Falling into Autumn and Trying to Get My Groove Back

When did I begin referring to Autumn as “Fall”? I got to work this morning and began a conversation about the sudden turn in the weather (read: rain, rain and more rain) and found myself saying “Fall” without a second thought. On days like this, I feel as though my Aussieness is slipping away and I need to put the Wiggles on for the kids, stat.

Good thing we’ll be getting a little dose of Aussie again in a few months thanks to an impending visit from this guy…

(Photo unashamedly stolen from my brother’s facebook page. I think it may be a Grandpa Geoff creation).

Thankfully he’ll be bringing his Mum and Dad with him because I’m not sure my Aussie accent will get much of a boost from the gurglings of a seven month old.

So why am I not posting a whole bunch of my own photos here today, you may ask? Well, it’s because I haven’t really taken any. The camera has been taking a short break while I try to manage life and work and everything in between. I just haven’t felt inspired to pick it up over the past couple of weeks.

Honestly, I think I was feeling a little burned out after our busy Summer and the thousands of pics I’ve been going through from Newport, not to mention the photos I’ve been taking for my day job.

I’m sure this hiatis is temporary and, actually, it’s making me feel as though I might need to pick up the camera for more every day shooting. I’ve been great at taking photos of the big moments – the vacations, birthday parties, first day of school – but I have been missing many of the details our lives right now.

Like the fact that we are so deep in our superhero obsession that both boys went off to school this morning while wearing superhero underwear and listening to the Batman theme song in the car. I’m pretty sure there’s no better way to prepare your kid for a successful day at school.

Happy rainy Autumn Monday. May the force be with you (ooops, wrong phrase).

Then & Now

The best thing about keeping a blog is the ability to look back and see how much we’ve changed. Of course, it’s a little bittersweet to realize how quickly my babies have grown – and it makes me want another one – at least until the next time Samuel throws a tantrum because his SOCKS ARE THE WRONG COLOR!

Good thing my brother booked his trip to come and visit us at Christmas. He’s bringing his wife along but it’s my teeny nephew Charlie who I am most excited to see (sorry, Ben and Emma, but it’s true). I’ll just need to soak up all the baby goodness I can over those two short weeks.

So here’s my quick look back at THEN (May, 2008) and NOW.

THEN

NOW

THEN

NOW

Now I’m just torturing myself.

Inspired by @TaraWhitney who posted a link to a five-year-old picture of her family on Twitter this morning.

Confessions of a Three Year Old Superhero

Being a Superhero is 80% attitude.

There’s a lot of climbing involved.

Play equipment provides good leverage for takeoff.

You’re nothing without a sidekick.

Wait for the slow guy – it’s not his fault he’s a mere mortal. Besides, he may even be the originator of your super cape (we Superheroes believe in reusing and recycling, you know. Either that or our mums are too cheap to buy us a cape with our own super letter).

Superheroes must maintain good hydration (even if it means asking for a boost at the water fountain).

T-shirts? Not necessary. It just enhances the pecs.

The occasional smile does not undermine your power – in fact it could go a long way to winning over the ladies.

The front door could be your Kryptonite.

Don’t be afraid to hum your theme song wherever you go (it’s not at all annoying for others and adds much-needed drama) and always live to ~~play~~ fight another day.

The Outtakes

I was going to come on here to share a few wonderful photos of my children on their first day back at school – and then share some of the outtakes just for fun. But then I looked through my photos and realized that the outtakes were the norm and that, really, our life is just one long series of outtakes these days.

The first day back went as well as could be expected. I only had to leave one screaming child in the arms of a caregiver (Samuel) and was able to peel Thomas off my leg within 5 minutes, so I consider that a successful drop off.

Thomas’ first day of Kindergarten (that’s Prep, for my Aussie readers) was just an orientation so they only needed him for an hour – just enough time for me to grab a coffee and read a few emails on my first day back at work before I had to go and pick him up for his assessment. He did extremely well at assessment and declared himself to be “possibly the smartest kid in the whole school.” So I guess his confidence level is right up there with his math and reading scores.

Excited for the rest of the week – a birthday to celebrate, a real first day of Kindergarten to prepare for and a whole lot of work to do. Two weeks of vacation doesn’t do any favors for the inbox.

For now, enjoy some of our first day ~~outtakes~~ photographs.

Friends? More Like Siblings.

The photo in this post is my entry for the latest I Heart Faces photo challenge, “Friendship”.

It’s interesting to look back over the last month and see how things have changed since Mayumi and Karin first arrived.Karin is not a shy child so, from the very first moment they stepped off the plane, she seemed comfortable in our house and with our children. But being comfortable and feeling at home are two different things and I think we can now safely say that Karin feels right at home.

This past weekend was the first time that Samuel and Karin really connected. And when I say “connected” I mean fought like siblings. Until now, Thomas and Samuel have kept up their constant bickering but Karin has largely stayed out of it. Now she is right in there with them, sometimes purposefully causing problems between the boys or trying to play on her cuteness. And I see this as a good thing. It means she’s comfortable. It means she can be herself with us, which I love.It means she treats our boys as she would a brother.

The challenge, however, is that the same rules don’t apply with Karin as they do with other children. When Karin takes a toy away, I can’t just ask Samuel to tell her how he feels and ask for it back because she doesn’t understand him. Of course the same is true of Karin – when she is upset she has trouble expressing her feelings in words unless Mayumi is close by to translate. Unfortunately it has resulted in a little more frustration and sometimes they act out that frustration by hitting. Still, I see this as a good lesson in patience (theirs and mine) and communication techniques when words don’t work.

So, where’s Thomas in all this? Well, he’s experiencing his own frustration. He doesn’t like it that the two little ones copy everything he does or when they take things away from him. He’s also having trouble finding his own space which is something we need to work on.

At the end of the day, though, the first thing Thomas and Samuel say when they get home is “where’s Karin?”. And Karin is all smiles the moment they walk in the door and they’re pretty much inseparable from that moment on. Maybe it was just a case of too much time together this weekend. Or maybe we just all need a vacation (coming soon!).

One thing’s for certain though, they are going to miss each other like crazy when Karin and Mayumi head home. Maybe, by then, I’ll manage to get a picture of the three of them together without the funny faces – or maybe this photo is a better reflection of real life right now, just a little bit crazy.

Hitting the Reset Button

Began my Monday morning with too little coffee and one car seat short. Thankfully I was able to stop at Starbucks for the coffee and borrow a car seat from a friend so I could get the kids to daycare. Monday is looking better already.

The weekend was filled with waterfalls, sunshine and snow (all on the same day!), a symphony in the park and a late night finishing the laundry. Pictures to come of course but first I have to get through Monday.

Plans for the day: whittling down the massive to do list sitting on my desk (photo editing, video editing, powerpoint editing), locating a couple of mattresses so my parents have somewhere to sleep during their visit, scheduling a cleaner in advance of the same visit, maybe getting the car washed and arranging a much needed pedicure appointment for my poor neglected feet.

In the meantime, I have these little monkey faces to look at for inspiration.

He’s Trying to Break Me.

I’m convinced my three-year-old is trying to break me. Underneath that cute exterior is a diabolical mind that is just trying to see how far he can push me until I crack.

Take this morning for example:

I walk into to the bedroom and open the blinds. Child greets me with a big smile and then puts his head back on pillow. I leave room to get dressed. 5 minutes late, same child is in a mess of tears and whining calling for me to come back. I walk back into the room and following conversation take place:

Mummy (M): I’ll get your clothes
Samuel (S): NO! DON’T GET MY CLOTHES!
M: Ok – then you get your clothes. I’m going to get dressed (leave room).
S: MUMMY! I NEED YOU TO GET MY CLOTHES!
M: (grabbing clothes from closet)
S: NO! NOT THOSE CLOTHES!
M: OK – how about these clothes?
S: I WANT BLUE SOCKS! I DON’T WANT YOU IN MY ROOM!
(scene continues for about 10 minutes while I go back and forth between my room and his. Child is finally carried down the stairs to breakfast.)
S: Mummy – may I have a banana for my breakfast please? And some cereal? I love you Mummy.
M: Thank you for asking so nicely. I’ll also get you a spoon (consciously grabbing the spoon with the blue handle).
S: NO! I WANT THE ALL-BLUE SPOON, NOT THAT BLUE SPOON!

I won’t bore you with the rest, but let me assure you that this continued for another 30 or so minutes before I was able to leave the house. Of course when we got to school he refused to go in and after we eventually made it to the classroom, I had to peel him off my leg so I could leave. The whole way down the hall I could hear him screaming “I WANT YOU MUMMY!”.

On the one hand, it broke my heart to leave him in such a mess. On the other, I was grateful that I had this option for both our sakes. I wish this was a one-time event but, sadly, it was the continuation of a rough weekend.

I know he’s going through a lot right now – becoming the middle child overnight must be tough – but where do you draw the line between pandering to a three year old in an attempt to be compassionate and keep the peace, and finally deciding that enough is enough?

And it rained all weekend in Portland. I need a vacation.

Today – I’ll be taking a bunch of pictures and video for work (a good thing) and, apparently, working on my attitude so I can make it toFriday. Wish me luck.

Five Things Friday: The Happy Edition

The sun’s out, the weekend is about to commence – it truly is a happy Friday. Here are five things that made me smile today – including one that should be preceded by a chorus of Angels.

1. Boys who insist on wearing one gumboot and one sneaker to school – and Mums who let them because it’s truly not worth arguing about and, hey, it’s cute. (P.S. Socks are mismatched too)

2. Pixar characters in real life (seen on the way to school)

3. Cuteness that comes in pairs

4. Buskers that literally make you want to dance in the street (I think they were called The Glue Horses but I can’t find them online. Fantastic bluegrass-style. Please leave a comment if you know who they are).

AND, FINALLY (this is where the choir of angels comes in)…

5. A finished deck that’s just inviting me to come and take a seat with a nice glass of wine. (still waiting for the elves to come and finish painting our back room).

Plans for the weekend include more sightseeing around Portland with our Japanese guests – The weather will decide whether we make it to Powell’s or the Japanese gardens – or maybe we’ll be adventurous and try both.

Hope your Friday is as happy as mine.

Socially Acceptable Behaviour…

…for a three year old.

You can only get away with mowing the lawn in your underwear for a few short years before someone calls the cops so you might as well enjoy it while you can.

And Then the Sun Came Out…

After weeks (months!) of rain, the sun finally decided to show it’s face in Portland this weekend. We celebrated by continuing to show Mayumi and Karin around the city. In hindsight, probably not the best choice for the 4th of July/Portland Blues Festival/first nice weekend of the year. Still, we had a great time catching the train downtown and then navigating the the crowds, to sneak in a little waterfront fountain time and a walk to Pioneer Square. (Note to the Tourism Center: you need to stock more maps and materials in Japanese).

Making use of our Joovy double stroller again for the first time in at least a year. Came in very handy for toting at least two children at a time and sometimes even three.

The kids were a little hesitant about the fountain at first but as you can see, they soon got in the spirit. As difficult as it is to photograph in full sun, I love that we finally get to experience a few harsh shadows.