Part of the Problem

Bentley and Kendra's school classifies itself as a "Walking School," which means that the majority of its student body live close enough that they ought to be able to walk to school, so buses are unnecessary.  And we are among the "too close for the bus" population.  This is fine by me.  I really like walking to school with my kids.  I like the time spent together, I like the fresh air, and I like the exercise.  There are few things more enjoyable than a brisk walk with my kids on an early autumn morning.

Except: when it rains.  Or when we're late getting out the door.  Or when it's bitterly cold.  Or when my stay-at-home-boys are sick, like today.

On these days, we forgo the walking and simply drive. 

And as you can imagine, those days happen more often than I'd like to admit.

The problems with driving are manifold.  Getting all the kids in and out of the car can sometimes feel like just as much work as simply walking.  We aren't gone long enough for the car to heat up, so everyone is still cold (and since our car parks in our driveway, on rainy days we're also wet).  But the biggest problem is the actual moment of drop-off.  Because this poor school was never designed to have so many cars filing into the meager parking lot with their kids, so the place turns into one mess after another.

It really is a disaster.  Just getting into the parking lot is an exercise in gridlock, causing me to frequently drive very strange ways to the school in hopes of claiming the right of way for a few of the turns.  On one soaking wet morning (it was when my parents were here) it took us 15 minutes just to move 200 feet into the parking lot!  That's how long the 1/2-mile walk takes!  (And yes, the kids were totally late for school that day.  But so was everyone else, so no one got in trouble for it.)

Once you're in the parking lot, it doesn't get a whole lot better.  There's one long curb where everyone drops their kids off, but despite the safety patrol kids waving you forward, no one seems to know just when to let their kids out of the car.  And everyone's kids take different amounts of time to undo their seatbelts and actually get out of their cars, so it's a confusing mess.  My kids are particularly slow, actually, but since they're both sitting in the back of the van, and their only way to get out is to either go out the front passenger door or to crawl under Colton's baby carrier as they scramble out of the sliding door, I can't really blame them.  But what ends up happening is that some people pull up and sit while their kids get out, some people stop in the middle of the whole curb and block everyone else, and people like me tell their kids to get out of the car, only to realize that all the cars are moving forward and now I'm the one blocking the whole business!  Occasionally people will try to pull around the slow cars, but that just makes things even more confusing-- one person pulled around me in a huff and then parked right in front of me to let their kids out, rather than pulling all the way to the front of the curb.  And of course, by the time they did this, Bentley and Kendra had finally extricated themselves from my car, so I promptly had to just pull back in front of this guy!

So, yeah, it's a mess.  And I don't mean this in a snotty, "This would be fixed if everyone did it my way" sort of way, because I'm as much a part of the problem as anyone.

This morning, as the kids were getting out, they accidentally knocked Bentley's soccer ball out of the car, and of course it rolled under the van.  I put on my flashers and climbed out to look, hoping the ball would be within my reach, but no luck.  I had to pull forward six feet and then climb out once again so I could grab that ball.  All this was within minutes of the tardy bell ringing, so everyone was frantically trying to get around me and drop their own kids off on time .  (I'm sorry, everyone!  Really, I am!)  As soon as I was safely back in my car, I got stuck behind someone else letting their kids out (in the middle of the curb), and some woman who had pulled to the side for no reason that I could discern.  As I tried to scoot between them, she immediately jerked her car forward, and then acted annoyed with me when I tried to wave her forward (and out of my way).  I have no idea what she thought she was doing.

Maybe there was a soccer ball stuck underneath her car, too.

I love walking my kids to school.  But I still think longingly about just putting them on the bus, too...

My New Job Title

So it's Saturday morning, and I'm sitting around in my bathrobe, looking up books on the library's website.  I feel that this is a great way to spend a Saturday morning.  Or any morning, really.  Craig is getting ready to take a piece of furniture to the dump, so I offer to get dressed and help him load it into the van.  And Craig looks right at me and says "Do you still wear clothes?  Is that still a 'thing' for you?"!!!!!!!


Which made me think of this:



If I weren't laughing so hard, that might have hurt my feelings!

Seriously, though, he's not even wrong.  This last week, Colton was sick and all but stopped nursing (I think he was too congested to be able to breathe while nursing).  Which meant that suddenly I had hardly any milk for him-- curse these laws of supply and demand that my body follows!  So I've been working to bring my supply back up by nursing as frequently as possible (and drinking water like crazy).  Because I  really didn't want to have to start buying formula!

So, yeah, "getting dressed" has sort of felt "optional" all week. 

But the good news-- and probably TMI-- is that Colton's diaper was really wet this morning, so I think it's working! 


This Stay In Bed Mom just saved herself a boatload of money! 

Colors of the Wind (Just Kidding)

I have a new game I like to play.  While driving around town, I stare at the autumn leaves and try to figure out what they look like.  It started with this beauty just around the corner from my house:

Doesn't that possess all the same colors that you'd find in a perfectly ripe Georgia peach???  I love it.

This game led to the following weird conversation with Craig:

Me: Ooh, look!  That tree looks just like a mango!
Craig: I'm pretty sure there aren't any mango trees in Virginia.  (Pause.)  Unless they're annuals...


Once he understood me, he agreed that it definitely had the proper green-yellow-red ratio of leaves to make it look like a mango.  I've also seen a few pumpkin trees, fuji apples, jonagold apples, and some Rainier cherries.  All were perfectly lovely, although I do think the peach tree is my very favorite.

I feel like I'm trying to save up enough color to get me through the winter...

Personality Counts for a Lot Around Here

We have a sprawling, enormous, overgrown mess of a tree right next to our driveway which perfectly straddles the property line between us and our neighbor.  I think this meant that no one was ever sure who owned the tree, so nothing was ever done about pruning it and making it grow properly (not that I know anything about that-- I don't recall anyone ever pruning trees in Seattle).  We can't go a week in the summer without some tree business stopping by and offering a free estimate.  They never say out-right if they think we ought to cut it down or attempt to prune it into shape, but my guess would be the former.  My father-in-law informed us that it's a "swamp maple" (I have no idea what that means or why it's not good enough to be a regular maple tree). 
 

Lopsided loveliness, dwarfing our van right there...  And that picture was taken today, so you can see that I'm not exaggerating about it staying green!

But regardless of how ridiculous this tree might look, I sort of love it.  Because it just has so much personality.  It's got several huge limbs sprouting out in various directions and low enough that it's only a matter of time before the kids figure out they can climb it.  It's got a very obvious squirrel nest in the middle of it, and a hornet's nest so high up that it hasn't actually bothered us yet, although in matching with the rest of the tree, it's pretty ugly: 

There's the hive, at least 50 feet up

 And best of all, every autumn it stays green later than any other tree, until, in a fit of procrastination-catch-up, it turns yellow and drops all of its leaves all over our car in a matter of days, which is of course how it came to be called the Whomping Willow, despite the fact that it is a (swamp) maple.  It's kind of awful if you're the one raking the leaves.  But since that's Craig's job (and since I let him buy himself the awesomest leaf blower ever), it's mostly just hilarious.

I love my funny Whomping Willow.

Our Autumn (So Far)

With the huge exception of the week when my parents were visiting, we have had one of the most gorgeous autumns I can remember having in a long time-- it's been warm and dry, and overall just perfect.  (While my parents were here, it rained non-stop.  Naturally.)  And we have been doing all the things one usually does in the fall...

Napping:

(In Daddy's arms, if you're lucky!)

I think Bentley actually took this shot on a Sunday afternoon...  I'm glad no one is taking pictures of me napping!

Buying, carving and decorating pumpkins:

I love the green one, especially.  But really I sort of love all of these...

Visiting Cox Farms:

I got to be a chaperone for Kendra's class field trip to Cox Farms-- here we are on the bus!  I enjoyed myself even more when I realized that the last time we'd been, I was 8 months pregnant with Ryder!

Appreciating the sheep

Learning to milk a cow

She did great!  I would have tried it, but as a nursing mother, it seemed like I already spend too much time on stuff like this...

Enjoying one of the many slides there

Heading home (and sitting with her incredibly whiny, annoying friend)

Dressing up as vigilantes:

Getting caught in the rain:

Looks closely, you can see the water droplets in my hair-- I was completely drenched.

 Trying out our Bavarian dirndl dress:

What a fun present from Grandma and Grandpa's trip to Germany!  Kendra's totally ready for Oktoberfest now!

 Loving on Daddy:

"Don't go to work!  Stay here and play with us!"

Getting haircuts (just the girls):

Isn't she sweet?

Shameless selfie.  I know.

 Enjoying the gorgeous foliage:

These little burning bushes like to hide out among the trees.  They're my favorites.

 Figuring out how to keep the baby warm on cold mornings:

Somewhere in there is my beloved Ergo carrier!

 Visiting the park:

And looking cute in our warm fall clothes:

And of course, celebrating Halloween:

For the ward party, I tried to make Colton look like a Smurf, but it didn't really work.  I used blue corn starch left over from the color run, and it really just isn't meant to be used as make-up.  But on the plus-side, it was okay when he ate it!  But we opted for a different costume for actual Halloween...

The Relief Society's hayride was a big hit

Queen Kendra is perched rather daintily on her hay bale!

And of course, trick-or-treating with our friends, the Konstantys (notice Colton's new costume)

Knocking on doors

 We enjoyed swinging:

Colton slept in a swing for the first six months of his life, but this was taking "swinging" to a whole new level for him!

I like how little his feet are in this picture

And here he just looks so pleased with himself for being a big kid!

And occasionally, we were just plain crazy:

Ryder was actually happy here-- he was excited for Bentley's missing tooth.  But it was early and he still had bed-head, so he really just looks nuts.  But in a fun way!

I have no explanation for this picture.  Ryder is just weird...

It's been a great fall so far-- now if only this splendid weather can last until-- oh, I don't know-- March?  Then I'd be set!