Retaliation

Do NOT take Lydia's mixing spoon when she is making mud soup.

What We've Been Doing Lately

First off, this is what Tyler and Lydia did this afternoon:

Very nice. Monday through Wednesday this week I took the kids to the Oregon Coast, where Tyler's parents had a timeshare rented at Otter Crest. Luke did not enjoy the morning walk out to the tide pools....

Lydia also had a rough time going up the bajillion steps because "there's something in my shoes and socks and I can't wear them!" She solved her own problem though, as you can see.

They both enjoyed throwing rocks into the tide pools and hearing them go "ker-plunk!"

Before we left I fulfilled one wish for each of my kids. Luke's was to go around in his diaper all day:

Lydia had been requesting that I make her a play dress, so I did out of dollar-a-yard fabric. I was actually quite proud that I put in the sleeves and a zipper all by myself, with minimal seam ripping involved. And as a bonus, it twirls enough that she will consent to wear it.

Tyler and I also fulfilled one of our wishes, which was to refinish our deck. I didn't take any before pictures, but here's a few pictures of after it was all sanded down. (I think my hands are still shaking from holding that hand sander for so long!)

And a few after pictures of our deck "a la Cedar Naturaltone" stain and water protector. And can I say, I detest painting railings or anything like unto them.

And here's a little video of the kids at the Coast. Don't ask me why I can't move the video up to where the other Coast pictures are, or why this is underlined. Blogger is frustrating me right now but I'm too lazy to work on it anymore!

Back from the (blogging) Dead

Howdy everyone. I'm lacking the motivation to sort through the many pictures of our wonderful family trips over the last two months, the first with Ty's family to the Oregon Coast, and the second with the Smith side in McCall, Idaho. So today you don't get pictures of our trips, you get videos of what we've been doing recently. Hopefully that will suffice and eventually I will get my rear in gear and post more frequently!

We spent a few hours at the Washington County Fair. Lydia loved the ponies; she came up and told me all about it (I wasn't there when she saw them the first time): "I put out my hand and he sniffed it and his whiskers gave me kisses!"

Luke has gained a new skill--riding a bike. He seems like such a big boy to me, riding his bike around the cul-de-sac in his little yellow helmet!

This last video is Luke's attempt at Red Light, Green Light. The kids love to play that game when we're grocery shopping; I have to stop the cart every time they yell "red light!" (Sometimes shopping takes a long time!) It was interesting to me to see his little brain equate moving in a shopping cart to moving on a bike, and to know that the same game applied in both situations.

Please drive slowly if you're ever on our street--his steering skills and "watch out for cars" skills are still developing!!!

It has begun....

I am becoming my parents. I realized this as I listened to myself tell Lydia "If you wouldn't pull all the clothes out of your drawers, you wouldn't have to pick them all up." Oh, the memories of hearing words like that growing up. "If you just stand right here and put the clothes in your hamper when you take them off, then they wouldn't be all over the floor." "If you would do the job right the first time, you wouldn't have to come back out here and do it again." Go ahead and laugh, Mom and Dad. I'm just doing my best to pass on the gems that I learned from you!

You know you live in Oregon when....

Your kids have rain getup like this:

And you randomly stumble on waterfalls with hiking trails like this:

And you overhear this conversation at Target, after the sales lady remarked that the customer's daughter was very petite for her age:

"Yes, well, she's been strictly breastfed since birth, and she only eats organic baby food, so you know, she IS more petite than SOME babies...."

(I wish I would have been buying baby formula and sugar-packed snacks for my kids. That would have been awesome.)

The facts of life according to Lydia

Today as we were driving to Costco Lydia informed me that she had had a baby. When I asked her where her baby was, she replied (in a tone implying that I was an idiot for asking the question) that he was still in her tummy. "See, it's getting really bigger." She also told me he was wearing pink jammies. "He is wearing pink jammies? In your tummy?" I asked. Yep, was the response. When I told her that she and Luke had been born wearing nothing, she tried to sound appalled. "We were NAKED????" she yelled. Nice try at trying to sound modest, little girl. Not after you dropped your pants and took off your shirt in the middle of the Children's Place outlet last weekend because you saw some clothes you liked.

As we pulled into Costco she told me her baby "just popped right out." That was easy, I said. "Yep, it's not hard, I just pushed and he came right out." And here it is, my favorite part of the conversation--

"And now he's drinking milk from my brain."

I hope I'm there when she has her first baby, who will pop right out wearing pink pajamas and start nursing on her lactating brain.

Crib antics

I took down the crib after we watched the kids do this Sunday night. I'd really like to avoid broken bones this year.

Happy Birthdpy, Tyler!

On May 6th our loving and totally awesome Tyler turned 33, and we love him 33x more than we did last year!

Whoever packed my package of birthday candles can't spell--either that, or I've been spelling 'birthday' wrong my whole life. Happy Birthdpy!

We went to one of Tyler's favorite restaurants, La Hacienda Real, one of which they conveniently just opened in Beaverton, saving us the hour drive to Salem. We had yummy Mexican food and loved it, or as Ty would say, "that was some pretty good crap."

(I figured since I had blogged Lydia's contribution to Ty's cake, I should blog Luke's, which was licking the beaters after I made the frosting. He found something he can excel at.

Happy Birthday my love!!!

Dee Dee Unplugged

Can I just say that I love this little lady?

I love hearing how her mind works and how she tries to label new sounds/ideas with ones she already knows. For example, today after lunch her stomach was gurgling. (Sidebar--one of my favorite medical terms from nursing school is the technical name for that--borborygmi. Use it in a sentence today, I dare you.) She turned to me and said, "Mommy, my stomach is snoring!"

Today we were making Ty's birthday cake and Lydia was "reading" the recipe to me. Some highlights:

• 3 cups of oil
• 1 thing of sugar
• one hot chocolate
• whipped cream
• water--"boiling Mom, it has to be boiling hot"

After playing dress-up she voluntarily picked up the clothes and put them away. She ran in to tell me about it while I was making dinner and I just said, "Awesome!" She replied with, "you're welcome Mommy." A gentle reminder that I forgot to say thank you!

Yesterday I was doing her hair and she wanted two little piggytails in front and one ponytail in back. I did the two front ones and got up to leave, at which point she used her most dramatic voice to tell me, "But Mom, I need my other piggytail. I don't feel beautiful!"

Yesterday she was scooting down the stairs on her bottom when she said, "Mom, my bum just made a stink in my face!" The rest of the day was spent reminiscing about how she ate too many strawberries and "now my bum is full of gassy."

Looking at this last picture made me sad. They both look so grown up and as much as I may say otherwise, I love the ages my kids are at right now. I want them to stay young and cute and innocent, and realizing that they're growing up so fast freaks me out!!!

McDonalds

Sorry, no pictures for those of you who don't read blog entries without eye candy to go along with it. Tyler's been gone since yesterday afternoon on Boy Scout Camporee, so I've been staying busy with the kiddos. They were really good this morning going to Lowe's and "helping" me weed/lay down fabric weed barrier/spread mulch on part of my yard, so I promised them McDonald's for dinner. It was a funny trip.

First off, when I pulled in the parking lot there was one of those mini-semi trucks pulling a long trailer PACKED full of steers and heifers. I found it ironic that there were all these cows parked outside an establishment where the people inside are consuming cows all day long. Maybe it's not funny to anyone else, but I found it amusing.

Lydia is very aware of the fact that there are certain privileges tied to behaving well (the McDonalds trip being one), so all today she kept saying, "Mom, am I being have? Mom, I am being so have right now!" I never had broken the word down before, but I totally see in her mind how it works.

After the kids inhaled their happy meals, I let them play in the play structure for a few minutes. Another little girl about 7 or 8 went down the slide and must have been going way too slow for her liking because when she reached the bottom she said, "Mom, my butt doesn't work." I love it!