The Zoo

 We love the zoo.  We have been going several times a year for as long as I can remember.  Every year at Christmas we would make sure to see the poinsettias, a favorite of my Moms, also a favorite of her mothers.  We would come to see the tulips and other oh so fragrant flowers in the Spring, and just to see the animals each summer. 

We would all come to the conservatory for a little breath of tropical air which somehow helped just enough to make it through another month of frigid winter conditions. We would sit, and visit and take it all in.... 

Just as my Mom went with her Mom, and my mom took my sister and I...I take my children.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful and did I say "FREE" zoo just 15 minutes from home!

Here we build a tradition which will hopefully continue on with Paige and Quinn when they have children of their own.  I hope they invite me along from time to time...

Just like I invite my Mom...

                                    Quinn didn't want to sit still for a picture with Paige at all!

There is a great fish pond that kids love to gather around.  If he had his chance Quinn would have gone swimming, it was all we could do to keep him from climbing in!

There is a new area that Paige calls the Jungle with good cause.  It is about 100% humidity and 90 degrees!  They have fun exhibits like the turtles, giant snakes and fish all tucked away along a tropical path.  It is very much like a sauna in here but worth the trip, especially in the Winter!

As soon as the snow starts to melt we will be back!  Until then.....

How to stay warm in Minnesota

My Grandma sent me these pictures of Quinn from the other day.  She recently got a new washer and dryer and Quinn couldn't resist climbing in and checking things out.  Something new to get into!

Quinnzilla

Quinn is a monster. Period.

The ability this little guy has to seek and destroy is like nothing I have ever seen.  If I turn my back for one second he is into something.  Actually no, not into something, on top of something....anything really.  And usually high enough that if he should fall, it could easily warrant a trip to the ER.
He can now climb up on every bed in the house, even Paige's captains bed!  And is is tall due to the stack of drawers that in built beneath.  But Quinn figured out how to use those drawers like little rungs on a ladder and up he goes.  Now once he is on the bed, does he sit, crawl or lay?  Heck no.
He jumps, and runs and falls, squealing the whole time.  He is so darn excited that he made it up there, where he knows he shouldn't be.  If I happen to catch him he gets even more excited laughing and falling with even more enthusiasm.  The other day when I came into the room he shares with Paige he was in his crib and I didn't put him there which was rather curious, but he was so proud and excited to be there nonetheless....jumping...laughing.  I quickly learned after I took him out, just how he got in there in the first place.  He took off in his little crooked walk closely resembling someone who just spun around ten times and then tried to walk in a straight line heading over the ladder of drawers.  Up he went and in almost a single leap, he threw his little body to the head of the bed.  He then proceeded to reach out over the bed rail that keeps Paige safe.  Where was he going?  Well about a foot and a half from Paige's bed is Quinn's crib.  My fearless boy felt completely safe climbing from the bed, reaching over to the crib while chancing that he had over a foot to clear in order to avoid falling at least 3 feet to the ground, and then slide head first over the arm of the crib head first onto the mattress.  TA DA!  Really???


This boy is going to be the death of me.  But aside from giving me mini heart attacks on a daily basis...


The other night the kids were playing with a Mr. Potato Head set and Quinn discovered the glasses.  He loved them, insisting over and over that I put them on his face, then he would stumble off with a silly grin completely showing off.  I couldn't stop laughing at him, which of course fueled the fire of silliness.

Bath time has always been a favorite time for me.  Letting the kids play and get clean while I clean the bathroom is pure awesomeness.  The other day I gave Quinn a soap Mohawk, Paige thought it was the coolest thing ever and of course wanted one too.  What she actually said was, "Mom when I grow up and get my hair cut like a boy will you do that to my hair too?". I told her I could do it now, she didn't need to cut her hair to do it!  She was very excited about that, and I did my best even though in the funny soap sculpture hair department, shorter is better.  But I am not going to tell her that.

Quinnie the Pooh

I started this blog for a reason, to be able to share stories about my children.  So far, the majority of the stories have been about by firstborn, Paige.  It is time for Quinn to have the spotlight for awhile.

Quinn was born October 2nd, 2009.  He arrived 9 days early weighing in at 6 lb. 11 oz..and 21 1/2 inches.  I hope you enjoy the slide show of Quinn's first year, it is long overdue!

Turtle Herder

That is what I am these days, a turtle herder.  I have been using the analogy for months, comparing what happens each morning before I am alone in my car and on my way to work to "herding squirrels" referring to my kids of course.  But this new term simply nailed it!  Turtle herding.  Perfect!  Anyone with kids knows what this is and this morning was a perfect example.

So Paige has these shoes, she calls them her Sandlot shoes.  Her favorite movie for quite some time now has been the Sandlot.  Well there is a boy in the movie who has a special pair of "converse-type" shoes...they have a very specific name though that I will have to find.  Oh!  P.F. Flyers!  Anyhow, we bought Paige a similar pair shoes for her birthday last summer.  Unfortunately they still fit her...but barely.  Really, I shouldn't say that because they really are very cute.  And what makes them particularly cute is the way that she wears them, in a very particular way.  Which leads me to turtle herding...

So this morning Paige chose to wear her "baseball shirt", this is an official looking MN Twins jersey.  She also chooses a kelly green t-shirt with an astronaut to wear underneath, and grey sweatpants.  Now when she puts on the jersey she is careful not to button any of the front buttons.  It is important to leave them all undone as the boy in "The Sandlot" does (see below).  
As I am herding my turtles downstairs, or at least attempting to, Paige tells me she wants to wear her Sandlot shoes.  Ugh.  These shoes are a royal pain in the you know what.  Just take a look and you will see why.

First I tell her no, that we don't have enough time this morning for these shoes.  But then she looks up at me, on the verge of tears and says, "but I already have my baseball shirt on...and I NEED to wear my Sandlot shoes. Please????"

Oh geez, we are late anyway.  What's another twenty minutes.  Really, these shoes take THAT long.  Here we go!

Step 1: I tell her to run and find then, this took at least five minutes in it's own, but we found them eventually buried in the front hall closet.  Of course they can't be kicked all over the floor like the rest of her shoes are!  That would make this easy.


Step 2: Untie the really tight double knots that are still in place from the last time she wore them. 


Step 3:  Loosen the laces all the way down to the toe, while pulling half of the laces from the eyelets in order to make the opening large enough for her to put her foot in....on both shoes.


Step 4: Watch Paige border a total meltdown and she repeatedly tries to get her foot into the shoe.  Like a fat man in a little coat.  She just grunts and pushes and grunts some more before tossing the shoes and beginning to cry.


Step 5: Repeat steps 3 & 4 at least two more times per foot.

Finally the shoes are on!  Yippee.  But now...they pinch, which brings us to...

Step 6: Remove the shoes and adjust the socks and try again.  And again.  And again.


Step 7: Get a different, thinner pair of socks.


Step 8: Repeat step 4


Step 9: Begin to carefully and evenly tighten the shoe corset.  Making sure each crossing of the laces is equally tight to avoid yet another meltdown.


Step 10: Tie the perfect double knot making sure that the loops are even and long.  But not too long.  But tight, very tight.


Step 11:  What?  That's not tight enough?  Oh for the love....repeat steps 9 & 10...

Do you see the issue here?  I loathe these shoes!  But I have to admit, she looks pretty darn cute in them.

Pure Sweetness

I can't even put into words what I have seen the last couple of days between Paige and Quinn.  Last night while watching television, or so they thought I was, I witnessed something so precious ...

Paige got on her knees next to Quinn, who was standing in front of the couch.  She took his yellow blanket and laid it over her shoulder...picked up his bottle and held out her arms.  He leaned into her, laid his head on her shoulder while she whispered "shhh, shhh, shhh" patting his back.  She then lifted him onto the couch, adjusted his pillow, covered him in his blanket and put his bottle in his mouth..waiting patiently as he reached up to hold it himself.  Then quietly she climbed up next to him and stared up at the television.

Yep, I could still see them through my teary eyes...she is good.  I wonder who she learned that from???

The day before she brought this drawing home from school, she said it is of she and Quinn playing basketball.  Love it!

That's my girl!

Yesterday I brought Paige to her early Childhood Screening.  It's official, she did outstanding and it looks like this September we will have a kindergartner on our hands.  Wow...that came faster than I had expected it to.  But boy is she excited.  I promise to work on that.

I opted to sit in the hallway during her screening because I thought Paige would act more like herself without me there, and I was right.  I took a moment between filling out forms to take a peek at her, she was chattering away with a big smile on her face to the nurse who was testing her.  That's my girl!!!

Some important information about this day: Height - 40.25 inches, Weight 37 lbs. which puts you in the 60th percentile for your age.  You needed 21 points to pass their testing and you scored 30!  I don't know what the maximum was and it doesn't matter.  Your hearing and vision were great and the nurse told me we should be very proud of you, you were a very polite and well mannered little girl with excellent social skills who is more than ready to move onto bigger and better things.

To my daughter...

Today you are four years 5 months old and getting bigger every day.  At least twice a week I beg you to stop growing and stay little forever, stay my little baby girl.  Recently, this was your response to my plea... "Mommy I am getting bigger and bigger every day and there is nothing you can do to stop it".  How true, yet it still broke my heart.  Not because I really thought any different, but because at only four, you knew it as well as I.  Paige, you have such a personality, much more than most children will ever have.  Of course I may be a  bit biased, but I really don't think so.  From the time you were old enough to know how, you were keeping me on my toes.  As a baby you were so, so good.  You loved to cuddle and play.  You did everything early, sit, stand, walk and talk. We were amazed with your ability to speak clearly, and in sentences so young. When we told you no, you listened, unlike your brother (ha!).  We did everything together, there was rarely a place I did go if I couldn't take you along. 


As  you entered your two's, I have to admit, they weren't so terrible.  I figured we were lucky and through our parenting, we were raising the perfect child.  I would watch Supernanny or Nanny 911 and laugh. I always though those people were really doing something wrong, how could they let their child get to the point they were at?  Well it turned out that not long after we decided to add to our family and I was pregnant with Quinn, the terrible two and a half's knocked me on my ass.  Really, out cold. 


I really can't pinpoint the day your everchanging personality morphed into "that child".  I suppose it was around the same time you decided you wanted to be a boy. We would visit our favorite store, Target of course, and I would pray that no one should decide to talk to you...or tell you how cute you were...or look at you really.  You literally would yell at these bright, shiny happy people and say, "I'M NOT PRETTY!", or "I'M NOT CUTE" or my favorite, "DON'T LOOK AT ME!!!".  I was mortified!  But in time, we taught you that it was okay not to like the attention but rather that get mad, it was okay to express yourself by being shy. And that really helped you understand...thankfully for all of us!  It was during this time that I was told by your teacher at Aveda that every 6 months we could expect a behavior change as it took some time for your mind and what it was able to understand, to sync with what it really could comprehend.  This turned out to be true, and really put things into perspective.  As first time parents, we were learning right along with you!

It's wasn't 6 months later and again, we had a whole new child.  From out of the cocoon emerged the sweetest, funniest and most thoughtful little girl I could ever imagine. Every day I would look at you and think, wow, 3 and a half is my FAVORITE age.  Now mind you, I have said this all along, going back to me begging you not to get older, just to stay little.  But the age of a preschooler, 3 to 4, is just the most fantastic age.  This is when you start to become a little person no longer letting me decide who you should be because you have plenty of your own ideas.  Every minute there is something new, a new question, a new game, a new understanding of something I have taken for granted.  Thank you Paige for this, you help me see life through your eyes.  It sounds cliche, I know, but what your world consists of is so perfectly simple, as it should be.  I am honored to share it with you. I love you. Mommy

Recently I came across this song, I hope to find a way to play it with a collage of your pictures, as soon as I find the time, take a listen....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVvz3V8C9BU

This is Quinn, my sweet little boy on Christmas Day.