Another school year in the bag

I am officially halfway through my teaching career.  15 years in and 15 more to go!  (Of course, this depends on what PERS, our retirement account, and the health insurance situation looks like in 15 years, but a girl can dream, right?)  These last few weeks of the school year have been a blur with wrapping up at work, Trey's worst sickness yet, and finishing up at PSU.  I feel like I'm taking one day at time with my to-do list, and I don't think that will change until after Trey's birthday.

Some random pictures from the past few weeks:

Trey's favorite thing to do in the bath since we've been home 

from California is to look like Grandpa Doug.   

Thursdays are my PSU day, but class doesn't start until 6:50pm.  

What's a girl to do but spend her Thursday afternoons with Kerry at a variety of bars around SE Portland?  Base Camp is our favorite spot so far.   

Beth (seated) and Lori (standing) were two of my favorite Learning Specialists in Woodburn.  I have known them since 1998 when I started working at Nellie Muir.  They were even both at our wedding! Now we are all together in the Evaluation Center at the ESD and I am so happy!  Hearing Lori and Beth's voices on the other side of my cube is one of the greatest parts of my job.

I love new books by my favorite authors, and this one was no disappointment.  I just finished it last night, but the characters are sure to stay with me for awhile.  I picked up my new book at the library tonight.  The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan is next on my stack.  Do you think it's too lofty of a goal to read a book a week this summer?  Probably, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Remember Trey's sports class?  It is over (thank god), but here are some photos from the last class.  It was an obstacle course that he actually participated in, but I think we were both relieved when the class ended.

The kids getting their certificates at the end of class.   

Trey looks thrilled to be a part of the group, doesn't he? 

This was the boy I spent my Sunday with a few weeks ago.  I thought I might poke my eyes out with the whining and tantrums.  Little did I know he was about to come down with a high fever, be home three days in a row, and be the sickest he's ever been.  I like to think that explained his behavior, but I'm not too sure... below are some pics of our sick boy. The fact that he's napping at home should be proof enough that he felt awful.

This is the view from our back deck.  

Trees and clouds, two of my favorite things 

After being home for three days with the sickness (on Thursday his daycare had six of 16 kids attending), Trey and I made it out on Saturday (his fever broke on Thursday).  We went to music class, the library, and the farmers' market.  Clearly, he was in a much better mood.  I think the delicious raspberries really helped.

California Adventures

One day Kim sent me a message and said, "When are you going to come down and go wine tasting with us?"  I went straight to Alaska Airlines and did some fare shopping, and then I sent her a message that said, "How about Memorial Day?"

We had to leave the house before 5am to get to the airport and all I have to say is this:

How did anyone travel with children pre-iPad?  (Actually, what I really want to say is how did anyone PARENT pre-iPad?)

We landed in San Diego after an uneventful flight.  I'm often so proud of Trey in situations where he could be a real nightmare.

 Somebody was as happy to see the sun as we were!

We made our way to Kim and Shane's house where we were going to be spending the next two nights. That afternoon we went to La Jolla for some beach time and lunch.  Trey hadn't napped and we had woken him before 5am, so we knew our time was limited.

 "What is this stuff?"

I think I was extra happy to see the sun
because it was POURING rain at home when we left.  

Lunch in La Jolla

I have to say this picture amuses me so much because it is SO DIFFERENT from the meals Kim, Shane, Randy, and I are used to...

 Around a table in Beijing

The picture I had in mind is the last one on this blog post, 

but I can't figure out how to get it on to this blog post from an old blog post.

I took Trey on a walk during lunch so he could fall asleep.
The poor boy was pooped out.

That afternoon and evening we hung out at Kim and Shane's in their backyard.  The kids played in the pool, Shane grilled dinner, and we had a really fun night.  I have some pictures of the end of the evening that I really like, but I don't think involved parties would appreciate them being on my blog.

Here are some fun shots of Kaili and Trey playing in the backyard...

The moon that night was gorgeous.  As it rose into the sky, it literally looked like a spotlight was shining over Kim and Shane's fence.

Saturday morning, we drove out to meet Randy's parents to do a Trey transfer.  Grandma and Grandpa Clark took Trey for the day and night so that we could have some childfree time.  The four of us spent the day wine tasting and then Randy and I had a night at Kim and Shane's where we didn't have to parent.  It was fantastic.

Below are some pictures from wine tasting.  I honestly have no idea what the names were of most of the wineries we visited.

Sunday morning Randy and I went to Del Mar to meet Elizabeth, a friend I worked with at Annie Bloom's, and her husband for breakfast.  We took a nice walk on the beach before driving to Riverside to spend the second half of our vacation at Randy's parents.

We spent Sunday through Tuesday morning in Riverside.  I always love watching Trey with his grandparents, and I love how easy and comfortable he is in their house.  I'm happy to report that his 24 hours away from us for the first time went without a hitch.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking such good care of our boy!

Carmen sent me this picture of Doug and Trey making juice.  Love! 

The Clark men perusing the plans for the new "retirement" house in Port Townsend

Doug took us to his archaeology center that he has started at La Sierra University.  I am not really sure exactly what goes on there, but it was fun to watch Randy, his dad, and Trey looking at all of the things.

Trey in Grandpa's Indiana Jones get-up 

Later we took Trey to the park so he could run around and the guys could play frisbee golf. Check out that blue sky!

Trey and Grandma 

Teaching Trey how to throw a frisbee 

The Clark tradition carries on

Relaxing in the backyard 

I think we could all get used to the sunshine!

We flew home Tuesday afternoon, and our napless son fell asleep the moment the wheels touched the tarmac.  For someone who has a weight problem, he was damn heavy to carry through the airport!

Our trip was really fabulous.  The sunshine, the grandparents, the friends, the wine...it felt very luxurious and I'm still trying to catch up from being gone!

Pre Vacation Post

Post-Mother's Day and pre-vacation...not a lot to tell, but since I turn this into a book, I wanted to make sure I got it in.  

Trey and I are wrapping up another term of Music Together.  We took this class when he was an infant, and we have taken it for the fall, winter, and now spring terms this year.  There are not many places I see Trey as happy and carefree as he is in music class.  He is usually one of the first to volunteer when the teacher asks for input into the songs, and he is often running around being silly.  He has started singing some songs at home using correct changes in ? (tone?  pitch?  notes?  I don't even know the word for it), and I wonder if this has anything to do with music class.  One day he started singing one of the songs from class, and I had no idea he knew all of the words.

This leads to one of the discussions I've been having with friends lately.  I think they all think I'm being my usual neurotic or anxious self, but I really mean it when I pose this question: as a parent, when you don't have time nor resources to do everything, do you put your energy/time/money into what your child loves or what they need practice/improvement in?  I know Trey is only a toddler, but I think this question spans into older ages too.  Hear me out.  This spring Trey took a music class on Saturday mornings and a sports class on Sunday mornings.  We did the sports class because he's always been on the slow end of the spectrum of gross motor skills, and, quite honestly, he needs some practice.  He can be awkward, clumsy, and has minimal skills with things like throwing or catching balls.  As Randy has said, he doesn't need Trey to be the best on the team, but he also doesn't want him to be the last one chosen.  Coming from someone who was often the last one chosen (me, not Randy), I whole-heartedly agree.  Nevertheless, we take Trey to sports class on Sundays and he usually does not want anything to do with whatever the class is doing.  And when he does participate...well, let's just say he doesn't have mad coordination skillz.  This summer I have Trey signed up for some classes and we are taking a break from music, but when fall comes around...do I stick with the sports/movement type classes because that is what he needs, or do I go back to the music because that is what he loves?  We learned this spring that when we are both working full time, two classes is too much.

One weekend day a few weeks ago, Trey and I went to Sarah's house to have movie night with Zander and Kai.  I don't think Trey has ever watched a full movie before, and it was really cute to see him sitting with the two big boys watching a movie and then eating pizza.  Even though Trey will always be the youngest, I like how he can sorta hang with the big kids.

They let me borrow Toy Story, so the next day I plugged Trey in (I think I had work to do), and he watched another movie.  I think he likes this whole movie concept.

We are in a new house for gardening season, so Randy built us a new raised bed.  We have got our plants in and now just need to figure out a good watering system.  Ever since Trey has been born, I have had this really bad habit of putting in too many plants and then not being able to keep up with the garden.  Maybe this year will be different.

Here's another neurotic mom story.  One day after we moved in to our new house I decided to weigh Trey on our scale.  This was in December or January.  I have been noticing that he looks skinnier than usual, so I have weighed him twice more over the past month and he has lost weight both times.  He's always been a skinny guy, but even I know that 2 year olds shouldn't be losing weight.  After the second weight loss, I figured I should follow up with my pediatrician.  Needless to say, she was way more concerned than I thought she would be...

Breakfast with Garland and Maclyn pre-doctor appointment 

The doctor wanted a blood and urine sample to run a bunch of tests (celiac panel, kidneys, liver, infection, inflammation, who knows what else), so this is us sitting in room waiting for Trey to pee in his little bag.  It didn't work.

So then Trey and I went to Panera Bread (across the street from doctor's office) and I got him a juice and cookie hoping he'd suck the juice down and pee faster.  It didn't work.

So then we went and waited in the car for him to pee in his bag (which was taped around his "stuff" and under his diaper).  It didn't work.  

Two hours later, I went back to the doctor's office and surrendered. They took the bag off, and Trey and I drove home.   

I really didn't think anything was really wrong with him, but as I was walking around the parking lots with Trey trying to get him to pee, I had the thought, "Shit. What if this is the beginning of something really bad?"  A few days later, the bloodwork came back and everything was normal.  Phew. Now I just have to try and fatten my kid up.  I don't know if any of you have a toddler who won't eat much, but I find that the more I push him to eat...the less he eats.  The more I try to back off and not pressure him and let him take the lead...the less he eats.  I will admit this gives me some trepidation about being the sole provider of food for the summer, but I'm going to try to relax about it and let him eat what he's going to eat and I will just try to offer him a variety of really fatty, high calorie foods.  Then my real challenge will be not to eat them myself when he refuses them.