The Difference in Kids

Every once in a while I'm completely amazed at how different our kids are. Here are a couple head scratching moments where I wonder, "Who's child are you?"

Snack Time

The Chief (laying on the couch): "Mom, I'm hungry. (long moan) Mom, I'm hungry!"

Me: "What do you want?"

The Chief: "What can I have?"

Me: "You can have crackers or fruit or yogurt."

The Chief: "I can have crackers or fruit or yogurt?"

Me: "Yes, what do you want?"

The Chief: "Um. Um. I don't know."

....wait five minutes....

The Chief: "Mom, I'm hungry. (moan)"

Me: "What do you want?"

The Chief: "What can I have?"

....smack head in disbelief.....

The same situation with Zu Zu

.....hear fridge opening.....

Me: "Zu Zu, what are you getting?"

Zu Zu: "I'm just hungry."

.....hear fridge close.....

Zu Zu: "Mom will you open this?"

Me: "Sure. Here you go."

Zu Zu: "Thanks."

While Brushing Teeth

Me: "Time to brush teeth everyone."

The Chief: "Mom, will you brush my teeth?"

Me: "No."

The Chief: "But I want you to do it."

.....eye roll.....

Me: "No. Zu Zu, can I help you?"

Zu Zu: "No! I'm doing it all by myself!"

.....sigh......

Greenfield Halloween

For those of you not in Michigan, let me say that the weather recently has been unfortunate. It rained all day yesterday which wouldn't have been a big deal, if we didn't have tickets for Halloween in Greenfield Village. Of course the tickets were non-refundable, non-exchangeable. So, despite the cold and the wet, I prepped us for going out last night to do some tricker-treating. Everything was going fine. I had dinner ready early, for once, and we had plenty of time to get there by 8:00 - the time for our tickets. The speed bump in the road came when the power went out and didn't turn back on. So, we got everyone ready by flashlight and candle. In the darkness, we lost time trying to find the Chief's clone mask and when we finally rushed out of the house we, of course, forgot the camera.

So we're driving through the pouring rain to Dearborn in hopes of making it on time. However, the traffic is as crazy as the weather and we show up a little late. In order to make sure we get into the Village, the Brain drops us off, taking a ticket for himself. Unfortunately, in our franticness, we forget to set a place to meet. I walk in with the kids and he goes to find a parking spot.

Immediately upon entrance, Zu Zu announces she has to go the potty ("Right Now!"). So now, I'm towing 2 kids, a purse, a bag holding Zu Zu's costume, and treat bags to the restrooms in the middle of Greenfield Village. Sigh. We made it, thank goodness. But then, we can't find the Brain and he didn't bring his cell phone. Nice. The next 20 minutes were spent chaotically searching the crowds, hoping to randomly find him. Finally we managed to get together again. The weather cleared and actually warmed up a bit, allowing us to really enjoy an evening of tricks and treats. Here's a couple of okay pictures I managed to take with my phone.

The Chief's favorite part was seeing the Mad Scientist in Thomas Edison's workshop whose creation escaped. Zu Zu's favorite thing was the Headless Horseman. Although, she said, "I think it's pretty hard to have a sword with no head." She and I agreed that he probably needed to find one, though we were unwilling to offer our own. We all like the dancing Skeletons playing the xylophone with bones and I personally liked the Scarecrow that came to life.

All and all, it was late night, but everyone had a great time.

Picking Perfect Pumpkins

We had another great weekend, enjoying the fall weather. Saturday we tooled around Ann Arbor, running errands and stopping at a great playground. Sunday we headed out pumpkin picking with some friends. We had a great time searching for the perfect pumpkin for each of us.

For those of you that have never had the pleasure of living in the midwest, I'll tell you this. There is no better place to be in the fall than Michigan. The trees burst with color as they display mother nature's fireworks. The weather is brisk and refreshing, just the right temp for jeans and a sweater. There's apple picking (which equals apple pie at our house) and pumpkins for carving. And football, which is a must in my family since all of our blood runs blue and gold (except for the Brain who always cheers for the underdog).

I can't think of anywhere else I want to be during the fall. And for those of you who are taken aback because Michigan Fall gives way to Michigan Winter, I say to you....learn to dress in layers.

Other than that, we're getting ready for Halloween around here. This year we'll be filling our baskets with candy twice. Once, this Friday, at Greenfield Village Halloween Nights and once on the 31st. It should be quite the adventure since I'm making Zu Zu's costume this year. I"ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Cheers!

A Good Day

Nothing particularly exciting happened today. But, sometimes that's just what I need. Zu Zu and I took the bus downtown to have lunch with Clay. It's become a bit of a tradition since school started. With the Chief gone all day, we thought it would be nice to do something special just the three of us. So Thursdays are our special days.

Now for those of you who think the Chief is getting the short end of the stick, let me assure you that the Chief is never on the short end of anything. He can wheel and deal better than anyone I know and his gift ensures that he gets his way more often than I care to admit.

We also made cookies, which means we got to eat cookie dough, and who doesn't love that? Cooking with Zu Zu is always an adventure. She tried to convince me to let her eat a piece of cookie dough the size of a golf ball. Even after I told her no, she got down from her stool and tried to grab it off the counter. Hilarious. Needless to say, she needs the Chief to give her some pointers on how to get her way.

The day ended on a cheery note when Clay put the kids to bed, so I could work on my story. I'm on page 40 now, which isn't significantly father than I was before. But it feels great just the same, like I've crossed another milestone.

Think I'll go to bed while everything is still good. Who knows? Maybe it will carry into tomorrow.

Weekend Wonders

We spent our Saturday at the Henry Ford Museum, enjoying the Grand Opening of the Lego Castle exhibit. The Chief was in Lego bliss. There were Legos and Duplos to play with, as well as a jousting area, a castle, and an digitally animated catapult attack. I have to say that I was just as impressed as the kids.

After our Lego adventure ended, we headed outside to Greenfield Village. The kids were excited to see the hundreds of pumpkins lining the streets right now as part of the decorations for the Village's Halloween nights. We headed straight for the glass blowers per Zu Zu's request. Not only did she remember the place, but she asked specifically about the girl glass blower who was working during our last visit. We watched for a long time and as we left to head back to the museum Zu Zu declared her ambition to become a glass blower. The artist in me was more than a little pleased with her announcement.

We rounded out our evening with a trip to our new favorite burger joint, Bagger Daves. Here's Zu Zu and I sharing a Honey, Cinnamon and Sea Salt shake.

Today we continued our adventures with a bike ride to Gallup park, a long stint on the playground there, and feeding the ducks.

Needless to say, it has been a great weekend. We're trying to pack in as much fun as we can before the snow hits (which is always sooner than you expect here in Michigan).

In other news, I've hit a bit of a road block with my story. There needs to be some research done in order to progress with part of it, but that shouldn't be too bad. I'm waiting on some materials to come in at our fabulous local library. Until then, I'm hoping to continue moving forward with rest of the story.

Cheers.

Something different

It's true. My blog is not full of poetic prose or gritty detail about the everyday happenings of our little clan. I don't offer up bits of wisdom or witticism. What can I say? I'm a practical sort of person with practical ideas about blogging. Despite this fact, and ignoring good sense all together, I've decided to confess my funny little hobby.

Be kind. And if not that, indulgent.

For those of you that don't know I'm writing a novel. I know. Hard to believe isn't it? I can't even post to my blog regularly, so a novel is a bit of a stretch of the imagination. Go ahead, shake your head in disbelief. I can hardly believe it myself.

Needless to say, it's a very slow process, but going pretty well so far. I have over 30 pages typed up in Word and lots more to transcribe out of my notebook. Call me a sucker for old-fashioned things. There's just something about a pad of paper and pen that appeals to my creativity more than sitting in front of a computer screen.

So, there it is for the world to see. I'm hoping this confession will encourage me to write a bit more often. Now that everyone knows I have to continue, right? I hope to post updates on my progress alongside the daily happenings of the family. Hopefully it will add a little bit of flavor to this otherwise practical column.

Until next time....

Posting again....finally

You know what's really sad about this blog? We do lots of cool stuff that never gets posted. We had such a crazy summer, going place and doing things, but you'll probably never hear about any of it. The plain truth is I'm a terrible blogger. Thank goodness I'm not trying to offer up anything meaningful into cyberspace.

Anyway, school has started and it's been great. The Chief is enjoying 1st grade. Can you believe he's in 1st grade? He's making new friends and learning new things. Zu Zu is enjoying having the Chief gone most of the day. It's really great spending time just the two of us.

We've had to adjust a bit since some of our good friends have moved away, but new friends have moved in so everyone is hanging in there. Me included....the summer just about killed me with no kids outside to play with.

Tigers Game!

We went to the Tigers game Sunday with JC. It was a great game. We got to see Clete Thomas and Brandon Inge hit back to back homeruns. The kids enjoyed having soda, popcorn and carousel rides. Here's some pics.

In other news, the Chief has his first loose tooth, which is very fun.

Oh man...July is tomorrow!

Since I do such a good job at posting regularly, I thought I would post some pictures from our recent trip to Greenfield village with Grammy and Buster.

The kids really enjoyed the old school lawn games, riding the train and the carousel.

Happy 6th Anniversary to us!

In honor of our 6th anniversary we spent a great day together and with friends enjoying the beautiful weather.  First we ventured over to see the U of M engineering team race their suped-up Go Kart.  It's so loud that we could hear it from our house in Northwood V, so we went to investigate.  The kids thought it was really awesome...but too loud.  Here are some pictures.

After watching for a while, we continued on and burnt off some energy at U of M's "Wave Field" - a really cool environmental sculpture by Maya Lin (creator of the Vietnam Memorial).  You can check it out at this website http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/lin/card2.html

We ran, jumped, and tumbled our way through this amazing ocean of grass.  See for yourself!

Inspired by the engineering club, we came back home and built our own race cars out of legos.  After lunch we went back to watch the race car, this time dragging our neighbors along.  The 6 kids (the 4 actual children plus the 2 dads) had a fun chasing one another over the waves for a second time.  Everyone had a really great time.  And what better way to close out a great day than with ice cream?  All in all, the perfect day, and the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.  

Kindergarten Sing

The Kindergarten sing was last night.  I thought I should post a short video of the Chief's musical talents.  The footage isn't great....sorry.  Guess it's time to invest in a video camera.  Sigh.

Pie Makers

  

So obviously I'm not an avid blogger, since my last post was over a month ago.  Can you believe that some people update their blogs most than once a day?  Where on earth do they find the time???

Anyway, while at work last night Clay and the kids made Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie.  I wanted to post some pics of the proud bakers, lovingly working on their culinary creation.  No one has tried it yet, so I can't attest to taste.  They all need a little work in the presentation area though.

Report Card

Well, I'm claiming the title of proud mom and therefore bragging as well.  The chief has brought home an excellent report card for the second time this year, reminding me of what an exceptional child he is.  We celebrated with new bionicles and milkshakes from McDonalds.  

Confessions of a Mom....

I managed to get up shortly after the alarm went off this morning.  This is in no way an amazing accomplishment for most of the world, but I am not a morning person and I'm not feeling particularly well today.  Anyway, I woke the Chief up and stumbled downstairs to grab a blanket and lay on the couch while Clay took over getting the Chief ready for school.  

I admit that I laid there until I heard Zu Zu around 8:30 or so.  I hauled myself slowly off the couch and headed upstairs to get her up.  I walked into her room and immediately was told that she did not want me.  She wanted her daddy.  I told her, "I'm sorry honey, daddy is at work already."  To which she responded, "WHY?"  After accepting that her daddy was not at home she refused to get out of bed.  "Go Away!" she said.  So I let and immediately  she began screaming because I left her room.  I went back in to get her, only to have her stop screaming and roll over to ignore me.  This went on for 10 minutes, so I finally gave up and went back downstairs to start my day.  After a few minutes of silence, she began yelling again, but I figured she could use a few more minutes alone.  Finally I went back up, hoping she was ready to get out of bed.  I picked her up against her will.  This was meant with more screaming and some pushing, so I put her down.  She went to hide behind her bed and started screaming, "Go Away!"  After a couple minutes of trying to calm her down, I went back downstairs in the hopes that she would follow.  She stayed upstairs for another 15 minutes, finally giving in because she wanted her binky that I had taken downstairs.  She went straight the couch and wanted to watch cartoons.  And to be perfectly honest reader, I confess, I turned them on in the hopes that they would improve her mood.  We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

March Already?

Well, it's been a while since my last post.  I'd like to say that we've been doing so many exciting things that I just haven't had any time to post....but I would be lying.  The truth is we haven't been doing much at all, so nothing seemed worthwhile to post.

Spring break is over and we're getting back to the our normal, everyday routine.  The Chief is at school.  Zu Zu and I are doing some laundry and picking up the house.  Clay's back at work.

I'll add more when there's something more to add.

A Funny Conversation....

Here's a conversation between Zu Zu and I while making dinner tonight:

Zu Zu - Mommy you need a new kitchen.

Me - I agree.

Zu Zu - We'll have to break this house and buy a new one.

Me - We need to break this house?

Zu Zu - Yep.  We break the stairs.

Me - You're going to break the stairs first?

Zu Zu - Yep.  Then we buy a green one.

Me - We'll buy a green house?

Zu Zu - We buy a green one for the Chief.

Me - Oh.  A green one for the Chief.  What color do you want?

Zu Zu - Orange.

So, I guess I'm stuck with a green and orange house.  If you see one, let me know.

Freezing in Michigan!

  

 

In case any of you don't understand what it is you're looking at - that would be ice on the inside of our sliding glass door.  That's how cold it is people.  We also have ice on the inside of our windows and door.  I think it's  high time the University invested in some new windows/doors for family housing.  I know it's fun to pay high heating bill prices because everyone has to crank up their thermostat in order to stay warm, but didn't you get the memo about the economic crisis?  Come on people we live in the age of conservation!  Think green, save green.  Enough said.

The beginning of 2009

Happy New Year everyone! I'm only a week late, but better late than never is a philosophy in our house so there you have it. We're back at home and trying to get into the swing of the new year. The Chief has started back to school and Clay is back working everyday. I'm mostly trying to recover from lack of sleep. We switched Zu Zu's bed into a toddler bed because she kept asking for a big bed. Unfortunately, she sees it as an opportunity to get up and wonder around at night, so we're all a little sleep deprived from late night trips to the bathroom.

It was so nice to see family and friends over the holidays. Thank you all for your letters and gifts. They have made these holidays quite joyous. I'll be posting some photos as soon as I get them downloaded and sorted.

Cheers!