Colin
Business As Usual
Colin went back to work today after his 6 week break used to help me recover. This was the reception he received when he arrived at his desk:
195 balloons and a note that said, “Welcome Back, Colin.” I’m sure the contributors were especially appreciative of the box of doughnuts he brought in as a token of thanks for being so understanding about his time away.
I went back to work again, too, as “Full-time Mom.” My reception was slightly different:
Runny noses multiplied by 3 all day long. Plus I caught the virus that has passed through all the kids. But I can’t complain too much. I feel pretty good as far as the surgery recovery goes. No more pain, just slight discomfort and tenderness at the incision site. My doctor’s visit confirmed that all is going well. I got the “all clear” to resume my life. I can now lift to my heart’s content.
It was so great to pick up my children again. I missed holding them so much. Bed rest was alright, on a purely selfish level– I got many projects done that would otherwise have been hard to do. But really, I like my full time job. It’s good to be back.
Now to kick this crummy cold…
Colin’s Cursed Birthday
It’s official. There’s no doubt now. Colin’s birthday is officially cursed. For the past 4 years, at least one person (and oftentimes it’s been Colin) has been sick on his birthday. The range of illnesses has been wide, but some sort of plague has hit our household just in time for the celebrations.
Warren was sick all last week and his asthma kicked in, but he started recovering and we hoped for the best. Then Maddie got a fever on Friday. Luckily, we were able to get in touch with her doctor before the end of the day, plus Warren’s bout with the virus indicated that she was headed down the same path, so no need for the emergency room testing.
But by Sunday, and Colin’s birthday, she was still feverish and hacking away. We started to get worried. Jake also woke up with a runny nose and a slight fever. It was settled. We’d all stay home from church and try to recuperate from the sickness that was spreading through the family.
I felt I owed Colin something big and tasty to compensate for all he’s done over the last few weeks, plus I was hoping to take the edge off the curse, so I made him a tasty dinner of salmon, broiled green beans and cherry tomatoes, and wild rice, plus a carrot cake with citrus cream cheese frosting. That was the highlight of the day, besides the Seattle Sounders FC “3rd Jersey” I got for him (purchased in January, so not to be counted in the Spending Fast).
Just as we were winding up the evening, and all kids had been tucked in bed, we heard serious coughing from Maddie’s room. It sounded really, really bad. We went in to help her cough/puke into the bowl we’d been keeping by her bed. When we checked the contents of the recent spew, we saw blood. Colin and I looked at each other. Could we take the chance that she hadn’t progressed to pneumonia? On Birthday Curse Day, you couldn’t be too sure. So, my dear, sweet, wonderful Colin gathered up the necessaries and Maddie and drove off to the ER at 9:45PM on Sunday night. He was just trying to beat my last birthday celebration.
Long story short, Maddie’s x-ray came back clear. Instead, they diagnosed her with croup. Sad and uncomfortable, but less worrisome than having a pneumonia.
*Big sigh*
Hopefully, she’ll recover soon and Jake’s turn will come and go quickly. Is there any chance that this virus will pass Joey over? To dream…
Happy Birthday, Colin! Someday this curse will end. It just has to!
Mr. Mom
I love my husband. I know I’ve said that before, but it’s worth saying a thousand times over. He is a remarkable companion and a remarkable dad.
Colin has been home doing my job for the last 4 weeks, only it’s much harder because he’s flying solo. I can’t really do much of anything to help. He’s there, everyday, in the trenches working hard to care for the kids and for me.
As any stay-at-home parent could tell you, the job is rigorous. It’s exhausting and physically intense, especially when you have three in diapers. It’s managing schedules, and cleaning, and preparing food, and endless driving, and resisting the monotony, and thinking beyond yourself. But Colin stepped right in and took it all up like he’s not used to sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. And he did it almost without complaint. Almost.
He’s also found the joyful aspect of the job, too. The funny, creative, rough and tumble, curious, adventurous, nurturing side of the everyday tasks, as well. He’s playful with the kids and finds ways to make them laugh. He gets in there and colors with them. He let’s them climb all over him. Not that he didn’t do all these things before. It’s just now he gets to do it all day long. It’s been good for me to observe, reminding me to find balance throughout the day. Sometimes I let the aforementioned chores bog me down. I appreciate his approach.
But let’s not be fooled by the title of this post. This is a dad we’re talking about. Let’s put the manliness back in the role with some stats from the last few weeks:
- 11 poopy diapers changed in one day
- 1 kid out of diapers (Possibly, maybe for good? Post to follow.)
- 9 wrestling matches of 4 on 1
- 8 trips to Costco with all four kids
- 15 school lunches prepared (always the worst part of my day)
- 3 times starting the day with all children awake before 6:15AM
- 100 times feeding twins by himself (3 meals and 2 snacks a day)
I’m going to be sad to see him go back to the office at the end of my recovery. Not just because I’ve appreciated all his hard work (which I have immensely) and will be longing for his daily help (which I definitely will), but because I will just plain miss having him around.
The Flurry of Christmas Day
Christmas was a bit hectic this year since it fell on a Sunday. And though we had plenty of time to get ready for church since it didn’t start until 1PM, it meant we actually had to get out of our jammies and stick to a schedule. Then we had to come home and prepare Christmas dinner. But it was nice to celebrate the Savior’s birth on the Sabbath and partake of the Sacrament on this special day.
The day whizzed by but we did enjoy the excitement the kids felt seeing their “Santa” gifts and digging in to all the sweets, goodies, and food that make this holiday so joyous.
Stockings are always stuffed with one small toy, sugar cereal, goldfish crackers, “cuties” oranges, chocolate of some sort, and candy canes. Maddie had consumed most of the candies before breakfast even started. The rest of us paced ourselves, especially since we needed to save room for our healthful lunch of cinnamon and orange rolls.
Even though Maddie asked for “pink” as her sole Christmas present, we went outside the box and got her something we knew she’d love: Darth Vader. It’s really a gumball machine (don’t tell!) but she just enjoys pushing the button to hear his infamous breathing sound.
Of the many things Warren wished for this year, we decided on the art kit and “how to draw” books. He set to work right away and created some awesome drawings. He even got his requested emergency candles in his stocking.
All of that sugar consumption must have gone to her stomach because after awhile we found Maddie hiding behind the couch. She said her belly hurt. She just needed a breather. She came out some time later ready for more.
Getting ready for church is always stressful. It’s even worse when there is the distraction of new toys and candy. Somehow we made it out the door, and on time even.
We had so much food. Truly, we are blessed and have all that we need and then some. We ended the day with a roast beef dinner, complete with potatoes gratin, salad, and coconut cake.
Our Christmas was indeed Merry and Bright.
Viewing the Christmas Lights
We decided to take the kids for a drive around Santa Barbara to see some Christmas lights. There is even a website that gives you a whole route to take, complete with directions of where and when to turn. (Thanks for the tip, MK!) It’s the same path that the touring trolley cars take. It sounded like a great activity for the Christmas season.
There is only one word that can be used to describe our evening of Christmas light viewing: BUST!
And it wasn’t because there was anything wrong with the route or that the traffic was out of hand. No. It was because our children either a) fell asleep or b) complained the entire trip. Specifically, the three youngest nodded off before we even made it off the freeway exit and the oldest whined about every single thing.
Maybe we set the stage wrong, I don’t know. All I know is that from the moment we turned on to State Street and the start of the route, Warren began complaining.
“What is this we’re listening to?” he grumbled from the back, even as the brightly lit store displays and decorative stars over the street lamps gleamed outside the car window. The Christmas c.d. had just switched to a comedic story we enjoy hearing once a year, “Polly Anderson’s Christmas Party.” Perhaps he was expecting “Frosty the Snowman” and was greatly disappointed to hear a Canadian accent instead.
After the fourth time whining to know when it would be over, I turned around in irritation.
“Warren, we’re here to see the lights. Your sister and brothers are asleep. That means this is all for you now. If you’re not enjoying the drive and happy to see the lights then we’re going to go home,” I told him sternly. His half-hearted okay led me to believe that his bad attitude would reappear shortly.
Unfortunately, I was right. We continued on the path and made it to the second neighborhood of many participating houses when he piped in once again.
“I’m bored!” he announced in a surly, Grinchy tone.
I took one last terrible picture of a lighted house (photographing in low lighting from a moving vehicle has too many limitations, even with a good camera) and told Colin to turn that car around. We were going home.
As soon as we stated that we were done and heading back, he let out a wail. And then he kept wailing all the way home.
“I want to go back! Let’s go back! We didn’t see enough lights! Please! Please! Let’s see more lights! We have to see more lights!” he cried in outrage.
In our 20 minute drive home I went from supreme irritation to disappointment to sympathy. In the end, I just felt bad for him. Sometimes it’s hard to be a kid. You just don’t know what you want or how to express it and when you do get what you want sometimes it’s overwhelming to handle.
Too much excitement? Too much stimulation? Too much sugar throughout the day? I don’t know what happened with Warren, but I do know that he deeply regretted his choice of attitude. Maybe next time he’ll think before he complains. At least when it comes to Christmas lights.
And maybe next year, more of our children will actually be awake for this outing.
Father Daughter Date
When Maddie learned that I was taking Warren to the library for the storyteller performance, she wanted to come with us. We explained that Warren and I were going on a Mother-Son date. Plus it was her bedtime and she needed to stay home. She was very sad.
To compensate, Colin told her that he would take her out on a date too, but on Saturday. The whole rest of the week she kept asking when her date with Dad would come. The weekend can seem forever away when you’re two.
True to his word, Colin took Maddie out, though she was developing a fever and was pretty tired. He debated not going but he couldn’t let her down.
They had big plans. An outing to Trader Joe’s (where they’d pick up some ice cream) and a stop at our neighborhood park. She loved every minute of it. For days after she would talk about her trip and tell me that TJs was her date place. The girl dreams grand.
It’s too bad that later that day she got even more sick, passed out on the couch, and had her fever spike to 104 degrees necessitating a trip to the emergency room. But that’s another story. Daddy Daughter Date was a success. Many more outings to come, I hope.
DYI: Backyard Playground
Inspired by Julianna and Danny’s recent acquisition, Colin and I saved up to buy our own playground set for the backyard. It was a large investment we knew would return many great memories in the years to come.
We saw a few sets on Costco.com that looked like fun, so when one went on sale this summer we decided to go for it. For the same price as the less expensive model, we could get more features, shipping included. It was even cheaper if we opted to build the thing ourselves.
Or we could spend $200 to have them assemble it for us. I wanted to pay the extra money just to have it completed right away. Colin assured me that going the frugal route was better since he could manage putting it together himself just fine. No doubt there. He’s a pretty handy guy. Just when would he find the time to do it, though?
Let the record show that we willfully chose the do-it-yourself option.
When the 5 boxes were delivered on a large wooden pallet and hauled (by Colin and our kind friend, Shawn) into our backyard, I looked and Colin and asked, “Are you sure about this?” He reiterated that he would get the job done.
Exactly four Saturdays later, the project was completed. There was much whining, and pleading, and overall impatience before it was over. And that was mostly from me! Let’s just say the subject became a bone of contention between me and my sweet husband. I just wanted it done and he could only go as fast as the weekends (well, Saturdays) would allow.
Each step was painfully slow. I only documented a few of them, but let me assure you that the process was quite labor intensive. These pictures only give you a taste of the construction.
If I were to do it again, I would pay the extra money for someone else to finish it in one day. Colin tried to reason that, by doing it ourselves, we were also teaching our children about patience and working for something that we wanted. True. And valuable lessons, for sure. However, sometimes you just want things to be done. Right then.
He did a fantastic job, of course, even picking out the green paint for the roof and red for the chimney. The kids love it and are out swinging almost every day.
It’s over. It’s done. We’re happy with the results. Let’s just leave the subject at that.
Soccer: Season 3
Another year of soccer has begun. Again, Colin is coaching Warren’s team. This year’s name: Lightning Strikes Back.
This time things are going a little better with the “Dad-is-my-coach” situation. Colin worked out a reward system for helping Warren remember to have a good attitude, especially at practices. This system, as you might have guessed, involves receiving LEGOs. Whatever works.
Warren’s first game was amazing. Not because our team won, or scored any goals, for that matter. It was awesome because Warren seemed to “wake up” out on the field and actually engaged in the game the entire time. He can really plow through those kids when he makes his mind up to do so! He was a soccer powerhouse!
After it was over, we went out for the traditional post-game scoop of ice cream.
The kids always go for the fruity flavors. The ones that are brightest and leave the most stains, of course.
I think Warren may have overdosed on his “Cotton Candy” but he valiantly pressed on to finish.
Participating in soccer every autumn is taxing on our family’s schedule. We don’t have a Saturday free until Thanksgiving. But I think this year, our time spent will be worth the effort.
Colin is a fun, devoted coach that knows how to get the kids excited to play. He even designed the team banner above. Warren is improving weekly in his skill level and ability to play the game. And I think he actually likes it.
So we’ll keep going with this fall ritual. At least for a few more seasons.
Tomatillo Salsa
Every Wednesday, Colin gathers with seven of his coworkers at lunch time for a “Salsa Meeting.” Each person takes turns bringing in a salsa of his/her choice for the others to sample.
This week was Colin’s turn to provide the salsa. Since we received a bunch of tomatillos in our weekly CSA delivery (more on how I joined that in a post to follow), he decided to make salsa verde.
Shepherd Farms Tomatillo Salsa
1 lbs. fresh tomatillos, husks removed
3 Elephant garlic cloves, or 4 regular garlic cloves
2-3 fresh jalapeno peppers
1 bunch fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Juice from 1 limeDirections:
Preheat the oven broiler.
Arrange the tomatillos and jalapenos on a baking sheet.
Place under the broiler and roast for 10-15 minutes until the jalapenos and tomatillos are evenly charred, turning occasionally.
Set aside to cool. (Don’t remove the charred parts of the tomatillos or peppers. They add a really nice flavor.)
Place peppers and tomatillos in a blender with the garlic and cilantro. Add lime juice, salt, and pepper.
Refrigerate until serving.
Colin ended up with two batches: one that followed the recipe exactly, with the required amount of tomatillos, and another that had fewer tomatillos but still the same amount of garlic.
Wow. That second batch could pack a punch! Let’s just say consuming it would keep vampires away for a week. But both were tasty.
Colin’s first attempts at salsa-making were a spicy, garlicky success. I’m going to have to utilize his skills more often.
Occupational Hazard?
Poor Colin.
All he was trying to do was get around the two high chairs that take up more space than we have in our dining area. The babies were done eating and he was moving quickly to get them out. Unfortunately, he didn’t clear the piano. In fact, his pinky toe made full, hard contact with the metal roller on the bottom of the piano leg.
Who knew that feeding your babies breakfast could result in a broken toe? Certainly not the event you’d expect during early morning fatherly duties.
Ouch.
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