Downtown Portraits, October 2009

I still need to put up some photos from Oliver's birthday but I couldn't wait to post these! Brian and I took the boys downtown to take some pictures last weekend and some of them are pretty cool. Elliott is still difficult to work with but he's getting better. Brian even took a few of me with the boys which is always a special treat for me.

Whidbey Island, August 2009

In late August, we were invited on a lovely weekend getaway to Whidbey Island with Linda, Janet, Alex, Vanessa, Mark and Leon. Linda won a stay at a beachfront home through a silent auction and decided to celebrate her birthday (and Elliott's) there with all of us. It was a really cool house in an amazing location. There was plenty of good company and good food. Thank you, Linda!

Little Man Turns Two!

Okay, so I'm over a month late on this posting. I can't believe how quickly the last part of the summer blew by! I'm attempting to catch up starting with Elliott's 2nd birthday. He turned two on August 22nd. About a week prior, we had a little at-home party for Elliott and invited his one friend, Margot, and her family over to dinner. The kids played, the grown-ups talked, we ate dinner and did cake and presents.

My big two year-old!

Elliott and his sweetie, Margot.

Elliott got so excited during the Happy Birthday song...

He was literally squealing with joy here.

Trying to blow out the candles.

Stunned and amazed when they finally went out!

Cake face!

Elliott made quite a show of opening gifts.

Elliott at work with his new birthday train set.

Gorilla Boy Sings the ABCs

Brian and I laugh at how similar many of Elliott's movements are to a gorilla. Check him out:

Where's Your Six?

Here's my sweetie at 23 months:

My Funny Guys

My little Jedis watching Episode I together.

Singin' in the rain.

Love this one!

Revenge of The Wiggles! Elliott found all the old Wiggles toys and books and became interested just from those. I played a Wiggles DVD for him and he was in love.

I pulled out Owen's old Wiggles t-shirt and pjs from the keepsake tote and Elliott was ECSTATIC! I mean, I didn't know he could reach that level of elation. The Wiggles are magic. Really. I don't understand how families get by without them.

The morning he woke up with these jammies on he said, "Show Daddy Wiggles jammies!" You can see how happy he is in this photo.

Elliott has learned to count! Oliver and I were tickled when we heard Elliott count his own hops yesterday, 1 through 10. Way to go little man!

First Track Meet

Tonight was a first-ever track meet for Owen and Oliver. They've been working hard at track practice and were totally excited for this meet. I couldn't believe how well they did!

I won't bore you with their times and distances but they both ran the 50 yard dash, 200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter and mile races. They missed out on the 100 yard dash because they were busy at the softball throw and long jump.

I will say that both the boys blew away the competition in their separate heats for the 400 meter. They were phenomenal!

They tied each other in the mile coming in at 9 minutes 25 seconds. (I ran a 15-minute mile one time in high school and threw up. Weenie!)

In the long jump, Owen averaged 6 feet over three jumps. Oliver was consistent with his three jumps at a whopping 9 feet! The kid is a freaking grasshopper!

Their scores get written down on their backs so we can compare their numbers meet to meet.

July 4th Weekend

We spent a wonderful weekend camping at Mark & Vanessa's forested property on Whidbey Island. It was beautiful there and great to see everyone. Mark has done an amazing job building their house.

I could have done with a little bit of moisture in the air though. It was pretty dusty because we've had a bit of a dry spell. Highly unusual! The kids have never been so dirty... and they liked it. Actually, they LOVED it! I guess it's a boy thing.

We had a nice time visiting, going for a bike ride into town for ice cream, playing at Castle Park, doing a few fireworks, and relaxing at the beach.

We're looking forward to getting together with these guys again in August to celebrate Linda's and Elliott's birthdays!

School's Out!

Yes, it's late. We had several snow days to make up for this year so the kiddos didn't get out until June 17th! They don't go back until September 9th though so it all works out.

So here is what's been going on around here:

I produced the elementary school's first talent show in June. It was a blast! I already have the dates confirmed for next year. Woo-hoo!

Baseball ended and track started tonight. The kids have never done track before and they are REALLY excited about it. Practice on Mondays. Meets start in July on Thursdays.

Oliver will go to a baseball camp in July and start fall baseball mid-August. Owen wants to play soccer in the fall so I guess Brian and I will have to divide and conquer.

We'll be going camping over July 4th weekend on Whidbey Island. We'll be there with Vanessa, Mark, Leon, Linda and most likely Alex. I'm refusing to commit to any other camp outs this summer because of the Tasmanian Devil known as Elliott.

Elliott and I have coughs. Owen has allergies in his left eye and pink eye in his right. Oliver lost his second baby tooth. Elliott cut a canine tooth. Brian appears to be as healthy as a horse. No fair!

Oliver read a series of books called Percy Jackson & The Olympians. It got him interested in Greek mythology and he's been reading anything he can get his hands on about it. His writing journal came home at then end of the school year and I found a great piece in it. Hopefully you'll be able to read it:





Father's Day was uneventful but that was fine with Brian. He said he couldn't remember the last time we just hung out at the house and did nothing. He even got to read his paper and take a catnap. My gift to Brian was to clean up the back yard. It was spic 'n span by Saturday afternoon. By Sunday evening it looked like I'd done nothing because a wind came through. That's what happens when your house backs up to a greenbelt.

I have so many little projects to do that I put off during the school year. I don't really even know where to start. Hmmm.... maybe I'll start by making a list! I love lists.

I took the kids to see the movie Up. It was brilliant. I cried, I laughed, I cried again. If you haven't seen it, please go! I'm hoping Brian and I can go see The Hangover this weekend for his birthday. He's going to be 39! I can't believe it. I'll be 37 in September. My mother was 36 when I met Brian. How weird is that?

Last night, to entertain themselves, the Os made cartoon flatulence to tape to their backsides. Owen's was a long, straight, green rectangle. Oliver's was a green cloud with a brown spot in it. Little creeps. But hey, that's some cheap entertainment!

For the second year running, Brian took Owen to a Mariner's game as part of Owen's birthday celebration. Brian took the cutest photo!




And how sweet is this?



Alas, this last one has no explanation. But you better believe this will serve as leverage one day! Or blackmail.

Happy 6th Birthday to Owen!

Owen's birthday party was last Sunday and it was SO MUCH FUN! We went to Friendly Grove park that we love so much. There were lots of kids, mostly boys. There were chips, dips, fruit, cheese and of course birthday cake. We did sack races, Red Rover, a pinata and played in the sprinkler we brought from home. (Resourceful aren't we?)

The kids were great. They were all good kids, enthusiastic to play the games and very sweet to the birthday boy. The only fight was between Oliver and Owen and I guess that doesn't really count since they're siblings. It was lame though because Owen ended up crying in the bushes for about 10 minutes until he could shake it off. Poor kid. Oliver got to do push-ups when we got home.

Owen got some really cool birthday presents from his friends, his brothers and his parents. In fact, when Owen opened his Star Wars game for the Nintendo DS he started jumping up and down giggling like a madman. Owen NEVER gets excited like that. Brian and I just looked at each other like, WOW!

Tuesday is Owen's actual birthday. After I drop Oliver off at school, Elliott is going to play at Margot's house and I'm taking Owen on a date for a special birthday breakfast. Just the two of us. I'm really looking forward to it. He's such a sweet boy.

How 'Bout Chocolate Bunnies?

Elliott is jabbering away now. I think he may talk more than Owen. And that's saying something.

One of my favorites is when he doesn't want something he'll say "IdontwikeitIdontwikeitIdontwantit" while he waves his hand.

My other favorite is "chickaburga" which he'll ask for nearly every day starting at around 10am. I'm just going to start calling that kid "Burger."

He's picked up a new phrase from me, "how 'bout."

He came up to me the other day and said, "outside." I asked, "What about outside?" He replied, "How 'bout -- outside."

I was rocking him before his nap on Sunday. He wasn't feeling well and I thought he was asleep when he suddenly cried out with his eyes closed, "How 'bout -- abcs?" He wanted me to sing.

He also says a couple of things like a little Italian-American:

More moke-a pees. (More milk please.)

No touch-a bees.

The funniest and weirdest thing he's said to date was today while talking to the kindergarten teacher Oliver had and Owen will have, Mrs. Fettig. Now the thing you have to know is that Mrs. Fettig is African-American. I asked Elliott, "Can you say Mrs. Fettig?" He looked at her intently for a moment and said, "chocolate bunnies." Her skin is about the same shade as the chocolate bunny graham crackers he loves. She cracked up! I was fairly speechless.

We're Back!

That makes it sound like we JUST got back. Ha! We got back nearly a month ago from a 3-week trip to Texas where we visited with friends and family. We did lots of fun things and had a swell time. The Os did not want to return home. For me, one of the highlights of the trip was introducing Elliott to everyone. Another highlight was getting to know my nephews and niece.

One of the reasons I've taken so long to update my blog is that I couldn't decide which photos from the Texas trip to post and how many to post because I took over 500 pictures. Holy smokes! So I'm just going to skip it altogether and not post any. Most of you have Facebook accounts and have likely seen some of my Texas photos anyway. It's the only way I'll be able to move forward. I don't like it but... there it is.

I must recount one event that happened while in Texas, however because it's just one of those things that was so cute I'll never forget it. Owen and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast and he was kissing my arm all over just like Pepe LePew. He was even making the "Mmm, mmm, mmm" sound. I laughed and asked what he was doing. He looked up at me with these lovey-dovey eyes and in his best French accent said slowly, "You set my foot on fire." My mind raced to understand this comment. I smiled and asked, "Do you mean your soul?" He covered his smile, giggled and said, "Oh, yeah."

Oliver finally lost his first tooth at 7.5 years old. You have to look closely though because his adult tooth had already grown in behind it. So no gaping hole.



This looks like he's wearing Bermuda shorts, doesn't it? No. These are Elliott's 2T jeans. Someone give this kid a sandwich!



Owen is really into making forts lately. He reminds me of a lion up there.



He called out, "Mom, come look at my tall tower." Boy, was it!



Baseball photos of Oliver:





Photos from Owen's cooking class at Bayview School of Cooking. It was a special Mother's Day event called "Thanks a brunch!" They made a fruit salad with canteloupe and honeydew melon, bite-sized frittatas and a scrumptious coffee cake.




Photos from Owen's preschool field trips. I didn't get to go with him to the dairy but the other mothers told me Owen was letting all the calves suck his fingers. Looks sweet but seems icky. (Dairy farm photo courtesy of Jill Morse. Thanks, Jill!) The marina field trip was fantastic because his preschool hired two divers to bring creatures up to us. Owen touched everything: starfish, sun stars, sea cucumbers, crabs, moon snails, whatever! I touched nothing. I'm a fraidy cat.







Here are some of the things Elliott is doing lately. He loves his train, is excited about the Robodog, goes crazy for balloons, is interested in coloring and continues to eat his body weight in bananas on a daily basis.

Elliott is a Piece of WORK!

Out With the Old and In With the New

February is over and March is here. And with it comes the promise of spring. Daylight savings began today and while most don't like it, I do. It's not so much that I like springing forward and losing an hour as I dislike falling back. I don't see the point. Why do we ever want it get darker earlier? Maybe I don't understand how it works. Whatever. All I know is that as soon as March 1st arrived my mood improved rather dramatically because March means it's that much closer to June and June means summer!

Basketball is over for the Os, thank goodness. I'm not sure we'll do that again. I don't know how much they got out of it. They never complained about it but they didn't cheer when it was time to go either. When asked, they say they liked it and want to play again next year. I found it completely hilarious! Very few of the kids know what's going on at this age. During one game, Owen couldn't get this girl off him because she constantly guarded him -- even when her team was on offense! And Owen was so funny... he would yell "PASS! PASS!" even when he was completely blocked by whoever was guarding him. Oliver would also yell "Pass!" but would never pass himself. They both scored several baskets during the season so they think they're pretty hot stuff.



Now baseball season is upon us. Oliver already had his first practice. Most of the boys are 1st grade friends, all but one was on the team last year and a few of them are also in Scouts together so they are going to have WAY too much fun this season. I feel for the coaches.

I arranged a kickball game up at the elementary school last Friday during a teacher in-service day. (Owen still had preschool that day so he didn't get to play.) Sixteen kids showed up from 1st through 6th grades. It was Oliver's first time to play and he had a great time. I had an even better time watching the kids though.

The most exciting thing we did in February was go see The Lion King musical on stage. Brian was out of town so Linda went with the Os and me. Elliott stayed with a friend of mine that day. The show was outstanding and worth every penny! The music was wonderful, the performers were great but it was the costumes that I found so amazing. The costumes were brilliant engineering works of art. I highly recommend it if it ever comes your way.

The most exciting thing we have going for March will be our trip to Texas. I haven't been back in 4.5 years. Owen was younger than Elliott last time we went. I'll be there with the little guys for nearly three weeks and the Os are really looking forward to it. Owen looks at the calendar all the time to see how many days are left until we go. I told them it was already 80 degrees there some days and they nearly fainted! Right now in Olympia it is 37 degrees and snowed this morning! Snow, snow you have GO TO GO!!

The Os are having a bit more fun with Elliott these days now that Elliott is getting bigger and tougher. Elliott's favorite thing to do with his brothers is take something of theirs and RUN. He laughs and laughs while they're chasing him. Of course when they catch him and wrench whatever it is from his hand he throws a royal fit, but it seems the fun outweighs the disappointment because he keeps doing it.

Elliott is still climbing on everything and grinning about it. The only difference is now he'll get up on something, grin and yell, "Get down!" Rotten little...


And now for some photos!

Owen LOVES to cook. He's been making scrambled eggs for everyone in the mornings with Brian's supervision. There are cooking classes for kids here in Oly that I want to look into for him this summer.

This is what happens when you're the youngest.

Do girls have to strip down to have fun too, I wonder? Probably a boy thing. The photo of the three of them cracks me up because you can see all of Oliver's little muscles. Owen even dropped making cookies to finally get nearly-nude and join in the fun.

This was for "Dress as your favorite literary character day" at school. I told him he had to get a haircut or else people would think he was Hermione rather than Harry.

And finally the cute factor: