halloween a bit early

on saturday, stover dad and stover mom dressed up as superheros.  by 8:00 AM, we were out of the house with lightning-like speed for a soccer game.  then, using all her researching powers, stover mom located a near-perfect pumpkin patch.  meanwhile, stover dad called upon our superhero friends to come along... their super powers were to come super fancy!  (see cute matching outfits in pic below)  superhero parents opened their magical wallets so that stover girl and boy could run through the corn maze, pet farm animals of many varieties, ride a quad-driven train, and gobble down icecream.  after a rejuvenating nap for kids and a hair treatment for stover mom, the superheros held a real party when their keen sense of hearing picked up on the kids holding a pretend party.  a blue party (theme requested by stover boy) complete with blue clothing, artwork with only the color blue, and a snack of blue pancakes and milk was the perfect end to our halloween.  the children went to bed with smiles on their faces and stover parents undressed to have a more normal, noneventful saturday evening.

it's autumn time

heavy storms have brought mommy two days of absolute bliss characterized by: a home free from air-conditioning and kids free of nagging inquiries about the TV.

so happy i'm almost crazy!

stover boy enjoying the 'snow'

 

2 milestones

stover boy has recently been going through a mommy's boy phase (milestone #1) and it is especially apparent at bedtime.  he screams and cries for mom to 'puta me a bed'.  historically, stover girl has always been known to be a mommy's girl at bedtime.  this scenario makes for a 7 pm mini-crisis.  despite the kids' preferences, mom refuses to shoulder the burden of bedtime alone; and as a result, stover girl has had to become more adept to dad's bedtime methods.  (keep in mind that stover dad is a superstar... the kids have just been blinded to his nurturing night-time qualities by his ultra-fun disneyland approach to playfulness.)  stover girl has done so well and proudly asked mom: "do you know why i don't cry when daddy puts me to bed anymore?"  mom said "you have done good. why?"  "because now i love daddy as much as i love you!" (milestone #2)

the magical vortex playlist

i can have a fairly poor memory but there does exist a magical vortex that awakens my past; however, this miraculous moment happens quite rarely.  entering this vortex involves sneaking into stover girl's room at night to steal her princess-decorated cd player and finding enough personal space to blare my old musical cds.  here's a few memories awakened from my playlist tonight (not really a 'playlist'- if they literally were, i wouldn't have to excavate them and perhaps i'd have a fairly good memory) :


1. i found a mixed cd labeled 'justin's mix' with classics such as happy trails by van halen and here comes your man by the pixies that reminds me of my music mentoring brother.
2. sitting at a sundance concert with a fairly random mix of people during my college years listening to 'call my name' from peter brienholt while staring at the stars and the mountains.
3. when i was in middle school, i was caught buying the REM out of time album at the local drug store by a boy i liked who was more of a guns n roses type.
4.  any counting crows song was the music i often played to prepare for 2 AM psych evals in the emergency room.

for the love of the game

today was stover girl's first football (soccer for all of us silly americans) game.   stover mom has always hoped her little girl would love soccer and excel at it; however, mom didn't want to be disappointed if she didn't embrace her mother's favorite sport.  as a defense mechanism, stover mom was prepared for the worst- surely she'd be the kid complaining of heat and fatigue or her clumsy streak will set her up for endless falls and resultant crying or she'd be the girl watching butterflies rather than the ball.  mom kept these worries in her heart and carefully encouraged her (with the exact same amount of excitement as i've done for dance and swimming participation).  at the game.... she made her mother proud.  she had decent control of the ball, she was fairly aggressive, and she even watched intently while on the sidelines. 

 

now mom has dreams of pele posters plastering her bedroom walls, a family vacation to the world cup, and years and years of soccer saturdays ahead she must keep to herself.



no jumping... blah blah blah

whoever made up the rule 'no jumping on the couch' has certainly NEVER experienced 5 consecutive months of 100 degree plus temperatures with young children.  i can also guess this rule-maker has not spent nearly every day for too many months out in the kiddie pool/ sprinkler system/ throwing water balloons/ at local pools/ on the slip n slide.  this rule-maker has not taken many useless trips to any local air conditioned store (dollar store, petco, and grociery stores included) just for a change of indoor scenery and a long hall to run.  and this rule-maker has not spent hours in the back of the library so the kids could be entertained by (quietly) climbing on the letters 'R' 'E' 'A' and 'D'.   

(apologies to all those who've slept on this futon unaware of its trampoline functionality)

messy was no exaggeration

stover missy and stover man just began a 'messy art for minis' class and their art teacher really does mean messy business.  the kids were happy to paint with glue and make footsteps with tempura paints; however, i have to admit that stover mom felt a bit challenged by it all.  helping two children complete 4 messy projects each in the space of 45 minutes was challenging.  keeping my children from getting others messy (ie. fancy clad moms) was challenging.  having only my own personal stash of baby wipes and access to water as clean-up measures was challenging.  (and don't get me started on the challenge of letting go of clinical judgement while observing some children unwilling to participate.)