Date Night In.
James and I are terrible at making time for dates. It's something I really wish we could change and I'm always hinting that we need date night. So, a couple Sundays ago, James told me we would be having date night after the kids went to bed. At first I thought maybe he got a sitter. Instead it went something like this....
We put the kids to bed about 45 minutes early and then went downstairs where James had the fire going in the fireplace, with two full glasses of wine. I'm thinking "oh, this is romantic", right?! I'm still wondering what it is exactly that we are going to do since it's "date" night. Then, he tells me to go pick out a board game. Ha!! LOVED IT!!! I knew exactly which one to pick.....LIFE! Rylee and I had played that game earlier that week (sort of...we didn't use money and really she just wanted to drive her pink car around and add "babies" to it), and I remember thinking as we were playing that it would be a fun game to play with James again now that we have kids.We used to play board games all the time until we had a second kiddo. We have a decent collection of them, but none had been opened in at least 3 years probably.
It was just as much fun as I thought it would be. We could laugh at some of the things that happened to us in the game and cringe at others, thankful they weren't real. One of us might have even said, "whew" every time we passed a "have/adopt a baby" spot ;) Somehow, we both managed to make it all the way through without kids in our car.
It was a very fun date night in and proved we can still enjoy each other without electronics :) James won the game, but by less than $100!
External Fixator
One of the things I really love about my magazine job is getting to meet new people. Last week, I was in a woman's home to interview her for a story. As we finished, we were chatting about our lives and somehow my accident came up. I don't normally just bring it up, but I felt comfortable enough with the lady and felt compelled to tell her about it. When I finish, she quietly stands up and says, "I have something to show you....something you can appreciate."
I follow her to the adjoining room that, although dark, contained a metal sculpture that kept catching my eye as I interviewed her. She turns on the light and walks me over to the sculpture. I could make out that it was a woman's body, but that was it. I ask her what it is I'm looking at and she says, "It's my daughter." She then tells me that her daughter was injured during a hiking expedition and shattered her pelvis, like I did. She explained that her daughter had to wear an external fixator for a while and the sculpture depicts her breaking free from it.
"WOW!" I thought, That's amazing. We talked about her daughter's injuries, treatments and how she healed -- all similar to my story. We were both in such awe that we had come into each other's lives and had this strange story in common.
When I left she said, "I'm so glad to have met another external fixator survivor." It was a pretty neat meeting -- got more out of it than I had planned on! :)
Learning to Ride
Last week, Ry and I had an awesome horse back riding experience. A friend asked if we wanted to go ride at their family friend's horse farm. I knew that this family gives riding lessons, so I was comfortable going and knew they wouldn't put Rylee in any danger.
We got there about 15 minutes earlier than my friend and her daughter, but she told me to go ahead and get started without her. So, I went to the door to let them know we had arrived. The owner, Anne, said for us to head to the barn and she would be right out.
Now, I had imagined that Anne would have a small pony picked out for Rylee to ride, have it already saddled up, and that she would hold on to the horse reins and walk the pony around in a few circles, and then we'd be done. I couldn't have been more wrong!!! I was absolutely blown away at the entire experience!!
When Anne came out, she picked a full size horse and led it into the barn. After she hooked the horse, Pete, up in a stall so he couldn't run away, Anne started telling Rylee why Pete needs brushed first and began to show her how to do it. Then, she handed Rylee the brush and told her to finish brushing Pete while she goes and sweeps the barn. WHAT?!?!
My first thought was "wow, she is really going to let Rylee just do this?!?!" I knew she must have really trusted the horse. Ry was a little nervous at first, but she got Pete brushed.
After that, Rylee got to help pick out a saddle for her and Pete, as well as a helmet that would fit her little head. Anne guided Pete into the arena as Ry and I followed. She then told Rylee how to mount the horse. I wasn't sure she would be able to do it by herself, and it turned out she did need a little boost.
Then the instruction started. Anne told Rylee how to sit and breath while on the horse. I learned that you have to control your breathing while riding so you don't scare the horse. Rylee practiced her breathing and sitting tall.
She then learned how to make the horse walk, turn, stop, etc. She was commanding the horse alone (mostly -- she needed to be a little louder and more aggressive) and riding so beautifully. For the most part, Anne didn't have to hold the reins. We even played a little game of "Red Light, Green Light", where I called out the colors and Rylee would either start or stop the horse. I was one proud mama watching her ride so comfortably!! It was an experience I will never forget! I'm glad I got some video.
Conferences
This past week we had Rylee's first school conference. I'm "that mom" who emails the teacher frequently to ask how she is doing and what we should be working on with her at home, etc. I just think it's strange to not have her at home and have someone else teaching her, so I always want to know what's going on. So, I thought I pretty much knew what would be discussed and what the teacher would say about her.
First of all, I had one of those out of body "man I'm getting old" moments as I'm sitting across the table from the teacher, listening to her tell me how my child is doing in SCHOOL!!
Second, I was both surprised positively and negatively with some of her results. Some of the things she didn't receive a "Meets and Exceeds" on, I was shocked because she does them at home and/or with others. The teacher wrote that Rylee doesn't talk much, but when she does she has something valuable to contribute. This surprised me, because when I take her to library story time, she is always the first to answer every question! I figured she was probably a "know it all" chatter box at school...but sounds like she is actually very quiet.
The most surprising thing I learned in that 20 minutes is that Rylee is very ready to read and should have already started. WHOOPS!! Parent Fail! The teacher finished telling us how remarkable her literacy skills are and then, with a hopeful smile on her face, she said to us, "Tell me about her reading at home; she probably reads to you, right?!?!" Uhhhh......what?!?!
I think James and I looked at each other briefly and then I told the teacher she only reads books that she has memorized, or she looks at the pictures and tells a made up story about them. I also told her how Ry is asking what certain letters spell or how to write/spell certain words. Her teacher assured us that these are all great signs of readiness and she encouraged us to get her reading sooner rather than later. So, the very next day I headed to the library and checked out some early reader books and James and I each spent time working with her, separately that day. I'm sure it's no big deal, but I just felt like I had let her down because I wasn't working with her yet. We are on the ball now though! I know she will love being able to read and not having to ask me "what does x-x-x-x- spell?" all the time.
Cousin Time
I didn't grow up with cousins, but I love that my kids have so many...and almost all within a couple years of their ages. Ten of them are age 1-6. We don't see them all often, and there is definitely different relationships between them, but they all get along and play together nicely.
One set of cousins who my kids really enjoy playing with, came and stayed with us this weekend. It was such a beautiful weekend to be outside. The kids played HARD the entire time they were here. They got very dirty and mine were in bed by 7:00 tonight!! They had sleep to catch up on from being up until 10:00 last night....even then, they weren't ready for bed. Silly kids.
There was LOTS of running, squealing, wrestling, laughing and general FUN!!! It made my heart happy to see them enjoying each other so much. It was a great reminder of how important family time is for the little ones. It has been, and will continue to be, fun watching them grow together.
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