Addendum to the campfire picture/post

Oh man, I'm kicking myself because I didn't have my camera out 30 minutes after I took that picture Sunday night. We had a fire event. I knew I had saved our Christmas tree for a good reason. It had been lying next to our garage since January and it was all dried out and crumbly. I carried that sucker down to the firepit Sunday night and placed it on top of the burning logs.

There was a loud whooshing sound followed by an impressive inferno. It lit up the whole backyard. Mr. B was in the house when I did it and he was first alarmed, then very impressed with the pyrotechnic display. The flames shot about 15 feet in the air. It was pretty awesome.

I will be collecting used Christmas trees next year, so make a note to set yours aside for me.

Verbal and dental precociousness

Tikka asked me early in the day who would be at the Memorial Day neighborhood party. I named all the people I thought would be there and she corrected me: "No mom, Maverick won't be there. He's at school." I explained that no, there's no school today and that Maverick would in fact be there. She then said, "Oh mommy. I'm so sorry. I misspoke."

And then here's my five year-old with his first loose tooth:

The early tooth doesn't surprise me, though, because he had a good set of choppers at five months. I also had a sense that he would be on the early side of the developmental scale when his umbilical stump fell off at five days. (I was expecting 10-12 days like all the baby books said.) I remember carrying him into our bedroom early in the morning after changing his diaper and having the stump fall off, and I said to Mr. B., "Our little boy is growing up so fast!" (Sniff)

Heaven in the backyard on Memorial Day weekend

Playdate

It's unpleasant enough when the kids' playdates go bad.

Six degrees of separation

between me and Bill Clinton:

Bill Clinton shakes hands with Ted Habte-Gabr,
who is the brother of Ezana Habte-Gabr,
who was a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics dishwashing co-worker and friend of Mr. Bickerson,
who is the father of Spidey and Tikka,
who are the children of Mrs. Bickerson.

I know. It's totally amazing.

First hat

I'm not sure the expression on his face conveys precisely how truly, truly thrilled Spidey is with this hat that I knit just for him. I only had to unravel it three times to get it sort of right.

Here's another picture that really shows how he feels about this hat.

Last day of Parents' Club

Top (l-r): Marion, Hope, Jenna, Lorraine, Rosemarie
Middle: Abby, Hannah
Bottom: Trace, Brandon

Crank-y

No, it's not a snowdrift. We have a kabillion cottonwood trees in our neighborhood and the stuff piles up everywhere. This time of year is when I cannot take enough allergy medicine to stem the sneezing and congestion. Am I the only one who feels like you are being accused of having a methamphetamine lab at home when you go to Target and try to buy some Sudafed? I live on Sudafed and Benadryl in the summer and now that they ration out the medication I try to buy two boxes every time I go to the store.

I don't know how many boxes of Sudafed you have to buy to look really suspicious, but what makes them think I don't have a very small meth lab?

Helpfulness

I told them that they were on their own this morning with respect to dental hygiene, so they took turns brushing for each other.

I spy with my little eye

someone who looks like he's ready to crack.

Sunshine!

And blue sky! [Well, it's a live cam. There was sunshine yesterday when I wrote this.]

The hideous curse of crappy weather has lifted. The kids and I are gonna go roll around in the grass with Peggy like crazy people. It is totally beauteous outside right now.

Of course the mosquitoes are going to try to ruin all the fun.

Jinx!

She owes me a coke. (See "How young is too young?")

Flyball

Dog obedience commences tonight. I'm looking forward to this as soon as we master the basics. I think our high energy girl might excel at flyball and agility since she loves to retrieve tennis balls and seems to like to race the kids. It remains to be seen whether or not I can be trained.

The force

What is it with the Star Wars mania? When exactly did my five year-old develop such an obsessive interest in it? He can spot a fast food cup with Darth Vader's face on it from three blocks away. (There's been some litter on the sidewalk during our morning run.) The questions are nonstop:

Mom, who's you favorite Star Wars character? Mom, who is the one you like next? Mom, what is Dad's favorite Star Wars character? Why? Why doesn't Dad like to talk about Star Wars? Why can't I go see the Star Wars movie? Why can't we just buy the movie at Target? Can I just look at the characters in the toy aisle -- just for ONE minute? Mom, do you think they have Star Wars stuff at MacDonald's? Can we go to MacDonalds and see? Why can't we ever go anywhere to buy a Happy Meal that has Star Wars characters in it? Why are you so mean? Dad, who is Luke Skywalker's dad? Was he on the Dark Side? How come Yoda talks so weird? My favorite character is the Imperial Guard; Mom, what's your favorite character? MOM! You told me Luke Skywalker was your favorite character. You can only have one favorite. You're not fair. When are we EVER gonna get to see a Star Wars movie?

On a happier note

Spring and the smell of tomato plants, parsley and peppers:



This is the before picture.

Nap

Doesn't she look peaceful? Isn't she cute? What a doll. What a precious puppy. How could we be so lucky to acquire such a wonderful canine companion? What did we do to deserve her?

SHE WOKE UP AT 4:20 A.M. AND WOULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP!!!

Is it too much to ask of Peggy that she wait until 5:30 to get up like the rest of this family?

Being a mom

I think these two store windows on Main Street USA reflect succinctly the essence of motherhood.

Hypnosis

So I bought some self-hypnosis for weight management recordings on iTunes and I've been listening to it on my shuffle at night before I go to sleep. As part of the plan, you have to write down when and where you overeat and with what behavior you will replace the bad eating habits. I've been wanting to learn how to knit so ...



While I seem to have lost my lust for kettle corn, I really need to move beyond the scarf stage. One CAN have too many scarves. And crappy ones at that.

Mick Jagger is in the news

We had tickets to see The Rolling Stones in Ames, Iowa in 1989. We were living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota while I completed a music therapy internship at McKennan Hospital. Mr. Bickerson and I put our dog in a kennel and left town on Friday around 5 p.m. We drove about four hours to Rockwell City, Iowa to meet up with friends John and Joleen, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. The drive from Sioux Falls to northwest Iowa at night was a dull and long drive so we were happy to get to our friend's house and relax for awhile. We were all set to spend the night there and leave for Ames in the morning.

But wait. Where are the concert tickets?

Mr. Bickerson left six Rolling Stone tickets on the kitchen table back in Sioux Falls.

It was a loooooooooonnnnnngggg drive back. My sister-in-law and I braved the eight hours in the car to retrieve the tickets.

It was a good concert but I wouldn't say it was worth driving 12 hours between South Dakota and Iowa.

Last day of toddler class

We're moving on to preschool and kindergarten next year.

Living in a fairly large metropolitan area, this class of kids, moms, nannies and dads has been a substitute for the small town neighborhood commeraderie that I grew up with in Iowa. I started taking these classes when Spidey was six months old. I don't know if I would have survived some parts of toddlerhood/babyhood (especially when Tikka was an infant!) without this support.

Incomprehensible quote of the day

In the course of discussing the potential merits of, and reasons Spidey is too young to go see the upcoming Star Wars movie (i.e., too scary for kids), Spidey said:

"Come on, guys! Who cares? You know you're just trying to beast the dark off of Darth Vader anyway."

....to beast the dark off
....to put some stink on

I'm keeping a list to write up my kids' dictionary some day.

What kind of mother am I?

Poor Peggy was left behind with my neighbor for Mother's Day so the Bickersons could make a fast trip to Iowa to see mothers, daughters, cousins, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles. Peggy's away-from-home playmate took a chunk out of her ear at dinner time Saturday night. Mrs. Neighbor refuses to tell me what the trip to the doggy ER with anesthesia, stitches, and antibiotics cost her and her family. We are so fortunate to have such kind people living so close.

Do you want to know how much fun it was to ride in a car to Iowa and back with two children who these days seem to be in the throes of growth spurts and extra-intense temper tantrums over the most ridiculous issues? It was almost zero fun. There were moments during the trip when I wished I was back at North Memorial enduring the searing head pain that comes with a brain infection like encephalitis. There were, however, about 20 minutes of blissfull quiet between Des Moines and Ames while the children slept.

Despite the car trip from hell, a lot of fun and love was had with my brother and his family, my mom, my aunt and her family at her 50th wedding anniversary and cousins I hadn't seen in 15 years! There was cake-eating, trampoline jumping, hammock-swinging, Gator-driving, firepit-warming, cow-greeting fun had by all of us.

Maybe Peggy will have to join us next time.

Some highlights:



Uncle Steve and Hope check out the grass with the "W" built in it. (Ask Steve. It's all about genetics.)



Mr. Bickerson, Spidey and Uncle Jim discuss all things cow. Slowpoke (the orange cow) elicits expressions of sympathy from all due to her hip problems.



Spidey and cousin, Noah, find all kinds of ways to fight and play during our visit.



The Hanson Family



Aunt Nancy and Uncle Steve's dream house. Is it a barn? Is it a house? (It's an extremely cool house.)

Random Observations

The naked lady at the Y turns out to be a fairly normal person. I heard her speak for the first time and she carried on a normal conversation about spring and gardening with a fellow Y member. I assumed her nude make-up and hair routine meant that she was possibly a sociopath. Her conversation skills lead me to believe otherwise and now I feel bad for assuming she was nuts.

According to the movie Parenthood I am officially a parent. My daughter insisted on wearing a gift bag over her head Monday when we took big brother to school. She ran into the drinking fountain in the hallway and a door. She also informed 90% of the adults she encountered with an edgy, "I'm not talking to you!" before they even looked in her direction.

Five year-olds are not too old to have flat-out Tasmanian Devil-style temper tantrums. I shall be consuming a giant Costco chicken enchilada to replace the calories burned during temper tantrum restraint.

The weather today is magnificent and 60+ degrees. Yesterday I slipped on an icy sidewalk during my morning run with Peggy. Minnesota weather makes you crazy.