Rain, Rain, Go Away

Having a stand-off with Ashlyn over the bubble lawn mower.

This last week, it has been raining, raining, and raining some more.  And it doesn't let up in the forecast.  I finally saw Hunger Games, and was very pleased with the end result.  Noah turned 2 this week.  How did he get so big?  Here's some other things going on:

I have been checking THIS website almost everyday for hints and cute stuff.

THIS is happening this weekend.  I always love these times.

The above means that some of THESE will be coming out of my kitchen on Sunday morning.  Kennedy has been asking if it's Sunday everyday.

I want one of THESE!  Seriously, how cute are they?

Have you heard about THIS??  I have been waiting for this day all my life.

Mom in Brookings

Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't seen my mom in just about 2 years.  Unacceptable.  But she came out to see us at the end of February, and I've roped her into coming in September too since she'll have another grandchild to see.  We spent 2 days here in Brookings and we did some cool stuff.

Brett was able to get us on a ride on one of the Coast Guard boats.  The gear is less than attractive, but it will keep you warm if you fall overboard.

We rode out to a lighthouse about 12 miles off shore.  I didn't get sick until we stopped near the lighthouse.  Although the sea was calm, you never would have known it by looking at that lighthouse.  The water was swelling so drastically it was scary - and beautiful at the same time.  There was a family of sea lions that were practically swimming on top of each other in the swells too, which was awesome to watch.

Here's Brett and the crew in full gear.  If you ever get stranded and need the Coast Guard to rescue you, this is what they'll look like.  Hard to miss in bright orange.



On the way back home, we got a chance to drive the boat.  Here's mom.

And then me.  I drove for quite a while and was completely paranoid the whole time that I would hit a bunch of crab pots.  They are really hard to see, especially with the wind blowing in your contact-wearing eyes.  We had gone to the beach that morning, so with these two activities we covered one of Brookings' best features: the ocean.  The next day we covered the second one: trees.

We went down to Trees of Mystery in California to walk through the redwoods.  It's a beautiful drive with trees on one side and ocean on the other.  Then, while you're walking through the trees, it's like you could never imagine being only a few miles away from the beach.

Us in the scary gondola that nobody else was scared of.  Those things never seem stable to me and I'm very afraid that it will plunge us to our deaths 100 feet below.  Needless to say, I don't think I'll ever go skiing.

Mom took this awesome picture of Kennedy and Noah sitting on a carved wooden snake.  They are both smiling.  At the same time!!  Next installment will be our trip to Portland that we took with mom.  Stay tuned!

Praying for Patience Pays Off

Brett loves garage sales and rummage sales.  A lot.  When we are driving around and we see one, chances are we will be stopping in to look for treasures.

Our latest stop landed us with a new crown for Kennedy, a CD of musical theatre karaoke (which Brett has already tried his Brian Stokes Mitchell impression on), and one of those impossible puzzles.  It has no edges, and 5 extra pieces, just for kicks.  Ours is full of vegetables, and for the last few days we have spent a few hours going systematically through those vegetables.  We have finished eggplants, garlic, onions, artichokes, and had started on asparagus.  We're very proud of ourselves.

And then.

Showers are so tricky.  I really don't want to get up at 5:30 to shower before the kids wake up, but sometimes, I wish I had.  Thankfully I snapped a picture and laughed, a little bit, instead of getting mad.  I don't know if I have the heart to start the puzzle over.  Very few pieces were still intact.  Maybe sometime in the future, but not if Noah has anything to say about that.

Once There Was A Snowman

There was actually a snow day here in Brookings a few weeks ago, so we went driving up the river in search of enough snow to play in.  We found a really small area that was perfect for us.  Kennedy perfected her long awaited snow angels.  Noah really enjoyed the snow too, never really having seen very much before.

Of course, we had to build a snowman.  It was awfully small, but we didn't have much snow to work with.

He's adorned with Noah's hat.  He was probably cold after we left since we took it with us.

Kennedy managed to snap this picture of mom and dad right before we left.  I think she did a pretty good job.

Thoughts and Pictures

Kennedy has been taking a dance class since September.  If you missed the video from her dance recital in December, please let me know.  It really is a must see.  She has been LOVING this class and constantly twirls and asks to be able to get a ballet bag.  Her friend Mia was wearing a very glittery skirt this week, and Kennedy showed some ADD tendencies with it.  She couldn't keep her eyes, or her hands, off of it.

She also cannot get enough of her tutus.  She's wearing two in this picture.  She was also wearing two the other night at dinner, when in an attempt to get some dessert she stuffed so much pasta into her mouth she proceeded to throw up.  Over both tutus.  They ended up in the trash, needless to say, and I will be making her a new one for her birthday.

Just a beautiful sunset at Whaleshead Beach.  The beaches here really are spectacular.

This is the best Band-Aid ever.  Noah was spinning in the kitchen when he lost his balance and fell on the oven, then ricocheted and spun all the way to the cabinets on the other side where he fell right on the sharp corner.  It was quite a knot, and a bit of a cut.  I thought this Band-Aid was the perfect one to come out of the box.

We play human potato heads at our house.

Two cute and happy kids.

This is SO Super Delayed

Aaaaaaand Christmas pictures

Here's Kennedy in her new ballerina monkey jammies with her new kitchen and shopping cart that she asked for every day for 2 months.  Her biggest present.  She loved it.

I think his face says it all.  My grandparents sent this to Noah, and it was by far his favorite, along with a small stuffed puppy that my mom got him.  He attached to that thing like nobody's business.  He now has to sleep with it, take it in the car, and play with it.  At all times.

He carries it around in the crook of his arm, kind of in a choke hold.  There has been some issue with naming this puppy though.  A friend suggested Spot.  Which Noah pronounced Spock.  So while I was calling him Spock, Brett insisted on Spot.  But then Noah realized that the puppy was wearing a patch just like he has to.  So now there are three names in the running.  But mostly, he just gets called puppy.

Tricks and Thoughts

According to Noah, Brett, Kennedy and I are all called mom.  The funny thing is that he will copy Brett in a string of words up until he hears daddy, which he will always respond with mom.  Except now he doesn't even bother to answer, he just laughs at Brett.

I watched Practical Magic for the first time a couple of days ago.  It was not nearly as good as the hype it has been given over the last I don't know how many years.  I was not impressed.  Sorry if you're a fan.

I'm working like crazy to get bows done and ready for presentation and sale at the local holiday bazaar on Saturday.  I'm really hoping that I will be able to make some money.  Because I really want this.  But a Hufflepuff version, of course.

Noah's first 24 hours in his toddler bed have been hugely successful.  No needing to put him back in bed or anything.  He just fell right asleep, even for his nap.  I'm so relieved.  And Kennedy looks so small in her new twin bed.  She's like a needle in a whole lot of puffy blankets.

We probably won't be moving in 5 weeks now.  Brett's gigantic class that is scheduled to start in January got split, so more than likely we will be going to school in February instead.  Pro: We get to buy a Christmas tree.  Yay!  Con: I don't get to have a mad awesome Doctor Who Christmas party with my sister.  Sad day.

Yes, this has been a weird format for a blog post, but I hope it was informative and served its purpose of making me actually blog again.

And Again....

My cute pirates on Halloween.

Dear Daylight Savings Time,
You are evil.  My kids do not understand and decided to wake up at 5:30.  I have a suggestion.  Don't come back around in April.
Tired mommy

Dear Pottermore,
Step it up please.  The only thing I can do right now is make potions.  I want to duel!  I want to explore Chamber of Secrets!  I want new stuff!
Harry Potter obsessor

Dear Coast Guard.
We have a love/hate relationship right now.  I love that Brett gets to come home almost every night now that he's qualified.  It makes a HUGE difference and we really love having him home so much more.  I hate that you feel like it's not necessary to inform us about whether or not we will be moving yet.  Literally we would want to leave in about 5 weeks.  And we don't know if we're going yet.  Please tell us soon.
Frazzled

Dear Giada de Laurentiis,
You know how men have man crushes?  Well, I've realized that you are my woman crush.  I hope that doesn't make you feel awkward.
Kitchen wench

Dear Brett,
You were the first person that I told about my woman crush.  I hope you know that means that it doesn't change the nature of our relationship and that I still love you as much as ever.  Besides, I've known about your man crush for a long time, and it doesn't bother me.  Russell Crowe is a good actor.  Even if he might not be that nice in real life.
Your wife

Thank You Notes

Dear Poison Control,
Thank you for being there.  Thank you for being calm and efficient.  Thank you for being fast and telling me that the Ajax that Noah ate while I was in the shower was not corrosive and would not hurt him.  Thank you for stopping my panic.  And for being right.
Grateful mommy

Dear Disney Channel,
Thank you for giving me time to take a shower every morning (even though apparently Noah thinks that Ajax is more ineteresting).  Thank you for having shows that aren't annoying and that I'm actually ok with my kids watching.  Except Chuggington.  I'd be ok if that show fell off the face of the earth.
Clean lady

Dear Jesse and Kaisa,
Thank you so much for coming to see us next week!  We are so excited to have visitors and to show off our beautiful coast line!
Hostess with the mostess

Dear Sun,
Thank you for shining through the fog today!  The fog has been so dense and so present for so long that I was wondering if I would ever see the sun before 1:00 again.
Light lover

Dear Harry Potter,
Thank you for being so awesome that even though I started reading the whole series again for the umpteenth time, I still have a hard time putting the books down.
Nerdy woman

Dear Cindy,
Thanks for hooking me up with so much cheap and amazing fruit lately!  I got 6 cups of blackberries for free by picking them myself, and now I'm getting 10 pounds of peaches for a whopping $1 because you're willing to drive to Harry & David to get them.  Jam, here I come!
Scone maker

Climber

Kennedy tends to not finish meals and not push in her chair afterward.  Hence, we often see scenes like this one.



And this one.

What can I say?  He's a boy.  Boys make messes.  But they're cute messes.

Questions

When did this boy get so big?  When did he start playing with puzzles and sitting in chairs?

Where did the time go?  I have two kids?  They're both big enough to sit still at the library (for about 5 seconds)?

How did I get lucky enough to have the smartest, cutest, sweetest kids in the whole world?

Red Handed

This boy has gotten sneaky.

It beats me how that huge bag of chocolate chips got on the floor in the first place, but he took advantage of it.

I don't blame him.  Sometimes I take advantage of it too when I'm in the pantry.

Patch Wars

Noah has issues wearing his patch.  Daddy has issues with Noah's issues.  Daddy decided to act.



He's an awfully happy prisoner.



Much to Brett's dismay, I made him release Noah's arms.  But the headgear stayed on for a couple of hours.

Driving Home

On the way home we drove on the coast so we could see as much of Oregon as possible before we leave (we'll probably be leaving in December).  We started by driving to Tillamook, where, I HAD to go to the cheese factory.

We have fun being dorks.  Especially if it includes free cheese samples.

Kennedy complained the whole time we were in the factory because all she wanted to do was drive this car.

Brett got mad because he had to be in the picture and I didn't.

Things we discovered about Tillamook:

1. It truly smells like cow manure.  It's slightly gross.

2. The cheese factory is hopping because there's nothing else to do in town.

3. The cheese at the Tillamook factory is more expensive than the cheese at our grocery store 7 hours away.

*Brett wrote a complaint about the price of the cheese and popped it in the suggestion box.  They then proceeded to send us a "thank you for your comment" in the form of coupons for cheese.

We then made a small stop in Newport for lunch and a trip to the aquarium.

Swimming with pirahnas.

How Brett got that stroller in that tiny tunnel on the floor that I could barely fit through is beyond me.

Kismet

Completely by accident we found a public fountain park in Portland.  Somehow we happened to have the kids' bathing suits in the car.  It was kismet.



Kennedy stole another girl's barbies while cousin Wyatt fended off any kids who thought they might be able to play with the same fountain as them.

Since Wyatt was in Noah's bathng suit, Noah was the only one not making trouble.

We love cousins.  We love random water play time.  And mostly, we love our darling kids (and cute Wyatt too).

Grilled Cheese Grill

Yes, this is where we ate dinner the first night we were in Portland.  It's a double decker bus and they serve grilled cheese.  Only grilled cheese.  Kennedy was so excited to eat on the bus she could hardly contain herself. 

The tables inside the bus were decorated with old yearbook pictures.  Classic.  And while we waited for our meals, we answered questions from the deck of Trivial Pursuit cards conveniently on the table.

I got a sandwich on sourdough with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and artichokes.  It was yummy yummy yummy.  Kennedy had the preschooler, which was just a normal sandwich with no crust.  And Brett had this behemoth.

That's a grilled cheese on top of a burger with another grilled cheese on the bottom.  That's right.  No bun.  Grilled cheeses instead.  And he ate the whole thing.  Crazy!  We also had a grilled cheese for dessert which was AMAZING.  It was nutella, bananas, and mascarpone cheese grilled on cinnamon raisin bread.  It was suggested that you eat it alone.  I understand why now.

Our first night in Portland was definitely a success.