Woohoo - nearly 10 lbs!

Friday noon is my Weight Watcher's meeting. I weigh in about 11:45 each Friday. This week I lost 2.4 lbs, the largest loss since the first week. That puts me at a total of 9.4 lost since August 1st.

Every Thursday the neighbors and we eat dinner together, alternating houses. Last night was their turn and she cooked this awesome meat for taco salad. I ate 22 points worth of food last night alone (my daily allotment is 21). Now I had the points to use (you get 35 extra each week to use however you wish). So I didn't go over budget or anything. But I ate the majority of them last night. So I find it baffling that I lost that much weight. Not that I'm complaining.

Another thing. For dinner one night this week I made Garlic Red Potatoes. This is 8 or 9 red potatoes, 8 or 9 whole cloves of garlic and a stick of butter. Throw it all in a saucepan, cover and let cook for about 30 minutes (stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom.) This is not a low-fat snack. It's 4 points per serving (3 from the butter). It's heaven. I've had it for lunch leftovers twice this week.

And then there's other dilemmas with the whole watching what I'm eating. First - I like to take leftovers for lunch because then I'm not tempted to go out and buy fast food. Also, it's good to use up leftovers and not waste food. But generally dinners are a higher point count, so lunch should probably be a lighter meal (a salad would be good).

Second - I hate leftover salad. I also don't really like making salads. I'm okay with eating them... sometimes. I'm having a hard time getting in my 5 fruits/vegetables each day. Also having a hard time getting in my 6 cups of water.

Third - Weight Watchers sells 1 point yogurt, which is great for a snack and counts for a milk product (1 of two needed each day.) All sorts of yummy flavors, too. But each little thing of yogurt produces the waste of the lid and the cup - which I've generally been throwing away, so will show up in a landfill. It'd be cheaper and less package waste to buy a big 2 lb thing of yogurt and just dish out a portion to myself each day. But then it's just plain or vanilla and also more points.

Okay, so I'm not really complaining about my diet, I'm just contemplating how I can live a little greener, save a little more money and still lose weight without wasting food.

Envision Your Life

So the first step to getting your life where you want it to be, apparently, is to imagine what that "where you want to be" looks like. For some reason I find this challenging. [I also find putting together my resume challenging, but that's a different story.]

There are a few things, however, that I can write down that I want my life to look like.

1) I want to be a healthy person who enjoys an active lifestyle. I want to feel like running around with my kids. I don't want to be in pain (mentally or physically).

2) I want my home to be a relaxing and restful retreat from life. I don't want my home to feel overwhelming or something to keep away from.

3) I want to appreciate those around me and enjoy the time I have to spend with them. I don't want to take people for granted, espcially my husband and children.

4) I want to continue to learn things. I think I really want to tackle a foreign language (probably Spanish). I want to be an example to my children of how great it is to learn new things. I don't want to become [more] narrow-minded.

5) I want to be consumer debt free. I don't want to owe anyone money except on my house.

Those are probably the top five. I think I am working on each of those things. But probably if I keep this as my "short-list" for what is important, it'll keep things focused.

I think I'm making Saturday Mornings "work mornings". The whole family will work until Lunchtime. Then we can do whatever after the kids nap. I imagine we will accomplish a lot by doing that week in and week out.

Fighting the Boredom Muncies

I never thought of myself as a boredom eater. Now that I'm aware of my dietary intake, however, I have to re-assess.

So my job has gone from 160 - 0 in like 2 second flat. I know it will pick up again and I will find projects that will overwhelm me, but in the meantime I'm fighting boredom and, obviously, writing more in my blog. I'm gradually adding back things that I neglected when I was so busy. But I don't want to add them ALL back at once because I don't want to have to put things off again, (should the business return).

Anyway... my point is that I find myself thinking about munching far more than I ever did when I was busy. I know it's just because my mind is not occupied and food is an easy thing to think about. Plus I'm thinking about food more. Planning my day, planning my meals, writing down everything I eat, budgeting my points. All this is thought energy toward food. And why not benefit from the actual eating.

I'm trying to be consious of when I'm actually HUNGRY. I remember when I was younger I seriously could not put food into my mouth if I wasn't hungry. I want to be like that again.

Oh, cherries. I have cherries in my lunch - that's a good low points healthy munchie type snack!

Clean Sweep Photos

I thought some visuals of my recent "clean sweep" might be helpful.
But I realized that you are only getting the "after" shot.
Which may not be as impressive to those who haven't seen the "before".
You can take my word for it... this is better.

It's All Too Much

So my father introduced me to this book: It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh (who does the Clean Sweep show on TLC).

He gave it too me way back in February when he moved in for the Spring. But I didn't actually finish reading it until my recent trip to Boise.

I got home from Boise renewed, re-energized and ready to tackle the STUFF in my life. The big theme is: You only have the space you have - you can only have STUFF that fits in that space.

On Thursday of that week I got a call from Aron's school telling me that Aron had thrown up and needed to be taken home. Eric was teaching and I, frankly, wasn't doing much of anything. So I picked him up (he was sleeping when I got there, but perked right up when I woke him up.) We went to the grocery store to get some Sprite for his little tummy. (He was, seriously FINE, the whole rest of the day.)

He wanted oatmeal, so I made him some and then he wanted to watch "a program" (read: SpongeBob SquarePants) and sit on the couch. While he did that I started pulling everything out of my closet.

The book warns that you should only keep clothes that make you feel good about yourself and are complimented on. (I'm paraphrasing).

My in-laws were coming into town that day, sometime in the early evening, so I had a target of when I needed to finish.

Once I got Aron to go down for a nap I really got things humming. By the time Tom and Judi showed up I had finished not only my closet but my drawers AND the cabinets in the bathroom as well. I had 4 bags to give away and 3 bags of trash. Man was it liberating.

I took it one step further. The book suggests hanging up all your clothes with the hanger backwards (so the hook faces out). And when you wear a piece of clothing, put it back right (with the hook facing in). That way, at the end of 6 months you'll have an accurate record of what you actually wore in that time frame.

Also it suggests putting like pieces/colors together so you can see what you have (I have an obscene number of off-white/cream tops - won't need any new ones of those for a while!)

Also - I'm losing weight, so I'm noticing pants are starting to feel looser.

When I did the birthday shoping trip with my mother-in-law, I actually looked for pieces that would go with what was already in my wardrobe. I didn't get anything I already had, and I only bought stuff I knew I'd wear to work.

I put all my shoes in two plastic tubs that fit under my bed (I subsequently purchased a third to store all my handbags). And I have a place in my dresser to store my work out clothes that I wear 2 or 3 times before washing.

Every morning after Eric gets up I make the bed and every evening when I get home I put my clothes away (laundry or hang up or dry-cleaning bag).

It's been 2 weeks and I've kept it up and it feels fantastic.

When the cleaning ladies come tomorrow I won't be rushing around with my room picking things up.

On Tuesday (after Labor Day) I had the day off (for my birthday) so I went through all of Aron's clothes and kept only what fit in his drawers. There is a family who recently lost their home and all their belongings in a fire. They have a 4-year-old son, so I'm taking all those clothes to them.

And Friday night at dinner Eric (very sweetly) asked what he and the kids could do over the weekend that I'd really appreciate. I thought about it and said, "Be able to park both cars in the garage."

St. Vincent DePaul's picked up a load of stuff today so I think we'll be able to park tonight!

While he worked on the garage (with intermittent help from our 5-year-olds), I tackled my second room... the Kitchen.

I started by taking everything out of the fridge (and I mean EVERYTHING). After I removed everything from a shelf, I took the shelf out and washed it.

I only put things back that weren't past the expiration date (did you know that mustard has an expiration date on it?) My fridge seriously looks empty. I found a shelf low to the bottom to hold yogurt so the kids can reach it. It seriously looks like a brand-new fridge.

I moved on to the freezer (veal does not keep for a year).

And then I moved on to the pantry (those packets of "sides" expired in 2006).

And I did the tea cabinet (I'm never going to drink all that herbal tea).

And finally the spice/backing cabinet. (Seriously, who needs 4 jars of cream of tarter?)

The trash can (which doesn't get emptied until Thursday) is completely full, but man it feels GREAT in my kitchen.

Next stop - small appliances. (how often do we actually core, peel and slice an apple?)

More fish tales

When I got out of bed this morning (really only about 20 minutes after I'd been woken by my children) there was a bit of a crisis.

The fish tank looked.... different.

The big plant thingy was gone, the alligator and the statue were moved and there was definitely less fish.

Eric was so very very very upset. He was ready to give all the fish away.

We also noticed that the scale was moved from "safe" to "caution".

So I took some water and some questions to PetSmart to find out if I could learn what needed to be done.

The gist of it was that "your tank is cycling. you need fish to cycle a tank. some fish will die."

Ultimately we are left with 3 sword tails (Eric got two females Friday to replace the one female we lost); 1 neon tetra (3 died); 4 algae eaters and 2 blood fin tetras. We are going to leave it that for a little while and see if we can keep the fish we have.

It was an interesting weekend, but I don't know yet if Aron understands how close he is to losing his fish.

WW - Why I joined

I was one of those "skinny" people. I didn't matter what I ate, I could not for the life of me gain weight. In high school and in college my mom would joke that I looked like a Dachau survivor.

I never complained about my weight. I didn't want to be one of those skinny people who complains that they are "fat" - which I knew I was not. I had a beautiful very classy size 2-4 wardrobe.

I didn't particularly exercise - I was active and occasionally started some regimen. I even joined a gym at one point. But I never had a weight goal or anything like that.

When I turned 30 or even before then, but that's when I noticed it the most, my metabolism changed. I started putting on pounds. Not a lot, mind you, but some. Each year at my check-up I'd hear "You're getting closer to that max weight for your height."

I never dieted in the past, having no need or motivation. I couldn't eat if I wasn't hungry. I often left food on my plate. It was like I just couldn't even swallow food if my stomach was remotely full. Somewhere along the line I got over that.

My father had done Adkins for quite a few years before he moved out here to South Bend. One Christmas I was reading the South Beach Diet book at my mother-in-law's house and I thought it kind of made sense. I had my dad start cooking low-carb (easy for him as an Adkins-minded person) and I even joined South Beach on line.

I don't remember keeping track of my weight, but I do know that if I did loose any weight it wasn't much and it didn't stay off long.

I jumped from a size 2-4 to a size 8-10. Granted an 8 does not look bad on me, but I certainly wasn't used to the hips I'd developed (nor the belly that was looking like I'd recently been pregnant.)

In January I was in Albuquerque and my mother-in-law and (now) sister-in-law and I went shopping and not one of us found a single thing that we liked or that fit. It was depressing.

In May my neighbor asked me if I wanted to start walking in the mornings. I said "sure!" And we started. We walk every morning for 30-40 minutes around our neighborhood. If the weather is not nice we do a Leslie Sansone video. I bought a scale.

In July my office started an initiative called "Get Fit for Life" which was sort of an awareness thing to make people think about the food they eat and the activity they do. I kept track - even did a daily dairy of my food intake a few days.

My problem was that even though I was kind of proud of myself for stepping up the activity and being mindful of food choices, I wasn't loosing any weight. Not a single pound. My scale said 159 for the LONGEST time and if it didn't say that it said something within a pound of that. I did not want to breach the 160 mark.

My mother-in-law (after our disastrous shopping trip in January) joined Weight Watchers. When I saw her in May she looked great and in July she was down-right skinny (size 4's were falling off her!)

When I got home from our Albuquerque vacation, I decided to give it a try. I found a meeting, went and joined all on the first of August.

Now, 5 weeks later I have lost 7 pounds. I realize it's not a lot - but I'm only trying to loose 20, so that's like 1/3 of the way there.

My favorite part is keeping track. I like to track things. So now I get to go online after every meal and input what I ate and find out how many points I used. Only one week (the [in]famous Petersen Reunion) did I exceed my points for the week (by a lot, and mostly due to alcohol intake). That week I only gained .2 lbs.

I like looking for recipies and trying new things (Turkey Italian Sausage is very good!) I like feeling like I've created a well-rounded meal. I like checking off the number of vegetables/fruits that I've eaten in a day (I have trouble getting to 5 everyday). I like checking off how much water I drink (I have trouble getting to 6 cups every day).

They asked us at the meeting today why we are losing weight - what reason right now makes losing weight important. In all honesty (besides the pat answers of wanting to be healthier and more energized) I want to fit in my clothes comfortably and I want to not cringe every time I see a picture of myself.

I feel I need to trim the excess in my life. Not just food. We have too much of everything. Last week I went through all my clothes and got rid of 4 bags determined to keep A) only stuff that fit in my closet and B) only stuff I really like and feel good in. I kept going to the master bath and got rid of two bags of little bottles of hand lotion and almost empty shampoo containers and make-up built up over the past 6 years. I went through my jewelry and put each necklace together with it's matching earrings. Got rid of any single earrings. Polished that which was very tarnished.

Now I can easily find something to wear in the morning but I can also find jewelry, shoes and a purse to match.

I hope that I am able to continue my trend and move to my scrap booking stuff - getting rid of everything that I'm not currently working on.

Limits and Boundaries. Limits and Boundaries. If I don't have any for myself, how on EARTH will I pass them on to my impressionable children?

Fish Tales

 
Wanted to share pictures of the aquarium.
 
Last night after I brought home the two replacement fish, we found one of our sword tail's missing.
 
Unlike the other two it wasn't laying on the bottom (or even floating on the top) it was just gone. Our assumption is that it jumped out and the dog's got it... cuz it is NOWHERE to be found.

I guess we'll be making another trip to the PetSmart!

Everybody Not Got Brains!

My daughter was telling her grandmother how she got a scratch on her arm. I wasn't actually privy to the story telling but this is how Gramma Judi Relayed it to me:

Jordan: When I was 7 a shark bit me. I killed the sharks by going "HiYAA!" (which she illustrated with a karate chop).

As she's telling this story we are driving somewhere with the kids in the back seat and naturally Aron perks up at the mention on Sharks.

Aron: Who killed a shark?

Gramma Judi: 7-year-old Jordan killed the shark that bit her.

Aron: Is that real or pretend? (a common question lately)

Me: It's real in Jordan's brain.

Jordan: I not got a brain! Not everyone gots brains!

Aquarium

So Aron's obsession with all things aquatic has lead us to the purchase of a 28 gallon aquarium. With Grampa Tom's help we spoke with the fish guy at PetSmart who gave us a 3 day crash course in all things fish. We bought 26 gallons of distilled water so that we wouldn't have to wait through an entire nitrogen cycle before actually purchasing fish. We bought the thermometer and a little alligator that blows bubbles every second.

When we went back the second day to get the "Starter Fish" the guy gave us various options. He strongly recommended some algae eaters to help keep the tank clean. Apparently you can have 1 inch of fish for every gallon of water in the tank. But the algae eaters he showed us don't count toward the inches of fish.

Grampa Tom had convinced us we wanted to get Sword Tails because they are live bearers and are fun to watch have little babies.

The PetSmart guy told us that Blood Fin Tetras were one of the good "Starter Fish" options. So that day we took home two Blood Fin Tetras and two algae eaters. They seemed to thrive okay for the 24 hours they were in the tank.

We went back to PetSmart and picked out the Sword Tails (one male one female) and also 4 Neon Tetras and two more algae eaters.

Let me tell you the tank is beautiful. It's actually very relaxing to watch it. It's sitting right next to the television and is almost (not quite) more popular to watch.

The kids feed the fish once before school and once after school (they are supervised). Yesterday (Wednesday) Eric did the after school feeding because we have church until 9.

Last night when we got home we saw one of our little algae eaters not moving. We waited a bit and finally stuck the net into the tank. Sure enough, he was "so dead." Aron wanted to flush him, but we have a 14 day guarantee on all the fish we bought so we're trading him in. Got him in a zip loc bag, a grocery bag and holding at arms length while carrying to the car.

This morning when we woke up we found another of the little algae eaters - same spot as the first one - not moving. Yep, that one's dead too.

So sitting in my car are two little dead fish. I'm wondering if this is going to be a recurring theme.

The Big Three-Five!

Monday I celebrated my 35th birthday. I have to say the best part was saying "good-bye" to my 34th year.

I know I didn't post much of anything last year and there was a reason for that. It was a craptastic year for me, personally. I felt like I never had anything worth saying, so best to keep quiet.

But surviving my bad-posture induced tailbone pain and Shingles and frequent ocular migraines, I'm ready to shed the old and bring on the new.

I've done some things to really take care of myself - I walk every weekday morning with my neighbor, Ashley. I joined Weight-Watchers to lose the 20 lbs that just crept up on me. I cleaned out my closet and my bathroom and my jewelry, only keeping that which fits in the space I have. I'm now inspired to move on to my scrapbooking stuff.

Last year was also kind of an up-in-the-air year. Eric applied for various teaching positions across the country and waiting to see, and then realizing that none panned out was kind of hard for me. We have the same situation this year (first application went out last week), but I guess I feel that because I've been through it once, it won't be so bad the second time around. Also I'm working a little each week to get the house ready for a sale, should that become necessary. So I have things I can control.

The kids are doing great. They turned 5 in July and if you haven't seen the pictures go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/RikkrP and browse through the various photo albums. We decided to keep them in pre-K this year. A 4/5 class at the preschool they've attended the past 2 years. They love it there and are settling into their new classroom. The difference this year is that they are attending full-time (8-5) every day (M-F).

Eric is teaching at ND again this year. He is teaching one section of Foundations and then a 200 level course that he came up with. He's excited about that. He continues to be very involved in soccer. This is his second year as the Director of Coaching at our local club Echo. He has more staff support this year, so he hopes to be out at the field fewer nights each week.

This summer was a busy one in terms of travel. It was also full of new stuff. We had some remodeling done in our house (moving a door to a bedroom). The kids now technically each have their own rooms. But they also have 2 beds in each room and frequently sleep in what was their old room and is now Jordan's room.

We bought a new car (a Prius!) which is getting approximately 48 mpg - which with the current gas prices has been nice. We had to say goodbye to the Bravada (SUV) but it was stalling and not starting quite a bit, so we were happy to let it go.

We (with the help of my mom) repainted all the rooms upstairs except the kitchen and then had carpet installed in all three bedrooms. We had wood laminate flooring laid in the main rooms (living room, dining room, foyer).

In June my dad left after having spent the spring living with us. My mom came out for a week or so to work with ND and help paint the kids rooms, etc.

In July we went to Albuquerque for a week over the kids' birthday.

In early August the kids and I went to Washington/Oregon for my Gramma Jane's 90th birthday celebration.

In late August we all went to Boise/Adrien to celebrate my brother-in-law (Dave)'s marriage to Jamie.

Last weekend for Labor Day Eric's parents flew out and spent 5 days with us.

I think we are just the four of us for a while now. I'm out of vacation, so we won't be travelling again until next year.

Am thinking of getting the kids involved in swim lessons (should really research that!)

We hope you are all doing well and I hope to do a better job of keeping you all updated.

Love to hear from you!

Rikka (and Aron, Jordan and Eric).

Mother's Day

4 year olds can be very sweet. Especially when prompted by their Daddy or Grampa. On Friday my kids came to the office with flowers (pink roses) and donuhnuts and cards.

It was very sweet and they got such a kick out of it. Didn't matter that it wasn't yet Mother's Day.

Today (the actual holiday) the kids went to church with Grampa and I decided to make breakfast. On the way home from church they picked up a card, some donuhnuts and Mommy's favorite Starbucks as a suprise and a treat.

It was wonderful. I love being a mom to my two children.

Christmas Letter 2007

Well, I sent out some Christmas Cards (only a few, if you didn't get one, I apologize.... this is all it was.)

However, there were no updates or anything included with the cards, so I thought I'd post a Christmas Letter to let y'all know what the Stewarts have been up to as of late.

It's been a crazy fall, I have to say.
August
* My dad left us in August - sold his house (finally) and moved back to Washington with my Mom. Undoubtedly this is where he belongs, but we miss him all the same. It was time for Eric and I to figure out this whole "parenthood" thing on our own. It's been a challange, but the kids are still alive and well.
* Eric's parents came to visit us over Labor Day. It was a fabulous visit and we enjoyed the typical spoiling that goes along with Tom and Judi visits.
September
* My mom came to visit about a week after Tom and Judi left. I gave her a project - redecorating the kids' bedroom and bathroom. It's fabulous - there are pictures:

Kids' Suite Remodel

I realize if we move it'll have to be redone.
* Nilz and Kelly visit a couple days after my mom left. Project for them too - replace lights, etc. Very fun visit - Nilz went fishing with Aron. Kelly made a pizza that got eaten by the dogs (okay, that wasn't so fun). We hope they come back soon.
* Eric spends many many many hours preparing applications for jobs for Fall 2008.
October
* Aron decided he wants to be Jack Spellington for Halloween. Jordan wants to be a princess, even though I tell her that's not much of a stretch. The actual princess outfit we find is Snow White from Shrek the Third - tatoo and all. There are pictures:

Halloween 2007

* Rikka misses Trick-or-Treating because of choir rehersal.
November
* My dad and I miss each other completely as I fly to Florida for training and he flies here to help out.
* All four of us meet Tom and Judi in Southern California for 1) Eric's interviews and 2) a vacation of a lifetime. There are pictures:

Southern California Trip

December
* My parents come to visit about a week after we return from So. Cal. We had a great visit - went by too quickly. I gave my dad a project - a new sink in the kids room.
* Eric gets a second interview to one school and a "no go" on two others. Still waiting to hear on the fourth.
* Rikka obsessively watches HGTV to figure what all she needs to do to get her house ready to sell should the news come through that we are moving.

Next Saturday (the 29th) we will head to Albuquerque for a week to spend with Tom and Judi and Dave and Jamie and Tony and Gene. We are looking forward to that. In the meantime we are planning for our first every Christmas alone - just the four of us.

We wish you every blessing this holiday season.

Love,
The Stewarts
Eric, Rikka, Aron and Jordan

One Fish, No Fish...

Well... Hannah died. I think it was Eric's and my fault for not changing the water.

The sad part is that we realized Hannah died last night, after the kids were in bed (Wednesdays are crazy, we don't get home until 9.) So Eric emptied the tank (and threw it out because it stunk).

This morning Aron apparently asked about Hannah and Eric broke the bad news. Aron was really really sad about - dispondent for a good 1/2 hour, Eric said.

I guess not being able to carry her around for a while and flush the toilet meant no closure for him.

Poor little guy.

One Fish, Two Fish....

This is the tale of two fish(es). I should probably start at the beginning.

For those of you who don't know, we live in Michiana (Michigan/Indiana) because South Bend is right on the border of Michigan. Directly across the border is Niles. For a while, when South Bend was on Eastern Standard Time and didn't go on daylight savings, we would be an hour ahead of Niles for 1/2 the year. There are many who live in Niles and work in South Bend.

Every year in the fall, Niles has an Apple Festival. I hear it's lots of fun. Like the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth. I've never been.

My next door neighbors, Keri, Greg, Ian and Gabe, went last weekend. They have carnival games and Keri and Ian each won a goldfish while playing one of these games.

Keri has a fish tank, and in it is a shark. I'm pretty sure the goldfish would have ended up shark food had they been introduced into the tank. So Keri thought for a minute and came up with, "Aron and Jordan love fish."

So Keri talks with Eric to find out if we want these two goldfish.

The kids and I were out playing at a friend's house and decided to go to dinner with them, so we called Eric to have him join us. Once he arrived he told me about the fish and asked what I thought. I said that Aron would really enjoy having the fish. So he takes the kids to the pet store to pick out a tank (plastic gallon bowl) and some food. I went home to clean the kitchen.

When the kids got home and set up the bowl, they got ready to go next door to collect the fish. Eric asked each of them what they wanted to name their fish. Aron said, "Alex." (Alex is a kid in his class). Jordan said, "Hannah, no Alex." (Hannah is also a kid in her class). Eric said, "Well, we have one Alex, so let's stick with Hannah." That was fine.

So Aron and Jordan, accompanied by Eric, walk next door to get their fish.

They bring them home and we put them in the bowl. We take the bowl to their bedroom (probably not the best option). We went through a few: "No, you cannot stick the net in the bowl." "Please don't put your hands in the fish bowl." "LEAVE THE FISH ALONE!!!"

Finally we got the kids calmed down, ready for bed and in bed. Eric and I watched some TV.

The next morning while Eric and I were in the bathroom getting ready for Church, Aron came in carrying his sister's pink plastic purse. He announces, "Alex is dead." I asked what happened. He said, "Maybe Jordan took him out of the bowl and stomped on him."

Okay, I have to stop the story now for a second to explain that Aron and Jordan are heavy into the blaming phase, and that lots and lots of their stories are make-believe. So Aron will blame Jordan, Thumper or KC for pretty much everything that happens, even if he is standing right there holding the evidence.

Jordan did NOT, in fact, step on the fish. As it turned out, nobody stepped on the fish. Back to the story...

So I go with Aron to his room and see that there is one fish in the bowl. I asked Aron where the other fish is. He said, "Alex is dead." I said, "Yes, but where IS Alex?" He responds, "Mom, Alex is SO dead." "Aron, tell me where Alex is."

He starts going for the pink plastic purse he's been toting. He opens it up and sure enough there is one dead goldfish inside.

I kind of gasped and then recovered. "Aron, we need to put him in the toilet and say good-bye."

Aron thinks, "Maybe, maybe, maybe..., maybe he just needs a drink." So he plunks Alex back into the fish bowl. I watch for a second and yep, he floats to the top. I think, "Alex is sooo dead."

I went to inform Eric that yes indeedy, we have a dead fish on our hands.

I go back to explain to Aron that we need to flush the fish. Once again I find a tank inhabited with one live fish. "Aron, where is Alex." He comes in carrying his camera case in his hands. "Um... Um... maybe Jordan took him." "I think he might be in your camera case. Aron, honey, we need to say goodbye to Alex. We need to put him in the toilet and flush him. He'll go see Nemo!"

Aron, in the bathroom, kind of has a meltdown. He tries to persuade me that we should put the fish in the trash, but I'm thinking I really DON'T want dead fish stinking up my trash.


By this point all four of us are in their [fish motif'ed] bathroom reasoning with Aron to put the fish in the toilet. He finally relents, but he has to "Do it MYSELF! Jordan, Don't TOUCH!" He does, he puts the fish in the toilet and flushes and we all say "goodbye, Alex."

Okay, so all-in-all not a bad end to the crisis.

Aron goes back to the fish bowl and looks at "Hannah" and announces, "I think this is Alex, Hannah died."

Later we had to remove the fish tank from their room and Hannah is now safely on the mantle out of reach of 4-year-old hands.

I was a little worried I'd get a call from their teacher on Monday saying something like, "Mrs. Stewart, your son keeps insisting that Alex is dead, it's really upsetting Alex and the other students. What do you people DO on the weekends??" But it never materialized.

So we now have one fish named Hannah, who, at least as of 7:45 this morning, is alive! And one dead Alex down the drain.

Kid Cams

As you've seen from other posts, the children got fishing poles for their birthdays. They've really enjoyed those, especially Aron.

In addition, they received camera's for their birthdays. Which they both have enjoyed.

The cameras came with enough memory to store about 60 photos. Which they used up in about 20 minutes. So we went out and bought 1G SD cards ($15 each) to put in their cameras allowing them to take something like 5000 pictures each.

So here are some samples of the world from their point of view.

Jordan's Camera

Aron's Camera

In Which Jordan Rides a Two-Wheeler

My (just) four-year-old daughter had the training wheels taken off her bike last night.

She's been riding a two-wheeler at school around the [very flat] playground. Eric was a little concerned about her trying it out on our street which isn't so flat, but last night we did it, well, I did it.

It's so cool!

Bike Riding

Tippecanoe River State Park

We went camping this past weekend. For about 6 months now Aron has expressed interest in fishing. He's always loved marine life, but he's now very interested in fishing with a pole with a "rolling pin" on it.

So for their birthday, Gramma Judi and Papa Tom got them each a fishing pole. Jordan's is pink and says Barbie on it. They were ecstatic! In addition they got these kid's digital cameras. We put SD memory cards in them and they can take like 5000 pictures or something. But they are very easy for them to point, click and review (and even delete, which Jordan has been doing on Aron's camera).

This past weekend was the last weekend that My dad was going to be in town, so we took his trailer out for one last summer camping trip and also took along the kids' fishing poles.

With their fishing poles they each received a rubber fish which can be tied onto the line for casting practice. Once we got to the campsite I tied on the rubber fish (Aron's was green and Jordan's was orange) and they practiced casting just on the ground. Aron got it right away. Which was slightly surprising, because Jordan is usually the first to master mechanical items (like her bike and the camera). But Aron pretty much figured it out after my showing him just one time.

So the next day we went down to the river (still with the rubber fish attached) and the two of the cast out these rubber fish into the river for awhile. Well, the river was moving kind of swiftly and we kept telling them they needed to reel them in quickly, as the weight of the rubber fish would take it to the bottom and then it would get stuck in rocks.

Sure enough, Aron waited too long to reel it in one time and got his little green fish stuck. My dad (and I) attempted to get it unstuck. The result of this little adventure was my dad sitting down, fully clothed, in the river and the line breaking saying good by to the little green fish forever.

Aron is funny. He takes a while to catch the point of something that has happened (for instance the little green fish.) "Mommy, I need my green fish! Find it!" "I can't Aron, it's gone down the river." "What?" "It's gone!" But when he does finally catch on (let's say hours later with repeats of the above conversation many, many times.) Then he has to explain to everyone. "I lost my green fish in the river. It's gone." So he explains that to pretty much anyone who will listen, whether they follow the conversation or not.

Anyway, after that we were given some hooks and lures which we tied onto their lines and then they practiced casting with real hooks and fake worms (Aron was particularly impressed with the fake worms.)

Nothing was caught all weekend, but Aron sure did have a good time. I don't mean to imply that Jordan did not have fun, but it was definitely a perfect weekend as far as Aron was concerned.

Here are some pictures (and some video... leading up to, but not including, the sit-down in the river by my dad).

August Camping

Photos from out Trip to Albuquerque

Albuquerque Summer 2007

And here is an album of all their Professional Pictures (after the first year). It includes their 4-year-old pictures.

Professional

Conversations including almost-four-year-olds!

Aron: Mama?
Me: Yes, Aron?
Aron: You're Rikka?
Me: Yes, Aron?
Aron: You're My Mommy?
Me: Yes, Aron?
Aron: Ashley is Mother of Avery?
Me: Yes, Ashely is Avery's Mom... and Julia's.
Aron: Who's Kevin?
Me: Kevin is Avery and Julia's Dad.
Aron: No, WHERE's Kevin?
Me: I imagine he is either at home or at work.
Aron: Huh?
*beat*
Me: *sneeze*
Aron: God Bless You!
Me: Thank you!
Jordan: Aron, here's your donut!
Aron (as he's putting on his last shoe): NO! I'm not dressed yet!
Jordan: Oh, well, here you go.
Aron: Thank you.... Mama?
Me: Yes, Aron?
Aron: This my donuhnut?
Me: Yes, Aron, that's your donut... you need to eat it in the car, though, because it's time to go to school.
Aron (opening the bag and looking in): Oh... wait! this is Jordan's!
Me: Go trade with her.
Aron (running): JORDAN!!!! *beat* *WHINE*
Me: NO WHINING!
Aron: Jordan, this your donuhnut!
Jordan: No, No, Aron... listen my eyes! Once you get in the car, I give you your donut...OKAY?
Aron: NO!!! *beat* MAAAAAMMMMAAAA!!!!

Aren't 4 year olds FUN?????