Graduation

This afternoon we will head to Portland for the weekend to see my sister-in-law graduate from George Fox University. I can't believe she is graduating from college. When I first met her she was a 13-year-old 8th grade kid. Now she is an almost 22 year old young woman. She is a beautiful young woman, the best sister an only child could ask for, and a wonderful aunt to her nephews. She loves the Lord and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for her.

Way to go Sarah! You made it!

Please pray for our drive over. As y'all may remember our last drive to Portland was quite the event. We are praying for a much smoother drive this time!

Wordless Wednesday - Just Chillin'

Sleeping baby

Take a close look at this picture. Do you see anything strange? Keep looking.

Did you find it?

When we put him down for nap he was wearing those pants. Sometime, somehow as he was falling asleep he took off his pants.

This kid is the most active sleeper that I have ever met. Every night we put him to bed with his head at one end of his crib. When we go into check on him there is no telling where in his crib he will b sleeping or what position he will be sleeping in. It cracks me up but at the same time I often wonder what we are going to do when it comes time to move to a big boy bed. Oh well we still have a little time...

Books, Books, and more Books

Often, if the boys aren't in the living room playing, they can be found here in their room reading books.

Jonathan loves books. He loves being read too and then looking at the book right after it is read to him and retelling the story. In the morning on weekends if he wakes up before we are ready to get up we can tell him to go read and he'll look at books until we are ready to get up. He'll even give Jason books to read if he wakes up. If Jonathan is having a bad day and needs a break I can ask him to go read and he'll happily go to his room and look at books for a while. He always comes back in a much better mood. Books calm him and give him a break from his active self.

He has also recently discovered the joy of books on CD. He will listen to a story for hours while following along in the book. He got one from AG while she was visiting and our local library has a huge selection which we have been availing ourselves too. It keeps him occupied long enough for me to make dinner and it isn't TV. SCORE!

Jason also enjoys books. I'm not talking about normal baby stuff like chewing on books and ripping pages. Jason will actually sit down and look at a book for 5 minutes or more. I think that's pretty good for a 1 year old. If I read a story to Jonathan Jason is sitting right there listening intently to the story.

I'm so glad that my kids love books. Both Dan and I loved to read when we were kids. Dan is still an avid reader. Right now I'm an avid reader of textbooks but I can't wait until this summer when I have some time for pleasure reading again!

Boredom Strikes

I don't think I can really adequately explain what is going on in these pictures. We just got new laundry sorting bags and we were bored. I'm not really sure there is more to say than that, the pictures speak for themselves...

It's the newest, coolest backpack.

It gives you a giant head and big muscles.

Oh my... um... yeah

Fear not they are now in the corner of our bedroom being used for their intended purpose. This will never happen again, I hope!

Worms

Jonathan is all boy. He loves everything dirty and gross. As his mommy I love this about him but also dread this same trait. See, as much as he is all boy I'm all girl. I don't really enjoy getting dirty. Things that are gross are just too much for me. I'm squeamish. For heaven's sake I load the dishwasher wearing rubber gloves.

When we got our last bit of snow I was sure that he would be excited to get out and play in the snow. After all he's the kid that wants to move to Alaska because he wants more snow to play in, his words not mine. (Although if you've been around here for a while you know how I feel about moving to Alaska so this doesn't bother me a bit) Anyway when I told him about the snow he cried. When I asked him why he was so upset he said that he wanted the snow to go away because he really wanted to go out an look for worms and we can't look for worms if there is snow because Daddy said so. Very true. I convinced him that he could have fun in the snow and look for worms later when it was warmer.

Well 3-year-olds never forget anything and on the 1st warm day we had he asked if we could go look for worms. Um yeah sure ask Daddy. So Daddy grabbed the camera and a shovel and they went looking for worms. It didn't take them too long before they had found several worms in our yard. I'm told that lots of worms means that when we finally put grass in it will grow well. I'm ok with that just leave the worms in the dirt, thank you very much.

But here is my boy. No fear. Just hanging out in the yard holding worms. All boy, that definitely didn't come from me!
He was so excited. Now he can't wait to get out there again and find more worms to hold. Fine with me, as long as Dad is here!

Melt my heart

Is there anything better in the world than snuggling with a sleeping baby? He's an angel! And those cheeks, don't get me started, I could gobble him right up! Love this kid.

Wordless Wednesday - Fun at the Park

Baby Bear Growing

When we found out we were having Jonathan we decided that we didn't want a traditional nursery theme, we wanted to be different. Since I'm from Alaska and I consider that an important part of who I am we decided to look at an Alaska animal theme. At the time Build-A-Bear had this adorable moose so we decided that our theme would be moose and we would build the bear after Jonathan was born so they could have the same birthday. We never found crib bedding or anything to go with our theme so for a while all Jonathan had was his moose, Talkeetna, named for a town in Alaska. (There is a story behind that name but it will have to wait for another day) Every month for Jonathan's 1st year we took a picture with Talkeetna to document how much Jonathan was growing.

Fast forward to December 2007 when we found out that Jason was coming. Since the boys would be sharing a room we decided that we should continue the Alaska animal theme. We went back to Build-A-Bear and found a cute bear. Of course this bear had to have an Alaskan name so we named him Kodiak, after another town in Alaska. Both Talkeetna and Kodiak have t-shirts with the logo for the University of Idaho on them. Dan and I are both Idaho alumni and are working hard to brainwash instill in our children a sense of Vandal pride.

So faithfully, every month for the last year, we have taken a picture of Jason with his bear. So here, without any further adieu, are Jason and Kodiak over the last year.

May 2008 - 1 month

June 2008 - 2 months

July 2008 - 3 months

August 2008 - 4 months

September 2008 - 5 months

October 2008 - 6 months

November 2008 - 7 months

December 2008 - 8 months

January 2009 - 9 months
This month we had to switch to taking the picture while Jason was asleep. When he was awake he was more interested in attacking the bear or crawling away!

February 2009 - 10 months

March 2009 - 11 months

April 18, 2009 - 1 year

You've come a long way baby bear!

The Cake

For Jason's 1st birthday we got a Fisher-Price Little People cake. I wouldn't say it was my dream cake (that would have been something with a bear for our baby bear) but it did the trick. Basically what it came down to is we live in a tiny town with two grocery stores that do cakes and no other options. This was the only option that I felt was appropriate for a 1-year-old boy. Perhaps next year I'll have time to make a bear cake, somehow. Anyway with his Little People cake came a small cake for him to destroy. Basically we had an adult cake that was cut into pieces and a kid cake that Jason went to town on.

The Cake Before

Jason eating his cake, or rather playing with his cake. Note that his party hat is still on. Jonathan's party hat stayed on for .5 seconds at his 1st birthday but Jason kept his on for almost 10 minutes. Quite impressive.
Jason likes to run his fingers/hands through his hair when he eats. I'm not sure what it adds to the process for him but whether its spaghetti, sunbutter and jelly, or apparently cake, it all ends up in his hair by the end. He's in this phase where he showers or bathes every night. Sadly even after a thorough bath he still smelled like cake and frosting. Oh well!
Playing with his cake some more. He really had quite a good time playing with the cake. I just noticed I didn't post any pictures of him actually eating the cake. Believe me he ate the cake. After he was all done and clean he was standing in the living room holding on to the couch and laughing for 10 minutes. Total sugar rush!

Happy Birthday Boy! Notice the bear bib for my baby bear.

Waiting to be cleaned up. Doesn't he just look fat and happy?The Cake After

We didn't have a big party for Jason's 1st birthday. It was just Dan, me, Jonathan, and Meghan, my friend from school. Meghan was supposed to come over for dinner on Thursday but then this happened so she took a rain check for Saturday and helped us eat cake. Meghan was in my math class last spring when Jason was born. I barely knew her then but she saw Jason when he was just a little thing coming to class with me. Now she is one of my dearest friends and I'm glad she came to party with us.

I have his 1 year bear picture ready to go but y'all are going to have to wait until later in the week for that ;) I know I'm terrible, gotta keep ya comin' back for more!

Happy 1st Birthday

Baby Bear, you have brought so much joy to our lives. I can't imagine life without you in it! You a such a blessing to our family. This 1st year has been fantastic and we are looking forward to what the next year brings!

That sucked!

Alternately titled: The Morning from Hell

(but I didn't think that was appropriate to show up on people's blog roles)

The day started out well enough. I got up, showered, got my kids ready for school, got everyone out the door almost on time. Then I went about my morning business. I packed my bag, dried and straightened my hair, put on my make-up, got dressed, and was pretty much ready to go. Just three things left to do: make my lunch, eat breakfast, put dinner in the crock pot.

I opened the fridge to grab my lunch and noticed that Dan's lunch was still in the fridge. Bummer! Oh well no problem I have plenty of time I'll just drop it off on my way to Moscow. It's a little out of my way but not a huge deal.

Move on to putting dinner in the crock pot. All the veggies and meat are chopped up so all I have to do is put it in the crock pot, season a little, and add the chicken broth. I put the veggies and meat in and had added the pepper, all that was left was a dash of salt. Then tragedy struck.

I keep my kosher salt in a large shaker, similar to this one. I was just adding a dash of salt when all of a sudden the lid came flying off and the entire container of salt was suddenly emptying very rapidly into my crock pot. I screamed, said a bad word, and started to cry. Dinner was ruined. I tried to rinse all the chopped veggies and meat off but it was no use. There was too much salt and it was already absorbing into the food. I was crushed. I mean it was only dinner but I'm not usually on top of things enough to have something ready for the crock pot, plus split pea soup was sounding so good. But it was not to be. So instead we went out for dinner and had an early out to dinner celebration for Jason's 1st Birthday, which is on Saturday.

Hopefully next time we make split pea soup things will turn out a little better!

BTW if you are wondering no I didn't eat breakfast before I left the house, after the disaster there wasn't time. I hit the coffee stand drive thru on my way out of town and got coffee and a muffin. And yes I still delivered Dan's lunch. The rest of the day was much better!

Wordless Wednesday - One Year Ago

How my boy has grown!

Wordless Wednesday - Feeding His Brother

All Emotional

I have been so emotional this week. I don't even know why but the littlest, strangest things will bring me to tears. I feel a little like a train wreck.

So much is going on in life right now and I think stress is playing a part in why I'm so emotional. Before we leave on May 1st for my SIL's college graduation I have a lot to accomplish. My school friends may want to stop reading now or they may be crying too...
*Dance paper 4/6 DONE
*Nonfiction Genre presentation 4/7
*Teach in art class 4/9
*Presentation on writing skill 4/13
*Music notebook due 4/14 DONE
*Teach in music 4/14
*Jason's birthday and 1 year pictures 4/18
*Plan and write lesson plans for an entire week 4/19
*Teach for an entire week 4/20-24
*Jason 1 year check up 4/20
*Literacy final 4/27
*Recorder test in music 4/28
*Certification test 4/29

Just looking at all of that makes me want to cry, and I'm sure I've forgotten something.

And while I'm ready for the school work to end I'm not really ready for school to end. School ending means that a majority of the friends I've made this year will be moving back home. That also makes me really sad. I very much enjoy the people I see everyday and not seeing them everyday will definitely be weird.

Goggles

Jonathan hates showers. I don't know why but he hates showers. He will quite literally fall to pieces at the mention of a shower and beg, plead, and bargain for a bath. Now I don't mind giving him baths but they do become rather time consuming and sometimes, especially on school nights, the quickness of a shower becomes a necessity.

Jonathan used to love showers. He would splash and play and duck in and out of the water. Then we moved to this house and all that changed. My only guess is that we have more water pressure here which means the water isn't quite as gentle as it was at the other house. Or maybe we didn't introduce the shower to him soon enough. Who knows!

One of his regular complaints about the shower is the water getting in his eyes. Kid you not he will put his whole head under water in the pool or go face first into the freezing cold Pacific Ocean but is terrified of the water in the shower. So to combat this little problem we got him
goggles.
Doesn't he look so grown up wearing goggles. Seriously I can't believe how much they change his appearance. We've only used the goggles twice, and the second time they were a little too big (different pair, they came in a 3 pack) so they fell off but so far so good. He doesn't mind putting his head in the water and will wash his hair and rinse willingly. That, my friends, is a vast improvement.
Look at that cheesy smile and that wild hair. Eventually we'll have to give up the goggles, although if he wants to wear goggles when he showers in college I suppose that's his choice, but they work for now.

If its spring

Then mother nature has lost her freaking mind!

Seriously!

If you live anywhere remotely close to me then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We've had sun, rain, hail, thunder, lightening, wind, and snow all in the same day. I'm so not kidding.

Remember this post where we went puddle jumping. Well about a week later we went back to the same field, but do you know what we did this time? We went sledding. That's right, sledding.

Sunday morning we woke up to this...
Never mind going to church. By the time we dug out and showered after digging out we would get there just in time to come home again. So when Jason went down for a morning nap Jonathan, Dan and I got bundled up and headed out side to dig out. But we only have one shovel so really Dan dug out and Jonathan and I played. We decided to make a snow man. So Jonathan got his bucket and started bring me snow, ya know in case I didn't already have enough.
He had so much fun filling the bucket and dumping it out again. And of course he didn't help me build "his" snow man at all.Jonathan and "his" snow girl. He decided after seeing the finished product that it was much too small to be a snow man so it must be a snow girl. He wanted me to give it one of Jason's pacifiers and call it a snow baby but I drew the line there. Snow girl was just fine with me.

While my mom was here we got a sled on clearance. We didn't have one and you can never find one when the first snow falls. I didn't really plan on using it this year but since we had snow I figured why not?

Do you have any idea how heavy an almost 4-year-old is to pull for a quarter mile in a sled? Yeah I didn't either until I did it. Wow that was a serious work out.
He had so much fun riding along in his sled while we made our way down to the field. I didn't tell him we were going sledding because I didn't want to deal with the disappointment if hill wasn't big enough. Fortunately the hill was the perfect size for him and he made several runs down the hill, and I pulled his heavy little rear back up the hill several times. I also made one run down the hill. I hadn't been sledding in forever and I had a great time. Next winter we'll find a bigger hill and take Daddy and Jason.
Doesn't he just look like he's having a fantastic time? I was glad when he decided he was cold and wanted to go home. I was exhausted! When we got home Jason was awake and even though I desperately wanted to crash on the couch I decided he should get to have some fun in the snow too. I'm so glad I took him outside. He had a great time crawling around in the snow and exploring.
Look at that happy face! Look at how much he has grown up since this post. I can't believe he's going to be one this month!
Dan pulled Jonathan and Jason around the corner and back in the sled before we all headed inside.

I love the snow but spring can come any time now! Seriously!