for the time at 6:30 PM.

I wonder if frozen pipes closed your kids' school for two days? And two of your kids ended up sick.

Did a pyrex pan fall from a top shelf, shattering massive amounts of glass all over your kitchen and ruining 3 meals that you were preparing?

Wait a minute, did someone eat your sandwich?

I wouldn't believe you if you told me you managed to give yourself a black eye this afternoon while doing laundry.

Sadly, it's all true.  I have the black eye, the weary face and the pint of ice cream on my lap to prove it.

it begins again.

When Claire was little, I started filling endebopes full of fun things for our advent calendar.  That was the first and only year I ever filled the envelopes early.  Now we use open envelopes and only fill them the night before (or sometimes, hurriedly before the kids wake up).  

Notice, Day 18 is missing.  I guess we'll take a break that day.  

We always do simple things for our advent calendar.  Things like make hot chocolate or watch a Christmas movie.  I'm a big believer in not adding one more thing just to add one more thing.  The calendar is something they look forward to each year, as we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

a gender study.

The kids are playing house. She's the mom.  He want to be the dad.  The girls don't want him to be the dad because "We enjoy being responsible for own babies.  We don't want help."

He says: "I can be the dad if I want to."

She counters:  "Fine.  Let's eat dinner."

He responds:  "No, it's not dinner time.  I'm the dad.  I get to decide when we eat."

things i could post if i weren't so tired.

• Thoughts on Black Friday shopping.
• A lovely photo of our lovely table before we ate all the food.
• A recipe list from this year's extremely delicious meal.
• A video of Claire singing "I'm glad I'm not a turkey."

crib mattress redeux

When some people take down the crib for the last time they donate it to the Goodwill.


I am clearly not one of those people.

the view from here.

This is the view from Claire's bed.  The girls got bunkbeds and mostly Mister and Little Sister love to play up there.  It drives Claire crazy. 

There is so much more to say about that but a friend just emailed me a stuffing recipe and now I have plans for the night.

sisters.

The sisters now have a big girl room and every time I think of posting a photo of it, they are asleep. And a photo of a dark room sounds less than awesome. 

So, instead I give you these two, at swimming lessons last summer.  Ingrid spent her first lesson screaming and crying for 45 minutes before vomiting on her teacher (and into the pool). It was epic.

A short story from a short girl.

"Once upon a time there was a little girl and her name was me..."

11/23

It is possible that today is the day that I officially ran out of words.  I will try to find some tomorrow.

I almost forgot to blog today.

I woke up at 4 this morning. Read and drank coffee. Did a class at the gym, took the 2 youngers for pancakes and later had lady time with this girl. We bought matching headbands at the mall and she asked me to take this photo. It was a full day.

family vernacular

We never call any of the local parks by their true names.  We go to the horsey park, zell's park, crooked house park, brown minto and that park where she pooped on the bench that time.

Recently, Claire let me know that she would be calling the carousel by its true name.

"I like to call things by their real names now, because I'm bigger."  She said.

Grateful to have one that still calls it the horsey park.  Grateful too that pooping on benches isn't really part of our park experience any more.

in memory of.

Cutester Hamster died peacefully at home last night.  She was somewhere between 6 months and a year old.  She had spent the last six months of her life in our family.  She enjoyed running on wheels,  burrowing and climbing.  She is survived by the five of us.  She will be missed.

A private viewing was held this morning for the immediate family only.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be sent to the Starbucks corporation for the purchase of gift cards for the bereaved.

3 minute meal

I love cooking, but lately I am over it.  I hope this changes before next Thursday.  In the meantime, here is my Monday night go-to meal.

3 Minute Taco Salad:

Four defrosted chicken breasts + 1/2 a jar of salsa + 1 tsp cumin + 1 tsp lemon juice placed in crockpot 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.  Shred.

Eat with guacamole and whatever else you like for taco salad.

If you want to make it 2 minute chicken omit cumin and lemon juice.

a short story.

Once upon a time, I had a baby that was born looking like a boy.  So I called her Hunca Munca.  She was 10 1/2 pounds, had thick dark hair and looked nothing like my other babies.  I was crazy about her.

My Hunca Munca grew into a beauty.  She became a horse girl.  One night at a bedtime her big sister asked her if she was a big kid or a baby.   Hunca Munca responded, "I'm a big kid."  Big sister then asked her if she was a big kid or a grown up.  Hunca Munca responded, "I'm a little grown up."

Not yet, sister.  

during: part 2.

The girls' room needed shelves.  And a desk.  We loaded the kids into the car at 5:30 on Saturday night to take them to Ikea, because we are awesome.  We found shelves.  And a desk.  And a few other items for the house.  Claire notices other kids at the store at 9 PM and says, "I can't believe these parents have their kids out so late."  Then Ingrid found the hand dryers, which were more like full-body dryers for a two year old.

During: ikea

a before shot...

Nate set up the crib the night I went into labor.  It was a Thursday night.  She was the only one of my babes who was early.  Even with signs pointing to a baby, I still thought we had time.  When we finished setting up the girls' room it looked like this:

We promised bunk beds once Ingrid successfully potty trained at night. The crib has been down a week, the bunkbeds went up tonight.  The epic re-arrange begins tomorrow.

vices: ya literature.

I love young adult fiction.  Not classic children's literature, but current young adult fiction.  My ideal book can be read in the bath or while I wait in the pick up line at school.  The other great thing about YA fiction is many of my favorite books are part of a series so you don't have to reinvest emotionally in new characters.  You can just read a second or third book and keep on loving the characters you already love.  Being a mom is hard, there's only so much love to go around.

It's worth noting that I don't like vampires or werewolves so I won't be recommending any of those guys.  Here is my list of must-reads for the young adult in all of us:

Dystopian Future stories-

• The Divergent series by Veronica Roth.  I may have cried when I finished this series.
• Matched series by Ally Condie.  I loved these books. You will too.
• I am Number 4 Series by Pittacus Lore.  Making an exception to my anti-alien rule, I like these adventure stories.

Silly fun and magical-

• The Last Dragonslayer and Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde.  Quirky magical characters.  Fforde is ffunny.  I prefer this YA books to his adult ones.

Young lovahs-

• John Green's books.  I love his characters.  He hits all of the teen angsty stuff just right.
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  Perfect first love misfit 1980's teen romance

Any good YA books I'm forgetting?

what i wore wednesday: i have a son edition.

Outfit details:  mustard cardigan, gap

green polka-a-bot dress, thrifted

black leggings, american apparel

boots, ashe (you can't see them but they are awesome)

necklace, baseball card on green string courtesy of my boy.

ladies' night.

Sometimes it doesn't feel like there's enough me to go around.  I brush four sets of teeth before I leave the house in the morning.  I feel weary and brittle and a less fun version of myself.  If you're my friend, I've probably flaked out on something in recent months.  Life sound fun.  10K?  Sure!  Ladies' Night?  Definitely!  But when the time rolls around, the ear infections and flu and the long list of things I "have to do" get in the way.

  Claire had asked for "lady time" for about a week and finally, after dance class we were able to sneak away to her favorite burger spot.  The girl loves beef.  She practiced her spelling words  (because of course she did) and replayed the day's events.  As always, I felt lucky to be her mama.  When there isn't enough of me to go around, the sweet ballerina slamming a cheeseburger gets the rest.

what's with all of the blogging, kari?

Several years and a few babies ago, I used to blog a lot.  My sweet spot was 11 posts a month.  Any more than that and I got really sick of my own voice.  Each year I print a hardbound book of our blog for my kids to look at when they're older.  In August, as I thought about printing the book I realized that it would be more like a magazine than a book this time around.  I haven't been posting as much since Ingrid was born.

I decided I really wanted to write her stories so that I don't forget them.  I also just really wanted to write again.

I also decided to sign up for NaBloPoMo to give myself a little bit of a push when it came to publishing every day.

Last night I saw Ben Harper and didn't get back to town until midnight, so I snapped a photo of him during this (third) encore and called it a success.

Tonight .

quotable ru.

"Bunnies don't talk.  But I love them."

-Ingrid Ruth, age 2 1/2

i am the luckiest.

I offered to take them to OMSI or the Children's Museum or for a hike.  These two chose to spend their day off of school in their jammies until 4 PM.  We used every blanket in the house to make an excellent fort.  We ate waffles for lunch and read stories nestled underneath.  It was a magical day.

eavesdropping.

Claire:  Want me to tell you the smelliest job ever?  (Pause)

Claire:  I think it's working at the dump.

Everett:  I think it's the poop factory.

plan c.

Sometimes I feel like her entire life is running from one big kid activity to another.  After drop off and parent club meeting, I gave her free reign to choose how we spent the remainder of our morning. 

She said, "I wanna ride the horsies."  The carousel was closed for decorating.  

Fat tears on her cheeks as we pulled out of the carousel parking lot.  I offered to take her to ride the blue horse at Freddie's.  The one that is a quarter.  The one we never attempt when the other kids are with us.  She was excited.  The blue horse was out of order.  

Plan C:  2 quarters into the helicopter for one very excited 2 year old.

status update: why i am (still) not on facebook.

People seem a little jealous of my "unfriendable" status, yet remain unable make the leap and unplug from the thing.  Here are my reasons for avoiding Facebook in no particular order:

• I don't want another point of contact.  I can be reached by phone, text or email.  Three points of contact feel like enough.
• I like the natural ebb and flow of relationships.  It seems like a lot of work to maintain relationships with people that I wouldn't recognize in person.  Just because we were friends in first grade, doesn't mean that we know each other.
• I'm lazy.  I don't want to learn a new thing.  Or at least not that new thing.
• I'm insecure.  Seeing your beautiful vacation photos is probably going to make me feel crappy about our vacation in a way that talking to you about your vacation wouldn't.  Sidenote:  one time I was scrolling through my instagram photos and I'm not even kidding when I say didn't recognize those beautiful pictures as my own life.  
• Being off of Facebook forces people to tell you their stories, like for real.  People sort of skip over the good parts because they've already posted the bulk of it on Facebook.  Since I'm not on there, I get the long version.  When my dear friend in Seattle had a baby girl instead of the boy that 2 ultrasounds predicted, I got a phone call because she knew I wasn't going to read about it on Facebook.  

So there you have it.  Lately being unconnected to Facebook has presented challenges that have me questioning my status.  Any opinions?  Am I missing out?

i want to remember

How she loves polkabots an animal shirts.

The way he adds an extra did to accidents (accididident).  And that for him, there are numerous reasons to use this word every single day.

That all three of them plan to be farmers when they grow up and the two bigs would like to live together on their farm, working and playing every day.

what happens when you say yes.

When he asks if he can play games on my phone.

bookish.

We are a reading family.  So when Claire was assigned her first oral book report I was excited.  The assignment included dressing as a character from the book.  

My first thought?  Ramona Quimby.  Nope.  

Anne with an E?  Nope.  (I so wanted puffed sleeves).

Something from our favorite Roald Dahl collection?  Nope.  

Claire had something fancier in mind:

We stayed up late bedazzling binoculars because this particular Nancy Clancy book was a detective story.  She was definitely the only kid in class with a wig labelled "Classic Beauty" that was neither classic nor beautiful.  

Dash , Minnie Mouse and Madeline walk into a bar...

Obviously not really a bar.  We took these three trick-or-treating last night.  Our crew included four superheroes, a baby dinosaur and my girls.  We got home later than normal and the kids were definitely hopped up on sugar.   Mister was fighting a cold and ended up with a full-blown double ear infection in the middle of the night.  

After tending to him throughout the night, Nate and I managed to sleep until 7:38.  This might not seem like a big deal, but we leave for school at 8 AM.  We leapt to action, making toast for Claire, dressing her in (a different) costume for an oral book report, calling doctors and signing folders all without getting a late slip.  It was a crazy day.  Lately, they all seem to be crazy days.  Today, I am grateful for anti-biotics, babysitters, Oma and Nater.

the big game.

Today was Everett's final flag football game of the season.  For a kid who spent the first several practices climbing trees and perfecting dance moves, he improved tremendously.  I was proud of his hustle.  Proud of the way that he listened to his coaches and proud most of all when he ran off field to give hugs to his sisters.

We spent eight weeks of Saturdays bundled in scarves and boots to watch his team play the same opponents every week on the same field at the same time.  Impressive, considering the lack of sportiness in this house.  It's funny to me the way that families are woven together.  That somehow two non-athletes ended up with a boy who loves to play anything with a ball.

I tell him the same thing every week, "I love to watch you play."  And I mean it.

days like this.

My littlest one is sick. Like her brother and sister before her, her favorite place to be when sick is sprawled across her mama. An interesting feature of me is that I'm a crappy nurse.   Luckily, she doesn't seem to notice.  I am her safe place.

And I'm trying. And I'm grateful that the big kids have school this morning so I can hold her for hours without the distraction of big kid conversation or expectations.  

Praying that this passes quickly and that we move beyond the "licking surfaces of playgrounds" stage of development soon.

after all.

Even when you decide to grow a beard after discovering Duck Dynasty.
Even when date night ends with my fancy boots covered in our 2 year old's vomit.

You are still my favorite person.

my date with a jack-o-lantern.

A few weeks ago, this guy knocked a lower front tooth out while aggressively eating pancakes, because of course he did.  He spent the next week forcing the neighboring tooth out.  The result is my very favorite kind of smile.

Three years ago, pregnant with the Hunca Munca, the one I worried about was him.  My middle guy.  I grieved that he wouldn't get to be a baby, wouldn't get as much alone time as the sisters surely would.  Today, 2 1/2 years into 3 kids, it was relatively simple to drop big sister at school and leave little sister with grandma and enjoy 4 hours of pure Mister.

At five, he still wants me to stay in his classroom.  He'll still sit on my lap during circle time.  He whispered secrets the whole way to the patch.   But as soon as we arrived, he was looking for things to climb, mud and squished squash.

chaos theory.

She walks around the yard in a life jacket. She never wears pants.  Prefers her hair in "horns."  Today she told me, "I love zebras.  And also I love birds.  And I love Evies."  Then she giggles.  He is the one who straps her into the lifejacket and they go on wild adventures together.

September has been full to bursting.  Flag football weekends, prayer group on Mondays, a flood in our basement, a beloved Auntie living in our (flooded!) basement, driving to two schools three days a week, a new (to us) car that needed a complete interior overhaul, fulfilling the end of our summer plans and homework folders and reading and staying up far too late too many nights in a row.  Also, two concerts within twenty four hours that this mama completely forgot about.

I need a life jacket.  I need a day without pants.  I need to follow the pace of this tiny one for a day or two.

now you are 5.

My Sweet Mr. Baby,

Today you are 5.  I can't believe it.  I looked through old pictures of you this morning and remembered.   At five, you are sweet and crazy and think that poop is the funniest thing ever.  

You are my finder. If I lose something, I ask you to look for it and most of the time you do.  You come home with treasures that you find in parks and playgrounds.  At five, you love the Waldo books.  When we drove to Colorado this summer, you would stick your nose in a Waldo book and find all of the characters.

It makes me nervous to have a boy so good at finding.  My prayer for you, sweet boy is that you find good things.  At five, you plan to be a farmer when you grow up.  You want to marry your mommy and you plan to drive a truck.

I love you boots, sauceman, Mr.

I'm so glad you're mine.

first day of school, part 1

So, Claire went to second grade today.  Up the big stairs to her classroom with a view of the playground.  Evie went back to his great little neighborhood school (this time without his bff, but he seemed to manage) and Ingrid Ru spent the morning running errands, sat on my lap at story time and finished off the morning with a coffee date with her mama.  It was a glorious morning on all accounts. 

summer lovin.

This was the summer that we took a road trip. Where we learned that our family culture is more campsite than hotel. Where we encountered beauty, but my favorite things were stuffed inside that vanagon.

This was the summer that Claire got brave.  She dove in fearlessly.  We did 3 weeks of swim camp and they made huge (wet) strides in swimming.  I now feel confident taking all 3 to a pool without help.

This was the summer that Ingrid Ru amazed us with her memory and vocabulary and ability to still want to be our baby, despite all she knows.

In a little over a week, I will send two of them to school.  Ingrid is ready.  The rest of us are not.  This week, I will do my best to say yes to popsicles and trampoline time and crafts and snuggles and stories. 

to begin again.

I feel like I've been a newbie runner for four years.  Every time I get past the initial "I really hate running" phase of running, I end up either injured or pregnant or the weather changes and I forgo running for indoor pursuits such as baking and eating baked goods.

This summer, I'm at it again.  Remembering why I love to run.  I really want to keep it up.  But I don't have faith that I'll ever be more than a fair weather runner.  I'd love suggestions on how to maintain when the weather turns soggy.  Thankfully, there is no pregnancy in my future, but I don't have a great track record (pun intended) of running when the daylight hours dwindle.  Help, please?

Only slightly related: Ingrid Ru shouted, "Let's run guys!" at the park today, dropped my hand and sprinted ahead.  Cowgirl boots and all.

early morning wyoming

"How many nights are we gonna stay here?"
"Look! There's a ton of rocks to climb!"
"And we're super-close to that garbage can."

It's good to be a little boy.

that john denver was not full of crap.

The Rockies were exquisite.  I have so much to report after nearly 2 weeks of mini RVing with these 4.  We saw friends, played with cousins and consumed a lot of chili.  Note: in the above photo, I am eating chili.

 It is wonderful to be home.   

Road trip

Saturday we loaded up our 1985 vanagon with a case of chili, 3 kids, various snack and art items and headed for Colorado.

Several times on the drive out we asked ourselves if we were crazy to be doing this.

Now, nestled in the mountains I know that the answer is yes. I am so happy that these are my people and this is the childhood that we get to give them.

new to ru.

This summer, we have said good bye to diapers.  And you'd also like to say good bye to swim suits.  Too much, girlie.  Too much.

according to everett...my dad is special because.

My dad is 55 years old.  His hair is brown.  His eyes are blue.  He weighs 80 pounds.  He loves to work.  My dad is special because he loves to work.  I love my dad because we do a lot together.

Happy Father's Day, Nater. You are quality.

9 months later.

First day of school, I wish she had shown her teeth in this one:

 Last day of school 2013:

She seriously looks like a teenager to me in this photo.  Lady, you are 7 not 17.

First day of school, full of bravado:

Last day of school 2013, the school got a new sign and my boy got a needed haircut:

Everett was in a 3's class this year, the teachers there didn't do much of a "graduation or goodbye" thing since most of the kids will be returning next year. I was so relieved to avoid tiny caps and gowns and certain tears for this mama.  It was nice to just pick him up at the end of the day and head for home.  Claire's wonderful teacher  is retiring, and she managed to make the moms tear up as she said good bye to our kids.  

And now I have a second grader.  How did this happen?

quotable ru.

She watches them all of the time and cracks up laughing at the things they say.

"My guys are funny," she tells me.

eric carle, abridged. two year old version.

I walked in on Ingrid "reading" to herself the other morning.  This is what she said:

Light moon egg leaf.

Caterpillar eat eat eat eat eat.

Cute butterfly.

Love that girl.