The joy of reading

Oh, dear reader, how I love reading.  I have loved it since I was a little girl when I devoured Little House on the Prairie, Pippi Longstocking, and Betsy books.  I took a book with me everywhere we went, and I was that quiet girl in the corner who had a book while everyone else was socializing (aka nerd).

I remember doing a really cool book report on this one!

After graduating from college in 1996, I magically stumbled upon Multnomah Village and discovered Annie Bloom's books.  I had a dream of one day working in a bookstore (well, actually, my dream is to one day OWN a bookstore, but working in a bookstore was good enough), and I was lucky enough to work here for 12 years.  I spent several of those years working the Thursday night shift from 6-10pm since I was also teaching full time.  It was so nice to keep my nose in the books and be able to know what was hot to read and get dozens of reader's copies.

College is such a learning experience (obviously), but I think you really learn who you are when you're in your 20's.  Being at Annie Bloom's during this time definitely helped to form me as a reader and introduced me to authors I probably never would have known.  One of those authors is Gail Tsukiyama, and my favorite of her books is Samurai's Garden.  It's been on my Top Five list ever since I read it in 1996.

Do you have a Top Five list?  Mine also includes the Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera), Pride and Prejudice (Austen), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Angelou), and the Dive from Clausen's Pier (Packer).  I could probably revise my list if I wanted to, but those have been my solid favorites for a long time now.

I have always read at night no matter how tired I am, and I almost always have something on deck.  Deciding what to read next is one of my favorite parts of reading, but I have to be careful not to let it interfere with the joy of what I'm reading at the moment.

I just finished a really good book called My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss.  It's part of one of my new favorite genres which I will just call cooking memoir.  The book simultaneously made me want to travel, cook, spend more time with my husband, and miss my mother.  That's a pretty good book if you ask me.

I'm also listening to How Children Succeed by Paul Tough.  I have read this before, but listening to it again is just as rewarding.  There are so many things I could write about that I value from his book, but near the top of the list is how important early nurturing is to children and how it actually changes their biological reaction to stress affecting them and their resilience for the rest of their lives.  I feel like I could have a discussion with someone after every section of the book.  It's that interesting.

Right now I am reading Friendkeeping by Julie Klam.  I read some reviews of it in a few places (one being Read All Day) and thought it would be a good read considering how much I love my friends.  Needless to say, it's not the best book but it meets my needs right now since it's an easy read and I'm fighting a cold.

Tomorrow is book club, one of my favorite nights of the month.  We have been meeting for over 10 years with some members staying the same but most changing over time.  I love these nights because I get to see some good friends, chat with the ladies about motherhood and marriage, and, occasionally, discuss the book.  Okay, to be fair, we discuss the book every month, but some months are better than others.  I rebelled this month and didn't even touch the book (zero interest), but one thing I like about our book club is that we read a variety of books that I wouldn't always pick up myself.

Trey and I have been reading together since he was a few weeks old.  Right now he loves books, too, and finds comfort and joy in reading every night.  Currently, his favorites are Knuffle Bunny, Curious George stories, and Max and Ruby books.  He also loves any book that has to do with animals.  Shocking, I know, considering his father's interests.  Randy has said he'll be a little heartbroken if Trey doesn't like fishing, and I feel exactly the same way about reading.

Happy reading! What's on your stack?

Happy 40th Birthday to Randy!

It is hard to believe we are only halfway through the month (okay, a little more than half) and so much has happened.  Okay, so not as much as the changes I described in my last post, but it still feels like a lot.  Trey started his new daycare at the beginning of January, and Randy turned 40! Those are the two big events...but does it get any bigger than that?

Trey always seems to be playing with dolls when I pick him up at daycare.  I was about to give away my cradle and dolls (sorry, Camille), but since Trey is interested in them I got them out for him.  It has been such fun to watch him playing with my baby dolls and also to watch his interpretation of their roles.  The boy Cabbage Patch doll is always Daddy, and the girl is always Mommy.  That makes sense, right? But in my literal head I keep thinking, "They're babies; they're not mommy and daddy!" Of course, I don't say that to him.  He became most interested in my Strawberry Shortcake dolls and my Ken dolls.  I am so glad I held on to these toys.

What I love about watching Trey play with the Ken dolls is that he has no (and will never have) concept that two men can't be "together" in his role play.  My dream is that when he grows up anyone who loves each other will be able to marry each other, and he will look back on this time period as if we were all crazy to enforce restrictions (sort of like how people in my generation look back at the 1950's and 60's and the Civil Right Movement).

Meet 'Rika and Adam (Trey's old daycare providers)

Trey hasn't figured out the gender thing yet.  I think that's awesome.  

Saturday, January 12th, was the day of Randy's 40th birthday party.  It was also the day of the Broncos' playoff game.  We tried to get a shot of all three male Clarks in their Broncos gear, but we were faced with a major lack of cooperation.

I have about 8 other shots that pretty much mirror the ones above (this last one was the best one), but I thought I'd spare you the misery.

Kris and John were gracious to host Randy's party at their house.  We created a Clark Birthday Brewfest and had several beers to taste and wings from Buffalo Wild Wings with a variety of sauces.  Beer and wings - two of Randy's things.  How could we go wrong??  (Well, the Broncos pulling out a win in double overtime would have really helped.  I was VERY impressed with how Randy held his tongue as things went south since there were many young ears around at the time.)

Randy, Trey, and I are blessed with such good friends, and the pictures below show just a small sample of the important people in our lives.  Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate!

Whenever you need to put someone in charge of something, you need to turn to John.  I asked him to make a ballot for our voting for best beers, and I was expecting a simple list with lines next to the beers to vote.  This is what I got.  He is amazing.

The kids' table/beer tasting table for IPAs, pale ales, stouts/porters, and lagers. 

Northwest beers (aka anything brewed here that didn't fit in a different category) and international beers

The wings and sauces 

More food and friends 

How did people entertain kids before the iPad?  

I think this was Garland and Maclyn's first experience with the iPad 

and they may have fallen a little bit in love.  

Pregnant Julie and Grady (15 months)

Julie's due date is in four weeks!!! 

Sweet Grady

Adam, Kennedy, and Sarah tasting the non-alcoholic beverages.

The hard cider was also in this section...hopefully, the girls didn't get mixed up! 

Elinor and Tim 

Randy and some of his OHSU ladies (Nicole, Kris, and Elinor) 

Declan, Garland and Trey playing with Sesame Street

(I guess the iPad doesn't always rule...or maybe we put it away.) 

 Family shot - I love how Trey has been mashing his face to mine in pictures.

Sarah, me, and Kathleen 

Randy and Grady doing some important tastings

Sarah, Randy, and Grady discussing IPAs 

Sarah and Neil 

Our plan was to spend the night so I wouldn't have to leave early with Trey to do bedtime or worry about driving.  Needless to say, when I finally started bedtime at 9pm (after most people and kids were gone), we discovered that the packnplay was broken.  I rushed down to Julie's house (about 2.5 miles away) in the thick fog to grab hers.  Came back (after getting lost due to the fog), did bedtime, and at 10:30pm Trey and I packed up and went home because going down was NOT happening.  Trey went right down at home but was up from 130-230am crying.  I eventually brought him to bed with me and we both slept until 630am.  As I was lying in bed, feeling whiny about how the night ended, in the dark with Trey's face right up to mine, I said, "I love you, Trey." And he responded in his sweet little voice, "Love you too, Mama."  Okay, kid.  You're forgiven.

I know my husband looks at my blog (aka photos), but I am pretty sure he doesn't actually read it.  We shall soon find out.  Below are two pictures that demonstrate one difference between men and women.  Or maybe just a difference between one man and one woman.  I asked Randy to put the recycling from the garage in the bin because we have A LOT of cardboard and paper from moving and the holidays.  Later he told me he couldn't get very much to fit. WHAT??  Recycling only comes every other week here, and my piles are overflowing.  I go outside later that day, and this is what I find:

I know it's hard to tell, but there are basically three boxes in the bin NOT broken down filling up the majority of the space so nothing else can fit.  (I just rolled my eyes AGAIN as I typed this.)

It's also hard to tell in this photo, but this is what it looked like when I was done and the contents are MUCH different than they were before.  (I just shook my head as I typed this.)

One thing (out of many) I was very excited about in our new house was the fireplace.  We have had three or four fires so far, and it is so cozy! Below are pictures from our first fire.  Love it.

Monday, January 14th, was Randy's official birthday, and I surprised him with a babysitter (Kris) and a dinner out at Ringside Steakhouse.  Neither one of us had been there before, and it was absolutely delicious.  We both still felt sick when we went to bed because we were so full, but it was totally worth it.  I found myself thinking about the meal multiple times the next day.  Every bit of it was amazing.

Randy, his Guinness, and the really delicious onion rings

(although what made the onion rings better was the dipping sauce - 

apparently French dressing with gorgonzola cheese???)

Randy and I with our dessert and wine

He had an apple pear crisp with cinnamon walnut ice cream, 

and I had bananas foster which I'd never tried before.  

I guess they do theirs differently there, and it was divine.   

Meet Super Trey...or Super Steve...or Super Joe (depends on the day)

Grandma Carmen made him a cape with a T on the back that he loves, 

although he will only wear it if he has these glasses on.  

Nice look, eh? 

Now my last point of discussion has to do with daycare/preschool.  Our new daycare provider, who I will call L, was planning on transitioning Trey to the preschool house in June when he turns three.  He started at the infant/toddler house this month with other kids his age.  I think he had only been in the daycare for 3-4 days when L said she wanted to transition him right away because he had adjusted so well.  It made me very proud to feel like we have a well-adjusted boy.  Starting this week, he is going to the preschool house three days a week (they don't have space the other two) and spending his entire day with other 2.5-5 year olds.

Yesterday when I picked him up, I asked the teacher a few questions about what his day looks like.  I feel weird asking a lot of questions (like I am "that" mom) so I try to space it out to one question a day. I felt justified asking about how the day goes because I literally had no idea (since when we chose the daycare we were pretty much choosing the infant/toddler house).  She told me that among free play time, meal time, nap time, etc. they also have circle time where they do songs and sharing and they have three different rotations ("centers") where they do preschool/kindergarten curriculum.  They mix the ages together in the centers and modify the content to each individual's age/skill level.  I think this is going to be really awesome for Trey, and I am thrilled that he is with older kids.

On the flip side, it is starting to really hit me that we are at that next stage.  You know, the stage when you pretty much have no idea what goes on during your kid's day.  I feel like it is going to be like this from now until the rest of my life.  I know I can ask the teacher how his day was and I know they send home a monthly newsletter, but, seriously, I have no real idea what his day is like or what he is learning/doing.  And I can't rely on him as a reporter because apparently today he swam with whales and rode horses.  O-kaaaaay....

I'm okay with this change (okay, I'm not 100% okay with it) and I obviously know it's natural and a move towards his independence, but it just feels really sad that we are officially done with the baby days.   (As Randy pointed out we are still experiencing the baby days since Trey is waking up 1-3 times a night....)

Here's an example of what came home today.  

It's an igloo, if you were wondering.

As of this moment, the fire has died down and my electric mattress pad is warm and ready for me to climb in.  I've been thinking about going to bed and reading my awesome book, My Berlin Kitchen, for hours now.  Looking forward to a fun weekend and hoping we all get some rest around here and our sniffles and coughs don't turn into anything bigger (hope I didn't just jinx it).  

Season of Change

Over the past few weeks I have had so many thoughts go through my head that one might normally post as a Facebook status update, but then I think, "No one needs to read that.  I'll save it for my blog." Now, of course, that I finally have a moment where Trey is sleeping, Randy is fishing, and I am too overwhelmed by my garage to do any more work, I can't remember anything that I wanted to say.

The past month has been very busy for the Clark family.  In no particular order of importance: we sold our house that we moved into in 2005, we moved to Beaverton to live in our friend Kris's house, Trey left his daycare where he has spent most of his time for the last 16 months, we have hosted Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day dinner with our families, AND we have a new dog.  

Trying to keep some semblance of normal for Trey during the move and celebrating the holidays at the same time has been....I'm trying to think of a good word and just let out a big sigh....well, hard.  I was so excited to finally start some Clark family traditions for Trey for Christmas, and I was disappointed that I didn't get to do all I wanted to do.  I think Trey had a good time over the holidays, so I will accept what I was able to do this year.  

Another evening at Hopworks when we had to be out of the house for a showing

Before we moved, we went to the Alpenrose Christmas Village with Julie and Tim.   Trey had fun seeing some of the animals, and, despite the expression on his face, he was happy to see Santa. 

With Trey and Grady 

My sister and our boys

Her new baby is due is 6 weeks! 

Family shot! 

In the little village

Trey might have stayed in this house forever if I'd let him. 

It looks like Trey is trying to leap off Santa's lap, but he was happy to see Santa and told him he wanted a drum for Christmas.  This year Trey talked a lot about Santa, the chimney, and gifts.  It was so fun to see him so excited.

We did the majority of our move in the middle of December after receiving 6 offers on our house after 2 different listings, 3 opinions on our foundation cracks from contractors, and 1 official report from an engineer.  Here's hoping that third time's a charm because we are all moved in to our new house.  As of this moment, the appraisal has already happened and the loan is in underwriting (I think that's how you say it).  If this goes through (which it better), we will have saved over $21,000 in repair costs by sticking to our principles and trusting in our realtor and the professionals who gave us their feedback.  I'm still in shock that it (hopefully) worked out the way it did.

Before...
Putting my bookshelves together is always

 one of the first things I do when I move into a new place.

After.

It has been six months since we had to say goodbye to Tango, Randy's loyal companion of 14 years.  Randy has been looking for a new dog for the past few weeks because he has been eager to get a dog back in the house (I, on the other hand, have not been so eager.).  I said to Randy one night, "Don't you think it's a tiny bit of a red flag that the people who are trying to get rid of these dogs make comments about how much energy they have?"  He disagreed with me, but I still think I had a very good point.  Randy ended up finding a dog through a rescue shelter who had recently arrived in Portland from Baja, Mexico.  To me he is a brown Tango, but I guess that is a good thing since the only dogs I thought were cute from the postings Randy would send me were the ones who looked like Tango.  Randy wanted to name him Elway (since I wouldn't let him name our baby Elway), but once we got him home he really didn't seem like an Elway.  Randy has settled on Bailey, another shout out to his favorite Broncos.  

The dog immediately took to Randy. 

Trey reading a story to Bailey

He was so cute as he flipped through the pages and made up words.

Sleeping dog 

Tell me this does not look like a brown Tango!

Being home for Christmas break has been a great way to get Trey adjusted to the new house and to get Bailey comfortable as well.  We put up our tree a week before Christmas, and I tried to get Trey to help me decorate it.

He only wanted to put the ornaments on a few branches, 

no matter how much I tried to encourage other spots. 

It may have something to do with the Christmas sugar or maybe the lack of sleep, but Trey has had A LOT of energy over our break.  He seems happy in our new house and has not once asked about the old place.  Maybe it's because he's been here so much before, but he seems really comfortable.

A morning burst of energy 

The new stool is doing wonders for Trey's ability to find the lollipops. 

I moved the dum-dum suckers to the counter, 

and later in the afternoon this is what I found.

On the Sunday before Christmas, Trey and I went to pancakes at Tom's Pancake House and then on an early morning shopping trip at Winco.  We were done with both errands by 9am thanks to my early riser.  Later that day we made sugar cookies with frosting for Christmas.  I had so much fun making cookies with Trey, and he has had a lot of fun eating them.  

Officially 2 and a half!   

Happy at Winco!

One afternoon we were home and all of a sudden Trey was very quiet.  You know, the quiet where you know something mischievous is going on?  I couldn't find him right away because he was hidden behind the Christmas tree.  He had the iPad in his lap and was fully engaged in some app.  I am not sure how I feel about the fact that he can start it up, swipe the screen, choose an app, and start playing all without help.  Proud?  A little scared?  Guilty?  Probably all of the above.

Cookie baking time!

I thought I'd get all of the ingredients out before we started.  Very smart idea. 

Watching the batter mix 

Cutting out the cookies 

At first, Trey tried to cut one on top of the other.
I usually try to give Trey room to explore and learn, 

but this was one thing I couldn't help but stop.

Trey and Bailey watching the cookies bake 

Patient boy 

Finally able to decorate! 

 Taste testing...he managed to take a bite out of four or five cookies

Cookie project = success! 

I had a bit of a stocking saga this year.  I started the decorating season with one stocking and ended with ten.  Needless to say, I only needed four (Trey, me, Randy, and my dad).  I won't go into the details, but let's just say that moving at the height of Christmas season does not do wonders for one's organizational skills.

Trey found the stockings to be very warm.

Grandpa Gerts, who came to spend Christmas Eve 

and Christmas morning with us, reading to Trey

Opening presents with Julie, Tim, and Grady

Grady, almost 15 months

Trey thought this game was really fun.

Not a very flattering family shot, but it's the best we could do.

Trey eating Santa's cookies 

Opening presents from Santa 

You can't tell from the photo, but Trey is overjoyed with his Yo Gabba boombox. 

Listening to Grandpa's heart with his new stethoscope 

Randy's parents arrived on Christmas Day and stayed until Friday.  We had a great time with them: went to the Dalles to visit Grandma Julie and Aunt Carol, had some good meals, went to Zoo Lights, and even got a few things done in the new house.  Trey had so much fun playing with Papa Doug, and it was a little heartbreaking when Trey woke from his nap on Friday asking to play with his farm with Papa Doug (who was long gone).  

Playing with some of Santa's gifts

We went to the Dalles to visit Grandma Julie (Carmen's stepmom) and Aunt Carol (Carmen's sister).  I think it was one of the first times Trey has seen snow in a way he could experience it, and he was in love.  He had so much fun making tracks in the snow with his footprints, and he was giddy watching Papa Doug throw snowballs.  I can't wait to take Trey to the mountain!

When we left the Dalles, we went to Fabric Depot, and then Carmen was in heaven!  I think this may have been the highlight of her trip!  We got some fabric to make a replica of the advent calendar Julie and I had when we were growing up (Julie has possession of it now) and also to make Trey a cape similar to Super Grover's.

Trey was able to burn off some energy! 

Thursday we went to Zoo Lights which was cold as shit.  Trey would not wear gloves, and by the end he wouldn't wear his hat either.  He was super tired due to his sleep strike, but he did well and enjoyed the train and lights.

I love how Trey is mashing his face into mine in this picture.

He has been such a love bug over break.

Trey and I have had a lot of fun together over this break, but he has been making it extra difficult for both Randy and I by not sleeping very well.  He is waking in the middle of the night most nights, and he has been waking for the day at 4:30am.  Today we were lucky because he slept until 4:45.  This meant that including his middle of night wake up, he only got seven hours of sleep last night.  He also has been on a bit of a hunger strike, so between that and his sleep, his mood has been fluctuating to say the least.   Here are some fun moments:

DJ Lance and his Yo Gabba boombox

Our cowboy fireman at Costco

Playing at the Children's Museum:

Checking out the dogs with Garland

Trey's got a full cart - he has learned from the best!

Playing with Owen at the water table

Now, my blog post wouldn't be telling the whole truth if I didn't give a brief shout out to the meltdowns and tantrums we've been enjoying over break.  I think this one was when I didn't have the exact kind of cookie he wanted...at 6 o'clock in the morning:

But later in the morning, I looked out my new living room window and saw this:

If you look really closely, you can see Mt. Hood
inbetween the roofs of those two houses.

That's sort of how I feel about motherhood right now - a constant vacillation between joy and despair.  Happy New Year to everyone and may 2013 bring you happiness, growth, and love!