keeping up with the curriers

08/23/08: Hint, hint...

Caleb has a calendar in his room and I try to write things on it to give him a heads up about what is going to be happening in the days to come.  I draw a little church, soccer ball, plane, book, even hopscotch.  And sometimes I write words like "pool," "SS" (Stepping Stones - his preschool), "Tutu," etc. 

He apparently thinks that if it's on the calendar, it's going to happen.  So he took matters into his own hand.  Literally.

Crayon in hand, he filled the rest of the calendar for the month.  I don't know if you can tell, but the square-looking things are hopscotch.  You can also vaguely make out places where there is a "W" or a "P".  Those are meant to be "Wii" and "pool."  Ha.  This kid cracks me up.

08/22/08: Thanks for the rain, Fay. Now go away.

In case you haven't heard, the state of Florida has had a visitor for the past week.  Tropical Storm Fay has parked herself for a visit and, while we've been cordial, it's time to put our foot down.  Go away.

Here in Gainesville the effects have been mild.  To prove this fact (I promise, we are not under 5 feet of water!) here are pictures of my kids playing in the rain yesterday.  I mean, you can only stay inside for so long.

08/21/08: Finger painting

We finger painted.  Inside. The. House.  Oops.

No, it was fun.  And it was washable paint that came off of the table, chairs, clothes, and walls.  Yes, walls.  Unfortunately the carpet still needs a spot or two removed.  Stanley Steamer will have to take care of that one.  Ha!  And when some friends came over for lunch after church on Sunday I found paint on the painting in our dining room.  I got a kick out of that.

I had to take pictures of their paint plates. My children are definitely both messy - but Caleb has boundaries to his messiness.  Well, for a little while anyway.

08/20/08: Ant attack!

Yes, ants.  We were in the church parking lot on Sunday morning and, while gathering our three children, two diaper bags, sling, Bibles and extra diapers for someone who could use them (since Cam is getting SO big), we were attacked.  More appropriately - Cate was attacked. 

One second they're leaning over and looking at the ant hill and a millisecond later Cate is covered.  I mean covered.  I yell to Kevin (because I am trying to get Cameron into the sling - to avoid having to also add the carseat and stroller to the previous list), "Kevin!  Cate!  Ants!"  Kevin doesn't know what I'm saying so he just grabs her and looks around.  Ah, but the ants are helping me communicate - they start to bite him.  Then he sees it...like 200 ants all over Cate's legs and moving their way up. 

So here we are in our Sunday best swatting feverishly at ants to get them off of our little girl.  Caleb, by the way, is untouched.  "Oh, that's bad.  That's definitely bad," he mumbles under his breath.

When all is said and done, Cate has like 50 ant bites on her feet, ankles and up her legs.  Oh, and a few scattered here and there along her hands and wrists.  She only yelped ever so slightly once during the whole ordeal.

We take Caleb to his class, Cameron to the nursery and then Cate to her class.  Thankfully I just happened to have hydrocortizone cream in my diaper bag and so I slather it on Cate's legs.  We tell the teacher to keep an eye out for anything strange in her behavior and page us if there is.  How does she handle it?  We put her down and she walks right into class without even a glance back at us. 

Of course, five minutes later I'm paged to come get Cam.  So much for Sunday morning worship!

Anyway, here's what Cate's little legs looked like...

On a brighter note, Cameron started solid food today.  So exciting!

08/19/08: I'm not hyperphobic, I promise!

Today a friend called to see if we'd like to go to the playground at the mall with her and her kids.  I was excited and told her we'd meet her there.  This was the conversation that followed:

Me:  Caleb, we need to get ready to go.  We're going to the playground at the mall.

Caleb:  The playground at the mall!!!  The one with the GERMS!  Cool!

Yes, typically we don't play in the Swamp playground because I call it "the cesspool of germs."  Mainly because my kids got sick within a few days every time we went there when they were smaller.  Well, just Caleb I guess.  I mean, really, most kids play areas are just that - germ infested.  But I've also avoided it because it's hard to keep track of multiple kids in there and I inevitably get an argument when I tell them it's time to go.  Plus, we're usually rushing to get what we need and get out because of nap schedules, school schedules, etc.

Unfortunately, I think that not taking part in things because of fear of sickness has been part of my difficulty in getting really well connected.  My kids get sick.  All kids do.  But I'm particularly careful to not expose other people to my kids when they're sick so that it won't pass on. 

I'm pretty sure this stems from when Caleb got his first cold at about 6 weeks old.  It could have been clearly avoided by some common courtesy.  So I've always been very cautious in taking my kids out when they may infect someone else's kids and make them go through what we do when our kids are sick.  Granted, this will get easier (and has been regarding Caleb in particular) as they get older, but really, a sick baby is pitiful.  And frustrating for parents.

Unfortunately, this mind set has kept us our of many a day of Bible study, playgroup, park outings, etc.  All opportunities that we had to connect with other moms and kids.  I don't know that I would go back and change it, but I'd probably be a little less concerned knowing the benefit.  Who knows.

Anyway, so that was the funny thing my kid said today.  And I swear, I'm not OCD when it comes to germs or anything.

And, on another note, I found Caitlyn coloring the guitar today.  Yep.

08/18/08: We love the Olympics!

I have always been a huge fan of the Olympics.  I guess I really didn't have a choice because my mom loves it too.  We always had it on in the house.  I even got to see the Olympic torch in transit twice.  Once in California on it's way to LA and the other in PCB on it's way to Atlanta.  Having been a swimmer, this Olympics in particular has been exciting because of Michael Phelps and the attention he has drawn to the sport. 

To celebrate the Olympics this year, we had some friends over for the Opening Ceremonies and feasted on Chinese food.  Take out?  No.  Homemade.  We had wontons (my mom's crispy gau gee min recipe, really), hot and sour soup (admittedly from a package), white rice, beef and broccoli, sweet and spicy chicken stir fry and green tea ice cream (yes, homemade).  We also had Chinese beer and sweetened green tea.  Yum.  I think this will be a new tradition for us.  We'll try to have a meal from the cuisine of the host country each time.  I don't really know what Canadian food will be for 2010, so I'll have to brainstorm while Kevin and I are in Canada this December.  And 2012?  London...we may have to do fish and chips.  I just need to get my deep frying skill in tune.

Anyway, with the Opening Ceremonies behind us, I decided it was okay to have the TV on a bit more than normal and let the kids watch the sports.  It's been great exposing them to such a wide range of sports.  For example, Caleb has loved badminton for a while now, but he actually got to see them play it.  Not terribly interested.  He does, however, enjoy watching canoeing, kayaking, gymnastics, volleyball, beach volleyball and swimming.

Swimming...yes, the highlight for many at these games.  Caleb loves to watch swimming.  And if you ask him who the greatest swimmer is, he'll quickly answer, "Michael Phelps."  And when he sees men swimming he asks, "Mommy, is that Michael Phelps or is that not Michael Phelps?"  Yes, those are pretty much the only two categories that exist right now.  And they'll lay across our ottoman pretending to swim really fast.  It's quite comical.

Perhaps even more entertaining is watching my kids do gymnastics in the family room.  I'll have to see if I can figure out how to post video here.  My kids run back and forth from the family room to the living room (note, there is a dining room in between).  Along their run, they'll stop, turn around, try to do a summersault, twirl, etc.  I wish you could see how adorable it is. 

I've tried to encourage Caleb that he can try whatever he wants to.  And to let him know that anything is possible.  His response?  "Maybe one day when I'm big I can go to the Olympics and I can win LOTS of medals."  That's my boy.

08/15/08: My baby is 5 months old!

Happy 5 month birthday to my littlest angel!  Cameron is growing like a weed, loves his brother and sister, and is pure joy.  Absolutely pure joy!

08/05/08: Much delayed updates

Okay, so we are WAY behind in updates. It was inevitable.  Three kids.  Business trips.  Sick kids.  Vacation.  Exhaustion. 

But I am going to make a concerted effort to update this site and catch up with all that has gone on.  I promise.  Beware, I may back-date them!

07/18/08: Kevin's Birthday Weekend

Kevin turned 30 this year.  My original plan was to whisk him off to Chicago to see his beloved Cubbies play there and do some sight seeing.  Uh...newborn.  Nursing.  Problem.

So, instead, I checked out the Richard Petty Racing Experience.  And I figured it would be a great idea.  As a family we've kind of been getting into NASCAR so we've become more interested in race cars and the like.  Plus, what man doesn't want to drive a car REALLY fast?

So I signed him up.  I decided to do it in Orlando because my mom lives there and we could do some other Orlando attractions at the same time.  The race track is on the Disney property so we stayed near the park and took in some Disney fun without going into the park.  Kevin's parents also joined us - because I mean, really, this was his dad's cup of tea.

By the time I was able to sign up all the spots for racing on his actual birthday were taken.  But that worked out because he had to do it on Friday instead - securing us a three day weekend!  We don't get too many of those. 

So I made Kevin these directions in four parts - one directing him to the Orlando area, one to where we'd have lunch, one to the Disney area and the last one to the raceway.  He was thrilled.  He actually caught on to my plan when I mentioned it to his parents and he overheard, but I effectively threw him off the trail about two weeks before and ended up surprising him.

It was a lot of fun.  Kevin and Dad got suited up, went through training and then hit the track!  They each got to drive eight times around the track and were supposed to hit around 120 mph.  They each drove their own car - following an instructor of course.  Kevin hit a top speed of 122 mph and LOVED it!  They give you a special deal to add on eight more laps for a discounted price and Kevin took them up on the offer.  It is one of my favorite memories of Kevin from our entire relationship - he was able to do something that is solely for him and purely for his enjoyment!

Kevin and Dad in their racing suits

Currier Father and Son - at the front of the class!

Kevin getting in his first car

Racing by at 120+ mph

Once we left the track we went to check into our hotel.  We stayed only a few miles away at a Residence Inn that had a two bedroom hotel room.  It was pretty cool.  It was a family suite and the kids room didn't have a door on it and had these cute little toddler beds.  There was a kitchenette, living room, master bedroom and master bath.  Perfect for us. 

My mom stayed with the kids that evening so that we could go out to dinner with Kevin's parents and we went to Bahama Breeze.  Yum.  The next morning all of us went miniature golfing at Disney and then to lunch.  Kevin's parents had to head back after lunch so we spent some time at the pool and then went to dinner at the Orlando Ale House.  And then Kevin and I got to have our own room for the night, only two doors down from Mom and the kids.

Turns out it was a good thing we were so close because we were awoken by a phone call - Caleb was sick.  Thankfully it must have been a mild bug or something because he only got sick once and bounced back relatively well.  By the time we got back to Gainesville Sunday evening he was fine.  All in all a good weekend!

Apparently racing makes you tired...

Cameron and Grandma - later Cam gave Daddy his first laugh

Joe Cool at mini-golf

Cate, Birthday Boy and Caleb

Same trio in the pool

Okay, seriously, SO cute.  Kevin says she can't wear that suit anymore...

07/15/08: Not All Work and No Play

After 2 productive days of review and strategy discussions, the management team went out for a team building event.  Jon C brought us to a cool place to race Go Karts.  http://www.gokartracer.com

It went something like this...  You get all dressed up in your racing suit and helmet and do a 10 minute warm up race.  Then you take a 15 minute break and head out for a 5 minute qualifying race followed by a 15 minute race to the checkered flag.  JFear dominated all night long.  He took the practice, pole and race - while posting the fastest times each set.  Jon C was right on his tails all night long in 2nd.  I finished behind them on the lead lap in 3rd place (the only other person on the lead lap might I add).  :)

Final Standings:

One more day in Mountain View then off to Seattle tomorrow night.  Almost done!