october update

Hey reader(s),


Not much happening around here lately.  Or, maybe, not much noteworthy.  Or, maybe, not much that I'm inspired to remark upon.  


Got a new camera.  My old digital camera has been slowly falling apart, and it finally bit the dust this week.  It's amazing how much cameras have changed in 7 years - so many more features, so much cheaper.  Well, cheaper is a relative term...


We've been windy around here.  And cold.  Guess our summer truly is over.  (autumn too?)


Three cut his hair this week.  This is 2 weeks after he finally agreed to getting a real haircut.  His hair was so cute - little boy, short but those curls were still evident.  On Monday, he proudly came into the room I was in and announced, "look, Mom!  I cut my hair!" and sure enough - down to the scalp in several places.  I called a neighbor and borrowed his clippers, and now my sweet little 4 year old looks like a cancer survivor.  Or an army recruit.  It's shocking and, as One keeps saying, "it's just not right".  

Three - sporting the crew cut look
two - sporting the chocolate-below-the-lip look
One - sporting the bunny-ears-over-brothers'-heads look

Kids are off from school today and tomorrow.  We are heading to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum and Discovery World in downtown Milwaukee with another family.  Should be a fun day, if we don't get swept off of the highway in a wind gust.  We are also invited to a bonfire at Picnic Point tonight with a group from school, but I'm  not sure we'll make it there.  

Tomorrow we're going to one of our favorite little friends' birthday party at the Kohl Center.  She is having her party there during the UW women's hockey game.  Should be fun.


We are excitedly planning a trip to the east coast for the week of Thanksgiving.  We'll go to the NFL hall of fame in Canton, OH, to Baltimore to visit my brother and sis-in-law for a couple of nights, and then to NYC to stay with my cousin's girlfriend for 4 nights.  We're driving - inspired to do this thanks to our successful trip to Kentucky in September.  This time Bob is joining us.


Speaking of football, the kids' seasons are over - well, almost.  One's is done, and we went to a football banquet at the high school for the youth football program this week.  Two has a tournament on Saturday.  I have more to say about this, but not now.  It has been an interesting and frustrating year, and I need to compose my thoughts about it all.  (and then send those thoughts to the contact person at the YMCA)


Three and I had a sweet little visit with friends this week -- Jessica and baby Joe (though not a baby anymore, we can't stop calling him that).  Jessica is one of those friends who, although I don't see her all that often, I can pick up right from where we last left off, effortlessly. Those friendships are especially sweet to me -- as is Jessica.  


OK, off to manage the troops.  They seem cranky.  Or maybe I'm cranky.  Good times!

playing with the new camera

little gem

One just said, "mom, I don't think I've ever chewed with my front teeth."


"You don't chew with your front teeth," I responded, "you bite with them and chew with your back."


Pause.  "Oh.  I've never thought about that before."

Lots of fall fun around here lately.  


We went to the UW Madison homecoming parade on Friday night.  Always a favorite, and they give out good swag.  We left with bags full of candy, strings of beads, and a t-shirt for Two.  But the most sought-after item amongst my 4 boys (a neighbor boy came along)?  A wisp.


Saturday was full of football games in the morning (I realize I haven't blogged much about football this year - another time) and a trip to our friends' farm for veggies and chicken coop cleaning.  After that, we went to a corn maze, which was just about the death of this family.  Maybe I'll also post more about this a different day, but let's just say that 2 extra (challenging, to me) kids and record 85 degree weather and not enough water or snacks AND a difficult corn maze equaled bad attitudes aplenty.  

The rowdy group after finally completing the maze

On Sunday, we biked down to a nearby park for a hayride with neighbors, complete with smores over an open fire.  Didn't quite have that autumnal ambiance, as it was 80 some degrees again, but it was fun nonetheless.  We left and hung out at another neighbor's house, where the boys played four square in the street and we parents gossiped chatted.  Nice way to end the weekend.

hayride fun - it's contagious!

Our weather is finally turning a bit more seasonal, which is perfectly fine with me.  Three is in his "off" cycle for his speech class now, so he and I have been enjoying our lazy mornings together.  Today we delivered a too-small trike to a little neighborhood boy whom Three is fond of (largely due to the fact that they share the same name).  Then we went to the farmer's market at Hilldale and to Goodwill to pass along another ride-on toy and clothes.  


We've been hanging on the playground after school more lately, which has just been so, so nice.  There's a sweet new crop of kids and mamas (and a dad or two sprinkled in too).   I do still yearn for my playground pals of old, but this seems like a nice group too.


I'm still loving my haircut, in case you were wondering.

revelations while shopping

I had an unexpected experience yesterday.  Three is almost done with his six week stint in his speech phenology clinic (he cycles 6 weeks on/6 weeks off for 10 hours/week -- mornings), so I've been frantically trying to fit in all sorts of self-indulgent fun during this last week.  A couple of trips to the gym club to sweat like crazy, mixed in with some shopping here and there.  Yesterday, I decided to go to Target.  This could possibly be my first daytime shopping trip to Target without a child in tow.


And it hit me like a ton of bricks - my kids are not babies anymore.  You know the joke about Target being a stay-at-home mom's playground during the weekdays before naptime, right?  So there I was, casually shopping, no child in my shopping cart, no one begging for a toy, and I felt kind of lonely.  I wandered around and found myself in the halloween decorations, and I felt waaaaay lonelier.  I remembered so many trips years ago with One as a little guy, then One and Two as little guys, picking out halloween decorations or costumes.  I got so sad. 


I walked past the baby clothes, even fondly remembering my favorite onesies and booties and blankies from when they were babies.  I oohed and ahhed at the babies in the store.  My long overcome "pain" with never having a little girl even resurfaced, and, I must admit, I toyed around with "maybe we SHOULD have another baby" for a minute or two.  


We're not.  I'm too old, and my body cannot take growing and bearing another child (however cute they are).  Our house, while comfortable for us, cannot handle another child easily.  Quite frankly, our budget cannot handle another child easily.  I already feel like the oldest mother ever in my closest grouping of friends.  I closed the emotional door on having more children after Three was born, so I was surprised when this came out of a seemingly benign trip to Target at Halloween time.


I left there, feeling blue, and picked Three up from school.  He asked if we could go on our date (remember our date schedule?  Three's month was September and we kind of skipped our date time with him).  I thought, "sure, this may cheer me up."  (I'll edit this to add that I also considered how HE might like it too - I'm such a benevolent mom, yes indeed.)


We went to the food court at the mall (sophisticated food tastes), and my little Three was just a delight to be with.  He kept winking at me when I was in the food line.  He held my hand, gave me lots of spontaneous hugs and kisses, said, "you da best, mom" countless times.  He played at the indoor playground area (which he is technically too tall for - gulp, yet another reminder) and made quick friends with the other kids there.  He very agreeably went to the Coach Store and the Apple Store (who knew West Towne was so hip?) and proudly held my hand while we waved goodbye to his newfound play area buds.  


I returned home a happier mama, much more content with my position in life.  Yes, no more sweet little babies for me, but I have some pretty sweet big kids around here too.

my three and me in a tender moment

haircut

 As promised, info on my haircut.  So, I've been without a regular stylist for a few years now. I had a stylist whom I loved, but she moved a little farther away from me, and then I lost her phone number, and then I finally found it and called her but she never called me back to schedule an appointment.  I figured that was the universe's way to tell me to move on.  Since this, I've just been bopping here and there, usually using coupons.  Because I'm cheap, that's for damn sure.


A friend gave me a great tip, which I am about to pass along to you (you are welcome).  The Aveda VICI Institute on the UW campus in downtown Madison offers $12 haircuts.  You schedule an appointment, go into a bustling, slightly more classroom-than-salon environment, and get a full service haircut -- shampoo, scalp massage (my fav), cut and styling -- ALL with Aveda products.  But wait.  Like any good infomercial, it gets better.  If you go on a weekday (Tues - Fri) before 10 am, you get the "early bird special" and the hair cuts are half off.  That's right.  Six bucks!  That's crazy talk but TRUE!!!!!


They have a full "menu" of offerings there (nails, facials, eyebrow waxing, color, etc) and I'm not sure what all is half off during the early bird special, but on Thursdays, you get meatloaf and mashed potatoes too!  (that's my old-lady-early-bird-special joke).  


The downside, because there has to be one, is that it takes a long time.  My haircut took 1 1/2 hours.  But it was a pleasant 1 1/2 hours.  Who wouldn't like to sit still and quiet and have someone futz with their hair for 1 1/2 hours?  Not me!  (or, would that be "me!"  how do I answer that?)  So if you have the time, go and do good for your community and offer your hair to these students to learn on.  This has now changed from an infomercial to a PSA. Wow, I'm good.


And now, to the pictures.  I've taken a ridiculous amount of time trying to capture the right mood and lighting and look.  All of a sudden, Tyra Banks' advice to those Top Model wannabees makes sense.  I need to make my eyes more alive, but everytime I try, I end up with the crazy eye.  Furthermore, I don't know how to take a self portrait without the glare from my glasses.  You'll just have to trust me that my eyes were pretty and not crazy in that bottom shot.


This is from the day of the haircut.  Note the pretty styling.  That will never be replicated again.  Also, note the scarf, Stephanie.  I do love this trend and I don't care I'm one of the herd.

This is my attempt at styling it, with hair product and curls.  It's an extremely dark photo which  makes it all the more dramatic but may not lend itself well to showing off my hair.  Oh well...

And this was taken just today.  This is "out of bed, brush my hair, throw on my scarf, head out the door" look, which is, actually, my every day look.

Maybe I need to work on my mouth too.   Not much life there either.  These self-portraits are harder than they look.


What do you think?  Pretty good for six bucks!