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spring camp 2011

i organized a spring camp with some of heidi and i's friends who have kids levi and gracie's age. we took 1 week, 5 moms, and each took one day and hosted the camp, with a different theme, at our home.

of course my first thought was egyptology/archaeology.  and then i decided on 2,000,000 different themes. and then i did egyptology/archaeology.

we studied pyramids & the sphinx & pharoahs. we a read book about a little boy and his life in egypt. we wrote our names in hieroglyphics. we went on an archealogical dig out back. we learned to catalog our treasures.

i just love egypt so much. the kids really love egypt. they'll probably all grow up to be archeologists.

camp schedule:
monday - all holidays tour
tuesday - egyptology & archaeology
wednesday - baking & sewing
thursday - animals & nature
friday - oceanography & Japan 

 

 

 

"piper says"....

for someone who doesn't talk, piper sure says a lot.

i hear AT LEAST a dozen times a day things that piper is is telling levi to do. or not do. or to get for her.

in fact, levi has said "piper says" so  many times, that now both him & gracie have merged into an unusual linguistic switch, and added the first letter of the second word to the end of her name. 

they both call her "pipers". 

"PIPERS!! don't knock down our castle!" "pipers, choose me as your doggie!", "MOMMYYYY!! pipers is leaving the store without us!"

i decided for one day to keep a list of all the things piper "said", you know, any excuse to make another list...with a pen & paper no less! and while it isn't a complete list of her (their) repetoire, it turned out to be a pretty good sampling:

 

 

 

MOOOMMMMYYYY! PIPER SAYS:

1. the Levi Craig Stewart pencils are hers!
2. i can't walk like a robot!
3. i can't wear these clothes!
4. you are only her mommy!
5. all the dogs in the playroom are only hers!
6. i can't climb rock walls!
7. i have to share all my pretzels!
8. we can only watch snow buddies!
9. i can't come in the playroom!
10. she likes oatmeal more than me!
11. that she's not going to wear diapers anymore!
12. i have to read her only dog books!
13.that when i grow up i want to be a knight & not an astronaut & that's a LIE!
14. only she can eat a lot of oranges!
15. she wants a sucker.
16. some chips.
17. to be a dolphin.
18. to be not a baby.

actually, that last one was probably true....

diagnosis

  

i took piper into her pediatrician for her 4th "why-isn't-she-talking?" follow-up visit. and he said, "let's give it 6 more months and see how she's doing...."

huh??!!

that.....didn't... seem like a good idea.

and in that moment two things happened: 1. i took over, and 2. "find pediatrician" was added to my 'to-do' list.

i called aunt rhonda who helped me find an audiologist on our insurance. yesterday we went for our visit.

mother's intuition prevails again: she's partially deaf.

even as a baby i would complain that she wasn't even "babbling". and, unless crying or screaming, was unusually quiet.

actually, not quiet. silent.

i would watch her play with other babies, all coos and goos and gahs, and not a sound from her. until we came home, and then it was all crying & hitting & dramatic fits on the floor.

today while we were seeing the audiologist & dr i was all business. kept a smile as they told me their diagnosis & stayed logical as they told me the treatment 'plan'.

until my big toe crossed the doorway to the outside world.

and then i was wandering the parking lot of the hospital trying, desperately, to find my car through the thick sheet of tears blurring my vision. lugging my 2 year old daughter on my hip. my deaf 2 year old daughter.

piper, so close to my face, kept staring at my eyes. i tried to keep an "everythings-ok-little-pickles" smile on my face. but it was an admittedly shaky smile. and she's an unnervingly aware little person. so she wasn't buying it.

i spent the rest of the day with the kids in a quiet, contemplative mood.  for the first time in....forever, i wasn't cleaning, or washing. or phoning or texting. or projecting. or organzing. i was just.....sitting. thinking. watching. wrapping my head around our new world.

late in the afternoon, both kids were in the backyard playing.

from the 1st day we got our playset piper has been trying to climb the rock wall. which, for a 1-year old is 1. dangerous, 2. impossible. but that didn't stop levi & gracie from constantly running inside to tell me that piper was trying to climb the rock wall.  they take their "make sure piper is safe" job serious.

the first 1,000 times they told me (yelled at me) this, i ran to the backyard and took her away, screaming, from the wall. i even built a tower of lawn chairs and twine to block the wall. but when you're 2 feet and 20 pounds, a little twine doesn't stop you.

times 1,000 - 2,000 i just walked to the back porch and watched her futile attempt to get up past the first plastic foothold.

times 2,000+ i just yelled back, "it's ok! she can't do it!"

so today, while sitting on the couch staring into imaginary nothing-ness, levi came running in, and for the 3,000th time said, "mommy!mommy! pickles is climbing the rock wall!!"
"it's ok. sh--"
"no! she's really doing it this time!"
...   ....  .....
"she's really REALLY doing it this time!"
i looked over to him. and he seemed pretty sincere. he motioned for me to come outside. i dutifully, albeit slowly, got up and went to the porch. just in time to see this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clearly the day would inevitably come that she would actually make it to the top of her impossible climb. but it could have just as easily happened yesterday. or tomorrow. i love that it happened today. smack dab in the middle of my brooding. a visual reminder from above that she is TOUGH. and she's going to be fine.

she's going to be just fine.

citizens area transit

 
 
when i was a little girl i spent 9 months of every year trying to think of the most seemingly impossible halloween costume to make, and, when the time came, i'd tell my mom that was what i wanted to be. just to see if she could manage it.  ...and she always could.

it seems my son has inherited this trait.

except that he's put his own spin on it and molded the idea into a year-round challenge. none of which, so far, luckily, have involved sewing.

i've never thought of him as particularly manipulative, so i don't know that he's conscious of what he is doing. but somewhere along the way he's discovered that if he quietly states things that he's never had the opportunity to do, his competitive-natured mom will take it upon herself to provide that experience.

 
i know, right? but he says it in such a nonchalant, non-accusatory, i-don't-expect-anything-i'm-just-thinking-how-perfectly-dreamy-it-would-be-"if"-manner. that....i'm...literally compelled to make it happen.

i don't know, do little boy brains think in "dreamy" terms. having never been part of a little boy brain, i'm not sure. but, you get the idea.

although, there seems to be a ramping-up trend: i.e. in queue: riding in a helicopter & petting a kangaroo on a beach--one that has a baby in her pouch, so far the "challenges" haven't been too difficult.

this week i knocked one off the list: riding on a bus. i enlisted heidi & gracie to come with us, and at the last minute our friend landon & his mom joined in too.

originally i planned to take the bus to a restaurant within a 5-8 mile radius from us, eat lunch, and ride home. but i wanted there to be at least one bus transfer, & preferably a little walk between bus stops. i mean, if you're going to do it, do it right.  after studying the bus routes intently online one midnite, i realized that what would take us maybe 2 hours max in our car, would take us 7-8 by bus.... so the plan changed. clearly.

while gracie and levi were in school, heidi & i drove our car to a pottery painting place that had a bus stop out front, & left 1 car there. after school, we had some lunch & went to the bus stop by our house. the kids were in charge of making sure we got on the right numbered bus.

unfortunately, there were not also in charge of making sure that we got off at the right stop. because we got off a stop too early. then we ran, well, i walked fast, about 4 city blocks. and still missed our transfer bus.

luckily there was another bus coming in 20 minutes.

unluckily we live in the desert. deserts are hot. and they also have wind. hot wind.

eventually we successfully navigated our way to the pottery store via bus where we met up with a couple more friends who didn't brave the bus with us.

now everytime we see a bus, levi tells piper, "i ride on buses pickles. did you know that? i do."

mission accomplished.

 

8:41pm

most days, 8:00pm simply can't come soon enough.   ...but by 8:41pm, i miss you.

 

dog days...

 
exactly

#10 - april's birthday cake

 
 
i planned to make a specific cake for apedog's birthday celebration.  and by planned, i mean that i spent at least 2 hours (not in a row) staring at a picture of the cake trying to 1. figure out how they did it, 2. decide if i could do it, and 3. determine if i had the energy to do it.

and then i set about getting the "supplies".

about 4 hours before the party, as i started to gather the pieces and get to the actual production of it all, zannie saw a picture in a pile of a DIFFERENT cake and started loving it too much.

at first i just smiled, and agreed that it was a cute cake: ergo: i had ripped out the page and saved it. but as she kept loving it, i slowly realized what was happening. i was going to make that cake. and with only 3hours and 40minutes to go, i had to improvise with what i had at home.

so....the "cake" is actually rice krispies. and the "ruffles" are about 4000x too big. and the flower wasn't completely dried. but...you know what? by candlelight, it was barely noticeable....

birthday girl

our 'sisters weekend' this quarter fell suspiciously close to april's birthday. or...not so suspiciously. i seem to recall her announcing that our next date should be on this weekend, & that everyone should bring her a present.

 
 instead we had a birthday dinner. a surprise one. i interviewed her husband and 4 kids about what her favorite dinner is, and they all said, seperately, unknown to eachother: cafe rio chicken salad.

you know what? that works perfect for me.  the only thing worse than cooking a birthday dinner is cooking a birthday dinner for a chef.

 

zannie helped me get the deor & atmoshpere (said with a french dialect) prepared for her arrival. mom was the "delivery assistant" necessary for all surprise parties. we told mom we would be ready in 5 minutes, so come on over.  she texted back that they were on their way.

since my parents live 1.37 miles from me, we all scurried around, turning off lights & lighting candles & finding our 'spots'. 

and then we sat in the complete dark for 20 minutes. clearly our 'assistant' needs additional training.

 

as i'm writing this i realize 1 of 2 things has happened: 1. we never actually found out WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG, or 2. we found out, but i don't remember.  both entirely possible.

when they finally walked in, and we yelled surprise, i tried to take a picture of her at that moment. but....it was so pitch black that my camera couldn't figure out what it was supposed to do. that's what advanced photographers like myself do. we supply zero lighting and tell our camera to just 'go for it'. jump off the cliff, you'll figure it out. 

once she got close enough to the candles, i could capture her on her 38th celebration of birth.

 

my favorite part of the "party" was these little birds. inside each was a question about april. each guest had to draw one of the birds & tell a story or answer a question.  mine said, "what's your favorite characteristic of april's?"  i said that she is a ready-made mom. she is 100% nuturing to anyone & anything.

and has been since we were kids. when we were super-little she would get so mad if i ever said, "i'm going to be a ______ when i grow up. what are you going to be?"  i don't know if she was more mad that i was asking her an obvious question, or that i would dare to be anything except a mom. i think that's why it's my favorite characteristic of hers: because it seems so hard to me, and she does it seemingly effortlessly. 

either way, it's really worked out for her. and her kids. and my kids. and....pretty much all kids she's ever met, even briefly in a grocery store line.

happy birthday ape-dog!!

sunday dogma

dear heavenly father,

please bless all the babies in the world.

pless bless everyone will be nice to their babies.

and if someone doesn't have a baby, please bless they can get one.

name of jesus christ, amen.

lion and the lamb

the planets aligned today and allowed miracles to appear before our mere human eyes...