February '09 Mamas ~ Childhood Chat :) - Page 37

[mckittre]

Mal - Wow. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to help thinking about it either, in that situation.

Sue - Really, I can't understand why anyone would ever want to leave Alaska. :)  But I have my fingers crossed for you anyway! You should at least hop on the ferry and come visit (I think it goes straight from there to here now) before you move. 

Movies - Am I somehow depriving K by never having shown him a movie in his life? I don't have a problem with the concept. It's just that our only Netflix watching time has always been an adult thing after the kids are asleep, and I've never made an effort to figure out how to work it into our regular life.

Santa -  Sigh...  I wasn't going to tell K about Santa at all. But when I brought up the idea of Santa (so he wouldn't be scared by the guy dressed as Santa in the school Christmas program), he insisted Santa was real (something he probably learned at preschool). I'm fine with him believing, and I didn't try to argue with him. But do I really have to make a whole charade of it? I hate that kind of thing - it's just really not my style - and he didn't actually ask for anything from Santa. He seemed kind of disturbed by the whole conversation, really. I'm more inclined to say "sure Santa's real" but go ahead with just having a few presents from family under the tree like always and not take it any further. Or is that just mean and even more confusing?

[Vegan Princess]

Erin: It's not mean. I would maybe ask his teachers to what extent they talked about Santa if you are truly worried about disappointing the guy. But I grew up in a jewish home and was always inundated with santa stuff at school. But he never came to my house! I even hung a stocking up one yr, hoping he would. But I'm not traumatized or anything. I do have to say, sometimes it's kind of annoying when they talk something up at school that parents don't plan to participate in. Like for us, they had the kids practice christmas carols and totally talked up going caroling on a saturday. We couldn't make it to take M that day - and she was super upset that she couldn't go. I just wish they hadn't made such a big deal out of it to them. My friend was upset that they did that about a halloween party she couldn't take her daughter to that wasn't during their school time.

Baby crying...

[Everrgreen]

Sue - Good luck to your hubby!  

Erin - I agree, not mean.  I'm having a hard time getting into the whole Santa thing too.  But I'm trying.  We went to see Santa at the mall today, R seemed interested and told him what he wants.  R has been a bit difficult, wanting a new toy every time we go to the store, and being sooo whiney when I say no.  It's driving me nuts.  I have in the past occasionally let him pick something out just for fun, but now he's acting like such a spoiled monster!  There's so much focus on new toys and everyone asks him what he wants for christmas.  I think it is taking away from the whole thing.  It would be nice if he could just have a few new things and not all this over the top build up.  

And as for movies I don't think they are necessary.  I love them because it gives me an hour or two where I don't hear a peep from him.  It's the only way I get a break when he's home.  He does get whine if I don't let him watch one, he always wants to watch one.  That part is annoying.

AFM - I lost R at a huge grocery store today and there was a Code Adam announcement.  So that was a huge terrifying and embarrassing failure.  He was right ahead of me and wanted to find the toys, he ran ahead and then he was gone.  We were only one aisle away from the toys but I guess he missed them and kept going.  I thought maybe he was hiding somewhere because there were clothing racks nearby.  Then they made the announcement and everyone was looking for him.  I stayed where I'd last seen him and was just yelling out for him.  Mother of the year, right here :(  And you might remember I lost him at a grocery store last year too.  So that's twice so far.  I'm really not that neglectful.  I gave him a big talk after we were reunited about how he could have been danger and how it is very important that he stays where he can see me.  He was crying and I felt bad but I needed him to understand how important this is and how scared I was.  

[Mal85]

Ever: I lost Owyn at Walmart over the weekend. Luckily ours is not a super center so it is relatively small. And it was only for a minute. I was headed up front to have them announce something when I spotted her. She'd been walking behind me when I went to the next aisle over. I told her to come with me and could hear her footsteps following me. She must have gotten distracted and not seen which direction I went. When I found her she was on the verge of tears and said "I was looking for you and I was so scared." I just gave her the biggest hug and told I was looking for her and I was scared too, but we found each other and it's okay now. When we got to the car we had a talk about how important it is to stay with me when we are out and about.

[Thursday Girl]

sue- crossing my fingers, hope he gets one of them!!

everr- I have lost my kids before. never in a store, always at parks. Once I lost Josephine (she was in the first half of being 3) for gosh 15 minutes or so. Jewel finally spotted her, she was being led away from the park by a police officer, boy did I ever high tail it across that park. it's super scary but in no way makes you a bad mom.

erin- editing is done, yay. as for the santa thing, I'd just continue on like you have. I'd love to get rid of Santa in our house but Hubs isn't on board. (he'd like to get rid of the easter bunny but I won't let him if we are keeping Santa)

conneticut- It's too much to deal with so i just block it out, when I start to think about it I am just in tears.

nursing baby, hard to type. reading.

[justKate]

Ever, that is scary. I haven't lost Aubs yet, but she ran away from me once when I was hugely pg and it scared the crap out of me.  We both cried when I caught her.  I've been lucky so far.  Hooray for being finished with exams!  And I love that R's people and dinos are hairy.  A's drawing of me is on FB---she's only recently been interested in drawing anything, and most everything is a circle with sticks coming out of it, but I figure she knows what it means so that's good enough for me.  She's also only recently starting putting colors next to each other.  Three months ago it was just a little color here, another little color there, and done.  Now everything is a rainbow.

Starling, of course we all have challenges--but I love to see E's successes.  I need to focus on A's strong points more.  

Erin, writing is not a strong point here. Aubs does okay with the straight strokes and circles, but letters with a combination of the two are difficult--like lower case a and e.  She's not very interested in practicing, so we don't do much.  She did like tracing letters for a while--I would write words with a highlighter and she would trace them with a marker.  I don't think you're traumatizing K by not showing movies--Aubs has only seen maybe three movies, ever, and its been fine so far. (Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, Curious George)  I would like her to see some of the Christmas movies I love, like the grinch and the claymation rudolph, but there's time for that.  I worry that I'm setting her up for trauma by not exposing her to the computer.  I mean, she knows what a keyboard and trackpad are because that's what we use for the TV, but that's the extent of it.   I don't think you need to "do santa" if you don't want to.  Just explain that people have different traditions, holidays, etc.  

Sue, good luck to your hubby!  I hope something works out that's right for your family.  

Cindy, not sure if I said it already, but hooray for trouble-free nursing!  I hope this is the end of your challenges.  You've been such a trooper.  Loved seeing A's smiles.  Its so incredible to think about the journey that brought her here.  I can't help but think of her as a tiny miracle.  Re. the toe-walking, I'd probably get it addressed now.  Do you think she'll mind wearing casts or braces?

Re. Newtown, CT--I've been letting this one get to me.  Of course babies die around the world every day, and it isn't the first one--the Oklahoma City bombing killed a bunch of babies in a daycare--but man is this one bothering me.  Enough that I'm thinking about taking A out of pre-school.  I mean, there are other reasons I'm thinking of taking her out, but this was a trigger to get me serious about it.  But then at the same time I don't think its healthy to let fear change the way you live.  I'm not sure.  I mean, what can you do?  DH and I were talking about it, and we got as far as thinking that fire extinguishers are commonly available and could be used as a weapon, but that's about it....  I've thought about this in the kidnapping context, too.  If someone wanted to take one of my girls when we are out walking, it would be pretty hard to stop them.   Maybe Krav Maga instruction is in order?

Nilla, how is everyone feeling?

A meet-up.  I like the idea, but it would be hard for us.  DH's older sister lives in Keno, OR, so we may be able to coordinate something with a visit to her.  We've been once in nine years. :(  

As for us--thankfully not much going on, although we all have colds today.  No big deal, as we don't have anything in particular to do.  Speech for Aubs is done until next year, although I still haven't decided if we're going to stick with it. One weird thing--Mallory's breath is awful.  Like sour milk--but she doesn't seem reflux-y.  I've brushed her gums/tongue with baby toothpaste and it doesn't seem to help.  Any thoughts?

[Mal85]

Kate-- Any other symptoms from the baby? Greta has strep throat with almost no symptoms. She was a little crabbier than normal, clingy too. But, no fever, eating and drinking well, etc. She did have super stinky breath though. I took her to the doc at my sitter's insistence, she just had a really off day. Good thing too since her strep screen was positive. Anyway, the doc said stinky breath in a baby can be a symptom of strep. I'd never heard that before... 

AFU-- We're taking it pretty easy today since Greta is sick. I'm just glad we caught it before the holiday. So, I'm off work when I really shouldn't be. I mean, I should since she's sick. But this was our last full day before Christmas break and our final rehearsal for the kids' Christmas program tonight. Just bad timing... I left some fun crafts for them to do today and I'll be there tonight for the program, so I hope they still had a great day. Friday, I'm taking in a Christmas movie and some popcorn, then we're having our class party and that's it. Ya know, as long as the world doesn't end. ;) Owyn's school is having a holiday open house this afternoon. We're going to stop by so she can show me their tree and give her gifts to her teachers. Tomorrow she has a pajama party at school that she is psyched about. She also gets to wear her pajamas to dance class and they are doing a little Christmas dance for the parents to watch. Of course, they all request Christmas pajamas. But her Christmas PJs are wrapped and under the tree to be opened on Christmas Eve. We found hers from last year... they'll be a little snug but they'll have to work!

[mckittre]

Losing kids:  Haven't done it yet, though there were several times K almost impatiently took off past security when we were waiting in line in the airport on our trip down south.  I don't want to know what would happen if he'd done it!  It's not really relevant in town here (everyone knows every kid, buildings are small) - but I do try to be careful about it on trails/in the woods.

Preschool: We're probably going to pull K out of Head Start after this week (over winter break). Definitely not because of school shootings, and not because of the program itself, really. The woman who runs it is wonderful, and doesn't push the kids into anything, and they spend their time playing with all kinds of interesting things. But coming back after a month out of town, I'm just reminded, again, of how much of a hassle it is. We really value our freedom and flexibility and outdoor time as a family, and adding a big block of schedule (4 hours a day, 4 mornings a week) just seems to make everything more difficult. Part of it, I'm sure, is that I live 3 miles up a hill from the school without a car, and am not really willing to change either of those factors.  And K doesn't wake up early enough on his own and sometimes doesn't want to go, L's nap schedule almost always conflicts with pickup, and I'm a crankier mom the more "getting everybody rounded up and dressed up" transitions I have to do in a day. And to top it off, he doesn't really seem to care to socialize with groups of kids, and we're planning to homeschool him anyway, so it seems like we might as well start now.

My only hesitation is that I really don't want to make the teacher or the other parents feel bad - like we don't value what they do!

[justKate]

Ugh, Mal, not what I wanted to hear. She does have a cold--but we all do.  I really don't feel like taking her in to the doc today; I'm sure it will be super busy.  Maybe I'll take her to urgent care tomorrow.  Its closer, faster, and covered if the doc is closed....  Coincidentally, Aubrey was sick for her first Christmas too.

Still no decision on preschool. Yesterday (Thurs) was her last day before a week off for Christmas, so we took in donuts.  I was going to do little gifts, but didn't get around to it, so they got donuts instead.  They seemed okay with that.  When I got there, the front door was locked (for the second day in a row), and there was a new doorbell installed.  Apparently they've decided to keep the doors locked and require people to be buzzed in.  I guess its sort of reassuring to know that they're taking some security measures, but at the same time I know it doesn't guarantee anything.  I talked to Aubs about whether she wants to stay home or go to school, and she was adamant that she wanted to go to school.  So I'm going to go along with that for a little while. And who knows, if I can't get some work going it may not be financially possible to continue sending her.  So we'll see.

No plans for the weekend, thankfully. Yesterday Aubrey watched Elmo Saves Christmas while I made bread pudding.  My parents and Grandma are coming down for Christmas day, so I need to figure out what I'm making for dinner.  I think a ham, a squash-apple bake, and a sweet potato pie.  I should probably have something green.  Not sure if I should try to squeeze something Christmas-y in or not.  Maybe we'll drive around and look at lights.

Cargo bike--I remember reading an article about a mother of 6 that biked her kids around somewhere in the northwest--portland area maybe?  I think she had a compartment on the front for ~3 of them and then two behind, and one on her own bike...it was pretty impressive.  Here's the article: http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-car-this-mom-does-it-all-by-bike-73731

[Vegan Princess]

Losing kids: Nope. Makenna did used to run away at age 2ish but I was always chasing after her at that age. Now she gets mad at me if I walk 5 feet from the cart at the grocery store - she isn't going anywhere without me. And if a store has a cart I almost always have her in it still - like at Target. Just easier to keep track that way.

Preschool: Ours is always locked. It has a code so parents can get in to come in early to watch the closing circle or something. But if you get there too early they have another lock locked so the keypad doesn't even work. I guess I feel like she is pretty safe there, but you never know. 

We have a sicky here too. M woke up w/croup AGAIN. Thankfully we have the medicine. It was the last dose though so I have to hunt down a refill before she goes to bed tonight. PRAYING the baby does not catch this! I don't know if the croup part is contagious or just the underlying bug (DH has a cough/cold) that went into croup in her little body, just like every little sniffle seems to do.

Cindy

[Thursday Girl]

sorry for the sick babies, we are also starting to get a mild cold, starting with Coraline and I.

Schools- the place where June has been going to speech has changed some of their rules, I think it is silly, it's not measures that would actually do ANYTHING, just things to make grown ups feel better, like "hey, hey look we are doing something!". I just feel like locking our kids up isn't going to protect them and is going to hinder the wonderful freedom of childhood. Yes, things can be scary but fear driven responses that aren't logical is not the answer. (although I am not against a buzzer or password to get into the school, just some of the other stuff I've seen)

[Everrgreen]

So how was everyone's Christmas??  The last few days have been so busy for us!  But fun :)  Royce had a blast, he was so excited Christmas eve and had so much fun Christmas day.  He did have a meltdown Christmas morning and I was really frustrated with him.  He was being so whiney and crying that he wanted more presents.  He said he didn't like one thing that I got him and threw it :/  So I lost it at him and then he started crying.  I took him to his room so I could calm down.  I realized he was just overexcited and he doesn't understand.  So I went and had a talk with him about things and then he calmed down and was really great the rest of the day.  

He's home with me now until January 14th!  I hope we can have lots of fun and not get sick of each other :P  

[Vegan Princess]

Christmas was lovely here. I didn't get out of my PJs all day. Only left the house to drive my mom to and from church. It rained all day and we had a fire and were nice and cozy. My mom was here for a short visit and she didn't stress me out at all this time - was a very nice visit and I was sad when she left this morning. Makenna got WAY too many presents. She almost wanted to stop opening and take a break but ended up sticking with it. She has been super occupied playing with all her new activities. Was fun to watch her. She was pretty whiny by the end of the day from all the excitement. We spent xmas eve at DH's cousins and had a big family dinner - nice to have a quiet day on the actual day. Now I am trying to figure out what to do with all this new stuff and wondering if I can purge some old stuff but feeling like I should keep it all for Aria. 

Loving the fact that DH will be home for another 4 day weekend over NY. Doubting I will manage to stay up to ring in the new yr this yr. 

Cindy

[Mal85]

Our Christmas was pretty great. Owyn was so excited the whole day. She has not stopped playing with her new toys (especially her dollhouse!!!) since she got them. Greta was not at all into opening presents, but she is enjoying her new toys. She got a cabbage patch doll from her godfather and has been carrying it around with her everywhere. We had 4 days in a row of big family gatherings, so the last 2 days have been super lazy around here. We have all been hanging out in our PJs, doing very little all day. It helps that the girls are occupied with their new toys. I am also wondering where we will put it all, but I think we can purge some of our things. I'll save some for Greta but not all of it... There's just too much!

DH is off the rest of this week. He took me out tonight to celebrate my birthday (tomorrow). Just dinner and a movie, but it was nice to have some alone time. He works Monday, then is off again Tuesday for New Year's Day. We are inviting our friends over with the kiddos and ringing in the new year early Monday night. I am enjoying my time off. I have been off since last Tuesday and don't go back until next Friday. It is a wonderful break! Now we just need to get some more snow!

[AKislandgirl]

My whole family got the flu! The girls were mostly over it by Christmas but DH and I were not. We somehow managed topull it off though! Phew! Pretty lazy days for us as we recoup and try to put our disaster of a house back together. The laundry mountain is looking more like rolling hills so I guess we are making progress. I can't remember being that sick though- I lost 12 pounds. Pretty awful. And having to take care of the kids on top of it was pretty intense. Honestly, still a little weak.

The girls were thrilled with their gifts though. They got a dollhouse too which has been a huge hit! Fiona got some new art supplies too so we have been enjoying those.

We recently put up a new shelf in our dining room for homeschool supplies. She's very into it. She'll tell people "I'm a homeschool kid!". The other day I was commenting to her about how well she was cutting along the lines when she was cutting something out. Me: Wow Fiona, you are doing great with your cutting! When did you get so good at that? Fiona: Mama, I'm a school girl now! 

[Nillarilla]

Glad to hear that most people had a relaxed Christmas.

We went to Chilliwack for Christmas. It was good but jam packed with visits we went a different place every day. The drive there was icy and long, the drive back the roads were much better. Although this young guy (maybe 19) slid off the road in front of us into the ditch. I helped dig and push him out. Lucky for him I carry sandbags and a shovel. He was in his PJ's and runners :o It's the dead of winter here! The drive was a bit hard on my husband and his back. He is still having a lot of pain although mobility wise he seems better. He needs to lie down for a couple hours every day though so he's worried about going back to work on the 2nd. Em is still having a lot of pain in his hip and down his leg. She seems to think it's just a bruised bone that will heal. I'm frustrated with the lack of imaging and diagnostics they do post crash. How are you supposed to know what to do or not to do or how to get better if you don't know what is going on? I just want my husband back. He's trying to keep his spirits up but he's grumpier than usual and he feels guilty because he knows I'm dog tired trying to keep up with all the physical labour he does plus all the rest of it. Hats off to single parents because I'm limping along. We just got another huge dump of snow so now I've got to go shovel plus put everything away from the trip. Ok whine over, chin up, this too shall pass. I just need a good sweaty workout and I will feel less doom and gloom.

Dee was so much fun at Christmas she was all about the holidays and seeing family. Em had his meltdowns but on the day of he was great. We got them an electric piano and microphone so they did little concerts for us. So cute!

Happy Birthday Mal!

Talents/Challenges - Dee recognizes some letters, can write a few, can recognize a few words, right on target I think. Esme is about where Em was last year at the end of Kindie so yeah light years ahead of her age.  Dee can pick up a tune on a song on the radio and belt it out exactly as she heard it, that I think will be her talent. Em is a really articulate kid but I think math and spatial relations might be his talent. Give him a physics game or a complex structure to build and he can puzzle it out all on his own in a short time.

[starling&diesel]

It's so nice to hear about everyone's Christmas!  Sue ... so awful that you and your hubby were suffering, but you'd never know it from the lovely pics on FB!

Nilla ... I sometimes think that soft-tissue or non-fracture injuries are the worst because they get treated so casually.  They can be devastating and life-changing. I really hope your DP starts to feel better, and E too.  

Happy Birthday, Mal!  What a crazy time of year to have a birthday!  Glad you carved out some date time!

Cindy ... So glad that your mom was on her best behaviour.  I just couldn't do it this year.  Props to you, mama!  

Ever ... Enjoy your time off!  Sounds dreamy!  How much more school do you have to do?

I held my boundaries and had a drama-free Christmas!  No parents, phew.  We stayed home and had a mellow day, hanging out in our pj's until we went down the block to my sister's house for a buffet dinner, and then home early.  So nice.  We did gluten-free scones and Devonshire cream and strawberry jam for Christmas breakfast, and my sister and her partner came for that.

Not surprising to me, but nonetheless curious, E had zero interest in any of her gifts except for two things.  One was a live bug that my DP brought home on Christmas Eve after finding it in the salad greens at work, and the other was a bag of little seashells I grabbed last minute for her stocking because she spotted them at the dollar store and was counting her change to see if she had enough.   Other than that, she hasn't touched a thing.  So much so that I took away a few that were untouched and put them away for another year.  Seriously.  To hear of all the kids playing with their toys ... not happening for her.  

H on the other hand loves his broom and spinning top and new stepstool.  They are such different kids!

My mom came on the 26th and ladled out a bit of guilt about not being there, but I didn't bite.  

I went to work on the 27th and had a middle-aged patient that reminded me about how fleeting life can be.  We picked her up with some left sided paralysis, still chatting with us about her lovely family Christmas, and she was dead four hours later from an inoperable bleed.  Makes me so very thankful for my healthy family, dysfunction and all.  

I'm sick today, with a bug that I've been fighting since Christmas.  The flu, I think.  Sucks.  I've been flattened by it, and just hope no one else gets it!

[mckittre]

We had a white and dark Christmas.  White, because we got around 42 inches of snow (on top of basically nothing - we needed it) on the 23rd and 24th. Dark, because the power went out at around 6AM on the 24th, and didn't come on again until 10PM on the 27th! Candlelight is kind of neat for awhile, and was fine on Christmas, but entertaining the kids on long dark mornings got old by the 3rd and 4th time.  Luckily we have wood heat, and can cook on the wood stove too, though it's not as convenient.

Katmai got a couple of "antique" metal trucks (a steam shovel and a grader) that my MIL and SIL bought online somewhere, because they were so disappointed in how quickly the new plastic ones from last year fell apart. I always love seeing old well-loved playthings get more use.  And both kids got some awesome handmade wooden toys (a boat and a "biggledy bug" with a propeller and wheels) from my FIL.  Other than that, it was a few books and a bunch of "supplies".  K has been loving his new supplies - art stuff, tape, wire, styrofoam balls, little pliers, yarn, etc... I didn't get the kids much (K got paint and a puzzle, L got pipe cleaners and scotch tape), but they just have so many grandparents (4 separate households) and great grandparents (4 households) - that it's hard to stomp it down to an entirely reasonable level, even with a 1 present per kid per holiday rule.

It doesn't help at all that Lituya's birthday is on New Year's, so we have a little pile of unopened presents for her too.

We had our Friday kid hike (now snowshoe) today, and got a record 21 people (kids and adults) to start out with us, though only a few made it the whole way. The 5 and 6 year old kids had a blast - they're good hikers but usually can't come because of school.

Tomorrow is L's birthday party with the neighbor kids. Out of 7 kids on our block, 3 have birthdays on the 1st and 2nd of January. How crazy is that?

[starling&diesel]

I can't believe that it's almost Lituya's birthday again!  How does that happen!  I meant to say that you're reasons for keeping Katmai at home make a lot of sense.  Even with your fabulous new cargo bike!  Still jealous.  And I can tell by K's supplies that you've been reading Project Based Homelearning too.  Love that book.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've deactivated my FB accounts.  I'm still going to do the blog, but I need to pare down the on-line stuff a bit, and so I've kiboshed it.  

[Vegan Princess]

Happy birthday Lituya and Mal!

Starling: I'll have to book mark your blog - I've always followed the facebook links but really like following you on there. I can understand deactivating your FB account.

I'm so happy - DH made the basement 3rd bedroom into more of a playroom yesterday. We had bought some ikea storage bins and had them stacked - they hold all of the tons of artsy stuff that we have. But we unstacked them and they make a great work space on top - just the right height for M. DH hung up a mirror at her level so she can face paint and we hung up all of her dress up clothes on hooks on the wall. We also moved her legos downstairs (we had a TON already and then MIL sent all of DH's from when he was young!). She's been down there working most of her waking time since we changed it around. I think DH had been dragging his feet bc he wanted it as his man room - but I think he felt just as overwhelmed as I had been by all the mess in our main living space - especially with all the art projects out in our dining room. Now we've moved a lot of the mess downstairs where it's out of view! And hopefully we can keep all the small things down there and in M's room once Aria is mobile. 

Happy new year ladies! Anyone making any resolutions? I'm kicking off my get serious about losing the baby weight thing. I've been eating whatever -  and TONS of junk. So I'm basically just planning to eat healthy and cut out all the junk except 1 square of dark chocolate/day and 1 indulgent dessert/week. I think that alone will having me losing weight while nursing. I am still 6 lbs from pre-preg weight. While nursing M I got to 13 lbs below that weight wihtout trying - not happening this time - I think bc I am eating so much junk. I'm also going to start going to the Daily Method. It's an hour toning class and they have childcare. I'll go while M is at preschool. I feel better abotu leaving Aria in a small place's childcare than at the big Y - as far as germs go. I'm afraid of exposing her to too much during flu season at our huge Y - so many kids go through there every day! 

We actually booked a vacation!! We're going to Kaui for a week at the end of February. The idea of being in a bathing suit for a week oughta motivate me!!!

Anyone thinking about b-day party ideas yet? M wants to invite about 7 or 8 kids - more than is comfortable in our small house when their parents are included. So we may rent out the kindergym at the Y - it is indoors and has a huge jumpy house and climbing structures and life sized blocks. Not sure. We are going to rent a ski house in Tahoe w/2 families from my mom's group the weekend after her b-day - 2 of her best friends will be with us. Would be nice to just celebrate up there but I'm not sure she is going to go for that since she's been listing all her friends she wants to invite for SO long now! But I'm not sure we want to spend $200 on renting a space!! Maybe instead of presents. She really doesn't need anymore stuff anyway!

Cindy