It's Only Been A Decade

So now that I'm a stay at home mother, there are all kinds of things I get to do now.  Who knew it would be so liberating.  I've cleaned the house without rushing.  No more late night laundry duties.  And then there are the perks too.  No more 2 minute cold showers.  And I get to paint my nails.  It's been a decade since I've painted my nails.  With my job requiring me to work with acetone everyday, nail polish was a waste of time. So since the weather was horrible yesterday, I painted my nails.

Too bad all I could find at home was hot pink.  But I don't have to worry about it.  Maybe next time I'm at the store I'll buy some more.  But until then, I think I'll save this color for when Cole needs to patch a tire.  

Karate Chop

Saturday was Rionn's second tournament.  I was sure he'd do great and he did.  And although he didn't come home with a trophy, he was so much improved that I was actually shocked even though I sit through several classes through the week.  Anyways, this tournament was in Pasadena.  And boy am I glad I do have to deal with LA traffic on a regular basis.  It would literally drive me to the looney bin.

He only competed in forms and sparring.  He did great in forms.  And I had high hopes for him in sparring.  But he went up against that 10 year old girl standing next to him in the picture.  I think he would have had a pretty good chance of placing if he had drawn an easier competitor in the first round.  But he held his own.  He wasn't aggressive enough until she got him pinned to the ground.  Once he got out of it, he went out swinging.  Now we just have to figure out how to channel that "madness" without him being mad or getting beat up first.  

2nd Grade Field Trip

So this year's field trip was in Oak Glen.  And Rionn was thoroughly excited about going.  Then he asked me if I was going to chaperon the trip.  I said sure.  We could be the tour guides since that's where we go to pick pumpkins every year.  Then he was disappointed.  So I thought I could lift him up a bit when I told him maybe it could be like Dirty Jobs and we would get a behind the scenes tour.  So Jet and I dropped Rionn off at school and then headed down to the apple farm.  When we got there it was the same place we always go.  But in a special part that is only for field trips and weddings.

The kids thought they were in for an easy day.  While the weather was nice and the kids had a great time, they learned how to handle chores on the farm without all the modern conveniences.  Rionn's group started off learned to play with stick horses and did a hoop and stick race.  Then they went to story time and learned all about the history of the farm.  Then they went onto harder chores.  Like plowing.  Only they were the horses.

Then they learned how to wash clothes with a wash board.  One kid actually asked his mom if she remembered using one.  Next was onto a hay ride.  Then they helped clean the sheep and goat pens.  Once the chores were done, they made candles and played music.  After lunch, I signed Rionn out and we headed home.  He fell asleep.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the extra long drive home because of 2 wildfires.  I'm pretty sure that all that mountain hiking was good for exercising.  Although, I didn't do chores.  I stood on the sidelines and took pictures.

Crabby Hour

So Rionn seems like the perfect child.  Well, maybe the perfect baby.  He ate.  He slept.  He never cried.  Smiled all the time.  Jet, well he has what I call crabby hour.  Or hours.  Seems like he just can't be settled from around 5pm to 8pm.  Of course that is when our house is at it's busiest.  If we're not at karate, then it's time to cook dinner, homework, etc.  So the last thing I need to do is walk Jet around outside.  Because that's the only way to get him calmed down.  So I decided instead of moving his swing in and out of the house all the time, I should get a swing.  Well they are expensive.  And well, I could make one. Pinterest is full of ideas.  So I made a swing.

But since he can't sit up and I don't want to leave him outside all lumped over, I made a bassinet swing.
I just followed the same pattern as the swing but changed it a little to make a bed.

And it works great.  He likes it enough to smile in it and sleep in it.  It might be the best baby item we have so far besides the milk defroster/food cooker/bottle sterilizer we got from a co worker of mine.

So now we're all happy.  Rionn won't go hungry.  I can get things done.  And Jet gets to be outside swinging.