Where do I start?

We've done a lot since my last post, most of the days threaded through with a series of illnesses on the kids' part, including six days of stomach flu each for Zach and Logan (thank goodness not at the same time!). But for now the whole family is healthy (not even any residual coughing!). So on to some of the fun we've been having!

First of all, here's a photo gallery to accompany this posting.

Logan's reading ability is amazing all of us, and this birthday a whole new world has opened to him with the gifts of some chapter books from various grandparents. He has been introduced to the Magic Treehouse series by his Grandma Kathryn and Grandpa Herb, the Spiderwick series by Mimi and Pop Pop, and his very own personal serial called Sam the Magnificent, authored by Grandma Diana (no link available - yet!). We have been sharing the reading with him - he usually reads the first page or two of each chapter and we read the rest. Of course, as always, we as a family still enjoy regular trips to the Boulder Public Library, which has an incredibly well-stocked children's section.

In fact this past Saturday we had a big family outing to the library, but since the weather was so nice we took with us a big bag of bread crusts we've been saving and fed the ducks at nearby Boulder Creek. I have very fond memories of feeding the ducks at Pollywog Pond when I was a girl, and the boys seemed to enjoy it just as much. I think this will become a regular activity for us. Looking at the photo gallery you'll see that the weather has warmed considerably but there's still a little ice on the creek - it's clear and nearly invisible, but still strong enough to hold the ducks so they look like they're walking on water. And also, we should mention that here in Boulder, even the ducks get whole grain foods! :-)

The previous weekend we had a wonderful visit from Mimi and PopPop as well as my Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim, who are spending about six weeks in California from the East Coast and decided to take a quick side-trip to see us. My mom and dad took most of the pictures and I need to get them from them, but we snapped a few cute ones of Aunt Judy holding Max.

That's it for now, love to all!

Obama for President

A brief departure from the personal stuff for a political message: Jason and I are very big fans of Barack Obama and we've just seen an emotionally powerful video that we'd like to share with our family and friends. Check this out:

A few lessons for a California girl

"That which does not kill us
makes us stronger" -- Friedrich Nietzsche

So this winter has definitely been a learning experience for me, having a) never lived in a cold climate and b) never known any families with more than two kids while I was growing up. Here are some things I've learned in the last few weeks:

1) Snow must be shoveled off of the driveway and front walk as soon as possible after a snowfall. Here in Boulder anyway, the snow comes down very light and fluffy (famous Colorado powder) and is relatively easy to clear when fresh. But walk or drive over it a few times, and the trodden parts compact and get heavy, and then the temperatures warm up and the compacted snow turns to ice. The front of our house faces North, so that ice will continue to thaw and freeze, forming an inches-thick, Zamboni- slick, injury- and lawsuit-attracting ice rink until it is chipped away.

2) The driveway has to be cleared AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. It's no good to, say, go out a 7am and clear just enough to get one car out so as to take kids to school in the morning, then try to clear the rest in the late morning. By then the temperature gets up in the 40s, and even the snow that has not been mechanically compacted gets very heavy and sticky and takes a lot more effort to move.

3) The depth of snow that falls at 362 Hawthorn in Boulder seems to be dependent on several factors: a) how long of a business trip Jason is on, b) how many children in the household are ill on that given day and c) how many children, for whatever reason, need extra attention on that day but must be left under the watchful eye of the TV while said shoveling is accomplished since no other adults are present to help. Bonus depth is added for school days, days when we are expecting nannies or housekeepers to show up and need parking or access to the front door, days when trash cans need to be brought in and milk is delivered, and days when all three kids are coughing and boogery, and one also has a very messy intestinal flu as well.

4) The number of sick children in the house also appears to be directly correlated with the timing of Jason's business trips as well as with Jeanne's sleep deprivation level, the arrival of snow and the inability of nannies to come to help out because they have caught colds from the kids.

5) Pictures of people shoveling snow are usually taken on weekends when everyone's happy and having fun and it's kind of a game. Pictures don't get taken when all of the factors in the preceding points are in force all at the same time, and the shoveler is grumbling and bitter and stressed out.

Don't worry dear readers, all of this is behind us (for now, until the next business trip, I imagine) and the kids appear to be on the mend. I'm just very grateful that I did not contract any of the various viruses my kids were harboring, and that the snow did not affect Jason's ability to get back home to us. I should also acknowledge that Jason didn't have an easy week either - and he's letting me go out to see a movie all on my own tonight as reward for a rather tough ordeal.

I should also say that I am SO grateful for the new van - when all else was going awry, at least I didn't have to worry about being able to get out of the house and back.

Logan turns five!

We celebrated Logan's 5th birthday today! The theme for the day was Mars and the solar system. So we started out with Marscakes (red pancakes), Saturn rings (bacon strips) and Jupiter winds (scrambled eggs).

Not only is it his actual birthday, but since it's Saturday we also hosted his party today as well. This year we decided to go small - we told him he could choose six friends to invite, and all but one were able to come so we had a total of four boys and two girls (poor Zachary is still under the weather, went upstairs for an early nap and ended up sleeping through the entire party.)

We've posted a Web Gallery of party photos here (77 photos total - it may be split into two pages). I made the invitations by hand from a template in a magazine (oh, OK, I admit it was Martha Stewart Kids). When the kids showed up we started out just playing with Logan's toys...some kids played Star Wars in the basement while others enjoyed the piano. We then had lunch and played three games. The first was Pop Rocket Long Shot, in which each child got to launch four pop rockets at a set of targets. Scores were based on the distance each rocket went. Amelia won with 85 points.

The second game was Pin the Rover on Mars - pretty self-explanatory. Charlie was the winner of that one. Third, we played a space version of Hot Potato we called "Sizzling Moon Rock." Logan won the game, but we had coached him before the party that he could play the games but not win the prizes since he was the host, and we were very proud at how graciously, with no prompting, he gave the prize to the second-place winner, Sophie.

After games Logan got to open his presents, and then we brought out the cake. I'm pretty proud of this cake...it was red velvet, and I baked it using a tempered glass mixing bowl as a pan so it had a round shape. Then I tinted the frosting red, and sprinkled it with a combination of crumbled up chocolate sandwich cookies, red velvet cake crumbs and a little red-colored decorating sugar. Jason found a cool set of Mars Rover matchbox figurines on Ebay and I bought a NASA play set and we used some of those on the cake. It turned out really cute, was tasty and most importantly was a hit with Logan and the kids.

A great time was had by all. After the guests left we spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing with his gifts. Later we gave him our gifts (we kept it small but he did get the Ladybug Land he's been asking for) For dinner I served spaghetti and Marsballs (you can probably figure that one out). Zach was concerned that he'd missed the cake but his tummy's been a little off today so I promised him we'd save him a piece for when he was feeling better.

It's hard to believe that our little big boy is five years old already. That five years ago Jason and I miraculously transformed from couple to family. Honestly it's hard to remember what our life was like BK - before kids. Maybe a little more sleeping in on the weekends, but definitely not as much love.