House of Estrogen

Please Excuse this Post...

I really try not to be a Braggy McBraggerpants on this blog. I mean, just the fact of having a blog is rather egocentric by nature. You're assuming someone out there on the Internet wants to read what you have to say or look at your pictures. There is something rather vain about the whole blogging movement. That said, I try to keep my Braggy McBraggerpants moments to a minimum. We all know those blogs that sound like a Christmas letter in every post - the four month old is walking, the one year old is speaking in five syllable words, the kindergartener is reading Great Expectations for the second time, and the second grader is training for the Olympics. Gah! Can't stand them. I try hard to keep a balance of the good, the bad, the ugly, the funny, and the downright embarrassing. Every now and then though, I hope you'll excuse me if I have a Braggy McBraggerpants post.

I came home from the grocery store today, and Addie said, "Hey Mom, watch this!" I pulled out my camera to see this:

And in case you are wondering, yes, she was totally rolling her eyes at me there at the end. As for the snowboots, I have no idea. I guess you never know when you might get that freak snow at 50 degrees.

He's Back, But...

Where is my morning person to the rescue? J.C. arrived home safely from his Canadian mountain biking adventure, and I expected mornings to just fall back in place without the no-morning-person-chaos that we had the eleven days he was gone. Unfortunately, I neglected to think about the fact that he had been biking nine days straight, all day, every day, and that he was on the left coast in a totally different time zone. Dude was tired when he came home. Evidence:

• The girls still have not made the bus once since he got back. I'm glad there are other kids at our bus stop, otherwise the bus driver might decide to just quit stopping there completely.
• Two nights ago around 7:30, Nina asked to read to me at bedtime. I said, "You've read to me all week. Why don't you read to Daddy?"  She skipped off to find him, returned quickly and pouted, "I can't. He is all snuggled up in his bed asleep."
• The night before that, J.C. went in Nina's room to tell her "lights-out." She said she just had one more page until the end of the chapter, and wanted to read that. He said that was fine and crawled in her twin bed with her. Twenty-five minutes later, she started poking him, saying, "Dad! Wake up! I finished my book, and I want to go to sleep!"


Nice. At least he made it home safely, if not exactly well rested. Monday starts a new week. Maybe he'll be back to his usual cheery morning self by then.

 

Fun? Insane? Exhilarating? A Death Wish?

I'll let you decide.This is a video J.C. posted last night of himself at Summer Gravity Camp this week. 

Happy 4th!

This morning...

 Me: "Today is a special day. It is our country's birthday."

Addison: "Today my birthday?"

Me: "No, not your birthday. America's birthday. We live in America, and it is the birthday of our country... where we live."

Addison: "Who 'Merica?"

Me: "Not a person. It is a place. We live here. In America."

Addison: "In our house?"

Me: "Forget it. It is a day where you wear red, white, and blue, ride your bike, and get a popsicle. Does that sound good?"

Addison: "I like popsicles."

So, with that, we donned our red, white, and blue,

 

rode bikes in the neighborhood bike parade,

 

and ate popsicles at the pool.

 

Despite my lack of photographic evidence, Elise and Nina rode in the parade too. They took off at the front of the pack though before I could even snap a quick pic. I walked with Addie and the other stragglers at the back; therefore, all of my parade pictures are of the little one.

 

Elise climbed trees,

 

and then we came home where I spent the afternoon making red, white, and blue desserts. One might say I got a little obsessed. Maybe. Just a little.

 

It just sounded so fun. What other time of year can you get away with making desserts with bright blue food coloring?

 

So maybe I made enough dessert for about 40 people even though there were only nine at our cook-out. That's why there is the phrase, "The more, the merrier", right?

 

And maybe I got so carried away with taking pictures of the desserts that I completely forgot to take any pictures of the children and their grandparents.

   

That's OK, right? The grandparents will forgive me. I fed them red, white, and blue desserts for Heaven's sake! Surely, the desserts offset any bitterness about not having pictures of family.

 

Now, before anyone thinks I'm actually the creative genius behind these recipes, I assure you I am not. I want to give credit where credit is due. I got the recipe for the Firecracker Bundt Cake from Cooking With Sugar. The Revolutionary Berries were posted on Family Fun, and the trifles were sort of a combination of several different recipes and didn't come out at all as I had envisioned. They certainly didn't measure up in my goal of "When making red, white, and blue desserts, how they look is more important than how they taste."

Despite the poorly concocted trifles, it was a fun day. We spent time with friends and family and ate too much. That, my friends, is the definition of a successful holiday. We bailed on fireworks in lieu of getting our kids to bed on time. In fact, I'm pretty sure our kids have never seen 4th of July fireworks for that very reason. Poor deprived children... they'll be in therapy one day over that, I'm sure.

Happy 4th! I hope you spent it with friends and family and ate plenty of blue food coloring!

 

 

 

What Do You Know?

Earlier this week, my good friend C over at Brightenthecorner posted What Do You Know? - a game to post at least five things you know. Following in her footsteps, here are five things I know.

1. I know that I have some sort of civic black cloud of karma over me this week. On Tuesday, I got summoned for jury duty. On Wednesday, I got pulled over and received a ticket for an expired registration. The court dates for both are in the same week. Good times.

2. I know that the politically correct thing for me to say is that I will miss Elise horribly while she is at camp this week, and that it pains me to even think of my child being away from me for a week. That said, I can't wait. I think Elise will have a ball. I always loved summer camp as a child, and I know she will too. Also, a week of just two children in the house sounds so quiet, peaceful, and relaxing.

3. I know that I don't like Dunkin' Donuts. The Daylight Donuts near us went out of business, so we were stuck with Dunkin this morning for breakfast.  I don't like them. I don't know why it is so popular. They don't make good donuts.

4. I know that my poor husband was in a bike wreck yesterday and is pretty beat up. He injured his ribs and wrist, and is all scraped up on his face and back.

5. I know that round trip flights to San Antonio right now are only $160. I really want to go down there to see C and some other friends who are going to the Hill Country Hyatt in August, but J.C. is going to be out of town, so I don't think I can make it work. Wah.

So there you go... five things I know. What do you know?

Photo Post Mashup

Things have been a bit busy and stressful lately, and my blog has suffered. My parents are mostly moved in though, my dad is finally out of the hospital, and while he is definitely weaker, he seems to be getting around OK, so it is time to lighten things up around here. This post is a mashup of all the photo posts that have gone unpublished in the last couple of weeks... a little bit of everything from House Of Estrogen life. I promise no hospital or moving truck photos though... just the fun stuff.

First, a little family bike ride on a rail trail. J.C. got a flat tire soon after we started, so this ride ended up being just the girls.

 

It was great family time on a pretty spring day.

 

 

We were all pretty wiped out when we got home.

 

Next up... hanging out with our cutie-patootie friend S at the company picnic,

 

and a ride on the carrousel there.

 

Next, Nina's Girl Scout troop went mining for gems which is like Nina's idea of heaven. The girl loves rocks and gems... little budding geologist.

 

 

 

Last, Elise and Nina had Field Day this week on a blistering hot day, but it sounds like they had a great time. A friend sent me this picture of Nina and two of her good buddies.

 

See... we aren't all doom and gloom around here. I think we're finally coming up for air after a rough couple of weeks. Again, I really appreciate all the emails, comments, prayers, meals, phone calls, and thoughts through all the crappola we've been through lately. Thank you. It means the world to me.

Balance... check

Now if she can figure out pedaling, she'll be all set!  (As usual, excuse the color issues. I seem to have gained green grass and red brick, but her pink helmet and blue shirt are still black and white. Video should not be this complicated.)

 

(If you can't see the video in your rss reader, click here.)

Priorities

J.C. bikes a lot... like, a whole lot. When people walk into our garage, they ask if he is running a bike shop on the side. No, no bike shop... just gotta have a bike for each use - a dirt jump bike, a kid-trailer-hauling bike, a downhill bike, a tandem bike, a cross-country bike, a road bike, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others. No, I'm not exaggerating. He's just a wee bit obsessive when it comes to bikes.

He goes downhill biking in Snowshoe, WV, several times per year with a  bunch of buddies. They haul all the bikes on a trailer. JC decided they needed a box fitted to the trailer to hold all their muddy, sweaty gear, so he built one.

 

Then he said, I think I'll let the girls paint it. They would have fun doing that.

And they did.

 

 

they planned,

 

made handprints,

 

blew paint dry,

 

painted with a steady hand,

 

and got a bit messy in the process.

 

When they were done, their masterpiece went to Snowshoe.

 

When I saw the finished result, I said, "Aren't the guys going to give you crap for hauling a trailer with a rainbow and flowers painted on the back?"  He said, "Oh yeah... I'll get endless grief over this. I'm a dad of three girls above everything else though."

 

And that, folks, is priorities in order... "I'm a dad of three girls above everything else."  The trips to Snowshoe may challenge my every ounce of patience and energy while single parenting, but I'll always know his heart is at home with us as the rainbow trailer is pulled along the winding roads of West Virginia.

Happy (belated) Birthday, J.C.  I love you.

And the Training Commences

Addison has a cute little pink run bike. She likes to toodle around the neighborhood on it. She's no speed demon, but it works for her.

 

J.C. watched this video recently though, and I'm a little worried about his grand plans for Addie and the run bike. You've got to know he is mulling over training schedules and designing tiny ramps in his head. I'm afraid, very afraid.

Jackson Run Bike to kindergarten. from Ron Goldstone on Vimeo.

Oh the Estrogen!

J.C. is once again off in the mountains of West Virginia swooshing down the ski slopes on his downhill bike. (Can you call that swooshing? Probably not. J.C. will likely scoff at that sentence. Oh well, he isn't here to correct me.) His absence means this house is ALL estrogen right now. As the evening rolled around to bedtime, and I looked back on the day, I thought I could consider it a success. Despite sleeping too late, only making one lunch, missing the bus, and eating the unhealthiest of dinners, we were managing pretty well. We hadn't had any huge meltdowns, fights, tantrums, or breakdowns. Then, suddenly without warning, toothbrushing turned into a brawl. How does that happen? One minute, they are walking into the bathroom to brush their teeth. The next minute, screaming ensues, Nina is on Elise's back with her arms wrapped around her trying to grab a toothbrush out of her hands, and then Elise somehow manages to kick Nina in the crotch. I admit feeling a tinge of pride at her precise crotch aim. That could serve her well as a teenager or young adult. That said, the evening took a horrible turn downhill at that very moment. Both girls were crying. I was yelling as I pulled them apart. Nina was in pain. Elise was mad. I was mad. Emotions were at an all-time high. They both went to their room bawling and Nina declared that I hate them. Them? No. Their behavior? Yes. A few minutes later, Nina came to me and apologized for her behavior. With huge crocodile tears streaming down her face, she choked out, "I'm just really fragile today because I... miss.... my... Daaaadddddyyyyy." I let her call him, and sobbing away, she and Elise told him how much they miss him and want him to come home. With J.C.'s help, I finally got them calmed down, tucked Elise into her bed and Nina into mine.

Hopefully a good night's sleep will restore us all. If not, we may be in for a wild ride tomorrow. Wish us luck.