Whiny

For the first time in more than 3 years I'm teaching a 5 day class. FIVE DAYS! In front of the room. Ian at school every day this week! I know many people go to work EVERYDAY of EVERY WEEK after WEEK after WEEK.

I'm lucky.

But, wow, FIVE DAYS!

You probably won't be seeing much of me this week.

Making up for all of those weeks that I didn't.

Fall is Here!

We had a busy Saturday which is a sure sign that fall is here! Rain, wind, leaves, pumpkins, pigs and today off to watch a 1/2 marathon! I love fall.

Remember that Project?

It is in the store now at Designer Digitals! I'm so excited to finally see it. 48 of the pages are mine! The most pages I've made in a two month period ever! What a great feeling to finally see it! It will be in the store for a long time...but why wait?? Don't you just wonder if your photo is in it??!

Snapshot

Just a little look at a bit of my week!

1. Woke up
2. Checked email and Designer Digitals
3. Got back in bed with Ian
4. Got up again
5. Drank Cin. Dolce Latte (no whip :)) with Shea
6. Said goodbye to Shea
7. Watched Clifford the Big Red Dog with Ian
8. Worked on a scrapbook page
9. Played with Ian
10. Started cleaning the kitchen
11. Gave Ian snacks
12. Finished scrapbook page
13. Cleaned kitchen more
14. Played "this little piggy" with Ian
15. Attempted to get Ian to nap
16. Ate lunch
17. Attempted to get Ian to lay down
18. Gave up on nap
19. Played with Ian
20. Finished a monumental cleaning of the kitchen
20. Shea home from work!
21. Made/Ate/cleaned up dinner
22. Played on computer while Shea took Ian to the park (in the rain!)
22. Put Ian to bed
23. Listened to the rain
24. Played on computer and listened to movie Shea was watching

Not Often Enough

IMG_4841, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Ian's friends got together at "our" park this afternoon. They have all grown into these little people...it just amazes me! They get so excited when they see each other and today just squeeled with absolute delight! We just don't get together as often as we used to. Preschool schedules, new brothers (all brothers!), and busy lives.

Over three years ago we all met in prenatal yoga and for whatever reasons, connected, and have kept in touch. Moms and kiddos have been an important part of my becoming a mom having something resembling sanity!

We started gathering for coffee when they were just weeks old sharing stories of sleepless nights and developmental milestones. Now we gather at the park (or some other place the kids can run) and talk about funny things they say and Halloween costumes. Everyone says time goes by fast, they weren't kidding!!

*****Week In The Life Project*********
1. Wake up ( a little later)
2. Get Ian up and dressed for school
3. Ride bike to Preschool
4. Be mobbed by a dozen 3 year olds who all want pictures taken
5. Decaf soy cap at Weatherstone
6. Quick visit by Justin who saw my bike outside
7. Home for a little work
8. A little laundry
9. A little internet surfing
10. Meet Amity for lunch (a long one!)
11. Pick Ian up
12. Go to park to meet kiddos
13. Go across street to our house with the herd of kids because you can't convince only one of them to go the bathroom!
14. Play with kiddos
15. See Paul's sweet new iMac with 24inch monitor! *jealous*
16. Dinner...picked up again...bad eating week for some reason!
17. Watch the debate (if you can call it that)
18. Howl at the moon with Ian
19. Play with photos
20. Go to bed a little earlier than normal! (935...wow!)

Boy in a Bucket

IMG_4706, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

He is obsessed with Halloween. We started the 31 day count down today with little pumpkins I cut out and we're taping to the wall. He announces that he is going to be Darth Vader then Darth Maul and continues that path!! I'm certainly hoping he will be agreeable to being a vampire when the big day arrives.

His Mumzy (aka my mom) has made him a costume that I'm certain will be too stinking cute! It's year number three for her costume making and while last years was THE BEST I imagine this year wil lbe even better!!

**************Week In The Life Update**********************
Had to take photos with my phone today, but still taking them!

1. Woke up reluctantly...
2. Piled everyone into the car(never a great day when it involves the car!)
3. Dropped Ian off at school
4. Shea dropped me off at CalPERS
5. Taught "Managing Yourself on the Job" to a great group of people who laughed at all of my jokes!! (and encouraged me to persue that stand up gig!)
6. Ate a wierd lunch consisting of a spicy pickle, carrots and chocolate soy milk
7. Shea picked me up
8. Picked Ian up from school
9. Hung out with neighbors discussing Obama, Star Wars, Family Guy and the merits of our soil
10. Justin and Breena came over
11. Ate Chinese take out with them
12. Played soccer with Ian in the park
13. Shea put Ian to bed...and never returned!
13. Cruised facebook, designerdigitals and flickr for a while

Watering Can

IMG_4676, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

He has wanted this watering can for SO LONG. A million different reasons for not buying it -- birthday coming, looking for a kid version, etc, etc. Finally just bought the ugly grey one he's wanted since the beginning of the summer!

He LOVES it! He picked out flowers that we will pot tomorrow and we had a discussion about responsibility. Yep...3 years old. He nodded and said yes. Who knows if he really understood when I said, "It will be your responsibility to water them everyday. That means you take care of them so they grow big."

******
On another note

I'm sitting in the dark because the light burned out and it requires a ladder to change. Which requires a trip to the garage. Which could mean a late night encounter with Stinky. Don't know if he is still there. Don't want to find out.

********

And keeping up with my Week In The Life project...today I

1. Got up
2. Folded laundry
3. Worked on project
4. Brought Ian downstairs half dressed
5. He watched a video as a reward for getting completely dressed
6. Took a bath
7. Was joined by a little boy who can't stand anyone else in the tub without him
8. Got dressed
9. Dressed Ian (again)
10. Packed him into the bike trailer
11. Dropped him off at "Play School" (his term for Preschool)
12. Rode home looking sadly at Weatherstone as I skipped my ritual warm beverage stop
13. Worked on project
14. Ate jalepenos on my homemade baked taquitos for lunch
15. Worked on project
16. Broke/Fixed internet
17. Worked on project
18. Chatted with neighbor and Shea
19. Worked on project
20. Went to dinner at Jalepenos' (see a trend)
21. Went to parent meeting at "Play School"
22. Worked on project
23. Chatted with neighbor
24. Worked on project too late
25. Broke printer
26. Said good night to Ian
27. Worked on project
28. Chatted with neighbor
29. Wrote this
30. Went to bed (much too late)

Oh...and that project? Done...finally. So much for sending Ian to PlaySchool so I didn't have to work late nights...

Survivors by Errol Morris

I'm working on a project to capture my week in photos...what a day to also come across this on Cathy Z's blog.

For
Dot
Alex
Trevor
Jerry
Pat
Grandpa W
and so so many more

...I've been thinking it's time to move my body forward again...just maybe the urging I need.

POTD 092808

POTD 092808, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

We spent almost two hours and only $16 at the famer's market this morning. It was just such a great morning to be out, the weather was comfortable, the market wasn't crowded and the light was perfect. I'm sure people think I'm a bit nutty taking photos of just about everything there. But I was able to get this photo and save myself $4 and the headache of throwing them out when they are all wilty in a few weeks.

And even better...afterwards we took Ian to the park across the street and well...this photo says it all. All of my fears about his foot. All of my worries about him walking, running, and being "normal" Look at him go! You would never know that he has a "lucky" foot!

He chased two little boys around for at least half an hour. They were having so much fun! I think they were pretending he was a vampire or something else scary, but lately I'm just not certain!

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POTD 092708, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Today he was a chef! Ian and Shea made our traditional weekend vegan oil free pancakes for breakfast. Ian loves cooking but REALLY loves it when he gets to do it with Dad. Today was all about chemical versus physical reactions while they watched the vinegar bubble when it met the baking soda. Oh, the joy of having a science teacher in the house!

Ian kept telling me, "we're chefs." Usually he's the "maker man" but I guess he's given himself a promotion!

***Skunk update for those of you concerned***
We ventured into the garage today. v e r y c a r e f u l l y No sign of her/him. We're leaving the light on and not composting for a while. Hopefully if he/she is still in there we will just discourage her/him enough so she/he decides to move right along to the next yard!

Stinky Compost

I compost.

I'm proud of my ability to achieve the correct blend of green and brown items so that there is no smell nor swarm of unwanted insects. I'm proud worms are thriving and sweet sweet mulchy brown stuff is being created.

And then...things began to change.

The bin was moved each day just a few inches.

A hole began to appear in the dirt at one corner.

And one day the entire contents was strewn around the backyard. Only the dirt (and some moldy potatoes remained).

So we did a little sleuthing and given our proximity to the river, weight of the bin and the telltale footprint left on our back deck we determined we had a raccoon who doesn't eat potatoes.

A little frustrated that my composting efforts were waisted on a masked bandit I was determined to not let him (her?) win. So I continue to compost, throwing big rocks against the bottom to deter digging.

Until tonight that is...

Having not fallen asleep putting Ian to bed, Shea had new found freedom! So in what appeared to be a fit of boredom? he went to the garage in the dead of night to dig out old Cd's. I heard him go out and DEFINITELY heard him come back in soon after. He looked at me as he plopped into his chair and said, "I just had the *#@x!! scared out of me!"

It seems as he was looking for his Cd's a furry black and white creature (rodent?) walked right in front of him...minding his own business. THANKFULLY Shea had the presence of mind to not scream, run, or panic. He backed out of the garage...and then ran!

It seems that raccoon we thought we had...

IS A SKUNK! And now it is living in our garage!

OH MY! I guess we are going to get familiar with animal control!

Meet Pinchy

POTD 092408, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Pinchy is almost a year old! Hard to believe that so much time has gone by so quickly. He really hasn't grown much but he has shared in a lot of great adventures!

Today Pinchy decided he needed a few brownie bites after leaving school. It's a tough life being a lobster so we caved in. Seemed that a little mocha was the perfect addition.

Wonder where his adventures will take him next...

"I've Got An Idea"

Ian's new favorite phrase! He just blurted it out one day while talking to Shea. "I've got an idea." Then there was a long drawn out pause followed by a look of pure delight over his idea. "We can play checkers!"

He's never played checkers before. I didn't even know he knew the word.

Today we were telling him it was a school day. He looked at us. Paused.

"I've got an idea...Mom and Dad stay home...for a Home Day!"

I wanted to have a home day just because he was so stinking cute! Not a bad day though. He went to school. I finished two large projects. Discovered iGoogle. The governor signed the budget. He cried when he had to leave school (Ian, not the governor).

Got any ideas?? I'm sure Ian would love to hear them!

POTD 092208

POTD 092208, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Guess where we went today?

Slowing Down

Life got a little crazy around here the last week or so. I think things are finally calming down a bit and we'll be back into a normal routine.

Wanted to wish my dear friend Melanie a very happy birthday :) I'm late for her in the UK, but heck it's still her birthday here! Plus, she deserves a jubillee too! She is one of those people I've never met but feel so very close to! So excited that we are meeting in real life in January! What a blast that will be, both of us flying hours from home and spending a jet lagged weekend together with 20 other women meeting mostly for the first time! (is mostly a word?!)

Take a look at her blog! She has the most adorable kids...and well, Daisy is spoken for! Mel and I just need she and Ian to meet now!

POTD 091108

POTD 091108, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

Victory! 20 stickers on the sticker board meant he could have this dragon! 20 happened this morning and we went immediately to Target. On arriving home it was a huge hit! Not only does he open his mouth and his "fire" lights up while he flaps his wing, but he also walks a long way AND can carry a guy on his back!

Ian was VERY excited about it! And if you ask him what he had to do to get those 20 stickers...what do you think he'd tell you?! So proud of him!

POTD 090608

POTD 090608, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

This morning Shea made me tea in this mug. It's one of those I've had a long time (see the chip?!). Ian was amused by it and especially by the little girl. Our conversation:

Ian: What's she got?
Me: A weight, so she can be strong.
It's good to be strong.
Ian: And beautiful?
(gasp...where did he hear that one? he's 3!! we have no television! It's good to be beautiful??!! WHAT?!!)
Mom: Beauty is on the inside (what else do you say?) Who is beautiful?
Ian: That girl. (pointing to the mug)
Mom: Who else?
Ian: And Addy...

Ahhh sweet boy. You make me smile. And yes, Addy is beautiful!

Outings

We met everyone in Old Sac on Wednesday to do a little Halloween shopping for the kiddos. Shopping was amuzing as the little girls wanted all things pink and Ian wanted everything scary. Vampires, skeletons you name it. The scarier the better it seems. Although I think he is settling on being a Jedi. Our neighbor Paul helped seal that when he arrived at our door step with a light saber that expands AND lights up! I'm not sure I've seen Ian quiet so taken with a toy yet. He carried it everywhere (including the grocery store), slept with it, and then had to be convinced that it was too special to take to school.

I digress though...the real point of this post was to show this adorable photo. I love how they are all holding on to each other in some way. We were playing the "touch the brown wall and..." game with directions like do a monkey walk, walk as slow as you can, be an elephant. The directions here were to get in line...they are still learning! The only thing missing is Leo!

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POTD 090208, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

"Play School" day 2.

A little easier time dropping him off this morning although there were tears...that is so hard. He knew we were there to pick him up before we could even get in the gate. It seems the bigger kids already know that we are his parents and announced us to him! We were met at the door with a big hug and smile. Then he insisted that he play for another 10 minutes or so!

Day 2 and we also received our first "incident report." I didn't even know schools did that! We have a nice little diagram of a body with a big X over the cheek. Very medical official like. Seems he crashed on the playground and they found him just sitting there with a little quiver but no tears. Peer pressure makes me think I need to borrow 4 or 5 kids to keep around the house. Oh, the incident report also documented the treatment. "Ice and lots of hugs." If only everything could be treated so easily!

Goodbye Summer

So this is it. Today it ended. No more. Over. Done.

School starts tomorrow! Shea is out of here bright and early tomorrow morning to "teach the kids", Ian goes to his second day of his new preschool*, and I will be home alone to catch up on the work that I've put off over the summer because there were just so many other things to do!

This was an amazing summer! Truly the best I've ever had. We've packed so much into it I think it would take me a day just to write it all down.

Maybe that is what I'll do tomorrow. It will be like extending it one more day. Those others things can wait. Right?

*yep, that was the tough decision. After 1.5 years at the Phoenix School we made the decision to move Ian to a co-op school in our neighborhood that is vegetarian and just seems to fit us better!