Kids at the Park

These amazing photos were taken by Grandpa Faiola. They came up and took care of the kids for a a night so Chris and I could do an overnight date to California for a friend's party.

Jamisen has turned into quite a little dare devil; grandpa Faiola was astounded to see Jamisen's developmental progress since the last time they were at that park together.

Lily loves to do anything that Jamisen does and just follows him along everywhere. They are the best of friends.

Anyone that knows our family in the slightest, slightest bit knows that I think sugar is poison (no really and truly, I believe that with all of my heart). Sugar is limited in our house hold as is junk food or processed food.  Lily found my Xylitol based gum in my car (primer: xylitol has some research showing it helps to clean out your teeth in between brushings and inhibit bacterial growth, thus preventing cavities). She naturally wanted a piece. I gave her one. She of course, swallowed it.

Later, she said to me, "Mama, I want more gum! I want another piece of gum." Jamisen looked up and appeared rather puzzled, asking, "Mama, what's gum?" I'm not going to lie; my heart leapt with pride. He's almost five and doesn't even know what gum is (!). That said, xylitol based gum is probably something I should introduce to my kids. After all, if it's something I do for my health, I should do it for them too!

We're trying to figure out what we're doing with Lily and school next year. We know we want to put her in Montessori school but she has such a strong bond with her teacher at Hillcrest that we hate to break them up.

But, keeping her in school at Hillcrest for 2 days a week also seems like overkill (that's five days of school for her and it totally messes up the nanny schedule too) so we're trying to figure out what we're doing that is best for Lily, the family schedule and the needs of the nanny (he needs enough hours to stay with our family.

Baby Alise is growing up so quickly too. She's starting to talk a bit is super mobile now. Shout-out to Grandma and Grandpa Renoud who gave Jamisen the hat that Alise is wearing in the photo above. It's gotten a lot of love from multiple kids and still looks awesome. =)

Grandpa Faiola took Jamisen to the electricity museum. Jamisen LOVED it. Grandpa reports that he was very polite and interested in everything at the museum. He came away with an intense curiosity about all things electrical and quite a momento, courtesy of Grandpa. His plasma light globe has a place of honor in his room and it sure is cool when all the lights are turned off. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for coming up and taking care of the kiddos!

We Caught Two Leprechauns!

 

Our little karmic torpedoes are penance and payment for every transgression

Chris may have committed when he was younger. I lay it all at his feet since all I hear from my Mother is what an angel I was and I have heard some doozies of stories about Chris as a toddler. =) Two plus two clearly equals reality ...

We have been having some INSANE wind storms around here - like crazy gusts that cause the water in front o fus to turn into a foamy sea of white instead of a dark, green blue sea. Chris said to me the other day, "Wow, those waves are so big!" and Jamisen called out "Daddy, those are not waves. They are whitecaps!"  You know you're a PNW baby when you can tell the difference in classes of waves.

Our little leprechaun sprite (code named: Lily) is growing so much in her imagination and play acting centers. She will spend at least 5 minutes at a time playing with her two Ducky Luckies (one of them is a dog toy that I'm pretty sure we stole from her cousin Sammy). They are two worn, well-loved duckies (one of whom squeaks ... thus the dog toy suspicious). Lily makes up entire story lines for them both where they play, hit eachother, wrestle, kiss and go on adventures. I've also caught her doing this with two pieces of string cheese. Her creativity knows no bounds.

The other leprechaun pictured (code named: Jamisen) remains his sister's best protector. Just today, we heard him calling from the living room, "Mama! Glass! Lily, this is a NO GO ZONE! A No Go Zone!! NO WALKING!" and when I ran in, found him bodily blocking off the area with a broken Christmas bulb, both arms wide and legs in a wide stance. Why was there a Christmas bulb four months after the holidays nearby to be broken? That is an enduring mystery right up there with the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

 

In school right now, Jamisen is learning his numbers and comes home with many tracing papers full of numbers and just starting to learn sounds. He so badly wants to read, and asserts proudly that he is 'reading' whenever he finishes sentences of books he has clearly memorized.

Lily is loving boundary testing lately. Just today, she took two bites of her (veggie) hot dog and threw three pieces across the floor. When I promptly put her in time out and asked if she knew why she had thrown the hot dog, she proclaimed, "Because I wanted to get put in time out!" and when I questioned why she would want to be put in time out, she looked puzzled but was happy to agree that she had wanted attention and that's why she threw the hot dog. And then, in her time out, she managed to disrobe, pull her diaper off and throw it across the room. I imagine she was thinking something like: "So, take that! You give me time out? I will wreck havoc in the 6 inches you have put me in!" If she could have stamped her foot, she would have.

Photo credits of the little sweet leprechauns in green to Grandpa Faiola.

Little Karmic Torpedos

Our little kiddos are growing so fast. Lily's emotional grasp is growing by leaps and bounds daily. She ascribes feelings to the deer in our yard now, "I think they're missing their brothers and Mommies; the Mamas are not going to come back" when she sees lone baby deer in our yard, for example. She also loves to be a big helper and is really grasping the concept that she can be useful. It doesn't mean she happily cleans up after dinner but she's starting to get the concept.

Our kiddos love play dough (so much!). It's fun to see their creativity really blossom. Jamisen is especially good at creating the things that he sees on the boxes. He concentrates impressively for his tasks.

Despite that concentration, it's not quite enough for the adults in the house to do any actual work. The other day I had some documents I needed to focus on for work so I gave the kids iPads (aka: electronic babysitters) so I could focus-focus for twenty straight minutes. And before you think that putting the kids down with play dough or a book gives me 20 straight minutes of focus time, you'd be wrong; they still require supervision and active parenting. After about 15 minutes of playing quietly with the iPads on games, Jamisen looked up and said, "Mama, we're playing too much games." I agreed with him and he turned to Lily and said, "Lily, close the iPad, we're done."

The kids got to go to the MALL for the first or second time in their lives the other day. What a treat! They got Orange Julius Strawberry shakes (the lowest sugar option they had) and loved running up and down the hallways of the mall. Of course, I couldn't quit looking for danger around every corner with every baggy pant'ed youth walking by in a big coat; the hazards of modern life.

Behold, one of Jamisen's proud Play Dough creations - a beautiful pizza!

The days are getting longer and the rain is staying away for multiple hours at a time so we are thrilled to get more playground time. Even with 2 hours at this playground, the kids did not fall asleep earlier than usual; the Faiola Renoud kids are the energizer bunnies of the toddler world.

Jamisen continues to figure out the power of commerce. At least once a week, he sets up a full station selling passer-bys random food packets (bananas, snack packs etc.)

Chris and I had a great night at the Boys & Girls Bingo night. Both of our companies sponsored table and our respective teams came and played bingo (which is surprisingly fun and fast paced if you play with multiple cards). We so rarely get date nights that even though we were sitting at different tables, it was still super fun. PS - I made the nail polish on my fingers there (green and gold for St. Patrick's Day!). =)

Book Launch & Grandpa Winston Visits

A big thank you to my family for coming out to support my book launch party for Pure Soapmaking and for the support all the way through the book writing process. The event was well attended and it was thrilling to have soapmakers from as far as Oregon come. My parents got me the most amazing flower arrangement (ever). It was larger than Jamisen with multiple Bird of Paradise and a lovely banner (yes, it was big enough for a banner). It was so nice to have Cousin Alise and Erik and Cheriss and Grandpa Winston come to the party too. The book has already sold 12,000 copies so that's super exciting and we're thrilled about the success. 

  

The other day, we were all driving in the car and Lily was jabbering, singing and talking at the top of her teensy tiny lungs. Her teensy tiny lungs have quite a lot of talking and singing noise capacity though, making it virtually impossible to carry on any sort of conversation. Chris said to Lily, "Wow, you have a lot to say." To which Lily replied, quite happily and decisively, "I have a lot of power!" And then, fell asleep no less than 42 seconds later.

 

Jamisen received this awesome NASA space suit from Uncle Weston and Aunt Anna for Christmas and he very much enjoys dressing up in it. It's amazing; he's almost outgrown it!

Grandpa Winston visited for dinner and we loved having him visit. He has a large capacity for reading and the patience of someone who has raised 8 children.

The kids enjoyed being extra silly with him, showing him their bouncy house and building blocks with him. Grandpa Winston was there for full bedtime routine, including the always fun 6:45 to 7:30 time period of brushing teeth and 'But, I'm hungry' delaying tactics. It was great to have his gentle support during that point in the night and the kids loved having him visit.

Our little silly kiddos are way into making forts out of anything and everything. They made a 'fort' by draping a blanket over Lily's Pack 'n' Play crib (still her preferred bed of choice) and designed a very elaborate game involving multiple entry points, steps and ways to dive into the fort.

This is Lily's favorite teacher, Jana (pronounced Zjhana) from Hillcrest. Lily has gone from crying and dreading being dropped off to running into teacher Jana's arms and barely even acknowledging that we're still in the room and walking out. It's such a relief to have her loving school and being delighted to be there.

Houses Come in Pairs

We are SO excited; Erik and Cheriss have found their dream house and their dream property. They move in just a few weeks and we can't wait to be there to celebrate with them. The photo above is us touring their full five acres. They have TWO ponds, a hot tub, a sauna and a beautiful idyllic property very close to Grandma and Grandpa Faiola's dream house property. They deserve the amazing space to raise their perfect toddler girl, Alise =)  Congratulations to amazing Uncle Erik and Aunty Cheriss.

Lily loves her Grandpa Faiola and his endless patience for reading. Grandpa and Jamisen are also starting to get their science on and do experiments together. It makes me happy to see this relationship building with both kiddos. Grandma Faiola's waffle tradition is what the kids most closely identify their Grandma with right now.

  Isn't Jamisen the epitome of 'cool' in this photo? =) Lily has started growing attached to 'things' now. It's really surprising since Jamisen didn't find a baby blanket he loved but Lily has two very specific blankets she adores. They are from our good friend Monique and she originally sent a pink one when Lily was born. But, when the house blew up, we thought her pink blanket was a goner so Monique sent the kids brand new blankets. It turns out Lily's blanket could be saved (albeit, not quite as fuzzy as before). Lily's new blanket is gray and she loves both of the colors equally. She insists of having them when she sleeps and will cry and ask for them until she gets them. I'm not sure how I feel about this but for now, we've got the blankets and they're a 'thing' in her life. 

Nanny McKenna is still the main nanny for our household. She has turned into a house manager in her almost five years with our family. We are so thankful that she has stayed with us as the kids have grown up and has continued to take more of a leadership role with keeping the household running smoothly. She is excited about adding piano lessons to Jamisen's life as he gets older because she is a concert-level piano player and loves to teach classes. We are all excited about that!

Jason rarely gets pictures on the family blog and he is an important part of our lives. He takes care of the kids on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He's a circus performer, has his Masters Degree in Family Systems Therapy and also taught preschool for five years. He has a lot of creative ideas that he loves to do with the kids from art to dress-up to hide and go seek and more. The kids love him and are always thrilled when they know his days are coming.

Our friend Esther visited and brought the kids candy (yay for Minions banana gross sugary things) and books. She loves reading to them and is so thoughtful in how she interacts with them. We're lucky to have a huge group of friends in our lives that care about our kiddos.

We have a great Children's Museum in town and the kids spent over 3 hours there last weekend. Jamisen loved the dress up corner and transformed himself into a Wizard.

The other day, Chris came home with a quickly passing idea of buying a home he saw for a rental home. As we were discussing it, Jamisen, who was reading quietly close by, piped up, "That is a good idea. That way, if our house explodes again, we can move into that other house!" My heart alternatively broke and leapt at the same time; broke because 4 year olds shouldn't have to think of that kind of thing but leapt because he is such a logical, smart little thinker that is planning for the future.  We'll see how this home explosion affects him in a couple decades; will he always believe that houses need to come in pairs?

We STILL have the kiddo's Gingerbread Houses, taking up space in our pantry. Lily actually  managed to bite a piece off of her wall the other day but it was so hard that I was worried she would crack a tooth. Tooth is intact; hypoglycemic index spiked. That's what we call a success.

Chris got the kids Valentine's Day cards. They were SO excited. They jumped up and down and squeaked as they opened their cards. It was adorable.  Jamisen is starting to recognize letters (and draw them) and asked what each word said with a magnitude of joie de vivre that belied how much he was actually trying to read.

Lily is our happy little monkey-see, monkey-do. She saw her Daddy stretching his quads and glutes and wanted in on the action. She is the most sweet, cute and happy second child we could have ever hoped to have. She makes us laugh daily with her antics and her sass.

Jamisen really got into this art project; we made dyed shaving cream and let the kids paint the shower and tub. The water was black when the kiddos got out of the tub and they both needed a serious rinsing but it was a hit for an art project and great for a variety of lessons (color blending, fine motor skills, counting).

Rotten Eggs in my Face

We are so happy that spring and the sun is coming! Kiddos are happy and are playing in the yard more. Of course, there are giant piles of deer poop all around but we'll work that out eventually =)

We even have been eating some outside. Above, Lily has spilled her giant Blueberry Kefir on the table and is contemplating licking it up from the table. She actually tried and got the kefir all over her adorable Patagonia jacket (sob). Thank goodness those jackets are washable! =)

 

Chris is busy training for his next marathon and is logging the miles. He is consistent and steady in his training. 

The piranha deer are BACK in the yard (as evidenced by the deer poop). We have such a beautiful yard so it's tough to see them using it as a salad bar. I also don't love that they are VERY big and powerful animals around my very small, tiny, adorable children. So, I have spent MANY hours spraying all of the plants with a mixture of rotten eggs and cayenne. It is horrid smelling and gets all over me when I'm spraying it. I also put out electronic shockers in areas the deer walk through and tried some subsonic sound things. Those got wet and fell over so they're drying out right now. Maybe I need a mini umbrella for them ...? The shock and awe campaign has helped and the deer trespass but are munching less. Let's hope it stays that way.

The kids took a four week Superhero class at the Y and LOVED it. I saw huge improvements in Jamisen's interaction with the other kids and teachers from the last class a year ago where he mostly hugged the wall. Lily just jumped in, literally, head first and had an amazing time. Both kids were better behaved than almost all the other kids there - and that is with Lily being the youngest by 8 months.

 

Sister in Law Cheriss and I have been meeting at the gym on the weekends ... and by 'have been meeting', I mean, 'have done it twice; yay us!'. While we're there, the cousins play in the children's area (a bargain at $5 for 2 hours). Lily really likes having Alise there to help take care of and feel useful. It's adorable. 

The funniest thing happened a few days ago. Lily got a heart straw for Valentine's Day from her school. Jamisen did not get any presents from his school. Do the math; two kids, one straw. Of course, there was drama around sharing. No straw was as good as the heart straw. Sharing was fraught with tears, crying and screaming. Lily did not want to share. She lorded the straw over Jamisen at points and generally, pushed her brother's buttons. Jamisen reacted poorly. Finally, Chris had enough of the whining and screaming and put Jamisen over his shoulder to carry him upstairs for some calm down time. And what does our little Lily do? She LEAPS off the bench, screaming, "DON'T TAKE MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!" and tears off at a full sprint after Chris and Jamisen. By the time I caught up with her, I found her determinedly plodding up the stairs, with tears streaming down her cheeks, stating, "Don't take Jamisen. Don't take Jamisen. Don't take Jamisen." It was sweet ... and clearly at the age of 2, she sees no irony in her behavior, before or after the time out.

Three Questions ... with Lily

Lily is 2 1/2 years old and just a little happy spitfire. She has SO much personality and is quick to laugh, quick to cry, and quick to forgive. She is fiercely protective of her brother, literally jumping on us when we try to brush Jamisen's teeth or put him in time out.

She is also quite devilish when it comes to torturing her big brother. Right now, the most common way to do it is by stealing whatever he is playing with and running someplace else very quickly. Right now, her brother mostly just sits there and yells and waits for a parent to step in but Lily, you just wait ... when he figures out he can run faster than you, you're in for some trouble. =)

The three questions with Lily:

What is your favorite color: Silver

What do you want to be when you grow up: Fireman 

What is the meaning of life? "Open the door."

Tonight, she got a candy for Valentine's from her school. Now, the rule is, you can have the candy after you eat something of nutritional value. She insisted on holding her sucker. I told her that was fine as long as she ate her food and didn't lick the sucker. So, she didn't lick the sucker. She swiped the dry sucker over her lips in a line, stuck out her tongue, licked her lips, and did it again. And thus she figured out how to technically not BREAK the letter of the law but clearly not comply with the spirit of the law.

We love our adventuresome, fierce, funny, kind, and feisty little girl.