October 24, 2008

Santa Cruz!


Santa Cruz boat ride with Abby
Originally uploaded by gennabby.
In the midst of putting together job applications, we accepted the offer from friends to go to Santa Cruz with them for the weekend. It was fun to get away from the intensity of things at home for a couple of days. We had a wonderful time!

Things are going really well at home; we're somehow getting work done despite the ramped up pressure. The kids are great. Abbs has a play date today with her school buddy, Benjamin. This has been the highlight of her week so far. Then Noah: he came up with two new words last night when we were all out on a walk! He now says "truck" and "chocolate" in addition to his standbys: bus, outs (outside), eggs, cheese, juice, book, mama, dada, and abba.

October 14, 2008

serious bug-ness

Abby was transferring her dead black bumble bee, her dragonfly, and a newly found dead yellow bee into a bowl so that I could have the pleasure of washing the bug collection container. I overheard her trying to keep her brother away from the bees, and then this:

A: This is very serious bug-ness, Noah.

Abby is begging for a microscope so that she can look at the different types of wings more closely. I love this age of discovery! On our walk to the mailbox, just ten minutes ago, Abby gasped at a spider web she spied--but not for fear! Rather, she exclaimed: "It's an orb web! It must be an orb web. I see a fly caught in it, and maybe another insect!" She then told me that tarantulas found in California are not poisonous, at which the hairs on my head started raising and making my head itch.

October 7, 2008

when does the 24-hour flu = a break?

I'll tell ya when! Yesterday I had a flu bug, much like the one M came home with last week. Flashback to Thursday: M looked awful and pitiful as he stumbled off his bike and into the house. Abby took Noah for a stroller ride so I could tend Matty and get him as comfortable as possible. We were glad to have "phenigren" (sp?), an anti-nausea medication, in the house. It helped him a ton, and ibuprofen, a hot rice pack and rest also helped. He recovered well and I am happy to say that despite that bout with the flu and a hard drive failure on his computer, he did finish his job market paper. Now he just has one more round of tidying up to do on that and he is ready to put job application packets together!

I was feeling very pleased with myself for holding down the fort with the kids, until yesterday morning when I woke up feeling very nauseated and dizzy. I managed to survive an 8:00 Noah drop off at his day care, an 8:15 appt. with the dermatologist (my first routine check up for little moles, etc. I figured I'm getting old enough to have a baseline check of that sort of thing), 11:00 office hours for my students, a TWO HOUR class period I taught on early modern poetry, and a 2:00 pick up of Noah. I almost didn't make it home. Matthew came home right away and took Noah for me. And here is where the flu gave me a break. I rested for the rest of the day. Matthew even got my favorite thai chicken soup (tom ka gai) for dinner. After sleeping through the night (I think) and resting during Noah's nap today, I think I'm on the mend. I still feel cruddy and super tired, but I can tell I'm better than I was yesterday. Phew. It' not the ideal way to get a break, but I am sure glad that Matty was able to take good care of me. How in the world people take care of kids without help when they are sick is beyond me.

October 5, 2008

Sunday morning at the park


across the bridge
Originally uploaded by gennabby.
While Matthew gives it his best effort to finish a full draft of his paper by the end of the day today, the kiddos and I are doing our best to enjoy a gorgeous day! We biked to a terrific park nearby and played on the huge play structures. Having Abby with us is AWESOME. She runs after Noah, takes him down slides, chases him, entices him to follow her, stands guard at the perilous ladder entry points, and generally makes the whole experience delightful with her adorable giggles and smiles. I would have bruised knees and elbows from all of the crawling and climbing and sliding required to keep Noah safe in the tunnels, down the slides, and up the stairs; but Abby's limber, 6 year old body is meant to fit into these spaces!

We've had another fun weekend of Saturday night football gaming, then Sunday morning breakfasting and playing. We're all looking forward to getting this stage of paper writing and application sending over with so that Matty can be with us on the weekends again; we miss him. The waiting game part of the job market experience seems a little easier than this--but maybe that's just because we're in this moment and not that one. Who knows. We're proud of the efforts we're all making during a time that could easily turn into a grouch-fest if we weren't all doing our best to be mutually supportive. Sometimes the best times are not the "easiest" times; in fact, I think the best times may require a costly level of intentionality and sacrifice, which pays back more than you expect it to in the end.

OK. I need to get something done while Noah is asleep! Cheers.

October 2, 2008

who took the cookie from the cookie jar?

A sincere Matty confession regarding the rapid rate at which Noah's snacks and food seem to disappear:

"I ate all the baby food. I was hungry, he was just sitting in my lap and didn't want it, so I just ate it."

He's not kidding. Matthew LOVES YoBaby yogurt and little "holy" (whole wheat) bunnies and graham sticks.