Our house, is a very, very very fine house...

She's ready for her close up!

She's 4, y'all!

Mr. Oliver-almost 2 months, surveying his kingdom!

Nom, nom, fingers taste good!

Where had I gone?

Has it really been that long since my last post?  4 months??!!  So many changes have occurred since then.  I feel like I'm going into the confessional booth to list out my many sins!

I am now typing, rather inadequately, on our new/used macbook.  I am so excited to finally join the Apple cult...Steve Jobs...take me to your leader....

My baby boy is now out of the womb and over a month old!!!  Oliver Richard Hoyt was born July 15, 2010-18" long and 7lb.6oz.  Blue eyes and just a little bit of red hair left on his perfectly shaped head.  

Daughter #1 is beginning her own new adventures as a 1st grader in less than three weeks...at a new school.  She has joined Girl Scouts, as well, and we are looking at after school activities for her through her elementary school when that starts up.

Daughter #2 is going to be a whirling dervish soon when she starts her gymnastics class at the community center!  

The husboard is still gainfully employed...knock on some serious wood, there...we are so thankful!

I am sticking to the homefront, attempting to be mommy extraordinaire while keeping my sanity somewhat in tact!

What else???

Baby #3 is in cloth diapers and I am happy to report I love using them!

We have a new vehicle-the swagger wagon, aka the minivan of peace, love and harmony!

Joined MOPS.

Both grandmas came and visited after bebe's arrival-good times had by all!

New item of the week:went for a family walk today after hubby got done w/work.  Lovely except for grumpy kidlet #1.  All better now, though.

Well, must get little bambino from his baby jail(the crib).

love and hugs to everyone I have or have not talked to since my last post.  I will try to stay more current now...although it may require the use of only one arm/hand since the other may be occupied with my little guy!

my buddha buddy

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.

The Buddha


Nothing more than the quote right now, but enough to get me digesting and thinking and searching. Anger, denial, bitterness, doubt, frustration...How can I deal with all these things in a more healthy way, a more spiritual way?

Jump around, Jump around

I just bought the invitations to Miss almost 6's birthday bash happening at the end of this month. I can't believe how much my favorite 'all in one' store, Target, was charging for some of those things! Crazy! But I ended up with some that were pretty harmless. I have addressed all the envelopes except for the families who didn't include that info. in the school directory. I will have to hunt them down or just stuff the invite in the kiddo's classroom box and hope it makes it's way to momma or dad!
The party, deep breath, is going to be held at a place called JJ Jump in Clackamas. Just looking at the website and listening to the insane music makes me spaz out a little. An indoor inflatable romper room, a private party room with 25 children, cake and ice cream...oh gods help preserve my sanity-especially because I can't take anti-anxiety pills while pregnant! : )
My lovely parents are coming down to join in the mayhem-I don't know who I feel worse for, myself or my dad and husband who have to be out with the kids for over an hour! I'll be sure to update you after the party...

how can i keep from singing?

all which isn't singing is mere talking

all which isn't singing is mere talking
and all talking's talking to oneself
(whether that oneself be sought or seeking
master or disciple sheep or wolf)

gush to it as deity or devil
-toss in sobs and reasons threats and smiles
name it cruel fair or blessed evil-
it is you (ne i)nobody else

drive dumb mankind dizzy with haranguing
-you are deafened every mother's son-
all is merely talk which isn't singing
and all talking's to oneself alone

but the very song of(as mountains
feel and lovers)singing is silence

e e cummings

Ants and Lice

I still don't have any pictures of our new fab. house yet because I am not sure where the camera-computer cord is. Oops. I'm sure I'll find it hidden under some dirty socks in a box with an old unused diaper and some pens. That's what happens at the witching hour of packing/moving! BUT,
we love our house. We want to send it a card and give it flowers and never say bad things to it. My only character flaws for Les Home are that the sink is shallow(a pain to wash pots and pans in!!!) and we had a case of ants. Now, for those of you who have never lived in Portland before, let me just forewarn you-this is a city built on a damn ant hill! It seems no matter where I have lived, what part of the city, no matter how clean I kept my kitchen, the ants would show up! My children began recognizing them at an early age, stomping on them(as their crazy mommy does!), saying, 'bad ant, we don't want you in our kitchen!'. Sooo, we are in the battle #1 of 2010 for our kitchen and my sanity! I bought some little ant hotels and am going to stock up on some mint and spray vinegar, especially since being pregnant and having two kids around I do not want to be spraying anything toxic in the house! This is day 2 of the battle. I'll keep y'all posted...

Now on to.....drum roll please.....lice!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I figure it needed it's own set of exclamation marks for gross cootie points)

Took my 5 1/2 year old to the doctor because she was having some tummy pain. Tums and tylenol weren't doing the trick, neither were any of the other remedies we tried. The doc took a listen and a look and said she might be having some poop issues. Ah yes, poop. A word only a mom or dad could truly love! So now my and my daughter's duty is to keep track of when she goes, what it's like, how often, etc. Having gone through similar issues as a kiddo I totally sympathize with her and definitely DO NOT want to resort to chemical ANYTHING!!! I had to take some horrible tasting, military doctor prescribed liquid shit as a child, and it has traumatized me for life!
That's not really the big news, though. The BIG news was as we were leaving the doc leaned over girlie #1's head and said, have you looked at your daughter's head lately? I laughed and said I had and thought she might have some stubborn dandruff. NOPE!! That's not dandruff sport's fans-that's a raging case of LICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why us?!!??? My husband and I never ever had lice as kids, and the girls never came home with it, even after being in the YMCA childcare system for a couple years. So, needless to say, I was mortified. That was actually exactly what I said. I. Am. Mortified!
With the joy of having two adorable little ones come the added joy of the both of them getting it. Hooray for Nix!
Tomorrow will begin our great leap of faith that these little buggers can be gotten rid of. Wish us luck...and pray that neither of the big kids(Zakk and I) have it.
All I know is, #1 could not have gotten this anywhere other than school, which means there is either a kiddo with lice who doesn't know it, or a parent didn't alert the class. Although I don't want to go through the embarrassing task of telling Class 101 that one of their classmates has licey lice, I will do it, and hopefully save a couple of heads!

Phew,
all for now.

Good night, New York, We love you!!

My husband laughs at my love of certain 70's rock-Jackson Brown, Bob Seger, Steve Miller Band, etc. But for some reason I feel drawn to them. They remind me of the times before I had children, before I gained 'mommy weight', before I had more bills going out than checks coming in. There is something about their guitars, their piano rocking, dudes with long hair(which I can't stand under 'normal' circumstances!!!)...No worries, no cares, just jammin' and laughing and singing at the top of my lungs out the car window. Responsibility is not a privilege, folks, it's a burden. I'm not talking about being responsible for my children, because I took that on knowingly and willingly, but all the other bullshit we have to deal with day to day. I'm just sayin'. Let's all get off the grid and start a commune........but it will have to have a radio, for sure.

_____________________________________________________________

'Night' songs seem to bring out the memories, too....

-Nightswimming by REM
-Night Moves by Bob Seger
-Because the Night by Natalie Merchant
-Strangers in the Night by Mel Torme
-Tonight, Tonight from West Side Story
-Starry, Starry Night by Don McLean

Daytime usually belongs 90% to my children and running a household, but the night still belongs to me-I read, I write, I listen to music, I waste time on the internet. Well, 10% at least.

tidbits

Note:
When a salesperson, customer service rep, or, oh, say a medical facility says, 'well, we don't usually do things that way...' what they are really saying is, 'we just don't want to do it for you because we are lazy and not getting paid enough to deal with you and your problems'.

Quote:
"Definition: fairy tale- n. A horror story to prepare children for newspapers." -Ambrose Bierce

Song:
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead


...all just a part of my little day, friends.

Today

: : We call her Princess Sparkle Face! (from summer 2009)
: : A picture of the wee one from November of last year.


-Drizzle, no sun, cloudy and a little chilly atop our fair hill. I think our whole family has SAD...

-I only took a 45 minute nap, brought on by a sudden head-cold. My wonderful youngest girl was so patient with me, only waking me up once to ask if I could help her with her legos!

-I perused some crafty-mom blogs; ones I like to call the "anti-Martha's" of our age.

-I got a little more "moving" paperwork done. Only 3 or 4 more entities to notify...I think. Hopefully no one too important is trying to find us!

-Got a visit from the lady who used to take care of the house we are currently occupying, Linda. She was very nice, and is bringing us smoke detectors this week-hooray for progress!

-Unpacked a couple more boxes (2).

That's about all I can think of for now. More later, gentle readers.

Whoa, Ho, Ho, Ho

So I missed posting anything relevant about Advent, Christmas or New Years-big surprise. But I can regale all my loyal cafetorium fans with stories of 2010 already realized!

One-baby to be is doing very well--heard the heartbeat for the very first time today!

Two-hubby has been battling recovering from a tonsillectomy...not recommended for people over the age of 8 in my mind! Two ER trips and a lot of drugs later he's on the road to mending.

Three-We are moving. There I said it. The mess that has strained the seams of our humble abode is actually for a purpose! Hopefully this will be the last time in a looooong time! As my husband so aptly put it,"When we aren't being gypsies..." We are all pretty excited about the new digs, the new surroundings, and the change of pace.

Four-While packing boxes, found out that the basement does leak, and that the spiders came out from hibernation during a warm spell. Ick.

Five-Going to work up my courage and try out another prenatal yoga class. This one is a stone's throw from our new home. No excuses, right? And, even better, I can occasionally reward myself for my good and healthy deeds with a trip to a yummy bakery.

I was going to post a #6 but my attention span and memory at this point are both quite limited.

So, a late Merry Christmas and a most Happy New Year everyone!

Pics of the new place coming soon....

She came in through the bathroom window

Thank you Beatles lyrics for lending a certain presence to this short blog...

My youngest daughter, Miss C, is 3 years old. Most days she spends her time at home with me. We color, we play dough, we watch cartoons, we read, etc. In and around all of our time together we are working on communication, responsibility, and understanding. And by this I mean, not whining or yelling, not saying "Stop!" at the top of our lungs, and picking up the 50 million tiny pieces of paper littering the floor after "cutting craft hour" : )
While child # 2 was taking a bath I thought it would be nice to have the little one help me clean up the girl's bedroom a bit. So I took in a big rubber "tub" to fill with the overflow dirty clothes currently smooshed up on the closet floor. After she figured out that sitting on a stool in the closet while trying to throw the clothes behind her head in to the bin wasn't actually going to work, we had a great time, and she was quite enthusiastic.
The funny part of this story was when it came to her time to take a bath. I usually have the girls put their clothes in the laundry basket and then scoot on in to the bathtub. Except that this time the basket was still in the basement, leaving only the "tub" mentioned above. Unfortunately for the communication portion of our learning, she thought when I said to put her clothes in the tub, I meant the BATHTUB!! Poor girlie, she kept going back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom, dirty clothes in hand, with a completely confused look on her face! When I finally figured out what the issue was(a little slow on the uptake!) she was able to put her clothes up and hop in the correct tub!

Just another little snippet of an average day in my mommy life!

Merry Music Makers

A slightly cheesy favorite of both my husband and I! Mariah, you really used to rock it!




Oh, Judy, your golden voice is truly missed when I think about this song and all the versions made. This one can always make me teary eyed.



With the Advent season in full swing, my mind is always drawn back to this song from Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti. The mother sings "All that Gold", desperately asking if rich people know what to do with their gold. I don't wish to be disparaging of people who have more than I, rather this song helps me to remember to cherish and make the most of what I have in this moment.

Happy Advent, all.

H-A-double L-O-double U-Double E-N Spells Halloween!

So, here it is, for the 2 people following my blog-some Fall pics from us to you!

We:
Visited with Great-Grandma Isabel
Went trick-or-treating with friends
Ate dinner at 8pm at Subway
Crashed!!!
(and I only ate about 5 or 6 pieces of the girl's candy-I think that's an improvement)

xo,

E

ps-there are also some pumpkin gutting pics for your viewing pleasure...although we never actually got around to carving them...

A pot, A pan, A book, A HAT!

2nd Sewing Project!

It's a little tight around the forehead, but other than that I think it's pretty good for a beginner! Now I need to work on one size up for big sister!

Sew, how are you?

Dat dat da daaaaa! *flash bulbs exploding* *applause* *astonished faces-first being my mom!*
I just completed a Sewing Basics class tonight. Me and Russian girl. She was very nice, but thought I talked a bit too much. ANYWAY!!!!That is completely beside the point! For the first time since 7th grade home ec. class-(Hi Eric. P. you stupid knee punching bastard)-I sat my ass down in front of a sewing machine and didn't cry!!! In fact, I made a snazzy new kelly green "tote" that will probably be donated to the girl's growing "bag, purse, ensemble" collection due to lack of hand-eye coordination in the stitch department. I would post a picture tonight but in my food-starved haze I only grabbed the necessities from the car this evening-hard cider and mini quiches! I'll take some shots of the bag tomorrow and add them to this little ditty.

Reasons why this class made my day:
Number 1: Made me not afraid of my lovely, charming and talented Viking sewing machine

Number 2: Has inspired me to make cozies for every appliance in the house

Number 3: Helped me get over my fear and shame of creating a windsock entirely opposite the directions given to me in 7th grade

Number 4: Has justified my somewhat impulse buy of my lovely, charming and talented Viking sewing machine

and Number 5: Means I can finally hem all my pants!!! Take that, Size 8 longs!

Now on to Julia Child cooking!! (At least I know a bit more about cooking than sewing!)

Holdfast

I remember when I was a child my parents and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Cali. Of all the zoos and aquariums I have visited, the giant kelp beds there made the most lasting impression on me.

To look up, up, up, as if you were stretching your neck to heaven, seeing the fronds at the very top, waving silently, in stoic and wise fashion...that was, to me, the most peaceable kingdom. The holdfast, the stipe and the fronds; that is the anatomy of the kelp. I love the idea of the "root structure" being called a holdfast. Its very word structure evokes strength. In truth, the kelp don't receive nutrients from the roots-they gather it from the fronds where they can complete photosynthesis at the top of the water. Maybe I am like that sometimes, especially now because I need something to anchor me, a word, a phrase, a paradigm.


I am no longer working. I used to work 40 hours a week, 8-5, day in, day out. Now I am at home, trying to figure things out. My older daughter is in kindergarten and we recently dropped her after school care so I am picking her up right after school. My youngest daughter has moved to 1/2 days in preschool...All this in an effort to save money/help me have more time with my girls. I would like to say I deal with change well, or at all, but I have a terrible time with it. I usually end up stuffing things down until they come up either literally, as in throwing up, or technically, in conversations with people. Not good. So I am making a concerted effort to do as the kelp does. Anchor myself but not always look down. Looking up I see where I receive my nourishment, my support, my life, my health-from the faces of my children, my husband, and the few people I let into my life.

I/We

I :

don't want to be crafty in the usual way.  Cut out the felt animals, the cute scarves, I want practical, I want wood involved sometimes, maybe some welding.I want to create pjs for my darlings, and I don't want a pin cushion that looks like a lighthouse(thank you Joanne crafts for that one.)  Not saying I want to be different how everyone else is different or any of that shit, I just can't conform to or create all those cute little items I see all around me via internet and craft stores.  Thank goodness I live in a city where roller derby is considered a sport for moms, and black is sold at fabric stores just as much as pink is.

 have my first sewing 101 class coming up in a couple weeks and I have to say, I'm feeling a bit lightheaded.  That may just be the beer, or it could be that I feel like I am actually going to learn how to thread the flippin' bobbin and needle at the same time and correct the timing and make something for heaven's sake!  I'm not asking for the world, here, just a potholder, maybe, and some of those aforementioned pajamas.  I also covet oilcloth tablecloths-whether they need sewing or not remains to be seen.  i would also like to join in one of my former college roommate's claases at Bolt, a great Portland fabric/sew shop.

We:

are getting prepared for the harvest/halloween/fall season here at Chez Hoyt.  Little black and orange ribbons are creeping into the house via my purse, glittery bats and happy pumpkins await hanging by my lovely, talented husband.

baked some colorful leaf sugar cookies today, I and my girls.  I love feeling above my depression and anxiety enough to say that I loved doing something with my children.  That may sound strange to some of you, but for those of you who have struggled with psych. issues, it is like breathing in the freshest smells after being locked in a moldy basement when you can actually feel like a functioning, somewhat happy person.  I will take these things as they come, and I will put them in my heart.

I:

am unemployed.

am growing my hair out.

don't like sweet potato chips anymore, which saddened me a little the other day.

don't understand why Noggin/Nick Jr. has to keep flip flopping it's name.

would like to tune my guitar up and show it to the girls.  and play it.

That's most of the world from where I am.

Kickin in it Kindergarten

Where has the time gone? She's in Kindergarten! Thriving like a good little tomato should.

attack of the killer tomatoes!

Okay, so since my last post was all doom and gloom, I thought I'd recount some of the lighter side of my life:

I had to do a little grocery shopping tonight at FM and was looking for some tomatoes for salad-time when I noticed a disturbing thing-all the tomatoes I could find were either from Ohio, Canada or Mexico. Now, while I do not begrudge free enterprise, trade or the like, I also want to support my local growers here in Oregon. Maybe it's the fact that I've been here for too long and the hippies have finally gotten me, or because we grew an ass-ton of tomatoes in our little raised bed gardens at our old house last year and I was hankering for some home-grown goodness...Whatever the case, I was not pleased with the selection. Then, after careful searching, I found some beautiful little cherry tomatoes grown in Eugene at 'Ladybug Farms'. Yay!! So I picked up a pack of them suckers and took off for some other pillaging.

The quest for tomatoes got me thinking about something my eldest asked me the other day-'Mom, why are tomatoes fruit?' I racked my brain and couldn't remember the reason why, sorry 7th grade biology! So in the absence of true knowledge I did what any 20th century fool would do and turned to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatoes. See the section about vegetables/fruit.

Tomato tidbit-my littlest one, into shunning anything that can be classified as a vegetable, now enjoys the cherry tomatoes put in her salads-this makes me happy, and makes me think of the song by Pink Martini, "Hang on, Little Tomato".

The sun has left and forgotten me
It's dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I'm gonna drown
In a sea
Of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don't know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you're feelin' all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside and you will find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it's dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you'll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something's coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
You listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you

And last but not least, why did Heinz have to take the pickle off of its bottles of ketchup and replace it with a tomato? Everybody knows ketchup comes from tomatoes, except maybe people who spell it katsup and think it comes from the bloodied pulp of cats....maybe that's just me....Anyway, my eldest, referenced above, made this observation to me, and did not like the replacement of the pickle. She loves pickles and sees it as somewhat of an affront. I sort of agree with her.

All for now.

No, no no!

I'll be honest. Why not? I am not having a good time. I am not having an easy time. In fact, time and I are not friends right now. I have taken the BFF necklace life gave me and pawned it. I actually screamed every obscenity I know while driving in my car, windows rolled down, to go get my girls from preschool. Why was I doing this? Because I am not having an easy time, and because some strange man decided to wander about the intersection of se 82nd and Foster tonight, looking for the convenience store. Intelligence abounds.
Oh, and I'm sure all this anger/sarcasm/despondency has something to do with other things going on in my life that I feel absolutely no control over. Yay for life! Good job! Way to throw things at me that I can't handle.
I used to hear a bible verse that goes something like, god will never give you more than you can handle. Well, I don't know about any invisible hand tipping the scales out of my favor or anything, but I am feeling like that verse needs a good kick. More than I can handle. I'll show you more than I can handle. Grrrr. Just take a good look at my life.
Not that I tell anyone openly about my life-mainly because I only really talk to one or two people a day outside of work, and two, because I have either managed to alienate my friends, or I operate from an outdated coping mechanism called social anxiety!!!!!
Maybe I'll convince my husband we all need to join the Peace Corp, or a vegan commune, or a religious cult. Or maybe I'll go soak my head. Flip a coin.