This may be too much information for you about our kids, but both of them tend to get really bad diaper rash after they've eaten citrus fruits or strawberries. (Toby's went away after he was potty trained, naturally.)
We bought strawberries and oranges at the store the other day. In my defense, it was on the eve of the 5th snow storm we've had since Christmas and I wasn't about to go into it without fresh fruit on hand. Beyond that I wasn't thinking.
...
So poor Norah has a bad case of diaper rash. (Like I need one more reason for her to be rid of diapers.) Tonight, with Toby's help, we gave Norah a bath while she was standing up because she said it hurt too much to sit. We were really trying hard to find ways to soothe her, but she's been a little out of sorts since BJ's been out of town (yeah--out of town in sunny San Diego while we're under another foot of snow--not bitter in the least....). The bubble bath we gave her didn't help at all. But we managed to clean her off enough, and she actually had some fun giving Toby a Mohawk. (Toby, very sweetly, at the beginning of bath time said "Mom, you go take a break and I'll take care of Norah." But I wasn't willing to take the risk of the clean-up from a five-year-old giving a thrashing three-year-old a bath.)
After I was done toweling Norah off I had to give her some diaper ointment, which she really didn't want. She would have preferred I put her to bed buck naked, I think. So the tears came back and she howled, "If Daddy were here he'd say 'Poor Norah!'"
What perspective. I told her she was absolutely right, and asked if it would be alright if I said "Poor Norah" too. She said yes, and then we got her calmed down with stories, Donkey, and a warm blanket. And now she's sleeping away, probably dreaming about when her caring Daddy will return to rescue her from her tormentors.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My Skype Christmas
We returned home from Baltimore to celebrate one more Christmas and to relax for the rest of winter break. This time we celebrated via skype with my family in Colorado. The kids enjoyed showing off -- they always ham it up for Nana and Papa on the computer. The kids each got a stuffed animal to continue a tradition from my family: each of us girls had a little stuffed animal that went in the top of our stocking before Christmas.This day just summed up all the wonderful things about our break: spending the day in pj's and slippers, playing with new toys, reading new books, hanging out all together as a family.
Priceless.
My Family's Chilly Date with The Grinch
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| This picture was in the running for our Christmas card. I love Toby's laugh! |
After our dinner we bundled up in our winter gear and headed out to the tent to see the ice display. Inside the tent it was a chilly 10 degrees because it housed two million pounds of ice carved into different sculptures from The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Each of us was given a huge down parka (to wear on top of our winter jackets). The kids loved it! Each room was a different scene from the movie (or the book). In one room was a huge slide. I already posted the video of Norah going down the slide. Toby went first, but he went so fast that I didn't have time to take a video. Everything in every room of the tent was made of ice. I have no idea how it was done, but it was just incredible.
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| The kids in their parkas. Everything is ice! |
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| This is all ice too! Check out the detail! |
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| People in line for the ice slides. |
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| Here's the ice slide Toby, BJ, Norah, and Opa went down. |
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| The kids in an ice tunnel. |
Monday, January 24, 2011
My Thankfulness Reaches Frigid Lows
I have many things to be thankful for, of course. But while I was outside waiting for Toby's bus this afternoon in 16 degree cold (9 degrees if you count the wind chill) I was very thankful that I'm not a squirrel. This may seem like a random thought, considering how I already feel about squirrels, but their footprints were all over the snow and I could just picture them freezing their little toes off running around in search of a nut in this frigid weather. The thought only lasted a minute, and now I'm in our toasty warm house (even thought I'm still wearing a hat and two sweaters) about to serve chocolate chip cookies (with slightly fewer chocolate chips than normal) to the kids for their afternoon snack. Aren't you thankful you're not a squirrel?
Sunday, January 23, 2011
My Son's First Love Note
Toby has watched BJ and I write little messages to each other on the bathroom mirror for the last few weeks. (Things like "Have a good day!" or "Dr. appointment at 11") The other morning he asked for the dry-erase marker (and privacy) to write a note.
It said: "I love you Norah (heart) Fum Toby".
Here's a video of Norah reading it. (She was having a hard morning for some reason or another, and these 10 seconds I recorded are during a brief lull in her tears.)
It said: "I love you Norah (heart) Fum Toby".
Here's a video of Norah reading it. (She was having a hard morning for some reason or another, and these 10 seconds I recorded are during a brief lull in her tears.)
My Baltimore Christmas
I know I don't have any kind of a deadline for posting pictures of the kids, but anything that's over a month old seems to be excessively late. So here are just a few pictures of the highlights from our Maryland Strawser Christmas.
It was filled with all of the wonderful family traditions that we both grew up with, like reading "The Night Before Christmas" together on Christmas Eve. We also went to a lovely service on Christmas Eve, where the kids enjoyed a story and, of course, the cookies they served afterwards. We came home and set out cookies and milk for Santa.
On Christmas morning the kids were delighted to find their stockings full, the cookies and milk gone, and more presents under the tree, including a "Leapster" for each of them. Norah calls hers a "Weapster."
A visit to Oma and Opa's is not complete without lots of time spent cuddling with Dickens, the dog. By mid-morning I think Dickens just wanted to go back to bed.
BJ and I got to enjoy a lot of time with his parents, including some nights watching movies, playing Password (and when I say "playing" I really mean "the ladies beating the men nearly every round"), and tasting new beers. I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in brownies and cheesecake. We stayed an extra day (due to the major storm that blew through New England right after Christmas) and watched the Air Force in a bowl game, too, which was a fun time.
It was filled with all of the wonderful family traditions that we both grew up with, like reading "The Night Before Christmas" together on Christmas Eve. We also went to a lovely service on Christmas Eve, where the kids enjoyed a story and, of course, the cookies they served afterwards. We came home and set out cookies and milk for Santa.
On Christmas morning the kids were delighted to find their stockings full, the cookies and milk gone, and more presents under the tree, including a "Leapster" for each of them. Norah calls hers a "Weapster."
A visit to Oma and Opa's is not complete without lots of time spent cuddling with Dickens, the dog. By mid-morning I think Dickens just wanted to go back to bed.
BJ and I got to enjoy a lot of time with his parents, including some nights watching movies, playing Password (and when I say "playing" I really mean "the ladies beating the men nearly every round"), and tasting new beers. I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in brownies and cheesecake. We stayed an extra day (due to the major storm that blew through New England right after Christmas) and watched the Air Force in a bowl game, too, which was a fun time.
My Champions' Breakfast
I don't know how it happened, but I got to sleep in until nine on Saturday morning. I'm going to credit it to the fact that my five year old knows how to turn on the living room TV and work the remote to find the best kids' cartoon channel. I used to be wide awake
once his bedroom door creaked upon opening. Now he --and Norah-- can watch TV and get themselves breakfast without me noticing?? Maybe in my old age I'm sleeping harder. Lovely.
This post may sound like I'm complaining. Really, I'm not. Except that I came out of my room on Saturday morning to see my kids snuggled on the couch watching TV and wearing their breakfast smeared all over their faces; they must have thought I was the nicest mom for leaving out a whole bag of chocolate chips for their breakfast!
once his bedroom door creaked upon opening. Now he --and Norah-- can watch TV and get themselves breakfast without me noticing?? Maybe in my old age I'm sleeping harder. Lovely. This post may sound like I'm complaining. Really, I'm not. Except that I came out of my room on Saturday morning to see my kids snuggled on the couch watching TV and wearing their breakfast smeared all over their faces; they must have thought I was the nicest mom for leaving out a whole bag of chocolate chips for their breakfast!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
My Christmas on the Road (New York City)
It's tough to go through 400 pictures to pick out the ones that are cute enough to share on the blog. I know you don't want to see hundreds of pictures of my kids in their pajamas under a Christmas tree.
So I won't go there.
Here's our kids in front of Lego people instead!
We drove into the city straight from Toby's school in the afternoon (this was the 22nd of last month). We started at FAO Schwarz, walked to the tree in Rockefeller Plaza, walked to Times Square for dinner in an Italian restaurant, then took a taxi back to the car to continue the drive down to Baltimore. Four hours in the city summed up in one sentence is of course cutting it short, but the pictures speak for themselves! We had a blast!
So I won't go there.
Here's our kids in front of Lego people instead!
We drove into the city straight from Toby's school in the afternoon (this was the 22nd of last month). We started at FAO Schwarz, walked to the tree in Rockefeller Plaza, walked to Times Square for dinner in an Italian restaurant, then took a taxi back to the car to continue the drive down to Baltimore. Four hours in the city summed up in one sentence is of course cutting it short, but the pictures speak for themselves! We had a blast!
My Christmas at Home
I know it's a full 3 and a half weeks gone, but I realized that I hadn't shared much about what we did for Christmas.We opened gifts at home the evening before Toby's last day of school and the kids were so excited. We gave each of them a small Lego item (really--it was the Lego themed Christmas this year) and then let them go into Toby's room to play. We had set up a Lego table (their big gift from us) while Toby was at school and Norah was napping and then covered it with a quilt. Toby walked into his room after we opened gifts and he said "And you made me a fort!" We had to let him down gently and say, no, the gift wasn't a fort.... But I loved where his mind went there.
The table top flips over to a flat surface for doing other projects, so it doesn't have to be all Legos all the time, but it is anyway.
The kids had picked out a gift for each other earlier in the month, and it was really fun to see them exchange gifts. Toby got Norah some pink Legos. Norah picked out a paper airplane kit for Toby.
My Weird Weather Day
My wake-up call yesterday went something like this: "Good morning! This is your superintendent of schools telling you we're having a 90-minute delay. This seems like a safe bet because, while there's ice raining down right now and freezing roads and windshields, the weather is forecasted to switch over to rain this morning which won't cause any delays unless there's flooding." What a weird way to wake up! The phone call woke Toby, who then climbed into our bed to get warm, got out of our bed to go to the bathroom, and then crawled back into our bed with Norah in tow. Four people "sleeping" on a double bed might have been commonplace around a hundred years ago, but I'm thinking that people back then were much smaller. Not much sleep happens, and a lot of people get kicked and scratched trying to keep the covers on to stay warm. I got out of bed to go turn my alarm off and turn the heat up (Norah sweetly asks "What do you need Mommy?").
Sure enough, the rain was pouring down and our cars were covered in an inch of ice. OK, thank goodness we don't have to wait for the bus during an ice pellets shower. I get my first sip of coffee when the phone rings again: "Hello again! Sorry to do this, but we're going to cancel school today. We were hoping that it would get a little bit warmer but it's still too icy and cold for people to get to school safely. Again, sorry for doing the delay first and then canceling anyway, but stay safe." Good deal, we don't have to wait outside for the bus at all today!
Later in the morning I decided to try out the wet roads and take the kids to the library. We cleared the ice off the car (it came off in big sheets.) I don't think I realized that it was raining hard until I got outside and started loading the kids up in the car (I know, I saw it raining earlier, but it didn't register). Have you ever walked through a foot of snow while in the pouring rain? Things are slippery, slushy, cold and wet all at the same time. Not a fun outing for me, but the kids had a blast wielding their umbrellas. We made it safely to the library, and spent just enough time there to dry off before heading back out. Into the pouring rain. I really hate the rain. Well, the cold, freezing rain. The kind that sneaks into every opening in your clothing while you're trying to buckle your kid into a car seat. Once we got home we changed into dry clothes, got slippers and blankets, and read books all afternoon.
The rain eventually stopped, leaving flooded driveways and puddles on top of snow. It made sense in the morning for Toby's school to close, but we still can't figure out why BJ's afternoon class was canceled (his first of the semester).
Sure enough, the rain was pouring down and our cars were covered in an inch of ice. OK, thank goodness we don't have to wait for the bus during an ice pellets shower. I get my first sip of coffee when the phone rings again: "Hello again! Sorry to do this, but we're going to cancel school today. We were hoping that it would get a little bit warmer but it's still too icy and cold for people to get to school safely. Again, sorry for doing the delay first and then canceling anyway, but stay safe." Good deal, we don't have to wait outside for the bus at all today!
Later in the morning I decided to try out the wet roads and take the kids to the library. We cleared the ice off the car (it came off in big sheets.) I don't think I realized that it was raining hard until I got outside and started loading the kids up in the car (I know, I saw it raining earlier, but it didn't register). Have you ever walked through a foot of snow while in the pouring rain? Things are slippery, slushy, cold and wet all at the same time. Not a fun outing for me, but the kids had a blast wielding their umbrellas. We made it safely to the library, and spent just enough time there to dry off before heading back out. Into the pouring rain. I really hate the rain. Well, the cold, freezing rain. The kind that sneaks into every opening in your clothing while you're trying to buckle your kid into a car seat. Once we got home we changed into dry clothes, got slippers and blankets, and read books all afternoon.
The rain eventually stopped, leaving flooded driveways and puddles on top of snow. It made sense in the morning for Toby's school to close, but we still can't figure out why BJ's afternoon class was canceled (his first of the semester).
Thursday, January 13, 2011
My Sick House
Luckily Norah got a doctor's kit for Christmas. We've had to use it several times since then, and although 
she's not exactly able to predict an onset of sickness, she does manage to make the "patient" feel nice and healthy. Here is "Dr. Norah" (she's very serious about her profession and expects you to address her as such) checking out Daddy and Toby. About 12 hours later Toby was sick as a dog with a 24-hour flu-bug. Didn't see that coming. He bounced back quickly and they got to go outside and play in the snow last weekend. And now here we are a few days later and BJ got hit with the same thing. We haven't gotten much sleep over the last few days, but at least we have a "Doctor" here to take care of our fragile selves. (And I should note the sickness has nothing to do with poor sterilization of medical equipment. I hope.)
she's not exactly able to predict an onset of sickness, she does manage to make the "patient" feel nice and healthy. Here is "Dr. Norah" (she's very serious about her profession and expects you to address her as such) checking out Daddy and Toby. About 12 hours later Toby was sick as a dog with a 24-hour flu-bug. Didn't see that coming. He bounced back quickly and they got to go outside and play in the snow last weekend. And now here we are a few days later and BJ got hit with the same thing. We haven't gotten much sleep over the last few days, but at least we have a "Doctor" here to take care of our fragile selves. (And I should note the sickness has nothing to do with poor sterilization of medical equipment. I hope.)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
My Great Snow Day Dig-Out
Toby had school canceled today--technincally it was canceled last night before a single snowflake even fell. Not sure if they're going to cancel school tomorrow too.
We dug out this morning. At least far enough to connect a path from our steps to our neighbors' front door.
Our neighbor walked home from work this morning, instead of having his wife drive to pick him up. It was actually faster for him to walk
6 miles than it was for her to shovel the driveway and drive to pick him up (and she had already been shoveling the drive for an hour before he called to say he was walking). Getting from my door to theirs was a small victory--the celebration was only slightly more mild than that for the transcontinental railroad connection in 1869, I'm sure. :o)
These pictures don't do any justice to the weight of the snow. It was like slicing cheesecake or something really thick and heavy. Maybe pudding? I think I'm just hungry....
We'll spend a few hours this afternoon (maybe) trying to dig out one of the cars. I just grabbed the camera a few minutes ago to take these shots because I loved how the clouds looked. The sun is just beginning to peek out but the sky still looks murderous. Norah is napping now and Toby is curled up watching a Lego movie, in order to take a break from Lego-building. (We're a completely commercialized family here.) Yesterday we went to two different libraries and the grocery store, so we are stocked in the food and entertainment departments for several days, at least.
We dug out this morning. At least far enough to connect a path from our steps to our neighbors' front door.
Our neighbor walked home from work this morning, instead of having his wife drive to pick him up. It was actually faster for him to walk
6 miles than it was for her to shovel the driveway and drive to pick him up (and she had already been shoveling the drive for an hour before he called to say he was walking). Getting from my door to theirs was a small victory--the celebration was only slightly more mild than that for the transcontinental railroad connection in 1869, I'm sure. :o)These pictures don't do any justice to the weight of the snow. It was like slicing cheesecake or something really thick and heavy. Maybe pudding? I think I'm just hungry....
We'll spend a few hours this afternoon (maybe) trying to dig out one of the cars. I just grabbed the camera a few minutes ago to take these shots because I loved how the clouds looked. The sun is just beginning to peek out but the sky still looks murderous. Norah is napping now and Toby is curled up watching a Lego movie, in order to take a break from Lego-building. (We're a completely commercialized family here.) Yesterday we went to two different libraries and the grocery store, so we are stocked in the food and entertainment departments for several days, at least.
The last shot I took the other day after a more mild snow day--only a few inches that time, but the snow stuck to the trees and we had a pretty line-up of icicles on the roof.
Friday, January 7, 2011
My Top 2 Videos of Christmas
Here's my first attempt uploading two of my favorite videos from winter break.
I hope this works....
Here's one of Toby and Norah on Christmas morning:
Remember those days? He ran to the right pile of presents and didn't even notice (nor did Norah) that there was another whole pile of presents to the left just for Norah.
And here's Norah traveling all by herself (BJ's to the right) down a slide made of ice:
More pictures on both of these events to come!
I hope this works....
Here's one of Toby and Norah on Christmas morning:
Remember those days? He ran to the right pile of presents and didn't even notice (nor did Norah) that there was another whole pile of presents to the left just for Norah.
And here's Norah traveling all by herself (BJ's to the right) down a slide made of ice:
More pictures on both of these events to come!
My Next Read
I have spent a lot of my reading time over the last few years perusing a moderately wide selection of young adult fiction. I have tried to balance these (usually) quick-and-easy reads with other stuff, most recently Sarah Silverman's autobiography, adult historical fiction, sci-fi/fantasy stuff by Orson Scott Card and Connie Willis, and classics by Austen and Bronte. I've come across some real gems in the last year that I can not believe I hadn't read in my school experience. Who gets through school without reading Jane Eyre? Or, worse yet, getting through schooling without even knowing it's an option to read? I wasn't introduced to anything by Jane Austen until Pride and Prejudice was given to me in 2007. And I'm convinced the main reason I liked it as much as I did was because I got to read it without distractions or interruptions (while on a trip without young Master Toby). It's the same thing with my first Hemmingway novel, The Sun Also Rises, which I read while in Spain with BJ in 2004--eight years after high school. Actually, maybe my teachers just wanted to "branch out" and teach us about non-classic (or not-yet classic) authors and books.
All this to say I'm thinking about picking up some Shakespeare to read sometime in the next few months. Shakespeare? Huh?? Scary thought? Too daunting? OK, how about some Agatha Christie? I watched a fantastic documentary (on PBS, of course) about how Christie wrote her novels and whether or not she wrote the same novel 80 times (I think some young adult authors are doing that) or whether she just broke the mystery-writing mold so dramatically that the genre has never been the same since. You've got to love PBS. They may just be responsible for the next 80 books... (Frankly, once I'm through with For Whom the Bell Tolls I'll be happy to read anything else. But it's not so bad, I guess.... the jury is still out on this one, and I'm only about 80 pages from the end.)
All this to say I'm thinking about picking up some Shakespeare to read sometime in the next few months. Shakespeare? Huh?? Scary thought? Too daunting? OK, how about some Agatha Christie? I watched a fantastic documentary (on PBS, of course) about how Christie wrote her novels and whether or not she wrote the same novel 80 times (I think some young adult authors are doing that) or whether she just broke the mystery-writing mold so dramatically that the genre has never been the same since. You've got to love PBS. They may just be responsible for the next 80 books... (Frankly, once I'm through with For Whom the Bell Tolls I'll be happy to read anything else. But it's not so bad, I guess.... the jury is still out on this one, and I'm only about 80 pages from the end.)
My New Year's Resolution
Happy New Year.
I tend to skip the whole resolution thing most years. Skip the resolutions and you avoid the guilt from not keeping up with them. I'm not a big fan of guilt. The best new year's resolution we made (and never fulfilled and continually regret) was to take a picture of each dinner party we hosted. Maybe this will be the year that we follow through on that one.
Even though I don't take the time to look forward and make commitments about the upcoming year I still like to take some time around New Year's and look back at the previous year. What happened last year that I am proud of? How am I different? How have I helped my family to become better? What will 2010 be remembered for in my family? I won't bore you with the answers to any of these questions here. Mostly because I don't know them yet.
Spending a moment wondering about a year that's passed helps to drive direction for the one ahead. I am not resolving to do anything new in 2011. But there's potential, and that's very exciting. Many times I get to the end of the year and discover something new that happened that I never would have guessed at the start. For example, I knew 2008 would be a big year because we were adding Norah to the family (although in January of that year she hadn't been named, and I wasn't totally convinced she was a girl yet--that took a little more time). We also knew that we were getting out of the Air Force in 2008, but had very little direction as to where we would go next. By the end of the year we were (slightly) settled back in Connecticut and halfway through BJ's first year as a full-time student and TA. In 2009 we, again, didn't know much of what was going to happen or where we were going to be at the outset, but it ended up containing Toby's first steps into formal education (his wonderful preschool), Norah's literal first steps, my first introduction to the delights and dedication of running, and BJ's first international conference presentation (of 3 so far). Big steps for everyone that year. Now we've come to the close of 2010 and the first thing I think about is, hey, I started drinking my coffee black that year. :o) That's big progress. Oh yeah, it's also the year Toby started kindergarten, when BJ got his first official publication (of 5 or 6 or 7...I've honestly lost count--that's a good thing), and...Norah's just grown so much it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing.
So welcome to 2011, I'm excited to see what you have in store for us. Let's get started. (And, yes, I know we're already a week into the new year.... Things are just that busy around here during winter "break"!)
I tend to skip the whole resolution thing most years. Skip the resolutions and you avoid the guilt from not keeping up with them. I'm not a big fan of guilt. The best new year's resolution we made (and never fulfilled and continually regret) was to take a picture of each dinner party we hosted. Maybe this will be the year that we follow through on that one.
Even though I don't take the time to look forward and make commitments about the upcoming year I still like to take some time around New Year's and look back at the previous year. What happened last year that I am proud of? How am I different? How have I helped my family to become better? What will 2010 be remembered for in my family? I won't bore you with the answers to any of these questions here. Mostly because I don't know them yet.
Spending a moment wondering about a year that's passed helps to drive direction for the one ahead. I am not resolving to do anything new in 2011. But there's potential, and that's very exciting. Many times I get to the end of the year and discover something new that happened that I never would have guessed at the start. For example, I knew 2008 would be a big year because we were adding Norah to the family (although in January of that year she hadn't been named, and I wasn't totally convinced she was a girl yet--that took a little more time). We also knew that we were getting out of the Air Force in 2008, but had very little direction as to where we would go next. By the end of the year we were (slightly) settled back in Connecticut and halfway through BJ's first year as a full-time student and TA. In 2009 we, again, didn't know much of what was going to happen or where we were going to be at the outset, but it ended up containing Toby's first steps into formal education (his wonderful preschool), Norah's literal first steps, my first introduction to the delights and dedication of running, and BJ's first international conference presentation (of 3 so far). Big steps for everyone that year. Now we've come to the close of 2010 and the first thing I think about is, hey, I started drinking my coffee black that year. :o) That's big progress. Oh yeah, it's also the year Toby started kindergarten, when BJ got his first official publication (of 5 or 6 or 7...I've honestly lost count--that's a good thing), and...Norah's just grown so much it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing.
So welcome to 2011, I'm excited to see what you have in store for us. Let's get started. (And, yes, I know we're already a week into the new year.... Things are just that busy around here during winter "break"!)
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