Pursuing a doctorate while my husband is also in school and with both of us working full-time jobs and taking care of three kids is as exhausting as it sounds. Something has to give, and that something is housework. Tonight I’m doing my first load of laundry in weeks. I’m amazed the kids haven’t run out of clean clothes already. The living room is a sty. Every once in a while I pick up a handful of art supplies, books, and socks (yes, socks) and put them in their proper places, but I haven’t had the energy to do a more thorough cleaning, and my allergies are acting up because of all the dust. Aside from emergency milk runs, we haven’t done a proper grocery shopping trip in weeks, so we’ve been subsisting on ready-to-eat meals.

I think that’s why Alex found the movie Julie & Julia so scintillating tonight. Of course any kid would love the over-the-top lobster scene, but when it was time for him to go to bed and the movie hadn’t ended yet, I was totally taken aback when he said, “Aww, this is the best movie.” Of course I had to let him stay up and watch it. Near the end, during the pivotal duck deboning scene, he wanted to know exactly what was happening.

I think I need to get a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I’d like to write about the girls as well, but I’m fading fast, so just a quick update for now. Our kindergartener Ana is reading at an end-of-first-grade-start-of-second-grade level, and her teacher is encouraging her to write more. She likes to write stories about Farmville (yes, the Facebook game). Our 1 1/2 year old Angie has learned how to say “Alex,” which her big brother finds thrilling. (She started saying “Ana” ages ago.) She also laughs a lot, cackles even, which makes the rest of us laugh with her.

Off to bed.

Categories: kids and parenting, school, work-life balance
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2000 Alex was born. I graduated.
2001 We bought our house. I got a new job.
2002 Kevin and I visit New Orleans.
2003 Kevin and I visit NYC. We take Alex to San Diego.
2004 Ana was born. I graduated again.
2005 Kevin graduated. We both got new jobs. We visited London.
2006 We started a major home addition project. We take Alex and Ana to San Francisco.
2007 We finished the home addition. Kevin got a new job. We take Alex and Ana to San Diego.
2008 Angie was born. We got a dog.
2009 I got Lasik surgery. Kevin and I both went back to school.

Categories: home improvement, kids and parenting, pets, pregnancy, school, travel
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Ana has been a big sister for 1.5 years now. She is definitely growing into her role. For over 4 years she was the little sister that followed big brother Alex everywhere, but ever since Angie was born, she has been becoming more of a leader, teaching her baby sister about the world.

Here are some of the things Ana enjoys doing with Angie:

• Helping Angie put on her shoes when we go out.
• Cuddling on the sofa together while watching a Blue’s Clues video.
• Reading books to Angie.
• Putting her clothes on Angie, who finds it hilarious.
• Doodling on the giant dry erase board.
• Playing kitchen.
• Painting with water colors.
• Playing in the playhouse in the backyard.
• Playing in the sandbox in the backyard.
• Singing to Angie. Complete with hand motions.
• Feeding Angie.
• Making Angie laugh with jokes only the two of them understand.

Categories: kids and parenting
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With everything happening in our lives right now, our backyard farming plans have gotten off to a slow start. We had originally planned to have at least weeded the backyard and prepped a couple of patches of dirt to be built up into planters by now, but so far all we’ve done is buy the bricks to build the planters. I should point out, however, that getting a hundred 60-pound bricks home from the store is no small feat.

In the meantime, I’ve been letting the kids play a game called Farmville using my Facebook account. It lets you plant and harvest vegetables, flowers, and trees from the comfort of your computer screen. It also lets you decorate your farm with fun themed items. Right now I have a small cemetery on the corner of my farm, in celebration of Halloween.

Halloween cemetery in Farmville

In addition to my holiday-themed items, I’ve also got a little pond. Eventually I hope to add some buildings.

duck pond in Farmville

But mostly I just enjoy watching the plants grow. I especially like my cherry trees. They provide some nice pink contrast to all the green foliage.

cherry trees and rice paddies in Farmville

I time plantings so that the kids can do the clicking for me. During the week this means choosing plants that will mature right around dinner time. During the weekends I’ve got more flexibility. As far as educational value, both the kids and I are enchanted by the depictions of little bell peppers, egg plants, and wheat stalks. But mostly I’m just glad it’s keeping them excited about the prospect of working in their own garden.

Categories: Facebook, gardening, kids and parenting
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