Family Pictures!

We had family pictures taken in May as part of our (last) ECFE fundraiser. I stuck them in a draft post on here, and just realized I never posted it. (Or anything else this summer, for that matter.) The pictures of the kids are cute. I didn't love the whole family pictures. I think I need to go back to my favorite photographer, Britt. Christopher is really starting to look like my dad (from the nose up) and you can see that in these pictures. His facial expressions are still all Ben. 

Eight

Eight!

She is still so much who she ever was, but has grown in so many ways, too. She is whip smart, but bossy. Intense and fearful about somethings, but then will totally surprise me with her courage. She is fun and funny, but sometimes will just not. stop. talking. She is curious about the world around her, and has questions about everything. She likes routine and follows rules, except when she doesn't. Kids are contradictions, aren't they?

Last night she asked me how helium is made while I was saying goodnight to her. Cue me backing out of the room and calling for Ben.

Second grade was another good year at school. What can I say - she is a great student. (Not perfect - her handwriting is atrocious, and she doesn't really like writing. Her biggest flaw is rushing through work.) She still loves to read, and would be done with the Harry Potter series if I hadn't made her take a break. She likes math, too, and has requested that we do home school over the summer. Her teacher sent home a few workbooks for her to use for home school math assignments. We'll see how long that lasts.

She continued with her piano lessons this year. She is doing well, but frequently can't be bothered to practice. (Cue me arguing with her about practicing and threatening to cancel her lessons. I should write a post about myself on my birthday. Emily's biggest flaw: issuing empty threats.)

Anyway. She also did Girl Scouts this year, which she loved. She got to do archery and go winter camping (in a lodge). She is going to a naturalization ceremony next week. And the biggest thing: she is going to Girl Scout Sleep-away camp this summer. On her own. With no one she knows. (See above about surprising courage.) I would never have done that at her age.

"Mommy, I know I am shy, but I still make friends easily. I'll be fine," she told me. She's not wrong.

She is playing soccer and will do swimming and tennis this summer. She likes watching football and golf. (Especially with her Baba Ralph.)

She had a birthday party with friends from school last weekend. Her guests included her best friend Natalie, Colin (who I think she has a crush on), Amelia, Phoebe, MJ, Yeleen, Greta and Elle. She had a great time. She has some very nice friends.  She can't wait to spend time with her best out-of-school friend Nora this summer.

Let's see, what else. Oh! Her eating! She is still picky, but she has gotten so much better this year! She is willing to try almost anything, including things with sauce on them. (Unheard of a year ago.) She has requested roasted chicken and rice pilaf for her family birthday dinner on Saturday. Roasted chicken and rice pilaf! Even six months ago she wouldn't have touched the stuff. I am so happy to see progress in this area. It has been a long (8 years) haul, but maybe there is a light at the end of this picky-eating tunnel?

Clare needs to have four baby teeth pulled to make room for her adult teeth that are coming in at an angle. So that should be fun. We have a first meeting with an orthodontist next week to discuss what I am sure will be a many years long plan to fix her teeth.

Some likes: Harry Potter, The Babysitter's Club graphic novels, My Little Pony, American Ninja Warrior, playing with her fashion design set, being in charge, legoes, board games, swimming and riding her bike.

Some dislikes: Thunderstorms (still), bugs (get used to them, kid), cleaning (her room should be declared a federal disaster zone), dogs (still), having other people be in charge, and, oh, listening to her mother.

We've had our ups and downs (she still throws the occasional tantrum), but overall seven was a really fun age. I hope eight will be just as fun! Happy birthday Clare. You are my most favorite girl in the world.

Ready for her birthday party. We tried to dye her hair blue on the ends - it sort of worked.

The gang at her birthday party. They very nicely included Christopher.

This collage came up in Google Photos. Little Clare! 

Playing with the fashion press she got from her BFF.

April and May, in pictures

We spent Spring Break at my parents' house. My brother, sister-in-law and Marios were there, along with my sister and her family. It was nice to see everyone, especially Marios. He is so cute and lively and funny. The kids loved the visit.

The karaoke machine is endlessly entertaining - for the kids, at least. Christopher is singing his standard "Run Away Train."  

Cousins outside Monte's Blue Plate Diner in Madison.

The kids were so excited to see their uncle.

We went to the kids' favorite crazy indoor playground over spring break. 

Andri brought a bunch of chocolates and hid them for the kids. They loved having a pre-Easter egg hunt. I only ate half the chocolate myself.

Marios and Christopher at a park in Janesville, WI.

Christopher at 5 and a half. I dropped the ball on writing a blog post about him, but maybe I'll do a belated one. Or, more likely, I'll wait and write about him on his 6th (!) birthday in October. 

Decorating Easter eggs!

The kids had fun hunting for their eggs and baskets on Easter morning. Then we went to my friend Heather's annual brunch, which was fun as always. 

We had Easter dinner here with my parents, and Ben's parents joined us for dessert. (I made lemon ricotta cheesecake, yum!)

Hunting for eggs at Heather's! Also: needs haircut.

At the park on a rare nice day. Seriously, I feel like winter still hasn't ended.

                                   

Christopher and I have been spending a lot of time at the library. We attached the tag along to my bike, and Christopher loves riding it. I feel good about biking to the library and since it takes more time I am not as likely to have to play transformers in the afternoon! As much as I get tired of that kind of play, I will miss our afternoons together when Christopher starts kindergarten in the fall.

Clare and her best friend Natalie got henna tattoos at the school fun fair.

                                             

Christopher thought this poop emoji hat was the most hilarious thing ever.

Katie and I took the kids to the Como Zoo in early May. They had a great time!

Clare had fun wearing this hat at my friend Peggy's Kentucky Derby party. I had fun drinking a mint julep.

Clare brought this sweet questionnaire home for Mother's Day. According to her, I won't turn 40 until next year. Yay! We spent the day at home - Ben made homemade cinnamon rolls and a delicious dinner.

Goofballs after some family pictures.

We celebrated 13 years of marriage with the kiddos at Green Mill. The kids love going out to eat, but the food was not great. We'll probably go somewhere else next year. Who knows, maybe we'll even get a babysitter! (We actually have a few babysitters we can call now. It is great, but expensive.) We also won tickets to a Twins game! Which was not expensive! Except for the beer! 

Twins game!

                                   

I went on a trip with my girlfriends in mid-May. The weather was gloomy, but we had a great time eating junk food, drinking cocktails, watching birds and alpacas, and binge-watching TV shows.

Ben took the kids to Doors Open Minneapolis while I was out of town. They went to Target Fields and the Pillsbury A Mill. They loved it!

Christopher on our last day of ECFE. Sniff.

We spent Memorial Day weekend at my parents' house. We had a great time swimming and going out for ice cream.

 And that's April and May. Time is flying again. One week left of school, and one week left until Clare turns 8!

Bits and Pieces: February and March

This month's post feels more curated than some, but there are things that aren't my story to tell. Anyway, most of this post involves the kids (as usual), and they are doing pretty well.

We spent much of February selling Girl Scout Cookies. It was kind of a lot, but Clare ended up selling more than her goal. She was proud of herself, and I am happy that we can support her troop. I bought more than I should have, though, and now I have been eating them. This is a problem.

Ben had a conference in Florida, which would have been really hard a few years ago. Now that the kids are 7 and 5, though, it really wasn't bad. They are getting to such good ages. (I say this, but oh my God daylight savings brought out the worst in Clare. She had so many tantrums!)

Katie and I took the kids for an overnight stay in Rochester during President's Day weekend. We tried to find a hotel with a water park, but we started looking too late. We ended up at a La Quinta, and you know what? It was much cheaper than a water park and the kids had a blast.

Speaking of kids, I am officially done watching Josie and Otto. I already miss seeing them on a regular basis. Josie sweetly told me that she is missing me. I watched her for four years. I hope we'll always have a special bond. Now it is time for me to figure out what I am going to do next. I think I am going to take next year to volunteer as much as I can at the school, exercise, freelance a bit, and decide what I want to be when I grow up. (And I feel incredibly privileged that I can do this.)

I won the Oscar party again this year, even though I failed to pick the correct Best Picture. (Green Book? Come on.) I think my friends are getting kind of annoyed that I win every year.

The kids finished their skating lessons and both passed on to the next level. They enjoy it, and I am glad they are not good enough skaters to play hockey.

March has been fairly low key, other than finishing skating and the normal activities. My parents were here for a long weekend. Ben and I went to the annual Blackhawks Soccer Club gala. The kids slept over at my sister's that night, so we also had a nice brunch out the next morning. It is always nice to get a little time to ourselves.

I took Clare to lunch at the American Girl Bistro. We had to get in one last visit  before the store closed. We had a fun lunch. They provided a box of conversation starters (not that Clare and I ever need help starting a conversation), but one of the topics was to say something you  admire about a family member. Clare said, "I admire you because you do all the cooking and are easily convinced to let us do stuff." Me: "...."

Well, I proved her right later when she convinced me to let her buy an accessory for her doll. I also went back later in the week to stock up for birthdays and Christmases. (Everything except dolls was 25 percent off. That stuff rarely goes on sale.)

Clare participated in the Pinewood Derby for Girl Scouts. Her car was super slow, but she did win a design award for "Best Bling." She was very proud of herself. I told her ahead of time that I didn't think she would win anything (especially since some of the other cars looked professionally done), but it did have a lot of glitter and she clearly did it herself, so maybe that's why she won. And she had fun, which is the important thing.

School conferences were this month. Both kids are still doing well, although Christopher acted silly throughout his entire conference, including pulling his shirt over his head and lying on the ground. I think he was embarrassed. Christopher still doesn't have a lot of friends, but he gets along with the other kids for the most part. He is right where he needs to be academically for pre-k. He had a scary issue with a kid on the bus, resulting in that kid being kicked off the bus, at least for know. He is taking it in stride, though, as he does most things.

Clare is Clare. She needs a push to challenge herself, but when she does she is fully capable. She is doing really well. I am very proud of her. She inherited her father's likes and dislikes when it comes to school. She does not like writing, and it is her weakest subject, which is kind of funny to me. She is a good speller, though, and an excellent reader. (She is very strong in math, as well.) I just love it when we all sit around reading books together. Even Christopher, who can't actually read. So yeah, school is going well.

Well, I guess I can't write an entire post without mentioning the weather. It has been a struggle. But it is spring now, so even if we get another blizzard or two (or another flood in the basement), the end is in sight, right?

Christopher and I baked a cake from Mary Berry's cookbook.

The Girl Scout and her piles of cookies.

Working on her Derby car at the St. Paul Tool Library.

Cousins.

Cousins stuffing their faces at La Quinta.

We also stopped at the Rochester Children's Museum. It is small, but Clare was proud of this stage she built.

Snow, and a Christmas wreath. I finally took it down a few weeks ago.

Fun at the school's Multicultural Fair.

Clare and her dolls. Samantha was mine when I was a kid. She is one of  the original dolls!

Her Pinewood Derby trophy with a Christopher photo bomb.

We had a good brunch the morning after the kids slept at my sister's. I love sleepovers!

Christopher and I have taken a few bus trips to pick up the car from the shop. He loves riding the city bus.

Snuffy's.

Snuffy's, two.

They were fascinated by this pigeon outside of the skyway window. (I think Clare was more interested in that than anything at the Children's Museum. She is sadly starting to outgrow that place.)

Oscars 2019

Last year I got 23 out of 25 on my Oscar ballot. That is not going to happen this year. As I've said in the past, I enjoy seeing these movies because it gets me out of the house during my least favorite time of year. Also, any excuse to get together with friends and drink cocktails and eat pizza is fine by me. The Oscars themselves, however, hold less and less interest for me as the years go on.

8. Bohemian Rhapsody: The director is a terrible, gross person and I am glad he is now a Hollywood pariah. I did not like this movie. I love Queen. However, I flames on the sides of my cheeks hated Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. And he is probably going to win an Oscar.

7. Black Panther: I mean, I liked it. It's a better than average Avengers movie. Best Picture, though? Seems like a stretch. ( Although the way this awards season is going it will probably win.)

6. Green Book: This is a mildly entertaining movie. There are some tough scenes involving racism. However, it really did feel like too much of a redemption of a racist white guy story rather than focusing on what musician Don Shelby's life was really like.  Mahershala Ali is great, though.

5. Vice: Very similar style to The Big Short from few years ago, which is no surprise since it is the same director. Christian Bale is good as Dick Cheney, but I never really forgot that it was Christian Bale playing Dick Cheney. And of course, revisiting all of the evil things Dick Cheney did wasn't exactly uplifting. And I have now written Dick Cheney four times too many.

4. BlacKkKLansman: This was hard to watch in many ways, especially knowing how little has changed since the film took place. It was also hilarious at parts, and I liked the actors.

3. The Favourite: I did not fully know that this was about, but I loved it. Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman are brilliant. And I am sucker for a period piece.

2. Roma: This was a beautifully shot film. Very artistic. I really felt like I was seeing Mexico City in the 70s. There are some heartbreaking parts to the story, but it is very well done.

1. A Star is Born: I know, I am surprised this is number one, too. I loved this movie. I loved Bradley Cooper. The music is great, and the story well told. I didn't love the end, but overall I thought this was really well done.

Should win: Roma
Will win: Roma