Atticus's Latest Adventures

I'm going to go in reverse order just for the heck of it.

THE OPERA
Atticus's class created an opera, "The Legend of the Tumbleweed," through a partnership with Utah Opera, and they performed it at the Rose Wagner Theater downtown as part of a showcase with two other schools.  Here's my favorite part:

Atticus is standing in the back to the right. I wasn't quick enough to catch the previous line, which is, "We are here now safe and sound. In this cave we will never be found." See, the peaceful Sekoa tribe had just begun their spring festival to celebrate the flowers blooming in the desert when the shaman's evil twin brother, Black Elk, comes and tries to throw down. He gets banished, but the tribe apparently still feels threatened, because they decide to seek shelter in a cave. And then I guess there's a storm? Anyway, it's pretty dramatic.

This is the 5th year this teacher has done an opera as part of a unit on legends and storytelling. She gives the class the basic characters and rules (setting, conflict, resolution), and each child writes his or her own legend. She then took something from each story and created the libretto for the opera. I think Atticus's contribution was a cliff. His story included the chief getting poisoned and someone having to climb the cliff to get a flower that would provide the antidote. Which is certainly more dramatic than Mia and her mother getting lost in a storm, but who am I to judge?

Anyway, the performance was a really Big Deal, and even though Atticus was nervous and said he didn't want to perform downtown because he felt "too important" on stage, he had a fantastic time. It didn't hurt that the class and families met at a restaurant next to the theater beforehand for dinner. It was total pandemonium, but the kids had a great time, and I finally got to talk shout across the table to the mom of the kid in his class who lives in our neighborhood.

My sister Erin came, which was a treat for Atticus. When the performers came off the stage to give flowers to the audience, he gave his to her.

COMIC CON
James and Atticus went to Comic Con last weekend, and Atticus spent Saturday as Link. He bought the Master Sword on Friday, so he felt his costume was complete. He debated about getting the shield but decided he didn't want to carry it around.

They saw who they wanted to, and Atticus got to ask the creators of Rogue One why everyone had to die at the end, and they actually had an answer: they actually filmed a version of the ending where the girl gets away, but the writers insisted that at the end of Episode 4, there's a medal ceremony for everyone who helped destroy the Death Star, and no one from Rogue One was there. So they clearly had to have not survived. Makes sense, I guess.

THE HAIR

Atticus has reached the age where it's time to figure out who he is as an individual. He's concerned about what's mature, what's cool. And, happily, he's not too affected by what his peers think. For a couple weeks he wore a green bucket hat we found when cleaning out his closet. It didn't go with anything he wore, but it had skulls on it, so it was cool. I was happy to see that go, especially since it covered his eyes and ears halfway, and he's already not great at listening and watching where he's going.

Anyway, the latest manifestation is his hair. We had just gotten him a really nice looking haircut, where it was still long on top and the bangs framed his right eye so nicely. A week later he decided to part it the other direction, creating a messy mop with weird long bits covering his left ear. And the bangs flipped up. Goodness, he loves that flip:

He had to document it in about 20 photos on my phone. It's serious business.

He asked what we thought, and we told him we thought it looked dumb, but it's his head, so it's up to him. That's been my approach to most things like this: I'll tell you honestly what I think, but the decision is up to you. I did ask him to make one compromise and comb it the other way for church. Deal.

It's been so interesting to watch this boy grow up. I look forward to many years of figuring him out.

It's not about the eggs.

Meet our lovely ladies, Lucille, Ruby, and Becky. James named them after women in Kenny Rogers songs. We inherited them from our neighbors, who were tired of cleaning up chicken poop. And after having them just a couple weeks, I can see what they mean. I had no idea how much chickens poop. And the neighbors let them out of their small enclosure a few times a week to run free all over the back yard, which meant poop was everywhere. So when we got them I made sure that their enclosure was big enough for them to scratch, dust bathe, and exercise so we wouldn't have to let them out of it. Ever. And I have dedicated one pair of shoes to be my "chicken shoes," and they don't go past the back door. 

I'd been wanting to get chickens for a while now, but the start-up costs and planning and decisions were a little prohibitive. Where would we raise chicks? Buy a coop or build one? What design? How much is this all going to cost? And in one fell swoop, all of those decisions were made. The neighbor wouldn't let us pay him for anything, including almost-full bags of bedding and food pellets, heat lamps, and a watering container we can plug in in the winter so it doesn't freeze. The coop is made of crumbling particle board and will need to be upgraded/replaced soon, but it works for now. 

We get two eggs a day, one greenish white (from Lucille) and one brown. I'm not sure if only one red hen is laying or if they're alternating. Becky has an injured foot, which made me think maybe she wasn't laying, but she seems healthy otherwise. Her comb and wattle are bright and firm, which the internet says is a sign of good health. They're all eating and scratching and getting around fine. 

And they love us. Ruby (I think she's the alpha) used to peck the neighbor's feet whenever he entered their enclosure, but we've never been pecked. Well, I did get pecked on the hand the first day we got them, but I guess that was enough to put me in my place. They get all excited when we go into the back yard, following our movements and clustering where they are in the photos. I don't think they got food scraps very often before, and they never got "scratch," or the mix of wheat and corn and millet that they love. They also needed some calcium supplementation (oyster shells) to improve their eggshells. I feel like we've improved their quality of care, and they seem to like being here. 

So now I'm trying to figure out why I love having them so much, what need they fill. Because like the title of this post says, it's not about the eggs. My friend's 9-year-old daughter gets all wistful when she talks about how we get "fresh eehggs," which always makes me think of this video, which still makes me laugh since the first time I saw it (thanks, Suz). The eggs are great, don't get me wrong. But I can get really good eggs at the store for not too much money. And honestly, I don't eat eggs that often (though I plan to eat more now). But it still makes me very, very happy to see them out in our yard. 

They're not pets, and I don't pet or touch them or try to feed them out of my hand. I love that I can feed them my yellow lettuce that would otherwise go in the trash, but it's more than a practical thing. I feel silly saying that it's more of a spiritual thing, because it's not like I'm learning life lessons or anything. 

But it's more like I feel more connected to life. More real somehow. When I was applying for the job I knew that the trade off if I got it was that I would have to keep things at home pretty simple. Surface cleaning. Surface meal planning. Surface gardening. All so I could be more than a surface wife and mother. Yes, James would take a larger role in all of those things, so it's not like they'd be neglected, but my participation would be surface-level. When I didn't get the job, I asked God, "now what?" And the impression I got was "deeper roots at home." 

I can't quite explain how, but the hens are part of those deeper roots. I'm working only three days a week so I can stretch those roots. Deeper cleaning. More cooking (still working on that, but I did make three kinds of fruit leather last week). Garden planning and preparation. Eventually I'll get to sewing and lotion making and family history and piano. 

But for now I have hens, and that's enough.

What else we've been doing: August update

 James spent his summer as a stay-at-home dad. Atticus loved having him all to himself, 

especially when James agreed to built him a fort downstairs. 

We went to the Ogden Temple open house. (Yes, that's the Ogden Temple. It got a major facelift.) Atticus complained the whole time and really tried our patience. The temple was beautiful, but at the end Atticus said, "I didn't feel God there." Yeah, that's what happens when you complain the whole time. He does remember the sealing room mirrors, though.

Taking deep breaths after the tour. We then went to the exhibit tent to check out the historical exhibit I helped put together in three days. Talk about last-minute projects, but everyone seems to remember that the marble used inside was quarried in Egypt and shaped in China. 

Yeah, I totally wrote those labels.

And Atticus lost a tooth. He pulled it out himself.

And that's been our August so far. School starts on Monday. We find out which class Atticus is in on Friday. First grade will be a big change for us. I'm used to walking Atticus into class and helping him get started on his daily work, but that's a big no-no in first grade. You drop them off, they line up outside, and you wave goodbye. Each teacher decides how parents can get involved in the classroom. So we'll see how it goes. It will probably be better for both of us.

Vacation Highlights

Cape Blanco Beach

We just got back from our first family vacation to the Redwoods and Cape Blanco. I was going to dump a lot of photos, but then I figured I'd just hit the highlights and focus on my favorite memories.

I was a little concerned about it being just the three of us. Would we get tired of each other? Would Atticus get too stir crazy in the car? Would we get tired of nature and regret staying out of the city? And I'm happy to report that the answer to all three is a resounding NO. Sure, we each had our grumpy moments, but notwithstanding it was a lovely trip.

Cheese Beaver

There was a LOT of driving, but we packed plenty of snacks and listened to Harry Potter audiobooks. I wasn't sure how long they'd keep Atticus's attention, but he was really interested. And he stayed in a good mood, playing with his toys and listening. In contrast, the day we let him watch videos on the iPad was his worst day. He was so grumpy when we had to pause the videos, and he stayed grumpy for a while afterward. Lesson learned: iPad is a last resort. We didn't use it at all on the way home.

Here was our route:
Day 1: Salt Lake to Reno
Day 2: Reno to Arcata, with a stop at Subway Cave
Day 3: Redwoods
Day 4: Arcata to Cape Blanco, with stops at "Trees of Mystery" and Ocean World
Day 5: Cape Blanco
Day 6: Cape Blanco to Reno (longest car day)
Day 7: Reno to Salt Lake

This is one tree, with the center burned out. 

Thoughts on the Redwoods: Lots and lots of big trees. The camera just can't capture the size of the trees and the beauty of the groves. We did the Tall Trees Grove, which is restricted to 50 cars a day and is one of the longer, more strenuous family-friendly hikes. I was a little worried about my ankle, but I wore my serious brace and had no problems. Later we did Fern Canyon, with lots of climbing over fallen tree trunks and jumping over streams.

I loved encouraging Atticus to explore and climb (within limits, of course). In Fern Canyon he said, "I'm a complicated dude. I like doing complicated things." I know what he means. I like doing complicated things, too. It thrills my little heart to do it and see it in Atticus.

"Trees of Mystery" Paul Bunyan kitsch. Fun for the kids. The sky ride is worth the price of admission.

Cape Blanco Beach

Not surprisingly, the beach was everyone's favorite. Even though it was cloudy and chilly most of the time. Give Atticus a shovel and some sand, and he's in heaven. The beach ball kept blowing away, but Atticus liked to chase it down.

We made a really impressive drip castle with an arch tunnel below, but it finally caved in. Atticus won for tiniest arch. He was pretty proud of that.

We walked down to the monolith, which was probably about a mile. Atticus and James raced, and Atticus biffed it pretty hard when he tried to trip James so he'd lose. Serves him right.... We collected shells and driftwood in Atticus's bucket on the way, and we brought a bunch of them home. We even found a bit of driftwood in the shape of an A, for Atticus.

 If you look closely you can see James and Atticus down there.

Most of the time we were alone on the beach. An older couple came down with a camera and a dog while we were making drip castles, but they walked to the monolith and back before we were done. When we got back to our stuff another family had come down, but then we left them alone on the beach. Beaches like that invite solitude: long and rugged and untamed. I would have felt crowded with other families near us.

On the other side of the cape. I was hoping for more tide pools, but we just got seaweed.

It was a little tricky to find the balance between encouraging adventure and keeping the boy safe. Lots of rocks to climb on, but also some pretty strong waves.

He stood here watching the waves for a long time. He'd play tag with them some, but mostly he just stood and watched. I think he gets it. He's a boy after my own heart.

Final thoughts: I don't think we'll do this trip like this again. As I kept reminding Atticus, this trip was to figure out what we liked so we can come back and do those things again. Next time I'd like to combine the Redwoods and the beach in one location. A lady at the hotel told us about Trinidad, a little coastal town just north of Arcata that has nice beaches and restaurants and tide pools. Great ocean views, but still close to the Redwoods. Less driving, more doing. I'm all for it. I've already looked into renting a beach house. Anyone want to come with?

Drama Week

We've had our fair share of drama this week. The most frightening being when our neighbor Kaden was hit by a car outside of school. He's ok, but it was still terrifying. We carpool with Kaden, a third grader, so Atticus was standing on the curb with Kaden's stepdad, Mick, when Kaden ran out into the crosswalk. The first car had seen Kaden holding a flag and stopped, but the second car didn't. And since Kaden was running, she didn't have time to stop. According to witnesses, he flew pretty far when he was hit, and then landed on his wrist. He has a broken wrist and road rash on his face, but no internal or brain injuries. Lucky, lucky, blessed boy.

Mick immediately ran to Kaden, leaving Atticus alone on the curb. Other adults there took care of my now-hysterical boy and started leading him to the office when a friend of ours from our last ward found him. She called me and stayed with him until I arrived.

Atticus had calmed down by the time I arrived and was acting normal, if a bit restless. He didn't want to talk about the accident, so I told him he could talk about it when he was ready. We drove home in silence, then picked up James and headed to the library. As we were walking in to the library, James said, "You don't need to talk about it now, but sometime tonight I'm going to want you to tell me what happened and what you saw." Atticus nodded. A minute later he said, "Dad, if you want to know what happened, I'm available now." So he told us about it. He'd thought Kaden was dead. He was scared and alone on the curb, but people helped him. He was visibly relieved when I got the report from the hospital that Kaden would be ok.

Whenever we talked to Mick, his first concern was for Atticus. He felt horrible that he'd had to leave him like that, but what choice did he have? We assured him he was fine. The school and his teachers were very kind to Atticus, too. When the school brought Kaden balloons and cards, they brought a big balloon for Atticus as well.

Oh, and all of this happened the day before I went in for surgery. Veronica, Kaden's mom, was going to take the boys to school, pick them up, and keep Atticus for us until I got home. Slight change of plans... But it all worked out perfectly. My surgery was scheduled later than expected, so I was able to take Atticus to school. James was able to leave early to pick him up. And my parents were already in Salt Lake with my sister who had also had surgery the day before, so they picked me up and took me home.

Now I'm hobbling around on a sore ankle (removed my hardware from the accident) and a tender tummy (gall bladder removal). Eating pudding and funeral potatoes. Could be a lot worse.

So that was our week. How was yours?

They accepted our offer!!

Ours was actually the second offer they received, the first being from an investor with a low bid. I'm glad we moved as quickly as we did, and I wonder whether meeting the owner tipped the scales in our favor.

Clearly nothing's final, but they want to close by October 23rd. Unless we get someone eager to take over our jobs as managers here, we probably won't move until the end of November so we can take our time painting and moving stuff, deciding what to take and what to sell.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I sketched out a furniture arrangement for the living room. Of course it requires selling our current couches, so we'll see if James buys into my ideas. We could move in with what we have, though, and that's a nice feeling.

But first we have to inspect the house and actually get a loan. One step at a time, Heidi. :)

House Update 2

Long story short: we made an offer on a house. It feels a little sudden, but we and our realtor (Tim) feel good about it.

Long story long: I walked through the "cute but small and overpriced" house with Tim yesterday. (The previous contract fell through.) I promised James I'd go with a critical eye, and I did. It's small. It's old. The wallpaper is bubbling, and the bathroom is cramped and inconveniently located. I'm still in love with the dining room, but seeing the current residents' stuff crammed into every closet made me rethink the lack of storage space. Then last night we talked about our desire to stay in the ward. We have good friends here who seem like they'll be around for a while, but there is so much turnover here that it's a big risk to stay for people who very likely could leave in the next 10 years. 

After dinner we decided to drive by a house I've been looking at in Rose Park. It's been recently remodeled, but when Tim tried to make an appointment he found out that a break in the sprinkler line had flooded the basement, so the house is off the market until that gets fixed. A little further south on the same street was another house for sale, so James got out to get a flier. The man in the yard next door came over and told him that he had just put his house (this white one) on the market Thursday, and he asked us to consider it. Atticus was asleep in the car, so we didn't go inside, but I got the MLS # and called Tim. Standing on that street at dusk felt very comfortable, compared to how I felt on the other street with sketchy houses and big dogs. It could be nice to have actual neighbors.

This morning we all walked through the cute but small house so James could see it, then drove over to see this house. What a contrast! It's not huge, but it's a nice layout, and the basement is fully finished. It's listed as a 4 bedroom, but there are really only three that I'd consider bedrooms. The real clincher is the second bathroom downstairs and the price. The house we picked up a flier for has two bedrooms and 3/4 of a bath (shower, no tub) and a shelf basement for the same price. It has a newer roof and kitchen, but for our needs that doesn't compensate for the smaller house.

The back yard has three mature trees, one that looks great for climbing, and a nice-sized garden space. You can't tell very well in the photos, but the neighbors have an AMAZING garden. I wonder if they'd be willing to mentor us??

Tim was a little concerned that this was only the second house we'd looked at, but I've been watching real estate online for a couple years, so I know what houses generally cost and how much work a lower-cost house usually would need, even just cosmetically. But with this house, we wouldn't need to do anything before moving in. We'd want to repaint the pink bedroom, but that's really it. Everything else is lovely. I'd like to have a bigger dining space, but we will fit in the kitchen.

Anyway, we will know tomorrow night or Monday morning whether they accept our offer, and if all goes well we'll close by the end of October. It makes me giddy to think how low our mortgage will be compared to what we were willing to spend. And how we'll still have a good chunk of savings left over when we're done with all initial costs.

I keep reminding myself that they still have to accept our offer, and that this all may fall through pending inspection etc. I'm ok with that. There are other houses. And the next one might have a dining room. We're in no hurry, but this was too good to pass up. I'll keep you posted.

May Update

 Atticus made me a birdhouse for Mothers' Day. We hung it up in the back yard. He's pretty proud of it.

 He insisted on helping James replace the parking stops. James appreciated the help, I'm sure.

 Preschool "graduation." He gets shy in front of crowds. Each child was invited to say something nice to his or her parents. Atticus said he liked it when I co-opped. His best buddy, Austin (with glasses), had both sets of grandparents and an older sister there, and he chose to say something nice to Atticus instead. He said that Atticus was his best friend, and he liked how Atticus made a book about him. Atticus and Austin are always the heroes in Atticus's books, and they're always playing Super Hero Squad.

 We have LOVED his teacher, Miss Stephanie, and are very sad to lose her. She is the rare combination of being excellent with the kids and with the parents. 

 Atticus finished his first round of swimming lessons today. He's come a long way in just a few weeks, from refusing to put his face in the water to floating/kicking on his stomach under water by himself. The goggles made a huge difference. Once he could open his eyes under water, he was unstoppable.

I love this kid.

In other news, James has finished his serious teaching for this school year. Next week he's showing a movie, and the week after that it's just cleaning out lockers and signing yearbooks, so even though he has to be there, he doesn't have to coerce students into caring about anything. Then he's FREE for two months. Yea!

Our only big plan for the summer is our family reunion in July. We're really looking forward to that, especially since all the out-of-towners will be here. James's mom will be in town for a few days in June, and it will be nice to see her and Grandpa Clarence. Other than that, we plan to visit lots of local parks and pools and spend time with friends. Maybe James will finally make it to the zoo. We do plan to hike, but we probably won't spend as much time in the big canyons. We're still a little freaked out by canyon driving. I also plan to pick up more hours at work if I can. We're planning to buy a house within the next year, and every little bit counts.

Here's to summer. :)

May Update

I have a food hangover. I ended a low-carb diet a week ago, and though I was careful about reintroducing grains gradually, I've gotten back into bad habits. So instead of doing the dishes, I'm drinking "detox" tea on the couch, watching Highlander (the series--soundtrack by Queen!) on Netflix, and updating my blog. Not a bad way to spend my few childless hours.

Highlights from the last week or so:

Family: Saturday was a family party to celebrate two of my sisters receiving their masters degrees. It was a good party, with family members who don't normally spend much time together getting along really well. My dad grilled carne asade, and my mom made Riley cake. It was all delicious, and I ate way too much.

Work: Yesterday I kind of got promoted at work. I've been working as an independent contractor with the Missionary Department, writing for historic sites and visitors' centers. Now I'll be doing the same thing, just as an "on call" employee for the Publishing Services Division (PSD). The benefits of this change is that I'll get involved in more projects, get more hours, and get a small raise. I'll also get more training and networking opportunities, which will help if I eventually want to go full time.

Atticus: He's started taking swimming lessons. It took us two weeks to get him to put his face in the water, and now that he has goggles (reward for putting face in water), he's willing to put his head all the way under the water. He's gotten good in the tub, so we'll see how he does in the pool Saturday.

The biggest event of the past couple months was, of course, Atticus's fifth birthday. My boy is 5! At first he wanted to stay four, but now that he's older than some of his friends, he thinks five is pretty cool. The day of his party started with the St. Patrick's Day parade. His preschool had a float, and James brought the pram. I think Atticus would have rather stayed on the float, but oh well.

 

I wanted to keep the party fairly small but still fun, so we rented a bounce house. It was a hit.

The boys. Atticus's best buddies, Caleb and Austin.

The girls: Sonora, Clare, and Ellie. Clare is his Scooby-Doo playmate. He's Fred, and she's Velma.

The cake. Atticus requested chocolate cake with blue frosting and pirate candles.

He was really excited about this present.

He told me several times that day that is was his best birthday ever. And I'd have to agree. I wouldn't say the party was mellow, but it was definitely low stress. A few of the parents hung out, so we talked while the kids played both outside and in Atticus's room. 

So life has been pretty good. Daily life, ups and downs. The usual.

Atticus-isms and December Recap

Yeah, I know February's almost over, but better late than never, right? December was a busy month. Atticus and I visited my sister Susan in Illinois for a week while her husband was on a business trip, and of course I forgot my camera. He had a great time with his cousins, even though he was a little sick. And he did great on the plane, except that he had to go to the bathroom 5 times on the way home. Our seatmate wasn't too excited about getting up all the time, but he was nice about it.

The fun part was getting to make "girl food" that our husbands aren't excited about, like tofu and quinoa and all those fun things. When Atticus and I got back to Salt Lake, it was after 10 p.m. by the time we were in the car. I was hungry, so I wanted to stop somewhere on the way home to eat. I asked Atticus what he wanted, and he said with enthusiasm, "bwown wice!" Mama victory! But also a failure because of course there aren't any drive-thrus with brown rice, so I said, "How about chicken nuggets?" *sigh*

Then about a week after we got back, we loaded up the car for our first road trip to visit James's family in Arizona for Christmas. I wasn't sure how Atticus would do for so long in the car, even though we were breaking up the drive by stopping in Vegas. I decided to take notes.

Friday, 10:40 a.m., driveway: "I want to stay home."

11:30 a.m., Orem: "I want to squirrel around like I'm not in my carseat!" (Blankie and pacifier calmed him down.)

11:40 a.m.: Atticus asleep.

3:15 p.m., Kanarraville: "Atticus, stop hitting yourself in the head with the dreidel."  "No, Mama, the dreidel is my friend and he keeps hitting me for something and he won't tell me what it is. Ow. Ow. Ow." (Dreidel got a time-out.)

5:01: "I feel like eating play-doh."

We finally made it to Circus Circus and settled in to our room. Atticus thought it was pretty cool. His favorite part was the lighted wardrobe: 

The next day we checked out all Las Vegas has to offer, which we concluded isn't much if you're not going to gamble, watch a show, or eat at fancy restaurants. Or shop in high-end stores. But we still had a good time. Here's Atticus on top of the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris casino: 

Sunday we stopped at the temple before hitting the road again. The  notes resume:

Kingman rest stop: (Said rapid-fire to no one in particular as he got out of his seat) "My body's saying POOOOOP! POOOOOP! My body's selling poop to anyone who wants some. They're poop toys."

Finally we reached Nana and Grandpa's house. It was good to see the family and spend Christmas with them. Here are some of my favorite photos:

With the saguaro next to Nana's house (the red roof is theirs) 

Making our gingerbread house.

Public art in downtown Mesa

With cousins Brian and Thomas. It took us about 5 tries to get Thomas's "action shot." Atticus was really sad to leave their house. He had so much fun with them.

Heading home. This time we stopped overnight in St. George. 

The night before we left, Atticus said, "I never want to leave this place." He had it all worked out how we could move in with Nana and Grandpa. He even claimed his bedroom. He was sad to leave, but he was happy to see his own room and toys again. I was happy about the box of lemons Atticus helped me pick from Grandpa's tree. They were gorgeous and tasty. One medium box gave us 1 1/2 gallons of lemon juice, most of which is in our freezer. We've been drinking it in water, club soda, and lemonade. Yum!

It was a good month. Lots of family, lots of travel, lots of love. 

A Few Things

How do you not love this face? And the bundle of energy behind it? It's 9:30 p.m. and he's acting out some wild adventure with Shaggy and Scooby in the form of dollar-store mini car spaceships. His ongoing story pulls characters from everywhere. I even heard him yell, "Watch out, Magnum!" the other day. (What can I say? I've spent most of the summer in bed and the entire series is on Netflix. Quality TV.)

Now for the brain dump:

• My ankle really hurts today. It might be because my physical therapist is having me walk on it more, moving from two crutches to one, and doing strengthening exercises. Or it *might* be because I had to carry a screaming, thrashing 4-year-old over my shoulder up the stairs--without crutches--to get him in the shower and jammies. My sweet boy had the meltdown of all meltdowns last night while James was over at the other property trying to fix a leaky sprinkler in the dark, and I'm happy to say he was calm by the time James came home. But man, it was a rough half hour. Other than my sore foot, we seem to have suffered no lasting effects.
• If you haven't heard, we got a new car. It's a red 2010 Subaru Forester (Subaru forever!). Atticus's favorite feature is the cup holder that flips up from the middle of the back seat. I'll get pictures one of these days. 
• Two more weeks and I hope to get the big screws out of my ankle. The little screws and their plate are going to stay. Probably forever. Here are the x-rays so you know to which screws I am referring:

• I thought I had preschool set up for Atticus, then found out last week the teacher gave our spot away. Frustrating. But I hear there's still room at his old preschool, so we'll see if we can get in there. It's half-day afternoons, which isn't ideal, but I think we can make it work. If we get in.

I'd better sign off now. My sweet boy wants me to go snuggle him in bed. How can I resist?