I Only Have (Pink) Eyes for You

This year, Valentine's began, quite appropriately, with a red dawn.... in Jane's eyes, that is. For some reason, our kids always seem to be sick on party days. Last week was no exception. Jane was struck with a case of pinkeye that barred her from her preschool celebration.

Daddy did his best to make up for the loss with a thoughtful gift and card.

Emily's eyes were unaffected, which was good because it takes a 5-year old a long time to cut out 25 hearts and write the names of classmates, teachers and aides on those hearts.

There was cookie decorating.

And loot collecting.

And I even busted out my creative side long enough to cut tiny heart shapes out of colby jack cheese for the kindergartners' cracker enjoyment. I wish I had taken a picture of this to present as evidence to Emily that I do not, in fact, neglect her as grievously as she claims.

And as for myself, I awoke to a box of gourmet chocolates and was presented with a dozen red roses once I got to work. Once again, no pictorial evidence. You'd think I'd be better at this since my phone is my constant companion and it's equipped with a camera. Nonetheless, I felt extremely loved. Mission accomplished, Chris.

Thanks to the love of my life for making this a great Valentine's day for the girls and me!

A Cookie Almost as Big as my Mouth.

I've been neglecting my blog for awhile... a long while. But that's partially because there's been nothing interesting enough to blog about. So I figured maybe if I combine all the uninteresting things, they will be just enough to make one mediocre blog entry.

We started off the year right, by purchasing the most expensive cookie known to man. It was HUGE. We ended up throwing a big chunk of it away because 1) we all enjoy being able to sit without straining the seams in our pants and 2) because putting frosting on a chocolate chip cookie is an offense that should be punishable by death. Or at least some serious prison time.

In the end we decided the cookie was worth it after all because it came with a free car.

(It's a Kia Sorento. I love it. It's a nice change to have a midsize SUV after the house on wheels.)

 The kids have been enjoying Kinect Disneyland Adventures. At the rate they're going, I imagine they'll complete the park circuit just before Emily leaves for college.

And Emily has been enjoying school, where her passion for glue has been cultivated to an alarming level.

See? I told you there wasn't much to report. I'll let you know if anything blog-worthy happens in the near future. Till then, Rachael... out.

On the Job

Lately I've been asked a lot how the new job is going. That is, I get asked when the people in my life actually see me, which is a lot less than I would like... as evidenced by the half hour traffic blockage that took place in the deodorant aisle of Target on Saturday after I ran into my bestie.

That's the downside of working. I miss my kids. I miss my friends. I miss the opportunities that I have to encounter my pals at storytime or the mall or the Children's garden. But mainly, I miss being at these places with my kids in the first place. There's always Saturday, which we try to make count as much as possible, but it's not every day anymore. Sometimes at 10:30 on a Wednesday morning I think that Carrie the librarian is just getting around to singing Slippery Fish... and Jane and I are missing it.

I miss doing the little things for my kids. Like reading before naptime or making lunch or walking home with Emily at the end of the day. Those little things seem to be the hardest to come to terms with.

The job itself? It's going well. I'm figuring things out and I'm realizing that everything seems to be coming back - kind of like riding the proverbial bike. It's good to feel smart again. It's good to be recognized for what I know.  It's good to feel like I can provide for my family should the need arise.

It's also good to know my kids are in good hands. Kerry and her family and staff have been great with my kids and I have never once worried if they were happy or safe during the day. We are blessed to have such great child care.

I am also very fortunate to be able to work in the same building as my husband. We work in different programs  but he is just down the hall from me. That means we get to eat lunch together every day in addition to taking two breaks together. It has been great for us to be able to see each other during the day and has brought us closer. Most couples get less time together when a wife goes back to work. We are lucky to have more time together.

I know going back was the right decision at the right time. I know I was blessed to be able to find a job in such difficult economic times. I know my kids will be fine. But for now I'm still struggling. Everyone tells me I will get used to it. That it will become normal. That I will find a rhythm. I believe that will happen. However, when someone asks me how my job is going, the answer will probably always be, "The job is going well, but I miss my kids".

Who wouldn't miss these guys?

Putting on the Ritz

This past weekend Chris and I wanted to do something really fun to celebrate our anniversary... like a week long trip to a tropical destination. There were a couple things standing in our way. 1) Inevitably, every single year, our anniversary falls 4 days before Christmas. I have yet to figure out why that is. 2) I just started working on December 1st and I have no vacation time. None.

Despite these obstacles, my fabulous parents to whom I am eternally grateful volunteered to take the kids so we could have one night to celebrate. I had to work on Friday ALL day long (Technically my boss let me go 7 minutes early. I am proportionately grateful) and we wanted to be back early on Saturday. That didn't give us much time, so we decided to make the most of it.

As soon as I got off work, we headed down to D-town and checked into the Ritz-Carlton. I'm blogging now because I absolutely have to document this experience. You folks who are used to staying in luxury hotels all the time may be blase about this sort of thing but to me it was a life changing event. From the moment we arrived, I felt like a kid seeing Disneyland for the first time.

The lobby was so amazingly beautiful. I wanted to take a picture, but I figured the ear-to-ear grin already made me look enough like a hick visiting the big city for the first time so I refrained.


You know how sometimes you get to a hotel and the lobby is amazing but then when you get to your room, it doesn't seem to match the lobby? Well, this was not the case. We arrived in our room and waiting for us was a lovely anniversary gift from the hotel staff.

The room was spectacular. The bathroom was all natural stone. And (the true mark of luxury) we had been provided with a total of 6 towels, two robes and 8 pillows.

See? 8 pillows. And you didn't believe me. I almost felt a little guilty seeing as how we were only two people. I could hardly tear myself away from all those pillows and towels, but I did.

We had a lovely trip through the botanic gardens' light display.

And then a fabulous dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we realized we had both forgotten to pack a razor. A call to the front desk brought a knock to our door within 60 seconds (Yes! 60 seconds! And we were on the 10th floor). The staff member was holding this

and she politely asked if it would do. Of course it would!

Saturday morning we were able to use the hotel's gym (not a fitness area - a real gym!) to have a fabulous run. And then came the sad part. We had to leave. In particular, I had a hard time parting with this incredibly luxurious robe, which was the loveliest piece of clothing I have ever worn.

Someday, when I'm able to sell one of my amazing inventions for billions of dollars, I'll think nothing of a weekend like this. But for now, this small town girl was pretty impressed.

Thanks for a great weekend, Chris!

A Christmas Story

Wow... Christmas. What can I say? Christmas with small children is never very organized or fancy. It's littered with tantrums and threats of taking presents away (or burning them on the front lawn while the children watch), but in the end it is more fun than seems humanly  possible. Because every kid waits all year for Christmas and it always seems to live up to their expectations.

We started out this year, as usual with a real Christmas tree. Nothing beats a real Christmas tree.

The kids were extremely helpful this year and although we used a minimalist design on our exterior lighting, it was still enough to make them happy.

Emily contributed to the Christmas spirit with a lively school program. We're still unsure of the plot associated with this play, but that didn't matter to us or to the kindergarteners.

Finally Christmas Eve arrived. The kids were incredibly attentive to the reading of the Christmas story. They seem to feel very strongly about the true meaning of this season.

I can't blame them. They just couldn't wait to see the crazy Christmas lights. We are very thankful for those who make up for our pathetic lighting efforts.

Finally it was time to go to bed and for mom and dad to get Christmas ready.

Next morning, the great loot fest began.

Everyone seemed satisfied. Emily even surprised mom and dad with gifts. 

We finished out the evening with a lovely dinner which one of our kids actually ate. (Hint: it wasn't Emily)

And then for a rousing game of Kinect Disneyland Adventures. Almost as good as the real thing. In some ways better considering there are no crowds and you can wear your pajamas.

All in all, a great day. Now we all need a nice long break so we can do it again next year.

Crank it up to Eleven

Today is our eleventh anniversary (insert LOTR joke about it being our eleventy first anniversary). Lately things have been pretty stressful. But you know what? I still love this guy more than anything in the world.

Eleven years and we still can't get enough of each other. I would call that a great success.

The Rule of Three

Three years ago today, Jane came to join our family. At first, she was pretty tiny and didn't have much to say. But since then, she's become one of the most entertaining members of our family. (Chris is the most entertaining. If you don't believe me, just ask him to do his Justin Beiber impersonation). 

We celebrated Jane's birthday today NOT by having a kid party (yay for me!) but by doing something the whole family could enjoy. 

My fantastic brother in law managed to score tickets to Toy Story 3 on Ice through his work. Since they know my kids are fans, they decided to invite us to come along. 

Jane loved it. 

Afterward, we had lunch with cousins, which Jane loved as well.

It's impossible to get too much cousin time.

Tonight we came home and possibly made a large mistake by letting Emily decorate Jane's birthday cake (yes, that's just a crapload of sprinkles). 

Jane liked it anyway. 

She was also a fan of presents. 

We're so happy Jane came to live with our family. I'm pretty sure Emily would be bored to tears without her. Thanks, Jane, for taking some of the pressure off of us when it comes to keeping your big sister entertained. Happy Birthday, big girl!