And Now, Micah's Turn

Least you think I have forgotten I have a 2nd son. Here is Micah's first day of preschool. The reason there are more pictures of Micah in his classroom is because his dad took him to school. He does not have the utter embarrassment gene that I do, that prohibits me from taking the camera into the classroom.

Happy first day, my second born!

Jack's First Day of Preschool - Take Two

If you have been anywhere near me this month this is old news to you. Jack started preschool, again. He is 5, he is not a summer birthday, and yes - he should be in kindergarten. But he is not.

Last spring he had his preschool 'graduation'. I was lackadaisical about the whole affair. My whole family was there, but that was just because we were on our way to Seaside, not because we were celebrating Jack's graduation. He wasn't graduating, he would be back in the same class again this fall.

Summer came and the thoughts of preschool vanished. We had a good summer, lots of camping, trying new adventures, and spending time together. It wasn't until all my friends started 'back-to-school' time that I remembered that Jack was supposed to be starting kindergarten. When school started all my friends on Facebook posted 1st day pictures. I purposely left mine off.

The night before his first day, even though it was the same class, same teacher, and even had friends he knew in it, I still heard: "Mom, I don't want to go to school". And sad tears. The day of school, we picked up his carpool friend and took off. He kissed us all goodbye and went alone into the room. I was just thinking how good preschool was going. He is talking about the day, getting ready in the morning on his own, and excited about going. Until today. It is Sunday night, preschool is tomorrow, and as I was tucking him into bed he said: "Mom, I don't want to go to school."

I'm glad I only have to do this 3 days a week. I am glad we have this year to be with him and to love on him. I hope that next year when he does go to kindergarten, the tears will be few and that he will walk into the room on his own after kissing us goodbye.

But for now, here it is, Jack's first day of preschool - take two:

"He Was the Love of my Life"

My mom said this to me today at lunch. She started by saying, "I was trying to decide which boy I liked best..." and I thought, I have 3 boys and are you really going to tell me which is your favorite?? But then she went on and said, "But your dad, he was the love of my life."

To know why that is important is to know 2 things:

1. The two boys she was referring to were brothers

2. Both died in tragic car accidents when they were young

Yesterday was 32 years since my dad died. Most years the anniversary passes without a comment. Something my mom and my sister and I deal with on our own, but rarely together. Today when my mom came to my house I showed her a new picture frame I had hung up. It had places for 6 different pictures and I took out really old, bad family pictures and replaced them with pictures of the family I never really knew. My mom, my sister, my grandma, and of course my dad. I have one picture, the only one I think, that has my dad, mom, and me. That is all, no sister, no other family, just us. Another one shows my dad with an open wide smile. I have many pictures of him smiling. But they are more of a smirk. The look I can imagine him giving to make the girls swoon. This picture, though, shows him laughing, looking genuinely happy.

Today my mom gave me more memories to store away. Finding out my dad loved mayonnaise, in fact, did not believe there was such a thing as too much mayonnaise. I, on the other hand, vomit at the sight of mayonnaise and can not stand it. Kind of limits my choices of potluck salads, to be sure. He also loved tuna noodle casserole and green peppers. But the best thing my mom told me today was that my dad taught her how to make 'Swedish Pancakes'. These are not like the pancakes you find in restaurants, but are what I grew up eating. Now, I make them for my boys. I did not know that the recipe I have finally committed to memory, is the same one he taught my mom to make.

"I had a dream years ago" my mom said, " that I would one day have Carlson boys." Then she looked at my middle son and said, "You have one. And when I say Carlson boys - I mean that in the best possible way." I love all my boys, but my heart has a soft spot for the little boy who most looks like me, and therefore like my dad.

Everybody Dance Now

I found this video clip over on dooce.com and of course loved it. What does it say about me, that several of my favorite movies are in this clip?

Obviously, it means I have fantastic taste in movies. Mama Mia, Seven Brides, Footloose, Grease, and of course Dirty Dancing, just to name a few.

If only I could dance like that. Although, if you put on some old school country on the radio during the 5:00 hour, you just may seem some pretty spectacular dance moves. Just as long as my feet don't move, I am a pretty awesome dancer.

Oh, How I Love This Man

There are the obvious reasons:

• He gave me my 3 beautiful boys
• He thinks I'm hot
• He makes spandex look good

Then there are the less obvious reasons:

• He willingly drives to Colorado on a 3-day weekend because I am too scared to fly
• He loves to go on roller coasters and sit in the front row
• He makes a mean rosette
• He keeps me warm at night
• He is handy with his hands - in building things, you dirty minds!
• He will always say yes to coffee
• He makes awesome Saturday morning pancakes
• He offers to rub lotion on my feet frequently
• He is secure enough in his manhood to purchase a pink bicycle for his keychain

And of course:

• He can rock a pair of man-capris

What's not to love?

Highs & Lows

A few weeks ago, after the aforementioned camping trip, we were lucky enough to go on another trip. This time to SunRiver, Oregon and this time in a house. I have to admit, it probably didn't matter where we went, what we did, or what the weather was like, simply because we were in a house.

This trip was with my husband's family and I learned something interesting about his brother and his family. After each trip they take, they record their "Highs & Lows" from that trip. Normally, right when they are driving home and the trip is still fresh in their mind. Everyone contributes something to the list and they have a great record to remind them of the good and not so good moments.

Here are my "Highs & Lows" from SunRiver:

Highs:

• Did I mention we were in a house? Total high.
• Perfect weather, not too hot.
• FREE swimming at THREE pools. That right there was well worth the drive.
• Tot pools at each pool that I could lounge in while the boys were relatively safe.
• Good conversation/laughter with brother and sister-in-law.
• Dinner at the Trout House - mmm beef.
• Horseback ride with my sister-in-law.
• Coffee delivered to me each day.
• Mid-afternoon ice cream breaks.
• French Dip sandwich in Bend, Or. #1 on my list of best French Dips.

Lows:

• The five of us sleeping in a room meant for 2. After the first night the baby got kicked out and moved into the laundry room. Slightly better sleeping arrangement. (I will totally not mention the suite with it's own bathroom and walk-in closet that someone who will remain nameless slept in)
• Going on a horseback ride immediately following my first bike ride in 10 years. Can you say "OUCH!"
• Thinking I was looking pretty hot in my new bathing suit while sitting in the Tot pool, not knowing I had the biggest mucus blob dripping down my arm.
• The amount of alone time my husband had vs. me. And yes, I did keep track.
• Being called home for dinner the ONE time I was having a great adult conversation.
• The Incredible Shrinking Woman - enough said.
• Dogs who are not housebroken.
• Finn earning the new nick-name: Turd-burglar. Let's just say: too much fruit + diaper rash + naked time = a really big mess. Even the dogs were in awe.

This ends our vacation plans for this summer. As much fun as it was, I am awfully glad to be home. Even better is to be putting all the suitcases, sleeping bags and camping equipment into the basement.

Home Sweet Home.

The Best Part of my Vacation

A few weeks ago my family started a 10 day camping/driving vacation. We began our adventure in Cle Ellum, and finished in San Jose. In between we spent 6 nights camping. Let me say that again: SIX NIGHTS CAMPING. Consecutively if you were wondering. That is 4 more nights then I usually do.

Before we left on vacation I was a little cranky. Before we even left Seattle I had my earphones in and was listening to my ipod. And yes, I realize that makes me sound like a 15 year old girl, but whatever. After regaining some equilibrium, I talked to my husband about finding alone time on this trip. Even if it was just a walk around the campground. Anything that gave me a sense of being alone. Away from kids, husband, and dog. This was a great idea, my husband thought, anything that makes me less crazy is good.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted alone time, my husband was supportive of alone time, camping with 3 kids age 5 and younger, does not allow for any alone time. There was always someone who needed changing, feeding, or put to bed. It was good, but very busy.

The first campground we stayed at was nice. It was, just it had a lot of mosquitoes, dust, heat, and a bear. It also had no showers. I knew that going into the weekend and I was prepared for 3 days without a shower. On Sunday, we packed up and left WA headed to the Oregon coast. By this time I was sweaty, dusty, stinky, and so looking forward to a shower.

As always, the drive took us longer then we thought and it was dark before we pulled into the campsite. We were a flurry of setting up, cooking dinner, cleaning up, getting kids to bed, visiting with family, that the chance to be alone did not happen. But at 10:00 at night, the kids were asleep, the campsite was cleaned up and I realized I could take a shower. I was nervous about how long it would take to pack up in the morning and thought a shower at night was a good idea.

If you had been anywhere in the vicinity of Seaside Oregon that night, you would have heard this: "aaaaaaahhhhh!!!". That was the sound I made as I stood under the hot stinging water and had my first shower in days. I stayed in that shower, way past what was needed to get clean. I figured if I hadn't showered in a couple of days I could use more water since I had been helping with water conservation. I scrubbed, rinsed, repeated until there was nothing more to do. Then I regretfully turned off the water.

The shower was in a room with a locked door. I had been in the shower so long the room was warm and full of steam. It was heavenly. I slowly got dressed, gathered my things, and put on my shoes. I knew the minute I left the room, I would begin to gather dirt, campfire smoke, and people. This was my last few moments to be clean and alone. I waited until there was nothing left to do and slowly made my way back to the campsite.

I went to bed that night, still warm from the shower. Loving that my feet were clean as I crawled into bed. This was such an incredible experience I could not wait to do it again at the next campsite. I not only was able to get clean, I had some much needed alone time.

I did learn, upon repeating this experience the next night, a shower at 10:00 at night in a campground is only enjoyable when you are in a single stall with a locked door. When you are in a room full of stalls and a door that is unlocked, any and all scary movies you have ever seen come rushing back to you. I did not find the 2nd shower to be anywhere near as good as the first. But since I finished my camping experience at a campground with pit toilets and sheriff deputies, I will be thankful for the brief moments of quiet I was able to grab onto.