Oh Go Fly a Kite

I bought the children kites a couple of weeks ago - a fairy princess for Quinn and an airplane for Greyson. This Saturday was the first windy day we had that didn't involve thunderstorms so we took them out to the field in front of our neighborhood to fly them. Quinn had a blast. She laughed and danced and giggled watching her kite fly in the sky. She even held onto hers for a bit. Greyson on the other hand was quite dismayed at the fact that his airplane might actually go into the sky. When we asked him if he wanted to fly his he told us no thank you but that he prefered that it stay in the car. Apparently he enjoys looking at it but not actually using it for its intended purpose. sigh.

Good Friends

We were very fortunate to have not one but two friends darken our doorstep this weekend.

The first was our friend Jay Tuck (Dr. J to the kids). He was in town interviewing for a fellowship at Vanderbilt Medical Center and took time out of schmoozing doctors to drive out to East Bumble and have dinner with us and the kids on Friday. We had a great time catching up. Poor Jay though had to experience not only me watching KU basketball but KU losing (which isn't a pretty picture). There was screaming and jumping and cursing and eventually me pounding my head on the floor. We are hoping that Jay gets his fellowship and as we would love to have him and his family here in Nashville. I am also hoping that I didn't scare him away with my basketball watching antics!!

Our other guest was Raif's childhood compadre Kevin Reed. Kevin took time out of his busy travel and work schedule to spend the weekend with us. Kevin is one of our few friends that hasn't fallen into the silly marriage and children trap. We enjoyed listening to someone who actually had a life talking about dating and his world travels and life that revolves around something other than potty training and nap times. It might not have been the most exciting weekend for Kevin but hopefully he got caught up on some sleep. We had a pretty low-key weekend. Kevin is the Mac-Daddy on the soccer field and so helped Greyson pick out all of his soccer gear making sure that my son had only the best. Quinn was quite smitten with Uncle Kevin and followed him around everywhere and danced with him and used this coquettish giggle on him that I think made Raif cringe a bit.

As always, both visits were too short but we enjoyed seeing everyone again and hope that they will come back soon.
Greyson schooling Uncle Kevin on how to really play soccer.
Uncle Kevin always gets the cutest girls...

Bend It Like Erim

Next week Greyson starts his first foray into organized sport. We signed him up for soccer. Today we took him out to get all the necessary equipment: cleats, socks, shorts, shin guards and a ball. He loved all of his new gear and insisted on wearing them as soon as he got up from nap and he didn't take them off until he went to bed. He looks the part, now we will see what happens next Saturday.

Tranquility Needed

We went out to lunch this afternoon and as usual Greyson needed to go potty. I took him into the bathroom and in to the handicapped stall (much more room for two in there) which happened to be underneath the air vent. He got in and looked around and politely informed me that we needed to go to the other stall. I asked why and he said "Mommy, this one is too loud. I need it to be quiet when I pee."

You Know You've Been in the South Too Long...

When your daughter says - "Oh you made me grilled cheese for lunch....Bless your heart!"

Greyson's First Official School Pictures

Greyson got his first official school pics back last week and they are pretty cute. There is one in there you can definitely tell that he is saying cheese. Anyway for those who are interested in looking you can go to the following website

www.photogifts.lifetouch.com

use my e-mail: michele@theerims.com and the password: polsa1

Hope you enjoy.

The Only Thing That Separates Us From The Animals Is Our Ability to Accesorize.

This is how we left the house today to pick up Greyson - not one, not two but three purses (including cell phone and keys of course). Oy vey the teenage years are going to be hell.

Oh and mad props to the first person who gives me the 80's chickflick movie that my title quote comes from!! (It's one of my favorites)

Out for a spring morning stroll

Big Girl, Big Bed...

After some minor drama with the delivery company (which is for another time) Quinn's big girl bed arrived! She was so happy - it was like Christmas around here. She sat very patiently and watched the delivery man put it together and kept clapping and laughing and doing a dance as she sang "I've got my big girl bed." We of course spent all afternoon playing in it and she went right to sleep tonight in it. Here are a couple of pics of the bed and the very happy little girl.

End of An Era

If you ask either Raif or I if we want to have more children you will receive a resounding "No" from both of us (though Raif's would be a bit stronger and more heartfelt). We are quite happy with the size of our family - we fit nicely at our small 4 person kitchen table, although we don't have one, we could all fit into a sedan comfortably and Raif and I have gotten pretty good with our man to man defense in relation to our kids (more kids requires that we retool to play a zone). Many of my friends are either pregnant or gearing up to become again and I don't envy the midnight feedings and the haze of exhaustion that haunted me through the first four months of both my children's lives. I am enjoying my children more than ever - both verbal and both (almost) potty trained. I love being able to have conversations with them and love developing a relationship with them that encompasses more than a desire to be fed and changed.

With that being said, I sit here with a suprisingly heavy heart as I look toward tomorrow. For tomorrow Quinn's big girl bed is being delivered and with that we will be saying goodbye to cribs in the house. But for me it is more than that - it will be saying good-bye to the last bastion of babydom in our lives and that is making me a bit hollow inside.

Now don't get me wrong - actual 'babies' left our house a long time ago. Anyone who has spent time with Quinn knows that she went from baby to preschooler (completely skipping toddlerdom) in a matter of months. At 12 months she was crawling and babbling and by 15 months she was walking and using full sentences. But she still slept in a crib and therefore I could still consider her my baby. Tomorrow that is going to change and my baby girl is going to magically transform into my little girl. She, of course, is thrilled. Her desire to grow up almost equals my desire to keep her a baby.

I know that I don't want another baby but I just wish I could hold on to the one I have a little longer. While I won't miss the 2AM feedings, I will miss that quiet moment of peace we had together in the middle of the night after tummies were full and the snuggles that only babies give best. I will miss that content sigh they make as they fall asleep on your chest knowing that they are safe in your arms. I guess the next time I will get to experience that will be with my grandchildren and that seems like such a long time away though considering how fast Greyson and Quinn are growing it might not be as long as I think.

OD'ing on the Green

As everyone knows yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and of course the Erims got into the spirit. We started out the day with green shamrock pancakes and of course sported our new green shirts (I can't imagine who bought them for the kids). We decorated the house with shamrocks and for dinner we had green milk and flank steak with chimichurri sauce (a parsley and olive oil based sauce which is of course green) followed by the traditional holiday cupcake. (It appears I can only think of festive things to do that have to do with food). We also discovered a new taste sensation that is sure to sweep the nation. Greyson thoroughly enjoyed dipping his cupcake into the chimichurri sauce...mmmm devils food and parsley and olive oil - delish! Hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patricks Day.
Oh - if anyone has any ideas of how to keep my daughter from taking every barette out of her hair that I put in please let me know. I am getting tired of pictures where all you can see is her hair.

Sun Bread

My friend Cindy recommended a great book to us called Sun Bread. The premise of the story is about a small town baker who tries to bring some sunshine into her gloomy, wintry town by making a sun out of bread. I got it for the kids at the beginning of the week and they love it - it is in our read all the time category. It is also quite timely since it has been rainy and dreary here ever since we got the book. So yesterday was another miserably rainy day so we decided to make our very own Sun Bread. The kids had a great time.

They mixed the ingredients all by themselves and
had the best time kneading the dough and making the sun.
Here is our finished product. We had delicious sun bread with our dinner last night and they were so proud that they made their very own contribution to our meal. Thanks Cindy for recommending the book.

Erim Family Day

Yesterday, we once again headed to the theatre. I didn't realize when I bought these tickets a couple of months ago that the plays would be so close together. This time we went to the Nashville Children's Theatre production of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. It was a really great show and was actually an amalgam of several Lilly stories. I think the kids enjoyed this one a lot more than the Gruffalo. Greyson sat in his chair the whole time and laughed at the silly mice on stage. Quinn was fascinated by Julius, Lilly's baby brother, and was quite dismayed anytime he wasn't in a scene.

We saw the 10AM production and so afterwards we all went out to lunch together. Since it was the kids day we asked them what they wanted to eat. Being true children of both of us - their reply: Steak!! So we went on an adventure to find an open steakhouse for lunch - finally managing to find the third one we tried open. After an artery clogging Kansas City strip the kids then kept the nutritious afternoon up by stopping at Maggie Moo's for ice cream. It was a really great day and I think everyone enjoyed it.

This time I did manage to remember my camera - now as for the subjects I couldn't control what they did....

Here come the Gandy/Kerrs

Last Saturday (I told y'all that we were busy!!). Page and Jamie and their little man Hudson came for a visit. We thankfully had a gorgeous weekend. We got to take Hudson to the zoo for the first time and taught him how to drive down the driveway really fast on a poorly made plastic car (which Jamie really loved, not).

The true purpose of the visit was to take Hudson to his first hockey game. Since Jamie and Page were silly enough to move to a city without an NHL team poor Hudson has been deprived of hockey. We felt the obligation to right that wrong. Last Tuesday the Predators were playing the Caps (Jamie and Raif's childhood fav team). Admittedly, there was some tension when the Erim's rooted for the home team while the Gandy-Kerrs sported all Caps gear. But in the end it was a great game with the Caps winning in OT. We think Hudson enjoyed the game or perhaps he just enjoyed climbing on and playing with the folding chairs. As always the trip was too short and they headed back to Austin on Wednesday. I am hoping that coming to see the Caps will become an annual event for them. I think it will be easy to convince Jamie of that - Page on the other hand I am not so sure about!!
All 3 kids enjoying a 65 degree day and some swinging.
Hudson and his stick. Hudson is a very serious young man - especially when it comes to sticks and rocks. I finally got him to smile on his final day here. I think he gets it from Jamie.

Oh Yes, Oh No - A Gruffalo

Last Saturday, outside of it being Guinness' birthday, was also a first for the Erim children - their first play. We took them to see The Gruffalo at TPAC - it is one of their favorite books. Quinn thoroughly enjoyed the production and laughed along with the audience though I don't quite know whether she got all the jokes or not. Greyson - well let's just say with Greyson it is never a black and white issue. He was unsure about the play and spent most of the time sitting in Raif's lap peeking out of between his fingers to watch the actors. A couple of times he said he wanted to go home because he was convinced the Gruffalo was going to eat him. One would conclude from all that that he really didn't enjoy the show, right? Well when it was over and the lights went up and we said that it was time to go home he started crying and telling us he wanted to see more of the Gruffalo. Go figure. I was a super Mom and of course forgot the camera at home to document this milestone. sigh. But I at least saved the programs.

Happy Birthday Old Man

Guinness turned 8 last Saturday. He isn't looking older but rather more distinguished. We love you Guinny!!

Negligent Blogger

I got a call from my Dad a night or two ago asking me when I was going to update my blog...hmmm I guess I better get on that. It did reassure me that someone was actually reading it though, which was nice. Anyway, we have been super busy around here lately and considering we are still doing laundry from CO - we are also way behind on life hence no time to blog. So here are some updates as to what has been happening around here lately. Enjoy.

A Day In The Life...

This morning my friend Madelene posted a funny article on her Facebook page. The piece was a woman writing in to a columnist trying to figure out what stay-at-home Moms do all day because she couldn't figure out why her friend was so tired and hard to get a hold of. It got me thinking so I thought I would try my hand at outlining my day for everyone. Here goes:

6:30AM - Here children chattering through monitors. Become conscious enough to determine if they are in pain or dying. No? Great. Turn the monitors off.

7:00AM - Alarm wakes me up. Attempt to shove Raif out of bed and into shower. Stumble upstairs to get kids out of bed. Negotiate and referee which kid gets to bring what book downstairs to watch them at breakfast. Utilize skills learned by watching WWE to get my son into clean underwear and Quinn into a clean diaper.

7:15AM Herd children downstairs and fix breakfast. Attempt to get Quinn to eat her banana. Attempt to get Greyson to drink his yogurt. Referee where the books sit at the breakfast table so they are equally watching each child.

7:30AM Fix Raif's breakfast

7:45AM Wrangle Greyson into his school clothes and pack his backpack for the day. Figure out which of his 600 stuffed animals he wants to take to school.

8:00AM Shove husband and son out the door for school and work. Attempt to help Raif remember his lunch, coffee and computer - usually fail at reminding him.

8:10AM Realize I haven't eaten breakfast - shovel cereal in.

8:15AM Attempt to clean up kitchen but realize that the dishwasher is full and clean from last night. Try to stealthily empty dishwasher without Quinn noticing.

8:16AM Quinn notices the dishwasher being emptied and wants to help.

8:16 to 8:30AM - Help Quinn unload dishwasher. Pray she doesn't cut herself on a knife or drop a bowl. Watch her put everything in the wrong place.

8:30AM - Attempt to load dishwasher with dirty dishes. Try to keep Quinn from taking said dirty dishes out and putting them away.

9:00AM - Herd Quinn upstairs to put on clothes. Rationally discuss why she can't wear sandals in the snow or why light green doesn't go with dark green. Usually fail.

9:15AM Begin reading book of the day.

9:30AM Still reading book of the day.

9:45AM Begin to go insane as I continue to read the book of the day.

10:00 AM Take Quinn downstairs for morning snack.

10:15AM Back upstairs to hopefully do something else than read the f'*%%$in book again. Play doctor, play big bad wolf, do puzzles - whatever she wants to do.

10:45AM Downstairs to start making lunch.

11:00AM Lunch!! Negotiate what is for lunch, how much she has to eat, what glass her milk is in, whether her food in on a plate or in a bowl.

11:30AM - Thank GOD naptime!!! Realize that I haven't showered, brushed my teeth or put real clothes on. Go do all these things so I feel human again.

12:00PM Feed myself.

12:30-2:00PM Try to get stuff accomplished: put all the dishes Quinn put away that morning in their correct spots, pay bills, catch up on correspondence, read the CNN headlines so I am not completely out of the loop on the real world, clean up the kitchen, fill the bird feeders - you get the idea. Try to spend about 20 minutes loving on the dogs so they don't feel left out.

2:00PM - Wake Quinn up, change her and get the family ready to pick Greyson up at school.

2:05PM - Frantically search the house for my cell phone and keys.

2:10PM Call my cell phone because I can't find it.

2:15PM Load up Quinn and the dogs in the car. Negotiate with Quinn as to what toys she may have for the drive.

2:25PM - Get on the highway just as Quinn tells me she has dropped her book and wants me to get it. Attempt to tell her that Mommy turning around to get the book isn't safe and when she stops at a light she will get it.

2:26PM - Turn radio up to obscure screaming about how she wants the book.

2:40PM - Arrive at school and whisk Quinn inside. First adult conversation of the day!!! Talk to teachers about how Greyson did at school.

2:45 - 3:00PM - Attempt to herd two screaming and running children out of the school. Watch preschool teacher walk 10 3 year olds quietly in a line from one classroom to another. Wonder what drugs she has given them and where I can score some.

3:00 to 3:15PM - Get kids in car and negotiate who gets what toy in their seats, who gets in first. Get evil looks from other parents waiting for my parking space.

3:30PM - Turn onto highway just as one of the kids says he/she dropped a toy and wants me to get it. Again discuss how Mommy can't pick up toys while driving 70 on the highway.

3:31PM - Again turn up radio to obscure screaming.

3:45PM - Finally reach a stop light and like a Jedi master get into the back of the car and redistribute toys for the rest of the ride home.

3:46PM - Get honked out by angry drivers when I have sat through half a green light.

4:00PM - Home again!! Try to herd children and dogs into house for snack. Negotiate snack between both of them. Greyson wants peaches. Quinn wants melon. Fix snacks and put them on table. Greyson wants melon too. Sigh. Eat the peaches myself and fix more melon for Greyson.

4:15 PM Attempt to be good Mom and try to do arts and crafts with the kids.

4:30 PM Herd children upstairs to play and referee over who get what toy and for how long.

5:30PM Back downstairs to start dinner. Try to cook dinner, play with kids, referee arguments, stop them from climbing on the table and generally destroying the house.

6:30PM I hear the garage door open. THANK YOU JESUS. A weary Raif enters the house and I give him the "Entertain your children now" look. He herds them into the bedroom while he changes and I get 15 minutes of peace to actually get dinner on the table.

6:45PM Put kids dinner on the table. Make Raif's plate. Make my plate.

6:50PM I sit down and cut my first bite. "Mommy, I need more broccoli." "Mommy, I need more chicken."

6:55PM Return with more food for the kids. Attempt to eat my first bite.... "Mommy, more milk please." "Mommy, more chicken please."

7:00PM Return with kids food. Attempt to eat first bite.. "Mommy, I am done." "Mommy, I am done." Shovel a couple bites in before the tribe gets restless. Attempt adult conversation with husband - don't get very far.

7:15 PM Upstairs to get ready for bed. Children have regained energy from dinner. Run around naked and have NO desire to go to bed. Wrangle children into pajamas, read story and tuck into bed.

7:45 PM Close doors on children.

7:46PM Feed dogs and clean up kitchen with Raif.

8:15PM Look over the damage from Hurricane Quinn and Greyson. Determine whether I should clean up or collapse on the couch and watch some TV.

8:15-9:00PM Try to be the good mother/wife and clean up some and once again answer correspondence, do laundry and other general to dos around the house.

9:00PM Finally sit down with Raif and share stories of the day as we watch TV. Really want to go to bed but don't because only really geriatric people go to bed this early.

10:00PM Thank God - bedtime. Get ready for bed and curl up under the covers. Turn the monitors on and listen to the angelic sound of my children breathing and forget all the hassle and turmoil of the day and realize that I don't have it that bad.

Colorado survived the Erims...

Last week the whole entire Erim clan descended on Winter Park, CO. We went with my parents as well as our friends Susanna and Keith, their daughter Kinley and Susanna's parents Jim and Lynda (aka Lolly and Pops). We all had an amazing time. Raif, Susanna, Keith and I got to snowboard for 4 days and had some major alone adult time. The kids had a blast with 4 grandparents showering constant attention on them and I think the grandparents had a blast spoiling their grandkids. On our off days we had lots of grand adventures - we went tubing, sledding, and ice skating and even took a sleigh ride through the woods. We made snow angels and threw snowballs and the kids ate lots of snow. We attempted a snowman but Greyson enjoyed jumping in the pile of snow too much to let us finish. We thought about putting Greyson in ski school but he really didn't have a lot of interest so Raif instead took both Quinn and Greyson down a hill on his snowboard - which they loved.

Not to say that we didn't have our share of injuries. My knees still hurt from some skiier who took me out from behind while I was shredding the powder and I have a large bruise on my shin from an unfortunate ski lift incident. Raif managed (only Raif) to tweek his knee on one of our first runs (on a green no less) after his binding ripped right off his board. Then in attempting to do a 180 off a jump he managed to crack a rib. Even our children were not spared. My daughter is apparently a lightening rod for sledders as she got 'smacked down' (her words) 4 times by sledders sliding down the hill and got some pretty nasty snow burn and cuts on her face. But each time she wiped away the tears and wanted to go again. She was braver than I would have been.

We also found someone on the trip who takes more pictures than Raif, if you can believe that!! Susanna's mother and Raif took 1,500 pics between the two of them. Yowzer. I don't think there was a moment of the trip that wasn't photo documented. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip - and if you have a lot of time to kill you can view the rest on Raif's smugmug account.
http://sailrace.smugmug.com/gallery/7484689_k7KqP#482977335_Mre2y

Happy Birthday Cooper

Last, last Friday (the 20th) was Cooper's 6th birthday. We left for Colorado that morning so she sort of got gypped out of all her birthday festivities. We did manage to get in her birthday bone (with candle) and an out of tune rendition of Happy Birthday before whisking her off to the pet spa for the week. I am hoping she enjoyed the doggie spa enough to forgive us for missing her birthday.