Birthdays and visitors!

April and December are HUGE birthday months for Team DuRoss.  This year was particularly fun because Mindy showed up for a visit shortly after her birthday (which we celebrated with chocolate cake). Then, Tina rolled into town for a few days.  Only to be followed by Oma a day later! With all of us Mulliken girls in one place, and Oma having established a big UT fan club, it seemed logical to throw her a little surprise party for her 70th upon her arrival!  Mindy's presence was supposed to also be a surprise, but yours truly gave up the secret a few weeks ago by accident.  It is too long and convoluted of a story for this blog, but just suffice it to say that there were lots of secrets, busted secrets, laughs, and entertainment that came of the whole thing.   

The Mulliken sisters know how to have a good time.  We went to the zoo, the park, and even had a serious shopping event without kids, which was a real treat.

And then, OMA arrived!  Around 6pm people just started showing up.  It didn't take Oma long to catch on to what was going on.  Good times were had, lots of dessert was eaten, and Oma's sweet soul and 70 years of life celebrated!

Oma stayed for three weeks this time around.  It is amazing how quickly three weeks goes by when you are used to visits of five or nine weeks (those were the last 2 visits).  Nonetheless, we got in a bunch of hikes, a lot of park time, and even a big camping trip which will be chronicled in the next blog entry.  Oma was immensely helpful as usual.  She selflessly cleans toilets, washes and folds laundry, does dishes before I can even get my rubber gloves on, takes on projects I can't seem to get to, including cleaning the laundry room, sewing a million random things that have needed mending, and even helping me get some finances in order that required a lot of phone calls and follow up.  And mostly, she loves Ruby and Owen despite their ups and downs.  She gets right into our schedule whatever that happens to be, and supports in any way she can.  It is pretty awesome.

Constant entertainment

Owen has grown into quite the sweet and thoughtful boy.  The other day, I was coming up the stairs after work, and Owen runs to the top of them saying, "Mama, how was work today?"  He regularly asks me, "Mama, how were your appointments?"  We will be eating breakfast and he will say, "Thanks for making pancakes (or whatever else it is that he is eating), mama."  One day he came scampering around the corner, looks at me and says, " I am happy you are here!"  And, when I was gone for an hour to drop my sister at the airport I returned and he says, "I missed you, mama."  I mean, seriously.  Could that be any more fun?

At the park

Other Owen quotes include, "I am going to Vegas Baby" After Chip returned from a work trip to Vegas, all they wanted to do was ride their cars around pretending they were coming or going from Vegas.  The would go to the "hotel" or "play with toys" in Vegas.  It was hilarious.  Sometimes they will tell me or each other to "be careful" or "have fun!".

Owen "shaving"...with my toothbrush no less!  And, using his "mini ipad" as he calls it (my ipod)

Ruby also likes to say thank you, but usually only after Owen has done it and gotten a good response.  She doesn't miss anything and easily picks up on those social skills and benefits.  She also often asks questions and when I don't know the answer (yes, this happens all the time...what am I going to do when they are in high school!?) she will say, "We need to google that."

Ruby and I share this hat I found at Savers.  We love it.

She is able to recognize words that rhyme.  In fact, if you happen to say two words that rhyme, she will be sure to tell you, "Daddy, that rhymes!"  She also notices if I am wearing new earrings or a new shirt and usually tells me she likes them.  Oma was wearing a new shirt so Ruby pointed out, "Oma, you have a new shirt on."  Oma says, "Ruby, you are too much."  Ruby replies, "I am NOT too much."

This girl is a walking fashion statement most of the time.  I mean seriously, who dressed her this morning!  I wish I could say she picked out her own outfit, but dad would not let that slide.  I am usually the one being busted by the fashion police in our house.  Whoops.

Ruby likes to tells stories about "A bear up on the mountain."  She will yell to get our attention if we are talking saying, "Hey, listen to this.  Hey, guys, listen to THIS!"  And then she goes into the bear on the mt.  Sometimes he comes into our house, sometimes he plays with toys in the woods.  Sometimes we walk with him on the trail.  Chip has told them some version of this story since they were born, so it is adorable to see her start to repeat and create a similar story on her own!

Dad learned to braid!  Pretty good for his first time. :) He is going to benefit from some one on one tutoring with our niece, Madeleine.  She is the braid queen!

When we are having adult conversation and no one has paid attention to them for a bit, Ruby and Owen often ask, "What are you talking about?"

They have started telling on each other a little bit (which is better than biting), which involves one of them saying, "Mommy, Ruby said I couldn't have any snack."  or something like that.  So, I started saying, "Well, Ruby is not the boss (which we quickly changed to "in charge").  Mommy is in charge and you can have snack (or whatever)."  Well, they latched onto that and now, almost daily I am informed that one of them is NOT in charge, that they are in charge of themselves (another phrase we coined), or that Mommy or Daddy are the boss!

Aunt Tina caught this hilarious moment on camera.  Ruby- almost biting Owen.  Owen, bracing for the event.  Dad, saving this one.  Love it.

Life and Death

We still LOVE to play in the car.  This takes place almost daily after returning home from an errand or whatever.  Owen knows where the hazards are, how to turn on the heat, is enchanted with the windshield wipers, and now likes to be buckled in too. 

I am catching up with a few photos I should have included in the Easter entry.  Nana and Papa were here, and they are elusive when it comes to photos, so can't pass up this opportunity to include some, despite their tardiness.  We went to the zoo- this polar bear is really too much.  That is Nana's head there and Owen's reflection in the glass.

Carousel- always a winner.

Mom got in her one and only day of skiing on the resort this winter at PCMR with Nana and Papa. The starts aligned- schedule was free, kids were in daycare, Chip was off, and the weather was beautiful. Yahoo!

Just a cute one. :)

Ruby and Owen came down with a quick 36 hour illness which included a fever and wanting to do nothing but sit on the couch.  This allowed for plenty of time to practice our doctor skills.  Video here too-

It is maybe 40 degrees in this picture.  In Park City, we feel like we are at the beach!  And, we are really excited for spring.  So excited that we are willing to freeze our toes off at a chance to get them wet and sandy at the park.

Another cute one.

Shoulder season does allow for fun activities like "puddle hunts".  On this day, we found the mecca of puddles.  Needless to say,  a change of clothes were in order after this hunt.

Ruby loves her hase (bunny in German- Oma made these for us...Mindy, Gus, Tina and I when we were kids).  This pink one was Tina's.  Owen sleeps with my red one.

Owen loves carrots.

 This is a photo of an evening ski tour and whiskey toast to Craig

Last week, a worst nightmare came true as we learned of the death of a good friend, neighbor, and inspiration, in an avalanche on April 11th.  Craig Patterson was a shining star whose energy and excitement for life was obvious to all who met him.  I am building the courage and thoughts to do a more extensive reflection on him and his impact on me on to add to the blog we started for him.  All I can say for now is that he will be missed and remembered and that we will live his legacy as best we can.  We love you, Craig.

Easter

Easter- another holiday to celebrate. The secular side of this holiday has been my least favorite of any so far.  There was way too much candy, getting, grabbing, and not much effort or involvement on the kid's part.  However, like many things in life, it was not all bad and the baby is not be thrown out with the bathwater.  So, we jumped in and enjoyed many aspects of it.  We did love the egg dyeing and Ruby and Owen now love eating the entire boiled egg, which is new for us.  I do love the idea of a hunt...I just plan on spicing it up with more of a scavenger feel next year (which Nana did this year and they loved!...she is sorta a pro at that. It is a skill I intend to weave into our family culture as well).  Our good friends, Team Kirby, have a tradition of making some amazing Eggs Benedict in conjunction with a potluck, so that was amazing too.  And, we also had an incredible meal with family (both from in and out of town) in the evening! So, here you have it- the first Easter Ruby and Owen really participated in.

First- egg dyeing.  We did a method that involved drawing on a warm eggs with crayons and then dyed the white space with a shaving cream and food coloring approach I found on pinterest or facebook or something.  You roll (or massage in Ruby's case) the eggs in the cream and let it sit for a few minutes, then wash it off (Owen headed up this part- the kitchen sink is his favorite place to "play" these days). It was a mess, but perfect for two year olds.  Owen was in a bad mood for this activity, so Ruby gets the stage for these pics.

 Easter baskets were pretty simple, but fun to hunt for.

 And then, the group egg hunt!  8 kids looking for 80 eggs in our front and side yard as well as the driveway and trail over to Kirbys'.  Broad range of ages and still, went over really well. Owen found one egg and walked around eating its contents the rest of the time.  He did not care about getting any more.  Ruby filled her bag and persevered in areas long after other kids had moved on to other areas.  So typical- their ying and yang approach.

Graham, Owen, Greta, Ruby, Griffin, Tait, Kaya, Aminata

 Brunch!

 Jess and I (mostly Jess- I was just some extra hands when it came to assembly) enjoyed passing out these beautiful plates of edible artwork.  The bloody mary that Stephen made me was pretty gorgeous as well.

 Dinner with the DuRoss'!  Some play with playdough before dinner.

 And, as usual...no great pictures from this part of the day other than this priceless one of Ruby and Owen sticking their fingers into the dessert (brownies, ice cream, and whip cream) while they thought no one else was looking!  Not sure where they would have learned something like this! ;)

Happy Birthday OMA!!!!

Happy Birthday to the woman who has had more influence over my life than anyone else.  And, I couldn't be happier about that fact.  I am fortunate and do not take it for granted.  Neither do Ruby and Owen.  They love their Oma.  Here is a little birthday wish/message from us since we could not be there for your birthday party today.  We CANT wait to see you here in a few weeks!  Love you lots!

https://vimeo.com/63538739