Welcome, 2010

A few days ago we drove up to a sno-park on Mt. Baker to take another crack at snowshoeing. See any snow? No? Me neither. That was about the longest drive we've ever taken for a cup of hot chocolate. We had a quiet, lovely Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, we (Mitch) even ironed napkins and a tablecloth and got out of our pjs and gussied up for a fancy five course dinner. Well, except for Jack, who slung a necktie around his "Dwight Schrute is my homeboy" t-shirt. But good for him for trying!

Here is our tree before the carnage of Christmas morning. Notice the paper angel at the top?

Here is my tree topper:

Several years ago I saw it in a magazine and made Mitch drive me to the mall on the Saturday before Christmas so I could run into the Pottery Barn and buy it, because I loved it so, and it has graced the top of our tree ever since. Mitch loves to reminisce about that day in the parking lot, because he loved it so. Anyway, Grace made me an angel because she's crafty like that, and insisted I put it at the top of the tree:

Who needs that dumb Pottery Barn ornament anyway. *sniff*

The only really awful thing to happen over the holiday was that we had to say goodbye to Charlie and Lola, or shoot Henry and Grace up with drugs to combat their allergies. It took us a long time to find them a home that we thought was suitable for them, but I think they'll be happy enough. I miss my daily dead rodent offerings, however.

This little girl cried all day. Fortunately, Christmas Eve was the next day, which helped take her mind off it. We also wrapped Jack up in plastic wrap to keep ourselves amused. Sorry, environment!

The beautiful and talented Nora spent a day making cookies with us.

Wishing you a very Happy 2010!

W-w-w-winter F-f-f-fun

We took the kids out of school and headed to the Wenatchee national forest for some snowshoeing and winter fun. We've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books with the girls and were billing this as "Pioneer Weekend". Mitch rented a forest service cabin right on the river. Unfortunately, it was only 9 degrees when we got there and the only heat source was a little wood stove. Look, you can actually see the kids' breath while they waited for the stove to heat up! You can also see how anxious Seamus was for one of the kids to get up so he could take their spot.

When they saw the um, facilities, and realized that they had to unfreeze the toilet lid from the seat in the outhouse, the girls cried foul at the boys' luck in having penises that they could shoot off the porch. Did I mention we're a classy family? To cheer them up, I handed out some treats.

Finally, Olivia could stand it no longer and had her daddy take her to the outhouse and Seamus wasted no time in keeping her spot warm.

About this time, the river, which was completely frozen over, had an ice break or something and trees and water began flooding right up to the house, Mitch coolly collected dog and children into the car while I began tidying up. Yes. I'm extremely competent in an emergency situation. The ice finally broke and the water was able to flow again, so we ended up staying. It was actually a pretty fun evening. The kids made their own tv shows and if Mitch and I didn't like them, we would click the pretend remote and they changed their story. And we had plenty of wine.

The next day there was still not enough snow for snowshoeing or sledding, but the kids played with ice. Henry exclaimed that he hadn't felt his feet for two days and Seamus was shivering uncontrollably, so we left a day early. I know! We're totally awesome at being pioneers.

Shopping

We have a tradition of sending each kid into the Dollar Store with their own money and one parent to buy a gift for each family member. It's usually pretty hilarious what they pick, and since everything is only a buck, they get free reign to pick anything they think the receiver would like. Their styles are vastly different, though.

Jack goes in by himself and comes out 3.5 minutes later, mourning the loss of his dollars but not his time. He's a busy middle schooler, for crying out loud, and has texts to make and his ipod to mess with.

Henry is thoughtful, but doesn't buy the cats anything. He also gets Jack the worst gift he can find him. He is embarrassed picking out girl stuff, but he usually gets the girls something along they're lines of interest.

Olivia is like a mini Jack, throwing stuff randomly into her basket so she can be done. The exception is when picking out gifts for the pets. She spends a long time pondering what she thinks they might like, and usually ends up getting them each two things.

Grace is the worst. She wants everyone to have the perfect gift, and at the Dollar Store, that's pretty much impossible. It takes at least an hour of putting stuff back and contemplating each selection's value to the recipient. For her dad, she really wanted something special and it was kind of driving me crazy, because, hello, the Dollar Store? Ick. Anyway, to hurry things along I suggested a daily calendar of trivia. "No, Dad doesn't need that. He already knows everything." This went on and on until she settled on two things, but obsessed all the way home that he wouldn't like them.

Then they pick out their own wrapping paper and wrap all their gifts with no help. Let's just say it's a good thing I buy scotch tape by the case from Costco.

December already

Yin and Yang. Jack and Anthony before the big Thansgiving feast. Gerry kept calling Olivia "Stephanie", and she was getting ticked off, so I believe it was Grandpa that told her she wouldn't get in trouble if she gave him the Curtin Salute the next time he did it. The opportunity presented itself right in the middle of dinner. I think Gerry was more delighted than anybody that a six year-old in ringlets flipped him off. Here are some of the cousins showing Grandpa his favorite hand gesture:

Just keepin' it classy. The kids know that being with Grandpa, anything goes, but once we're back home, you know, there's rules and stuff.

And now it's December and we've started our holiday traditions. My least favorite is making the annual gingerbread house. I spend half the day making and rolling out dough and melting little candies into stained glass for the windows. This year wasn't too bad, though. It's supposed to be Rapunzel's Tower, but her hair got eaten or something.

While the kids were busy decorating, Mitch set up the Christmas tree. This year, he and Henry just brought one home, rather than all of us going up to the mountains and picking out a spindly, crappy tree and getting in fights and freezing our nuts off. Yay for new traditions!

And isn't it a beauty?

While I was off refilling my wine getting a glass of water, Jack took my spot on the couch where Mitch and I like to relax and watch the kids do all the work. Ha. Ha. So. Funny.

Saturday was the annual picture with Santa, and Jack was beyond thrilled to be a part of it.

I'm sorry I haven't written more. I've got carpal tunnel and basically have to type everything with my left hand right now. And I'm lazy.

You'd better be good for goodness sake

Henry no longer believes in Santa. The past few weeks, he's brought it up several times, questioning the logistics of such a far-fetched story. I didn't want his doubts to creep into the girls' imaginations, so I sent Mitch to have the talk with Henry last night. Mitch is way better at stuff like that, because I'm all, "boohooI'mlosingmybabygoodbyechildhoodblahblahblah". They were in Henry's room for quite some time talking about the "magic of Santa" vs. the reality, and keeping the magic alive for the girls. After it was over, Henry came and snuggled under my arm with a grin on his face.

"I feel so much better, now," he said. "I didn't like the idea of Santa spying on me all the time".

Grrrrrrrrreat.

Nine

Henry turned nine yesterday. Usually in these birthday posts, I add photos of the kids when they were little, but I couldn't find any of Henry that didn't have a bruise, stitches, broken limb, or giant bandage, and it made me look like a bad mom, so here's Henry at 9. Oh, look! He's holding the Swiss Army Knife we got him for his birthday. It seems some people never learn.

Birthday pie with a pipe cleaner crown made by Grace, with the words "YADHTRIB YPPAH" spelled out. Mitch and I took him out of school for lunch at the local pizza place, and you can see by the look on his face that the pizza was absolutely delicious.

He still lets me hug and kiss him in front of his friends. He's funny and sensitive and is delighted when others misbehave. He still doesn't like sleepovers or boxed mac n' cheese or chickens. He loves eggs, Chipotle Tobasco sauce, homemade mac n'cheese, homemade pizza, and steel cut oatmeal.

Woo hoo! Secret club. Be on the lookout for naked pics coming soon! Or not. Whatever. Riveted, yet?

Countdown

Getting ready to go march in the Coupeville Halloween Parade.

How hilarious is my little Sad Clown Oil Painting boy? Here he is a few days after recovering from the probable Swine Flu. Can you guess his costume? No? He's Rambozo, duh.

Below is my beautiful little vampire. She's hundreds of years old, but forever stuck in a child's body. How do you like what we've done with the front yard?

And finally, Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Sucker Wolf:

Jack and I aren't dressed up. Jack's way too cool for that kind of tomfoolery now, and I had no time to get a costume together after two weeks taking care of sick kids. We're having a little Halloween shindig tonight, and my costumes of Clorox Wipes or Purell didn't come together in time, so I'll probably be a lame-ass witch (insert hi-larious joke here about how I won't need a costume at all).

Milestones

My boy is on the verge of turning 9. Which, to me is no longer a little boy. Soon, he'll start talking back and wanting privacy, but for now he's still 8, and still kisses and hugs me goodbye in front of his classroom. And when I settle down in a chair and yell out, "I'm open for a snuggle!", he's usually the first to come running (the girls come running a little later, if they're not too busy playing Polly Pockets, and Jack usually just snorts like I've just told a joke). On school days, I don't allow tv or video games, so Henry is learning to knit, and he's getting really good at it. Pants apparently aren't required to make a scarf.

My youngest baby lost her first tooth. This is our last "first tooth". Excuse me, I need to go console myself with a piece of Halloween candy now.

Nov. 1 will be the last day before I make the blog private. Nothing happened, the kids are just not wanting me to put everything out there any more*, and there's so much I want to post about (for me, the blog is more a journal than anything else). This way, I can post what I want. I'm hoping to write more often. Thanks for sending me your email addresses.

*Except for Grace. She wants own blog and her name in lights.

It's the end of the blog as we know it, and I feel fine

I'm quitting publishing this blog publicly. I will probably update now and then, so if you would like to continue to check in, please leave me a message with your email address so you can access. It's been fun!

Toodles...

Edit: Send your email address to: coupevillechronicles@yahoo.com (I will keep it private) if you want to continue to access Coupeville Chronicles. Thanks.

Fancy

I was never one to go for ostentatious accoutrements when it comes to home decorating. Once, while driving through a little town near the Grand Coulee dam, I saw a trailer that had some giant stone lions such as these outside the front door. I giggled about it all day. I couldn't tell if it was ironic or sincere, but I didn't really want to know, either.


Anyway, I hope you like our version of lions guarding the entry:

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hello? Is this thing on? Now that I have all this free time you would think I would pay more attention to you, internet, but I've been ignoring you. I'm jerky that way. So. We're all still alive here in our little corner of the world. Everybody's been adjusting to their new schedules pretty well. Jack is, anyway. He slipped into his school suit like he had just been wearing it yesterday, leaving important notes in the bottom of his backpack, spending the afternoons fiddling with his ipod doing his homework, and generally being pretty cheerful (you know, for a teenager). This year he is taking a math class over in the high school. With high school students. Some of them are even old enough to vote and buy cigarettes. Not that I've thought about that or anything. He's also begun selling eggs to neighbors and whatnot, but he doesn't have a big customer base yet, so this weekend he's going to try pimping out his cute sisters and sending them around town with a wagon full of eggs. He's promised them riches beyond their wildest dreams, or enough money to buy a Polly Pocket if they sell all the eggs.

Henry is happy with his teacher this year, plus he has buddies in his class. He spends most of his afternoons reading as kind of a defense against the onslaught of stimulation that being in a class with 28 kids all day brings. He even had hot lunch once, but there was bacon, and I think bacon is the only thing that could get him to eat school food. I went and ate lunch with him this week. I noticed he set his lunch box right in front of his face so he couldn't see across the table. Then, a bunch of third grade boys began slurping bbq sauce off their trays with straws. "Now you know why I eat with my lunch box in front of my face", he explained.

Grace is adjusting as well as Jack. She's making friends, happy, and excited to go to school. Last night we had an Open House/Ice Cream Social to meet their teachers and she was ticked off at me because I wouldn't let her bring an extra pair of shoes to change into. "I have to wear my fancy jewelled shoes because they go with my jewel dress, but I might want to play on the playground, so I'll need to bring my mary janes so I can run." Seriously. Those words left her mouth. I don't know where she gets it.

Olivia is having a bit of a hard time. Wearing shoes and clothes all day and also being nice is taking a toll. By the time we've driven the two miles home, she's ripped her ponytail out and taken her shoes. She's usually in her pjs before the others have even unpacked their backpacks. It's funny, because she's the boss around here, generally always gets her way because everyone is afraid of her (except me), but at school she is the opposite. Very shy and reserved, and relies heavily on Grace to navigate the social waters for her. Unlike Henry, they love hot lunch AND riding the bus.

I too, am slowly starting to adjust. I spend most of last week pretty wrecked, and am slightly ashamed to say I took the dog for lots of walks on the trail that goes past the playground so I could spy. Mostly, I miss their noise. I'm keeping busy, though, getting closets organized and getting rid of stuff. Blahblahblah. Whatever.

Seamus-the-long-suffering-dog has it the worst, though. Not only does he miss the kids and whines at the window all day, we've decided to let the kittens come live in the house. They got spayed/neutered and their shots, and now they're inside telling him what's what. It's just a trial period, though. One pee or poop inside or one paw on my kitchen counter and it's back to the garage...No, I'm serious. Really. I'm tough. You don't want to mess with me, even if you do have dumb kitten faces.

Busy

8:50 am Kate drops kids off at school.

8:51 Kate takes dog for four mile walk. Dog pees 26 times.

9:55 Kate cleans kitchen

10:20 Kate looks at shoes online

10:26 am

*twiddles thumbs*

School!

First day picture, and I even had my act together enough to get Jack in on the photo this year, despite the ungodly hour he leaves for school. They picked out their own clothes, and I was shocked to see Olivia come down the stairs in a skirt. Since she's basically spent the last three months in underwear and a tank top (or shorts on special occasions), I almost didn't recognize her. I wept when I walked into their room (that I had just helped them clean yesterday), however. I think Grace tried on every outfit she's owned since we moved in here, and tossed it on the floor. You may notice that Olivia isn't wearing shoes in this picture. I'm not sure how the teacher is going to get her to keep her shoes on during the day. I don't know how I gave birth to a child who hates shoes. Jack installed his contact lenses in record time, and the morning went rather smoothly, despite my last minute flurry of internet shopping to calm my nerves (free shipping at l'occitane!).

Mitch got Henry settled in his portable classroom while I helped the girls. His report: four boys have pierced ears in his class, and he really liked his teacher.

Olivia did not approve the picture I took of her sitting at her desk, but here's Grace, who never turns down a chance to be in the spotlight. The girls are in the same class, but are seated boy-girl, which pleases Grace. Olivia could care less who she sits by, as long as they don't touch her or her stuff.

The end of the day. I haven't heard much yet about how it went. The only words out of Olivia's mouth so far have been, "TV. Food." Grace did tell me that Olivia told the teacher that her feet were too itchy, and does she HAVE to wear shoes? They seem happy and tired.

Good morning, sunshine!

This is a typical morning at our house. Henry and Grace chat and like big, hot breakfasts. Olivia needs sugar and solitude, so she builds a little wall around herself with her sugar-laden products. I don't stress about her sugar intake, because she is the healthiest eater I have, aside from that first morning rush. Where's Jack? He usually stumbles downstairs when the others are having lunch.

We're trying to cram as much outdoor activity in as we can, with the rainy season around the corner. Aside from no Target or Costco or good ethnic food, living here definitely has it's advantages. A few days ago we hit this trail on the south end of the island. The kids had a blast, and no one complained of the long hike.

Only 11 days until school starts. I'm going to keep myself from moping next week by planning lots of outings and activities. And chores. Lots and lots of chores, so the little angels will be happy to go back to school.

The Dancing Ottoman Queen

Feel the beat from the TRAMPOLIIIINE!!!!!

Henry and Steve the Pretty Good

Henry volunteers at the Fair.

And the livin' is easy

We've been very busy doing important stuff this summer. This is the Riverfront Park Carousel in beautiful Spokane. As you can see, the girls hated it. They quickly discovered that a metal slide in 100 degree weather isn't as fun as it looks.

We also picked Jack up from camp. I'm glad he wears glasses, because it was the only way I could find him in the sea of filthy children. You can guess how he smells by the look on Henry's face. He said he ran out of clothes on the third day because he kept jumping in the lake in his clean clothes. Also. One shower. All week. And I had to drive home with him and the dog in the front seat for seven hours.

Picking huckleberries at the lake.

Another new development in the family: piercings!

Grace has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a long time, but every time we go to the piercing place, she changes her mind. Nana tried to convince her to do it by calling her a chicken. This pissed Henry off so much that he took his own money and convinced his dad (not easy) that he should be allowed to do it, and damn if he didn't get his ear pierced. Nobody puts baby in a corner or calls Grace a chicken. Apparently.

And the next day:

She didn't even flinch, either.


Next up, the Island County Fair:

Yep, we let them go on the death-traps they call rides this year, but my heart (and wallet) could only take a few rides before I put a stop to it.

We had five chickens in the fair and got four blue and one red ribbon. Jack did very well in his first show, getting first runner up. You can see how excited he is.

We've been doing other stuff, too, like swimming lessons. Grace and Olivia started out in the same class but by the time it was over, Olivia passed Henry. Grace may or may not have been hampered by the fact that when they told her to do the "crawl", she actually crawled like a baby in the water. Also, during water safety day they were teaching the kids to throw a towel to someone who was "drowning" and pull them to safety. Grace just threw the guy the towel.

Priest Lake

I know I've been absent. Very busy doing important stuff like this. Will probably be back soon, or later. Whatever. Don't wait up.