Special Surprises

Claudia is just full of the Christmas-giving spirit. They have been making special Christmas gifts to give away to family members at her school. She brought home a bag with a couple of wrapped gifts yesterday. I asked her if she wanted to put them under the tree, but she said, "Mom, I need to find a place to hide it in my room. I don't want Wilson to find it!" (pesky brothers!)

She then started to say, "Mom, you can't open this until Christmas! No peeking. It is so special! You are going to love it! I can't tell you what it is... it's got something really special in it. Oh! I can't say that! You can't open it until Christmas! It really special! Oh! I can't say that!"

I think that teachers at school must have drilled it into them that they can't tell anyone at home what the present is. I can't imagine how many times you have to tell a four or five-year-old not to give away a surprise for it to actually stick with them. My guess would be at least 1,000 times.

Now, she is finding other "gifts" to wrap and put under the tree. This morning she found "something really special to wrap up with used wrapping paper she found and put it under the tree for me. I have a feeling I am going to be missing a mascara or a sock or something for the next week until we open gifts on Christmas morning. I am sure there are going to be many "treasures" under the tree this year.

Letters to Santa

The other day Claudia walked up to me and said that she wanted "such and such" for Christmas. I told her that that sounded "good." She said, "Mom!! I need to tell him that!" My immediate thought was, "oh no! I need to get these kids to a Santa ASAP! Christmas is coming!" Later I thought perhaps I could avoid the long lines and tormenting Wilson with a sure-to-be scary man in a red suit by having her write her letter to Santa.

So Claudia is at this moment sitting at our kitchen table and writing her letter to Santa. She is writing it (with Scott spelling the words). Wow, what a difference a year can make. Last year she was still working on singing her ABCs. Next year is Kindergarten! I can't believe it!

Here is her letter:

Dear Santa,
(She is cutting to the chase, no pleasantries. The man is busy!)
Barbie
Pillow Pet
Easy Bake Oven
kitchen set

She is also writing Wilson's letter for him:
blue mack (this is a semi-truck)
fire truck
cars

love
Claudia Wilson

Christmas Can't Come Soon Enough

Poor Wilson! I think that he needs some new toys from Santa. (Sorry about the picture quality-it's from my cell phone.)

Broke-down Bunny

I think that this may go down as one of Scott's favorite Claudie stories.

One lovely Sunday afternoon while Scott was mowing the yard, Claudia ran up to him breathless holding a plastic bag. She exclaimed in a panicked voice, "Daddy, I need your help! There is a broke-down bunny! Come on!"

She grabbed Scott's hand and led him across the street from our house and urgently pointed to a dead bunny on the side of the road. She had been biking and come upon this sad scene. She handed the bag to Scott and told him that he needed to take care of the bunny. (She did not like the way the bunny looked at her.) Scott scooped up the bunny and bought it to the garbage can.

Claudia was genuinely sad for the bunny and asked Scott if it was going to be lonely in the garbage can without any of its bunny friends and she thought maybe she could put some toys in the can with it. Scott explained that we throw away a lot of "interesting" things and the bunny would find things to play with in the can. She seemed satisfied with that.

Scott has asked Claudia a number of times to repeat the story of the broke-down bunny and when she is asked what it means to be a "broke-down" bunny, she will say that the bunny "died-ed."

It is sort of a sad and gross story if you think about it, but the part that I like best is that she really did feel for the little bunny and wanted to make sure that it was entertained while awaiting the trip to the dump. (Of course she doesn't really realize where the garbage ends up. I know that we should tell her about landfills and whatnot in order to give her some "green education," but that sure wasn't the time!)

Fall

All I can say is, "Oh my!" We are a busy family here in Chanhassen (or as my sister refers to it "Chan-happin'). We returned from our wonderful trip to The Shore to a very new Fall routine. Claudia started school, soccer and gymnastics the first week that we returned.

Claudia is greatly enjoying school. I think that she is just mostly happy that she isn't relying solely on me for her entertainment. I think that my company grew rather tiresome for her by the end of the summer. She has made a lot of new friends. We are still working on names. I asked her for the first 3 weeks if she played with any friends and she said that she did and when I asked for their names she did not have a clue.

Soccer is fairly hysterical. I don't know if Claudia had ever really kicked a ball before she started that first night. She has improved and is really having fun. She has a particular way of kicking the ball-very danceline-esque with a straight leg that gets pretty high up in the air. She is certainly the only member of her team to skip to the ball while she is playing. She is a great "social ambassador" for her team as well. At the last game, her coach was told by a little girl on the opposing team that "Claudia can't play right now because we are making friends." Claudia did not see any problems with that.

All and all things are going very well. The kids are tired as are Scott and I. I think that I am getting a good glimpse into what the next 15 years are going to be like--CRAZY and BUSY!

See some photos from our great trip and Claudia's soccer in the upper-right corner.

I hope I can get my GTL done by Saturday...

because we are off to visit "The Shore" on Saturday!

Wilson has been working on his "blow out" so that he is ready to "creep" on the ladies at the beach. He has been practicing his "fist pump" in the hopes of attracting a sweet girl with a great "pouf." Scott and Uncle Bret will be on "grenade watch" for him because they are totally "juiced."

If you have no idea what I am talking about I am so very proud of you! (If you would like to know, check it out here.)

This one's for you, Dad

Yes, I made it back! My sister and I had a wonderful time visiting my mom. Her new adopted country is more beautiful than I had imagined. Truly, I don't think I could see a more picturesque place. I would LOVE to show you some photos (and I will) but I did not bring my camera with me and I am waiting for my sister to send me hers (this is a not so very subtle hint, Sarah).

So, not wanting to try to tell you about my trip without providing illustrations, I, however, apparently still need to update my blog--this according to my dad. I have to tell you that I find it just a little funny to receive a text message from my dad stating, "you can call tonight or update your blog." First, the reason why I find it funny is that my dad is texting me. He recently got an I-Phone and has started to text, many texts complete with an "OMG" or a "TTFN," which I find charming to say the least. The second reason why I find this funny is that he really does read my blog. I would never have guessed that he would have adopted this form of media. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised, it is a great way to know what's going on with the grandkids (and you don't have to change diapers to learn about it).

So, not wanting to disappoint my dear ol' dad, I would like to update my blog with some of my favorite and often repeatedly-heard sayings from my childhood a la dad: (I should add that most of these were then followed with a "Rachael Anne"

1.) "You are skating on thin ice." (I actually said this to Claudia a couple of weeks ago! I couldn't believe it. I don't think that she has learned the laws of physics yet, so I don't think this saying made too much of an impression. Do you think that only parents in the Northern climates can say this?)

2)"It's no skin off my nose." ("teeth" was sometimes used in place of nose.) This one actually always grossed me out just thinking about skin off of a nose. Yuck.

3)"You are cruisin' for a bruisin'" I should clarify that the bruising did not really ever come into being. I think that I can only attribute that to some infinite patience on my dad's part. I was a bit of a, oh let's just say, "handful."

4)"You're just cutting off your nose to spite your face." Again, really, really grossed me out, but made an impression.

I certainly don't want to give the impression that my dad only had things like this to say, that is certainly not the case, but these are phrases that instantly spring to mind when I am dealing with my own "handfuls." Which times, of course, are so exceedingly rare because my children are angels.

So, thank you Dad for many useful and strangely gross saying to use with my children. And thank you as well for being a super, duper fantastic dad and grandpa! We love you!

Away

(Yes, I did change the blog background. You're not going crazy!)

Oh faithful readers, I will be away for a little while. I am going to be leaving my hubby, my kids, my doggies, and my country for a visit with the frogs.

I am going to be visiting my mom in the South of France. I know, I know, poor me. I am having some nervous feelings (Rhett Butler, where is my fainting couch and smelling salts?!?) about leaving. I have not flown by myself since Claudia was born. Now, I will be jumping across the pond, as they say!

The kids will be in good hands while I am away. Our 15-year-old babysitter will be taking care of the kids while Scott is at work. I have a real fear that Wilson and Claudia are going to prefer her to me when I get home. I think that I will need to self-medicate while I am away. Perhaps with some french wine, bread and chocolate. (Yes, definitely chocolate.)

On the serious side, if you think about it on the 28th and again on the 6th, could you please send good thoughts for a safe journey for my sister and me?

Au revoir!

A Lot Can Happen...

in the time it takes for me to take a shower. Oh, let's just take yesterday for instance. While I was very quickly taking my shower, Claudia decided that Wilson was going to be a "big boy" who wears underpants. Not just any underpants, mind you, but pink "Hello Kitty" underpants.

I got out of the shower and Claudia burst into my room and said, "Mom, Wilson is a big boy and he is going to wear underwear now. He has them on right now!" Of course I assumed that he had only the underwear on, but Claudia surprised me. She put them on over his diaper and then put his shorts on top of them.

I didn't feel like fighting that fight, so off we went to return some things at the mall. Really, no incidents there. That happened later.

After Wilson's nap, he saw the underwear and insisted on wearing them. This time he needed to put them on OVER his shorts. While this was happening, Claudia and Scott decided they would take a walk to the neighborhood park. Of course Wilson was going to accompany them.

Good ol' Daddy didn't think it was worth the fight either and off they went to the park where they saw some neighborhood kids and a dad. I guess the conversation between the dads went like this:

Scott: "Pay no mind to Wilson's pink underpants."

Other Dad: "I wasn't even going to ask."

That just struck me as too, too funny when Scott told me about it last night! (Just picture the scene.)

Oh, Wilson these last two posts are for sure going to cost us some money in therapy bills one day.

Girls have all the fun?

Wilson may just think so. Claudia received some really fun "girly" things for her birthday--bracelets, headbands, make-up (really it's chap stick), etc. Why wouldn't Wilson want to use them for some entertainment?

I am sure that he will want to burn these pictures when he is 14. I think that it may be good to have a few "blackmail photographs" in my back pocket to be used strategically.

Really, the final blow to a 14-year-old boy would be a photo of him getting make-up on by his sister. I think that I would only pull this out in the most dire circumstances.

Birthday Bonanza

What a birthday party! The Friday before Claudia's birthday we had a party with some her friends. What a great time! It was so wonderful to have the room to host a party. (Our old house never really accommodated more than 5 people very well.) The "older" girls found Claudia's dress up clothes right away and stayed in them through the whole party. (So much for the new birthday dress that I bought for Claudie.)

Here are some photos from the day:

Coco all dressed up

Lilly as Snow White (it was great--I didn't have to pay for a Disney character to appear at the party!)

Seriously, I had a great dress for Claudia and she ends up wearing this sad dress!

Elliot and little sis Stella

You can count on Lucy to "clean up" after everyone with the vacuum

Sweet Alison cheering on her friend Claudie!

Claudia is one lucky little girl to have such great friends. I am doubly lucky that Claudie's friends have such fantastic moms!

Give Thanks

I once saw a billboard while driving that said, "Give thanks for your healthy kids." It was advertising for St. Jude's or another children's health non-profit. I remember thinking, "That is so true. I need to be more appreciative that I have healthy kids." This took on a whole new meaning for me this past Thursday.

Wilson had been ill for a couple of days with a bad chest cold, high fever and vomiting. We went to the doctor's office on Thursday to get him checked out. The doctor was concerned about his cough and so he ordered a chest x-ray.

After two trys at the chest x-ray, we sat waiting for the results. I was thinking worst case scenario is he would have pneumonia. (I should learn not to tempt fate like that.) The doctor came in and said that he was "perplexed." He took me out in the hallway to view the x-rays.

From what I remember of the conversation, he was saying that Wilson's chest was clear, but the"shadow" around his liver was much larger than they would expect. We walked back into the room and he said that we needed to go to Children's Hospital to have a radiologist read the x-ray. Panic was taking over. The doctor then said, "During my external exam I did not feel a mass or lump" and I asked, "Is that what you think it is?" He replied, "I don't know." Sheer terror set in.

We went to Children's and Wilson's x-rays were examined and an ultrasound was ordered. Finally, after a number of truly agonizing hours the doctor said, "The ultrasound was totally clear. We don't have to worry about all that really bad, scary stuff."

I have felt relief in my life: the safe birth of my children, passing the bar exam, etc. but nothing can touch the relief and gratitude that I felt at hearing those words. To be able to walk out of the hospital that night holding Wilson was such a gift and one that I won't soon forget.

I can't help thinking about all the parents that don't get the same news that we did and that don't get to carry their healthy child home with them. I really cannot imagine what they must go through. I had a very small glimpse that day and I can only say that it must be beyond belief and I don't know if there are adequate words to describe the agony, terror, and heartache that they feel.

It seems like it often takes something scary to wake us up and remind us to be thankful for what we have. I hope that this experience will stay with me and serve as a reminder every day to be thankful for my wonderful kids. I hope that I won't need a billboard or another terrifying situation to remind me to truly give thanks.

Everyone give your kids, spouse, partner, friend, pet, parent, etc. a hug tonight.

Chanhassen Nice

You know the saying, "Minnesota Nice," but I think that the heart of the "nice" is in Chanhassen. Truly, I am continually surprised by how friendly everyone is here-everyday encounters at Target (this is very important as I go there almost every, single day), the grocery store, gas station, etc. are just so darn nice.

We have met so many of our neighbors just being outside gardening and playing with the kids. What a great 'hood we've found. Scott was with the neighborhood men last Friday until 3:30 in the morning! (When I asked him what they talked about for 8(!) hours his answer was, of course, "oh, nothing much.") Claudia is-as I write this-having a tea party at the neighbor's house. We also have had 2 playdates with some adorable twin boys who are Claudia's age from the neighborhood who I met while weeding the garden one day. (Well, that sounds kind of creepy. I met their mother while I was outside. Although, I was just about ready to accost any child that looked halfway "normal" and close to Claudia's age with a "hey, do you want to be my daughter's friend?" because Claudia had been saying to me, "Mom, when are you going to find some new friends for me at our new house?" I am sure that wouldn't have scared any street-savvy kid away and/or brought a suspicious mom or dad to my door.)

We are making ourselves at home here and not freaking out the neighbor kids (yet). It feels great.

Dancing with the...

Walkers! (Well, Wilson and Claudia Walker that is.)

We were practicing dancing this morning for the big wedding this weekend. My cousin Hannah is getting married and so the whole Lawson gang will be there (yay Hannah!). This will be the first wedding for Claudia and Wilson. I foresee that Claudia will be quite enamoured with all the elements of the wedding--getting dressed up in a new dress, the bride and bridesmaid dresses, the cake and the dancing.

Purely in preparation for this grand event, (I hate to admit this) Claudia may have seen a couple of episodes of the latest round of "Dancing with the Stars." She loved it! I think that the lifts and spins really made an impression on her. (Poor Wilson...the little guy is just along for the ride. Anyone have an air sickness bag?)

Please see below:

Well, Lawson family, consider this your fair warning. I think that I am going to be bringing a couple of dancing fools!

Finally! A True Use for Dog Hair!

As I said in my last post, we have A LOT of dog hair floating around this house. Martha is a veritable fur factory. I have said more times than I care to remember, "if we could sell dog fur, we would be millionaires by now."

Well, I may have not found a way to make money off the dog fur, but I have discovered a way to put it to some really great use--using it to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf. I knew that many hair salons are collecting their clients' hair clippings and sending them to organizations that make "hair booms" or "hair mats." I guess animal fur can be used similarly. Apparently, hair and fur are great oil absorbers.

I found an organization that you can sign up with that will give you information on where you can send your fur: A Matter of Trust. I found a large number of hair salons and groomers in the Twin Cities that are collecting hair/fur.

If you are a dog, cat, horse owner and you want to finally make some use out of all the fur, I would encourage you to sign up with this website. Or, if you don't feel like signing up with another website, I would check with an area groomer and see if they are collecting fur. If they aren't maybe they did not know that they could and you can encourage them to start a new collection site!

Happy grooming!

We did it!

[insert big sigh of relief]

We made it through the "big move." It actually went very well.

It was very bittersweet to leave our little house in Minneapolis. The hardest part was when Claudia and Wilson were in the house for the last time. I had been trying to prepare them (well really just Claudia) for the fact that she was not going to be back at that house ever again, but I did not want to make it too overly-dramatic. The last time that they were in the house I told Claudia that she should say "goodbye" to the house. She went into her room and said, "Goodbye room. I will miss you." I hadn't cried until that point, but you can bet I did after I heard that.

I walked Wilson into his little blue room (that I had so lovingly decorated as a nursery before Claudia was born) and told him to say "goodbye" and he waved his hand. That just about broke me in two pieces.

Scott and I said goodbye the next day and that went without tears. I think I was just too excited to get into our new house.

The new house is better than I anticipated. We love it and it feels like we have already been here for awhile. We walked to the Chanhassen Library the other day. I love that we are within walking distance to "downtown Chan!" The kids are making themselves right at home. The only family members that seem to be having some adjustment problems our Martha and Frannie (our canine children). Who would have thought that I would have to comfort our dogs more than our kids?!? I think Martha has already lost a couple pounds of fur (she sheds when she's nervous, which is so much fun).

Have a Chantastic day!

There's always time for...

a princess dance!

Despite our crazy schedule lately with getting the house packed for our move, we found some time on Saturday night to enjoy a little party. It was the second annual daddy/daughter princess dance in Hastings. Claudia, Scott, cousin Brynne and uncle Eric were among the royalty in attendance.

Here are some photos of the beautiful princesses:








Meanwhile, the mommies spent the evening with a couple of hams:

March Madness

I have a new appreciation for that phrase. (Yep! I AM BACK!)

So, we put our house on the market late on a Thursday night. The following weekend we had 3 showings and lo and behold we got an offer on our house on that Sunday! Yippee!

Then it struck us that we needed to find a place to live. We were concentrating so hard on getting our house ready and enticing people to want to live there that I kind of forgot that we then needed to find a place. So, our house-hunting frenzy began--for about a week.

We found a wonderful house in Chanhassen. Chanhassen! Where is Chanhassen, you say?!? As my mother-in-law said, "I was looking at the map of the Twin Cities and I swear Chanhassen is almost to South Dakota!" Well, not quite. It is a wonderful little suburb on the west side of Minneapolis (just west of Eden Prairie). It is only a mere 15 to 20 minutes from our house now.

If you would like to check it out, click here. You will see that it was voted the best town to raise a family in by Family Circle magazine (one of the top 10 in the country!) and the best town to live in by Money Magazine in 2005.

We close on our little house on May 14. I have not really come to grips yet that we are going to be leaving this house forever. It has been a wonderful home for us for the past 11 years. We got engaged (in the living room), married while living here, raised our babies here. This house has been the backdrop to a lot of our history (and photos).

Now, it is time for packing.... ugh!

For Sale

Well avid readers, yes, this is a new post. I realize that I have left you hanging for a little while.

We have been hip deep in dry walling, painting, cleaning, and generally clearing out our house to get it ready for putting it on the market. What a month it has been! It officially went on the market today.

I firmly believe that all members of the family need to pitch in for this process, so here are Claudia's wonderful efforts to help out. Wilson's role has been more "supervisory."

Babies No More

I feel like it has just dawned on me in the last couple of days that we don't have a baby anymore. We are now the parents of a preschooler and a toddler. The kids seem to have grown up more in the past month than in the six months before that.

I am amazed that we are going to have to register Claudia for kindergarten one year from now. How is it possible that she is going to be in elementary school in a year and a half? I am so excited for her to start on that path--new friends, adventures, learning. I must admit that I am sad too that she isn't my little baby girl anymore. (Well, I tell her she will always be my baby girl, but you know what I mean.)

I have also found it very hard to know how I should be parenting her lately. She still is just 3, but she seems to be "maturing" well beyond what I expected her to be at 3. She still has the temper tantrums (almost daily) but she is also wanting to be more independent from me, which isn't all that different from before, but what is different is that she can actually do so much more independently than she used to.

I am trying to give her the independence that she craves. I am trying to step back and let her try things her way even if it isn't the way I would do it. It is hard. I keep questioning if I am guiding her enough or being to strict.

If anyone has any advice or wants to commiserate with me, leave me a comment. Please!

Let's Dance!

Claudia and Wilson LOVE to dance. Take a look! (Oh, and sorry for my annoying commentary.)

Wilson Is Officially a Walker

No, I didn't get any paternity results back. There really wasn't any need for that; the evidence was pretty clear when he was born and looked exactly like Claudia. But, our little guy is walking all the time now.

It is pretty amazing to think that just a year ago he was just basically still an eating/sleeping/pooping lump-a very cute lump, but still just a tiny lil' babe.

One peculiar habit that he is displaying is that he holds his arms very high out in front of him as he walks. I am assuming that it is for balance, but it does look just a little funny.

Way to go little monkey!

New Look

As you can see, I am trying out a new look for the blog. What do you think? Any comments? I know that I have at least 2 people that read this still. (Hi Grandma and Sandy!)

Goldfish or Elephant?

I have heard that a goldfish has such a short memory that by the time one swims in a circle they forget that they just did it and so swim in circles all day. Do they think, "Wow, this looks cool, I think I'll swim this way!" each time? Sad.

I have also heard that elephants have such amazing memories that they can find a watering hole when the only other time they visited it was when they were tiny calves many, many years before. Cool.

I have found that Claudia alternates between having a memory like a goldfish and an elephant daily (or hourly or by the minute). We can have a conversation like:

Me: Claudia, get your coat we are going to go.

C: Where are we going Mama?

Me: inevitably: Target.

2.2 seconds later...

Me: Claudie. Go. Get. Your. Coat.

C: Why? Where are we going?

Did we just circle around the fishbowl?

Then there are other times that that she will remember a place that we have visited once or she will remember something I told her in passing weeks before. She at times will pick up and continue a conversation that was started days before.

Did we just find the watering hole?