This Rainy Friday...

To begin: This is the only chance I've had to sit down today...
all because of my GENIUS idea for this...

I have a cranky Ana, who knows why, and a stir-crazy Ian. Usually we've gone SOMEWHERE by now today, but due to my lack of motivation, we haven't done so. Actually, its not a lack of motivation. Its intense motivation to stay home. :) Still haven't had coffee though.

And these:

are my children. Ian had said "cheese" way too many times before I shot this picture. Who knows what Ana was thinking. That kid can't seem to focus. :)

And that's Aaron's pumpkin. He's the "think it through before you stab the pumpkin" types. Therefore, he ends up with a cool one... like that. Mine was kind of a creepy looking cat thing that I carved spontaneously with no plan in mind. And I hated it. But that's what I get for not thinking ahead. At least in "real" life, I think ahead.
And here's Ana Clare the Chicken. She's actually going to be a pink fuzzy bear for Halloween, but I had to put this on her.

This Post to be continued...

Baldwin?

Anyone have any opinions/information on Chuck Baldwin? He's a presidential candidate. I'm all for not voting democrat OR republican. I'm sick of those words, actually.

I'm really just brianstorming. I'll probably end up voting for one of the "main" candidates like the rest of you. But here's food for thought... how would you vote if you weren't voting based on what the rest of the nation was voting? What if it wasn't EXPECTED that everyone votes for either a democrat or a republican?

I have cast all my votes except this one, and it took a while to decide who I wanted for Attorney General. Unlike the way I studied in college, I'm putting quite a bit of thought into my voting... :) Its probably more important, anyway.

(Oh and, let's pray he's not one of the Baldwin brothers)

Peas in a Pod.

Here are Ian and Lucy at the Blaine library storytime! They had so much fun... so much that they forgot it was storytime, as you can see in the pictures. :) Especially notice, all the well-behaved children at the front of the class. And don't dis my parenting skills... they at least stayed QUIET!

Harvest Party.

"What? we weren't doing anything..."

"I get to eat a WHOLE donut? Wait... are there strings attached?""If this is what growing up is like, I'm in!"

We prefer the "donut" version of powder. (as opposed to the fluffy white stuff in the mountains)"I'm a beautiful ballerina!"

Thoughts on the Week.

- A few days ago, I was having a lovely conversation with my 2 1/2 year old niece Lucy. I was shocked to realize she was actually saying many of her words clearly, and that when I responded, she confirmed that I was correct in guessing what she said. She was sitting on the floor in her diaper and cute little t-shirt, while her eggs rapidly cooled on her plate at the dining room table. "Lucy, are you going to go eat your eggs?" I asked. "No!" she replied, giggling. "What about your cheese?" "No!" "How about some worms?"

After a few seconds of silence, she responded, "AWOOkuhTAHmay!" I looked at her, puzzled. Look at something, maybe? You went somewhere in May? "Maybe your Mom can translate for you, Lulu." So, Amanda came into the room to translate. When she heard what Lucy was saying, she responded, "Look at something? Look at Dad?" "No!" Lucy replied, "AWOOkuhTAHmay!" After a few minutes of Lucy repeating it over and over (and over), Amanda finally got it. "Oh, is it 'Look what God made'?"

"Yah!" Lucy responded as if we were dumb, "AWOOkuhTAHmay!"
Apparently, Amanda had been reading a book earlier that had pictures of things on earth (birds, bugs, worms, animals), and on every other page, it said "Look what God made." So when I mentioned the worm, Lucy connected it, and there you go. She's one smart kid.

- I love my son Ian. Some days are rough with my little 2.18 year old. Its easy to wish he was 2 1/2 or even 15, just so he would actually talk to me and not whine and scream when he needs something. Don't get me wrong, he says many, many words. Just not when I need him to, and not always clearly. A few other moms are going through the same thing I am, wishing their kids knew more words, and would communicate better.
But I had a great revelation about this.
I feel like in our day and age, so many people are putting way too much of an emphasis on intelligence in young kids. I still remember a young toddler down the street from my house in Edmonds who could say "Trapezoid." (As if she even knew what one was).
I am not denying the fact that teaching our kids language, and giving them knowledge, is very important. However, I have to assert that the highest priority is teaching them love and respect (and good manners, patience, etc.).
We need to teach them how to love others, how to be loved, how to obey their parents and their teachers and grandparents. How to use a spoon properly, and how to open a ziploc bag. REAL WORLD knowledge and skills.
This revelation makes me less concerned about my typically-slow-to-learn-language little toddler boy!

- Fun words Ian is saying:

• Boosh: book
• Anana: Ana
• Anana?: Where is Ana?
  
• aCAR aCAR!: car
• No, mine!: that's mine, mother dearest
  
• Tee Tee: TV
• Mail: he really says it correctly!
• Juish: Juice
• Momo: Elmo
• Teetoh: Stroller
  
• Mahmin: cousin Martin
• Yooyoo: cousin Lulu
  
• Ahlo: cousin Milo
• Baba!!!!!: Grandpa, either one
• Atata?: Where is it? (hides things under a blanket)
• eeah: ear
• babaow: eyebrow
• knee: says it perfectly ever since that traumatic leap of death off the stairs
• Titty: kitty cat. I know.
• Doddy!: doggy
• TAtoh: tractor

He probably says more fun things, but that's all I can think of at the moment

- So excited to take Ian trick-or-treating. I am a candy-fiend... it is very convenient for me to have kids as my means to an end! Ian is going to be a fire-fighter, axe and extinguisher from the dollar store and all! Ana is going to conveniently be a pink and brown fuzzy bear. She's been wearing her plush, amazingly warm outfit for the past few weeks now.

And I'll be my usual "Funny Lady wearing a curly red wig, retro glasses, and large hoop earings. I guess I could just throw in one of our cafe aprons and be a barista, but we'll see... we'll see.

Oh and then there's Aaron. He'll be a guy wearing a Seahawk sweatshirt. :)

- The Leffels (Jeremy, Deena, Tal, Martin and Josée) are coming to town! So excited, we cherish every minute we get to spend with them. And its Martin's birthday! We'll do some fun stuff, eat some yummy non-dairy dessert, and enjoy a day of family! Woohoo!

Recurring Dreams.

Yes I know, its a terrible picture of me. Its the only one I could find on the web after being out of soccer for SOO long. :)

I'm one of "those" people. The ones who have dreams for a purpose, have visions that come true (good ones), and have bad feelings about things that cause me to pray (I felt the random need to have a group prayer the night before the 9-11 attacks). I don't believe in anything like telepathy, etc., but I do believe in God's insight lived out in people.

So, with my latest recurring dream, I can't help but wonder what its all about.

At least once a month (if not more), I dream that I am either back on the Gonzaga Womens soccer team, or I am just visiting, trying to prove myself so my coach will let me back on the team. I am always wearing the jersey you see in the picture, and I always do something in the dream to show off. I'll sprint up the hill next to the soccer field, I'll jump really high to find my seat in the bleachers... I'll even sub myself onto the field, school EVERYONE and score a goal (that one doesn't happen often). I always end up talking to one of my old teammates in the dream, and we look at pictures of our fun times being part of the team.

I am 90.3% positive the only reason I have this dream is because I just need closure in my head. I quit after two years because my grades were suffering, my faith was suffering, I was a wreck, all because soccer was so exhausting and time consuming. The actual soccer part really was going fine. I could have pushed through and kept playing... so now, 6 years later, I am still in need of closure for quitting when I could have pushed on.

But the other 8.6% thinks that I dream this because something's going to happen with my soccer career. (Which is maybe why the other 90.3% of me needs closure.) Maybe I'll get noticed somewhere, or I'll get a call to play in the womens pro league once it opens back up again (that'll be the day). I have that dreamy part of me that thinks I'm having this dream as a foreshadowing of what's to come.

And after all that, there really is no closure to this post, sorry! Maybe one of you readers has some insight into all this. :)

Oh by the way, the other .1% thinks I'm the best womens soccer player EVER. :)

Ana Clare.

Freebies.

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this blog: Freebies 4 Mom. I have found a lot of great stuff on it, from sweepstakes to coupons to free stuff! I figure with the economy, any little bit of free stuff I can get helps! Plus, you can print off the coupons on your own printer, which is very convenient.

Check it out!

Stoney Ridge Farm!

Some pics from our fun Saturday at Stoney Ridge Farm in Everson! We are having so much fun taking Ian to these things, now that he can enjoy it, too!

Sabbaticals and Ice Cream.

My one week sabbatical from Facebook and Blogging lasted about as long as Cookie Dough Ice Cream lasts in our freezer. And to that, I say... I wish it wasn't bad to eat ice cream at 7:34 in the morning.

"We Were on a BREAK!"

I am taking a break from blogging for a week, starting today. Too much surfing time, not enough everything-else time. If you need to get hold of me, try calling. If you don't have my number, email me. If you don't have my email, fax me. Since I don't have a fax, come visit me. If you don't know where I live, yell really loud.

Good Times with Logan.

Andra, Melissa and Logan visited Blaine on Wednesday, and we had a wonderful time! Had lunch at the cafe, went to the beach... all the Blainey things. :)

In one moment of insanity, we found sanity in throwing both boys in Ian's portacrib. Here was the result:

Weekend with the Leffels.

So, I am totally being a copycat, seeing that Jeremy posted about this just this morning. And not only that, but I stole his pictures (how could I not, when he is such a spectacular photographer??!! Speaking of which, go here and vote for him). Didn't catch that? Go to this website and vote for him NOW!!!

We had an amazing time here in Birch Bay this weekend. Jeremy and Deena and the kids drove up from Tacoma, and my Grandparents flew up from Sunnyvale, California! It was such a treat.

The picture below is all the women who were there. Deena brought up a very good point. See the two babies in the picture, Josée and Ana? And then the lady on the right, that's Grandma Ann. The babies, and Ann, are 81 years apart. Even crazier is that they are 90 years younger than Grandpa Phil.This is Grandma Ann. She has been through the Holocaust, a very long boat ride leaving EVERYTHING behind in Austria, met Mayor LaGuardia and shook his hand (1920's I believe), raising 5 kids (and having do WASH every diaper in the process), and here she is. Amazing, huh?!
And this is Grandpa Phil, who is pretty much the 90 year old version of my Dad. He was born at the end of World War I, lived through the great depression and World War II, fought overseas in WWII, is one of 7 kids, raised 5 kids, is still golfing at the tender young age of 90, and is one of the funniest people ever.