Labels

Labels are bad. Labels create limitations. If you label a child as dumb, they will prove you right. Same thing goes for labeling a person as handicapped, fat or weak. Labels should be ignored whenever possible. Labels keep people (and things) from reaching their potential.

That's what I was thinking a couple weeks ago as I looked at the black smudge on my curtains and then at the label: DRY CLEAN ONLY. Surely my curtains were better than that. I told my curtains to stop acting weak and fragile and to take a spin in the hand wash cycle.

Turns out that playing Jillian Michaels with my curtains wasn't the best idea. Sometimes things really are weak and fragile. Sometimes there is no hidden strength.

I thought they might shrink a little, but was completely shocked at the 11.5 inches  of dead air space where there used to be curtains.

The shrinkage was complicated by the facts that the larger window on the other wall has matching curtains and it's Christmas and (shocking fact) I am not made of money.

So I went to my local fabric store, dropped $25 on fabric and crossed my fingers.

10 hours of sweatshop like labor and many angry words later, I would call the results barely passable, but passable nonetheless.

(This is the larger window - I threw these in the wash after the other ones shrunk)

These babies should hold until I win the lottery. The best part? I now consider all the shrink to be exorcised and, in my mind,  I now own machine washable curtains.

Treed

I love a fresh Christmas tree. It makes the house smell so lovely and piney and I don't have to store it year round. Not to mention that for $25 you can have a tree that looks exactly like a real tree. For the time being, I'm kind of happy that our budget doesn't allow for an artificial tree. So are the girls.

A few nights ago, we went to our local home improvement store to purchase a tree. I wish we could have wandered out into the wilderness like the Grizwolds, but the idea of hauling Jane through snowdrifts didn't exactly appeal to me. Someday... or maybe not.

Emily was more than happy to help Chris with the prep work involved with a real tree.

And both the girls got in on the decorating (and subsequent undecorating) of the tree.

Emily got to place the star atop the tree ( Does this remind you of the little girl in Mr. Kruger's Christmas? Me neither.)

This is what a tree decorated by small people possessed of small judgment looks like. I wouldn't trade it for any other tree.

Several years ago (when it was just Chris and me) we decided to do a wreath in lieu of a Christmas tree. Less hassle and same great piney smell. Somehow, I had a hard time eliminating the wreath tradition when we started doing a Christmas tree. It is the sole element of Christmas that I have total control over. So here is the wreath I got to decorate in peace and quiet without any help.

 

The tree is already half undecorated and may not survive until Christmas, but I still love making the house a little Christmasy.

Snow Day

I have a love/hate relationship with the snow. I love it because there is nothing in this world cuter than a toddler in a snowsuit.

I hate it because it is cold and damp, it makes the roads dangerous and it gets really gross and brown if it sticks around too long. It's a good thing it only snows 9 months out of the year here.

Last week, we had our first good play-in-the-snow type storm. Fortunately it landed on Veteran's day so Chris was home to do this:

Emily is plotting revenge.

She'll get her shot in someday.

In the meantime, I hope it doesn't snow much this winter, but I am consoled by the fact that if it does, I'll be seeing plenty more of this:

Moving Right Along...

Yesterday was a big day for Jane. She bid farewell to her first prosthetic arm and got a shiny new arm. And this one has moving parts.

Jane wears a lightweight harness that connects to a small lever that closes the "hand" (or "terminal device" as the prosthetist calls it). We chose a shape called an adept terminal in order to give her the most functionality. The terminal itself is made by a company in Boulder called TRS. It was designed by an amputee as a better option to the traditional split hook design. Her arm was made by our wonderful prosthetist, Kevin, in Fort Collins.

Every time she puts tension on the cable, either by shrugging her shoulder or by reaching with her prosthesis, the hand closes. This is more intuitive than the traditional devices that open by putting tension on the cable.

So far she is doing pretty well with adjusting to the new arm. It is a bit bulkier than her old arm and it looks more like a medical device, but Ami helped me pick out a super cute fabric to make it look somewhat less industrial (the fabric is laminated over the fiberglass arm).

At this point, she's not to the point where she's picking up objects with her new arm, but she's starting to figure out that it opens and closes when she passes it across her body, so I think she's doing great with it for now. We will continue with her occupational therapy and work towards her being able to use it for everyday tasks.

The Fall, Demon, Ghoul and Harvest Celebration

Emily has been looking forward to today for a long, long time (which in her world is a week). It was the day of her preschool Halloween party (or Fall Celebration as they're now called). Her very first school party. She went to bed last night full of plans about the party preparations and the party itself. She could hardly get to sleep she was so overjoyed at the prospect. She must have finally gone to sleep because all was quiet when we went up to bed.

Then 2 a.m. rolled around. We were awakened by sobbing. After a stumble down the hall, we realized that Emily wasn't feeling great. She said she had a sore throat. A quick temperature check revealed a moderate fever. After a dose of medicine, I held her while the sobbing continued,

"Mom, I'll be better tomorrow!"

"It already is tomorrow"

"But I want to go to my party!"


A sobbing child at 2 a.m. can get you to promise anything just as long as there's a chance you might get to go back to bed. So I bit. I promised Emily that we would have our own party complete with trick or treating and that it would be better than the school's party. I figured she'd be too sick to want to party much anyway.


Morning came, the fever was down and Emily remembered every word of the conversation the previous night. She held me to it.

So we started the day with homemade pancakes, followed by a lengthy makeover in which I did my best to replicate Emily's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience.

Then... trick-or-or treating. This one was a little difficult for me to figure out, but in the end, I went from room to room in the house while the kids knocked on the doors. I handed them a starburst at each room.

Emily approved.

Jane was worn out from trying to get starburst wrappers off with her tiny fingers.

By that time Emily was more than ready for pumpkin and bat shaped grilled cheese (I didn't think to get a picture of this since she has to have all her sandwiches in shapes).


I hope this is the last time Emily has to miss a school party but to tell the truth, I wouldn't mind doing this again... next year, that is.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

And I could tell it was going to be a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

I could tell because Jane wouldn't stop throwing fits long enough for her OT to come and when the OT finally showed up late, Jane pooped her pants as if on cue.

I could tell because Emily would rather play than put her shoes on even though we were running late for story time.

I could tell because Jane kept throwing fits all the way to the library.

I could tell because after Jane fussed her way through storytime and the kids were playing, Emily ran off, I lost her and when I finally found her she threw a fit of her own to punish me for her lack of judgement..

It's not even lunchtime.

I think I'll move to Australia.

Nature's Bounty

Never take small children with you to pick out seeds for your vegetable garden. If you do, you are sure to come away with either watermelons or pumpkins - neither of which can grow in our very short summer. This summer, it was pumpkins. I bought the seeds to oblige Emily, brought them home, put them in the ground and didn't expect much.

I was pleasantly surprised when, a few weeks ago, I encountered a green orb among the towering sunflowers (which I planted two years ago and didn't have the heart to pluck up) and beside the crispy brown pea plants. I was even more pleasantly surprised when the frost held off long enough for that orb to (mostly) turn a bright shade of orange.

Two days ago, our first frost of the year prompted me to harvest the great Pivik Family Pumpkin. Care for a peek? I would if I were you.

Isn't she a beauty? Although I don't believe you can actually make a jack-o-lantern out of a pumpkin that is only 6'' high, this fine specimen will make a lovely addition to our front porch decor... that is if Emily doesn't love it to death first. 

(she is also holding our entire zucchini harvest.)

Thanks Emily for keeping the faith.