Scene VI (The Finale) - Greenleaf Park

Ah! This park was, most certainly, the best park for kids in the 2 - 5 year old range. The equipment was perfectly sized for little kids, which makes for a much less stressful experience for parents (and aunts) and a more enjoyable experience for the kids. What a difference size makes!


Kallie contemplated going down the slide this way.



And, was happy to show you her pretty red fingernails.



Kyle spotted something really exciting and was headed that way!



Of course! Stairs! So fun to climb!



Aunt Cat arranged for Mommy's car to get a little checkup before the trip back home.

A stop by Bodo's on the way back to Aunt Cat's house, and then, as usual, bath time, dinner, a video or two (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! or Mary Poppins, anyone?) and we called it a night, on the last night of the visit to Virginia.

Intermission

Sunday the 28th was a good day. (It's all becoming a bit of a blur at this point, but here's how the day went, I think...)

Later in the afternoon, we went to the Children's Library (as Kallie calls it) downtown and read books. Then, we decided it was time to run around a little, so we walked over to Lee Park for running and stomping on flowers (oh, Mommy tried to stop them!) and looking at statues of men on horses.

Then a quick stop by Aunt Cat's office downtown, looking at the lights and ornaments on the huge city Christmas tree, running on the mall, and then pizza for dinner at Christian's.

Oh, and the M's. Don't forget the M's for dessert. (Kallie calls M&Ms, simply, M's.)

It was a warm day. A good day. And there's not a single picture to prove it!

Scene V - McGuffey Park

McGuffey Park is in North Downtown, one of the prettiest neighborhoods in Charlotteville. A recent renovation has been completed and the city website boasts that McGuffey Park is "one of the premier play facilities in the area". I'm sure all the neighborhood kids have noticed.

We brought some good weather to the park with us this afternoon. No gloves or hats needed, and Aunt Cat was even able to break out her sandals.


Kallie enjoyed building sand castles.



Kyle really liked the swing, as usual - note the happy tongue-out-side-of-mouth expression.



Kallie showed us how to walk and balance on the low fountain wall.



Mommy and kids posed for a group shot, with the church in the background. I took a whole series of these shots, but I just couldn't resist posting this one of Kyle's happy face.

After we left the park, we stopped by our local grocery to pick up fixings for a tofu and veggie stir fry. Kallie declared on our way there, "I like tofu." (Ah, my vegetarian friends would be so proud.) But, that's no surprise because Kallie is a very good eater, and even her brother is coming around by expanding his list of foods tried and liked (I think he's made a lot of progress in this area since I saw him only two months ago).

Scene IV - Virginia Discovery Museum

Kallie had been looking forward to visiting the Children's Museum in Charlottesville. We picked a potentially bad-weather day for the visit.

There was so much to do, we could have easily gone back another day.


Kallie looked at a very colorfully painted live sand crab....



...And found some great tap shoes in the costume corner.



Kyle banged on the large pipe instrument, which was right next to the 10 foot tall guitar.



Kyle loved watching the ball elevator dump the balls into the network of pipes and tunnels.



Kallie and Kyle let Mommy help them at the grocery counter checkout.



Mommy had her picture taken with the nifty internal organ model.



Kallie spent a lot of time checking out the bee hive, which had a tunnel piped to the window so that the bees could fly outside, but not come into the museum.



After we left the museum, Kallie and Kyle both took a ride on the man-powered carousel - something that I've looked forward to bringing her to for months. She really liked it.

Scene II - Christmas Morning

Santa's delivery made for a delightful morning.


Kallie was overjoyed by her umbrella, which she carried around nearly everywhere all week long.



Kyle was given a kid-sized broom, which was fought over - I mean, shared - for the remainder of the week.



Kallie, always the book lover, opened the only two presents that Santa wrapped this year - two books about the Pigeon by Mo Willems - which were read immediately and often.



Kallie found more treats in her stocking, like stickers and a temporary tattoo. Kyle found a glittery ball and a red fire engine in his stocking.



Kyle got a brand new tricycle, which he quite cooperatively traded with Kallie for her tricycle - each seemed to fit the other person better.



After it was all over, they found one more present, which did not belong to them, but they helped to open it anyway.



Kyle's bright smile summed up the mood of the morning.

Scene I - Belmont Park

This is mostly a story of playgrounds. And, presents from Santa. And, the Herrington girls' ability to control atmospheric pressure, even if they can't always control nap times or messes.

Christmas Eve. Grey Skies, cold, no rain.


Belmont Park - big playground equipment, little people.



Aunt Cat is there to lend a hand, and help keep hats and gloves on.



Kallie likes standing on the edge, and it's a long way down!

December 2008 in Charlottesville - The Players

For this December story, set in Charlottesville, Virginia, meet the players:


Aunt Cat, the Hostess with the tiny, mostly-kid-proofed home.



Susan, aka Mommy, the fearless long distance driver, and the all-things-to-all-children go to person.



Kallie, the Girl. "My birthday is in January. I'm two now."



Kyle, the Boy. "Hi!" The happiest-go-lucky kid you'd hope to find.

Friday - Office Party

Lots of baby holding, which was a welcomed distraction during an awkward event.

Peace wishes sent; first annual re-gifting begins.

Start on cleaning/organizing/packing/baby-proofing.

Art purchase, art talk, art friend.

Grandma's pound cake on Grandma's birthday.

Sunday

Feeling mostly better.

Interested to find an article on the birth of Obama's logo, since I was just thinking the other day how his was the first campaign in which I'd noticed a real (and effective, in my opinion) effort at branding a candidate for President.

Discovering that the city/county offer confidential document disposal service. Good thing, too, since I have about 20 pounds of documents that need to be shredded!

Coming closer to a decision about housing.

Long, and long overdue, talk with a dear friend.

Nearly. Dearly.

Plowing through a busy week: end of class, home search, etc.

Anti-climatic end to a good semester, and I'm glad I was in her class too.

Charlottesville podcasts of music and more music.

IY's bulk peppermint = cheap + potent!

Finally discovering my super power (everyone has one!): an uncanny ability to tell time without a clock.

First Snow

Christmas party with old friends, and new friends, and iPhone beers, and Rubix Cubes, and fireplace warmth, and mixing the plain & peanut M&Ms.

Morning walk, La Taza treats.

"I drove 70 miles for a haircut today," she says, shaking her head in disbelief.

Nicky is well, and that is good.

Trying to keep mental space open for 4 more days of A&P thinking.

The moon is half full tonight...

...and it is my mother's birthday. My sweet, kind, loyal, supportive mother - how lucky we all are to have her.
xo

Welcoming Winter

Is it December already? ... It's funny to think about what is the same and what is different from a year ago this month. It's true, that little gem of wisdom a friend once passed on, that everything will be different a year from now.

Love love love my new apple core-er. Never again will an apple go to waste in my home because applesauce is easy!

Card shopping. And conspiring with Santa.

Glad to hear the parents are focusing on fitness.

Back to my morning routine tomorrow, and craving those damn Glorious Morning muffins from La Taza. Here's to hoping they have fresh ones in the morning.

Thanks giving

Plans for the four day weekend finally come together, sort of.

Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special & Pandas on PBS.

Splurging and stuffing myself on Mona Lisa pumpkin ravioli and tiramisu.

Two big books: The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Giving myself a little bit of time off from studying.

Reservations made for January trip to Charleston.

Babies are Magical

Fingers crossed for a baby story that evolves happily for J & T.

Baby Leah visits the office again, all blue eyes and head full of hair. Everyone gushes, as they should.

Wrapping gifts, which were so fun to pick out, for a baby shower tomorrow. (Spoiler alert: A Book of Hugs is especially fun!)

KG will be an Aunt x2 soon!

My two and a half year old baby niece declares herself a Big Girl tonight as she meets a Big Girl milestone (and calls to tell me about it)! (But, I think it's OK if she wants to hold on to some Little Girl habits for a little while longer.)

P.S. Lovely gift basket made with love, sent with thanks, carefully packaged and delivered right to my desk today. When can I come spend another week with K & K?, says Aunt Cat!

Cold November

Implementing a new morning routine to get me walking again (on my way towards running again) and to work earlier (which should also help prevent some Seasonal Affective BS) - so far, so good!

Replacing my holiday ba-humbug with exciting plans to prepare my abode for Susan & Kids at Christmas this year. I am making a list of all of the cool things I'd like to do with them while they're here: the Children's museum, the Christmas Market, restaurants, playgrounds, etc. :)

Summer clothes stored; last of the Winter clothes washed.

Happy that my appointment in the morning takes me over to the Bodo's side of town.

Thankfuls - Settling in at Home

Easy flight/drive back to Cville.

Holding on to my A, despite not enough time-on-task last week (for good reason!), and realising that I'm losing my credibility since every time I say I didn't do well on a test, I do well on the test.

Celebrating the election results with Supper Club.

A nourishing Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

Good news from KAK: she misses me, but more importantly, her new bed helped her sleep through the whole night in her own bed last night.

End of Another Fun Adventure

I woke up this morning in Charleston. I spent the night at a hotel and went back over to the Klugman house early. I let myself in and then it happened: Kallie saw me come through the door and her face immediately dropped - I think she was afraid that my arrival meant that her parents were leaving her again. So sweet - she was very relieved, I think, to learn that her parents were not leaving her after all, and I knew better than to take her reaction to my arrival personally. Things are all back to normal in the Klugman household.



After breakfast of blueberry pancakes and coffee, Susan, Kallie & Kyle took me to the airport. We all went inside and stood at the big window for a while, watching planes take off and land. And, we talked to Kallie about their upcoming trip to visit me in Virginia. She was excited to hear that Virginia has playgrounds too. :) Kallie and Kyle both gave me kisses as I left and then trotted off happily with their mother, my lovely sister.

I think that overall the whole experience was good for everyone. S & D got some much needed time together. K & K got some bonding time with their Aunt. It was all that I expected it to be in terms of the challenges, and more than I expected it to be in terms of the rewards. No, it didn't convince me to not have kids (neither did witnessing Kyle's birth, by the way, although the brother-in-law was convinced that that would be the end of my desire for children too!). And, yes, I'd definitely do it again.

Of course, the success of the experience has everything to do with the fact that Susan and Dave trusted me with their children in the first place and have such a well-equipped and efficient system in their home, and because Kallie is so smart and helpful and good, and because Kyle is so easy-going, and because Chatham provided a sense of security and affection, and because my friends and family provided me with much needed moral support.

So, tonight I'm going to sleep in my home in Charlottesville. My house feels eerily quiet, even with Garrett and Griffin keeping me company. You'd think I'd be glad for the downtime, but I'd kinda gotten used to the energy and excitement that a full house brings. I'm exhausted, and happy. Still, here's to sleeping in tomorrow....

Keeping you on your toes, is right!

Gosh, today was such a busy (and long) day that I hardly know where to begin. Let's see....

After breakfast this morning, I walked out onto the back deck and found this:



Are those not the cutest little tooshies you've ever seen? They were looking for Sugar-Bear (one of their doggies) who was sleeping underneath.

We spent some time playing outside early this morning. The air was cool and there were no mosquitoes, which is just how Aunt Cat likes it. I'm sorry to say that we had a little swinging accident - me and Kallie. She wanted to swing real high, like Daddy does it, and I didn't realize she wasn't holding on, and so up I pulled, and plop went Kallie. Flat on her back from about 1 1/2 feet. Ouchie. Her head hurt. And understandably so. Oh, that didn't make me feel good either. But, Mommy had a remedy in the fridge - Elderberry Syrup - and that did the trick. And, this is how Kallie looked shortly afterwards while eating a snack; pretty good recovery if I do say so myself.



This was my first time getting Kallie to nap at home. For the last 3 days, she was at school during nap time. Knowing about her issues with sleep, I tried to make it as appealing as possible. So, we laid her mat down on the floor, just like she would at school (I think!?), and got all of the important accoutrement: plug, blanket, Night Night Kitty, & milk. It was a little hard won, but after a few stories and laying really still, I got her to fall asleep, and I have the picture to prove it! (Pretty risky, huh? Taking a picture like that, when the flash could have woken her up? Yeah, but I like living on the edge.)



I decided that today was the best time to break out the 2nd present I brought for Kallie. Art in a Jar. And, this is what it looked like once the Art was Not in a Jar:



Kallie had fun playing with her new zig zag scissors (which scare me to death - I keep imagining cut lips...oh!). And even Kyle liked holding the two soft, fuzzy balls that came in the jar.





We did end up making it out of the house today, finally, around 3:30 p.m. We went to the playground, of course. And, I just wanted to share this photo to show that Kallie wasn't too scarred from the swing incident earlier in the day. Whew!



After swinging, and playing with some other kids on the slide, we took a very loooong walk around the park building. We explored lots of places that we hadn't seen before. Kyle had so much energy - he was running around, and skipping, and falling down in the pine needles, and doing the circle dance (a Klugman tradition), and walking on the yellow curbs, and running towards the road - he was noticeably energetic! (A little foreshadowing, perhaps?)





We did finally make it to EVO Pizza tonight - the best pizza I've found almost anywhere in the U.S. - I highly recommend it if you're ever in the neighborhood. Also, I just want to say that the folks at EVO were super nice to me tonight. It was the end of a long day, I'd just recovered from a near-lost-wallet situation (no ID means no plane travel!), and I'm sure I looked ragged as heck. The waitress took my order right away and the pizzas were ready quickly. Jason behind the bar recognized Kallie and Kyle and introduced himself to me (Dave and Susan are frequent customers there). Jason gave Kallie a pretty yellow Gerber daisy, which matched her sweater. And, the waitress, whose name I didn't catch, helped me get Kallie, Kyle, two pizzas and a salad into the car safely. We had a minor meltdown during that part of the adventure, but the waitress was really nice and I'm sure could relate since she told me she has two kids of about the same age spread at home. I just want to say that I now have a much better appreciation of what it's like to be a very tired Mom, and also how nice it is to have the help of kind strangers when you're a very tired Mom. Wow. Priceless.



Our nighttime routine was a little different tonight. Kyle went down, like usual, but then was suspiciously babbly over the baby monitor over the next hour or so. Once I got Kallie down, I went back in to check on him, but I'll get to that in a minute.

As for Kallie, I had started noticing that she gets a wee bit anxious when you start talking about night-night time. So, tonight, we scrapped that idea and decided that we'd have a girls night and stay up all night, reading in bed in our pajamas. Yep. Worked like a charm. In about 10 minutes, she was out like a light. Something about letting her off the hook from going "night-night" seemed to work. Small blessings.

But, you didn't think it'd be that easy did you? Oh, no. Kyle? You know, the sweet, lovable, awesome hugger? Yeah. Usually, you give him a bottle, read him a few stories, lay him down in his crib, say, "Good night, Kyle. See you in the morning" and walk out. That simple. Tonight? An hour after I laid him down he was up and playing in his crib. And, so I thought, hm, another story perhaps? No. That didn't work. Change diaper? Yeah, but for no reason. A little play? Bad idea - might wake up Kallie. At 9 p.m. the boy was swinging from the rafters like a man possessed. (Have you seen The Exorcist?) Good heavens. A little Gas Relief (yes, he was gassy - your nose knows!), another bottle, and finally he settled down. But, good grief!

As far as bed time routines go, Kallie and Kyle are like the Yin and Yang. I guess when one is Yin, the other has to be Yang. Tonight, they just switched places. As a wise man once said, "They sure do keep you on your toes at that age!" Yep, I reckon so. :)

XOXO

Editor's note: The time stamps on the photos are an hour ahead - my camera didn't "fall back" one hour like the rest of us did this week.

"Today is Friday"

This is the "Days of the Week" Song, one of Kallie's favorites:

Today is Friday, Today is Friday,
All day long, all day long,
Yesterday was Thursday,
Tomorrow will be Saturday,
All day long, all day long.

Depending on the day of the week, you just substitute the day, as appropriate. It's a fun song. We sang it in the morning before we took Kallie to school. Look at how pretty she is in her pretty flowery dress that she picked out to wear this morning. She has on her backpack, and her milk in hand, all ready to go.



After we dropped Kallie off at school, Kyle and I took a trip to the grocery store. We were out of eggs. Yep, in less than 3 days, we went through a dozen eggs. That's from two batches of pancakes, and two mornings of cheesy eggs. (Oh, somehow, by some miracle, I was able to make the perfect cheesy eggs this morning. OK. Well, not quite as perfect as Kallie and Kyle's Mommy can make them, but pretty darn close. (I think the trick is in the perfectly little pan!)

Anyhow, back to the grocery store. We got eggs, and soymilk, and regular milk, and pears, and bananas. Kyle loves bananas. He insisted on holding one the entire time we were using the self-checkout. Yep, I couldn't pry the little sucker out of his hands. And, having learned a lesson from the Susan School of the Path of Least Resistance, I just let him hold it. I was waiting for the cashier to say, "Oh, just go ahead and take it, no big deal." But, she didn't say that. So, after I paid for the rest of the bunch, I switched out the banana Kyle was holding for one of the bananas we'd paid for and then handed the unpurchased banana back to the cashier saying, "We didn't manage to pay for that one." (Smile.) A successful trip I'd say. Every one was happy and Kyle got to snack on banana on the way home.



We had to make the trip to the playground after school today a little shorter than we'd wanted. First we had to wait and wait and wait for a very long (and at one point, stopped) train. Then, Kallie had to pee, but after discussing all of the options - peeing at the park in the woods; going home to pee and then heading straight back out to the park; going home, peeing in the potty and then playing in the back yard - we finally opted for a short trip to the playground for some swinging and sliding, and then heading home to pee in the potty. A decent compromise.

Once home, we had cereal for dinner at Kallie's request. We also had pears, yogurt, and blueberry waffles. After dinner, we went outside and Kallie helped Mommy by watering all of her outside plants. Kallie is a very good gardener.

After that, bathtime. Followed by play (check out Kallie's cool block tower!), snack, stories and night-night time. Kallie had a hard time falling asleep tonight, but she was so happy after she hung up the phone with her Daddy because Daddy is bringing her presents from his trip to Florida! Yippee!



Tomorrow is Saturday, tomorrow is Saturday, all day long, all day long...

P.S. I forgot to mention my aunting milestone. Today, Mr. Kyle, all on his own, requested a ride in the backpack! So fun! (And, have I mentioned what a good hugger that boy is!?)

Happy Thursday - CSA Day

Today was another good day in the Klugman household. We all slept in until about 7:45, and once we were all up and moving, Kallie picked breakfast: pancakes with blueberries on the side. I had already set up the coffee pot last night, which was very smart because once everyone gets moving, it's awfully busy (but calm) until we leave to take Kallie to school around 9 a.m.

After naptime at home, Kyle and I had some extra time to play outdoors this afternoon. We played with the ball, and swung in the swing and rode in the wagon. We were also getting ready for Mr. Pete to arrive with the produce for all of the families who have their CSA pick-up right here in our yard.



Mr. Pete showed up around 3 p.m., just as Kyle and I were getting ready to go pick up Kallie at school. Kallie was excited to hear that it was produce day! On the way home, we ate a snack (fresh pear), and shared with Kyle, and pointed to all of the buses we saw. Then, once we arrived home, we said goodbye to Mr. Pete as he left and hung around to greet all of the folks who were coming to pick up their produce.



Kallie (pretty in her Minnie Mouse dress) helped me load up our new blue grocery bag with produce. Today's share included 4 pretty purple flowers, 3 sweet potatoes, 4 jalapeno peppers, a small head of broccoli, a bag full of green beans, 1 green pepper, 4 red beats, a small head of lettuce, a bunch of collard greens, and about 3 or 4 other kinds of dark leafy greens. Kallie and I didn't even know all of the names for the different types of green veggies we have!

After dinner of chicken nuggets, french fries and green beans, we watched a Pooh video, took a bath, ate a snack, read stories, put Kyle to bed, looked at the calendar, and then finally Kallie fell asleep in Daddy's spot on his bed.



Funny bath time moment: Kallie said, in the midst of shrieks of laughter: "Kyle, don't bite my tooshie!" They were both laughing. A priceless moment.

Tomorrow is back to school for Kallie and then maybe EVO pizza for dinner. Aunt Cat is especially looking forward to the pizza!