Thursday, August 28, 2008
Disneyland
Our trip to the magical world of Disney has been booked and I am so excited. I think it will be totally awesome to see all the kids running around and seeing all the Disney Charaters.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Mariner's Game
Today we took the girls to their first Mariners' game. It was awesome. Yes, the Mariners did loose their game, but only by one. We got to the stadium and the game was already in the 2nd inning. Robb ran to get some garlic fries and the girls and I found our seats. Their eyes became the size of saucers and they just stared out at the field. Our seats were in the 200 lever in the Terrace Club area. Good seats but I think no matter where we had been sitting the girls would have been in awe.
Olyvia couldn't stop asking questions. To keep things simple we referred to the teams by the colors they were wearing rather than their team name, although I did tell her that the white team were the Mariners and the blue team were the Twins. Her next concept to grasp was that while white players were out in the field we wanted them to catch the ball, but when the blue team was out in the field we didn't want them to catch the ball. Same with batting. She was actually pretty quick to catch on and within a few minutes was consuming fries slowly, one by one, and watching with wide eyes at every play. Ellie was equally intrigued, but seemed to be more so intrigued over the stadium and the set of stairs that were next to our seats. She traveled up and down them quite a few times. Olyvia tried it once and got tired of it, going back to her seat to munch her fries and watch the game. Robb and I took turns sitting next to the girls.
It was quite adorable how much Olyvia got into it and pretty soon you would hear her say things like "Yay! That was good, right mom? They hit it far." or "Hit it way high white team." Just too cute. She was clapping in all the right places always looking to us to make sure she was understanding what was going on and reacting correctly. At the end of the game when it was official that we had lost she said "Darn, the blue team won! Maybe we will have to come back and see the white team win a different time." I agree.
Olyvia couldn't stop asking questions. To keep things simple we referred to the teams by the colors they were wearing rather than their team name, although I did tell her that the white team were the Mariners and the blue team were the Twins. Her next concept to grasp was that while white players were out in the field we wanted them to catch the ball, but when the blue team was out in the field we didn't want them to catch the ball. Same with batting. She was actually pretty quick to catch on and within a few minutes was consuming fries slowly, one by one, and watching with wide eyes at every play. Ellie was equally intrigued, but seemed to be more so intrigued over the stadium and the set of stairs that were next to our seats. She traveled up and down them quite a few times. Olyvia tried it once and got tired of it, going back to her seat to munch her fries and watch the game. Robb and I took turns sitting next to the girls.
It was quite adorable how much Olyvia got into it and pretty soon you would hear her say things like "Yay! That was good, right mom? They hit it far." or "Hit it way high white team." Just too cute. She was clapping in all the right places always looking to us to make sure she was understanding what was going on and reacting correctly. At the end of the game when it was official that we had lost she said "Darn, the blue team won! Maybe we will have to come back and see the white team win a different time." I agree.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Camp Handy
When the alarm clock went off this morning I could have killed whoever had the idea that we should go on a hike and then I realized it had been my idea. Argh! So I rolled over and told Robb it was time to get up and get ready to go, went and jumped in the shower to let the hot water wake me up. When I got out of the shower I was feeling much more chipper and ready to go. I belive I was actually excited about the day.
I had gone in to wake up Olyvia before my shower telling her that we needed to get up and get ready. She asked if she could just have a few more minutes of sleep. I told her she could sleep while I showered but would then need to get up. Turned out she didn't even need that long and was up and ready to get dressed by the time I got out of the shower.
We were off on our most recent adventure at 7:40am. As we were driving to meet up with the rest of the family at Starbucks Robb and I were stunned over the fact that we were actually all packed up, kids dressed, us dressed and out the door before 8am on a weekend. It was amazing.
We met up with the family, got some coffee, rolls, and the like. Grandma asked us if we had brought long pants for Olyvia since she was in shorts. I said that I hadn't because the weather had been so nice (80s) the day before that I didn't think we would need them. Funny when I now think about it because I had thought to bring everything else. I had spare clothes for them both, rain coats, sweatshirts, extra shoes, and their blankets and babies. Pants though - nope! She insisted that we head over to Walmart and pick up a pair of sweats or something for her to have "just in case". It is a good thing we did.
Now on the road, the girls will not stop talking, asking a million questions a minute and not even waiting for answers. We finally had to turn on some music so that they would just listen to that for awhile and give our heads a rest and that didn't even work. They were so excited they could barely contain themselves. We were thinking that they would fall asleep on the ride up but that didn't happen.
After a call to the Quilcene Ranger station and determining that access to the trailhead via Palo Alto road was still possible we headed up the mountain. We followed the pavement for about 10 minutes before turning off onto the gravel road. The road was recently graveled in places but there were other places that had a steady washboard going that was slightly unnerving as it would send the truck's back end sliding out ever so slightly. Luckily we were going slow so it was never dangerous, but it sure got my stomach going a couple times especially since one side of the road was a ravine we could not see the bottom of. The girls thought it was great though. They especially liked when I unrolled my window and stuck my arm out to try and touch the trees as we passed them. Olyvia wanted to try but her arms were too short.
Reaching the trailhead at 9:30, unloading the vehicles and getting onto the trailhead at 9:45. The weather was overcast and cloudy, but not really that cold and not raining. About 30 minutes into our hike we could tell that it had started to rain a little, but because we were under the trees it kept us sheltered from the brunt of the wettness. At 1 mile in we passed over the first footbridge. The girls did much better on this foot bridge then they had on the others since they figured they had done these before. I believe Olyvia even said "No problem, I got it." Once on the other side they went right down to the river and Ellie put her hand in the water. This worked as an awesome distraction as just prior to the bridge she had broken down crying because she wanted to be carried like cousin Leilah and I had told her no, that she was a big girl and could make it on her own. Grandma of course buckeled under the preassure eventually and did carry her some of the way up the river.
The area was beautiful and the river wonderful. I was able to take some great pictures with mom's camera as I didn't have any film in mine. Dad said it reminded him of the old days only instead of going slow because I was complaining, I was going slow because I was taking pictures. We both agreed that this was a much better option :)
Another 1.4 miles past the footbridge and we came to a stop. As I had read and been told, the footbridge was out having split in two from excessive force from the river on a rotting log. There was a rope that was strung between the two pieces to help people across, but it was decided that this would be to dangerous to traverse with the kids and instead we decided to find a dry spot under the trees to have our lunch, as the rain had started to come down quite a bit harder at this point.
After an awesome lunch we packed up. We happened to have two garbage sacks between the all of us and we used them to cover the girls up so that they wouldn't get quite as wet as their raincoats that we brought were still in the truck. I won't mention who was supposed to grab those because we don't want to put blame on anyone. Grandma then grabbed Ellie and everyone headed down the mountain, Robb, Olyvia and I bringing up the read. Olyvia kept walking slower and slower because she was uncomfotable, wet and did not want the plastic bag on her anymore. I tried to explain to her that without the plastic bag she would get fully drenched as her father and I were but she didn't want to hear any of it. It was starting to stress me out so I decided to continue down the river and let Robb decide how he wanted to handle it. I believe that it ended up with her still wearing the plastic bag only he just carried her the last mile or so.
I eventually caught up with grandma and we took turns carrying Ellie down the mountain. Once we had the trailhead in sight we made her walk on her own. We got to the truck, stripped the girls and got them in their dry clothes and in the truck with the heater running to warm them up. Robb, papa and Olyvia were not far behind and once they got there we were able to load up, drop Grandma and papa off at their car and head down the mountain.
The hike was awesome even though the rain did put a damper on it on the way down causing us to just want to get out of there and not look at the scenery as much as we had on the way up. We did get to see some deer which was wonderful and the girls thought it was great. There were no accidents other then a minor slippage in the river and some wet feet by Kristin and Darrel. We would really like to do this hike again after they replace the footbridge and we can hike all the way up to Camp Handy.
Our next hike is about a month out. Either Lake Ozette or Mount Elinore on the 28th of September or 5th of October so stay tuned for reports from that.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Our New Nanny!
We found someone. The girls are excited and I am excited. Yay for not having to interview any more people that aren't right for the job. It is crazy to me that people still smoke, but child care providers? I mean really. How do I explain to my children that smoking is bad and unhealthy and then they watch their babysitter do it all the time. Not going to happen. So, between the multiple smokers that were a definite NO, to the really timid and quiet girls that my two would walk all over, to the one girl who actually was flirting with Robb during our interview, I am happy to say we have found someone WONDERFUL! So you may be asking "Who is she?" Her name is Samantha Murdoch. She is 20 years old and although lives here now, spent some of her growing up years on the Oregon Coast. She loves children and seems to be very good with them. Family is very important to her. She is taking evening classes towards her degree from Olympic College. Her references were all amazing and the girls fell in love with her instantly when they met her. She attends New Life and seems very strong in her faith.
We are very excited to have her as part of our family and look forward to getting to know her more over the months and who knows, maybe years. :)
Life Decisions
I have a lot of interaction with high school and college students. Having lead the youth minstry program at our church for over 6 years, I developed relationships with many of them and feel like I am a more well rounded person because of it. What it has brought to my attention is that these young adults are faced with many difficult decisions as they embarq upon graduation from high school and the following years. As high school students they are often asked the question of what they are going to do with their life. What a HUGE question. I am almost 30 years old and I am still asking myself that question. Do we ever really know the answer? And if we do think we know the answer, are we just kidding ourselves thinking that we can fully determine where our life will lead?
And so these young adults embarq upon the adventure of either going to a university, a local community college or just working. Are any of these decisions the right decision? or the wrong decision? I don't think so. I think that for each and every person there is a different decision and it is one that only they can make. For most, this will be the first time where they truely have to make their own decision about something and suffer all consequences (good or bad) of that decision.
Even if they decide, yes I will go to college right out of high school and get a degree is paper mache, it doesn't mean that the rest of their life will be spent on paper mache. I hate to inform those of you that think what you do know is definitely what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life because . . . it's not. Life has this wonderful way of playing jokes on us and just when we think we have it all figured out something else comes along.
Most recently my husband and I have been met with a crossroad. Just when we were getting set into how life is, we are met with a decision that could possibly change things drastically, throwing us in an opposite direction. We have to make the decision if we want to be business owners. To own a business is a tricky thing. It isn't as simple of a question as many may think. A lot of complicated stress can come along with owning a business. We need to decide if the stress and the fact that the business isn't something we both enjoy, are worth the benefits. So here I am, like I said earlier almost 30, and I am faced with the same questions I faced as a high school student, "What am I going to do with my life? What do I want to be when I grow up?"
It doesn't matter that I have already graduated from college. That I own a home. That I am married. That I have two children. The question is still a HUGE question. It never gets smaller. It stil seems to overwhelm me.
There are two things that I know I must do to be able to answer this question and be content with whatever our decision is.
1. Pray. I need to rely on God to help me make the decision and not try to make the decision all on my own. Not only do I need to pray for the guidance and strength but I also need to spend some time waiting for Hisanswer. I need to watch where He is leading me.
and
2. I need to change the question. Instead of asking myself what I am going to do with my life, I need to ask what am I going to do right now. I need to not think that the decision I make now will forever determine my future because I do not know what my future holds.
So here I am, turning my life over to God and trying to figure out in what direction my next step will take me.
And so these young adults embarq upon the adventure of either going to a university, a local community college or just working. Are any of these decisions the right decision? or the wrong decision? I don't think so. I think that for each and every person there is a different decision and it is one that only they can make. For most, this will be the first time where they truely have to make their own decision about something and suffer all consequences (good or bad) of that decision.
Even if they decide, yes I will go to college right out of high school and get a degree is paper mache, it doesn't mean that the rest of their life will be spent on paper mache. I hate to inform those of you that think what you do know is definitely what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life because . . . it's not. Life has this wonderful way of playing jokes on us and just when we think we have it all figured out something else comes along.
Most recently my husband and I have been met with a crossroad. Just when we were getting set into how life is, we are met with a decision that could possibly change things drastically, throwing us in an opposite direction. We have to make the decision if we want to be business owners. To own a business is a tricky thing. It isn't as simple of a question as many may think. A lot of complicated stress can come along with owning a business. We need to decide if the stress and the fact that the business isn't something we both enjoy, are worth the benefits. So here I am, like I said earlier almost 30, and I am faced with the same questions I faced as a high school student, "What am I going to do with my life? What do I want to be when I grow up?"
It doesn't matter that I have already graduated from college. That I own a home. That I am married. That I have two children. The question is still a HUGE question. It never gets smaller. It stil seems to overwhelm me.
There are two things that I know I must do to be able to answer this question and be content with whatever our decision is.
1. Pray. I need to rely on God to help me make the decision and not try to make the decision all on my own. Not only do I need to pray for the guidance and strength but I also need to spend some time waiting for Hisanswer. I need to watch where He is leading me.
and
2. I need to change the question. Instead of asking myself what I am going to do with my life, I need to ask what am I going to do right now. I need to not think that the decision I make now will forever determine my future because I do not know what my future holds.
So here I am, turning my life over to God and trying to figure out in what direction my next step will take me.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Mischievous Ellie Claire
My youngest daughter again showed her mischievous side. Ever since she could make a facial expression she has been more sneaky than her sister but this was seen in full hysterical light yesterday while we are all having lunch here at the house. Wednesdays are my days to spend with the girls, go to doctors' appointments, and the like. Each of the girls had a doctor's appointment today and they went relatively well. It was confirmed that they are both growing like weeds and really show no sign of stopping. :)
We got home after the appointments and stopping to pick up pictures at Costco and I got to making lunch for us. I madea delicious Cabbage salad - YUM! Anyway, as I was trying to convince the girls to finish their lunch and quit playing while they were eating, I had to step away for a minute to use the bathroom. When I came back into the kitchen Ellie had one of the dinning room table chairs in the kitchen and was using it to stand up to the counter and pretend she was making stuff. Cute, but I asked her to please take the chair back to the table and finish eating her lunch. She quickly listened and began dragging the chair back to the table. Once she rounded the island/bar the chair started to make a sound along the floor. Once she got it pulled all the way to the door (having passed the table) she pushed it forward all the way to the bar again and pulled it backwards to get it to make the noise again. While doing this she was laughing to herself ever so quietly. Again, once she got to the door, she pushed the chair forward to the island and then pulled it back again. I asked her if she was doing that on purpose (even though I already knew the answer) and she just laughed. Then as she was on another trip with the chair away from the island towards the door, the chair made a different noise that she thought was even funnier and she started laughing hysterically. So now, she would pull it towards the door for one sound and push it towards the island for another sound, all the while giggeling loudly. By this point her sister had joined in on the laughing and admitedly I could barely contain my laughter as the whole situation was quite hilarious.
I finally had to go and take the chair from her to get her to stop pushing and pulling the chair across the wood floor and get her to sit up to the table and finish her lunch.
We got home after the appointments and stopping to pick up pictures at Costco and I got to making lunch for us. I madea delicious Cabbage salad - YUM! Anyway, as I was trying to convince the girls to finish their lunch and quit playing while they were eating, I had to step away for a minute to use the bathroom. When I came back into the kitchen Ellie had one of the dinning room table chairs in the kitchen and was using it to stand up to the counter and pretend she was making stuff. Cute, but I asked her to please take the chair back to the table and finish eating her lunch. She quickly listened and began dragging the chair back to the table. Once she rounded the island/bar the chair started to make a sound along the floor. Once she got it pulled all the way to the door (having passed the table) she pushed it forward all the way to the bar again and pulled it backwards to get it to make the noise again. While doing this she was laughing to herself ever so quietly. Again, once she got to the door, she pushed the chair forward to the island and then pulled it back again. I asked her if she was doing that on purpose (even though I already knew the answer) and she just laughed. Then as she was on another trip with the chair away from the island towards the door, the chair made a different noise that she thought was even funnier and she started laughing hysterically. So now, she would pull it towards the door for one sound and push it towards the island for another sound, all the while giggeling loudly. By this point her sister had joined in on the laughing and admitedly I could barely contain my laughter as the whole situation was quite hilarious.
I finally had to go and take the chair from her to get her to stop pushing and pulling the chair across the wood floor and get her to sit up to the table and finish her lunch.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Marymere Falls - Lake Crescent
So we got up, had breakfast, packed up our lunch and extra clothes and then headed west to connect up with the 1.5 mile hike to see the beautiful and majestic Marymere Falls. I was very excited to get out with my husband and girls and spend a day in the outdoors.
We pulled up at the Ranger Station around lunch time so decided to have a picnic before heading up the trail. Ellie was very excited to get going and could barely stay seated to eat her lunch. She kept telling Robb and I that she wanted to go see the water pool. Too cute.
After finishing our lunch and packing up our water to take with us, grabbing our camera and making sure the girls had their hats, we headed off to the trailhead. Ellie insisted on carrying the bag with the three bottles of water but after about 100 feet asked if someone else could carry it. She said she would carry it more later. :)
The girls were unsure about the underpass, saying that it seemed a little scary, but after getting through that they proceeded up the path and through the woods. Olyvia was so enamored by the beauty of everything that she kept wanting to stop and look at every little thing; A tree here, a bush there, the mountain through the trees, the sun beaming through the branches, and constantly looking for wild animals. She was sure that she was going to see a racoon, moose, bear or deer and was quite disapointed when we finished the walk and she hadn't seen anything except a shrew.
As we started up the steeper stair portion of the trail Ellie asked to be carried but we quite firmly told her she could do it and that we weren't going to carry here. There was NO WAY that I was setting that precedent. But she didn't ask again all the way up the switchback stair portion of the trail. Once we reached the top and could see the falls, Olyvia's mouth dropped open in awe and Ellie looked and asked "Is that the water pool mommy?". Yes my dear, that is the water pool.
We look a ton of pictures and then Olyvia asked if we could keep going up to the second platform for more pictures so we did. We then proceeded all the way down the mountain. The girls made it all the way down the steep portion only stopping a couple times when they thought there was something so beautiful that I needed to take a picture of it, and then got to the flattend portion of the trail. Ellie asked a couple more times to be carried, but we stayed firm and she finished the entire trail without being carried. She did awesome. They both did.
As we were walking back Olyvia insisted on taking me in the ranger station where she could show me the stuffed bat that was in there. Then on our way to the car she told me how the hike was just so beautiful and it was so wonderful to see all the beautiful things. It is so important to teach our children how to respect the earth, cherish it, revel in the beauty of it and share it with those you love. As we were coming down the trail Olyvia told me "God made us a wonderful earth to enjoy." I must agree.
Mothers
I got home this evening to my usuall wonderful welcome. As I walked in the door with my hands full (what exactly was in them I can't even remember: my purse, lunch bag, day planner and more) Ellie Claire came running across the kitchen to the front door screeching a wonderful sound and jumped into my arms, climbing up my body. Olyvia wasn't far behind with her wonderful screeches as well.
After getting all my stuff put down I was able to spend a few minutes just hugging and kissing while they told me about what they had been doing when I walked in the door. We progressed to their room where they had been playing Candy Land. When Ellie would draw a card, she would just find a square on the board that was that color and move the piece there. Sometimes she was moving forward and sometimes she was moving back. She didn't seem to care if she was winning as long as she got to put her little gingerbread figure on the right color square.
After putting the game all away we headed into the kitchen to make dinner (homemade pizza, swiss chard & salad). While we were getting out all the ingrediants, Olyvia asked me a most wonderful question. She asked me, "Why do kids always need mothers?" I couldn't help but think, 'what a wonderful question.' How wonderful it is that she, at such a young age, already sees the importance of the unending love that a mother can give. For some the mother that gives this love isn't necessarily the child's biological mother, but none the less is a woman that shows strength, love, dedication, and loyalty to their child. I pray that both my girls learn the importance of being a mother and that one day they can pass this importance on to their children, whoever they may be.
After getting all my stuff put down I was able to spend a few minutes just hugging and kissing while they told me about what they had been doing when I walked in the door. We progressed to their room where they had been playing Candy Land. When Ellie would draw a card, she would just find a square on the board that was that color and move the piece there. Sometimes she was moving forward and sometimes she was moving back. She didn't seem to care if she was winning as long as she got to put her little gingerbread figure on the right color square.
After putting the game all away we headed into the kitchen to make dinner (homemade pizza, swiss chard & salad). While we were getting out all the ingrediants, Olyvia asked me a most wonderful question. She asked me, "Why do kids always need mothers?" I couldn't help but think, 'what a wonderful question.' How wonderful it is that she, at such a young age, already sees the importance of the unending love that a mother can give. For some the mother that gives this love isn't necessarily the child's biological mother, but none the less is a woman that shows strength, love, dedication, and loyalty to their child. I pray that both my girls learn the importance of being a mother and that one day they can pass this importance on to their children, whoever they may be.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Turning 30.
In two weeks I am turning 30. I have been thinking about it a lot lately trying to determine if I feel different about this birthday than I have about others. I don't really. I have started to evaluate where my life is at and if I am happy with it. I think I am. I suppose if I really evaluated my life I would have a bunch of shoulda coulda wouldas, but what is the point? I have a wonderful husband who loves me. We have a place to live. We have two beautiful daughters. These are all amazing things. I am definitely not doing what I thought I would be doing. My career path took a hike years ago, but I think when I veered off to the left, so many more paths opened up for me.
Over the last years God has opened up a door to me getting me involved in youth ministry (some of the happiest and most difficult times of my life). During this time I have started to discover some of my gifts. I look forward to the continued ability to share these gifts with others and explore what they will mean for my family and me. The future possibilities of traveling and mission work are in my future. How, I am not sure yet, but I know they are there. I look forward to sharing this love of helping others with my girls so that they may grow up wanting to share the gifts they have been blessed with.
My photography outlet is growing as I have finally decided to make the change to digital. I have been saving up to buy my digital camera and am excited to get started using it. Over the years I have realized that I love to take pictures of nature and of life. I especially love to capture people experiencing their life. I look forward to seeing where this outlet will take me.
At 30 I am very blessed to have a group of girlfriends who I have known for more than half my life. We don't see each other all the time, but we are there for each other through whatever life throws our way; I couldn't have asked for better friends to be a part of my life.
What questions am I supposed to ask as I turn 30? Am I where I thought I would be? No, I am not. Does that upset me or depress me or in any way make me want to go back and start over? NO WAY! Am I excited for the future? Definitely. God has done amazing things in my life. He has given me an amazing family, fabulous friends and I so look forward to continuing to see all my relationships grow; I am excited to continue on this ladder of my life taking the time to enjoy each and every rung.
Thank you to my family, my friends, and even those who would call themselves my enemies. Each and every one of you play a roll in who I am as a woman and for that I am very greatful.
Over the last years God has opened up a door to me getting me involved in youth ministry (some of the happiest and most difficult times of my life). During this time I have started to discover some of my gifts. I look forward to the continued ability to share these gifts with others and explore what they will mean for my family and me. The future possibilities of traveling and mission work are in my future. How, I am not sure yet, but I know they are there. I look forward to sharing this love of helping others with my girls so that they may grow up wanting to share the gifts they have been blessed with.
My photography outlet is growing as I have finally decided to make the change to digital. I have been saving up to buy my digital camera and am excited to get started using it. Over the years I have realized that I love to take pictures of nature and of life. I especially love to capture people experiencing their life. I look forward to seeing where this outlet will take me.
At 30 I am very blessed to have a group of girlfriends who I have known for more than half my life. We don't see each other all the time, but we are there for each other through whatever life throws our way; I couldn't have asked for better friends to be a part of my life.
What questions am I supposed to ask as I turn 30? Am I where I thought I would be? No, I am not. Does that upset me or depress me or in any way make me want to go back and start over? NO WAY! Am I excited for the future? Definitely. God has done amazing things in my life. He has given me an amazing family, fabulous friends and I so look forward to continuing to see all my relationships grow; I am excited to continue on this ladder of my life taking the time to enjoy each and every rung.
Thank you to my family, my friends, and even those who would call themselves my enemies. Each and every one of you play a roll in who I am as a woman and for that I am very greatful.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Olympics here we come!
Just this last week while my dad was in Alaska, I took the opportunity to take his ongoing prescheduled training appointments. I think I may have been on something at the time I reluctantly agreed to it, but I know that it was good for me and it also showed me the amount of exercise I am not getting that I should be getting.
Robb and I do not have the financial ability at this time to get a trainer, but what we do have is access to beautiful mountains, valleys and rivers. So, I purchased the book 'Day Hikes: Olympic Peninsula' and have put a bunch of hikes on our calendar. I decided that we love the outdoors and we want our children to love the outdoors as well so we need to get out in them more often. Our first hike is going to be this Sunday to Halfway House. I will make sure to keep you all posted on how it goes and how the girls do, posting pictures as well.
Robb and I do not have the financial ability at this time to get a trainer, but what we do have is access to beautiful mountains, valleys and rivers. So, I purchased the book 'Day Hikes: Olympic Peninsula' and have put a bunch of hikes on our calendar. I decided that we love the outdoors and we want our children to love the outdoors as well so we need to get out in them more often. Our first hike is going to be this Sunday to Halfway House. I will make sure to keep you all posted on how it goes and how the girls do, posting pictures as well.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Ellie Claire turned 3.
Friday was Ellie Claire's birthday and I can hardly believe it. Our children are growing so fast, and getting so big. She didn't quite understand why her friends weren't coming over on Friday. I explained to her that Friday was her birthday, but her smile face party wasn't until Saturday which was the next day. She seemed content with the answer at the time, but asked again later in the day when her friends would be over and when she was getting her smile face cake. I am sure our previous conversation was like something from Look Who's Talking where she is saying "oh, ok." but really thinking 'This lady is nuts if she thinkgs I am ok with not having my friends over on my actual birthday...and what is this with having to wait until tomorrow for my smile face cake? I mean really.'
A few days ago on our way out to Hansville we say this rock of sorts that was painted into a very large smile face. Ever since then she has been very excited thinking that she was getting one of those for her birthday. Her present sat in the living room all wrapped up for a day or so and so every time she saw it she would ask if that was her smile face. I could see a little dissapointment in her face when she opened it and it was just a brand new pink suitcase with her name on it full of new clothes and books, and not a big rock painted with a smile face. What is a parent to do? Just when we think we have gotten them a great gift that they will love, they tell us they would rather have had a rock. I suppose next time I will know better.
A few days ago on our way out to Hansville we say this rock of sorts that was painted into a very large smile face. Ever since then she has been very excited thinking that she was getting one of those for her birthday. Her present sat in the living room all wrapped up for a day or so and so every time she saw it she would ask if that was her smile face. I could see a little dissapointment in her face when she opened it and it was just a brand new pink suitcase with her name on it full of new clothes and books, and not a big rock painted with a smile face. What is a parent to do? Just when we think we have gotten them a great gift that they will love, they tell us they would rather have had a rock. I suppose next time I will know better.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
My Curly!
I have been wonderfully blessed with a great husband, two beautiful daughters, a family that loves me and the most recent addition to our family, who in just a couple weeks is going to be two, my little Curly, Leilah Grace.
We recently traveled to the Sandsation festival and had so much fun. I don't get to spend a ton of time with her because of our busy schedules but we got to spend an entire weekend together as a family building sand castles, going on horse rides, playing at the beach, going to the bakery, and just all around having a fun time. Watching her play in the sand and be care free was so wonderful. It reminded me of what is important in life. That as adults we often forget about having fun and being who God made us to be. We are often so wrapped up in what we should do or should say or how we should act that we loose ourselves.
Last night Robb and I went a saw a movie - not necessarily one I would recommend, but he loved it. In the movie there is a part where a father is talking to his grown children and telling them that as a child he had wanted to be a T-rex dinosaur but that his father had told him that was unrealistic and to grow up, get a job and be responsible. He said the he always thought that he would do that but when he had accomplished the responsible things he would come back and become a T-rex. The problem was that over the years he had lost it and no longer knew how to be a T-rex. His point was that he wanted his boys to be responsible, but he didn't want them to make the mistake he made and loose their dinosaur.
So, I encourage you all to keep your dinosaur. Pick flowers, eat berries, use hula hoops, ride a trike, swing from the monkey bars, love life, love others and most of all love who you are.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
I am your mother and I know everything.
Sara and I finally connected. We have been trying to get together over the last month, having not seen each other since the beginning of June. Her and her beautiful little ball of fire came over for a play date which was great. The girls got to play outside while Sara and I visited and caught up on the goings on of the last couple months. As we visited I fixed us some lunch, we had lunch with the girls and then continued our visit.
It was getting to be about 3:00pm and Sara said they better get heading and I knew that I should probably be getting going pretty soon too as Robb, the girls and I had plans to go to the pool and go swimming. Sara and I walked out onto the little deck at the top of the stairs and looked out to the backyard where the girls were playing on the swings and with the sand. The three of them were quite a site and seemed to be having such a great time. Such innocent little faces one wouldn't suspect anything less than angelic.
I told the girls that it was time to head up and get our stuff because we were going to be leaving soon and Sara called down to Hanna that they were going to be heading home. Then I heard Olyvia say something but didn't really catch all of it. I was sure, however, that I did hear the word poop. I said, "what was that?" She then yelled again, "There is poop, and Ellie touched it with her hands." I have to say I was perplexed. Poop? I am thinking, what kind of poop and how did it get there and why did Ellie touch it with her hands. But instead of asking any of these questions, I said "what?" sort of chuckeling thinking there must be some confusion. I know, I think a little bit of me . . . or maybe all of me . . . was confused. I asked, " you guys are just playing pretend, right?"
Olyvia then began to explain, "No, its real. Ellie pooped in a bucket and dumped it all over and touched it wither her hands." Ellie then says, "Yeah mom, I pooped in a bucket and it was fun." As she says this, she is looking up at me with this huge grin on her face.
My smile that was on my face, as I had previously been chuckeling thinking they were playing pretend poop games, immediately turned down as my mouth dropped open and I again said, "what?" Sara, trying to hold in her laughs, held her head down as she let out a little gasp. While half laughing (out of shock) myself, I said "this isn't funny. Do you think that she really pooped?" She exclaimed that she had to see this for herself because she couldn't have really pooped.
So we head down the stairs, at this point a part of me is still thinking that they are playing pretend and confusing pretend with reality. We get over to the swingset and I ask them, "where is the poop?" Olyvia tells me that it is "all over." Sara then spots some. I grab the closest bucket which seems to have streaks of some kind of wet mud (NOT WET MUD). I push the poop pellets into the bucket with a leaf and continue to look around for more. While doing so Olyvia mentions that Ellie might have gotten some on the slide. Sara looks, and sure enough there are poop streaks all the way down the slide that have dried on. Oh my goodness, I cannot believe what I am seeing. I am looking at Ellie, who has know climbed up into the house part of the swing set and as doing so my eyes scan her back only to discover, that there is poop all the way up her back side. I immediately turn her around and begin stripping her clothes off her only to discover there is no poop on the inside of her clothing. A question arises, how did poop get on the outside of her pants smeared all over, and non was on the inside of her underwear? Interesting, huh?
Striped naked, except for her crocks, I take her inside to get washed off in the laundry sink. Sara offers to rinse the slide off with the hose. I am walking Ellie to the laundry room, trying not to actually touch her hands which by this time I have noticed are covered in feces (Yummy!) and Ellie actually says to me, "isn't that great mom that I pooped in the bucket." I again find myself saying, "what?" I must say that my vocabulary during this particular incident was horrible.
So while I am washing her off in the laundry room, Ellie has realized that maybe pooping in the bucket, smearing it on the slide and dumping it all over under the swings probably wasn't the best idea and goes for a quick save. "Mom, Olyvia peed in the bucket too and dumped it out." She then looks up at me waiting for a response. My eyes get big, my teeth clench, and I am thinking Oh my goodness, what where they thinking? but I catch what she is trying to do before I say anything and I choose my reaction wisely. I ignore what she said and continue on my explanation of why we DO NOT poop on our toys.
We got all cleaned up, into clean clothes, hands washed, and tell Sara and Hannah bye and that we will see them on Saturday. We then rush upstairs so that we can finish grabbing our stuff for swimming and head out the door. I then realize that I know something that Olyvia doesn't know that I know. I decide to show my upper hand and start instilling fear into her - for when she is a teenager. We are upstairs and Olyvia is standing by the door. I know she is thinking, "I can't believe I got away with that." I look at her while I am folding the towels for swimming and say, "I know you peed in the bucket Olyvia, so don't even try and put all the blame on your sister. That behavior is unexceptable and disgusting." She looked up at me with the biggest eyes of shock she had ever seen. She said, "what? But how did you know?" I simply said, I am your mother and I know everything. When you do something wrong, even when you think I don't know, I do.
Of course later when I told Robb, he laughed.
It was getting to be about 3:00pm and Sara said they better get heading and I knew that I should probably be getting going pretty soon too as Robb, the girls and I had plans to go to the pool and go swimming. Sara and I walked out onto the little deck at the top of the stairs and looked out to the backyard where the girls were playing on the swings and with the sand. The three of them were quite a site and seemed to be having such a great time. Such innocent little faces one wouldn't suspect anything less than angelic.
I told the girls that it was time to head up and get our stuff because we were going to be leaving soon and Sara called down to Hanna that they were going to be heading home. Then I heard Olyvia say something but didn't really catch all of it. I was sure, however, that I did hear the word poop. I said, "what was that?" She then yelled again, "There is poop, and Ellie touched it with her hands." I have to say I was perplexed. Poop? I am thinking, what kind of poop and how did it get there and why did Ellie touch it with her hands. But instead of asking any of these questions, I said "what?" sort of chuckeling thinking there must be some confusion. I know, I think a little bit of me . . . or maybe all of me . . . was confused. I asked, " you guys are just playing pretend, right?"
Olyvia then began to explain, "No, its real. Ellie pooped in a bucket and dumped it all over and touched it wither her hands." Ellie then says, "Yeah mom, I pooped in a bucket and it was fun." As she says this, she is looking up at me with this huge grin on her face.
My smile that was on my face, as I had previously been chuckeling thinking they were playing pretend poop games, immediately turned down as my mouth dropped open and I again said, "what?" Sara, trying to hold in her laughs, held her head down as she let out a little gasp. While half laughing (out of shock) myself, I said "this isn't funny. Do you think that she really pooped?" She exclaimed that she had to see this for herself because she couldn't have really pooped.
So we head down the stairs, at this point a part of me is still thinking that they are playing pretend and confusing pretend with reality. We get over to the swingset and I ask them, "where is the poop?" Olyvia tells me that it is "all over." Sara then spots some. I grab the closest bucket which seems to have streaks of some kind of wet mud (NOT WET MUD). I push the poop pellets into the bucket with a leaf and continue to look around for more. While doing so Olyvia mentions that Ellie might have gotten some on the slide. Sara looks, and sure enough there are poop streaks all the way down the slide that have dried on. Oh my goodness, I cannot believe what I am seeing. I am looking at Ellie, who has know climbed up into the house part of the swing set and as doing so my eyes scan her back only to discover, that there is poop all the way up her back side. I immediately turn her around and begin stripping her clothes off her only to discover there is no poop on the inside of her clothing. A question arises, how did poop get on the outside of her pants smeared all over, and non was on the inside of her underwear? Interesting, huh?
Striped naked, except for her crocks, I take her inside to get washed off in the laundry sink. Sara offers to rinse the slide off with the hose. I am walking Ellie to the laundry room, trying not to actually touch her hands which by this time I have noticed are covered in feces (Yummy!) and Ellie actually says to me, "isn't that great mom that I pooped in the bucket." I again find myself saying, "what?" I must say that my vocabulary during this particular incident was horrible.
So while I am washing her off in the laundry room, Ellie has realized that maybe pooping in the bucket, smearing it on the slide and dumping it all over under the swings probably wasn't the best idea and goes for a quick save. "Mom, Olyvia peed in the bucket too and dumped it out." She then looks up at me waiting for a response. My eyes get big, my teeth clench, and I am thinking Oh my goodness, what where they thinking? but I catch what she is trying to do before I say anything and I choose my reaction wisely. I ignore what she said and continue on my explanation of why we DO NOT poop on our toys.
We got all cleaned up, into clean clothes, hands washed, and tell Sara and Hannah bye and that we will see them on Saturday. We then rush upstairs so that we can finish grabbing our stuff for swimming and head out the door. I then realize that I know something that Olyvia doesn't know that I know. I decide to show my upper hand and start instilling fear into her - for when she is a teenager. We are upstairs and Olyvia is standing by the door. I know she is thinking, "I can't believe I got away with that." I look at her while I am folding the towels for swimming and say, "I know you peed in the bucket Olyvia, so don't even try and put all the blame on your sister. That behavior is unexceptable and disgusting." She looked up at me with the biggest eyes of shock she had ever seen. She said, "what? But how did you know?" I simply said, I am your mother and I know everything. When you do something wrong, even when you think I don't know, I do.
Of course later when I told Robb, he laughed.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Vomit
I am exhausted. I am trying to remember how many times I was up last night and I can't. I know I was up at 12:00am because I remember looking at the microwave on my way from our room to the bathroom. Then there were other times - I remember seeing the clock again at 2:38am. There were actually two different times to get Olyvia waterwater. She was so sad, crying that her legs hurt too bad to walk to get water. Then I think Robb got up once to get her water at the same time I was up getting her water . . . all I remember is meeting up with him in the kitchen and realizing we were both getting her ice water. All this said, I spent from 2:00 to 4:00 this morning getting her water. She was so devastated and kept saying her legs hurt. I finally, a little after 4, was able to calm her down and get her back to sleep.
30 minutes later I was woken up by the sound of her throwing up all over her and her sister's bed. (Ellie had come into our bed sometime around 1 when Button decided that she wanted to sleep in our room. Ellie has to be where Button is. Ellie actually dragged Button's bed into our room.) I am not sure what it is about the sound of vomit that makes one move at warp speed, but I was out of the bed and into her room quicker than a fighter jet and was ushering her to the bathroom while she tried to keep her mouth covered with her hands. She was crying and I was trying to comfort her with my hands while keeping the rest of my body as far away from the front of her as possible. Plus, Olyvia hates to be icky so she was crying about the vomit being in her hair and seemed more upset over that fact then the fact that she wasn't feeling well.
I was able to get her to the bathroom where she threw up one more time in the bathroom sink. I then stripped her down to get new pjs for her. She immediately asked to take a shower so that she could "get the icky stuff off." I obliged of course, running a warm shower and letting her get in and rinse off, standing in the stream of warm water, while I went and got her some fresh pjs. By 4:45am I had her all dressed in fresh pjs and laying in bed with me. Ellie had finally calmed down - since once she heard Olyvia getting sick she started crying - and had moved over to Robb's side of the bed and Robb was now on the couch in the living room.
Olyvia immediately fell asleep and so did Ellie. I of course tossed and turned for the next hour and a half, keeping an ear open to any sounds from Olyvia that might sound like she was going to get sick again. Around 6:30 Olyvia was woken up by Robb saying his good byes and asked to watch cartoons. He got her all set up in the living room before he headed off. I finally gave up the hope of getting any sleep and headed to the shower to try and wake up.
Both my princesses are doing better now, sitting on the couch eating toast and watching cartoons. Ah to be young again and be able to regenerate energy at such a quicker rate.
30 minutes later I was woken up by the sound of her throwing up all over her and her sister's bed. (Ellie had come into our bed sometime around 1 when Button decided that she wanted to sleep in our room. Ellie has to be where Button is. Ellie actually dragged Button's bed into our room.) I am not sure what it is about the sound of vomit that makes one move at warp speed, but I was out of the bed and into her room quicker than a fighter jet and was ushering her to the bathroom while she tried to keep her mouth covered with her hands. She was crying and I was trying to comfort her with my hands while keeping the rest of my body as far away from the front of her as possible. Plus, Olyvia hates to be icky so she was crying about the vomit being in her hair and seemed more upset over that fact then the fact that she wasn't feeling well.
I was able to get her to the bathroom where she threw up one more time in the bathroom sink. I then stripped her down to get new pjs for her. She immediately asked to take a shower so that she could "get the icky stuff off." I obliged of course, running a warm shower and letting her get in and rinse off, standing in the stream of warm water, while I went and got her some fresh pjs. By 4:45am I had her all dressed in fresh pjs and laying in bed with me. Ellie had finally calmed down - since once she heard Olyvia getting sick she started crying - and had moved over to Robb's side of the bed and Robb was now on the couch in the living room.
Olyvia immediately fell asleep and so did Ellie. I of course tossed and turned for the next hour and a half, keeping an ear open to any sounds from Olyvia that might sound like she was going to get sick again. Around 6:30 Olyvia was woken up by Robb saying his good byes and asked to watch cartoons. He got her all set up in the living room before he headed off. I finally gave up the hope of getting any sleep and headed to the shower to try and wake up.
Both my princesses are doing better now, sitting on the couch eating toast and watching cartoons. Ah to be young again and be able to regenerate energy at such a quicker rate.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Grocery Shopping.
Yesterday was a lovely day, other then the freezing cold temperatures in the morning and the fog we seemed to have hanging around our property. Come 10:30am it was quite beautiful as we headed off to do some grocery shopping with the girls.
I had put a list together, of course not including everything that I would need. I never seem to remember everything. I continually tell myself that I need to keep an ongoing list in the kitchen so that as we run out of things that we need, we can add them to the list. We actually did do this for awhile and it worked great. Why we are not still doing this I have no idea. One of those questions to add to the list of imponderables that I have growing in the back of my mind.
Going through the grocery store with the girls is quite the adventure. Between the "can I have this" and the "please can we get some of this" I usually pull my hair out before we leave the produce section. Another oddity. Why do we start in the produce section. This is something we have always done. We come in the grocery store and get produce. This worked nice because it is the first section we come to when we come in the store. The difficulty with this was that throughout the remainder of the store the girls were throwing stuff into the cart so that by the time we got home we didn't have peaches but rather peach jam and I won't even go into what our bananas and grapes looked like or our tomatoes and avocados. But what can you do? Well, we have found a solution to this problem that works quite well. Central Market (http://www.central-market.com/) has these great small carts that the girls can push. We get two, one for each of them and then proceed through the store letting them help us put stuff into them. This cuts down on a lot; no fighting over pushing the cart and each cart has two baskets, so no squashed produce. It really is a win win.
I had put a list together, of course not including everything that I would need. I never seem to remember everything. I continually tell myself that I need to keep an ongoing list in the kitchen so that as we run out of things that we need, we can add them to the list. We actually did do this for awhile and it worked great. Why we are not still doing this I have no idea. One of those questions to add to the list of imponderables that I have growing in the back of my mind.
Going through the grocery store with the girls is quite the adventure. Between the "can I have this" and the "please can we get some of this" I usually pull my hair out before we leave the produce section. Another oddity. Why do we start in the produce section. This is something we have always done. We come in the grocery store and get produce. This worked nice because it is the first section we come to when we come in the store. The difficulty with this was that throughout the remainder of the store the girls were throwing stuff into the cart so that by the time we got home we didn't have peaches but rather peach jam and I won't even go into what our bananas and grapes looked like or our tomatoes and avocados. But what can you do? Well, we have found a solution to this problem that works quite well. Central Market (http://www.central-market.com/) has these great small carts that the girls can push. We get two, one for each of them and then proceed through the store letting them help us put stuff into them. This cuts down on a lot; no fighting over pushing the cart and each cart has two baskets, so no squashed produce. It really is a win win.
Friday, August 1, 2008
How much love?
For the last 12 years we have expressed our love in many different ways; from how we treat each other, to the little things we do and say, our love is known by both of us. However, throughout the last 12 years there is one particular way that has been consistent. No matter what small acts of love we do or love poems we share with each other, when quantifying how much he loves me, he always tells me "I love you tons and tons and bunches and bunches." I don't know what it is about that, but it makes me smile. The warmth it gives me to think of the amount of love that is . . . He doesn't just love me a ton, but tons and tons and bunches and bunches. How lucky am I to have that much love? I feel truly blessed that God has put us into each others lives.
To Have A Dog.
Last night Button came to stay with us. I was going to add a picture of button and realized that we don't have very many of her and none that I could add at this moment. I will have to take care of that. Anyway, my dad headed to Alaska last night for a week long fishing trip to get some Silvers - he is very excited - and since my mom had to take him to the airport, we kept Button at our house for the night. The girls love it when we watch her and it lets us have the experience of having a dog without the long term commitment of actually having one. It also has allowed us to see what responsibilities we would take on as husband and wife and as dog caregivers. I have decided there are certain aspects of having a dog that I do not do. Most likely I had previously decided this in my mind but am now voicing it. First, I do not do poop. If the dog decides to poop in an area that is not that great, say our lawn (this in and of itself would be funny since we have five acres and only a piece the size of 1/5 of a football field is actually grass), I don't pick it up. That is Robb's responsibility. I also don't take the dog out after dark or before light. If the dog has to go potty late at night or way early in the morning, I prefer Robb to do that. What I have discovered of our relationship is that Robb is ok with that. He wonderfully abliges me and does all the doggy dirty work. He says it isn't willfully, keeping in mind he has a more passive personality. So instead of just saying no, he might later give the dog some paper which she would then tear to shreds and I would find myself picking up. He doesn't do this sneaky though, he proclaims the he is going to give the dog paper, gives it to her and then heads out. But, as long as I don't have to go outside, after dark, in the rain or wake up before the rooster crows to take the dog outside in the wind and hail, I will pick up shredded paper.
Vogue Magazine here they come.
A normal day at the beach, right? With my girls, not quite. We went down to the beach in Indianola this last May with Olyvia's class from school. It was a cooler day but the tide was way out so we were able to hike way out on the beach looking at crabs and bull heads and the like. It was a great time. As we were getting ready I knew that this was an event full of photo opportunities and I didn't want to miss out on any of them. I told the girls that I wanted to get a couple pictures before we headed down to the beach. I wanted some of them all ready - you know, the before pictures. I gathered the two of them next to each other, put my camera up to my eye and said "ok, pose for me girls. Smile big." The above picture is what I got. It screams cover of Vogue magazine - main article "Difficulties of Couture Modeling" subtitle "Kids show us how to get it done."
Since Olyvia was very small, I have every year sent their pictures in to different agents in the area to try and get them modeling jobs. They have each been called in once to different ones but have not landed any jobs. I think there are clients everywhere missing out on some great pictures . . . like the ones below.
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