Halloween in (mostly) Pictures

Halloween was pretty low key for us.  With all the craziness of the previous week, we found ourselves on October 30th with uncarved pumpkins on our porch. With Scott still in recovery, we needed a quick solution and that lead us to Mr. Potato Head. Owen was able to carve almost his whole pumpkin, but still liked the option of adding Mr Potato Head ears. So easy. We may do that every year!

The kids were fearful pirates and it was fun to trick-or-treat in regular clothes and not the full winter gear that's usually required on October 31st in Bend. We even met some more neighbors with kids. Arrrrgh!!

Garden Grown

Just a little recap of our first summer gardening on the "wet side" of the state.  It is so, so, so, so much easier to plant the types of veggies that we actually eat when the temperatures are reasonably going to stay above freezing for the whole summer.  What a difference!

One of my co-workers has a greenhouse and she sold a ton of veggie starts to raise money for the Oregon Food Bank. We planted three types of tomatoes, plus peppers and basil. Because our house was still very much a construction zone during planting season, we stuck to containers this year.  The kids brought home pea starts that got added to the pots, but really needed more room.  Our only major setback was an experiment with organic fertilizer.  The fertilizer was fine... so wonderfully enriched with fish meal, in fact, that Hudson dug through all our pots in under 10 minutes the first time we fertilized. Lesson learned - all pots now go up on a bench or table after fertilization.  And, for just $10, Sarah supplied us with replacement starts for our lost tomatoes.

All summer, Owen would diligently tell our friends that we had three types of tomatoes: Brandywine, Cherry, and Early Girl... "but our early girls are NOT very early." After the replanting, in fact, the early girls were the LAST to actually bloom and fruit.

Scott built these awesome bench/planters to replace our collapsing (or collapsED) deck railing, so the pots got a serious upgrade and access to MUCH better sun about halfway through the summer.  Our peppers were very happy about the switch, and I ended up very happy that I hadn't yanked the "not producing" pepper plants out too early. Instead, we were pulling fresh peppers and tomatoes through October.


 

Then, another co-worker gave us a pile of strawberry plants, so the kids and I built a makeshift planter bed using the trunks of a couple cedar trees that we lost last winter.  Owen and Josh diligently went to work making stringing rainbow yarn around the bed to ward off iguanas.  You know, because "there are a lot of iguanas in Portland and iguanas LOVE strawberries." 

We were late planting the strawberries, so I wasn't expecting any berries this year. In the end, we got three berries, each the size of Josh's pinky finger... and the boys insisted in sharing each one. Very cute.

 

 

When Sarah brought us our replacement plants, she also added in a sunflower start, thinking the boys would like watching it grow.  Was she ever right!  That plant started just 4 inches tall, hardly distinguishable from the strawberry plants.  We took measurements against Owen's body - ankle... knee... waist... shoulder... and by July, it was already as tall as Owen, and I thought we should probably start taking pictures. 

July

August

September required a stool to get the full effect.  

Gardening with the boys was something that we all enjoyed and certainly an easy "passive" educational opportunity. Owen eats anything that comes out of the garden and I could probably live on tomato and basil recipes. I'm hopeful that less work on the house next spring will give us a chance to build at least one raised planter and try our hand at lettuce, squash, carrots and some fall veggies like broccoli.

Styling

We've been swapping Owen's drawers over to fall clothes and some bigger sizes. This has led to our first discussion of the sizing on clothing and me trying to delicately explain why it's okay to wear "4" clothing when he's actually 5. (of course, josh is still able to fit in most 18 month clothes, but I'm starting to pull those out of his drawers simply out of principle!) we managed to get al the size 3s out and Owen seemed to get excited about something other than T-shirts and sweatpants. Okay, excited might be to strong a word, but at least he was Joyfully hanging some more interesting options in the closet.

After Work on the closets, Owen decided to wear his slim jeans (not that there's any other option to fit him), and a new collar shirt for a "mom and owen date night. After getting dressed, He looked at me said, "Mom, this is more like 8."

I was pretty confused. "You mean, like size 8?" I asked.

"No. Not the size. My STYLE!"

Owen at 5

I am long over due on a birthday post for Owen, but I wanted to get a snapshot down for our family record. Queue gratuitous bragging post:

 

At 5, Owen is an energetic and passionate kid. He loves to learn and asks tons of questions to understand nature and the world around him. His monthly national geographic magazine is always a hit and we're starting to pay more attention to the non-fiction shelves at the library. This month, we have books about inventors and he's soaking up the information in his "body book".

Owen loves to read and prefers chapter books to picture books. Jack and Annie (Magic Treehouse), Young Cam Jansen, and Nate the Great are frequent visitors in our house. Owen also continues to work on reading on his own and has moved from the Bob Books to beginning readers (4-6 words on a page with lots of repetition). He's already figuring out some of the reading tricks... like studying the picture to guess the words instead of actually sounding them out. Stinker!

Somewhere in the last year, Owen started writing his name right to left (previously he wrote it "N E W O" because he's left handed with both the W and N upside down). He still writes the N upside down, but I love watching his brain gain these new skills.

I am finding that 5 is a fun and trying age. Owen is simply fun to spend time with and able to tag along on "grown up" errands and activities most of the time. But, he can also be so stubborn and inconsiderate - not out of malice, but simply unawareness of how his actions or requests (demands!) impact the other person. I remind myself that he's only 5, but it's an interesting balancing act to figure out what's a reasonable expectation at this age - an age when he's testing limits and asking for reasons behind everything instead of just taking our word as law. Ha!  

Owen is a great older brother and puts up with his "Josh shadow" more than he probably should have to.  It's been fun for Owen to have a legitimate playmate this summer and when they aren't tearing each other limb from limb, they work together on projects that Owen creates - "let's make mud in the garden," "let's set-up a battle," "let's create a race track," etc. In fact, Owen just loves projects and in his play time before school, he's usually pulled out the art supplies. We have loved watching his drawing evolve over the last few months and the elaborate stories he creates with each picture.

In the midst of all this brain work, Owen is still high energy, a dirt magnet, and a total monkey. He loves climbing the tree in our front yard (despite the major pruning that removed all limbs below 5 feet). This summer, he learned to shimmy UP the fireman's pole and other vertical supports around the playground and worked hard to figure out the monkey bars. In June, he could do 4 bars and by August, he conquered the 11 bar twisting route at the local school. I really need to get some pictures of him on the equipment - Scott says it looks like he's doing a "Survivor" challenge - holding himself halfway up the fireman's pole with just his feet and such.

Owen has two mispronounced words that crack us up:
Brefkist - which I find myself now saying half the time
Weabons (weapons) - which is hilarious when he yells, "Grab your weabons!" in his most serious pirate voice.

And finally, after all the time spent worrying about picky eating, Owen now regularly finishes all the food on his plate. He still will not touch an egg with a 10 foot pole, but most meals are acceptable and he happily eats fruits, fresh veggies (especially tomatoes, carrots, and peppers), any standard kid food (nuggets, fish stick, hot dogs) as well as our regular family dinners (pastas, stir fry, soups, and grill fare). Granted, he still takes PB&J everyday for lunch, but I know someone who at a cheese sandwich for about 6 years straight during elementary school, so at least I know where my kids come by their food quirks! And, in an unexpected miracle, Owen came in at the 15th percentile for height and weight at his 5 year visit.
 

He'll probably still be a head shorter than every kid in his kindergarten (being the youngest doesn't help), but at least we know he'll out climb 'em. We love this monkey!

Birthday times 2

Owen's birthday arrived at a time of yet another transition around our house. We had made the decision to move the boys from their daycare to a montessori school, and the transition happened on July 1.  Without strong friendships from the old school and no time to meet any new friends, I was a little stressed about what we would do for Owen's birthday. From the minute we set food in Portland, he had been inviting anyone we spent time with to come to his birthday party - as you can imagine, it would have been quite an extensive and random guest list!

Thankfully, our 4th of July travels came to the rescue and when we proposed to Owen that we have his birthday party in Seattle "with our big family," he was thrilled. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Side Note: 

In less than two months at our new school

the boys have been invited to three birthday parties,

so we know we've made a good choice in our quest

to find a more inclusive community in Portland.

As it turns out, Owen lucked out to celebrate his birthday two different times. First, we celebrated his Golden Birthday (5 on the 5th!) at Nana and Papa's. After considering a zillion Seattle touristy things to do to celebrate, we decided to simply take Owen with his birthday present to Newcastle Beach Park. He was more than thrilled to upsize to a 16-inch bike, complete with kick stand and had no problem cruising around the park.

Once up at Lake Ki, we had Owen's official party with the Maxwell clan. I made Owen's requested birthday cupcakes: "Chocolate Chip and Strawberry Cupcakes with Green and Orange Frosting."  After hearing and seeing pictures about the amazing cakes my friends attempt to tackle for their kids' birthdays, I am soooo grateful that Owen still requests just flavors and colors. 

Birthday guests included Josh and Calla, plus Jeff and Ethel and Ryan and Sara. Conrad and Glenna also made quite the trek from an event in Tacoma - we have great family!

Owen wrote his own birthday wish list that included Cars Cars, activity books, puzzles, reading books, and magnatiles, but really, his wishes could have been summed up with three words:
Star Wars Legos

I have no idea what the draw is, but for 5-year old boys, it simply doesn't get better than building your own fleet of storm troopers and jedi knights. The phenomenon is especially puzzling to me because Owen has never see a Star Wars movie, read a book, or anything related. His Star Wars exposure is a t-shirt, conversations with Caleb, and now legos. But, I am more than happy to support the lego obsession. I would rather have 4 zillion legos overtake my house than try to keep 12 different building systems separated and organized. Owen came out of this birthday with a well established fleet and two months later, he's continuing to set-up battles and build different ships, so I'd say this birthday was a success.

Happy 5th Birthday Owen!

Splash, Pedal, Dash

We joined Jeff and Ethel for another Pacific Crest Weekend in SunRiver.  A weekend planned long before we knew we were going to be moving.  It was a strange feeling to drive over the mountains (our slowest trip ever!), and then drive straight through Bend without stopping.  

I didn't train for a race myself this year, but it was inspiring to watch all the long course athletes (half ironman tri, marathon, half marathon) run past our rental house.  We also got a bit of exercise riding our bikes around the trails to catch J&E at least 4 different times during their half marathon walk. Oh, and it turns out I SHOULD have trained to chase Owen around the kids' splash, pedal, dash.  That kid is quick on his bike!

Josh was Owen's biggest fan, with a joyful high five before the last turn on the run and then an unprompted bear hug after Owen crossed the finish line. I guess Josh has figured out how this little brother thing works!

At the Beach

Our annual Memorial Day Weekend trip to Manzanita did not disappoint this year.  After several years of squeezing tighter and tighter into the same rental house, we made the big jump to a larger house.  At this point, we are 6 adults and 5 kids and the added space was fantastic for everyone. Separate kids and adult tables at dinner? Check. Bunk room? Check. A well stocked kitchen with the space to store and prep food for our small army? Check. A separated sleeping space for our early risers? Check. Gorgeous views of the beach? Check. and..... a hot tub!

We always wonder how all the kids are going to get along. We only see the Owens Family during this one weekend a year. Nolan is exactly a year older than Owen and they usually take a day or two to feel each other out. Not this year! These two were like long lost BFFs joined at the hip from the moment we walked in the door. They were thrilled to share the bunk room, explored the beach together, snuggled on the same chair during movie nights, and were a united front in every decision. I felt like I hardly saw Owen all weekend. Frankly, it was awesome! (and gave me more confidence in our decision to start Owen in Kindergarten this fall)

Calla's early mornings put her on a bit of an opposite schedule from the other kids who were embracing later nights of vacation, but it was a joy hearing how Calla's speech and expression has progressed since we last saw her at Christmas. We also got some glimpses of the goofy silliness that she usually reserves for home. The weather had promised miserable northwest rain and cold, so we packed for indoor entertainment... games, play dough, movies...

And yet, our wonderful view ended up looking like this most of the weekend... overcast, but DRY and almost warm. Hardly a drop of rain all weekend, and it was warm enough that the boys (big and little) set to work creating a "sunken ship" out of collected driftwood.

Everyone needs a project...

The boys showed their true northwest roots and spent most of the weekend in salty, soggy sweats and raincoats.

The only thing Owen did without Nolan's help all weekend. Pretty impressive without a mirror...

Scott and Tim took the the boys on a "pirate adventure" to hike over the mountain at Hug Point.  I heard great tales of their adventures!

Our one great benefit on the trip this year was how incredibly CLOSE we are now to the coast.  Less than two hours with Memorial Day traffic! Hopefully that means more beach time in our future.

Big Emotions

Sometimes the goodbye is harder the second time around.

This afternoon we got an unexpected visit with the Krause family (Bloom School owners) while they were here in PDX for a swim meet. With busy family schedules, I knew better than to tell the boys about the visit until we had the logistics confirmed, so it ended up being a post nap surprise: "Let's go see Stephanie, David, Caleb, and Elijah!"

Owen was thrilled. Just the other day he said out of the blue, "Do you know who I miss more than anyone else in Bend? Caleb."

Josh wanted to make sure the details were clear. "Stephanie?" yes. "aaand Dave?" yes. "Let's go!!"

Ironically, Josh was then particularly shy in those first moments with David, but didn't hesitate to hop up on his hip for the trip inside the pool building. Afterwards we joined the swim families for pizza dinner where Caleb and Owen played at top pace and Elijah watched out for Josh among the big kids. And then... It was time to go.

Josh dispensed multiple rounds of hugs and high fives, while Caleb and Owen sulked. It seemed pretty par for the course. Owen hates goodbyes. Thankfully, Stephanie and David have a wee bit of experience with 5 year old emotions and didn't take it personally when Owen wouldn't even make eye contact. And then, the sniffling began, followed by quivering lip, crocodile tears, shaking shoulders, and devastated wail of a very, very sad boy collapsed in my arms.

I hurt watching my son hurt. The heartaches are definitely worse than the physical bumps and bruises. Obviously some of the emotion was driven by the general excitement/exhaustion cycle of the day, but I also know that Owen does feel loss from our move and watching the Krause Family walk away reaffirmed that loss in that moment.

On the other hand, I would not trade these chances to reconnect with our Bend people when they are in Portland. PEOPLE are the reason we were so sad to leave and PEOPLE are what keeps drawing us back.

So, I hugged my kids a little closer tonight, reassured them that it's okay to feel sad, and promised that we will have more fun afternoons with old friends before the summer is over. We'll make sure a visit to Bloom school is on top of the list our next time back in Bend.

First Words

In April, Owen asked me when he would be able to start reading.  Awesome!  We've taken the "go at your own pace" approach, choosing to let the kids discover letters and words on their own rather than learning through direct instruction. (Our preschools do art and exploration rather than "letters of the week" and worksheets.)  But, as is natural, Owen has learned his letters just from general exposure and us talking about what we see.  He's been able to pick out recognizable words and kids names by reading the first letter for a while, so I thought he could try sounding out a word or two. Sure enough, he was able to sound out a few Dr Suess words in a book we hadn't read before.

It was one of the coolest moments of being a parent to listen to him sound out those first few words and then turn to me in wonder and declare, "Mom... I'm reading!"

Enter the Bob books!  I vaguely remember those books (or something remarkably similar) from when we were little, but they are just awesome sets of 10-12 very short books.  About 12 pages in each book, each with just one sentence.  (Pat was a dog. Pat was Sid's pal. etc) For the next few days, Owen was asking to read Bob books to anyone that would listen. As luck would have it, Grandma and Grandpa were visiting the next weekend, so Owen had lots of captive audiences. 

I love listening to Owen read. It's fascinating to watch him - reading is exhausting work and you can tell he is using all his brain power to decipher the words (probably doesn't help that he seems to be ready for a pair of glasses.)   I love the observation (by Bev Bos) that the best thing we can do to help kids become confident readers is to help them learn to take risks and have the confidence to make mistakes. Learning to read requires a lot of risk - you do it wrong over and over and over and have to keep trying in the midst of mistakes.  Owen is stubborn and determined, but he is also quickly discouraged and I feel like we are learning right along with him the types of strategies that work best to encourage him toward challenging goals.

We're not pushing the reading and realize that this is just the very beginning of reading, but I love it when Owen asks to read his own bedtime story.  Like all developmental milestones, he was motivated for a week or so and then moved on to new interests. He cycles back to reading every couple weeks.  Of course, it took him about one pass through to memorize all the Bob books and most of the "Step Into Reading" type books at the library are still beyond his focus level. So we're on to Bob series #3 and looking forward to the next year(s) as Owen continues to grow into a more and more confident and adventurous reader!


(Side note: This new reading milestone has also caused me to observe our world in a new light.  Oh, the questions that are going to come when Owen realizes he can read the names on buildings and the words on billboards.  How lucky that we get to drive past a particularly seedy section of 99W on our way on and off the freeway.  Can't wait until I get to answer questions about La Reve, The Pussycat, and Fantasy Video.  Urgh.)

A Season of Change

Understatement: We've had an eventful transition to Portland.

We knew the transition would be interesting with the work to do on the house, and I think we've been taking it all in stride, but I realized just how crazy things have been when I found myself texting Sara:

"Sorry we didn't call you back last night. The new furnace broke, Scott was puking, and the kids were asking to hug the repair man goodnight." Just another run of the mill evening in the Maxwell House!

I have been feeling overwhelmed by the thought of trying to get up to date on our recent activities, so a string of random updates will have to do.

THE HOUSE

The good news is that we have new carpet, new appliances, and fresh paint on most of our walls.  Also, next year we won't have to buy a new furnace.  Odd happenings with the house have included:

- Pondering why the prior owners stripped the house of various light fixtures, all toilet paper holders, and the oven racks (?!?!) and yet left all 12 attachments for the central vac system.

- The HVAC tech inspecting our heat pump system only to proclaim, "I figured out your problem. You have a heat pump thermostat, but you don't have a heat pump." An hour later he also notified me our 25 year old furnace was cracked and had to be shut down.

- Realizing that most of our walls were a near match to the "color" of primer.  Not anymore!

- Wondering why people so opposed to color in 90% of the house would paint the TV room two shades of bright pink/orange to match navy/turquoise window coverings.

- Spending our first month without use of the oven or microwave.  Certainly a first world problem, but it really stymied me when we couldn't even take n' bake pizza.

- Marveling at the loveliness of hexagon shaped sinks.

- Having an extra fridge rotating around various rooms of our house. Our garage fridge from Bend was a lifesaver our first month here before we got our appliances. It was slated to slide perfectly into a space in the garage. A space that quickly got consumed by the new, wider, furnace. Plan B?

While it sounds like a never ending project, which will be true for a while, we are loving other aspects of the house - the giant playroom, the big backyard, good storage spaces, and a layout that seems to be fitting nicely with our daily rhythm.  In the end, those are the things that matter. Paint and ugly fixtures can all be changed over time.

THE WEATHER

We were lucky enough to move to Portland just in time to experience the wettest March on record.  As a stormwater engineer, this is wonderful for my career, but pretty brutal on our high dessert psyche.  We spent a good deal of time marveling at the lake that consumed much of our backyard for our first weeks in the house. Thankfully these few dry days have helped us avoid being a headline: "Drainage Engineer Buys Flooding House." We did lose two cedar trees in a late march snow and I've worn my raincoat more in the last month than I did in the last 5 years, but six years in the high desert didn't completely override our Seattle webbed feet.  

Our kids are another story.  Owen hates his raincoat, refuses to wear rain boots, and is really frustrated that he can't spend his days outside.  We keep telling him spring and summer are coming, but I knew we were going a little stir crazy when we got a brief hour of midday sun and my kids whipped out the deck chairs, stripped down, and played in the SNOW STILL MELTING ON OUR DECK.

THE TRANSITION

Needless to say, we have resorted to some unusual tactics to manage the behavior challenges that come with this time of transition and limited opportunities for outside/big muscle play.  After several weeks of what felt like an endless battle trying to keep Owen in line, avoid scenes from WWF/Fight Club, and dealing with meltdowns right and left, we sat down one morning and wrote down some basic "Behavior Rules."  I decided to just pick a few behaviors to focus on, and believe me, for several days, it felt like every other sentence out of my mouth was, "remember our behavior rules."

Owen's list: Give People Space, Use Polite Words, Stay at the Table While Eating, Listen to Mom and Dad, Happy Attitude!

Josh's list: Use your Words, Say Please and Thank You, Listen to Mom and Dad, Stay in your Seat When Eating, Hapy Attitude!

Mom's list - yes, I needed one too: No Yelling, Say Please and Thank You, Do What is On the List, Happy Attitude!

Notice how I sneak in  a rule for me that really focuses on getting the kids in line?  "Do what is on the list" refers to sticking to my to do list or the daily plan, which the kids and I talk about every morning.  By having that be one of my rules, it seems to have helped to combat the constant protests whining I was encountering whenever we needed to run an errand or tackle a project around the house.  

Actually, those lists went up about a month ago, and I'm happy to report that they didn't make the transition to the new fridge when it was installed. Seems like things are looking up!

OTHER NEWS

I'm also pleased to report that the speech progress that Josh was making before we moved seems to have continued through the transition. In fact, they hired a new teacher for their daycare a few weeks ago, and the FIRST comment she made to me when I picked up the kids on her first day was, "Man, that Josh, he certainly has a lot to say, doesn't he?"  Not bad for a kid who was barely saying single words 6 months ago!

Funniest quote of the day from Owen: "A manatee? I know about manatees. They turn into mermaids." ??what??  "Yes, see their life cycle goes from baby manatee to adult manatee to mermaid!  Or merman... or mer-girl... or mer-boy."