animal jamboree

This past week Owen went to animal jamboree camp at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve that's part of the audubon society of western pennsylvania. Owen had such a great time at camp this past week and Oona, as always, was quite envious of what Owen was doing and wanted to go to camp as well. The camp class was really small, only 8 children, which I think was nice and the setting is so serene and beautiful, it's hard to believe how different things can be 6 miles away from where I live. I'd almost drive off the road, which is quite curvy, ogling the land and houses on my way to bring Owen to camp every day. My favorite was a modest bungalow from the twenties that, after a quick search on allegheny county tax assessment, I learned sits on an acre and a half of property. That would be my dream home. I love cottages and bungalows and to have something like that on so much nicely wooded property, it was very hard to see the house from the street because the front yard has a lot of lovely trees and bushes, I drool just to think of it. So, yep, Owen went to camp and the only photos I have to mark the event are Oona hamming it up after we dropped him off on his last day. Um, if you're the mother of a daughter and shop at Target I think you probably own this cherry t-shirt.

I started Oona on potty training last week and she's adapting really well to it. No accidents today at all! I was bragging to Toby on the phone last night - he's in Vegas for 8 days on business, or so he tells me ;) that she hadn't had any accidents yesterday, but within the three minutes I was on the phone with him she peed on Owen's bedroom rug and then pooped on it. Today was much better. The only problem I find is taking her out if I need to run errands away from the house. I've been throwing a pull up on her then and she'll let me know when she's wet because she wants the pull up changed. This all seems rather miraculous to me, that the transition has been relatively trouble free so far. I'm not going to sweat her using a pull up when we're out, it can be slim pickings finding a clean public restroom and with girls it's hard than boys who can really pee anywhere, if need be. Last Saturday we went to a picnic and I had Oona in underwear, she said she had to pee but all that was available where port-a-potties, I gag just thinking about it. I tried to get her to squat behind a tree but she didn't want to do that so I can't really blame her when she let loose ten minutes later and soaked her shoes in pee. It was an hour past her naptime by then anyway so it was a conveinent excuse to leave.

does anyone know what these flowers are? they're so pretty looking I just loved them.

oona's target ensemble of cherry t-shirt, jean shorts and black heart sneakers, the clothes are so inexpensive it's hard to resist.

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

I borrowed this book from the library and I think I might need to buy it because I enjoyed it so much. I find Atul Gawande inspirational. Seriously, reading this book makes me very motivated to go back to school for nursing, even if I have to take six more prerequisites before enrolling in an accelerated BSN program. I just might have to ammend my comment on the flu outbreak at a memory care residence in the previous post because I have a feeling that could be held against me. But back to the book, Atul Gawande is so insightful and such a wonderfully compassionate writer. I find it incredibly refreshing to read writing from a doctor who is willing to look closely at the ethical dilemmas involved in medicine. He's such a great writer and he's a doctor, I so envy people blessed with that much intelligence and talent. I highly recommend this book and his previous book Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science.

o's play-doh menagerie

My Mom came out to visit this past weekend. She went to see my Grandmother, who has had a rather miraculous physical recovery from her broken hip back in May. She walks around and is back to being relatively independent at the assisted living center - meaning she can get around, dress and use the bathroom by herself. Not bad for 93. The downside is that her dementia has gotten worse, she doesn't remember breaking her hip or any part of the hospital stay. She frequently forgets the word for walker or even to use her walker. I know this will sound horrible, but I can't help thinking the best thing that could happen to that assisted living center would be a flu outbreak. I hate to see how lost, lonely and anxious the residents appear and I question the quality of their lives when faced with such a brutal deterioration in cognitive functioning. But maybe that's just me, when I have a momentary brain fog - forget why I opened the freezer or misplace my keys, Oona's sippy cup, my phone, the list could go on... I start panicking that I might have mad cow. I'm no mensa but cognitive decline is one of the scariest things to me. Well, now to tie this into the pictures I posted. My Mom watched the kids while I did chores around the house unimpeded (miraculous!) and they just love Grandma Cat (their pet name for her, which was my pet name for my Dad's mom, why? because she had a cat, very deep I know) to death. Owen made the very cute bird, palm tree and blue monster while Oona threw play-doh on the floor and tried to sneak bites of the pink play-doh when no one was looking. Silly girl! Doesn't she know I'm always on the lookout for her getting into mischief, hence the reason I pass out at 10 lately.

I love toddlers in bikinis.

the adjustment period

Owen's last day of school was Wednesday and I've spent the past few days trying to adjust to the new routine, two kids home all the time. Why did I think it would be easier to toilet train Oona now, what was I thinking? Anyone with good toilet training advice is welcome to share. Our computer is up on the third floor, which lacks air conditioning, so I apologize for avoiding the inferno that is our guest room/office until it was overcast and the temperature dropped below 80. I buzzed Owen's hair on his second day of summer vacation, it's much easier to deal with the short hair and as Toby so accurately noted last night, he smells like a little puppy if you burrow your nose on his fuzzy head. This buzz cut went much more smoothly than the last time I buzzed his hair, last summer in the basement, which I think has left a permanent psychic scar that he might need therapy for. This time was so easy. I set him up with books to read, sweets and a mirror to watch everything. I also snipped his hair short before buzzing it so the clippers didn't snag on his hair that much. If only the next two months of summer can proceed that smoothly. Oona's still doing her two hour afternoon naps, a slice of heaven for me, so we have a nice routine of breakfast, morning park play, lunch, and then the nap. I wanted to join the local community pool but they don't open until 1:00 every day so it seems like a waste to me, I always think of swimming as a morning thing. Do other moms find themselves looking for activities between 8 and 10. I tried to go to the library on friday at nine and they didn't open until ten, having kids who get you up early I find myself wishing stores and stuff opened an hour earlier. And places that open at 11? Forget it, my day's half gone by then.

oona's bed update

In other news, I've been working on Oona's bed (for forever it seems) but it's finally nearing completion. I didn't take pictures of what it looked like when I first got it, dope that I am, it was painted shiny black. I would have liked have had a wooden bed that I could have just stained but the quality of the wood on this bed is really crappy, hence my somewhat regretting even buying the bed frame and I can't even contemplate all the time I've put into this thing. I'll put photos of the finished bed, in the room with new bedding, up once that's done. I can't wait, let's just hope Oona can't wedge her head between those knobby spindles, which were an absolute bitch to strip.

don't even comment on what a mess our basement is.

I had to switch the painting to outside because huffing the fumes from this paint was making me sick. I have a ventilator mask but the thing is so heavy it's makes my neck ache.

it's almost done. I just need to touch up the feet and possibly seal the paint. I might get those peel on/off wall decorations to put on the bed and mask the really pocked up parts of the wood on the headboard.

where's amelia

Sorry for my absence. I've been looking like a whirling dervish, spinning around all over the place but it feels like I'm accomplishing very little. Can I tell you I drive so much that my left arm is more tan than the right one while my right thigh is bigger than my left, I'm assuming from hitting the gas and brake so much with the city chauffeur/mom type driving. But I shouldn't complain about the driving, poor Toby had to drive to New Jersey (about 300 miles) for work on Tuesday and called at quarter to six tonight to let me know he was leaving to come back home,he should be back by midnight. But tomorrow morning we're dropping the kids off at his parents, in Central Pennsylvania, and then driving to Philadelphia for a wedding on Saturday. Ugh, I hate driving or even being a passenger in a car for longer than 3 hours anymore, I get very antsy and anxious. Could be all the trucks and truck-like SUVs that drive over the limit. I drive at least 5 miles over the limit on highways but most people fly by me, rather scary. I be back home on Tuesday, hopefully with more fun pictures and stories to post. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend. It's gone from a frigid late May to 90 degrees here - I can't deal with schizophrenic weather, how I long for true spring and fall but we don't seem to get the temperate seasons any more, just one extreme to the other.

Owen's school had an end of the year picnic where he got his face painted like a leopard. He was very excited to get the last Xbox lego game, Indiana Jones, since he's already beaten (with his Dad's help) all the Star Wars lego games. The game came with a free shirt but they only sent the store size X-Large, I guess they're thinking only children of the 80s will be playing the game.