interesting discoveries

i discovered last night, at dave’s company christmas party, that layla is TERRIFIED of santa claus. about 10 minutes later, i discovered that she’s also terrified of the grinch. yup. there were a couple of costumed visitors at the party which made the party less than a party for us. we didn’t have a bad time, and it was a very laid-back atmosphere, but layla spent the entire time keeping track of those two characters and making sure that they were no where near her. she didn’t venture more than 2 feet from us the whole night and practically climbed us every time one of them was in view. fortunately, santa claus was very kind and gently tried to win her over by offering her a candy cane and having little conversations with her. eventually she was willing to take the candy cane, gave him a tentative high five, and actually said thank you to him audibly. sitting on his lap for a picture was completely out of the question.

other than that it was fun and the city was beautiful in the dark, of course. dave’s building is opposite the downtown macy’s so it was thrilling to walk outside and be standing right under the big star (it’s still the ‘bon star’ in my mind). we rode the carousel and checked out a wonderful set-up of toy trains in a display window. it all felt very christmassy, which i guess is kind of the point!

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boxed in.

so i’m feeling a little bit stifled right now. when i took over responsibility for shane’s education, i knew i was making a big time/lifestyle commitment. i also figured that layla and eventually, micah would be involved in this endeavor. i knew that i was stepping out into a great unknown, having never completely done this sort of thing before. it was an experiment. in general, this experiment has gone well. not entirely as planned, but well, nonetheless. i mean really, when you’re dealing with kids (or other human beings, for that matter) what does go as planned. but at this point, i have to say that homeschooling is NOT my favorite thing. it’s not that i can’t do it. it’s not that shane isn’t learning. it’s not that i’m excessively overwhelmed or that i feel like i’m failing. it’s not any of that. the best thing i can figure out is that i feel ‘boxed in’. i feel like my time and opportunities are so limited for all of us. it’s not just about shane, and with layla and micah so mu...

vacations stink… and why i can’t grocery shop

so tuesday, i managed to dig around in my hat a little more and discovered a rabbit named papa john. essentially, i shuffled the week again, and had our friday pizza on tuesday. and, in actuality it’s something that was going to happen anyway because we were so excited about having the new papa john’s open up, but realized that we were not going to be home on friday (date night!!!). SO, that was my excuse. anyway, yesterday, i finally HAD to go. i had been wondering if it was really so bad, or if it was just one of those things that i was building up in my head as awful and making it worse and worse every time i procrastinated longer. i had to head to redmond, so i figured i’d go to the bella bottega qfc, rather than my usual stop at safeway. that was my first mistake. no, actually, that was my last mistake. the first was not doing it sooner, the second was taking all 3 kids with me. if it is possible to make grocery shopping with 3 ki...

progress…

wash lindsey’s sleeping bags and return. set up tent to air and sweep out all the dirt. pick raspberries. check pool, add water. get skimmer for pool. clean up stuff in backyard. clean out cooler and return to mom and dad. clean bathrooms. catch up on laundry. (well, mostly. just have one load left to fold and put away.) fold and put away the pile of sheets that has been in my room for weeks. :) sweep and mop dining room and kitchen floor. plan meals and grocery shop for the week. costco run. put away all camping stuff in a somewhat orderly fashion. vacuum rug in garage. put away doll house in garage and stash toys. clean mom and dad’s on thursday. return pei’s lantern. work on mom’s shawl. get shane’s bike. pick up library books. i put #15 and #16 in blue because they’re done, but i didn’t do them. last night after dinner, i took shane and layla with me to cold stone to get a little birthday tre...

instafriday

it’s friday again!!! and that means: layla, still sick, but enjoying some brady bunch episodes in the recliner, with a cat, and a… tent? no idea. this warms my heart! checking out our family history via project life… circa 2007. LOVE! what I spent my sunday evening tackling: done! thank goodness. micah’s “hooked”! hahaha! a quick visit to the library. dinner: meatloaf, green beans, and very pretty roasted potatoes. I got this awesome little bundle at the store that had yukon golds, red, and purple potatoes. purple potatoes are SO fun! I tossed them with some olive oil, salt and pepper, thyme, oregano, a little rosemary, and a bunch of garlic! so yummy. the meatloaf was good, too! operation: pick out cheesy, cheapo valentines. yes, I live in yuppy-ville. if you call 1-888-dog-waste, you can PAY someone to scoop your dog poop for you.I wonder if shane knows about this… empty peanut butter jar = very happy dog. yes, that’s my 5 year old, excitedly tromping in to preschool with...

snifflesniffle, coughcough, ACHOOOOO!!!

ugh. we’ve been hit. first cold of the fall. micah started it a couple days ago. yesterday my throat felt a little scratchy, and by dinner time, I had to declare myself officially SICK. I passed out on the couch last night while dave was watching the giants game, and when I woke up, I made some announcement about how much my throat hurt, and he said, ‘yeah, me too’. so he’s down. and then shane woke up this morning not feeling well. LAYLA, however, is just fine. believe it or not, my child who picks up cold viruses like a magnet is the only one without a cold right now. I’m completely flabbergasted by this, but I’m certainly not holding my breath. I am really kind of astonished by the fact that she hasn’t gotten sick yet. school started over a month ago and, given her track record, I kind of expected to have to call her in sick the second day. but no. she’s been FINE. hopefully it’ll stay that way… maybe the school environment has kicked her immune system into hyperdrive or s...

rachel's continued ramblings

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