The day in summary.

Slept in. (Thanks Michael)
Did nothing. (You didn't think that was possible, did you?)
Helped kids make Daddy's bday presents (Shhh!)
Picked up meds for Zeke (he has tape worms. Yuck.)
Took kids to Piedmont pool. (Yes, we have a pool in Piedmont. That is what I am talking about.)
Took girls to Pirate party. (They were the only girls there.)
Went shopping. (Hmmm shrimp.)
Got new bike for Parker (his was too small for him).
Picked girls up. (They didn't seem to notice or care they were the only girls there.)
Watched kids ride bikes and shoot hoops. (met neighbor and babysitting age kids!)
Made dinner (Hmmm shrimp with butter.)
Cleaned up (our dishwasher sucks, but landlord is getting us new one this Friday.)
Finished a book. (Unbroken by Seabiscuit author.)
Tried to get Book of Mormon tickets for New York trip (They are sold out thru mid June.)
Thinking about dessert. (not desert)

Hoops!

Good title.

I don't know anything about this book, but I like the title.

And here is an excerpt:

The cats nestle close to their kittens now.
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dear
Please go the fuck to sleep.

Real Learning

Parker's teacher who was suppose to be back today emailed last night that she would not be back. Since Michael and I decided we would not subject Parker to any more idiot subs, I kept him home today. Although I lied to the school about his reason for absence, I told Parker the truth that he would only go to school when one of the repeat subs or Miss Heather was there. He seemed relieved.

We had the co-op in the morning but nothing else planned the rest of the day. After a good morning at Sue's house, we decided to get some basketballs and a net. The people who lived here before us had one in the flat driveway so it seemed like a good idea. We picked up the shortest one I could find and headed home. It took me a while to assemble it as I suck at those sorts of things, but I got it together finally and the kids have been shooting hoops since then.

Any guesses which kid is the best at it?

Regardless, they all had fun and I think helping me put it together and playing ball was more than he was gonna learn at school today anyway.

Trampoline

The trampoline gets daily use. The kids are always out there having picnics, exploring new areas of the yard and jumping in it.

They jumped in it on Easter when we had Susan and Ebba over for Ham and an egg hunt in Princess dresses.








They jumped in it today after Elizabeth's gymnastics. For some reason, they tend to take off their clothes a lot in it. I had to tell them to keep their underwear on.

Your Six Year Old.

Parker has been a real piece of work these days. At first I attributed it to subs, or being tired, or whatever, but the more it continued, the more I thought it was something else. Then I remembered what Ebba went through when Lincoln was six. I also remembered a series of books she recommended I read. I never did read them since Parker has generally been (except for some time when he was 2) a pretty easy, responsive, rule following kid. He is definitely not your typical kid He never seemed to fit the mold...until now.

When I went to look up the book, the title was: Your six year old: Loving and Defiant. Here is a short description:

Six is growing more mature, more independent, more daring and adventurous -- this is not necessarily an easy time for the little girl or boy. Relationships with mothers are troubled -- most of the time Six adores mother, but whenever things go wrong, it's her fault. It used to be, at Five, that she was the center of the child's universe; now, the child is the center of his own universe.

Since everything happens to be my fault these days (I didn't pack the right snack, I didn't come up with the best craft project, I forgot where I packed the origami books, I didn't get the perfect paper, etc), the book seems right on and I suppose I'll have to read it.

After School.

After working at the preschool all morning, the girls had their lunch while we killed time before picking up Parker who has an early day on Wednesdays.

We get to school, go to his class, and he comes out. All seems to be well. I asked all three of them if we should go or play on the playground. They all agree to play on the playground.

So I go sit down with a book while they go off to play. Within minutes, Parker says he wants to buy a frozen treat (koolaid with whip cream that they sell at the after school office for 50 cents that I have let them get all of two times in 8 months.) I told him that we had planned to get frozen yogurt, but we could do that instead. He agrees frozen yogurt is a better idea.

Within minutes again, Parker is back to me saying that Elizabeth won't share the ball with him. He doesn't want to ask her to share it without me. So I call her over and he asks her and she says yes. Within minutes, some kid takes their ball. They both get a little upset, but nothing over the top. I ask if we should go talk to the kid to see if it is his ball or not. Parker then says, "I NEVER HAVE A BALL THAT I CAN PRACTICE DRIBBLING WITH AT HOME! HOW COME WE DON'T HAVE THAT!!!" and then starts crying.

So I say, "Let's go" since I certainly don't want to sit there at be yelled at.

Miranda is on the slide about half way down. On the bottom of the slide, there are about 50 kids playing some trendy top spinning game. They do this every day. Every day Miranda knows not to go on the slide since they are blocking the bottom and she can't slide down. I tell her to climb up. She starts crying and screaming.

Elizabeth says, "I can go help her!" and runs off. I tell her, "No, I'll get her, you stay here."

I go over to Miranda who still can't even stand up and is screaming and crying even louder and now yelling at me for doing a bad job getting her off. I finally get her off and we start to walk away. Almost immediately, Elizabeth, who has slid half way down the slide herself, screams over to me, "Mommy! I can't get down." Knowing this is complete and total bullshit, I tell her to climb up and then get down. She starts screaming and crying, but...climbs up the slide. Then she starts to go down the other slide, but what do you know, there are boys there too. She screams and cries even louder. I start to walk away. She screams more. Then she slides down.

I walk to the car in silence. They all get in and buckle in.

I say to them. "You know guys, that was really lame and I didn't like it all. I was sitting there reading a book and within minutes, three kids are crying, screaming and yelling at me. Parker wanted a ball to play with, but the only way he could think of getting one was by screaming at me. Miranda wanted to not be on the slide, the slide that I've told her not to go on, and the only way she can think to get off is by screaming at me. Then Elizabeth, who I told not to get Miranda, gets stuck on the same slide and starts screaming at me too. I was being yelled at by three kids and I didn't like that one bit. It was really mean to me and I didn't deserve any of it. We're just going to go home now since I'm not happy."

Parker then says, "Sorry, ma'am."

I say, "I'm not a ma'am. I'm your mom."

He says, "Sorry, mom. I didn't mean to scream at you. Sorry I used that voice."

Miranda says, "Sorry, mom. I'm not crying now."

Elizabeth is silent.

Then we drove home.

A good sub.

Parker had a sub today. Again. I think this is sub 20 or something for the year.

Since we found out yesterday, I decided to pull him out mid-day today and just hang at home. When I went to school to get him, I signed him out at the office and then went to his classroom. The sub was there doing work (impressive!) and I told her who I was and I what I was doing. (except that I lied and said he had an appt.)

She immediately says to me, "Parker is a quite advanced in math, isn't he?"

I found this odd since this was the first time she met him, he had been in motor skills until 9:30 and went to lunch at 11:30. This means that in 2 hours, she had accurately assessed him. Impressive!

So we had a little chit chat about his skills and she asked if he was bored and we discussed that bit and she suggested that maybe they would skip him a grade at some point.

Then I took him home.

I think I'll let him stay the whole time tomorrow when the teacher will be out again.

I don't understand: Lots of kids.

I don't understand people who have lots of kids (3 or more) and then complain about the cost of having the kids or the effort involved in managing all the kids activities and social lives.

No one forced these people to have all these kids, but yet they feel like they should get special status and be excused from duties (volunteer and otherwise) that parents with one or two children just accept.

Case in point: Parent of four kids in Parker's little league doesn't want to have to do all the volunteer requirements that other parents have to fulfill. She wasn't nasty about it, but politely stated that she already had to pay more and attend more practices than other kids who only had one kid in the league so why should she have to volunteer more too?

BECAUSE YOU HAVE LOTS OF KIDS!!!!

When I had to work twice at the preschool, which is once more a week than all the other families, I didn't complain. I understood that was the deal. And while I didn't necessarily choose twins, I accepted the possibility existed when we took those fertilized eggs out of the freezer.

Your kids get things other kids don't get like hand-me downs, live in playdates, and learning how to share early on and much, much more. Don't complain about the cost of it.

Once again.

I should probably get used to this, but I'm not yet, so bear with me...

This morning, Parker asked me, "What is that song that goes Merrily, Merrily, Merrily???"

I said "Row, Row, Row your boat." He says, "Oh yeah."

And then plays it on the piano.

So I say... "Who taught you that?"

He says, "No one."

I say, "But how did you know what to play?"

Parker, "Well, I heard daddy play it before so I just played it."

TPS: Reality

Parker: I get so sad when people say No to me. I just want them to say YES all the time!!!

Group Play Date

We're on spring break this week. We've been doing some excursions (like to SF yesterday with Parker's pals) and hanging around the house. Today we had a group playdate with the kids from the preschool. I basically invited the whole class and hoped they wouldn't all turn up. Which they didn't. 'Only' 28 kids and parents did. 28 seems like a lot, but our house absorbed it nicely. We set up the jumpy house too (hadn't used it in ages, but they all still love it) so with the trampoline, swings, general backyard craziness, upstairs dressing up areas, downstairs playroom and jumpy house the kids were well entertained. I had snacks for parents and kids and almost all the kids food was eaten. Everyone said they had a blast and it mostly went off very well. One kid even lost a tooth here and didn't tell her mom until she was home. They came back to find it (and did!) and then stayed for 2 more hours just hanging out.

I think everyone will sleep well tonight.

Happy Birthday

No, Parker didn't just figure it out. He tried, but I helped him with some help from the google.

Easter Arrives Early

The Easter package from Grammy and Ginny arrived yesterday and the kids opened them today. The silly bands, ariel dolls, and window things were big hits, but they loved it all. Miranda kept saying, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!"

We did swap the chocolate candy and gummy rabbit candy between Elizabeth and Miranda since Elizabeth is not a fan of chocolate. I have a feeling the Grammy and Ginny meant to do that.

Mommy!

Happy Birthday, Mom.

I tried my best to think up a gift you would like (exotic meat, a plant, a book, tickets to a ballet performance, etc, etc, etc...I even googled "gifts for almost 70 year olds" but figured you didn't need a nice trinket or potpourri) but just couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't annoy you so my greetings here will just have to suffice.

May you have a nice, relaxing quiet day tomorrow.

Conversations in car.

Parker: When I die, I'm gonna go to heaven and get really small and turn into a dog. Then I'm gonna eat a cat. Then I think we'll all become hot dogs.


Me: Parker, Seriously? What the hell are you talking about? When you die, you're gonna go to heaven and get really small and turn into a dog? Then you are gonna eat a cat? And then become a hot dog?

Parker: Yeah. Hee. Hee.

==================

Miranda: "When I see that Giant slide today I'm gonna get so excited I'm gonna jump right out of my underwear."

Kids are kids.

When I hang out with other kids, which is often, I usually realize or remember one of two things...

My kids are awesome and these kids suck.

or

The awfulness that is my kids is totally normal.

I recalled the latter last night when I babysat for Ebba who had a meeting. She took Lincoln with her so I was only left with the girls. After a thoroughly interesting discussion about their teachers names and other random kid shit, they started getting ready for bed. They were quite good even though "I didn't do it like Mama." They brushed their teeth (after I did it for them) and then we all read books. One was really long, but I was in baby sitter mood so I let them have it (something I would not have done at home.)

Then it was time to sleep. There was a little fuss about some stuffed animal and having the beds closer together, but in general it was an easy bedtime.

Then about 20 minutes later, I heard someone crying. Ebba had told me about Fiona waking up being scared so I assumed it was her when I went back in their room. Wrong. It was Allison. She was bawling and saying something unintelligible. I got her to calm down and determined she was afraid of the dark. She told me to turn the bathroom light on, but since it was already on, I didn't understand what she was saying. She just kept repeating herself as did I and we got nowhere. Finally I said, "Just come here and turn the light on yourself." By then, we had woken up Fiona who had fallen asleep before songs were over. Allison realized the light *was* on and went back to bed. Then I turned to her and said, "If you need something else, don't just sit in bed and cry. Just come get me so I can fix it. OK?"

"Ok, Rachel. Thank you." she says.

I could have inserted Miranda for Allison in this story and it would have been any given night at our place.

Parker's Latest Book

The other day, Parker made a book. It was called Parker's Multiplication and Number book. It had 4 chapters explaining numbers and then multiplication. He took a long time to make it and really had nice detail in it. It was pretty awesome. Here is one of the pages.

Lurking Blog Readers

I'd like to welcome a new blog reader. Her name is Rachel (we are both the other Rachel at bootcamp) and she's had a ridiculously tough last year. But...things are looking damn good these days, save some 3 year old tantrums that get the best of her.

Welcome to chezlong, Rach. May it be a great cure for insomnia.

Tball

Parker is still enjoying tball. The kids actually seem to be improving, but the games are still highly ridiculous.

Pics from preschool

One of the moms at the preschool is a photographer. She took some pics recently of the kids.



Miranda has been really into bugs lately. She spends much of her time at school looking for them, holding them, and generally obsessing about them.



On this day, we were playing "lumpy chair". I would sit down on the chair where a kid was sitting and say, "Oh boy, this chair is sooooo lumpy. I wonder why. Hmmm. It's so strange." Then all the kids would yell, "There is a kid on that chair!" Soon enough they all wanted to play. I convinced them to play together, but they still wanted me on top of the stack. The stack of course, fell over.

SF ZOO

I took the kids and Fletcher and Sebastian to the SF Zoo today. I hadn't been there for about 15 years and the kids have never been there. It's always farther away than I remember, but they've updated it a lot and it was well worth the drive. It's really big too and we didn't get to see all of it before having to head back for Parker's tball game.

We went to the Children's zoo first and within minutes someone asks me if I've seen Nicole Kidman who apparently was there with her kid. They told me she was being followed around and I immediately felt bad for her that she can't just enjoy a day at the zoo with her kid.

Then about 30 minutes later, she walks into the petting zoo. She is about 8 feet tall, wearing all black and her daughter who looks totally normal, follows her. We're a few feet away from her but hadn't gone into one of the barns. We go in and she does too. The kids all look at the sheep for a while and then I leave. She is still in there with Fletcher and I hear them talking about sheep and rams. I go back in to see if everything is ok and then Fletcher tells me to look at this really cool snake. I do. And then Sunday Rose, her daughter, does as well. Fletcher leaves, but Elizabeth comes up and the three of them, Elizabeth, Sunday and Nicole all hang out for a good 5 minutes looking at the snake. Then we head out and go to the spider web to play. A few moments later, they walk by again with Sunday in a stroller. She wanted to play in the spider web, but Nicole wasn't having it and they kept walking. We didn't see her again. I texted Michael and Susan to tell them about it and chuckled to myself that the kids had no idea who she was.

We then walked around much of the zoo, had some snacks, rode the merry go round and headed out. At one point, someone came up to me and asked, "Are they all yours?" I said, "God no, only three." She said, "They are the best behaved kids I've seen all day." This of course was before Miranda started screaming that I wasn't going to buy her a toy and Elizabeth got hurt and couldn't recover and Parker started whining that he was "STILLLLLL HUNNNGRRRRYYYYYY!!!!" Luckily, Fletcher and Sebastian were delightful all day.

Miranda Tonight

Elizabeth and Miranda came downstairs to say good night to me tonight.

As I hugged Miranda, she said, I love you mommy. I told her I loved her too. She then added, I love everyone in this family, except for Elizabeth because she is mean to me all the time.

Saturday

I woke up feeling sick...feverish, achy, etc. So Michael let me sleep in and did a good job of keeping the kids quiet. Then we puttered around the house trying to open and deal with some boxes that had been in the living room for two weeks. Then we took the kids to a playdate. We dropped them all off and headed to SF to a furniture store to look at living room sets. I got quickly overwhelmed so we left and had breakfast instead. Then we picked up the kids, took them home for lunch, and then back out again to the Piedmont community pool. It's a membership only place, but once a week, any Piedmont resident can go. They have three pools and there were only two other families there. The kids had a blast. After a quick stop for ice cream, we went back home and enjoyed some chips and guacamole while the kids goofed off in the backyard. Then I took a nap. When I woke up Michael had fed the kids dinner and was bouncing them in the trampoline. Now he is reading to them upstairs.

A good day.

The view from the sidewalk

Cuties

The girls asked to have their picture taken last night as we were getting ready for bed, and they each hammed it up in their own way.



Hard to believe they used to look like this.

Art Spark

There is an Art event at Parker's school called Art Spark. It's essentially a fundraising thing, but the kids were invited to make art with the theme of Moving (very vague, yes). Parker, being an art lover, was immediately interested in participating. He also immediately knew what he wanted to make. He waited several weeks to actually make it, but he did it tonight with only minimal help from dad.

Here is the result.


I was less than impressed. I thought it was, in all honesty, fairly lame.
Michael was quite impressed that Parker had a vision and then made it happen.

Michael said he wanted confirmation that he is right. Specifically from those with early child hood education and experience.

Parker's Journal Entries

Apparently Parker keeps a journal at school. He fills them up and brings them home. To be honest, I hadn't even opened them until recently. Here are some of his entries... I like the title of the one about scraped knees.

The Wind
The wind can move the clods.
Wind can blow paper.
Wind can blow plastecck.

Monkeys
Monkeys like to eat bananas.
Monkeys like to swing on trees.
Monkeys get mad.

Math

Math is as eaze as A pee.
Math is hard in other schools.
Math is eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese For me.
I love Math olote.
We can do math with shapes.

Bandaids
I skraped my knee onecs.
it hert a little.
once my siste skraped her chin.

Untitled.
I want the wind to come.
and it will take me to the bart.
the train will take me to San Francisco.

Cakes
On my sixth birthday I had a ossum cake.
it had A six on top.
it was A marle run cake.
the marle went threw it.
it could go down to.

Sad
I was sad seven times in school.
it made me very sad espeshely when my book riped.

Trees
Maple trees get maple syrup to pot on your pancakes.
Apples trees are fun to grou.
Orange trees Last till fall.

STEP!

I lead a short step class today in bootcamp class. It was pretty hilarious. I hadn't done that in over 10 years, but most of it seems to just come back. My continuous music, a must with step aerobics, wasn't, in fact, continuous...so that kinda sucked, but whatever. People had fun and got a little workout. Maybe I'll start teaching again one day when the kids are in school...

Here we go...

Parker sat down at the piano when he got home from school today and after playing a few keys, almost completely correctly banged out Doe a Dear from the sound of music. Granted, it isn't the hard thing around to figure out, but come on.

I asked him who showed him that, thinking Amy or Peter did at some point in LA. But no, he says, I just know it.

It was boring.

These three little words are the words I've dreaded hearing from Parker since school has started. For 139 days he didn't even hint at being bored at school. But yesterday while having a snack after school in the school yard, when I asked him what he learned in school that day, he said,

"Remember when you told me about that day when you walked by the first grade class and they were learning what quarter to 3 was on a clock? Well that was what we did today, but we didn't do quarter to. We just did o'clock and half past. It was really boring."

FUCK!

I asked him if he told Miss Heather that he already knew that and he said, "I don't like to tell her that, Mom." Which I suppose is good. I said, "Hmmm. I'll be right back."

I went back into the classroom and relayed the whole story to Miss Heather. She said, "Well, I'm impressed it took 139 days to get there. I thought it would have happened a while ago."

I asked her if she could do some advanced time stuff with him, but as soon as I said it, I realized how silly it sounded. The kid can tell time...there is no advanced time telling skills he needs. We agreed he would work on some other math stuff during that lesson, but only if 1) the kids didn't notice and/or make fun of him and 2) it didn't become a disruption. I said if either thing happened, he would just have to be bored.

I find out today how that approach worked.

And in other Parker makes mommy nervous news....
I stopped by today to drop of the snack and they were doing the "calendar" where the kids say the months of the year, the days of the week, etc, etc. For every question, Parker raised his hand. Other kids did too and almost every one of them got the answer wrong. She would try 3 or 4 kids before finally going to Parker to get the right answer. But when he gave the right answer, he did it in a silly voice. It was a little obnoxious. I wasn't happy.

I'm sure all you teachers and grandparents and parents of similar children out there are shaking your heads at me. I'm sure I'm going about all this wrong, but who the fuck knows what to do. I'll be so happy when Miranda and Elizabeth start and are just part of the pack learning their days of the week and getting the answers wrong.

Piano!

When we found out the piano that "came with the house" didn't actually come with the house, we knew we would 'need' to get one. I've been wanting to get one for a while, but with the limited space in our old house, it just didn't work. But now, with the seemingly unlimited space here and the perfect little nook for it, I knew we would get one before we got living room furniture. And we did.

I started out looking for free ones on Craigslist. I found a few and was ready to hire movers to go get one when I thought...hmm, I don't know anything about pianos so maybe I should take someone who does. So I hired some piedmont piano guy to go with me to check it out. Within minutes I knew I wouldn't be leaving with that piano. It was over 100 years old and he pointed out to me and the owner all the things wrong with it and how it could be fixed over and over and over again, but really the piano was 'done.' The owner seemed to know it all already and when we left he said he was gonna make a table out of it.

I was gonna check out another one, but the piano guy convinced me to consider renting one. If the kids liked it and we liked having one in the house, we could then consider the $2k to $5K to buy one.

So that is what I did. I'm trying not to worry that it cost more to move it then rent it. We now have a lovely upright Yamaha in our living room nook. We are gonna let the kids play with it for a while. I'm thinking Parker will figure out scales and chords soon enough and if he does show more interest, we'll consider lessons for him.

Zeke is Home.

We decided to stop torturing Zeke yesterday. I didn't think it was officially long enough to keep him in, but he really, really wanted to go out, so we bit the bullet. He stayed outside for an hour or so and then came running in when called by Michael and the kids. Over the course of yesterday and today, he's gone in and out many times. He uses the backdoor, but then comes in the front door on occasion, which is a good sign (he understands the house layout.)

I slept with Parker last night* but Michael said Zeke wouldn't come in last night so he left him out and at 4:30 he heard, "meow, meow" and Michael let him in the backdoor. Let's hope that doesn't become a habit. Actually, we are gonna switch out one of the doors downstairs and put a cat door in it so he can come and go as he pleases.

He seems quite happy here now and doesn't seem to want to find his old home.



*Last night, Michael was putting the girls to sleep. I was downstairs and Parker came down to hang out with me. He wanted to watch a tv show and as I was just about to watch something, I thought BIG with Tom Hanks would be a good one for us both. Lots of kid stuff, no swearing, no nudity, etc. I thought Zoltar might freak him out, but it didn't. All was going well until...Tom Hanks goes back to his mom's house to tell her he's been turned into an adult and she freaks out thinking he is a crazy intruder. She grabs the kitchen knife and runs after him screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Parker, as one would expect if one expected these kinds of things, freaked out, immediately started sobbing and saying, "WHY DO YOU LET ME WATCH THESE THINGS THAT ARE SO SCARY!!!!!!" I turned it off, calmed him down and walked him to bed. I lay with him for a bit. Then he asked, "Mommy, when can I get another coupon (what we gave them at christmas) to sleep with you again?" Oh boy. I asked him if he was still scared and he said yes. I told him I would sleep with him, but would be gone in the early morning to go to the gym. He said he would stay in bed until I got back. And he did.

Note to self: Watch movies again before allowing kids to watch them.

Parker wasn't last!

Although we physically came in last in the triathalon, we beat 4 people including 1 man when you account for wave start times!

His official time was 56:10. The winner did it in 23 minutes.

Triathalete!

When I got up this morning at 6, Parker had already gotten dressed in the dark and was ready to go to the triathalon! Unfortunately, he forgot to put on his bathing suit. I had him get dressed again while I got the bags and bikes ready. We were on the road by 7am and at the triathalon location by 7:15. We checked in, got marked with our numbers 683 and 684 and then got ready to wait.

The race started at 8am, but we were in the last wave at 8:30. I was suppose to be in the 40+ women group, but several of the parents decided to go with the kids. The swim was in the high school pool which was not cold, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was warm. By the time we got in Parker was chattering. There were 4 kids and me in the lane so it was a tight fit. When the bell went off, Parker started swimming free cycle. I stayed behind him to make sure he was ok. Close to the end of the length, he swallowed some water and freaked out. I think the other kids kicking and splashing next to him bugged him. I helped him to the side and he was upset. I thought the race was over, but then I suggested back stroke and he did that the rest of the time. He was the last kid (and person) to get out of the pool just behind a 8 year old girl (the closest kid in age to him). I got him dressed for the bike ride and we got moving. He was freezing.

The ride was easy and flat, but he was tired and cold so he didn't go very fast. Everyone left on the course cheered him on since we were the last ones. It was very sweet.

When we got back to the transition area, Michael was there with the girls to cheer him on. I hung up the bikes and we took off our helmets and we were off. Many of the adults had already finished the entire race by the time we started the run, but there were some older women and kids still going. Parker started out strong on the run, but had to pee and that bugged him until I let him pee near Ikea.

We got to the turn around at about a mile and he was pretty tired. I told him he could walk for a bit so we walked about a block before started running again.

When we got back to the finish line, we heard the announcer say, "here comes the last runners, Parker Long and him mom. Let's give them a big welcome home!" Everyone cheered and clapped. They gave Parker high fives as he ran through the finish line and Parker was all smiles. He was so happy and proud of himself.

Even though we were last and had a police escort most of the time, it was still very impressive how well he did considering how cold it was and how far he had to go on the bike and run. He got a tshirt that was way too big and that he wore the rest of the day.

He can't wait to do another one.

Coming in from the ride.


Doing great!


Here we come!


Parker crossing the finish line.


Finishers!


The girls got grumpy one after the other at the end of the race. Elizabeth said she wanted to do the next one.

Should be interesting...

Parker and I are doing a triathalon tomorrow.

We swim 100 yards in a pool. Bike 2.5 miles. And run 2.1 miles.

I know the swimming and biking will be easy for him, but not sure about the running.

I'm just hoping they let us do it together since I can't see him "transitioning" on his own. I'm thinking he might be the youngest one out there (due to the swimming), but who knows!

Elizabeth

Has changed clothes 12 times today.

I simply don't understand it.

When I ask her why she says "I don't know."

What, me?

I've got three main areas of my life right now. Kids and schools, twin stuff and twin friends, and Boot camp and working out. Those three things take up all of my time.

I've been doing bootcamp (5am to 6:30 MWF) for a few years now and it's been great. Not great as in "I love going every morning in the dark when I could be sleeping", but great, as in "a really good thing for me." I've become more fit, met tons of great people who I now call my friends, and do things I never thought I'd do like run half marathons. For many of my work out buddies, I'm just Rachel. Not Parker's mom or twin club webmaster or Michael's wife. Just Rachel: A 41 year old lady trying to not be a fat, lazy slob.

I'm definitely in better shape than when I started, but I'm by no means near the top of the class. There are some hard core athletes in it. They run fast (like under 8 and 9 minute miles), lift heavy weights, jump high, pedal hard, and generally kick my ass every single time. I'm no slacker, but I've still got a ways to go.

Which is why it was so funny when one of the "newbies" (that is what we call people who are doing a boot camp session for the first time) said to me today after we sprinted up the top level of a parking garage this morning at 6am, "Oh my god, you are so fast! I couldn't even believe how fast you went."

It was so strange that she was saying that to me and not one of the people that are actually fast. I wish I could have said something better in response like "thanks, what's your name?" or "you'll get there too" or "took me a long time to get here" or "you should see me stretch" or really anything else, but I was so surprised and taken back by her comment, that I could only laugh and run up the ramp again.

Getting it?

The girls had a playdate with Quinn today. We were discussing names and Quinn's middle name came up. It is Kathleen so I asked her if she was named after any one. She said her Grandma's name was Kathy so we all agreed she was probably named after her.

I then asked the girls if they thought they were named after one. They didn't know. I reminded them of all their middle names starting with an A and if they knew why. They didn't know. I asked if they knew anyone in our family with the name with an A. Miranda said, "AUNT AMY!!!!!!" So I said, "Yup, all of your middle names are named after Amy."

Then Elizabeth says, "We actually look more like Aunt Amy. We don't really look too much like Mommy. A little, but more like Aunt Amy."

Family Fun

House Pics

Obviously we still have not finished unpacking or even figuring out where stuff go or even caring about all that, but here are some pics.

Here is the backyard. First one is from upstairs window and second from back door. Parker was out there jumping before and after dinner today despite being exhausted.




The entry way. Planning on some sort of coat/shoe holder situation and place for keys, wallets, phones.



The view from the front door. You can go up the stairs, into the den to the right or to the living room.



Den/TV/guest room. Notice the antena and how old they are.



Living room. No furniture yet.


Small nook inside living room. Getting free piano for it!

The living room feeds right into the formal dining room. There is a pass through to the breakfast nook. Apparently the prior tenants used that area for doing homework.



Breakfast nook.


Kitchen. We might get an island, but counter space is fine and oven/stovetop is new. Fancy water/ice from front of fridge too!


From the kitchen, you head down to the bottom floor where there is playroom, garage and Michael's office.


Playroom.


Michael's office which is at the back of the playroom. It has a door!


Another view of the playroom from Michael's office. I tried to set up little areas (art, blocks, tracks, music, toys, motor skills), but I'm sure I'll have to move things around.


The garage...where we have the most work to do in terms of unpacking. My goal is a clear space in there.


Hallway back upstairs.


The stairs. Guess they were recently painted.


Stairs to top floor.


Strange closet thing at the top of the landing. Kids like to hide in it.


OUR ROOM!!!!!!


Parker's room. He needs a bed. We ditched the small bunk bed in the move.


Parker's closet. It's huge!


Girls' room. They have a big closet too.


There is some storage space too and a nice front yard. Can't wait until you all visit!