first snow

One of my favorite firsts.  The snow is so magical and it has all of the qualities to make it K.'s favorite thing.
1. it is outside
2. you can throw it
3. you can kick it
4. You can drive a car on it or over it
5. it won't throw you or kick you back

What more could you want?  K. saw his first real snow on our little mini family vacation.  Well, to be fair, this is actually his first encounter of snow on the vacation.

 But, the first REAL snow, and my kiddo got on skiis.

 Well, to be fair, he got on skis after he rolled in the snow for about 20 minutes.  Then, it took his dad and grandfather both  getting on skis before he would even look at the long sticks that attach to a foot.

But, once he did, he skied his little slope over and over and over and over.  He went down the slope and up the slope.  He went side to side on the slope.  He got in the way of the real skiers on the slope.  He got about 100 "awww, he is so cute" comments.  He made a mom, dad, and former Colorado living uncle VERY proud.

we're tough

Number one way to get A. excited about something, buy her something new.  Obviously, this is not a good solution for most things and we don't use it often (hence the excitement).  But, we went skiing last weekend and A. was going to stay in ski school for the whole day.  Essentially, we bought her bravery and B.'s freedom to ski for an entire day. The night before skiing, A. was soo excited about her new helmet that she wanted to try it on and practice her moves.  She did, and the boys willingly obliged.  Such good sports.

Be afraid, be very afraid.  Or, just laugh like I did.

parallel play

Parallel is very developmental for ages 2-5.  It's the first form of social play.  So, it is very appropriate for both of my children.  You know who has passed this developmental stage?  Me.  However, I feel like every night I am practically begging my kids to play something while I am getting things done around the house.    There is only so much time in the day and we've got dinner to make, dishes to wash, and then pictures to hang, boxes to unpack etc.  I mean, I am next to them, isn't that good enough?  The answer is no.  It's very unlike me not to join them.  So, I've been feeling guilty about this and it's been showing more and more in my kids.  I should be flattered that they want to play with me.  I should love that they want my attention.

Tonight, we found a happy medium.  We played Cinderella.  After all, in the beginning, all Cinderella does is work work work. I cleaned almost the entire kitchen while singing some stupid song "all I have to do is clean.  nothing is fun..."  A. was busy reading proclamations that everyone can come to the ball and then saying she was Gus Gus and making my dress.

 Add in a daddy to play prince and do a few dances while K and I magically turned into the step sisters and there is one big happy nonarguing, nonshooing the kids into the other room family.  Now, I just have to convince them that it should be a nightly ritual and we are all set.

Yes, all 3 of us are wearing the little play shoes.  And, yes, I  did do the dishes in this dress with those tiny shoes.

I'm not sure who the prince is in this picture but  K. is definitely getting having his first dip.

so the cooking is different

Our old house had gas heat, and an oven.  We had a microwave on our counter that we purchased for my first home in 2001.  Now we have propane and a shiny new microwave.  On new year's day, we set off the smoke alarm because we burned the hell out of the bacon.  On Tuesday, I put chicken in the crock pot and then was going to cook some rice. I put it in the rice cooker and put it in the microwave for 10 minutes (same time as the old house)  At minute 8 I was watching it in the microwave, waiting patiently.  I was what I thought was steam and said, "Man, I didn't realize how much steam would come out there must be a lot more water in there."  3 seconds later I heard a POP and watched as the pot disintegrated onto the microwave.

It smelled horribly.  I gagged and B. came in from the garage and said we needed to take it out immediately. His answer, put it in a garbage bag.  Despite the, "B it's going to melt right through"  He thought it was a good idea.  It did just as I was thinking and started to come right through the bottom.  He rushed it out to the garage and doused it with water.  We ate mediocre chicken and green beans and left a window open for 3 days to try and air out the new house.

Dear renters

Dear Renters, 

Today, we cleaned your house.  Today we tried to take away all the  marks that turned a house into a home.   It is now spotless and ready to go.  But, if you still find some, please know that leaving our literal mark on the world actually happened out of love.

Also, if you find some marks, please recognize all that we covered up today.

1) The scuffs from drudging a  baby carrier through the front door.  

Aspen meeting A. on her first trip through the door.

K. on his way home for the first time.

Aspen and A. meeting K.

2) The marks from the wagon wheels against the foyer walls from taking the kids and dogs on walks night after night.  It was one of these walks where I met one of my closest friends when I was 9 months pregnant with A.  One of those walks led to baby running away which, thankfully stopped the horrible phase where A. was running away from us all the time.  

3) The marks from the rocking chair in A. and then K.'s nursery.  I can't tell how many nights I spent rocking sweet babies to sleep.  

4) The red paint marks on the bathroom door from one of A.'s first temper tantrums.  I told her "no" to something and she carried on and on for so long that I left her alone to "figure it out"  I put myself in the bathroom and locked the door.  She took her little maraca and banged. banged. banged until she decided whatever happened was no longer worth the effort.  I made her little 2 year old self clean it up but, it wasn't until today when Mr. Clean's magic eraser and I really got it out.

5)  The many many dots of paint and crayon wax covering the corner of the sun room from making Aunt Stacy's melted crayon birthday master piece.  That hour of fun took me about an hour of no fun to get off today.

6) The polk a dots from A.'s big girl room and the stripes from K.'s nursery 

7) I also cleaned a lot of cabinets.  In them, I found bits of shredded paper probably from this

 and about 100 lentils probably from this.

 I guess Mommy's rule about messes isn't very effective.

Really, renters, what I'm saying is that we loved that house.  It was the home where we went from a family of 2 to a family of 4.  Our kids learned to walk, talk, and pee on the potty there.  We had our first family dinners there and hosted our first holidays there.  

Now, we are moving to a new home where we will watch our kids go to school and play sports.  It will be the next step in our lives.

We ask that the marks that you leave, be marks of love and keeping that sweet house a home.  

Thank you,

love the Collins family

ps. we left the really light pink stenciled bow on the fireplace mantel because it took us 2 years to even notice that it was there.  Then it made us laugh every time we looked at it.  It's our little gift to you.  

oh the change

"I'm not hungry, I'm never tired, and I. know. it. all"  This literally came out of my child's mouth this morning.

photo from Emily St. Louis photography www.emilystlouisphotography.zenpholio.com

Yes, this sweet little girl is having a bit of difficult time with the transition.  She has a lot going on in her sweet little mind and I"m afraid that her typically sassy yet genuinely nice personality has somehow been consumed by an evil TV demanding, yelling at everyone, I'm always right alien.

It's Saturday morning at 8:30 and we have already had a reiteration of "the move is hard on everyone but we are going to be respectful to our family" talk 3 times.  (It's a followup to the the 5 times we had it yesterday) We have tried remodeling her sentences to, "I think you mean to say you miss playing with your friend Circe, not mom you are no fun. ever"  She has been to timeout 3 times.  And, then she pulled all the books off of the shelf just because she wanted attention.  I think the alien that took her over may have also turned her back into a 1 year old.

My answer: I scheduled a play date with the 5 year old little girl down the street.  It could be the totally wrong answer.  I could be rewarding the horrendous behavior that is appearing from my child.  Or, it could give her a friend, which she misses, and push the awful, rude, terrible alien away from our otherwise peaceful house.

here we go

Yet again, I find myself really far behind.  I have posts to write about the calmest Christmas yet craziest Christmas ever.  I have a post to write about how humbled, grateful, and loved I felt as a team of Collins and Wiseman's spanning from age 1 to 85 helped pack, load, and unload our new house.  I have a post about the overwhelming emotions of leaving the home where I brought my children home for the first time.  All of these have been spinning in my head but as I drop to the bed a night exhausted from Christmasing, and unpacking, and returning to work, they have been put off.  Today, I'm writing about something else though...

There were 3 main things that we really felt we were going to miss as we traveled the 44 miles to our new house.
1) Wednesday dinners.  These dinners that started after our friend Brian passed away.  when they started, we all had good intentions but I think we all thought we would do them for awhile and then it would quietly drop off.  Thankfully, that wasn't the truth.  We met every week for dinner for over 2 years (minus a few here and there).  They started before the boys were born and when we all fit at one table.  They grew to needing a kids table and lots of toys.  We switched houses to accommodate sleeping schedules and lets be honest a greater selection of wine :)  Every week we would discuss the events of the week, problem solve parenting issues, all while dividing our attention with 3 running toddlers and 1 attention demanding preschooler.  They were the highlight of the week.  Well, 44 miles is too long for a dinner during the week when we don't get home from work until 6 or 6:30.  Our kids would be asleep or grumpy, we would be so rushed that we would eat cold pizza and beer every week.  Our first Wednesday came and went and it was quiet.  Thankfully, Emily and Brayden were here to watch A. and K. the next day.  But, this Wednesday will be especially quiet.  It will be a day of change that was needed for our family but will be sad all the same.

2) Our church-  B. and I both grew up in the church.  His mom was the Christian Educator for many years.  My best friends were in my youth group and my youth leaders are still some of the most influential and respected people in my life.  We have always attended church but since we had children, we became involved.  I worked in the nursery and B. practically ran the kids choir, which we jokingly called his mom's group.  It was sad to leave.  Selfishly, our pastor left a few weeks before us so that made it a bit easier.  Yesterday, we tried out a new church and though it was great, I found myself crying half way through because it wasn't the same.  Yes, it will be the church where my children grow up.  I'm sure I will love it, but Emily and Brayden weren't in the pew next to us and Martha wasn't behind us.  the band was different and we don't sit in pews.  I know, all things that won't matter for long but they mattered yesterday as my kids fought me and made a lot of noise while making paper airplanes with the visitor's packet.  It was me, and not them.  I wanted them with me instead of in their various classrooms because I was too nervous and needed a human shield.  I wanted to hold them in my lap and sing the songs with them.  Afterwards, A. went to sunday school and I took K. to visit the nursery.  They both just walked in the rooms and they were both happy and joyful.  So, next week we will move on.  I will let them grow and flourish and I will force myself to do so as well.

Finally 3) A.'s school/ K.'s daycare.  We searched and found a school for her that focused on play and social skills in a world that pushes academics even in preschool.  K. went to my dear friends house where he was loved almost as much as if he were at home with me.  Today they start their new daycare.  A. got up and got herself dressed and said, "Mommy, I woke up clapping because I was so excited."  K. just answers "Yesh" when we tell him about going to play with his new friends.  So, here we go.  It's probably me more nervous than them yet again.  But, please say an extra prayer for them (and for me) today and they make the change.
Welcome to our new life!