when i grow up...

I want to be a firefighter.

Or so we pretended today. My friend Megan set up a visit to the Evergreen Park Firehouse this afternoon for our playgroup. What a blast the kiddos had - and us adults learned a thing or too as well.

Here are a few highlights:

Ruby (Megan's daughter) and Noah sitting in the classroom at the firehouse, listening to Fireman Ed.

Noah gets his first look at all the fire trucks.

The overall highlight of Noah's visit. The dress-up. Here he casually turns for a candid.

This is the picture I was really hoping for when I saw those dress-up firefighter outfits laying there on the floor. Wow, this is one happy-photographer-who-likes-posey-pictures moment.

Noah did NOT want to take the firefighter outfit off. This is to show how thrilled he was with the whole thing - even that hot sticky smelly mask (and I didn't tell you it was 85degrees and humid out during all of this...)


Fireman Ed lets the kids see inside a Firefighter's Ambulance. Wow...


Now for Dylan's highlight: sitting in the firefighter's recliners watching their gigantic TV. Seriously - see how everyone else is standing up - note my two sloths making a home in the easy chairs. Fireman Ed tells about how this is their favorite room...my kids concur.

We also got to go inside a fire engine. Learning moment: Fire engines are the trucks that carry the hoses. Fire trucks are the ones with the ladders (no hoses). Thanks Fireman Ed.

NOW.

I can be a bit spontaneous sometimes. Not in the buy a ticket to Europe on a whim kind of way, but in the I've made up my mind in the last 20 seconds about this and I need to do it...NOW. Call it a craving for instant gratification.

This is why I never spend less than $100 when I go to Target. Why I buy three bags of Brach's Mellowcreme Pumpkins at Walgreens on August 29th. And why I never make advance appointments for haircuts. I delay, put off, don't think about it...and then when I want it...I want it now.

I am this way with my own hair, and now my children's hair. So Dylan has a new haircut...this was after I asked my sister on the phone (about 20 minutes before the scissors were cutting off the first lock) - do you think I should cut Dylan's hair? Then I proceeded to convince myself that it should be done (while not really giving you a chance to say your opinion much...sorry Lara). And then I drove straight to a hair salon in Hyde Park and called them like a stalker from outside the salon, reading their phone number off the front door. No appointments. Drive to next salon, call them... Me:When do you have any appointments in the now-ish future? Them: How about 4:00 (it was 3:15). Me: How about now? Them: Ok, come on in.

And so Miss Rita cut her hair, did a marvelous job and I love it. Even though when I paid on the way out...they said "How old is HE?" hmmmm...and I never thought I'd be "that mom" who cut their daughter's hair boy-short. C'est la vie.

Oh yeah, and I bribed her with a lollipop. No shame.

What kind of mom am I?

I never know which kind of mom to be...the one that gives you good healthy food on your plate every night and makes you try at least one bite of everything on your plate before you can get down OR the one that gives you good healthy food on your plate every night and trusts that eventually you'll taste, enjoy and learn to love a variety of foods so to not pressure you to eat.

All I really want out of the deal is for my children to try many different foods, develop a healthy wide ranging palette and get the nutrition they need from a variety of foods - fruits and vegetables included. I know I can't really complain about the way my kids eat - and I'm not - I do understand that I have it really good in how much they'll try new things and how much they love certain fruits and veggies. BUT, what kind of mom am I? I can't decide what is better for them - to make them try everything I have made? I mean, I did slave over five different food groups on purpose - for their essential growth, right? So then why should I watch two of them go untouched, just to be tossed down the garbage disposal (or if I was really green, in the compost...more on that later in life). So, lately the rule has been you have to at least TRY one bite of everything on your plate. I also hate the idea that you have never even tried something but you just choose not to eat it because you don't like how it looks...that doesn't fly in my book.

BUT, I also want my kids to have a healthy association with food. And to be able to make their own choices about what their body finds healthy and satisfying (as long as it really is healthy!...disclaimer!...I want to be in control!). So, I like the idea of them saying, "No, I'm full, I don't want to try that." or "No, I'm not going try that tonight." And I hate hate HATE the idea of them having bad memories of sitting at the table for 3 hours because they refuse to try the green beans. That luckily hasn't happened yet - not even close. But she has sat for 10 minutes. And that is long for a 3 year old to think about eating one green bean.

Goat riding

We visited Steven Rhodes in Iowa last week - and thus we got to visit his goats. He has them to chew/mow his grass. It was a highlight for the kids, even though Dylan walked away with about 20 mosquito bites (and we were only outside for about 20 minutes!).

Here are some pics...

Someone (who's name starts with an S) thought it would be a great idea if Dylan rode the goat.

Falling off the goat...

Noah and I chillin with the mosquitos. Noah looks hot.

Daddy and Noah exploring the grounds.

A slice of our summer

Finally I'm getting a moment to blog! We've been around the midwest visiting family in Champaign and Iowa for the last week and a half. When did this summer get so busy? Let's just get right to it. I'll not talk much, but instead let the pictures do the talking and show you what we've been up to the last month or so.

Noah feeding a bite to his sister. She clearly enjoyed it.

Noah's summer obsession: "ball-ball" The last few days he has literally asked us to play ball every waking moment of the day - either carrying around a baseball glove and bat/ball or a basketball.

These pictures start a series where we are visiting the Japanese garden near our house - it's really cool and Jason discovered it recently while on a walk with the kids. It dates back to the World's Columbian Exposition here in Chicago. Everything from the World's Columbian Exposition has been demolished except the old Palace of Fine Arts, which is now the Museum of Science and Industry and this Japanese garden. Come visit us and we'll take you there!

Dylan loves to bring bread and feed the ducks there.


What you can't see is that I am yelling "hold on to her!" while I take this picture.

Queen of the world!

Mommy/daughter cuddles while we have a snack in the garden.

Chewing on grass.

Guess where they learned that from? (it's hard to see in this pic, but they all have grass in their teeth)


"Happy and Blessed" - putting on a Beatitude Attitude show for us on 4th of July (on Grandma and Grandpa Karen and Warren's deck).

Playing frisbee golf in G&G's backyard.

Dylan and Auntie Susie were out on the backyard picking flowers .


"Noah - can you do surprise face?"


Laundry hamper FUN! Dylan figure out how to get in here by herself, and of course, monkey see, monkey do.