Here are Jayden and Willow with their Great-Grandma Mary.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wigs
We’ve been having lots of fun at Royal’s parents house the past few days. I have more pictures that I am going to post, but these were too funny to not do right now. :)
Here are Jayden and Willow with their Great-Grandma Mary.
Here are Jayden and Willow with their Great-Grandma Mary.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Boat Ride
We made it out in the boat tonight for a cruise around the lake!
Safety first! You must always wear a life-jacket. Jordan was making sure that this one would keep Willow afloat. Sing with me, “Fat guy in a little coat. Fat guy in a little coat”
Jayden wondering what the heck Jordan is doing. He doesn’t seem to think it’s quite so funny as me and Jordan.
The classic summer picture for our family. Dad and a grandkid driving the boat!
Safety first! You must always wear a life-jacket. Jordan was making sure that this one would keep Willow afloat. Sing with me, “Fat guy in a little coat. Fat guy in a little coat”
Jayden wondering what the heck Jordan is doing. He doesn’t seem to think it’s quite so funny as me and Jordan.
The classic summer picture for our family. Dad and a grandkid driving the boat!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Washington
On Monday night, I got word that my grandma was not doing well and that she may only have a few days left to live. So, I found some plane tickets back to Washington that night and bought them. All I have to say is some airlines that I thought were my favorite (ahem, Frontier) have very poor customer service when it comes to booking bereavement flights. While others, (not naming names, but United) who were my least favorite airline thanks to some poor seating arrangements and rude flight attendants when I was flying with Jayden, totally redeemed themselves. So, I spent all day Tuesday doing laundry, packing, writing lists, shopping, packing, oh, did I say packing? I was having a bit of anxiety about flying with both kids alone. Jayden on the other hand wasn’t leaving without everything he owned. So, I opened up another suitcase that I wasn’t packing and let him put every book he could find in there, zip it up, drag it to the front door and tell me it was time to leave for the airport. He was a bit excited. Wednesday morning, I got up at 4, finished packing the last of our stuff, got the kids up, dressed, and headed off to the airport. On the way to the airport Royal kept asking me what I was doing. I kept saying, “I’m praying. This could be a disaster of an experience for me”, really expecting things to turn bad at some point and leave me fried. Turns out, God DOES answer prayers. :) The airports, security, changing planes, departures, arrivals, flight attendants, not to mention the kids, were all perfect. It was so nice. You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson and start to pray about everything, all the time, no matter how small, because I didn’t think to ask God to help us all get some sleep once we got to my parents house and I think I got about 3 hours last night between Jayden and Willow waking up. Oi, I’m pretty darn tired.
My grandma is still with us and is now out at my parents house, so me and the kids have all been able to see her. Jayden keeps asking why she’s so tired and why is her body so worn out and why this and why that. He is so cute, he’s totally got his dad’s soft spot for little old ladies. He wants to make her a bowl of hot soup to make her feel better. And after today, we talked about how pretty soon great grandma is going to go live with God in Heaven and that God is going to give her a new body that isn’t old and worn out. He sat and thought about it for awhile, then said, “I think great grandma is going to have a red one” I said, “Her new body is going to be red?” And he said, “Yes. Well, no, I think yellow with blue dots. Well, no, I think it will have cars on it. No, I know! It is going to have a black train on it. Yes, great grandma is going to love a new body with trains on it”
Despite the sadness that goes with losing yet another member of our family, it is so nice to be here. I love Washington. And we have been taking full advantage of the freakish heat here (even if it does feel a lot like Wichita) and the lake!
Here’s to show that big bugs live here in Washington too. I think they are starting to follow me around. I found this spider on my towel when I was pulling it out of the bin. I quickly dropped it and found a new one.
Joanna and Willow. Willow is slowly warming up people. Jordan still makes her cry just by looking at her.
My dad enjoying some delicious cupcakes my mom made. I think I ate 3. Well actually I know I did.
My mom
Here’s how the lake looked last night.
Sister Jo - she makes me laugh a lot
Pancakes for breakfast this morning and what looks like could be coffee is really just milk.
Evidence that Jayden has been helping the puppies escape their enclosure.
Willow
Going swimming!
Jordan’s going in!
My grandma is still with us and is now out at my parents house, so me and the kids have all been able to see her. Jayden keeps asking why she’s so tired and why is her body so worn out and why this and why that. He is so cute, he’s totally got his dad’s soft spot for little old ladies. He wants to make her a bowl of hot soup to make her feel better. And after today, we talked about how pretty soon great grandma is going to go live with God in Heaven and that God is going to give her a new body that isn’t old and worn out. He sat and thought about it for awhile, then said, “I think great grandma is going to have a red one” I said, “Her new body is going to be red?” And he said, “Yes. Well, no, I think yellow with blue dots. Well, no, I think it will have cars on it. No, I know! It is going to have a black train on it. Yes, great grandma is going to love a new body with trains on it”
Despite the sadness that goes with losing yet another member of our family, it is so nice to be here. I love Washington. And we have been taking full advantage of the freakish heat here (even if it does feel a lot like Wichita) and the lake!
Here’s to show that big bugs live here in Washington too. I think they are starting to follow me around. I found this spider on my towel when I was pulling it out of the bin. I quickly dropped it and found a new one.
Joanna and Willow. Willow is slowly warming up people. Jordan still makes her cry just by looking at her.
My dad enjoying some delicious cupcakes my mom made. I think I ate 3. Well actually I know I did.
My mom
Here’s how the lake looked last night.
Sister Jo - she makes me laugh a lot
Pancakes for breakfast this morning and what looks like could be coffee is really just milk.
Evidence that Jayden has been helping the puppies escape their enclosure.
Willow
Going swimming!
Jordan’s going in!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Lotion Disaster
Never leave a 3 year old in a room alone when there is a bottle of lotion around.
This is what happens.
The icing on the cake is that he ended up pooping his pants as well, since he decided he needed to go AFTER he had put lotion everywhere which means his hands were too slippery to get the bathroom door open. Awesome!
This is what happens.
The icing on the cake is that he ended up pooping his pants as well, since he decided he needed to go AFTER he had put lotion everywhere which means his hands were too slippery to get the bathroom door open. Awesome!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Baths, Bugs, Birds, and Backyards
First off, baths. We take baths over here. A lot. Baths take up a good deal of time in the evening after dinner when I feel totally overstimulated from the day and I need the kids entertained without them having to touch me for awhile. :) Thank goodness they both love baths and taking them together!
Next up, bugs. The bugs here are huge! And since it seems all our neighbors are spraying their houses for bugs, I think the really huge ones who are smart enough to get away from it, are migrating to our house. Royal found these suckers last weekend.
Nasty!
And look at this sucker! Royal actually spotted it in the grass when he was mowing it. It is HUGE!
Even with all these gigantic, nasty bugs around. I’m still not on the bandwagon of having our house sprayed. I think it’s more dangerous to expose Jayden and Willow (and poor Scooties) to the poisons and chemicals that it would take to keep the bugs away, then just having the bugs around. Plus it gives us something to check out and be gross out by.
And now for the birds! For the past few months, we have had some barn swallows make a little home on our covered porch. At first, I thought it was a little annoying having them swoop at us everytime we went outside, but then I thought it’d be pretty cool to watch them have their babies so close to us. So, we put up with the birds and eventually they got used to us and stopped throwing mud at us when we were out there. They provided great entertainment and some life lessons for Jayden. We would sit on the porch and eat lunch and watch the birds building their nest. Then sitting on their nest. Then the 5 little babies birds hatching and poking their heads out. The mom and dad birds flying off to catch bugs to feed to the birds. Although, when asked Jayden would tell you that the momma bird didn’t feed bugs to her babies. She fed them with her “great, big, birdie boobs”. Obviously my large chest has had an impact on Jayden, as well. :) We came out one morning and the bully baby bird in the nest had pushed out (well it’s my theory) 2 of the other birds, obviously the nest was getting to crowded. So we had to explain to Jayden why the birds died. Not that he hasn’t already had a ton of experience with mutilated animals on the porch thanks to Scooter. So then we watch the 3 birds left fight for food and open up their huge little mouths. And there really was a bully in the nest, I watched him climb over the other birds all the time. When they were getting fed, he’d get some, then the parent birds would fly off and the little bully bird would climb over one of his siblings and change places with it so when the parent birds came back, he got food again and the bird he climbed over didn’t get any. It’s a wonder the other little baby birds survived. I’m sure none of you will find it shocking that the little bully bird got the fattest and he was the first out of the nest and flying around. Even though all 3 of the little baby birds have flown off, they still come back at night a lot and sit under our porch, especially when it gets stormy. I love those little birdies. I actually learned quite a bit about barn swallows during this whole thing. They are federally protect, so we couldn’t destroy the nest even if we wanted to. They often come back and build a nest in the same place every year, so I might get to watch these birds have more babies next year! And while I thought the nest would be real nasty full of poop and stuff, it turns out that when the babies are tiny, the parents pick the poop up and throw it out of the nest, and the once the babies are a little bigger, they actually back themselves up over the edge of the nest and poop out of it. Smart little suckers!
Here’s the bird’s nest. The male bird always sat on our light, while the female was roosting around making the nest perfect.
Here’s the first bird out of the nest. The little fat bully bird. They pretty much let me get close enough I could of grabbed it if I wanted to.
And now for the backyard! Well actually, just the kids in the backyard.
I won this little bubble blower contraption at StrollerFit. I can hold a plank position like it’s nobodies business. Nice to know I still am a little competitive.
Little Willow. 8 months old now!
And this is what I did while sitting in the backyard. Working on a pink pumpkin hat!
Next up, bugs. The bugs here are huge! And since it seems all our neighbors are spraying their houses for bugs, I think the really huge ones who are smart enough to get away from it, are migrating to our house. Royal found these suckers last weekend.
Nasty!
And look at this sucker! Royal actually spotted it in the grass when he was mowing it. It is HUGE!
Even with all these gigantic, nasty bugs around. I’m still not on the bandwagon of having our house sprayed. I think it’s more dangerous to expose Jayden and Willow (and poor Scooties) to the poisons and chemicals that it would take to keep the bugs away, then just having the bugs around. Plus it gives us something to check out and be gross out by.
And now for the birds! For the past few months, we have had some barn swallows make a little home on our covered porch. At first, I thought it was a little annoying having them swoop at us everytime we went outside, but then I thought it’d be pretty cool to watch them have their babies so close to us. So, we put up with the birds and eventually they got used to us and stopped throwing mud at us when we were out there. They provided great entertainment and some life lessons for Jayden. We would sit on the porch and eat lunch and watch the birds building their nest. Then sitting on their nest. Then the 5 little babies birds hatching and poking their heads out. The mom and dad birds flying off to catch bugs to feed to the birds. Although, when asked Jayden would tell you that the momma bird didn’t feed bugs to her babies. She fed them with her “great, big, birdie boobs”. Obviously my large chest has had an impact on Jayden, as well. :) We came out one morning and the bully baby bird in the nest had pushed out (well it’s my theory) 2 of the other birds, obviously the nest was getting to crowded. So we had to explain to Jayden why the birds died. Not that he hasn’t already had a ton of experience with mutilated animals on the porch thanks to Scooter. So then we watch the 3 birds left fight for food and open up their huge little mouths. And there really was a bully in the nest, I watched him climb over the other birds all the time. When they were getting fed, he’d get some, then the parent birds would fly off and the little bully bird would climb over one of his siblings and change places with it so when the parent birds came back, he got food again and the bird he climbed over didn’t get any. It’s a wonder the other little baby birds survived. I’m sure none of you will find it shocking that the little bully bird got the fattest and he was the first out of the nest and flying around. Even though all 3 of the little baby birds have flown off, they still come back at night a lot and sit under our porch, especially when it gets stormy. I love those little birdies. I actually learned quite a bit about barn swallows during this whole thing. They are federally protect, so we couldn’t destroy the nest even if we wanted to. They often come back and build a nest in the same place every year, so I might get to watch these birds have more babies next year! And while I thought the nest would be real nasty full of poop and stuff, it turns out that when the babies are tiny, the parents pick the poop up and throw it out of the nest, and the once the babies are a little bigger, they actually back themselves up over the edge of the nest and poop out of it. Smart little suckers!
Here’s the bird’s nest. The male bird always sat on our light, while the female was roosting around making the nest perfect.
Here’s the first bird out of the nest. The little fat bully bird. They pretty much let me get close enough I could of grabbed it if I wanted to.
And now for the backyard! Well actually, just the kids in the backyard.
I won this little bubble blower contraption at StrollerFit. I can hold a plank position like it’s nobodies business. Nice to know I still am a little competitive.
Little Willow. 8 months old now!
And this is what I did while sitting in the backyard. Working on a pink pumpkin hat!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My Very Best Friend
Jayden tells me today, “Mom, Scooter is my VERY best friend”
Ahhh, Jayden and Scooter. Theirs has been a love-hate relationship from the beginning. Jayden would love on Scooter and she’d tolerate it. Then he’d love on her a little more and she’d swat at him. Then he’d squeeze her just a little too hard and she’d scratch and bite him. Through many time-outs and talks about how we treat animals, Jayden has SLOWLY started to be gentler to her.
Then, after telling Jayden how great he was treating Scooter and how much she loved him petting her so nicely, I walked away to make lunch. 2 minutes later I was breaking up a kid/cat fight because Jayden was trying to force-feed Scooter one of Willow’s little plastic stacking rings, telling her, ‘You have to eat this Scooter, it’s your breakfast!’. Baby steps……baby steps….
Ahhh, Jayden and Scooter. Theirs has been a love-hate relationship from the beginning. Jayden would love on Scooter and she’d tolerate it. Then he’d love on her a little more and she’d swat at him. Then he’d squeeze her just a little too hard and she’d scratch and bite him. Through many time-outs and talks about how we treat animals, Jayden has SLOWLY started to be gentler to her.
Then, after telling Jayden how great he was treating Scooter and how much she loved him petting her so nicely, I walked away to make lunch. 2 minutes later I was breaking up a kid/cat fight because Jayden was trying to force-feed Scooter one of Willow’s little plastic stacking rings, telling her, ‘You have to eat this Scooter, it’s your breakfast!’. Baby steps……baby steps….
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