Leeching

Confession:  I completely and shamelessly take advantage of the knowledge, skills and experience of my parents and siblings.  My immediate family is made up of smart, capable people and I suppose I can't be blamed for badgering them constantly with questions about how they handle life.  For instance, I constantly resist the urge to call my brother Wally to ask medical questions in regard to the kids.  He told me once (before I had kids) that I was the person that called him the most with random questions...how embarrassing!! I wouldn't be surprised if there was a required course in medical school entitled "How to Manage Clueless and Relentless Family Members" with someone matching my description on the cover of the text book.  Sometimes, though I just can't help myself and I give in and call him out of the blue.  I do my best to carry on a conversation to make it seem like I'm not calling to ask a question, but that the question I inevitably ask halfway through the phone call just happened to pop into my head.  I don't know who I think I'm fooling, but it's certainly not Wally.  If I were him, my eyeballs would be sore from the constant rolling following any phone conversation with me.  On top of that, I do the same thing to Ivan (math wiz who can answer any question regarding finances) and Ben (computer genius). Not to mention my Mom (of COURSE.  Need I explain??), Jill, Rachel and Emily (amazing moms and incredible people in general...any one of them can field the most random and/or rambling life question you can throw at them), my Dad (another amazing doctor), and all the sickly amazing people my siblings all married (and are engaged to--yay!!).  Talk about hitting the jackpot, being born into such a crew.   Thank you universe.

Speaking of random, but also of marriage...Zoe asked me today:

Zoe: When will I get married?
Me:  Not until you're an adult...if you even decide you want to, that is.
Zoe:  I do want to..why not until I'm an adult?
Me:  Because when you get married, you promise to be with someone for the rest of your life.  You have to be sure that's what you want.
Zoe:......Maybe just for the rest of the DAY.

Now that Owen is finally feeling better (thank goodness!!) I've been having a lovely time with the kids again..I'm still really tired, because sleeping is still a struggle around here but the older Owen gets and the more they interact the more fun we all have together.  Owen took AWESOME naps today, so Zoe and I had some time to hang out quietly.  I realized that since I've become more interested in craft projects, I had completely forgotten how fun and worthwhile just plain ol' coloring with crayons could be.  Zoe talked me into it today and I was so glad she did.  She wanted to make some pictures for Daddy and we worked at it for a really long time.  She's always shocking me these days at how much more she's capable of when it comes to drawing...here are hers from today:

This is a map of where we live.  The blue squiggles are Boulder and surrounding it is Brooklyn.

This was her take on what I was working on (below).  She said the colors in the middle are our house "See?  It's getting smaller and smaller and smaller?"

I found this idea on the Idea Box for abstract doodle art.  I thought there was a chance she'd be into it, and she kind of was.  She helped me pick out my colors and did her own version (above).  I think this is a great activity for older kids and it really relaxed me to sit and work on it for a bit.  I'm showing you a picture of mine, not because I think it's anything to brag about (seriously, though I am GOOD, aren't I??) but so that you can get an idea of what it can look like...

This afternoon, we had our friends Cameron, Leisel and Marisa over to play.  Cameron and Zoe are really great buddies and apparently for quite a while now, Cameron has been telling his parents that he wants to build a house for Zoe (such a sweetheart!!).  So, they found this cool dollhouse at the craft store that you put together and then can color however you want.  It was so thoughtful and sweet and a great gift because she can just keep adding to it as much as she wants.  They worked on it a bit together while they were here and then after they left, Zoe and Nathan dove into it even further.  Thanks for thinking of Zoe, Cam!!

Teamwork!

Nathan helped her start getting all the accessories put together

I love all the eyes!!