Compromise

Luke and I went to some yard sales yesterday morning. It wasn't a really successful time, but it was fun. Luke thought Norah would like this little dollhouse, so we got it for her. He liked it too. This morning he's been playing pretty quietly, so I keep checking up on him. Here's what I found. A bunch of army guys playing in Norah's dollhouse. I think that's just the beginning of toy compromises in my world:)

Searching

I think I only have one blog reader who will instantly recognize this photo. But many of you know about my affection for this place. This is my Uncle Derb's house. He's been gone for 11 years now. When I found out that my friend Carrie moved to Middletown I knew she was probably near where Uncle Derb's house was. So after I had dinner with Carrie, I took a drive.
And my memory got me to the house. I saw the Moby Dick restaurant, then a red barn-like antique store and a VFW lodge. I knew I was going the right way when I saw Marengo Dr., then Meadow. I had to navigate the maze of streets twice but knew I was so close. That verse about searching like you're looking for lost money kept running through my head. I just wanted to see the house. Then I saw Willow Brook and knew I was almost there. When I looked right and saw a grassy field leading to the park where Uncle Derb always walked his dalmatian, I knew I was there. Sure enough, to the left was his old house. Almost like home for my mom. Definitely full of memories of wonderfully prepared meals, laughter, Skip Bo, pet parrots, and a hundred other things that made the place special.
I don't know why, I just had to find it.

Luke's Perspective

Today Luke came in to tell me he spilled some milk which he thought was pretty funny. I went in to clean it up and as I was wiping it up with a wet washcloth, he said "Nice heart Mom." Apparently I had made a heart shape as I was cleaning. And that was what he noticed. Childhood perspective never ceases to amaze me.

Hopscotch

The other day I drew out hopscotch for Luke to play on. Jamie inspired me with sidewalk chalk fun at cell group the other night.

Today when we were playing outside, Luke was looking around and asked, "Where's our jump?" It took me a minute to translate that. He wondered where the hopscotch had gone. So we had some more fun with the chalk. Norah enjoyed eating the chalk - not good.

Then I drew out some circles and numbered them for him to hop on. He wanted his birthday number, so I went to 12. Then he wanted Daddy's number so I made circles up to 16. As soon as I made the 13, he looked at it from the side and thought I made the McDonald's arch. Wow, he really is my kid:)

Norah's First Birthday

After that last blog entry, I needed to talk about a little sunshine. Norah's first birthday was 10 days ago and I don't see any possibility of scrapping about it soon, so I might as well blog about it.

We started the day with a walk and then picked up the Cake Lady cookies I ordered her. They were bright pink with a white 1 and polka dots. Very cute. She thoroughly enjoyed that cookie, and so did I:)

Later that afternoon, Luke took his nap and she wasn't ready for her afternoon nap yet, so I decided to take her outside to play. I hooked up her new pink swing to the swingset and let her swing. She just giggled and laughed and enjoyed the ride.

That was about it. We didn't take her to DQ to get her first baby cone until a few days later. It was a little cool that day, but that didn't stop her from devouring her ice cream cone.

My Chuck E Cheese Experience

Tonight was my first and hopefully last Chuck E Cheese experience. Here are a few quotes from my mouth tonight:

Me to Christi: "Do you think anyone would notice if the girls just went to Olive Garden?"
Me to Kim: "This is hell."
Me to pretty much everyone: "Where's Luke?" (repeated several times to his dad in particular)
Me to Aaron: "This is a mother's nightmare."
Me to pretty much everyone: "What?"
Me to Pup several times: "Are you ready to go yet?"
Me to Nate and Sabrina: "I would be fine never to come back here again."
Me to Aaron: "I don't care how much Luke Ellis begs me to come here, I'm not doing it."

There were some highlights. Like playing Skee Ball and the sketch picture machine. And the fact that Luke called Chuck E Cheese "Chunk n cheese." The most important thing is that Pup had a great time, and it was his birthday we were celebrating.

An Unexpected New Season

I haven't had much time lately to blog or even be reflective in my own mind because of this season of life. Two kids under 3, two part-time jobs, maintaining the house, a master's class. Very hectic but worth it certainly.

One thing I had taken the time to reflect on was my car vanity. A few weeks ago I started thinking it would be pretty handy to have a van. It takes a very skinny behind to fit between my kids in the backseat, which our neighbor babysitter thankfully has:) Plus, my friends and I want to go places sometimes and have to take multiple vehicles. I tossed the idea around a while then decided I didn't want to drive a minivan. I adore my Altima.

Yesterday I received a text from my husband at 6 something a.m. that said his car had died. This was not a shocker. I was expecting it to sometime - it sounded AWFUL when he pulled in the drive. Anyway, he thought there was a chance it could just be a belt. We knew if it was much more than that it wouldn't be worth fixing. Hours later when he could get it towed and to a mechanic, he found out his engine block had cracked. Yikes. And it would cost $900 to replace the motor. His car definitely wasn't worth it.

Here's my favorite part. The towing cost was $65. They gave us $100 for the car. We made $35 on his car. Wow. That's really something huh?

On to the new season... We went car shopping today with a budget in mind but not really a set idea of what we wanted. That's just not something we've been thinking about. After looking at our options, we decided on an Uplander. We drove it and liked it and had some discussions about whether we were old because we liked it. So, we got a van. Er, I mean, an Uplander, which is a crossover sport van to be exact. And that's exactly what I'll be calling it:)

By the way, going car shopping was amazing for Luke. He had so much fun. He just kept saying, "I wuv it!" He was very happy with our choice.