Twin Finn

Finn is 8!!

2011-02-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

Finn turned 8 on Saturday and I am as shocked as everyone else. We had rain on Saturday, so it was a pretty low key birthday. We did have some visitors at the farm and my dad saddled up the horses, so Finn demonstrated his backwards horse riding skills (see below). He says, he only got clothes! But I know for a fact that there was a soccer ball, a back back and a huge lego set. We asked Finn before Christmas if he would consider $100 instead of having a birthday party and he JUMPED at the money. I just know what a pain winter parties are too plan and our house is just too small to have a crowd of 8 year olds bouncing off the walls. There is always the option of a pool or soccer party, but those would cost more than $100 and require planning.

Then I made a comment that I wish we could afford to go do something fun for his birthday, like go to Great Wolf Lodge (after I knew they had their rates on sale) and he offered me the $100 back to put towards a family getaway, in celebration of his birthday of course. Because I am not a crowd person, and the lodge is an indoor water park, involving bathing suits and his birthday fall right near Presidents day, we scheduled it for a weekday get away. All the boys are excited as it's rapidly approaching.
Quincy is recovering...It's been a week and every day he has said at least once, that he wants his tonsils back. His pain is intense and the liquid tylenol with codeine is disgusting. He missed school today and had probably the worst day so far. He got out and rode his bike, just for a short time the day after surgery, and has ridden every day since, except today. Here he is napping, looking so innocent a few days ago. The doctor talked to us after his surgery and said both the tonsils and adenoids were huge and really needed to be removed. I'm glad we made the decision to do it now, not later.

No Tonsils for Q

2011-02-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas was great...simple and fairly easy when you plan for months! Santa Spent big bucks on a jeep for Quincy and Paxton. Santa got off easy and brought Finn a telescope and soccer goals! Most of our gifts were handmade or second hand or bought well in advance. Alvin got me a vaccuum, and I love it! Finn Wrestled the past few months. I love it because it's affordable and makes him exhausted. They only had one tournament and they wrestled a team that was hardcore. He didn't win either of his 2 matches, but he didn't get pinned either (one was against a girl).

Our big news is that Quincy is getting his tonsils and adnoids removed on Tuesday. I recently read an article suggesting a connection between children diagnosed with behavior problems and sleep apnea. I have said since his behavior started that he seemed like he wasn't getting enough sleep. He snores like me and I am 40 and overweight! His tonsils are huge and they stay the same size always (sick or healthy). We went to see a few doctors and both agreed that they needed to go eventually, and it's easier younger. And hopefully behaviors can still be changed!

Think of us as we will be eating lots of ice cream and popsicles next week!

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it's almost Christmas. When things in my life get "tough" I clam up and don't post much. It's been a tough few months! But, I'll try to be better about posting, if my kids cooperate.

Speaking of not cooperating, we were having a very difficult time with the oldest. Love the kid to death, but he's like every other first born and trying to parent his brothers. On top of being bossy, he's quick to anger and the instigator in most of the problems around the house. So, we took advantage of the season and stole the tradition of the Elf on the Shelf. Santa had the elf delivered to the door with a personal letter to the boys after I called him begging for help. Here's Finn reading the letter. Since Waldorfs (our elfs name) arrival, Finn has been trying to be kinder and less bossy, and he is thrilled when Waldorf brings back letters from Santa.

Last week, we had a short visit with Sol and Sabine. It was very last minute, but my parents arranged for some family photos...that's my parents in costume. Pictures had to be Tuesday afternoon, and afternoons aren't good for my kids, but we pressed on. Pictures didn't turn out very well, but we had a good time with lots of laughs.The twins went to their 4 year old check ups, Finally! I got it right this year and took them on seperate days. 2 screaming kids in one exam room just doesn't work for me, especially when one needs to be held down for shots and the other needs to be cuddled after getting his. Paxton went first and had a little accident, and had to remove his underwear...and I couldn't resist.
He did great, even talked to the Dr a little, whereas Quincy wouldn't cooperate at all and made me carry him to the car because his legs hurt so bad!Alvin picked out our tree this year, because it was easier than all of us trekking out to argue which tree to get. He and the kids did the decorating! I'm a fan of white lights and the boys ALL like colored, so we compromised with colored twinkling lights at the trunk and white all around. This arrangement won't work next year because Finn thinks it's boring...along with all my non kid friendly ornaments. Good thing Dad bought "fun" ornaments because more ornaments were broken in decorating this year than all other years combined.And today, our little friend Waldorf found his seat in the tree. It's a good place to see the entire family area and take all the things he learns back to Santa!

Weathering the Storm

2010-11-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is a halloween picture, which I never posted. My little cuties loved dressing up, but it was pretty easy. Paxton wanted to wear the same costume as last year, Quincy was sick last year, but was happy to wear our cowboy get up and Finn wanted to be a vampire, just like last year. But since we had borrowed last years costume, I had to make a cape and necklace. They turned out great, and I think the cape will be used a few times. More recently, we had a storm! Monday before Thanksgiving, it starts snowing. I took Finn to the bus stop and there were just traces of snow, but it started snowing again on the way home. When I went to put the twins on their school bus at about 11:00, I felt like I was in the midwest, like putting your kids on the bus in the middle of a snow storm, was normal. I fretted while they were at school and cleaned house. When all the boys were home, I relaxed and prepared for the power to go out.

Okay, where we live, we expect the power to go out! This year, the power company trimmed a ton of tree branches back, but that doesn't do much good when a tree takes down the power lines! We were with out power 41 hours total, from Monday night until Wednesday morning. Normally, that isn't a long time, but along with the 4 inches of snow, we had hard winds and very cold temperatures.

And no power, when you live out from a city, means no water (we are on a well) no heat (we have radiant heat which needs power to circulate the water) as well as no electronics, no lights, etc.

So how'd we do it? Well, I write this in case you are like us and need a few new ideas, or just to have it written down! But, I would also love your ideas that would help us during the next outage.

If you have warning, finish your laundry and don't start a new load.
Fill up a basin of water (I use a pitcher with a pour spout) and put it by the kitchen sink.
Unload the dishwasher and make sure your sink is empty. Rinse dirty dishes in basin and put directly into the dishwasher.
Put a pitcher of water in the bathroom (we only have one, but if you have many bathrooms, water goes in each one) use this for washing or toothbrushing.
I have a dish soap bottle that I fill with water and add a few drops of soap for washing hands. Just squirt a little water on them!
Fill the bathtub! (I'm always amazed when people don't know you can flush a toilet by adding water into the bowl, the faster you pour, the less water it takes to send solids away) We use the water in the tub for hand washing and flushing.
Close off unnecessary rooms. Smaller spaces heat faster and since we only have a fireplace, not a wood stove, we can't heat much! We planned for the boys to sleep in the living room and closed off their room.
Put towels at base of all doors, to keep drafts out and heat in.
When it starts to get dusky, give each child a glow stick (must get more) or bracelet. They can hang them off their bodies with out loosing them and they have a little night light!
Down comforters for everyone. Down alternative isn't the same...we all sleep warmly with just a down comforter. (for small children, get an oversized down throw from overstock, and sew it in half)
The less you open your refrigerator, the better, so put milk and other foods you get out a lot, outside (if it's cold).
Tin Foil dinners! If you rub a cookie sheet with dish soap (helps wash the soot away when finished), you can cook a tin foil dinner on top of the coals for easy removal. Although you won't want to use the cookie sheet for cookies again!
Barbeques work for cooking food too, but not so great for casseroles, if you can stand outside to cook it.
Wear a hat inside if you start to get cold. My kids always tell me how stupid I look in my down vest and bad hat, but at least I am warm.
The minute the power comes on, turn on the dishwasher, wash down the counters and head for the shower (water stays hot for a few days in the water heater), because you never know if it's going to go out again!

We have downstairs neighbors that have a wood stove and that really helped to keep us warmer! And they could take water downstairs in a pan and warm it up for us. We didn't have warm coffee, but since we cold brew coffee, we did have iced lattes!

What tricks do you use for survival? We also spent time with my mom and dad, who have a wood stove big enough to cook on, but that isn't an option for all!

School Pictures

2010-10-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

Who are these handsome boys?

Mimi bought them the shirts before school started and I'd forgotten Finn wore his for school pictures and dressed the twins alike.

Bee Stings and Stitches again!

2010-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started okay, but didn't stay that way for long. I woke the kids up and Finn proceeded to get dressed, but Quincy sat on the couch, refusing milk (unusual for the kid who drinks milk 5 times a day). A little while later he complained that he had to throw up, but didn't. I left to take Finn to the bus and went on my walk (trying to go get some ME time before anyone notices I am missing). When I returned, Alvin informed me that Quincy needed to go to the doctor because he was feverish and his hand was the significantly swollen.

Let me break for a minute and tell you what I haven't blogged about. In Denver, Alvin was digging a trench and dug into a wasp nest (underground) and was stung multiple times...like 25! Finn got stung too. A few days later, while working in the same area, he was stung a few times again. When we returned, he was working at my parents and disturbed a yellowjacket nest (under some plants and he didn't know about it) and was stung again, multiple times. The boys got a few stings here and there, but nothing major. Then Alvin was helping my dad with his honey bees and insisting that he was going to get stung (should have thought positively) and sure enough, he got stung on the forearm. The next day his arm was throbbing and swollen and a trip to the Doctor means Alvin now has a bee allergy. Saturday, I was inside canning and my parents and Alvin were out working on our yard when my mom moved some branches and found ANOTHER yellow jacket nest. Paxton and Quincy were both stung at least 5 times.

Back to my story...

Quincy had been stung on the hand and that was the cause of the swelling, but another sting on his stomach was swollen and feverish. I decided early that morning, that I needed to switch pediatricians. I love our doctor, but a 30 minutes drive was more than I could handle and would likely mean missing school, but I had baked cookies to celebrate Quincys birthday and HE WAS NOT GOING TO MISS SCHOOL. Luckily there is a branch of the clinic locally and they could get us in by 9:15. Ah, my day is going back to easy!

Dr. tells me that it's just an infection and infections in the hand spread very quickly and he needs benedryl and antibiotics. We rush to the pharmacy and that script isn't ready. Pick up a few groceries and it still isn't ready, so Quincy picks out a balloon because he was so good at the doctor, but school is going to start. I go home, make the boys lunch and the 3 of us go to Quincys school. After lunch and celebrating with cookies, Pax and I left and went to get stuff for dinner and Quincy's medicine. Come home, get Quincy off the bus and I hear Quincy telling Paxton that the doctor is really nice and if you go see him, you can get a pirate balloon. Finn gets home a few minutes later and I laid down on my bed while talking to my mom and telling her how exhausting my day had been...when Finn starts yelling! Paxton has hit his head on the corner of the kitchen counter. It's bleeding like head wounds do, but when I looked at it, I had to call my mom back and ask her to come over. We conclude that although the bleeding has stopped, he is going to need stitches. We did wait an hour and 45 minutes, because the local doctors office couldn't squeeze us in for ANOTHER appointment and their urgent care opened at 5:00 (local people, did you know there is an urgent care here now?--opened last week). The doctor confirmed the worst, that we had no other option, since you could see the skull and Pax was terrified. He was a trooper, played on my phone and only cried during the anesthetic shots. By 7:00 we left with 5 stitches and Paxton was the very first person to use the brand new procedure room there!

And it was only after we got the kids in bed, that I realized I had 3 kids coming over in the morning for the twins "birthday party"/ normal tuesday playdate with balloons. Fortunately, today was much better and I haven't had to take anyone to the doctor...YET! Although Finn suggested that I take him in because he had a stuffed up nose and he really wanted a pirate balloon.

They are 4!

2010-09-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it was 4 years ago that our family went from 3 to 5 in just a few minutes. Paxton's first photo!

Quincy's first Photo!

Our first family picture

Today, we celebrated with dinner of Pesto (aka pesto the besto--the boys favorite) homemade bread and spinach dip. Both boys wanted a different kind of cake...strawberry cake for Paxton and applesauce cupcakes for Quincy. The boys have various gifts, but both really wanted a pillow pet! And they will soon be nestled in bed, Paxton with his penguin and Quincy with his lion. Mimi and I took the boys a few weeks ago to one of those paint your own pottery, to make banks for the boys and the results were fantastic. Here are the most recent pictures of the boys, painting their banks!

Paxton painting his birthday gift from Mimi and Bubba
Quincy working on his birthday gift from Mimi and Bubba!

Owls?

2010-09-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

I knew we had owls here, I just didn't know they were big ones. Last night, when we got home from dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant this guy was sitting on our swingset. Our camera isn't working well, so these are from my i-phone. The "guy" let me get within 10 feet of him, and then I backed away. Anyone know what kind of owl it is?

FInn's in Second greade!

2010-09-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Finn started Second grade. He was a little nervous, because he knew nothing about his teacher, but after a visit to the classroom the day before school, he seemed more excited (finding out which of his friends were in class with him helped) .

Coming home from his 3rd day of school, his bus was early so he walked home from the bus himself. Finn hung up his backpack, put his shoes up on the shoe shelf and showered me with love and affection. I asked him where "my" Finn was! He explained that his teacher had talked to the class...and in his own words...

"everybody has an invisible bucket above their head, and it's filled with happiness and love. And whenever someone is mean to you, they dip from your bucket. And when ever they dip into your bucket, you get sadder and angrier. and the way you can fill a bucket is to be nice to them. If they get a smile, you are filling their bucket. And when your bucket is empty, you are really really really angry and sad. " Then he said to me, "I'm doing nice ."things to fill your bucket, because I empty it a lot. And today he is asking if he can help with chores, to fill my bucket. I just want to kiss his teacher today and I hope she reminds them about these buckets often!

Today is Saturday and I think I just heard him say, "I wish today was a school day."

I intend to blog about our trip to Colorado, our great bike ride and trip to the fair/rodeo, but first I must get our house in order, get most of the kids in school, get caught up on laundry or at east want to get away from those tasks long enough to sort through photos and take time to type it all out.

School Lunches?

2010-08-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year...school is starting! I feel terrible for saying this, but I CAN'T WAIT.

I was talking to a friend of mine today about brown bagging lunches. Finn always takes a lunch and usually buys milk. However, often, I find myself laying in bed, wondering what the heck I am going to pack for lunch. Do you do this too? I bet you do!

So, please leave a comment with some of your great lunch ideas. Wednesday, when Finn is at school, I will repost all your comments and toss in a few of my own.

This year is going to be a great one...at least for Finn's lunches!

200th post!

2010-07-11T20:22:00.001-07:00

Sadly, I have been terrible about posting...I tried to upload a video of Finns school concert, where he did sign language to "what a wonderful world," and it wouldn't work. I wanted Alvin's mom to see how serious Finn was, and...well I got bummed out and haven't posted since.

For the 4th of July we actually headed downtown for more than the parade...normally, we skip all the extra stuff, but this year, Finn's teacher was reading stories in a tent and Finn wanted to see her...here they are together. Last night, and the night before, both Paxton and Quincy wet their beds...yeah, that's 4 sheets to wash! SO tonight as I was remaking their beds, Quincy saw a baby blanket that he really wanted to use, Finn wanted one too, and since my friend Sarah gave all the boys blankets for their births, they each went to sleep with their blankets.

Sarah also gave us the crib sheets that are on the boys beds...I'd say these were great gifts!

Finn's toes might get cold, but he's really happy!

For Fathers day, I gave Alvin a GPS so we could go geocaching! It has been a huge hit and so far I have been to many places I haven't been to in all the times I have lived here. Today, we hit the North Kitsap Heritage Park and hiked several miles, all under the guise of looking for caches. We are headed to Oregon next weekend, and then headed to Denver and have already looked at caches in both areas!

Paxton can ride a bike!

2010-06-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's not really new "news" because he has done it for a while, but it's been too rainy for me to stand outside and take pictures.

Today, we saw that Paxton can get on his bike and get going, with out help (Q still needs assistance). Paxton loves his new talent and was outside at 9am to show my sister his skills.

Here's a video for grandma...or anyone else who wants to be amazed.

And this is what happens when you leave your goggles on too long in your bath.

More on Mothers Day

2010-05-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

I was showered with lots of "gifts" from my boys for Mothers day and here are a sampling of some!
Here's Fith with a "cake" all made of Legos! And it says MOM on the top. And Finn made some things in art class: a basket and a clay pocket for flowers (it hangs on the wall)

Quincy made me a lego creation too! ANd some art work from school. Pax did too, but I don't have any pictures of him.

And here's Quincy and I on the beach looking for glass. Alvin got me a trailer hitch and had it put on the car (I just can't call it a mini van, even though it is!). Our goal is to find a bike rack to go on it, second hand! But by far the greatest gift was...this!

Okay, not a shower, or a shower head, but Alvin replaced the bath spout and now our shower sends all the water on my head and shoulders with decent pressure. The old spout was broken and sprayed water all over your legs and feet, and home depot doesn't sell a replacement. I got to take a long shower and it was magnificent!

Mothers Day

2010-05-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

Since I last posted, Quincy has quit riding his bike and favors riding behind me on the trail-a-bike. Which is great, when I am riding, but not great for the other times. We took a bike ride from our house to a local beach about a month ago, 5.4 miles each way and Quincy talked to me the whole time and occasionally provided me with "rocket power" when I needed it, and sometimes when I didn't. The following week, we went for a trail ride and I am almost convinced that he sat back there and let me do all the work.

Paxton doesn't have a need to ride a bike and is happy to ride his "no-pedal" bike. We tried him on the trail-a-bike, but he was scared and wants to ride in the trailer behind daddy. He's so cute back there, encouraging us, laughing and egging us on.

Finn was thrilled to ride on the road for that 10+mile ride. We don't let him on the road normally, but we did with 4 adults and I don't think we can reel him back to the trail-a-bike.

Our family has been plagued by a cough for the past week and now Quincy and Finn have it, and had to miss school today, probably tomorrow too! Because of that, we opted to celebrate Mothers Day very casually. Alvin made me breakfast (with mimosas!) and we took the kids to hunt for beach glass at Glass Beach. While we were gone, we left all the windows of the house open, in hopes of blowing all the crud out, but instead I think it let in allergens and Alvin is suffering now.

Because I like to post pictures, the one at the top was a while ago, after a bath with teir cousin Emily. The other is the boys coloring in their new Hawaii shirts, compliments of Cousins Sol and Sabine.

Quincy can ride a bike

2010-04-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, it was because Finn had learned to ride a bike. Never did I imagine that Quincy would be riding a bike just 2 years later. But here he is, riding on 2 wheels! We tried to get him on to a smaller bike that he could get on by himself, but he wouldn't have it. So needs someone to hold the bike steady while he gets on, but the rest is all Quincy!

Fearless Quincy

2010-04-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

If you are a facebook friend, you probably alrady saw this...my little 3 1/2 year old is almost ready for a realy bike, with out training wheels. They sell bikes with no pedals to help kids learn the principals of balance, but I just can't afford $100 for a bike ($200 if I buy for both boys) they will only use for a short time, and I can't find any used. But I really wanted one after watching a video on You Tube.

So I made my own. My mom bought this little bike for Finn when he was 2 and it never worked right. He rode it, as did the twins, but the chain would lock up every few pedals. So I took off the training wheels, the pedals and the chain, pumped a tire, replaced an inner tube and bought new grips and we were good to go.

We are trying to get Paxton to ride it as well, and after today, I think you might see video of him soon!

Best thing I've ever done for myself!

2010-04-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went to bed early...10:15 is early for me and it was a great idea. However, one child woke at 11:15 whining, usually a sign that he has to go to the bathroom. I got up with him, then he woke again at 3am and came in my bed and I didn't stop him. I wish I would have because he proceded to wake me ever few minutes by cuddling up to me, kicking or touching me. Then another child woke up at 6:15 and had to come tell me he was awake...why do they do this. I had to get up with him to turn the tv to an appropriate channel and turn the volume down. 20 minutes later he came in to tell me he wanted milk. When I finally got up at 6:45, I walked to the kitchen sink and took 4 advil to combat the massive headache I had.

How do people go with out sleep? I did it for years, and quite frankly, it was a mistake. I think sleep deprivation is partly to blame for my weight issues, because you lack good judgement (what you eat and when can be bad judgement). You think the kids are to blame for the sleep deprivation, don't you? Well, they are partly to blame too!

But this is what I blame...

Okay, you can't really see it, but it's carpal tunnel. I had it for years, but it got worse with pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Finn, I wasn't able to eat with a fork for more than a few bites, with out having to put my hands down and let feeling come back to my fingers (maybe that is why I gained minimal weight with both pregnancies). I tried everything...used to wear a magnetic bracelet, which helped. I had many massages, that left me crying in pain, but ultimately helped for a few weeks. I used to dip my arms in pans of water with tons of ice for 30 seconds at a time (harder than it sounds) and I still wore wrist splints to bed almost every single night. And even then, I would wake with numb fingers, hands or arms.

When the twins were born, I was getting up to feed them every 90 minutes (that's a whole other post) and during my 90 minnutes of sleep, I was waking every 15-20 minutes to roll over and move my arms. And if you knew me then, you might now understand why I couldn't connect words to make a sentence.

Alvin and I decided that it was time to solve the problem. I'm one of those people who like to try alternative medicine and think they have something to offer, but I believe that Western Medicine has great benefits. I had nerve testing done and discovered that my carpal tunnel was moderately severe in one hand and really severe in my other. I had surgery when the twins were 9 months old, first on my right hand (deciding that if it was too hard, I wouldn't do the other, but at least the hand I use for everything, was fixed) and 3 months later on the left.

And since the first night post surgery, I have not woken up because of pain in my hands. Enlarge that picture...you might see a scar, but I had to look at the picture and then look at my hand to find it.

There isn't really a point to my post, except I think I learned not to wait until things got so bad to fix a problem. I wonder how I would have been changed if I had the surgery before I had kids: would I have been a different kind of mother? Would my kids be happier because I was happier with them during those night feedings?

And if you suffer from carpal tunnel (I see tons of people around town with their wrists in braces and I tell them the same thing), go see Dr. Buckmiller in Seattle. Tell him a satisfied customer sent you!

Easter!

2010-04-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Alvin's gone, again! And we had to opportunity to go with him to Utah, but choose to stay home, in hopes we'd have nice weather and do a little stay-cationing! And we didn't have good weather, but then Utah had snow, so we are sad to say, we didn't have an exciting spring break. But Alvin is going to be later getting back than he had hoped which means I would have had to drive back alone with the kids, or Finn and Quincy would have missed most of next week too!

The beginning of the week, we worked on switching rooms, Again! Alvin hates this task and so I keep doing it when he is away. I've moved all the boys to the big room, and that keeps them, their toys and their noise away from most of the house. They are really excited about the change and the twins really like sleeping with their big brother.

Thursday, we went over to some friends house, but cut our trip short when I noticed Finn's eyes weren't looking too good. We came home and I put some medicine that I had left over in them and by the next morning, they looked healed.

Friday, we headed off in the POURING rain, to Silverdale where we shopped and ate lunch at Red Robin (thanks Clare for the coupons!) as a reward for the boys sleeping in their room all night long! The Boys were on their best behavior and I was really proud of themFriday night, I decided to put meds in Finn's eyes, and it was a struggle. I had to pin him to the floor, put my knees on his elbows and use both hands to open his eyes! Turns out we should have done it a few times on Friday, because by Saturday morning, the pink eye was back.
Saturday was pretty uneventful: cleaned the house, played outside when it wasn't raining and colored our easter eggs. The Easter Bunny came and was very good to the boys (all on sale and I surprised even myself). They were all so happy, I don't think they noticed they didn't get any candy except a choc. bunny. I had to take Finn to the Doctor early, so he could get on antibiotics for a full 24 hours and make it to school tomorrow! When we returned we hunted for easter eggs...and only had hard boiled eggs to search for.After finding them all, the boys all sat on Mimi and Bubba's front porch and ate eggs! Quincy didn't like them much, but Finn and Pax ate at least 2 each. We spent the majority of the day inside playing with our new toys (wii nerf was a big hit, but I probably should have thought about all the shooting before they got it). We had dinner with mim and Bubba later in the day and the boys have gone to bed early! I'm ready for things to return to normal and have a few hours, almost to myself, while Finn and Quincy are in school!

And hopefully, Alvin will return on Wednesday night.

Food Revolution!

2010-03-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Got my computer back just a few hours ago and it's wonderful to be sitting in the center of the house and using it. I'd been using Alvins for a week and while it's nice and fast, it is stuck in a room and not nearly as convenient as mine. This was a lesson to me and I am going to be certain to back up my pictures onto an external hard drive more often (especially since it's always plugged into my computer). Luckily, the only problem was a fried power supply, but it could have been much, much worse!

Tonight, because it's the first night of spring break, I allowed the boys to stay up until 10 (helped that Q had a 3 hour nap this afternoon) and then allwed them to sleep on the floor in Finn's room. However, tonight was the premier of Jamie Olivers Food Revolution on TV and I really wanted to watch it. Lately, Finn has begged to buy lunch at school and I wanted him to watch it too, and so I let the twins watch as well.

Let me just say, I'm totally opposed to Finn buying school lunch, because even thought they always offer salad, the majority of the offerings are processed...and if you read me regularly, you know I am trying to get away from processed (but I will admit, sometimes it tastes good!) Every morning, I wake and make Finn a lunch. Sometimes he gets chips and cookies, but I still feel good about what he is eating.

So Jamie (we're on a first name basis now) goes into this elementary school and tries to change eating habits of kids...and he is met with adults who are totally opposed to change and don't want to even try to help "our" children, mostly because it means more work for them! At one point, he goes into a first grade class room and asks the students to name the vegetables he is holding up. Not one of them knew what a tomato was (And my kids, age 3, are hollering out the right answers, making their mama proud!)!

Sadly, the lunch ladies were opposed to having a meal that required a knife and fork...and it was pointed out to school staff that they were in the business of teaching children, but they weren't willing to teach them to eat using utensils. Because of that, teachers and principals walked among students to assist and kids ate a healthier lunch. Interesting, more attention, better eating habits! Isn't that why our family eats dinner together!

Anyway, I applaud Jamie, the show, the producers for trying to make Americans healthier. I hope that others are inspired to start a revolution of their own. As for me, we'll be eating even less processed foods, less HFCS, less MSG, less canola oil and healthier portions! And I might even go eat with my kids at school more often!

What I read...

2010-03-18T17:30:00.003-07:00

Just finished reading this (well, listening to) and it was incredible.

Jen made me read it, because she wanted someone to talk about the book with. It was so good, you want to share it. Here's the authors web page says about it.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end—but instead she discovers it is only just beginning. With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story" (mostlyfiction.com).
Moloka’i has become a favorite selection of reading groups across the country and has appeared on the BookSense Extended Paperback Bestseller list, as well as the bestseller lists of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Time, and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.

"Moloka’i is a big, generous, compassionate, beautifully rendered epic novel...an exquisitely textured tale of darkness and light, tragedy and the triumph of the human spirit, filled with original, fully realized characters who walk right off the page and into our hearts."- Jim Fergus, author of One Thousand White Women: The Journals Of May Dodd
"A dazzling historical saga."- The Washington Post
“A moving story...a vivid picture of Hawaii before it became the Touristland it is today.” - Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove
"Moloka'i is a haunting story of tragedy in a Pacific paradise. The book opens a window on a world of dazzling beauty, and ugly disease and fear, and the courage of a young woman in the Hawaii of a hundred years ago. It is a story of romance and humanity, and struggle with the pain of isolation, in a place faraway in time, yet very close in intimacy and vividness, exact detail, giving us a sense of community and true kinship across time. It is a story of victory." - Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek
"Compellingly original... Brennert's compassion makes Rachel a memorable character, and his smooth storytelling vividly brings early twentieth-century Hawaii to life. Leprosy may seem a macabre subject, but Brennert transforms the material into a touching, lovely account of a woman's journey as she rises above the limitations of a devastating illness." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A generous portrait of a brave full life—Rachel Kalama's disease draws her into healing friendships with troubled Sister Catherine, with roommate Leilani who was born in the wrong body, with her true love Kenji, and more, all in a beautiful land that's both prison and refuge. Alan Brennert has brought eighty years of little-known history to engrossingly specific life—as inspiring as it is heart-breaking." - Jonathan Strong, author of A Circle Around Her
“A poignant story” - Los Angles Times
“Moloka’i transported me to a place I never thought I'd want to go—a 19th century Hawaiian leper colony. But Alan Brennert meticulously paints this world, making it resonate with our own, in which disease is still politicized and made a moral issue. Out of the tragedy of the ostracized and the afflicted, he tells a story of triumph and transcendence.” - Karen Essex, author of Kleopatra and Pharaoh
“A story that has long needed telling... Instead of elaborating on the horrors of the disease in order to build up drama, as a less skillful writer might have done, Brennert recognizes [the patients’] dignity and respects them.” - mostlyfiction.com
"Alan Brennert draws on historical accounts of Kalaupapa and weaves in traditional Hawaiian stories and customs.... Moloka'i is the story of people who had much taken from them but also gained an unexpected new family and community in the process." - Chicago Tribune
“Moloka’i fits my definition of a good book, even a great book, because it wraps a riveting personal story around real-life events.” - BookBrowse.com
“An engrossing story...a most moving novel but based on facts.”- Connie Martinson Talks Books
"[An] absorbing novel...Brennert evokes the evolution of—and hardships on—Moloka'i in engaging prose that conveys a strong sense of place."- National Geographic Traveler
"Moving and elegiac." - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

If you've read it, please leave your thoughts on the book. And let me know when you read it what you thought. And now, I think I want to read his newest book, Honolulu!

Been a While

2010-03-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

So in the time I didn't update my blog, a lot has happened. And I would love to post pictures, but...you knew there was a but, right? A power outage 2 days ago took out my computer. It's hopefully just a power issue and not the hard drive, so I am trying to stay calm...all the boys pictures are on there and not backed up.

Finn celebrated his 7th birthday, the day we returned from Saint Thomas. His mimi got him a remote control hummer that he LOVES. Alvin and I bought him this toy that he saw on a commercial and HAD to have...he's pleased with it, but it isn't something he can really use around his brothers.

Alvin and I had an argument (I probably started it) and I told him he needed to have more passion in his life. This got him motivated (I think) to start work on the garage. In just a few weeks, he has redone the power to the garage and he can now use the tools that have been gathering rust for 4 years. If you don't know what he is capable of building yet, you will be surprised. He is so talented and remodeling kitchens and bathrooms just doesn't show his skill. I doubt that will pay the bills, but at least he can continue to do remodels. He discovered this week that the entire back wall of the garage has to be rebuilt because it's rotten and hopefully that will be an easy task and he can add some windows to make it less dreary.

This weekend we got the garden ready and I planted peas before St. Patricks day. In utah, we were alwasys told to plant peas then, but I have been told to do it about Presidents day here...oops.

While Paxton and I were planting peas, because the power had gone out and we had nothing else to do, my cell phone rang. It's unusual that I would have my cell phone in my pocket, but I was glad I did. It was Quincy's school. The power was also out there, but while he was on the playground, he had a fall. He hit his head on the pole that holds up the monkey bars and was sporting a goose egg and because of it, they didn't want to send him home on the bus. I rushed to the school, a trip that normally takes less than 10 minutes, but it took more than 20 because of the trees that had knocked out the power. And of course, now school was out and I had to try to find a place to park in the chaos of parents picking up their kids (Come on people...let them ride the bus!). His teacher said she had never seen a bump develop so quickly and she was very worried because of it...I confessed to her on the phone when she called the next morning that he already had a bump there from a previous injury and there was just a little swelling on top. We asked Q what happened and he said he was trying to go across on the monkey bars and let go when he realized he wasn't going to make it. I would have been surprised if Paxton did that, but not Quincy.

Quincy is loving school. Well, he despises the bus, but I think he's a bit afraid of the bus driver. He says he had a good day at school every day and likes talking about his friends there.

Paxton loves speech therapy, but I felt like that wasn't enough and enrolled him in swimming. We have a lot of water around the farm and swimming is a skill I think our kids have to have. Paxton disagrees and after 2 weeks of swimming, refused to get in the pool and would not let the teacher touch him. I finally pulled him out because it wasn't worth the effort I was putting into it. However, I am going to try to get him to go swimming with me when Quincy is in school 2 days a week. BUT his speech has drastically improved and he likes to tell you that babies say things, but he can say it not like a baby anymore.

Sun has finally started making appearances in our days. HOORAY! It's beautiful out there, but COLD today. But I threw the arguing kids out there and suppose I should go check on them.

St. Thomas Recap

2010-02-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Had a great time and nothing more needs to be said, but since this is like my journal, here's how the trip went.

Friday, left the kids with Brooke and headed for the airport at 10:30am. Arrived in Houston in time for dinner (their time) and was there unil midnight. Flew into Puerto Rico, and was there as the sun rose and we waited for a few more hours. All these delays were because we were trying to escape the snow in the east, but it was a little long. We finally arrived at the resort in St. Thomas at 9:00am Saturday, and they were surprised that we wanted to check in so early! We actually ate, then checked in, showered and hit the beach. Amy and Bob got back from their dive in time to have lunch with us and we kicked around (snorkled) until our scuba refresher class that afternoon. For dinner I had my first one pound lobster tail and we had a little get together with all Amy's family that night before finally going to bed.

Sunday we woke in time for breakfast with all the other divers and headed out on the boat for our first dive in open water in 8+ years. It was as fantastic as I remembered, but I had some challenges with bouyancy. Alvin buddied with Bob and I with Amy and we saw some amazing things. I've been told you can see the same things snorkeling that you can diving, but that is not at all accurate! Amy loves looking at the little things and when you can't really communicate it's hard to understand what you are seeing. Amy had told me about Pederson shrimp that will give you a little manicure and she kept trying to get me to rest my hand down and wait for it to get down to business, but I just couldn't do it. Our room was being made up when we got back, so we went to lunch in our bathing suits (weird for me). We headed into town, thinking we could do some souvenier shopping, but the cruise ships were heading out and the vendors were closing shop. We returned in time for dinner, more lobster and super bowl party on the beach. Actually, I watched a few minutes of the game and went to put pictures on here for the boys and chat with Amy.

Monday, more diving! Amy brought her camera and let me take some pictures (can't seem to load them on here because they are TIFF files and can't change them to JPEG). On the boat, there are talk of eels, and how they have curved teeth that don't let go if they bite you. Down in the water, we see an eel and I'm up close trying to get a picture, but feeling too close and uneasy, when Alvin comes and grabs my leg. Well, Amy said he touched me, but I was so afraid of that little eel, that I screamed and jumped toward the eel. Nothing happened, but I was terrified. Can't recall the day activities, but we had dinner with 16 people that lasted forever and I ate Lobster, again!

Tuesday, was our day to sleep in and opted not to go diving. We went to breakfast and took out a kayak into the bay. We got called back by one of the resort guys, who I swear, was just looking for an excuse to go out on the jet ski! We went out for our first ever night dive...and it was fascinating. Keep in mind it's dark and the only lights come from our flashlights, so Amy points to something and all the sudden, I'm brave and I think, "I'll go for that shrimp mani now," and I put my hand down in front of what she is pointing at. She is an amazing friend...she smacks my hand away when she realizes what I am thinking, because that is an arrowhead crab (again, can't get pictures) that can apparently draw blood with it's sharp pointy claws! We saw the red eyes of shrimp, all kinds of fish and Bioluminescence (but you had to turn off your light for that -I was scared at first). We saw a few little sting rays which scared me, but as we were coming up to the surface, we saw 2 of these.

And this one was bigger than my dining room table! I couldn't get to a safe spot fast enough. When we got to the surface, it was pitch black with more stars visible in the sky than I'd ever imagined! Of course, there were 2 cruise ships lit up like cities floating off on the horizon so we could see where the water ended and the sky began. Back to shore, had a late dinner and that night I didn't have lobster.

Wednesday was Amy's big day. Alvin went out diving and I slept in again! Alvin said it was the best day of diving he had (so I missed out!). Instead, I got to have breakfast with my dear friend and her mother and grandmother. We then headed out on the water on an aqua trike for a little fun time before she had to start getting ready! I had lunch with Alvin and Bob while fetching lunch for Amy (service was pretty slow). I got ready and hung out with Amy while she finished getting ready. The wedding was on the beach and it was beautiful! After the wedding, the couple had rented the catamaran and took all the wedding guests out for a sunset cruise! It was amazing, but my camera batteries had died! (I'm waiting for Amy to return and compile everyone's pictures on a CD for me). We all had dinner at the beach bar, which was celebrating Carnival that night, and laughed as Amy, the good sport that she is, stood on a table and sang "Take me out to the Ball Game" in front of 200 plus guest that came for the Resorts Festivities!

Thursday, it came to an end, after breakfast and packing, we departed for the airport at 11am and prayed for snow in Newark the entire way to the airport. We finally arrived back home at midnight local time. And it took me 4 days to not feel jet lagged anymore!

It was a great trip and made better by good friends and new friends! Today, I spent the day looking for tropical family trips...not that we will be able to afford them for a few years!

More vacation pictures!

2010-02-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, I really want to be with Amy right now, partly because she had a freak accident on day 2 of her honeymoon but mostly because she is still in the Caribbean! Somehow, she had a full scuba tank, connected to weights and gear dropped on her head and she ended up with stitches and can't dive: sad, because their honeymoon was planned around diving.

So, we made it home about midnight on Thursday and picked up the kids from my parents on Friday morning...all was well with them, except they seem to have picked up a cold! I have a bit of jet lag and don't have much patience so here are some pictures to take me back! I haven't done wash yet, so I could still go stimulate another sense to take me there.

Me and AlvinMe in a swim through, basically swimming through short tunnels (it was a first for me and I just wished I had 2 gloves)On the dive boat, going on our night dive (no pictures from that yet)FishDive boat and hottie dive masterAlvin's uninvited lunch guest...the iguanas were really pests, because guests feed them when they shouldn't.Amy and Bobs wedding!What is she thinking?It really was a lovely ceremony and spot. Funny enough, the dive boat came in from a dive in the middle of it.Amy's shoes, just like mine with different ribbons...sorry Jeanette, no picture of me in my shoes.Not a great one of me, but none were! That the problem with taking off my sunglasses.At the airport and time to go home...I was crossing my fingers for a snow delay of a few days! We had a great time and met some new friends and saw old friends. And no sunburn thanks to spf 85! Of course, that means no tan either.

St. Thomas

2010-02-07T18:03:00.001-08:00

Can't seem to get the pictures in order, so bear with me.

Paxton, Quincy & Finn,

We arrived in St. Thomas and WOW, it is beautiful here. Eighty degrees and about 81 degree water. The resort we are staying at has several iguanas living here, not really as guests, but they are always around. We took this picture so you could see what an iguana looks like.

This is the resort...Our room is right on the beach and you can hear the waves all night long.

We arrived at the resort at 9am, much earlier than check in, but they let us get our room and then we spent the day snorkeling and re-learning to scuba dive. Here's dad at the surface in the bay.
We rode from Puerto Rico to St, Thomas on this little tiny plane. The runway here is right next to the ocean. This is what I saw when we were going down for the landing.

Dad said he really wanted to see a turtle and we saw one while snorkeling...and that is really rare according to the dive shop. It was eating grass about 30 feet away from the shore.

And just a few minutes later we saw this eagle ray: It was probably 8 feet long from the nose to the end of his tail.

Today, we went out on the dive boat and did 2 scuba dives. We saw some parrot fish, trumpet fish, sea pearls, Pederson shrimp, spotted eel, and tons of other fish. We are going to go again tomorrow morning and Tuesday night.

We are having a fantastic time. Amy says hello and sends kisses. We miss you and love you lots! Hope you are haing a great time with Bubba and Jacob. We will see you in a fae days. Please be good.

Love Mommy!

St. Thomas Bound

2010-02-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, I really am leaving! In fact I am leaving EARLY!

First, I have to question why I have had so many road blocks with this trip. I booked the trip in July, and in November, my mom scheduled a trip for the same weekend and I was stuck scrambling for a sitter. We finally patched together arrangements, with Grandpa, Uncles and friends and I was good to go again.

Then came finding a dress to wear to the wedding. Seriously, have you ever looked for a dress appropriate for a beach wedding in January? Finally found one online and when it arrived, IT FIT! It's a little June Cleaver/Lucille Ball like, but I really like it and it matches the super cute green shoes I bought before the dress.

Then came the snow! Well, not yet, but there's supposed to be a HUGE storm on the east coast, starting when we are en route to Newark. I asked people to pray, namely a priest in NJ, who suggested it might be easier to just call the airlines and ask to be rerouted. It worked, but I think the real kicker was when I told the woman on the phone who suggested I call and why (she laughed and laughed) and she gladly changed our flights, to one leaving earlier. No Problem.

Wait! Problem. BIG PROBLEM! Mimi's out of town, Bubba's working, and I have at least 2 kids that have nothing to do all day long. I kid you not, I called a bunch of people, starting at 5:pm and either people weren't home or were busy. I cried, then served dinner, made a few more calls, cried some more...you get the idea. Finally, I called Brooke to see if her son was available...nope, but she was! I'm a boob...I cried. No, I really cried! I am so lucky! And I am detemined to go and have fun on this trip because I know my boys are in good hands (and I'd be perfectly fine if my little nail biter comes home with orange nails).

So all my good friends, farewell. AND Thank you Brooke for the huge favor!

School day #2

2010-02-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Quincy came home from school yesterday happy! And he was excited to go again "tomorrow." But when the bus came for him today, he screamed and stuck to my leg...as I was walking on the bus, carrying his large car seat. The bus has car seats for it's riders, but today was a field trip and he had to have a car seat. As I buckled him into his seat, I noticed the 3 other kids plugging their ears. According to David, the driver, he screamed for a little and then calmed down, but sulked the rest of the way to school.

The field trip was to the dentist. Quincy was so excited to show us all the things they got to bring home: a toothbrush, some flossers, a timer and a dental mirror. And he was happy when he got home, again.

The other day, I came out and found the boys playing on my bike...they do this often but never before with sun glasses. And they were playing happily!

And then last weekend, or was it the week before, I made crumpets. I LOVE those crumpets they sell at Trader Joes, but it was like $3 for a pack of 6. So I attempted and they tasted wonderful...but they didn't have the holes that real crumpets have. I'm going to work to perfect these, because I bought the rings to make them and I should use them.

Quincy Goes To School

2010-02-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Quincy started preschool! If you could leave a little message for Quincy, he would love to hear your excitement for him!
He was incredibly nervous but posed for a few pictures (only after I let him take mine).

He knows the letter Q so he looked around the room for his "name" and found it.

He was "velcro baby" when I was at the school with him, but after 30 minutes I peeled him off, handed him to Teacher Kathy, and when I picked him up all the teachers said he had a GREAT day.

Today the little bus picked him up at our house and he wasn't happy about leaving. Luckily, the bus driver that picks him up to go to school is the driver of Finn's bus, so he knows us (the same bus driver from the dump truck incident last year) and we like him. And he didn't seem bothered by Quincy's screaming.

Why isn't Paxton going? Well, Quincy is a little hyper and we had him tested and his social skills are a bit delayed and that qualifies him for a developmental preschool. Pax goes to speech therapy and we're trying to get him into swim lessons while his brother is in school.

Where I've been...and where I am going!

2010-01-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

I give up trying to catch up. Christmas was good, but couldn't find my camera and so I have no pictures. We went low key and spent less than $100 on each kid (total). Quincy found all the gifts hiding at my moms, so we had to do some swapping around and kept the kids guessing for christmas.

I'm busily preparing for our trip to St. Thomas. My dear friend Amy is getting married and she gave us lots of notice so we could make the trip. We booked the trip in July, but have known since April and I have been counting the days since Chrismas!. And Alvin and I have not had more than one night away together in over 7 years.

We will be staying here and celebrating until the wedding on Wednesday the 10th. Amy is a diver and Bob is a dive instructor and he is going to give us a refresher (it's been 8 years since our honeymoon and the last time we dove) and we are going on at least 6 dives! Hopefully, someone will have an underwater camera and we'll get some good pictures.

It's been almost a year since I saw Amy last, and I am so excited to have some girl time with her. And the temps are supposed to be in the 80...the perfect cure for my winter blahs.

Our kids are staying at my parents, but my mom will be out of town for the first several days...leaving their care to my dad, brother and anyone else who wants to show up and give them a break. And part of the stress I'm feeling is getting them ready (must pack and cook for them this week!) If you are local and want to visit the farm, they'd probably love to see some different faces.

You can expect pictures when I return!

Alvin's gone

2010-01-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

Alvin has been out of town for almost a week, and since I didn't get around to printing pictures of the boys, I told him I would update the blog everyday and he could look at those pictures. I'll admit, I FAILED!

Where is he? He's remodeling his brothers kitchen in the bay area. But he flew to SLC, where he picked up cabinets, loaded them into a rental truck, and drove to CA. As of now, the old kitchen in out and he is working on the electrical. And he hopes to be home this weekend (Although, I'm planning on later).

Our Christmas was good. I couldn't find my camera, so I have no pictures, until other family members send copies. The boys all got scooters from my parents and they were the big hit. We decided to go really simple and the boys each got a book, a game from mom and dad, a gift from their brothers and a toy from Santa. It's nice because we didn't really have a lot of stuff to haul to and from my parents.

I am glad the holidays are over and I wonder why I look forward to them so much...I stress all the time before, then work my butt off to get to Christmas and work all day Christmas too. Yeah, next year I want a day off!

I'm finding it difficult to blog: maybe it's just the kids ages, that I feel like I have lost myself and am just a mom, or that no one comments and I wonder this is anything more than an online journal. So, if you want me to continue, let me know. Better yet, leave me a comment and ask me to share my opinions on ANYTHING and I will. Want to know something about me...I'll tell you, but you've gotta ask. We'll see how it goes, and if it's inspiring me to write more, the it'll be a success.

What have we been up to?

2009-12-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Pardon all the photos...I use pictures to remember what it is we have done in the long time since I have felt like I have had anything to post.

We had Grandpa Earl here for Thanksgiving and went to see Santa and his reindeer (in the back, you can't really see them). Had a lot of Fun with grandpa and are excited that he will be moving to Utah so we can see him more often.
Just after he left, we had a cold spell...really cold. Below freezing for several days and in the middle of it, I had this visitor. Nightly, I would bring in the bummingbird feeder and put it out first thing in the morning and this guy was waiting for it. I'd have to bring it in a few times a day to thaw out and he seemed appreciative (it hangs just outside my kitchen window, so I have something to look at while I do the dishes). Now that it isn't so cold, I haven't seen any hummingbird activity.
We bought our Christmas tree and decorated it using mostly ornaments the boys had made (using perler beads). It's a pretty little tree I think, and sitting on top of the table, it doesn't look as small as it is.
We had friends over to decorate Gingerbread cookies (one of the favorite things I have done this holiday season).

We are the cookies when we finished. Quincy with his....in his favorite sweater (he found it in a box of Finn's out grown clothes and wears it, even to bed. I have to peel it off him to wash it. He does the same thing with his favorite truck socks).
lil brig and his cookie.

The twins having a little nap on the couch. I'll admit it, there was melatonin involved and they were still in their jammies, but they were grumpy and I had to get things ready for christmas.
Paxton pushed Quincy off the ottoman and onto the edge of the hearth. It was a bad cut with a big bump, but he was okay as long as he had a band aid on it. Then when we took the bandaid off, he banged it again and split it open again.

Now, Paxton is sporting his own super glued spot...he got out of a bubble bath to go potty, and slipped against the tub getting back in, splitting his chin open. And here are the bubbles...we like to do them really bubbly, thanks to the aid of our "bubbleator" (some crazy gift my mom had never used and we found it in her closet).

Happy Christmas to all of you!

Retake Success!

2009-12-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

See, I do have a handsome kid!

Retakes? Anyone?

2009-11-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

Finn got his school pictures back today. He wasn't feeling well, and I still sent him, because it was picture day. He came home with a fever and was sick for 4 days after. At least we can tell he tried. But we are sill going for retakes.

(In todays "digital" age, are you really telling me the photographer couldn't take another one? I guess they really want to come back to school.)

"Movember"

2009-11-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Tom Selleck?
Nope, it's my brother Jake. He's trying to raise money by "changing the face of men's health". Funds donated benefit the livestrong foundation and the prostate cancer foundation.

If you are interested in growing a "stache" and want an excuse to do it, or just want to learn more, or DONATE, go here.

There's a mouse in my house!

2009-11-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

His name is Quincy!

Last night, Quincy wouldn't eat his dinner. He kept asking for bread and getting up from the dinner table. After dinner this is what we discovered. (you can't tell from the picture, but I had to cut 3 thick slices of bread to have a peiece with out a hole in it.)

Today, he was saying he was hungry and I discovered this after I served them lunch.

Luckily, we also discovered a chore Quincy likes to do yesterday. Guess I'll have to make that "his chore," because he isn't hip on doing much else.

Fortunately, he only puts the sippy cups on the floor to assemble them.

Halloween

2009-11-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is for Jen, who asked me to post something so she wouldn't have to keep seeing Paxtons' finger. Halloween was a bit anticlimatic this year. Finn had gotten sick, then Paxton, then Alvin and finally Quincy (H1N1?) and that left all the preparations for me, and I just didn't want to do it. That means no pumpkin carving at our house, maybe we'll have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, we had a few costumes in the closet that fit the twins and Finn said he wanted to be a vampire in front of a neighbor, who offered a vampire costume.

I didn't have any green make up for Pax and Finn didn't want make up, so it was pretty easy.

The weather cooperated and we barely needed coats. Instead of our usual trick or treat to all the merchants in our little town, we went to a neighborhood and I realized that Finn doesn't remember going door to door in our old neighborhood. He and Gabe ran to each house with Paxton toddling behind, asking if we could please go to another one.

Quincy didn't feel well enough to even put his costume on for a picture and surprisingly, hasn't said too much about the candy, except, "Paxy, where did you get all this candy?" Paxton's reply, "from the tick or teat!"

Kind of gross...

2009-10-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

but you know you want to look.

We had to bribe him with 5 hershey kisses to let us change the bandage(Sarah sent me some macadamia nut kisses from Hawaii and I bought a bag of kisses for the boys so I didn't have to share). He's still not using the finger and worried that its going to hurt, but otherwise he's fine!

ER Visit

2009-10-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

I knew I'd have to take someone to the ER eventually, but I never thought it would have been Paxton to make the first trip.

Yesterday had been trying for me...yes, they all are, but this one was particularly bad. And when I decided to get into the shower and leave Finn in charge, it got worse. Actually, I disrobed and stepped onto the bath mat, only to discover that it was sopping wet. A glance to my right and I saw the toilet had overflowed. (Anyone else think my boys need to go work at Kohler and teach them what a toilet really needs to flush?) Quincy had put a BIG wad of TP in it earlier and our crappy plunger wasn't working. Alvin had to go to work, so he said he would deal with it later. Of course, someone flushed a few times and I got to deal with it. With out sharing all the details, I was able to clear the clog. I left the water on the floor and hit the shower, practically in tears. A few second in and the door slamming and screaming starts. I got the shampoo and distractedly started rubbing it into my dry hair. I add water and Finn bursts through the door; "Paxton's slammed his finger in the door and he's bleeding really bad all over the floor."

I jumped out of the shower, dripping all over the already wet floor, thinking I'd give a kiss and hop back in. I have no contacts or glasses on, but I can see the blood and it's bad. With shampoo dripping in my eyes, I send Finn for the phone and the downstairs neighbors (finally have some). I call my parents and of course they aren't there. I call Alvin and he begins the drive home. Finn comes back and neighbors are gone. I called Brad and while he was coming over from the farm, I call Jen and quick explaination, she calls the urgent care place and finds out that we should take him to the ER. Brad arrives, I finish my shower, get dressed and gather stuff for an afternoon in the ER. Alvin gets home, Brad takes the other boys and we head off.

I'm always afraid that when I go to the Doctor or ER that they will tell me, it's fine, so I was a little afraid we'd get there and they would look at the cut and say it's fine. I was a little relieved that they wanted to do an x ray amd said he'd need stitches.

Little trooper waiting...
Getting the news that he'll need stitches

With the duck and bear they gave him in the ER

Paxton did great and only cried when expected, when they washed it and when they numbed him and when they stitched it. He practically smiled for the xrays (nothing broken), but he didn't want to look at the wound. I admit, I was almost in tears every time he cried.

All bandaged up and ready to go home.

Paxton woke up in the middle of the night when his bandage came off...Alvin thinks he was afraid he'd have to go back to the doctor. We rebandaged and he slept until 10am.

Since it was his right index finger, he's going to have a hard time doing some things. Fortunately, he's got a big brother who feels bad for him.

We love visitors!

2009-10-17T16:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, our friends, Shannon, Taylor and Tanner came for a visit. It wasn't really to see us, rather Taylor is looking at schools and Seattle U is very very very interested in her.

I'm rather ignorant about school sports, but she is a Junior and has already been offered a partial scholarship to play soccer for them in 18 months. I take it this means she is an incredible athlete.

While Shannon and Taylor did university stuff, I took Tanner and am ready to adopt her. She is old enough to be helpful and young enough to have fun with the kids. We went to the local beach, played at the park, then took a family bike ride up in Seqium (12 miles) and hit our favorite glass beach on the way home.

It was great to see Shannon and Taylor too, and we hope that Taylor will go to school here, so we can see a lot more of them.

Our Pumpkins

2009-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we took our pumpkins in to be weighed. Paxtons weighed 40 pounds, Finn's was 45 pounds and Quincy's was 22 pounds. They aren't record breaking, really, but we are certainly proud of them...and will be carving them right before Halloween.Here's a few other pictures I found on the camera:

We got a new couch and I have yet to take pictures of it, because the ottoman needs to be recovered. I might move it out of the way and take pictures later. We are loving it because there is enough space for all of us to watch tv, and we can even all lay down on it.

Last Sunday, we tried a recipe in the crockpot that Kim recommended. I used it as an opportunity for Finn to make dinner. He loved being allowed to use the sharp knives and taking credit for making dinner.

Last week was beautiful here, this week's been rainy. Here's Paxton sitting in the sun, reading aloud one of his favorite books...the Big Red Strawberry. The other boys were off playing, and he looked so cute amusing himself.

Here's the "recipe"

2009-10-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

I would love to share my lasagne recipe with you, except there is no recipe...I throw stuff in the pot. But, for you, I will tell you what I threw in the pot and kind of how I did it.

Brown a pound of ground beef (italian sausage too if you have it) with a chopped onion. When it's done, add about 8 cloves crushed garlic, 2-3 stalks chopped celery, a green pepper, a red pepper, a package of sliced mushrooms, a zucchini (grated if you don't want the kids to pick it out) and maybe some grated carrots. I do this in my dutch oven and if you don't have one, ask for one for christmas...and you can bake bread in it too. Then you stir it, (theres some techinical term for it, I am sure) until the vegetables are sufficiently wilted, add a generous splash of balsamic vinegar . Then add 2 large cans of tomato sauce (I used frozen sauce made from the tomatoes in our garden) and at least one can, but maybe 2 of tomatoes (I have been using the crushed ones lately, because Finn complains about the chunks of tomato). You bring this up to a boil, toss in some italian seasonings...basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper. Turn the heat to low, put the lid on it and stir every couple minutes for about 4 hours. If I would have had time, I might have cooked this in the crockpot, on low over night. Taste it, and if it needs it, season more.

Then take 2 pints of ricotta cheese and mix with 2 eggs and a big handful of parsley.

Then put a cup of sauce on the bottom of your pan, a layer of noodles (no boil are okay, but I prefer the way the boiled ones turn out), a big helping of sauce, a portion of the ricotta cheese, a handful of grated mozzerella, and repeat until your pan is almost full...then top with tons of cheese, parmesan cheese, and some more flaked parsley. Cover with foil and Bake at about 375 for an hour or more. Uncover and cook until cheese browns. Oh, I sprayed my foil with pam and it didn't take all the cheese off with it.

So how much does this make...I would guess about 2 9x13 pans, but I wanted it thick, so I used a smaller, deeper casserole and it made 2 of those. You make less, or make one pan of lasagne and save the rest of the sauce for spaghetti, or spaghetti pie (now you want to know how to do that...mix the same ricotta mix with about a pound of cooked spaghetti , put at the bottom of the pan, layer the sauce on top, sprinkle generously with cheese and bake until bubbly...tastes just like lasagne, only so much easier). Sauce freezes great.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Alvin!

2009-10-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

I was too busy making a feast for Alvin's birthday to post. I made home made lasagne with meat and tons of fresh veggies and even used tomatos sauce made from tomatoes grown here. It was delish: good thing because we will have it for lunch and dinner tonight. Ironically, I served store bought bread, because I didn't have time to make bread and then make it garlic toast. Alvin did say that it was the best garlic bread he'd ever had.

For his birthday, he likes ice cream cake, but it can't be from baskin robbins, because that has cake in it. Lucky for me, we have a dairy queen closer than Baskin Robbins. I buy him the biggest cake they have, and we eat it for days. Alvin got a new coat, the Wii fit plus game, a receipt scanner and the game boggle. He's addicted to this game online called scramble and boggle is just like it, except you don't have to sit in front of the screen (one drawback, boggle can't tell you if it isn't a real word). He opened the game and played immediately while the kids watched.

The coat is orange...and it's kind of bright, but I've decided we need some brightness as winter approaches.

Kate, this ones for you!

2009-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

http://gibbonsfamilyblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/arabians/

A family friend of ours was at the farm yesterday with his parents and son...and this is the footage he shot. I'm not much of a horse lover (Kate should be picturing me gallopping right now...thinking about it makes he laugh to the point of tears), but the horses look pretty good in this.

Finn makes a brief appearance too, mostly just his body, no head. But did Kate recognize the shirt he was wearing? For the rest of you, it was my soccer shirt from 30+ years ago.

Morbid subject...death wishes

2009-09-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

While arranging a playdate yesterday, the other mother told me that her mother in law had past away this weekend, and funeral plans weren't going the way she suspected her mother in law would want them to go. However, this brought her to a discussion with her husband about what to do in the event she/he died. It got me thinking...

And if I tell you all, you will know...and there might be less confusion.

I want one of these biodegradable caskets...

Of course, I want more flowers than pictured here...tons more. I don't want to be embalmed (which is possible in Washington state) and wrapped in a cotton shroud. (if money is an issue, I am fine with a brown cardboard box, but still with tons of flowers) And no viewing please!!!

For a while I considered cremation, but I don't think it's for me...not very green; at least this way, I can really fertilize a tree. Here's an interesting article about it... http://www.greendaily.com/2008/01/11/green-deathmatch-burial-vs-cremation/

Alvin and I don't have a will (shame on us!) but we both know that we want my parents to finish raising our kids, should something happen.

Now I have to find out what my husband wants.

I have arrived!

2009-09-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

Looks like I am finally a member of "that" club. Translation: you are the meanest mom on earth

Finn was sent to his room and asked to clean it. He didn't want to and after much shouting at me, I locked his door (from the outside). I went in a few minutes later, to find him trying to get out the window (it's only about 7 feet off the ground). He was told that if he climber out the window, he could stay outside until he wanted to clean his room, but wouldn't be allowed in for anything else. I also told him that he couldn't play Wii with friends tonight. Then I left and closed the door. A few minutes later, this was pushed out under the door.

Way Back When...

2009-09-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Jeanette, a roommate from my sophmore year at Ricks (yes, I went there...and if you don't know what it is, don't worry), posted these pictures today (1989) and a little blurb about the trouble we got into. Got me thinking about who I was back then.

Not one to talk about weight, this is hard...I've always seen myself as the "FAT GIRL" and looking at myself, I can see that wasn't always the case. I recall one guy, who I liked, asking an aquaintance if I was the one with child bearing hips (I'd like to introduce him to my OB...he told me there was a slim change I could deliver vaginally...and he was right). I had friends who would tell me that I wasn't as thin as they were. I had huge boobs and was ashamed of them and maybe it was easier to feel fat than well endowed.

My friend, now, always tells me not to think FAT...think Thin, maybe she has a point. I'm going to try to change that thinking from 25 years ago.

Why didn't I think of that?

2009-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

We had to get a new toilet. Okay, we didn't have to, but I wanted one that was more water efficient and one that was less intriguing for the boys to flush things down. Friday, I was sick (not pregnant) and not anxious to go to home depot, but after Paxton flushed a toy boat and clogged the toilet, I had to go.

Anyone else saying..."AGAIN?"

The toilet was going to have to be taken off, again and rotated until the thing fell out, so this was the perfect time to replace the old. So we went with a comfort height toilet and the boys now have to stand on the stool (FINALLY!)

And I know you aren't reading this to see pictures of my new, home depot generic toilet, but here it is, with the coolest item I have seen! For years we have had a little plastic potty seat on the floor next to our "throne" that gets dutsy and dirty and rarely cleaned. This solves all that.

(I cleaned right before taking the pictures, so that is cleaner bubbling up in there)

The little seat is magnetic and stays in the lid, and comes down easily.
Now if only the boys would use it!

Happy Birthday Paxton and Quincy!

2009-09-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today Paxton and Quincy turned 3. Those 3 years have gone quickly, but the days sure seemed to go slow.
The day started out well, breakfast with Uncle Jake (I forgot to take pictures) who shares his birthday with the twins. A playdate, played all afternoon, while I got ready for their party, and tonight we had a little party.

The boys don't have a lot of little friends, but they love Finn's friends, whose parents are my friends. Mimi and Grandma joined us too (and G-ma made her delicious potato salad, unfortunately I'm not feeling well and couldn't taste it too well). We had dinner, cake and ice cream, gifts and a piniata and still had the boys in bed by 8:00.

Yep, those boys wear me out, but how could you not love them?

Skip that last post!

2009-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't read my post last night, don't bother. I was just venting after a terrible bad day.

For those that waded through my last post, Thanks for listening to me blow off steam for my bad day. And now I know who to call.

So why not just delete it? I don't really know why, but one friend told me I should keep it (probably so I can go back and read it on a really, really, really bad day, and laugh at how easy I had it) and so I am.

PS...today has been much better, probably because I didn't take the boys shopping with me. Boys! They hate shopping at a really early age!

Just do it.

2009-09-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah, if I sit down and write about the little bit that has gone on, then I will have done it and can move forward when something exciting happens.

Friday, my dad suggested that we take the kids to the fair. Okay, I haven't been to the fair since I've become a mom...the kids should like it. Animals are fine to look at for a little bit, but when you have cows, horses and the like in your own yard, it isn't that exciting. Except Paxton saw a miniature horse that was black and white spotted and insisted that it was a small cow. The rides were expensive and only sort of fun, but Finn complained that he didn't get to go on enough ($4 a ride, how many rides would you pay for him to go on...especially after one he insisted he ride, only to declare it was boring when he got off). And after we had been there only an hour, the kids were on a ride and we turned around and someone had stolen a stroller.

Okay...little tangent here....HOW FREAKING DESPERATE are you to steal a stroller? I mean, you are tired of carrying around your kid, so you make some other parent be just as miserable when they came prepared? You can rent a stroller for a few bucks! I only had 1 stroller and 3 kids that wanted to ride (towards the end).

Overall, fair was okay, but too expensive.

So I probably didn't say a few weeks ago that we bought a new couch. It' s been more than a year that we've only had a love seat and a chaise, but I finally had enough fighting over the loveseat, that I insisted we buy one...and they called today to schedule delivery. It was the brightest spot in my day.

Today, I had to go pick up my mother in law at the airport. I had the day all planned out and was going to do great and fun things with Paxton and Quincy. Of course, as things go, I had to use the restroom on the ferry. I had to haul both boys upstairs and after I let them walk around the ferry. BAD IDEA, because they have video games with steering wheels. I had the walk of shame back to the stairwell, carrying 2 SCREAMING boys past commuters and people who weren't humored at all!

Picked up Grandma and the first stop was to go find a pinata for the twins party Thursday. But I was going to leave them in the car with Grandma, but they were unfamiliar with her and who ever was behind her cried...for sitting behind her (in the new car seat...which everyone wants to sit in, except for today). Party store hears a lot of whining, he pinched me talk, and finally I said something to the boys, like, "Do you think there is any one in this store that wants to take home a whining little boy...I'm about ready to give you away." Come on, parents say things like that, right? Some man had the nerve to say, "Ma'am, there is a police station down the street that would be happy to take your children, no questions asked."

And we get back to the car and encounter more screaming, because Quincy doesn't want to sit behind grandma. He screams at the top of his lungs for at least 5 minutes, and his scream is ear shattering, before I finally pull into a parking spot, let him out to scream for close to 10 minutes. I seriously thought the police would show up, and I wouldn't touch him. Finally, I held him tightly and told him there would be no more screaming. AND IT WORKED. He got in the car, drank his milk and calmed down.

We headed to Ikea. The boys are potty trained, so I thought I could put them in the kiddy land, right? I took them potty first, and signed them up, only to be told that they couldn't come in until they were 3... a meer 48 hours away and you send them away crying. So we walked though Ikea with 2 crying sad boys, saying, "I'm super duper mad at those people for not letting us play." I convinced them that the toy section was a playland and they were happy once we got there. That is, until Pax fell about 2 feet and hit the back of his head on the floor. He screamed. Quincy wouldn't leave and I had to "go," so Grandma watched him and he was fine. Time to go eat...love those free meal coupons for kids, but Q didn't want to leave. (You are getting the hang of my day, right?) He screams. Until we get to the play area by the food. G'ma goes for her food, and the boys play, until someone had to go potty and I had to peel the other boy away from playing. Go in the bathroom and someone screams because I made him stop washing his hands...those short sinks are really convenient. Go back, leave the boys under g'mas care as I get lunch for us...and with a tray full of food, I hear it. Paxton come running across the restaurant screaming.....because Quincy pinched him.

Ahh, I can sit down and eat, and the boys will play, right? Do you think my boys are angels? No, dropped forks, don't want food, someone has to go potty...if I got up less than 6 times, I would be surprised. And as we are leaving, Paxton bumps his head, again. More screaming. Made it thru the rest of the store with minimal crying, because I promised another play area ahead, if they put their heads on pillows I tossed in the cart and pretened they were asleep.

Back to the car, more screaming. You know what I look like? That mom you see in the store and say, "she could use a drink!" I have twins, I looked WORSE than her, you could tell by the way people were looking at me.

Boys fell asleep and the rest of the trip was uneventful, except I got to go into Trader Joes, ALONE, while they slept with Grandma.

And then I get home, and I get sad news. For 5 years before Finn was born, I worked at an accounting firm and one of the women I worked with died last week. I found out about it from our paper supply rep who happened to find me on Facebook a few weeks ago. She read Tammy's obituary and told me. Okay, I feel really bad, because when we went to Utah in April, I had heard she had been sick, and considered going to see her, and I didn't.

But the part that makes me teary (crappy day makes it easier to cry) is this: She was he youngest of many children and she told me once that she always knew she would take care of her parents and because of that, she knew she wouldn't marry or have kids. And I recall thinking, when her parents die, she isn't going to have anything left, but work. Apparently, her mom passed on a few years ago and her dad died 32 hours before her. I just keep thinking, her job was done.

Tammy was very selfless, very kind, so happy to share in any of my good news. She used to bring pumpkin rolls to the office and they were deilcious. And for an office fundraiser, she made chili that was incredible (I was super surprised, because I don't usually do meaty chili). And I have never gone into a Cracker Barrel with out thinking of her: she was from South Carolina and loved to shop in the store...bought my wedding gift from there. I'm grateful to have known her.

And with that, I am putting this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day to bed. And I hope that tomorrow is better...and if it isn't, I have a bottle of wine I won't hesitate to uncork about noon.

First Day of First Grade

2009-09-02T08:27:00.001-07:00

First grade already? Finn was nervous all summer long about first grade, but was so excited to leave this morning. We read him a few books on the subject and it seemed to calm him down.

This year school starts at 7:50; a huge change from 9:30 last year. Finn has to catch the bus at 7:20 and I imagine many mornings waiting with him in the dark on our busy road. The positive side is that most mornings Alvin will still be home and I won't have to take the little boys out there (and Alvin might go some mornings, and sometimes I can send him with Brad, Gabes dad).

We are so excited this school year!

Happy Anniversary, Bay-bee

2009-09-02T08:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Alvin and I "celebrated" 8 years of marriage. If you didn't know, we are pretty low key and since we didn't have a babysitter, we did it up with frozen pizza (spinach and mushrooms for us adults) and a pre-recorded Wipeout episode.

Proudly showing off my gift to him...not a chipmunk or and adulterer, but so he can match all the other boys around here (I made them shirts too...you'll see plenty of pictures later).

Sew Proud of Myself

2009-09-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Saw this cute purse on Katies Blog and decided I had to try it myself. I was excited because I could use basically scraps of fabric I already have, but of course I had to go buy a few supplies and had to buy fabric too. Alvin thinks it's too small, so when I figure out how to make a stronger strap, I am going to make one bigger. It was simple enough, I am thinking of all my girlfriends with birthdays coming up and Christmas is coming too.

Glass Beach Sea Adventure

2009-09-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

We wanted to hit glass beach again before school started, but couldn't do it with the kids (again). My friend, Jen got the idea that we could take a boat there and made arrangements for it to happen. Her husband Brig took on the role as Captain and ferries us out to Glass Beach in 2 trips. The tide was coming in and the water was rough: all of us were soaked by the time we made it to shore.

The waves were rough and Capt. Brig had to stay with the boat the entire time. We collected beach glass for a few hours and headed back. Not as much fun when you are wet. Paxton proved to be quite a treasure hunter and found more than I did. We headed back, this time all in one boat load (did you see the boat?). As we headed back, I kept thinking, "just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a take of a fateful trip" and wondered if I was Marianne, Ginger or the Millionaires wife.

This time the ride was less rough, and Paxton fell asleep.

Here's our booty. It was an adventure, however, I think I will hike out the next time...might be an excuse to leave the kids at home or take friends out for the day.

Our little driver

2009-08-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Quincy inspecting the damage he caused.Here's Quincy...looks like he is almost boastful!

Good News!

2009-08-22T07:33:00.001-07:00

Got some great news late last night...The twins might be able to go to preschool. The school where Finn went has scholarships available (for families that can't afford school...like us!) for preschool. Since there are only 7 kids in the afternoon class, they are willing to accept Paxton and Quincy even though their birthday is 17 days past the cut off.

And the boys are now FULLY potty trained. They only have accidents when they are playing too hard (won't that happen at school?). I have to be willing to come change them if they did have an accident, but since the school is only a few miles away, I am happy to oblige.

The only slight problem is that school for Finn gets out earlier than last year and he should be getting off the bus the same time as I'd have to pick up the little ones. And that doesn't leave much time for my "free time". But who cares...they might go to schol. I thought this wouldn't happen for another year!

Pictures

2009-08-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post stuff on here lately, but other things take top priority. Since it was hot today, the boys ran through the sprinklers and I took pictures.

Our well is close to dry because we have not had much rain this year and the sprinklers looked like such a waste of water, but it was at my parents and they don't have to worry like we do. I've taken my laundry to my parents, showered at the public pool and even bought paper plates. I figure if I conserve now, I can still flush toilets, and have water to drink, but I don't know for how long. Good thing we don't have downstairs neighbors right now.

Well, no one got hurt.

2009-08-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

Just yesterday, our "new" neighbor Sheri told me that Quincy reminds her of the little boy at the begining of Speed Racer when he drives around the driveway in his little Gator. I saw part of the movie, but I don't recall the first part: I am going to have to rent it now.

Quincy (not quite 3) loves to drive. He loves to drive on my lap, up or down my parents driveway. He loves to play in the front seat when the car is parked in the driveway. A few weeks ago, he became fascinated with keys, putting the car keys in the ignition. He even got my parents riding lawn mower started...since Finn can't figure it out, I am stumped. Every day, since Alvin has been working next door, Quincy waits for Alvin to say it's time to go home and he hops in dads truck and waits for the short ride home.

Guess today, he couldn't wait. He got into the truck and Alvin had to run upstairs for something. Alvin hears a loud crash and looks out the window to see his truck rolling into the horse pasture behind my parents house.

At the same time, "new" neighbor Brad looks out his kitchen window, sees the truck going past, and starts yelling for Quincy to put on the brakes. Sheri hears him yelling, and goes running.

By the time Alvin is out to the fence, Sheri has made it to the truck and pulls a scared, but uninjured little boy out. When Alvin gets there, he jumps into Alvin arms and wouldn't let go. Apparently, Quincy had peed his pants before and was coming home to change, but what's a little pee when your little guy is scared. Luckily, none of the other kids there were close by and the horses were off in the distance.

It's now 9:30 at night and Alvin is still over there fixing the fence. make a mental note, when visiting here, don't leave your keys in the ignition. Here't the damage..

Well, not so easy to see, because Sheri and Brad are holding up the fence so the horses can't get out. But see the tire tracks.I'll post pictures of Alvin's truck later....but don't you think the auto body place should give us a good deal if we bring in 2 cars?

Salt Lake Layover

2009-08-11T11:54:00.001-07:00

When I arrived at the Reno Airport, I was told that my flight from Salt lake City to Seattle had been cancelled. I could stay in Reno and head out in the morning at 7:00am, or continue on to SLC, spend the night there, and fly home at 9:40am first class. Of course I picked the latter. I was able to fly home with a sister in law, and pick up the 4 pounds of Chocolate covered cinnamon bears her husband was bringing me.

When I got the news, I called my friend Shannon and asked her if she wanted to go swimming...something we used to do together. I called Chris and invited him. We all met up about 9pm, had my favorite dinner from Cafe Rio and hit the pool.

We swam until 11:30, went back to my hotel room and I didn't make it to bed until after 12:30. (that's Shannons daughter Tanner and Chris and I.)

I am so lucky to have such great friends who will come to see me, even when it's late and we all had to be up early the next morning.

Tahoe Getaway

2009-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I was able to get out of town and join my sisters in law for a fantastic weekend in Tahoe. All of us share the same last name; all married into the family. Debbie organized the trip and since we had a few hours to kill, we went bowling. I haven't bowled since my first date with Alvin...and I played like it. We had a few meals out, a few we cooked in,

We took a cruise on the Tahoe Queen, a paddle boat across the south shore of the lake, up to Emerald Bay. It was a beautiful day and the lake was amazingly blue.

We witnessed some amazing sunsets (and moon rises)

And found a shirt for Debbie at the airport.

It was a great trip, nice to be away from the boys, but even nicer to develop relationships with these 3 great women.

And the winner is...

2009-08-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

Herbsgirl (Patti)! She guessed $976 and we actually pay.....$1154 a month.

Maybe government health care isn't the answer, but something must be done. $14,000 a year for a few trips to the doctor and What If' protection is too high and that is why I think we need some intervention. And you wonder why so many people are going with out health insurance...because it costs as much as our rent, more than our last house payment and more than my car payment and insurance combined.

I don't know the solution, and I don't even know if we can afford insurance nest month, but I do know that I am sending Patti some delicious pacific northwest strawberry jam.

In reading all your comments again, as well as reading my post, I think Patti also said it best, "the screwed up Insurance Industry should be completely revamped" and we all know that they certainly aren't going to do that on their own.

Alvin and I had a heated disagreement on the issue today, and I acknowledge that I know very little about the plans the government has, but maybe they could interfere and help get the the screwed up Insurance Industry completely revamped.

Jenny, we have regence. It's a 80/20 plan, but with a $500/$1500 deductible... They no longer offer this plan and I think they keep raising our rates, in hopes that we will change plans. And I don't know if they have HSA's for the self employeed.

Interestingly, did you know that my family of 5 pays the same amount as a family of 10, 12 or even 16? Maybe I should have more kids...it's not going to cost anymore (but if it did, it would certainly be a factor in my decision). Now, don't get me started on the issue of illegals (I am very opinionated).

Health Care Give away

2009-07-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's out, I think the government should have some sort of health care plan. I know this is such a hot issue...Alvin and I even disagree on it. It's just too darn expensive.

Our health insurance went up this month. It does that every other year, regardless of if we've used it or not...we always use it a little.

So guess how much we pay (now) for health insurance? No really, add a comment -- be sure to leave your name if you don't have a blog account. And for the person who guesses closest, I am going to send you a jar of Strawberry Jam that I made this month: made with apple juice, not sugar, so it has a little tartness, but I think it's delicious.

To assist you in your guessing, here's the kind of coverage we have. We cover our family of 5 (although the 5th is "free" because family coverage is for 4). It's good coverage. We pay a $20 co-pay at the doctor, and we pay 20 percent of surgeries, hospital stays, etc. I don't know about prescriptions for certain, but I think it's $10 for generic and 30% of name brands. Of course, we are non smokers, under 40 and I have high blood pressure and Alvin has allergies.

In case you haven't been informed, it's Hotter than hell here. Wednesday broke the records and was 108 degrees, yesterday it hit 97. Today is going to be a cool 88. I spent the past 2 days at my moms so I could enjoy the AC they installed as part of their remodel. {I was pregnant and on bedrest in July, 3 years ago...and to cool off, I would go to my moms with out AC. So Glad I am not pregnant}

I am headed off this weekend with Alvin's brothers wives to Lake Tahoe. A first for me to be away from my boys for more than one night. I am really looking forward to it.

Don't forget to leave your guess...the jam is really worth it! I'll let you know the answer on Wednesday, when I return.

The Lake!

2009-07-29T09:49:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't heard, the pacific north west has been hit by a heat wave. Since it's unbearable inside our house, I am writing this with many interruptions at my mom's house (she has A/C.

Every year, my Aunt Twila invites us to join them at the "cabin" at the lake and last year, we went. We had a good enough time, that we joined them again this year. My uncles family has owned this cabin for 30+ years and every year they bring family and friends to enjoy Lake Billy Chinook, which is less than a mile from the cabin. What should have been a 5-6 hour drive down (and back) ended up being well over 9 hours, because of the kids. We arrived in Culver Oregon about 11:00pm and the kids insisted that we pitch the tent, because we told them we'd be camping. We did it in the dark, and it was well after 1am when the kids finally settled down.

Friday morning, we hit the lake. With temperatures in the high 90's the cool water was a welcome relief. My uncle took us all out for a ride in his boat in the mid afternoon. Paxton loved going fast (and closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out) and Quincy loved jumping off the boat and swimming back to the ladder and doing it again.

After hours in the sun, we headed back to the cabin for dinner and instead of putting the kids to bed, we went for a drive to pick up a few things in town. While on our way back, we were in an accident (more on that later) but no one was hurt.

Saturday morning, back to the lake, and this time we went out on the boat first thing, with my cousins and some friends. Both guys are great skiers and patient enough to let Alvin water ski for the first time in many, many years. We allowed Finn to take off his lifejacket for a few minutes to practice diving, but it scared me...just look at the sides of the lake if you want a feel for how deep it is, and the lake is HUGE.The cabin is really a glorified 3 car garage with a bathroom and kitchen. We sleep in the tent for privacy (and the fact that I have a hard time with all the dogs there) but we spent a lot of time inside around the table. Sunday we needed a break from the heat and headed south of Bend to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. Since it was still early, we drove to the top of a cinder cone and looked down into the crater. You can kind of see off in the distance that this whole area was created by volcanic activity...there are three tectonic plates that converge there.The following pictures were from the Lava Cast Forest. I wasn't able to go on the hike because the twins were asleep in the car, but Finn had a great time hamming it up for a group of geology students there...he was the only one small enough to climb into the cracks. Apparently, the lava flowed and splashed up around trees...when the trees died off, they left these holes, hundreds of them. Alvin said he was afraid to let Finn climb into the really dark ones for fear of Rattlesnakes (when I see one, I don't think I will be able to go back there).During the hot afternoon, we went down into the Lava Caves. It's was a cool 42 degrees, compared to the 101 outside, this was nice. We didn't bring enough jackets for the twins, so we did a shift, Q wore Finn's, Finn wore mine and I went with out. Since I ended up carrying Quincy most of the way, I was able to stay warm. Pictures don't do it justice, it was about a mile long and as you would expect, completely dark. The park rents lanterns, which would have been nice (when not holding a kid) but we managed with our flashlights. We didn't see bats, but supposedly they are there. We headed home Monday, through temperatures of 103 just south of Olympia. Fortunatly, McDonalds was giving out free mochas, so we stopped a few times for chocolate milk for the kids.

And here is the damage to the car...fortunately it's drivable, because the estimate I got said they needed the car for 8 days...I know my Aunt and Uncle would have been happy to have us for 8 days, but I don't know that I could have camped that long.

So much going on...

2009-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

...and nothing seems exciting enough to report. So I am posting a few pictures from the past little while.

On the first of July, I made 40 half pints of strawberry jam. Since strawberries were on sale, I thought I should buy 12 flats. I didn't realize that one flat made more than one recipe and I was completely burned out when finished. There are also 10+ quart sized bags of frozen strawberries in the freezer. I have been informed that my jam is the best on my homemade bread...even still, it is going to take us 10 years to get through the jam I have put up in the past 2 years. And tomorrow, I am headed to pick raspberries. Paxton loves berries more than any other kid I know, so when we saw this monster in a package, we had to buy it for him...everyone else enjoyed smaller strawberries.

We went to Old Man Beach...I've lived here for many years, and it's hard to believe I didn't go until this summer. It's a nice little beach, somewhat sandy (compared to others here) with a great view. the day we went, it was only about 65 degrees, but that didn't stop the boys from getting wet.My mom and I went to this years Rotary Auction, like the biggest yard sale you've ever seen, and I bought this Cloche at my first stop...that means, I had to carry it (backpack) for the rest of the morning. Few other great finds, a lampshade--second stop (kind of dumb because I had to carry that too), a few baskets I used as drawers in the kids cupboard and a springy rocking horse that now lives at the farm. I baked this loaf of bread in my find the next day.Finn and Alvin rode with my dad and Sol in the 4th of July parade. It was a very last minute thing, and they were the very tail end of the parade. Good thing, because my dad's horse pooped and he didn't bring a pooper scooper (I wasn't volunteering--I have 2 little ones). Finn loved being in the parade, but I think he missed catching candy and warching the parade.

We went to a fantastic 4th of July party on the beach and watched the best fireworks display launched right in front of us. Alvin was in heaven, because he got to help launch and didn't have to pay for it. This is the beach at sunset--a bit before the "main" fireworks.

We had some "new" people move into the cottage on Saturday, only they lived their 15 years ago. They have a son Finns age and we are so excited to have them here. Finn has had so much fin having his own playmate, that he hasn't pestered his brothers at all in the past few days.

It was hot Saturday, so the kids talked Bubba into swimming in the pond (I took the pictures, I wasn't getting into that water). Paxton took his first dip in the pond and wasn't thrilled. Quincy slept through it all, but if Pax wasn't having fun, Quince would have hated it.Funny how little kids aren't bothered by a little algea.

"Mommy, I'm good at climbing trees!"

2009-07-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Quincy announces proudly. And technically, he is good at climbing trees. It's getting down that has him stumped. The pictures don't show it well, but he was at least 10 feet up on branches that wouldn't support a 30 pound kid (he isn't there yet). Ten feet not be much of a problem for a 7 foot tall man with a 3 foot reach, but I am only a little over 5 feet. Fortunately, Alvin was home and dressed (I wasn't..thank goodness we don't have neighbors) and was able to climb up a few feet to get him down.

How long do I have to leave him up there to get him to stop climbing? Oh, and I had just sent him outside 2 minutes earlier.

2 1/2 year olds need naps!

2009-06-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here's proof.

While getting dinner started tonight, I turned on the TV for my little boys that didn't nap. Just as the water started to boil, I noticed it was very quiet. Here's what I found.

Finns Last Day of Kindergarten!

2009-06-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

As of today, Finn is a first grader. His class celebrated by a trip to the beach. I've attached a few pictures with out all the kids in them. Mount Rainer was visible...just barely. There were some kids their who had made a fort and all the kids wanted to play on it.

Sabine, Sol and Pax in the fort. Sol was fantastic...he played with P&Q so I was able to help Finn with a scavenger hunt.

The class honored his teacher with a rose bush and a gift certificate.
At home, we celebrated with a Finn favorite, Cincinnati Chili. P & Q aren't fans, but they were told they could ride horses after dinner if they ate theirs, and here's Quincy enjoying his reward. Alvin was later bucked off this horse.

Tillamook Cheese!

2009-06-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my parents brought us home some Horseradish Cheddar cheese from Oregon and since then we have searched all over for this cheese. We tried special ordering it at the local market and considered ordering some online. Instead we took the long way home from the wedding, and drove over to the coast so we could stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

I've never heard of this as a school mascot before...is that brave, strong, fearless, or stinky? The boys loved sticking their faces in here, but I don't think they had a clue what they were doing.

We watched as they packaged up some sort of white cheese with spots (pepper jack, black pepper white cheddar...)

The blocks behind Finn were aged and weighed about 38 pounds. They were put through a cutter (the guy just to the left of Finn) then weighed and packaged into 5 pound, 1 pound, or 8 ounce cubes.

We spent over $100 in the store and came home with cloe to a ton of cheese, including 2 5 pound blocks of the delicious horseradish cheddar, some 3 year aged white cheddar and end cuts of smoked black pepper cheddar and garlic white cheddar. I came home with a lot of ideas (remember I learned to make cheese).

Sol and Sabine are spending the summer here and rode back with us after the wedding. 5 kids and the 4 1/2 hour trip home took closer to 9 hours. Here they are at one of our pit stops (the twins figured out that we stopped and let them out if they said they had to go potty).

Notice Sols cool shirt...I made it for him for Christmas and he loves it (I told him I would make him another for helping me with the boys this summer).

Finn would like to point out that he is holding up his pressed pennies he "made" at the factory.

Cousins wedding and time with cousins.

2009-06-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Oregon for one of my cousins weddings. All my siblings children were there and my boys had a fantastic time hanging out at the pool with the cousins they love so much. We spent 2 nights at the hotel and I think we spent close to 6 hours in the pool. We also went to a wedding...Here are my boys on the way there. And a few pictures of the wedding.

It isn't a good picture of my brother, who officiated (it just sounds wrong to say he married his cousin)

This was the son of the aunt that did the flowers for my wedding. Although, she did a spectacular job on the flowers for this wedding, they didn't compare to the flowers at mine. Having a florist in the family makes for a stunning wedding.

Bye Bye Curls!

2009-06-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

Before...brushed out and kind of frizzy. After

I'm a little sad and miss those ringlets! Sadly, I did this and found out later that lice is going around school AGAIN! I hope no one thinks we cut it off because of lice. We did it because he wanted to and we have a wedding to go to this weekend (and we used the hair to cover our garden with and hopefully keep the deer away from our peas).

Say "CHEESE!"

2009-06-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

This post may seem funny to my "older" friends who knew me back when I didn't eat a whole lot of cheese. I took a cheese making class. You see, this goes a long with making my own bread, laundry soap, and coffee syrup: I'm teaching my family to be a little more self sufficient. And heck, it's fun to learn something new.

This is Linda, who taught the course, holding up a batch of feta and her partner, John, who washed up and assisted her.

We made cultured Butter, feta, mozzarella, paneer, and ricotta, and all were relatively easy and wonderful. I can't wait to make my own, in fact, I am going this afternoon to pick up a gallon of raw whole milk to make some...maybe even tonight.

Ricotta

Glass Beach!

2009-06-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

After reading an article in the Seattle times about beach glass a few weeks ago, I have wanted to go to Glass Beach. My friend Cindy has told me about it for years, but reading the article really set me in motion, and wouldn't you know it, the bridge was closed for 6 weeks and we couldn't go.

Alvin agreed that Sunday was a good day for it...not quite hot, but not rainy and no other plans. We set off at about 8am, and arrived at just after 9am. You have to go when the tide is out and get back to your car before it comes in or supposedly you can get trapped. Here we are, just in the beginning...it's about a 3-4 mile hike on all kinds of beach terrain and some of our kids did well, some didn't.

When you get there, the beach looks like this...blow up big and see if you can spot the glass.

Here's how you find it...get on your hands and knees and spread the "sand" around, looking under it.

As we walked, we came across a land slide, that slid after we walked past...and on return, we had to walk over the top.

Some of the treasures...orange, red, pink, purple are all pretty rare and the pieces we found were pretty small (compare to the marbles, which we also found...they are old and worn).

Finn sorting our finds...there's a lot, but some pieces are very small.

Directions to Glass Beach: Go to Port Townsend, to Fort Warden, but don't go in...drive on past...if you pass the cemetery, you went the right way. Keep going, staying to the right and there is a road on the right with a sign that says North Beach. At the end of the road is a parking lot, park there and go left on the beach. Go until you pass a few old rusty cars...axles and tires mostly and keep going. When you get the to sandy straight part, you;ll be where we were, but supposedly, you go to the 2 large boulders and that is where the good stuff is. Allow several hours.

If you take the kids, be prepared for whinning and you might not make it all the way there. But be prepared for glass on North Beach...you would still find treasures, just not as many colors. But if you are determind to go all the way, tell yourself (and stick to it) to hunt on the way back!

T-Ball was fun!

2009-06-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Finn had his last T-ball game. He really enjoyed playing. Thanks to coachs Kendra and Dee. If it weren't for Kendra, Finn wouldn't have played. Here are some pictures we took: T-ball is only fun for so long with little ones. Paxton found his own fun...

Our little monkey found something he found fun.

Coming in to home.

Finn as catcher

A swing and a miss!

The cheerleaders!

Time for an update!

2009-06-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

So much has been happening and I haven't blogged about it, mostly because I haven't been able to stay indoors. You see, it' been hot here and they boys want to be outside. It used to be that I could leave the door open and let them play in the yard, but lately, they disappear and run to my moms house. Since there is constantly people coming and going there, I have to be with them and my house suffers.

But, my poppies bloomed. A child, we don't know which one, flushed more things down the toilet. Someone suggested we try the scop vac and suck it out, but it didn't work. Alvin ended up taking the toilet off (AGAIN!) and found a shampoo bottle and the toilet paper holder springy thing. However, the tp thingy didn't want to come out, so at 9pm on that Saturday night, Alvin headed to home depot to buy a new toilet --one bathroom, we can't go with out a toilet. I decided to see if I could get it out and I did, by summersaulting the toilet (harder than it sounds) and letting the thing come out the way it went down. Alvin come home with out having to spend a fortune on a toilet...and I let him spend the money golfing the next morning instead.We went to our "secret beach" and had a picnic with our friends the Morgans. It was cool and overcast, but that didn't stop the boys from going in the water. (This is in Hansville, but to answer Jennys question about the last beach, we were by the point white dock)P & Q got wet, then took off their diapers...but the shirts provided a little cover.

Finn wasn't bothered by the cold water much...and couldn't wait to get in it. Some woman, gave us these sand dollars...you can't tell how tiny they were, but the grey one was about the size of my pinky toenail. Of course the sun burned off just as we were leaving, so we stopped at my parents house and saw Uncle Jake and played in the shade.
Then came the real heat. We had several days were it was over 85 degrees. And that meant pulling out the waterslide.
We invited friends over each day, but the only time anyone actually joined us was the day it died. My mom bought it at Rotary Auction last summer and it was a great find. We are going to try to "fix" it with duct tape, but it isn't holding air and I don't know if it can be repaired.

Last night was Finn's schools picnic with concerts by a big "marching" type band and Finn's music teacher. The boys loved watching the band and at one point Q disappeared and we found him sitting here again just watching.

Finn showed his brothers how to roll down the big hill and loved running around with his friends...in fact, I practically had to drag him to the car.

We have also been working in our garden...peas should be coming up soon and we have zucchini, pumpkins (courtesy of CF...the boys are excited) & tomatoes. I have been trying to keep up with the weeds in the front flower bed and stay on top of the mowing (if I mow early enough, I can mulch and not have to bag it...almost worth doing it twice a week.

Alvin has been puttin gin many extra hours at my parents house and you can finally see progress. I helped my mom (hey, the boys were already over there) put her living room back together and they might even be able to sleep in their bedroom tonight. After more than 18 months, this is success.
It has cooled off, back down to the 60's, and we are able to sleep a bit better. Today is the final t-ball game and if the weather cooperates, we may do a beach again tomorrow.

Back Yard Camping

2009-05-26T15:12:00.001-07:00

After reading on Liesl's blog about her great back yard camping experience, I decided to go along with Alvin's idea of camping in the yard. At first, we couldn't do it, because we had no tent, but Alvin pointed out that I bought one and it was in the car (so much for a fathers day gift). I made sure the kids rooms were clean and we pitched the tent, fighting with the kids to stay out until it was up entirely. After dinner and jammies, we blew up the air mattresses (no roughing it for me unless I am hiking) and tried to settle the kids down.

At about 9:30, Finn, who is terrified of lightning, asks what that booming noise is...we think it was fireworks from the reservation a few miles away. Finally, at 10pm and after warm milk, they fell asleep to the sound of the frogs chirping loudly. At 1 am, I woke Alvin with a "What was that?" This time, we think it's racoons. It was starting to feed cold and damp and we hunkered down under our down comforters. At 3 am, it was the neighbors dog barking at the coyotes, for several hours. At 5:30, I woke to go to the bathroom, and felt like I was in the jungle...the bird noises were...LOUD, and there were tons of different types making all kinds of noises. Then there were the canadian geese flying over the tent, squaking as they flew. When Quincy woke up and said he wanted to go inside, I had my shoes on before he changed his mind and wanted to cuddle with daddy. It was only 30 minutes later when they interrupted my quiet in the warm house.

Alvin worked Monday morning and later in the evening, but took a few hours to go to the beach.

It was only 65 degrees, but Finn wanted his shirt off...although he wouldn't get in the very cold water. Paxton was very happy to toss rocks into the water and Quince just wanted daddy time.

It may be a while before we camp in the yard again, but we plan to go away sometime this summer, maybe to your yard.

Saturday - Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Sunburn update...we've been putting Noxzema on it a few times a day and Paxton now asks for the blue medicine when he gets itchy. It's peeling again and looking better and he no longer cries when you touch him. I don't know if time has made it better, but I think I'll be using noxzema on all sunburns this summer. (Last summer, KB posted that she had a sunburn and put noxzema on it, because BR told her to, so I went and bought some for our campling trip...I was expecting a burn, didn't get one, but at least I had it)

Yesterday, I had to put a very tired Paxton in time out. He screamed for while, but quickly calmed down. I assumed he went to sleep and left him in longer than I would have normally. But as I stood at the kitchen window, this is what I saw.
Later in the day, we went to Hannas birthday party and had a terrific time.
Paxton rode his favorite bike at their house.

Quincy moved up to a 2 wheeler with training wheels.

Finn loves cake and ice cream.

We were invited to stay after and Hung out in their parklike yard. Alvin took all our boys on their "motorcycle" (Finn now wants one of his own).

Quincy pushed Alvin on the hammock...it was his idea to stand on the flower pot.

We had a great time, stayed too late, and came home exhausted. Thanks Brig and Jen.

We had another late night visitor last night. We were watching TV and were startled by a loud thud, sounded like something big had fallen over on our deck. It was a racoon falling off the deck rail when he over reached to get to the feeder. He was back with in seconds, but ran away when Alvin came out with the shotgun.

Sunburn 4 days later

2009-05-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Paxton is stil hurting. And waking up in the night in pain. HELP.

Puttin' it out there...

2009-05-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Jen is always telling me, that if I want something, I have to put that desire out into the universe. And if you don't want something, you don't say it, because the universe will hear.

Last night, I posted (aka, put it out there) that Quincy has been sleeping in our room and last night, he stayed in his own bed. I said the boys were sunburned and one didn't sleep well becuase his was worse that his brothers (naked water table time will do that). So maybe it's working. I want hummingbirds to find and use my feeders. I want my boys to potty train easily. I want to go to St. Thomas in February. I want Finn to be a doctor. I want to find good neighbors to replace the ones we are loosing. I want a house of my own. And since I am putting this all out there, I want a few million dollars (one million just doesn't cut it anymore).

If you can't beat them, let them join you!

2009-05-17T19:21:00.001-07:00

Apparently, I overestimated the power of the chocolate donut. Both boys slept in their room one night before deciding that it wasn't worth a chocolate donut to not sleep with us. Quincy comes in and sleeps on the floor on my side, Paxton goes to his dad's side (also on the floor) and the past 2 mornings, we have slept until 8am (EVEN QUINCY)! And you know what? I'll take sleeping until 8 over sleeping alone.

We've had a few bare bottom days and here's proof. Paxton put on his bathing suit and together the boys found the cake on the stove and devoured it. Today was a gorgeous day and we spent almost all of it outside, with both little boys naked. We brought out the water table and filled it several times and Paxton kept climbing into it. We spent a few hours at Mimi and Bubbas house riding bikes and driving the gator (all bottomless) and I didn't think to put sunscreen on until it was too late.

The boys crashed at about 7:00 tonight. They were red and worn out.

Finn has been great this weekend. He played T-ball like a rock star (his words) and planted flowers for Mimi and helped Bubba feed his bees. He quietly played wii this morning while we slept.

Just so you know, the racoons have not made an appearance since my last post. Alvin has moved on to chasing off the Canadian Geese (fireworks work for that too). Brooke, you can make late night visits again.

Never underestimate the power of a chocolate donut!

2009-05-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

I read recently about a mom that gave her 2 1/2 year old a cookie after her child napped, and that was incentive for the child to nap. So we decided to try this with our kids. Since they have cookies often, Alvin offered a chocolate donut if they stayed in bed all night long...and it worked the first night. I gave them the tiny hostess donuts and they were happy. The next night, they slept until 8am (usually it's 6) but both boys had to come into our room: I gave them both donuts for sleeping in. Last night was the same, but no donuts, because the deal was sleep in their beds all night long.

So now we move on to potty training. I am running low on diapers and just can't stomach the thought of more diapers. I heard K and a friend talking about using training pants and plastic pants and I am going to try it. Paxton wore them last night for less than an hour and couldn't stand the feel. I sense that he said something to Quincy, because Quincy won't let me put "big boy pants" on him today.

Here's a picture of our toothless boy. Today, it looked like his teeth were growing in pretty fast.
Here's Finn and I at Mothers day tea last Friday. He made me the necklace in art class.

Quincy has learned to drive the gator. This is great because it entertaines both boys when Finn doesn't want to play with them. He isn't great, but he can steer and avoid things: he loves to drive around the driveway in a circle. He has also started biting his nails. As a former biter, I really would like to stop this asap, before it turns into a real habit. Any moms out there with experience? Here's Quincy today...he said, Take my picture, so I did. Seeing that picture, tells me that I need to start cleaning today.

Lastly, Alvin has taken up coon hunting. Last year, Alvin showed interest in birds, so we bought him feeders and books for Fathers day. Now, the racoons have found out feeders and are making pigs of themselves. A few nights ago, while watching TV, I looked out and thought the wind was blowing really hard, because the feeder was almost horizontal. Nope, the coon was holding the feeder so he could dump its seeds down his throat. The next night he brought friends and we went through 5 pounds of birdseed in one night. Alvin chased them off with a very loud firework and 10 minutes after proclaiming "Those b%$&*)s won't be back tonight," they came back. The next night, they were back again, and this time met with a shotgun. Alvin treed the racoon and sat at the base of the tree for 45 minutes in the dark. The next night, they came back again, and were shot at again...and they didn't come back last night. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be watching TV after the kids go to bed with a shot gun by our side for the next few months. Now, if only we could get the hummingbirds to come back...I like those and their food only attracts ants.

Wii're having a blast!

2009-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

We broke down and allowed the Easter Bunny to buy a Wii and WE are loving it. A week later, I had to go buy a Wii fit...and Surprisingly, it gets used a lot, and not just by me. Alvin sometimes will come in and turn it on and start "exercising" with the games.

For me, it's about the age. I do a daily test to see my wii age. I've done as good as 27, but couldn't get a picture of it. So here is my 33. (All that really means, is my balance is good).

And it has been good for Alvin and I. We put the kids in bed and play a few games of bowling, baseball of golf...almost feels like a date surrounded by laundry, sippy cups and toys. We are always looking for suggestions on kid appropriate games, so if you know any, please share.

Last Saturday was a busy day for us. Finn had a t-ball game, a birthday party and lost a tooth. At the t-ball game, he showed his coach his very loose tooth and at lunch it fell out. Now he has no front teeth, but I don't have a picture of that yet. I was relieved, because when one tooth fell out, the other moved over and it looked like some people I saw when I lived in Tennessee.

I'll post a toothless picture when I get one...and hopefully, he won't be toothless for too long. The new ones are already coming in, thanks to his patience and not pulling them out.

Finn had birthday parties to go to on both Friday and Saturday and I made capes for both boys (my standard gift this year). Paxton and Quincy posed for a picture with them on (they are reversible).

It's rained a lot since that last picture and I am going to have to mow the lawn again. It's my goal this spring to keep ahead of the weeds and mow before the dandelions go to seed.

Blogs, Facebook and Etiquette

2009-05-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've had several discussions with friends about blogs and facebooks and this is where I stand.

I blog for friends and family. I recognize that strangers may wander here and may learn more than I want them to about me and my family, but I'm putting it out there for them and if they really want to read about my boring life...that's okay with me. But, essentially, the blog is personal (I could make it one that you have to sign into, but I don't feel the need...I just leave out locations and last names. And thanks to people that have left their blogs open, I have found old friends) and yet, I still filter some of what I say here because you never know who is going to stumble here. I wouldn't want to say bad things about Esther, because she might find her way to my blog. It's like my diary and readers here are invited to see my parenting blunders, silly mistakes and emotional tyrades.

I facebook for family, friends, old coworkers, exboyfriends, friends of friends, neighbors, other moms locally...those that I don't really want to know I have a blog, like old high school classmates. It's enough for me to say on facebook where I live, what I do and leave things somewhat vague. I love the status updates; to me, it's what e-mails were 10 years ago. Remember, you'd get an e-mail from someone you hadn't heard from in years and you were so excited to catch up, and after a few exchanges, it became hard to write back because you had nothing you really wanted to say...That's facebook for me. I filter much of what I say on facebook because I don't really want "joe schmo", that I knew when I worked at the omnidome, to know that I am leaving my house vacant for 2 weeks while I vacation in Amsterdam. I don't have many pictures on facebook, because I don't really need to share all that with all them.

I have one friend on Facebook who leaves status updates in the form of polls, old songs, and random quotes several times a day and he has so many friends that there is always some great things to read. So recently another friend of mine made a comment and her friend forgot to filter themself, made a major blunder and criticized all us parents. My panties are all bunched and I only vaguely know the offender. So, filter yourselves...it isn't that hard to do. Put your personal agendas somewhere a little more private and you won't come off looking like a complete idiot.

On the subject of etiquette, I would bet that Miss Manners is cringing in her grave (she's dead, right?) because of the computer. I'm okay with e-mails for kids birthday parties...in fact this was Finn's invite this year...I e-mailed it out.

And I am okay with e-vite, only when it looks like the sender spent time for the "perfect" invitation. But come on...I've received an e-mail, directing me to a web site, which served as a wedding announcement. Yeah, looked like an e-mail, no cute attachment. And in my boys baby books, I have the invites to my baby showers, not a printed off e-vite either. There are things that deserve real invitations...weddings, bridal showers and baby showers. Interestingly, these are places you would bring a nice gift and in a sense, it's a nice way of asking you to bring a gift. Any one else see this breach in etiquitte and hate it? Or do you think I am off base?

Little Boys

2009-04-29T12:49:00.001-07:00

I was looking for a picture for Brooke because she said it would be nice to strap the twins in to bed and keep them there all night. When I was pregnant with the twins, Finn was 3. He kept trying not to take naps and was a horrible grump with out one...so I brought our extra car seat in the house and would strap him into the car seat at nap time. It worked great, but I felt horrible doing it, so when he was finally asleep, I would unbuckle him and put him into his bed. I told my doctor that I did this and he told me I should just try benadryl.

While searching for a picture of this, (I don't have any) I came across these. Had to share, because I miss this stage.

(I've tried 4 times to upload photos and it won't work)

BTW, sleeping is going well. 3 nights with out getting out of their rooms. And I am sleeping fairly well on the mattress!

I give up!

2009-04-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

I think that being a 2 year old twin has got to be hard, but I'm gonna guess that it's harder to be the mother to 2 year old twin boys.

We've had 2 days where the boys went to bed late and they are grumpy as can be. Couple that with Finn going to bed late and you've got our house. Our poor downstairs neighbors have to live with the racket of my boys jumping and screaming and me yelling at them (it's the only way I can get their attention). And it's now 7:30, everyone is in bed and I have a moment of quiet.

I decided a few days ago that Finn needed to have his room to himself (really, so he can pick up his own messes) and that meant Quincy had to move back to Paxtons room. He's resisting. And both boys have been waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room, interferring with my sleep and it has to stop. So for the next few weeks, I have resigned myself to sleeping on the boys bedroom floor. This is a task I would love to hand over to Alvin, but he can't do it. He doesn't wake up easily, and the boys would either walk over him to get to me, or would climb in next to him: defeating the purpose of sleeping close to them, but not with them. My hope is that I can quietly get them back to sleep over the next few nights, and gradually move further towards and finally out the door.

Okay, someone is thinking I am crazy. Why not do what super nanny says...put them back in their bed each time they get out. (Sarah, I know this isn't you) We tried that, and the one that got out of bed would scream and wake up the other. Finn always sleeps through the noise! And if worst comes to worst, I can just lock them together in their room.

Wish me luck. I need all the luck I can get. (And I know now that this 2 year old phase has been a hell of a lot harder than the very tiring newborn phase...with a ton more bandaids)

What I could be doing today....

2009-04-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

...if I didn't have kids to drag into the grocery store, if it weren't so nice outside and I didn't have chores both indoor and outdoor, would be making these. You see it's still gorgeous outside, looking to be 70 degrees again. And it is supposed to rain tomorrow. The boys are playing well together outside and while I am waiting for the dew to dry, I came across this recipe.

My "kids pasture" is the only thing left to mow and I just don't want to do it. I mowed the entire front lawn yesterday with the riding lawn mower and have spent 2 days hauling branches to the pile that needs to be "chipped" and my house is suffering. Oh, I cleaned on Sunday, like I normally do, but because of all the outdoor stuff, the floor needs to be vacuumed or mopped, the bathroom cleaned again...and it's only Tuesday.

No worries. I am going to the grocery store this afternoon and then headed to the beach. Paxton will throw rocks for hours, Quincy will play in the sand and Finn will be wet from the minute we get there, but...the majority of that mess stays there.

And tomorrow when it rains, I will have time to clean (I don't do it at night when the kids are in bed), bake bread and read. And if my family is really lucky, I'll make those cookies for them.

Vitamin D overdose

2009-04-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

We've had 5 warm sunny days in a row and I think we are all suffering. It was above 70 today and Finn was even running around with no shirt on. Our neighbor filled up their pool, but the fascination was short lived because I wouldn't agree to fill buckets with warm water and haul down to them. We were outside at 9:00 to go to the bus and the boys didn't come inside until (forced) at 4:00. Quincy had a little nap in the stroller at 9:30 while I was walking, and Paxton fell asleep while watching tv. I'm that mom: I made everyone come in to watch tv because they had too much sun. It's 7:30 and still light out, but we've all eaten, the boys bathed and are in bed.

Yes, I know you can't OD on sun, but when the grumpies came out, it seemed easiest to blame the sun.

Lil' Sluggers

2009-04-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Finn had his first T-ball practice today and the sun made me enjoy practice time. Alvin slaved away at home on our taxes (he has one hour til midnight, and probably not going to make it) and I was "forced" to take all the boys. They practice at a school playground and P&Q enjoyed the playground equipment, and I got to socialize with a neighbor (hooray someone walking distance from our house with a kid Finn's age) and a few other parents (people I knew in High School).

Most of you know, I am not one for sports, and baseball is my least favorite. But, as long as the weather is nice, I don't think I will mind T-Ball.

6th folder, 6th picture.

2009-04-14T18:43:00.001-07:00

Kendra and Jenny tagged me with this:

1) go to your 6th folder
2) go to your 6th picture (no cheating!)
3) blog about it
4) tag 6 people
So here's my 6th picture on my 6th folder (in the 6th folder) . Wonder how many of the pictures of the people that do this are taken in June?

This was 2 summers ago, my brother in law, and his kids and Finn edging the pickleball court at my parents house (don't know what pickleball is...you must not be from the northwest. It's a combination of tennis and ping pong, or something like that.) This seems to be a job that always falls on brother in law and he recruited the kids to help. Coincidentally, his family was here this past week and I noticed that the job had been done again.

So I tag 6 people to do the same: Mary, Trish, Gloria, Jeanette, Patti and Kim.

So many pictures, so much to share

2009-04-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is a quick review of our trip.

We left and went to see Wicked in Portland and it was fantastic. My brother Jacob came to Portland and stayed in the hotel while my parents, Alvin and I went to see it. Stayed in a really cool hotel by the airport with a pool, elevators with floors that moved (pictured here) and 42 inch tvs which were perfect for the kid that wouldn't go to sleep at midnight and kept asking to go home (gonna be a long trip, right?). We also hit voodoo donuts and had a maple bacon bar and it was good!
We drove all day Sunday, and hit snow before dark in Idaho. We arrived at Alvin's brothers house after midnight and that kid quit asking to go to his house. We spent the next few days seeing my friends and their kids: Mary, Kim, Gloria, Shannon and a few with out kids: Chris and Amy. Met Amy's fiancee. We played at Jungle Jims with Mary, Morgan and Kimball and since I had paid $8 per kid, I made a whole day out of it. I arranged to meet Amy there, and I think she and Bob still had a good time, playing with my kids. (Q figured out how to cheat and climbed into the game to get the balls. By 6, the kids were sick of amusement park rides and had a great time celebrating Taylors 16th Birthday. The next day we headed to Kims fantastic house, I got to talk with Kim and Gloria, while my boys played with theirs.
Can't remember when we did things like, go to Cabelas (our one outing with Alvin) Play with Sarah's boys (the only one who understand what I go through becuase she has boys exactly the same age as mine--twins too). Swam in Uncle Eric's pool, went to dinner with grandma, played with cousins and their kids, Visited old neighbors, got my haircut (by a neighbor who I loved visiting with and hopes she can come to visit us soon). We loved playing Wii and with the dogs at Shannons,

Almost 2 weeks after we left, we headed for home. On the drive home, (alvin in a rental truck and I with the kids) we stopped at the Salt Flats and hit 5 states in on the road home.

Home....At last!

2009-04-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

We arrived home last night about 8:30 and Alvin and I are exhausted. I will share details and pictures later, after we get the rental truck returned, everything unpacked and Easter taken care of (will the kids notice if we don't do Easter baskets? hoping to convince Alvin to get a Wii on the drive to the rental truck place.)

Trip was bittersweet...I loved being "home" with friends, but so glad to be home and not be anyones guest!

Still vacationing!

2009-04-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Looks like we will be in Utah until at least Tuesday. We are having a great time and having so much fun with all our friends we left behind.

I have the greatest friends in the world. And if you are reading this, you are one of them. You've invited us all over and kept us fed, entertained and welcomed. If it weren't for the snow the other day, I would wonder why we left.

I have lots of pictures to share...but grandmas computer doesn't have a card reader.

We still have a few more days to go, and that means a few more adventures (although we won't go to Cabelas again:that adventure had us leaving with 3 kids throwing tantrums).

VACATION!!!

2009-03-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I am excited...it's going to be a lot of work, but I haven't been back to Utah for 3 years. And I haven't done much by way of vacationing in as many years (a night away twice and a week at the lake) and we deserve this.

The house was clean last night, but today it's a different story. I popped popcorn for our short trip to Portland today (Alvin and I are going to see Wicked) and the boys got into it for breakfast....it's all over. At least I know it was clean.

I should be concerned about publicly stating we are leaving our house, but we have downstairs neighbors and my parents are right next door. If for some reason this gives you any ideas...we have nothing valuable. I took my jewelry (getting it cleaned at the jeweler that made it) and the tv in back is broken.

If you need to get in touch, my cell is 206-599-9247 and if you are in Utah, call me to get together.

I'm Sick

2009-03-26T14:08:00.001-07:00

If you are my facebook friend, you already know this. It's my sinuses, and I want to know if it's possible to be fine one day and have a sinus infection the next. Medicine isn't unclogging me either, but I took 2 benadryls last night and got some sleep...sleep is good.

So my sweet little boy comes up to me yesterday and says, "Mom, I feel bad for you when you are sick, because..." Come on, you know what he is going to say: he's going to comment that I never get a rest and I still have work to do, and then he is going to offer to do some task for me. He continues "...you look terrible."

I've posted the above picture of the boys in thier Easter suits. Some one is thinking, why do they have easter suits. Simple answer is that my parents bought them for the boys (Not really my style). Of course my mom said it was so the boys could go to church with them...and who do you suppose is going to iron them each week?

Alvin won't let me Super Glue this!

2009-03-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

As you have probably figured out, we have loads of minor emergencies at our house and more often than not, they involve blood from mouths or noses. Tonight we had another one. Quincy was trying to get up to his chair at the table, his foot slippped and he bit his tongue. Alvin wanted to take him to the ER and my parents aren't home tonight, so I am posting this for Jen, who agreed to watch the other 2. Quincy is a little embarrassed to share it with you. Alvin called a client who is an ER Doc, and was informed that they probably wouldn't stitch it up, so we didn't go. Quincy said he is fine and didn't want to go.

Thursday night was Finn's concert. All 4 of the kindergarten classes sang and they sang: Cum Ba Ya, Animal Fair, Octopuses Garden, John the Rabbit, Baby Beluga, The Squirrel, Kuckaburra, We Shall Over Come. I was impressed because they remembered all the words. I'll admit that I was a little "concerned" that this would be corny, because the last choir concert I went to was when I was younger. I was the proud mamma, beaming and waving at my youngin'. Lastly, the boys and I were quite a site waiting for the bus to drop Finn off last week...I wonder what some people must think of me. Paxton had dropped a 2 liter jug of juice and broke the lid, spilling juice all over the kitchen. I was so busy cleaning up the sticky mess, that I wasn't prepared when bus time came. Instead of finding their cast off pants (every day, they take them off with in an hour of putting them on) I threw on their coats and boots and rushed down the driveway. One car actually slowed down, enough to cause other cars to honk and gazed at them. I hope they don't think we get to go "naked" all the time.

Shopping with the twins!

2009-03-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, it can't really be done. I went to the store (W) today to kill some time with the twins in the stroller and it wasn't a pleasant experience. First, you can't buy too much because it doesn't fit in the stroller. Second, the twins were not so good. Fortunately, I had called my friend Jen and she and her daughter met us there and she helped me laugh at the situation. Yes, it was so bad, I was either going to laugh or cry...and you know what? There was not one person that looked at me badly, and many more offered words of encouragement. Then Quincy fell asleep! THANKS JEN!!!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

2009-03-17T11:23:00.001-07:00

Today makes me miss my Utah family. Remember getting together for corned beef and cabbage, Amy, Shannon and girls, and Chris? I still haven't perfected my corned beef, but I am going to try again today, and hopefully have left overs for Reuben sandwiches tomorrow...I bought all the stuff today.

The little leprechauns in our house have been active. Aren't they just little Irish boys dressed in green that create mischeif? (I posted their photos above, and thanks to grandma, they have green to wear today.) For some reason, we are at a really whiny stage and I am not handling it as well as I could. Our poor neighbors have to hear a lot of screaming, because I won't give into their demands and then there is my screaming because I can't get them to do anything or they do things they shouldn't do. This morning, there was screaming becuase both boys wanted the dog shirt. We've been trying to take away the pacifier, but I keep giving it back, because it makes the house a little quieter.

It's beautiful and sunny today, and a little cold, but we had snow on Sunday. Hopefully that is the last of it for the year (or else I am going to have to go buy a SAD light.

Update: I am getting better at corned beef and cabbage. Today, I kept the crockpot in the cabinet and used my favorite dutch oven. Didn't start cooking it until 2:00 and simmered it for 3 hours. Added potatoes and carrots, took out the meat 20 minutes later, and added cabbage. By the time the meat was sliced (thinly...how I like it, perfect for tomorrows reubens) the cabbage was done. Quincy wouldn't eat it, but Pax thought it was beef jerky and ate it up...with the vegetables. Finn just asked me if I would make more carrots and potatoes next time. Alvin is still eating.

Earth Day is approaching.

2009-03-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

A friends post last week got me thinking about Earth Day. I don't do lent, but I do find that I am willing to give up something that helps the environment and make a lifelong commitment. But I don't know what to give up. Any ideas?

Here are somethings that I have changed already to be more green:

1. No paper products for eating. We use cloth napkins. I just throw them in the wash with what ever I am washing and Finn's chore is to fold them. I use Alvin's old shirts made into rags instead of paper towels (except for blotting bacon grease...and I keep paper towels around, but it takes well over a month to use a roll). No disposable utensils either.

2. We all have water bottles that get used and reused. Several years ago, we purchased a reverse osmosis water filter and it produces water equavalent to Aquafina. I find that I don't even like to take a bottle of water when I am out anymore.

3. We have a HE washing machine...I do a ton of wash and it uses only 13 gallons of wash per load (okay, really, we are on a well and run out of water in the summer, so it's really for that). I'd like a dryer too, but can't afford it now.

4. I clean primarily with baking soda, vinegar and home made cleaners that are green...and I love them. I've even converted friends. I make my own laundry detergent, and it's cheap and green.

5. We grow a garden...last year it fed the deer more than us, but we are going to try again. Hopefully, we will get it ready to plant this weekend (time to plant peas, beets and radishes next week).

6. We drink cold brewed coffee...not because it's green, but because it's delicious, but it doesn't use energy to brew.

I've switched the boys bedroom lights to CFL's but the light bothers me, so I won't put them through out the house. I figured putting them in the boys rooms would cut down on a lot of energy use since they sometimes turn them on in the middle of the night, and they are the lights that get left on when I leave the house (sometimes).

Of course we recycle as much as we can, we feeed our lawn clippings and bread scraps to the cows that live "next door."

So, I am thinking of leaning towards composting (we could feed our scraps to my mom's chicken and "compost" things much faster, but I can't stand going to the chicken coop. I already put coffee grounds into the garden, because I read somewhere that it keeps ants away.

What are you going to do?

Tunes

2009-03-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

I've been angry lately...so many things going wrong and the kids not helping matters.

Doesn't help either when only Alvin eats what I make for dinner and the kids cry for something to eat while falling asleep and wake up asking for food. I am not a mother who makes something else for the kids when they don't want what we are eating...I put 3 things on the table and if they choose to eat 10 servings of only one thing, so be it. Tonight I made roast...who won't eat roast? Apparently when you cook it with tomatoes, none of my kids will. As the timer rang, indicating bedtime, all 3 boys hopped up to the table and ate broccoli (one even licked the ranch dressing off his plate).

So, in this "angry" period, I reaquainted myself with an old friend...music. I figured how to load it onto my I-pod and turned it up loud. At first, I wanted music to feed my mood...but could only think of the Indigo girls. Listening to that makes me want to clean. I "surfed" around the songs I put in and listened to" Cowboy take me away," Abba Gold (which kids think they should listen to) and finally found myself singing along, loudly, to Nanci Griffith.

I put one ear phone in my ear and keep the other ear "open" to hear screaming, and for some reason "she" calmed me down. If you have to give her a genre, it's folk, but she is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter with the voice that soothes. I have, probably, 6 of her 20 albums and I can't wait to put them on the ipod too.

So, my question to you is who to you listen to when you are in "THAT" mood? Who is it when you are angry, when you are happy, when you are sad...and do you have a copy of "I'm too sexy" that I can borrow.

Don't worry, I am working on putting my 80's collection on my ipod (and thinking of getting rid of music that reminds me of exes.

Locked In, Locked Up & Locked Down

2009-03-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is the reality of living with 2 - two years olds. Quincy can open the deadbolt so we have to lock the "top lock" all the time. That means when you come to our house, it sounds like we are paranoid and over secure as we unlock the door.

Both boys can open the fridge, but Paxton has this new fascination with the freezer and likes to open it and stare. Since yogurt was on sale, we have a ton of it and they open the fridge at least 5 times a day and ask me to open a yogurt.

Quincy has been caught with scissors on the kitchen floor and Paxton was caught with a knife, trying to cut bread on the counter. I don't want a knive block on the counter, so it looks like I am going to have to put a kiddy lock on the knife drawer.

The other day and Paxton climbed on the bar and onto the kitchen counter to get a treat and while he was climbing he caught a bread knife with his toe (It was out of reach, but I will now have to be more careful). Superglue to the rescue.

Quincy was jumping in the bath last week and whacked his nose on the tub on the way down. It's been a bloody week.

Utah Friends: Mark your calendars

2009-03-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Looks like we are going to Utah. Alvin is going to do some work and I am taking the kids so I don't have to be alone with them here...and I get to see my friends and introduce them to my boys. We are thinking of leaving on the 30th of March and staying at least through the weekend. We'd love to see you. Please let me know if you are going to be around that week.

What makes a guy want to be a plumber?

2009-03-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sunday our main excitement came from our toilet. Excitement doesn't mean good does it?

Alvin has told me many times that as a little kid, he flushed the baby Jesus from his families nativity down the toilet. I would love to hear his moms version of the story. But Sunday, I heard more about it...and am surpried that Alvin remembers it so well.

Paxton has a fascination with water. He wants to play in puddles, buckets, cups, glasses, the sink, the tub and the toilet. I have caught him many times playing in the toilet, filling it full of toilet paper, but it wasn't a true problem until he figured out how to flush (recent attempts to potty train). The other day, he tossed a box in and flushed. The it was a shark from the bath tub, and stickers and shampoo bottles. Oh, we have a lock on the bathroom door: one of those plastic handles, because Finn has to be able to get in himself and a hook and eye at the top and they work to keep the little ones out....only if you close the door.

So Sunday, I go into the bathroom and there is Paxton and I can hear the toilet filling back up and he has a wet lego in his hand. I shoo him out, do my biz and everything is fine. 20 minutes later Finn starts hollering from the bathroom and everything is not fine. We plunge, and plunge and plunge. We waited until the boys went to bed and got a metal hanger from the neighbors and Alvin fished around in there (said he remembered his dad doing this to get out the baby Jesus) and he made me watch...but I don't understand why. We took the toilet off and at the floor we found the yellow yield sign. But that didn't seem like enough to stop water flow, so more "digging" backwards and we find a zebra (covered in tp and other things).

Alvin and I were both disgusted, but grateful that Alvin didn't have to call a plumber. Would a "professional" gag like we were? I change a lot of diapers, but I don't think I could get paid enough to deal with other people stuff. Of course I ran the toys through the dishwasher, but I was a little disturbed to see Paxton eat his yogurt this morning with the zebras legs.