SourJones - Squeeze the most out of your life

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Channeling My Nervous Energy

With the election approaching, I've been feeling a bit anxious. "My Guy" has lost in the last two Presidential races--I must be a jinx! Rather than spend any more time fretting over whether America will see things as clearly as I feel that I do, I thought I'd focus my energy on visualizing the outcome I hope for and getting down to some long-overdo organization projects at home.

The wet weather has arrived. Did I mention I live just outside Portland, Oregon?

It rains here.

A lot.

We have a "mud room" but it's been an organizational nightmare ever since we moved in. Now with the wet weather, we really need a place to drop our wet gear before we step inside. This is the entrance to the house/mud room from the main garage where we park the cars. I bought this stainless shelf for our wet/muddy shoes at IKEA for a bargain. The coat rack came from IKEA also.

Here are our rain boots... I don't imagine they will always appear so organized--but one can hope right?

Once you step inside, you enter the mud room. It used to be a dropping station for just about everything (and I'm sure without effort, it will become this again). It was difficult to even see the wood bench before because it was literally buried under a PILE of sweatshirts, shoes, coats, and purses. I cleared out the outerwear down to a sweatshirt and warm coat for each member of the family (the rain coats are hanging in the garage--see above). Our "everyday" shoes are in a large basket under the bench. The scarf/glove hanger was a treasure I picked up at IKEA. Our hats and some of my purses are on the top shelf; the kids' hats and gloves are in the dry sink on the left. The wet sink is actually being used to "hide" the Halloween candy from the girls (too bad that trick doesn't work for me too!).

I wish I had thought to take a "before" picture of our coat closet. This is the closet that utilizes the space under the staircase. When we were house-hunting here, we saw this space and immediately knew we would use this as our new downstairs "playroom." The girls were young enough that perhaps they wouldn't notice that it was 1/10 the size of the playroom they had in California (and they never did)! As you can imagine, it is usually a disaster... a "catch-all" for all the toys downstairs. However, I've captured it on film in a pristine state (enjoy--the moment is fleeting).

If you step inside and look to the left you see the rest. The girls call this space "the cottage."

This is how I spent my time yesterday avoiding any nervous thoughts about the election.

Today is actually election day... I've decided to tackle my personal closet. I figure I can concentrate on that while half-listening to the returns come in on TV (not FOX). It will happen. It must.

Stay tuned for my results...

(Yes, I remembered the "before" shots this time!)

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Sunday, November 2, 2008

MisAdventures of Halloween

Here's our little Blue.

Avery got a brand new Halloween costume this year. As the second child of the same sex, I'm proud to say how rare it is that Avery gets anything new (she just doesn't NEED anything). My mom found this adorable, fuzzy Blue's Clues costume and it looked so sweet.

Unfortunately, Avery decided it was too itchy... so she wore another hand-me-down. I didn't want her to wear the Baker outfit as her actual Halloween costume because it was Geneva's costume last year so we put her in a soft and cozy giraffe costume we were given when Geneva was a baby... it never fit Geneva at the right time, so it's just been in the "dress-up" box all along... but it fit Avery perfectly, kept her warm, and she was adorable.

Greg returned from a business trip in Seattle mid-morning. We picked Geneva up from school a little early and headed over to Daddy's office to trick-o-treat from desk to desk. All the people who work in his office had candy in their desks for the girls. They had a ball.

Here comes Avery to show me her loot. Geneva is at the end of this aisle (revisiting the desks she's already been to--I'm sure).

We followed the visit to Daddy's office with a family lunch at Red Robin and a nap (for everyone). Greg got up and took Geneva to her dance class and Avery and I headed to the airport to retrieve Grandma Lulu.

Once it got dark enough, we met our neighbors at the end of our driveway and set up our candy station. The wives, in lawn chairs with our candy bowls and several bottles of wine, sat together and waited for the trick-o-treaters while the husbands took all the kids out in the neighborhood hauling a couple wagons (loaded with beer on the way out--and a couple of tired kids on the way back).

We had fun, fun, fun!

We hope you had a terrific Halloween too!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Things I Love Thursday

The relief of having a healthy baby (I can still call her that because technically, she's just one). And the notion of gratitude over that fact that my baby only suffers from croup for brief moments in an otherwise strong and happy existence.
Solving problems. Geneva and Avery's favorite thing right now is a new show on Disney called "Imagination Movers." For Halloween, Geneva decided she would like to be a mover... I thought, "easy enough." Unfortunately, it was not so. The costumes are sold out until May! And go ahead and try to find a coverall pattern to fit a three-year old! I finally came across this costume online and ordered it (in the only size available--WAY too big) which arrived just in time. A few hours split between the craft store, my sewing machine, and a good ol' needle and thread, I have a pint-sized costume just in time for Halloween!

Living in a community that decorates the public road/bridge (tiny, two-lane, country-setting--I promise a picture next time) with a dozen jack-o-lanterns. Seriously, it started a few days ago with 6 jack-o-lanterns lining the concrete rail along either side of the bridge over the Tualatin River here in West Linn. Each day someone adds another few jack-o-lanterns--and now we're up to twelve. Someone has lit them with a fresh candle every evening this week. Amazing.
Children enjoying sweets. Thank you Auntie Jessica for bringing cupcake surprises for the Jones Girls!

Soup.
Finding my knitting needles and reminding myself how to knit.
Fall.
The last dry day in Oregon?
Geneva's curly ponytails.

The hope that our country will choose the right leader on Tuesday to restore America to a place I want my children to grow up in.
The prospect of sisters holding hands and trick-o-treating door-to-door.
Avery in a hat.

The "still" of my house when my children are sleeping.
The chaos of my house when my children are awake.
My new flannel sheets... (cocoon-like, so cozy!)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Avery's Procedure Went Well

First of all, thank you all so much for the amazing expression of love and well-wishes that came our way since the last post. We felt it all and it made a huge difference! We love you, love you.

Based on Avery's history of Croup, her ENT wanted to perform a laryngoscopy (visual examination of her throat and vocal chords) and bronchoscopy (air passage and lungs) to determine if there was anything abnormal contributing to her excessive Croup cases.

Here she is after being admitted this morning.

She's showing you where the doctor is going to have a peek.

The Children's Hospital came very equipped with lots of interesting toys. In her loopy state (they gave her some kiddy-valium) she became fascinated with this helicopter. They also gifted her a teal and magenta beaver named, "Chewy."

Her procedure lasted all of 20 minutes. Her doctor came out to the waiting area and showed us several pictures from her procedure. The great news is that she handled the anesthesia with flying colors and that they did not find anything serious. The "good" news is that Avery's lower throat near her bronchi is on the narrow side (which explains why an "average" inflammation that would cause discomfort in another child becomes a Croupy mess with Avery). The reason this is "good" news is that she does not require further medical intervention--she will grow out of it naturally by age 4-5. The reason this is not "great" news is because we are probably looking at more Croup in our future...

I've had a paradigm shift: I've decided after our brief stay in the family waiting area of the Children's Hospital with all the other people worrying and waiting for really sick and serious cases, to be grateful that my otherwise strong and healthy baby only gets Croup once in awhile.

(She seriously hated her IV.)

(But managed to forget about it momentarily while enjoying 2 bright orange popsicles and watching a "show" on her very own tv above her bed.)

Finally, we were given the "go-ahead" to head home. We took some orange-stained cheeks and fingers with us to remember our morning.

We were even done on time to pick up Sissy from preschool!

xxoo

Send Your Happy Thoughts to The Pipes

Avery is having a minor procedure tomorrow morning at Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland. If you've been reading our blog regularly, you are probably aware that our little Monkey has a tendency to get Croup. We took her to the pediatric ENT a couple weeks ago. He wants to have a better look in her throat to see if there are any abnormalities that might be contributing to her developing Croup at such a high rate.

They will have to put her under in order to do the procedure. I was on the phone with the anesthesiologist earlier this evening which gave me some measure of peace about the prospect of handing over my baby under these circumstances. The procedure should take about 45 minutes. Greg is dropping Geneva off at preschool early and meeting us at the hospital before Avery goes in. According to the timeline we've been given, we should be finished and on our way home in time to pick Geneva up from school on time at 12:30pm.

I know she'll be fine. I hope that her procedure provides some answers and a simple plan that will give our Pipes some relief from the Croup that racks her tiny body from time-to-time. With winter quickly approaching, it will be nice to go into the season with the hope that our trips to Urgent Care and the Emergency Room might be lessening.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Halloween Festivities

We started our weekend with a little Halloween Party at the Club. I knew there would be tons of kids and running around, so rather than dress Piper in her actual costume (furry and warm for trick-o-treating) I put the little monkey in yet another hand-me-down: Geneva's costume from last year.

We "pre-partied" (heehee) at our neighbor's house. A handful of the families on our street that also go to Club Sport attended. We ordered pizza and the kids ran around and had a ball. Here's Geneva in an intense game of CandyLand with Sydney and Izzy.

(Note she is wearing one of her dress-up outfits: mermaid... because her actual costume of choice this year is not ready yet.)

When we arrived at the Club for the big shindig (so much fun for the grown-ups and the kids) it did not take Avery long to find the music. The dance floor was swarming with kids and the music was blaring. Here she is in the MIDDLE of the dance floor with a couple "big kids" mimicking their moves and getting DOWN. Several strangers commented about how well she moved and how entertaining she was... too funny!

Here's Geneva on the dance floor...

Well how do you think a mermaid dances???

Avery also enjoyed her time in the area designed for Cutie Pies just her size. She must have run this "maze" 50 times before I could talk her into trying something else. Actually, I only coaxed her away by promising we would find the cookie stand next.