Mother's Day

Family picture - in parts.

I was talking to my sister the other day about how we don't usually put pictures of ourselves on here. I don't really like pictures of me, but these were taken on Mother's day, so I'm in them all - because I'm the mom.

I got a kinda-crappy-looking but fully functional double jogging stroller for Mother's day. I'm allowed to say that about my present because I picked it out myself. I've been wanting a double jogger, which is a little out of the budget. But craigslist came through again. This was the cheapest one I've seen - $30!

I did the trial run one evening, and the kids were fighting over who got to ride. So I did a few laps around the block, switching riders each time I got back to the house. It's been a while since my running days, but I had some encouragement as they kept asking for more turns and telling me to go "faster, FASTER!" When pushing a 5- and 3-year-old together it's not so easy to go fast.

And I got lots of chocolate for Mother's Day, too, which should help counteract any benefits that may come from the double jogger.

Katelyn saw the doctor this week, and the doctor was concerned because she hasn't gained enough weight since her last check-up. She wants me to work on getting more calorie-dense foods into her diet. I've been trying to figure out ways to do this, but now she's taking matters into her own hands.

This should help.

I'd been wanting to go here, so a couple Sundays ago, I told everyone to get in the car - we were going to go see something. Olivia and Jackson didn't want to go anywhere - they were busy playing a game they had invented. And John wasn't so excited about it either. This may be because it was already almost dinner time, and he still needed to pack for the flight he needed to catch that night. Or it could have something to do with the fact that I woke him up from a nap to go. Not sure.

But the blossoms weren't going to last until he got back, and I didn't want to miss our chance. No one was too excited about my plan, but I got everyone in the car anyway, and then these two didn't want to leave.


This is at UW. There's a huge fountain behind them, and below is the path covered in cherry blossoms.

Katelyn squealing as she tries to join us rolling down the hill:

We smelled blossoms, she tasted flowers, the kids raced around on the grass. It was so pretty, and John was even almost convinced it was worth the short outing - or at least he wasn't too mad at his wife for waking him up (with the help of Katelyn - who wouldn't want to wake up to that face)?

My Mom

(Olivia was trying to suck on her face, and left matching hickey marks on both cheeks).

Happy Mother's Day! I love you!

Why I'm Not Cooking

John is in Florida this week for a conference. Other than a container of sour cream being dropped (open) on the kitchen floor, goose eggs on two foreheads, and a disastrous family room (oh wait, that's normal . . . ) we're doing okay here.
Dinner and bedtimes on my own have been pretty common lately, anyway. He rotates through different hospitals, and the one he's working at right now is a busy one so he's hardly ever home before 7 pm. He also had a big test in April that he'd been studying for whenever he could, and then was on call all week right after his test so was gone lots during the nights, too. I mostly saw a scrubs-covered lump sleeping on the couch, with an ophthalmology book he was too tired to read next to him. Then gone to Florida a week later, and he has another call week coming when he gets home!
If I'm only cooking for me and the kids, it's french toast or noodles and sauce. There'll be no cutting up chicken this week - we'll probably have no meat, period (except whatever meat-like product there may be on our frozen pizza). Not that I don't like meat, but without a carnivore husband around to appreciate it, not worth the trouble to make it. It's survival mode for me and whatever's easy, goes.
14 months of residency left!
But I promise I'm not wishing it away - there are so many good things about this time in our lives, too, and it's not always as crazy as it has been lately.