One Reason

This morning the phone rang and I was surprised to hear Carie's dad on the other end. It was a fine time to call on our end (9 am) but it was ridiculously early on their end (7am). I should have known something was up!

He was calling to tell us that Carie's Granddad had passed away this morning.

This is a part of the overall feeling that our upcoming trip was meant to be. This is just one instance of many but they all lead us in this direction.

The day we called them to share the news of our travel possibilities was the same day they got the call from her granddad. Carie's mom needed to go up North to help him get medical attention and to be with her stepmom who cannot be left alone. Our phone call came in just shortly after her granddad's call for help. We've been in touch with her mom for updates as much as possible. It is a weird situation and it’s often best to wait for a call from her mom. A rule of thumb even her dad follows. The overall feeling was that he would be okay but she didn't anticipate that he would bounce back from this. As of yesterday they were planning on discharging him from the hospital. Some big decisions were about to be made.

We hesitated making our plans to travel given all that was going on. But in the end, everyone thought the timing would be best. Carie's folks could really use some support and good distraction right about now. They say that our trip is their beacon of light that keeps them going.

At this point we won't be changing our plans. We won't be going earlier than planned and we won't postpone our trip unless it becomes ideal that we do so. I've briefly met her granddad once in our long relationship and prior years of friendship. That is as many times Carie (and her immediate family) had seen them in those years as well. There simply isn't a relationship there. Given all of the memories I have with my grandparents it has always saddened me to know that she didn't have a relationship with any of her grandparents.

There really isn’t anything we can do from this distance. I hope that our upcoming trip will be of help. I hope that it will be relief in the face of all that is going on.

Zoo In The Winter

Going On A Jet Plane

And the roof of this house is about to blow off with all of the excitement!

There are so many reasons we shouldn't be doing this... so so many. But after a couple of days of intense deliberation we concluded that it was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. An opportunity to take this entire trip within the range of what regular priced airline tickets would cost. Not the most responsible decision but sometimes you've got to live outside the box.

It also feels like a higher power has led us down this path. There are so many things that have fallen into place and so many things that have happened recently for this to not be the case. The timing of it all has to be orchestrated! The timing of so many of the circumstances is huge! More importantly, we have to trust in that.

After getting our biggest responsibilities taken care of and securing the tickets we shared our exciting news with the kids. Perhaps we should have waited!?!? We had to tell them sometime since we leave in just a few short weeks! Since breaking the news to them they have been bouncing off the walls.

● They can hardly sit to eat.
● They can't stand still (within a 5' radius) to hold a conversation.
● Within 10 minutes of hearing the news they decided what they were going to pack.
● Spencer has decided that he is afraid of "being up high". I concur!
● Ellie came down (out of bed) to tell us she had "so many (exciting) dreams that she couldn't choose what to dream about". LOL
● There was a discussion between Spencer, Carie and I about airplanes having restrooms and how he could go potty and (emphasis) poopy on the airplane if needed. He then told us all about "potty parachutes". Ick!
● They were so excited they couldn't choose what to eat for breakfast.
● Every conversation and question is now about flying. It is rare to not have a conversation about flying every 3 minutes of every day.
● Spencer is convinced that the airplane is going to come down our street, pick us up, and fly us straight to Seattle. Wouldn't that be nice!
● They are locating all our toy planes in the house and wondering if "this" is the kind of plane we'll be flying on.
● Spencer: "Momma, where's Ellie? Maybe she's on an airplane?"
● Spencer: (Insert whine) "Momma, I really want to go on an airplane." Repeat every 30 seconds.
● Spencer: "What's that sound? Is that the airplane?"
● As we are driving in the newly fallen snow Spencer inquires about the runway. He's concerned that the plane won't be able to fly if there is snow on the runway. Carie tells him that the airport has big snow plows to keep the runway clear and safe. They have a lengthy conversation about this topic. Ultimately Spencer decided they must have a "gigantic hairdryer" and it will all be good.
● We've also discussed seating arrangements! It seemed important for them to know well in advance that they could not choose where they got to sit on the plane.
● Mom, can we sleep on the plane? Absof'nlutely! I won't believe it until it happens though!

Needless to say we are all quite excited about this opportunity. It is so fun to witness their excitement. It feels somewhat spontaneous and that is exciting for both Carie and I. It will all come together in short order... because it has to.

Kid Activity Hiatus

The month of January (with 2 full weekends still ahead of us) has been filled with family activities. We’ve had some new experiences and some of our old favorite experiences. So far we've been ice skating a couple of times, swimming, and roller skating. It has been really nice to have this hiatus from typical kid activities and schedules to do fun family things... active things. Never fear though, the kid activities kick into high gear come mid March!

Ice skating has been our new experience this season. The kids were really excited to give this a try and it has been great fun. We go to an activity center that offers great opportunity to run, jump, climb, slide, and everything you can imagine to burn up their energy. Then in the winter they also offer ice skating. We can easily spend 4-5 hours there at a time!

Carie was reluctant to go skating and I thought she was brilliant in holding back. I wanted her to skate if she wanted to. But she was a bit nervous and worried as it seems that the Walles women can jack up their backs without effort. I offered to take the kids skating under one condition, they had to take turns. I'm very much a novice on skates myself and I couldn't imagine all 3 of them hanging on me all at once. We compromised and I started out with Abby & Ellie. They rocked! They didn't really even need my help. I gave them a few tips that I was figuring out as I attempted to stay standing on my own skates. They took those tips and they were off. Their independence shines through again!

I went around the rink a time or two to help out with my own comfort level before getting the boy out on the ice. It was all his idea to go skating and he was adamant about giving it a try. Once out on the ice he insisted that I "hold my hips momma!" Now, he's a very tall boy but I'm also on the tall side and (my back) could have benefited from being a bit shorter. But hold on to his "hips" I did and he had a blast. I think his favorite parts were wearing the skates, stomping on the ice (in his skates), sitting on the ice, and groovin' in his skates off the ice.

Our 2nd attempt at skating went even better. Carie opted to join us this time and she did fantastic. The girls stepped out on the ice and took off where they left off the prior week. It was truly amazing to see them do so well. Spencer did fantastic and I didn't even have to hold his hips! My back praised him! He often requested to go faster and then we'd hear him yell "I'm a big kid now".

I'm sure the girls' had their fair share of falling but it didn't seem to faze them. Carie didn't fall at all. I managed to fall once on each of our trips and man, those are hard falls. The first weekend I fell just as Spencer and I were about to get off the ice. We were near the exit and suddenly I was on the ground. It happened so fast I have no idea what happened. The second weekend I again was doing just fine until the end. I had decided that I'd skate until the break (10ish minutes) when they were getting the Zamboni out. Ellie and I were skating along together when she made a sudden move and cut right in front of me. Next thing I know I'm on the ice and I feel the back of my head hit the ice. My sunglasses flew off and landed about 3' behind me. Man that hurt! I helped Ellie get up and then I made my way to the exit. I was done for the day. Both Abby & Ellie though, they skated their hearts out. We had to practically peel them off the ice when it was time for the place to close. While both of the girls have really enjoyed skating it seems to really hit home for Abby. It is so fun to watch them enjoy and excel at something so new.

A lot of pictures for your enjoyment... all taken the first weekend. Ellie is in the pink hat and Abby is in the green hat.

Super Star

Today is a day filled with Super Stars.

First and foremost it is Inauguration Day... a day we've been very much looking forward to. And what an awesome day it is. This is such an exciting time in history and I'm so glad that we are able to witness it. We believe that our 44th President is a Super Star!

I can't help but reflect on the times and our experiences when Abby & Ellie were conceived. It was mere days after 9-11. Those memories are so vivid. Their 6 1/2 years of life have been lived in the era of 9-11 and the war. I'm so glad that they are of an age to be able to form memories around this election and inauguration. While this is the 2nd election and inauguration for them, it is likely the first that they'll remember. They were far too young 4 years ago to have any recollection of that experience. Not to mention the fact that it had such a different tone about it. Today is a glorious day, a monumental day. For Spencer, this is his first ever experience. He may be too young to remember but I pray that the next 4 years will be phenomenal and we can repeat this all again 4 years from now. I have hopes for our future.

Today we also have a "Super Star" in our house. Of course we think our kids are always super stars, but this week happens to also be Abby's special week at school. Given their day off for MLK Jr day yesterday, her Super Star week began today. She thinks it is pretty cool that she gets to be a "Super Star" on Inauguration Day.

When they got home Carie checked in with her to see how her day was.

Carie: "Abby, how was your first day as Super Star?"
Abby: "It was quite nice, actually."

I can't wait to find out about their day!

We had planned on having a little party at home tonight to celebrate today. That is until we realized that school had planned a skating party for tonight. While I'm sure the skating party will be fun and all, I'd really love to hang out at home with the family and soak in the events of the day. The kids feel quite differently about the priorities of the evening, so roller skating it is. It looks like we'll extend our inauguration coverage and celebrations into another day!

Hippo's Influence

As I was leaving the girls' room tonight I noticed that the carpet in the hallway was a tad bit on the damp side. Nothing major, just a bit wet where it otherwise shouldn't be. That would be the carpeted hallway near the kids' bathroom.

Yeah, the kids had a bath this evening. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how the water ended up that far out of the bathroom or who the culprit was. And yeah, there were towels on the floor... inside the bathroom... (hopefully) during the bath.

So I go to inquire the details from Carie. She somehow ended up with bath duty while I made dinner. We had just spent the afternoon at the pool.

Of course it was Spencer. Here's Carie's conversation with him.

Carie: Spencer - how'd all this water get on the floor?
Spencer: I didn't do it mommy!
Carie: Well, how'd the water get on the floor then?
Spencer: Look at me mommy. Holding up his hippo he says... Hippo did it. Hippo jumped in and made a big splash.

I can totally imagine him saying it. Gotta love it.

Friday!

The little people who do not permanently reside in our house... ought to be thankful it is Friday. If they are lucky, Carie will have recovered by Monday when they get to spend the entire day with her.

For the 2nd time this week one of them has decided to convince the bus driver to do something he shouldn't do. For the 2nd time this week Carie has had to run outside (thinking something is seriously wrong) in search of them. This has never happened before and now twice in the same week! And they've happened to pick the coldest week since what... 1996? At least Carie threw some shoes on this time! Coats really are optional (for the adults) in our house. I mean, it only feels like 9 degrees outside. A heat wave compared to the past couple of days!

And then... while she had to step out to locate this missing child (her mother expected her to be on the bus as well!); the rest of the little people couldn't restrain themselves and woke up Spencer. Talk about icing on the cake!

Carie says... "I have just crossed the line of things that I can take for the week."

There is no apparent reason for this child to give the bus driver alternate instructions. Sure, there are (rare) times that one of her parents is home and they flag down the bus for her to get off. But today, for some odd reason, the bus took the route backwards. Slick roads maybe? So, they hadn't even passed her house for her to notice that her dad's truck was in the driveway. Not to mention no adult flagging the bus down!

She had just to take it upon herself to tell the bus driver that she was getting off at her house. And wouldn't ya know, no one was home! Turns out, the truck was in the driveway because he blew a tire! So he drives her back around to our house and lets her off there. Great, now all the children are inside our house unsupervised! He passes Carie who is walking back to our house and they briefly chatted. He seemed frustrated as well.

Of course, everyone is relieved that she was found okay. But this is totally unnecessary. Follow the routines. Don’t make alternate decisions just because you want to! One child is a total manipulator and the other one exaggerates most everything. It’s sad, but you can’t believe any of them most of the time! Our kids have totally picked up on this and they even question what they say. Hopefully the bus driver has learned a valuable lesson! Perhaps Carie will have a chat with him.

Oh, and yeah... no hot water this morning. That was fun!

Can It Get Crazier?

Yes it can!

I've got blog material to share; I just can't get to it. We've ventured out and experienced ice skating over a couple of weekends. It has been a fantastic experience! But of course the pictures still sit on the camera. The material still floats around in my brain. Life has to slow down a couple of notches to get to any of it.

Then if the recent weeks weren't crazy enough, this week has been especially over the top. We are hoping that things will sort themselves out by tomorrow. As if suddenly being down one vehicle (and shuffling transportation needs) wasn't enough, let's add missing the bus, Spencer coming to us saying "Momma, my ear hurts" (and resulting doctors visit), and a school planning meeting into the mix.

Today we are again without the car. This morning alone...

- The phone rings as Carie is getting Abby & Ellie up and dressed. It was a parent asking about club at school. Turns out it is the older kids today and our kids next week. No big deal, just one more thing.

- Ellie casually mentions that her ear hurts... but then moments later she says it didn't. Carie will check in with her at school this morning. There's potentially another Peds visit on our horizon.

-The grade school kids made the bus (the norm) but then the bus pulled back around (not at all the norm) and stopped at our house. Thankfully Carie noticed that it wasn't the trash truck! Beth got off and headed down the street towards her house. She always gets on and off at our house so I'm sure the bus driver thinks she lives there. Carie (in the -19+ degree temps) runs out after her... with no coat and no shoes! Of course Beth doesn't listen to Carie calling for her and continues to run all the way to her house! Turns out she forgot her lunch and somehow convinced the driver to come back around. Carie got her back on the bus and sent them on their way. There may have been a cold lunch inside her house but no one was home and Carie wasn't going in to get it. There will be a discussion about this later!

- And wouldn't you know it... Beth's lunch was in her backpack the whole time. Carie popped in to check on Beth when she was up at school. She was Abby's teacher last year and we have a great rapport with her. Unbelievable!

- There's been at least 1/2 a dozen calls with the repair folks at 2 different shops... making it now 3 shops (in 3 days) involved in this repair. But we've just learned that the repairs will be covered by one of the shops and the shop that the car is actually at will be doing the repair. This is a good thing. Not only will we not have to tow it again, but I trust these people to do it right. Oh, and while it's there... let's take care of some routine maintenance.

- Today is pre-school day for Spencer... which means transportation to and from.

- I needed a ride to work.

- Carie volunteers up at Abby & Ellie's school on Thursday's. She is at Spencer's pre-school on Tuesday's... the day the week went to heck.

- I've again rescheduled my (much needed) haircut... 2nd time this week.

- After we survive the crazy morning I'll take Carie and Spencer out to lunch... provided they pick me up. Then I'll get Carie home for the afternoon and hopefully she can stay put for a few hours.

This week has cemented the idea that we shall not sell our car. We've tossed around this idea in the past thinking that it may be possible for us to adjust to a one vehicle family. I'm sure it would be possible if necessary. But this week would have been so much more doable with a 2nd vehicle.

But things look promising. I'd love to have it all in the past and enjoy a great family weekend. A weekend where I’ve requested that we enjoy some time indoors where I can't crack my head against the ice! My neck would most certainly appreciate that!

Happy New Year's

Wishing everyone a great start to a new year.