La Grange Pet Parade

The town nearby does a big pet parade. There are a lot of charity, auction, fundraiser, carnival activities associated with the weekend as well, so it's a huge draw for the communities nearby. Right now we just go to the parade, not really the other events. We tried to make our way to stand near some friends but after going driving few miles in every direction to keep reaching roadblocks, I realized I might have to go to the next state to get to an open street to cross the train tracks to get anywhere near them and gave up.

Two years ago, the parade was kind of opening day for the cicada infestation, the day they started flying around. I was at a cousin's event for the day, thank goodness I wasn't there dealing with the cicadas with Jorge and the kids. I was absolutely horrified with these creatures and in 13 or 17 years, or whenever it is they will come back, I resolve to NOT live anywhere near them, at least for those few months. I was around for the last infestation but this one was so incredibly gross in my everyday stepping on them into my office, getting whacked in the head by them on my way to the car, having them land on me and hang out on my neck in the car, and the noise, oh the sound they made- wow! I don't want to even post a picture because they were soooo gross and like a plague- eeew!

Okay, so the kids enjoyed this year's parade. Their favorite things were the volcano (no pics) and the T-Rex as they call the dinosaur on the zoo float. Sylvie fell in love with each and every tiny dog, and Logan made a beeline for the candy. Poor guy just missed a big haul when they threw candy right after they handed him some brochures. Sweet boy he is, he turned to bring them all the way back to me instead of running for the candy.

Here's a few pics to commemorate the day. Someday, we may have a series of pictures from all the years they attend the parade, that could be fun! Someday, I'm sure one or both of them will be in the parade.

The Cheerleader and the Jock?

I was watching Sylvie sit in her Cheerleader pose and thought "wow, I wonder if she'll be a cheerleader someday!" Cheerleading involves a loud voice, a big bright smile, some rhythm and some desire to be on display. Let's say I was none of the above when I was little. But her, well, she might actually fit the bill. Especially with the loud voice. Yes, especially that voice. Boy that girl can shriek! I say let's find her an outlet for these talents and when she's big enough, make some curly bows and put her hair in a pony, let her wear some makeup and there you go, a little cheerleader in the making.

My brother and I weren't super athletic. He did some t-ball and soccer. I did some gymnastics in grade school. My sister was in swimming, but by then I was much older and didn't attend all the meets. We certainly didn't spend each weekend on the run to athletic events through my childhood. If this family heads the direction of soccer, baseball and cheerleading, it'll be a whole new adventure. We might even need a minivan. Eek! Okay, maybe not.

It is funny to think of high school aged kids in my life. Will they be in the popular crowd? Will Sylvie be dramatic and catty, always in fights with her friends, or hold them tight like she hangs on to Logan. Will Logan be cool and sweet or too quiet and doing his own thing. Will the predictions for a cheerleader and a jock come true into high school, or will they find other talents before that age. Or will they be content to hang out at home and avoid extracurriculars altogether. Will they be full of teen angst or willing to hang out and chat about life.

Who knows, but it sure is fun to think about it. Before I really have to deal with the outings, the angst, the homework projects, the friends, etc etc. Preschool is looking mighty easy now!

Playing Dollhouse

Logan: "My guy is going to school."
Me: "What's his name?"
Logan: "He doesn't like names. He doesn't have a name."
Me:"So, is he going to kindergarten, preschool or first grade?"
Logan:"He's going to Kindergarten."

Me:"Sylvie, is your princess going to to school today?"
Sylvie:"Yes!"
Me:"So, what school is your princess going to? Kindergarten or preschool?"
Sylvie:"She's going to Sunscreen school. She will get sunscreen there. And toys there. And they eat candy. And they play with lots of princess toys. And they bring special toys to school too......"and on and on about 'sunscreen school.'

These kids crack me up.:)

Where did I misplace that Chrysal Ball?

I wish life was easy to figure out. Yes, I like a bit of adventure. But yes, that's me in that picture really pissed off in the back of the blow-up raft somewhere in Mexico because I got forced to white-water river raft. No I'm not glad I did it. It's not on my life's list of things to do. The few major things on my list. Marry a man I adore. Check. Have babies I live my days for. Check. Live in a good house (to fulfill my inner designer). Check. Have friends and family. Check. See a Madonna concert. Check- yup my husband remembered that one and came through for both my 25th and 30th birthday. Awesomeness. That woman is such an amazing singer, seeing her concert will probably be on Sylvie's life's list of things to do. Her personal life, I could do without.

My job this week has been tedious ad-nauseum. On the one hand, I cannot believe I don't have the patience for more than 2 of Logan's long-winded stories, but find myself charging through the task of drawing the teeny pieces of a specialty faucet/ cradle/ handsprayer to the 64th of an inch at work. All to have it show up at about 1/4 of an inch on the paper. In plan, side elevation and top elevation. It definitely fits my obnoxious will to be perfect, my eye for detail and yeah, I'll admit it, I enjoy looking at some of these bathroom fixture websites. They are pretty:)

I think anyone who has a career right now is possibly in the position of "Settling" right now. Settling for not their favorite job, not their favorite clients, and not their favorite projects. That's life in an economic downturn. But you know what, I'm in my early 30's and this is my prime. I'm feeling strong pulls towards greatness and while my brain says "no" my mind wanders to other experiences sometimes. Not to mention working more and better-paying could help us financially which is a daily battle with paycuts and fears of layoffs.

Today I was at the park and met a woman who worked in a firm nearby and was saying if I needed a job, call her up and she'd put a good word in for me. They do schools, something I had originally wanted to do and figured I'd be doing right now. It got me thinking, barring the economy that is still in the toilet as we speak, is it time to find a big job, not just the run of the mill. part time work? I grappled with that in September when I got this job and believe me I'm not planning to quit anytime soon! But in the big picture, would working more and more intense make me and us happy? Or is being with my babies during this formative time the right option, however stressed about money we get. I think for now, the part-time gig will do. But I also don't put it past me to stumble into some great opportunity someday.

Speaking of stumbling, do you believe in the accidental meetings we have that are supposed to give us "Signs" and clues as to what path we should be following in life? Today, was meeting this woman supposed to make me think about how great it is to be part time, lead me to this new opportunity in schools, or was it really just a total random coincidence.

I think I feel a strong gut feeling sometimes. The other day the power went out and back on. It was dark across the street and I swear if Sylvie wasn't already asleep, I was *this* close to walking across the street to check on the woman over there, it seemed her power hadn't returned. But how could it not? And it was late. She could be asleep. So randomly, I got delivered her flowers and she was chatty. Her power was out, for over 2 hours and she was crying saying how scared she was. My gut was right, I should have dodged rain drops, knocked and asked if she wanted to come over, in pj's and all. How much is left to chance, how much is a connection to the world and its people around us, and how much is destiny. I need my crystal ball to help me. Has anyone seen it?

Saturday Morning

Loganisms...

Some cute things Logan has said or done of late...

Strike a Pose
On Mother's Day he found some paper swords he had made at my mom's house and was trying to get us all to use them. He said "First you hold the sword and say your superhero name." "I'm Volor!" (that seems to be the made up name he loves lately). "And then you show your 'move.'" And he struck a fighting pose. Jorge could barely contain the laughter while he came up with his own superhero name and move, and we all enjoyed Logan's drive.

Growing Up
"Mom, how old is a teenager." Me: "Thirteen is the first year you are a teenager." and we talked about all the years, how you can drive at age 16 and at age 20 you weren't a teenager, you were an adult. He was asking questions about school as well so I told him when he was an adult he could go to college and decide what he wanted to do for a job and where he wanted to live.

We're reading bedtime books and he comes out with...

"Mom, I know what I want to do for my job. When I'm an adult. I want to work at McDonald's. And I want to live right here."

Excellent plan, my man. Last week the plan was to be a Fighter Pilot.

Detective
At night, when I'm getting everything ready, one of the kids will hide their favorite Richard Scarry book and come running in to tell me we need a Detective to find it because it is lost. Then Logan will get all excited because he finds "Clues." Mom! Look! , there is a CLUE! It's dots on the floor." And eventually we find it and they decide who the bad guy was and why he took the book. It's Imagination Central around here, all the way up to Bedtime!

Engineer
"Mom, what are those?" (Empty box from pop cans) "It's Recycling, you can re-use if you would like. "YES! I have an AIRPORT!!!!" So he grabbed all kinds of things to make his new toy extra fun and made a rocket ship out of the water bottle I had hidden inside. He glues raisin boxes on the side for the "wings." He loves creating.

Globos
While I was typing this Sylvie came over devastated. Her Helium balloon from Trader Joe's had deflated and would not "float" any longer. A new concept to this 3 year old, but it reminded me of my Logan's obsession with balloons. For his second birthday everyone brought balloons! His balloon obsession was far-reaching. At age 2, he had only a few "words." "Ma" was one, "Gobo" (Globo= Balloon in spanish) was another "Boon" (Balloon) was another. That was it. The other 5 were more sounds than word attempts. We would look at books and he would flip the pages til he found the page with balloons and want me to tell him stories about that page and that page only. Then he was done. I could tell you what pages in all of our books contain balloons. His Abuelita knew exactly where to get balloons in each mall because a crisis would ensue if he saw one and did not have one of his own. Not to mention the reams of paper we used to make paper balloons with real balloon string and the game that followed where we "bought" and "sold" them to each other for real money. It was "Money for Globos" and it took over our household for months.

This is a picture of Logan on his second birthday, with the balloons, and the next morning, before I popped them all (we had this down-pat as well , slicing near the tied part with sharp scissors, for if they made noise, all heck broke loose).

My sweet boy, he's 180 degrees different at age 5 than that silly obsessed cutie pie he was at age 2.

I wonder....

if we never have a third child, if it will ever feel like the right decision. And if instead my life will fill with other wishes and hopes. Or if we will have a third if like will be 10 times more chaotic than it is now and I'll look back on these days as the "easy ones." Wish I had a crystal ball! But for now, I'm thrilled with the two imaginative, creative, happy, hilarious babies and I have, and hugging their daddy as tight as possible smiling at the wonder of what we have. Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies in my life. You make it all possible and make my kids happy.

On the eve of this Mother's Day....

This is the sixth Mother's Day where I am a mom (one when Logan was in utero). And in true form, I am running around like only a mom could. We went to the children's museum today with my mom and hung out at her house for the afternoon. I was dealt a 3 year old's massive tantrum to navigate and survived. It got pretty loud, Logan kept whining that Sylvie's shrieking was hurting her ears. Fun fun!

From 5 pm til 9 pm life has been one giant blur of cooking, eating, cleaning dishes, last- minute errands, and a very exciting art project for the moms in our lives. I am exhausted and may not clean all the legos off of the floor before bed, but it was definitely worth the full day and getting all I wanted to get done today. Poor Jorge was at work for about 10 hours now, on a Saturday! Glad we had other plans to fill our time.

Someday my mother's days will be well-thought out, neat, organized and quiet. But for now, they are crazy, getting things ready, seeing two moms and a grandma, and dealing with the kids and life because after all, even though it's a holiday, the kids still need clean clothes, wiped faces and to eat 5 or 6 times through the day. I'm sure there will be 50 or more "Mom" requests tomorrow through the day. But I don't mind. I'm a mom. That's my life and I live for it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the other moms out there. Hope the day is all you expect, but if it's not exactly what you think it'll be, try to relax and enjoy the real meaning of the holiday, being a mommy to a child who loves the heck out of you:)

Kids can be so funny!

Sylvie's new way to dry off her hands after washing them...... And it's finally warm enough for dresses and it's hotter than heck in the house so we had to get the fans out as well! The weather went from frigid to stifling. Where was spring?

Logan pilfered some little milk creamers from breakfast with his grandparents. Later that day I opened my fridge to find them like this.....

Money, Money, Money

Why must you stress me out so? Logan and Sylvie, I wish for you an adult life of wealth. But given the fact that we are your parents, I wish for you some talent or luck at the lottery! Logan, brush up those baseball skills my boy! Sylvie, keep singing and maybe American Idol is in your future. Abby, what do you think about a career in acting?

Hoping the best for the upcoming slashing of salaries and work hours to arrive in the upcoming weeks at Jorge's office. And the continual lack of work in my office.

Should I change my facebook status?

to Single? Seriously, we need an extra mom around here. So maybe someone would like to marry into this crazy family and take on 1/3 of the responsibilities.

Grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, I've got you covered. Bills, household stuff, working as many hours as is humanly possible in this economy, Jorge has you covered.

Let's see where that leaves the gaps that we've needed help lately...

A handyman- my dad has fixed toilets and basement leaks, the stuff I really don't want to pay someone to fix

A gardener- my dad has done this. And we have some landscapers that stop by sometimes

Shuttle Mom- we need a parent to either take the children to the birthday parties they seem to have every 2 weeks, or stay home with the other child who is never invited.

Dentist Mom- Coming on the 6th visit to the dentist since December just for Sylvie alone, we need someone to either accompany her to her last visit (1 hour commute each way, horrendous schedule options) or take Logan to school and back because for some reason the only option I've had is to pull him out of school and take him along.

School Meeting Mom- Someone to come to Logan's school meetings that randomly happen at times like 1:00 pm on a Thursday afternoon. Or someone to stay with the kids, because they are not invited. We have 2 of these upcoming, for L's old school and his new school. Fun times!

Preschool Graduation Mom- I need someone to work for me so I can go shed tears that my little baby boy is growing up and will probably look absolutely adorable in a construction paper graduation cap. Even with a deadline, I need to be there.

Sense of Humor....

Logan's Sense of Humor....
The wheels on the bus go "Square, Square, Square...."
The babies on the bus go "Sh, Sh, Sh"
The mommies on the bus go "Wah, wah, wah...."
The people on the bus go "Up, Up, Up...."

Sylvie's Sense of Humor......
Potty humor all the way.
(Kids laughing about nothing).... Sylvie: "I hit it with my bompes!" or "I made a puma!" (not even sure how to spell that, but it's 'butt' in spanish and "fart" in spanish. I would say it is a good thing it's in another language but there are an awful lot of people in the area who also speak spanish.

Logan's Preschool Teacher's Sense of Humor
(In light of the 'Swine Flu Pandemic), I do think it was coincidental but it did get me giggling when I found it in his school bag today, right after the big page-long note about the Swine Flu..... He did ask why I kept laughing and I explained it a bit but all he heard is that something about that pig was funny (in a good way) and keeps telling people how funny it is:)

When to stop stressing that you aren't home full time....

Me: "Tomorrow is an Abuelo and Abuelita day."
Logan: "And Daddy will drop us off?"
Sylvie: "And you go to work?"
Logan: "And Daddy goes to work?"
Me: "Yep!"
Kids: "WOO-HOO!!!!"

Makes me feel so special. I think they're more excited about me going to work tomorrow than I am!

Adventure Saturday...we met the REAL Ariel!

We had a jam-packed Saturday full of excitement and one massive tantrum. Let's run down the exciting events.

These are my sweet kids who asked nicely all week if we could go to "Burger King" to get a Sponge Bob kids meal toy. We planned it, and went and here they are all sweet and happy waiting anxiously for the glorious Bob toys as the entire store is decked out in images of Bob himself. Alas, this darn Burger King is King of false advertising as we got some dumb Nickelodeon toys instead. Poor kids, they were so heartbroken. When the line died down I spoke with someone and he glanced through the box with kids meal bags and nope, no sponge bob's left. Guess what, this was the second time this happened at this particular burger king. So wrong. And what's crazy is they were out of control, understaffed and couldn't handle the lunch crowd at all. There was crazy beeping all over the kitchen and no one taking orders, he was running back making food too!!!! What a mess.

The McDonald's right next door has their act together. Also, I'm a bit miffed that the kids' meals price adds up pretty quickly because the mac and cheese is extra and the apples are extra and their grilled chicken sandwich is one of the priciest things on the menu. Let's just say we could have gone to Denny's for the same price! And I could have made Kraft Mac and Cheese without sponge bob toys at home for much less!





















We got to go to a kids' party where the REAL Ariel made an appearance! Sylvie was sooo nervous! She held onto that purse and a few of the Bdaygirl's fashion dolls the entire time. She was quite relieved when Ariel came to sing for us, played "Hot Potato" with a tiara, and generally was sweet and fun. We all pushed our stay a bit too long because it was downpouring, but the rain stopped and we headed home. Very ready.

"Mom, what's in Sylvie's hand? Why does she have BdayGirl's toys?"
"Sylvie, I told you we had to leave those there! Well, as soon as we go home, we're mailing them back to BdayGirl."
"No!"
Take them away at home, put into an envelope....
"They are MINE!!! I WANT THEM...." and continue the whining and crying and drama and carrying on for the next 20 minutes and then on and off for the rest of the evening. Oh my! We had talks about how it's not nice, BdayGirl misses her toys, etc. But reasoning with a 3 year old is next to impossible. Logan finally settled her down for good. He was talking to her and came back to inform me...

"Mom, Sylvie is done crying now. I told her we will get her the same toys for her birthday." and went back to play.

Mazes and Modern Development

Modern Development- Did you ever notice that if you live in a wealthy community, everything around you is more expensive, whereas if you live in a lower-level of income area, there are bargains to be had? Obvious but pretty prevalent when you start looking around.

A few things came to my attention lately:
-A new development near us in a very expensive neighborhood contains a Lifetime Fitness and lots of high-end shopping. Including a Kohler Spa. I was over there for a kids' bday party and was shocked at how many high-end things were there amidst the high-end houses, high-end streetlights, and high-end public landscaping.

-Driving along Harlem Avenue (Route 45), a major north-south arterial, you can tell what community you are in by what stores are on Harlem. I was a bit jealous of some of the lower-income areas that had cheaper grocery stores, Family Dollar Stores, Cardinal Fitness (cheaper workout facilities), etc etc. Not so jealous of the junky gas stations, roads that need repair, or falling apart buildings, but still, being closer to cheap shopping for essentials would be nice to lower that monthly shopping bill! We aren't even really close to a SuperWalmart or Meijer or anything, and we're not a "high end community."

-One of the major local grocery chains is lowering their prices. I was all excited and read the comments in the tribune online. So many people said the store is a rip-off and suggested alternate stores for groceries, none of which is within 25 minutes of here. Go figure! Anyway, they were also saying that the pricing seemed to differ tremendously from store to store depending on their location. I have shopped in Indiana and let me tell you, we're getting ripped off on everything here in Chicagoland!!!!

Mazes
I bought a friend a birthday present of a book of mazes by Kumon and couldn't resist getting one for my kids as well. We have a few workbooks of different brands from last summer that are almost gone. My favorite brand is "Big Skills, Little Hands." Logan's teacher suggested keeping up with cutting and tracing skills last summer, so we got these books and both kids love them. They were from Cotsco or Sam's club. So my assessment of the Kumon books is to get them cheap. I saw them at a bookstore for $14 or so. I got them at Target for $6.95. Huge difference! I also like the way the "Big Skills" books have tear-out pages and Kumon's didn't tear well.

But....the mazes are way too cool! How does one get a job doing this?

Sigh....

I grabbed the magazine we get from the University of Washington and came across some photos that made me feel like I was just punched in the stomach. It made me miss Seattle so bad, and be so grateful for my time there. It's not just that I want to visit again, though that would be nice (and expensive), but I miss being immersed in this place. The green, the hills, the mountains, the air, the water, the people, the university culture, all of it. It's like a piece of me is missing and I'll probably always feel that way. When we were there, I missed Chicago. How do people move to many different places and not feel like they left a piece of themselves behind?

Spike Mattford took a year and climbed onto the roof of Safeco Tower (UW Tower) and took these photos over a year's time. Gorgeous.

http://www.spikemafford.com/newwork/viewsfromthetop/

What $42,000 worth of damage to your yard looks like...

Looks kinda scary to me!

Lego Mania

Zach, Zach, he's a lego maniac........

Saturday was a full and busy day going to a wedding for a friend. Sunday Logan woke up, plopped down on the floor with his box of legos and didn't stop creating until I made him go to bed! He always makes neat things, but he would start telling us what he was going to make and then sit and figure out how to make it work. He kept trying to make things with moving parts.

This is my favorite. He calls it a Robot and I love that Spiderman is on the top in a special compartment in the head of the robot.
























Sylvie woke up and decided to learn today. She practiced cutting complex shapes, drawing, gluing, and wanted me to write words for her. We made a little paper dog bed and toys for the dog, and she cut the dog out herself! When she saw me taking pictures of Logan's creation, she set up all of her favorite amigos for me to take pictures of:



















Conversations in the last minutes while I was typing this:

Sylvie: "I need somebody to pwaaaay with me!" (play)

Logan: "Mom, can I have some more broccoli? Mmmm, mom this is so good (smacking his lips)" (had to run over and give it to him before he changed his mind. He's on round 2 of dinner. Maybe a growth spurt is on the horizon!)

Backyard Climbers

I had a swingset growing up and I know how wonderful they can be. It seems every house in America has one nowadays, often the wooden variety. We have a smaller yard with lots of trees, so we have decided that the nice grassy area is better for running games of soccer than a big ol' gymset. Plus, we have a park practically in sight from our house with a big climber and swings.

Today I saw the Toys R Us ad and I have to say I'm impressed by the direction the designs are taking. I have seen a trampoline with a jumping bar on one set, rock climbing walls have been out for awhile. But the "playhouse" portion of the typical wooden set has usually been a tarp over the top. Which wears out. And then the wood on the set fades and it looks like it needs upkeep (at least to me). My neighbors did use a blue stain and their gymset looks adorable and fresh. These new ones have little playhouse-looking tops. And they are really cute! Not that I want one, just happy to see what I consider fun designs going up in the backyards across America:)

Good Night, Good Morning

The kids have been so animated at bedtime and hilarious, dancing and acting out the stories we read. The other day Sylvie unbuttoned her shirt to make it like a cape to be the boy in "No David" and then they were using blankets as capes and then Sylvie put the blanket on her head and walked around saying "Who turned the Lights out?!" I keep wishing I had my camera, so I thought to grab it. Of course it ran out of battery and cut my movie short, but I think it's a cute little interaction between the two kids. Logan is asking about and pointing to the "Star" drawn on the wall if you can't make out the word he is saying. My favorite from this book is what I was trying toget her to say. She says "Who stole the tootie from the tootie jar." (cookie) when David tries to get the cookie jar. Too adorable. Darn running out of batteries camera. Er, darn user for not remembering to charge them:)

Logan is in the habit of bringing alllllll of his friends down and up each morning and night. I couldn't snap fast enough to get them in his arms, but it's quite hilarious. And Sylvie just wanted to say "Good Morning" to her friends in the camera.