Living in Munchkinland

I was talking to a friend who also has two small children very close together yesterday. I was telling her how even just having one child while the other was in school this week was so much easier! She agreed and mentioned how we never even notice how hard it is to have two small wee ones because we do it all the time. She's right. We have adapted. We no longer notice the sacrifices and the strain. At least not all the time. Maybe in small moments when the effort exceeds our abilities or limits, but in general it is just part of life. Sometimes when our bodies fail, or our spirits crash and we wonder why, we need someone to sit down and remind us that what we do IS hard. It's the hardest job most of us have ever had. Yes, it's rewarding, and yes it is what most of would choose to do again and again, but it is not easy. I don't know why this seems like such a revolutionary concept to me. Michael is chafing at the bit to go back to work at the end of the weeken...

We went to Stonewall , Tx this weekend with my parents. They have a small farmhouse there that they found, bought and restored. They searched for that particular farmhouse because my grandmother grew up there. She went to a very small school a few miles away with Lyndon B. Johnson. She was jealous of him though, since he got to ride a mule to school and all the rest of the children had to walk. You know what they say about those rich, mule riding kids- they grow up to be president. Anyway, we drove up there Saturday and enjoyed the cool seventy degree weather. It was amazing! That afternoon we headed into Fredericksburg and attended the fair . It was fantastic. We got to see antique tractors and Davis got to sit on them. We rode all kind of carnival rides and both Davis and Sam were beside themselves with the joy and thrill of those. We went inside and saw all the canned goods and vegetables and crafts and saw which ones were awarded blue ribbons. We went back outside and wa...

Both my boys started school today. Davis started at the San Marcos Montessori School . I already love the school and his teacher, but it was so hard to leave him since he was clinging to me and screaming, "Don't leave me Mommy!" at the top of his lungs. After we dropped him off we had a half an hour before it was time to drop Sam off at his little Mother's Day Out program. He kept asking me where Davis had gone. "Is Dadis sleeping??", he kept asking me quizzically. Sam's school is a bit more familiar to him since we spent four days there in the last two weeks while I took care of the teacher's kids. He seemed to do well and was at least not sobbing when I walked out the door. I've already picked Davis up (the first day was short) and his teacher said he quit crying after five minutes and did great. Yay! We don't pick Sam up until three so think good thoughts at my little baby. And think good thoughts at me too. Right as I dropped him ...

Today is my husband's birthday. He is older than me and that's really all we need to know. I wanted to celebrate him today in honor of the occasion. He is a charming, loyal, strong, intelligent man and we are lucky to have him as part of our lives. Happy Birthday, honey. I love you. P.S. I wanted to note here on the blog that Michael received a promotion last week! He is now a Consultant II with his company. I am so proud of him and think it was so deserved. An extra reason to raise your glass and toast Michael today.

First, Sam. Sam is in such a sweet stage right now. Gentle, giving, fun, sweet, easy. He loves to cuddle and share. He's talking a ton now and growing so fast. He's learning to ride a bike and yesterday and twice today, he pooped in the potty! He's only 21 months!!! He's working on his two year old molars and has been carrying around an old metal rattle to chew on. This morning he accidentally whacked Davis on the head with it. Davis cried and I pulled him in my lap. Sam ran over and crawled up next to us on the couch. "What happened?", he asked, deeply concerned. I explained that he had hurt his brother. Sammy said, "So Sorry, Dadis. Hug.", and gave him a big hug. Then he said to Davis, "I loves you.". I've never heard him say he loved anything or anyone and I was so touched to hear him say it to his brother. He would follow Davis anywhere and does. He leaps from the couch after Davis and tromps through the grass. He ex...

We had a great adventure on this day. We woke early and handed the kids off to Marchelle. We were already docked in Skagway. We dressed in our warmest clothes and packed extra socks and gloves. (Okay, I forgot my gloves. I'm sorry Michael. I know your hands were cold since you gave me yours.) Then we ran off the ship. Part of the reason for our rush was that the time had changed AGAIN. Time keeps changing when you go west and it keeps getting earlier. Anyway, we ran off the boat and met Steve and Melissa on the dock along with our excursion leader. We were about to go on the one big excursion we had planned and it was supposed to be a wonderful one. We were so excited. The title of the excursion was "Glacier Point Wilderness Safari". We got in a really fast boat that literally glided across the top of the water as we raced for Glacier Point. We drank coffee they brewed on board and even saw whales during our forty five minute voyage. When we arrived we landed...

I was driving around downtown San Marcos today and noticed a set of parents with their college aged daughter. I imagine they were getting her settled before they left her to her first year of college. It got me thinking. Was this her first choice? Where is she from? What does this town look like to an outsider? I moved here when I was three. I went to kindergarten through 12th grade in public school here in this town. My mother went to the same schools. Everyone knows my parents and my grandparents. It is a small town. An example. The other morning a truck went through our fence. The people who just put in new fences on the ranch got a call from someone who witnessed the accident and who knew they had just done our fence. The fence people were informed about the accident. They then called my grandfather and told him that this fence was damaged (he hadn't been notified yet) and that they would be by in a few minutes to fix it. When I was in high school I was ALL DONE with ...

This was the day I was most looking forward to on the whole cruise. The ship was going to traverse the fjord Tracy Arm and end at a glacier. Tracy Arm is less than a mile wide and it's cliff walls rise 2,000 feet into the sky. The water is 1,000 feet deep and the color is an amazing green. We began to see small icebergs in the water and then more and more until the water was clogged with them. It was truly amazing. The best part of all of this is that you can just sit on your balcony and drink your coffee and look through your binoculars and watch all this beauty go by from the comfort of your own room. Wow. That afternoon we docked in Juneau. The last time we were there, Michael and I had done a whale watching excursion as well as a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. This time we decided to take it easy and Marchelle joined us as we all took the Mount Roberts Tramway 2,000 feet above the harbor to an observatory. They had some really nice trails over the mountain. It was ...

I went to the farmer's market today and bought a big eggplant. I also bought some cute little squashes and a bunch of onions. I had some mushrooms left over from an abandoned dinner plan from last week. I wanted to use my vegetables, but I was tired and I didn't want to do a ton of different preparations. I found some recipes online and found one similar to this one, which I then adapted a bit. It turned out very delicious. Make this. It is south beach approved and husband approved. We had it with roasted pork loin with rosemary and garlic, but it would also be great with couscous and goat cheese, or maybe some crusty bread and fish with capers or olives. Yum. INGREDIENTS * 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed * 2 small zucchini or squash, cubed * 1 small yellow onion, chopped * 1 (8 ounce) package mushrooms, sliced * 1 cup tomato sauce * 1/4 cup water * 1 clove garlic, minced * 1 teaspoon dried basil * salt and pepper to taste DIRECTI...

We docked early and so when the kids woke up, we were just pulling up to the pier. We were in Ketchikan! Ketichikan is a cute fishing village. My father in-law planned to go salmon fishing and Melissa and Steven had two excursions planned, but we had been there before and so had no big plans for this small town. We had breakfast with Marchelle and then we all headed off the ship for the town. We thought of going to the big lumberjack show, but at 36 dollars a ticket, it seemed a bit much. Instead, we did a walking tour of the town. We followed the instructions on the map and found ourselves in a great little museum called the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. It was fascinating and interactive and I learned so much about Alaska. It was a great find. We followed the tour around the little shops and ended up on a boardwalk called Creek Street. We shopped in the many gift shops and bought quite a bit of smoked salmon. We sampled too. Delicious. Then we headed back to the shi...

Our first day of the cruise was a "day at sea". This means that there were tons of activities on the boat available as we cruised up towards Ketchikan and Southeast Alaska. We woke and had coffee and croissants and milk delivered to the room. After that we headed to the Horizon Court buffet. The breakfast was ample and we all enjoyed our table overlooking the water. We sent Davis to join his "Pelican" class and his cousin Austin in the fun zone and went to check out the various activities onboard. We played trivia with the family and later played a board game. The kids joined us for lunch and nap and went back to the funzone. Later, Michael and his family were selected out of many, many others to get on stage and play Family Feud. It was very amusing, but sadly, they lost. In the afternoon, we went back to our room and cleaned up and put on formal clothes. We were getting ready to renew out vows. Michael and I had decided to renew our vows every five years of ...

We woke early again on day 3 and went with Steven and Melissa and Katie and Soren back to the original Starbucks for our coffee fix. Then we headed over to the market for a very fine breakfast. I had the garden omelet with vegetables picked from the market. We had a table overlooking the water and it was nice and cool. Then Katie and I slipped away by ourselves for about an hour and cruised the market and chatted. It was great. The market is beyond amazing and being with Katie was wonderful. I miss her already. When we got back to the hotel, we said our good-byes and packed our suitcases. We argued a bit with our hotel about the best way to get to Pier 30 and then paid too much for a van to take us there. We stood in line for a while and got all checked in and got on our ship! The Princess Star was beautiful and our room was great. We had a minisuite which basically means we had a bathroom with a tub, a area for our queen bed and a tiny sitting area with couch and crib almos...

We woke up extremely early on our second day in Seattle (5AM). The two hour time difference was still affecting us. We got up, had coffee and milk and got dressed. Then we decided to walk down to Pike Place Market to see it setting up without the crowds. The weather was cold and brisk and there was hardly anyone around. We took a walk along the water and Davis had a great time leaping around the totem pole in the plaza area. Then we went across the street and got coffee at the original Starbucks. It was almost eight by now so we headed down the Market to see the men throwing fish. There had been a huge crowd there the day before, but this early in the morning there was hardly anyone there. It was wonderful. We went back to the hotel to see if Steve, Melissa and kids were stirring yet and they were! We went back down to the market as a group and went to breakfast. It was delicious! Then we decided to walk a few blocks down to the monorail and go to the Seattle Center. This w...