Dialogue

I try really hard to NOT be one of those parents that think their children should be seen and not heard. I often have some amazing conversations with my boys. Some make me cry, some make me think and some make me laugh. However, there are days when I wonder what on earth is going on in their heads and if they just have to spew it all out before they explode. I sometimes just have to ask for a minute or two to catch up and give my own brain a rest. For example, we went to see Joel for lunch today and on our way home, a mere 13 miles/20 minutes this is just a smidgen of what Noah chattered on about:

• ...his friend likes coffee, really likes coffee, but not black like I drink it, he puts something else into it but he can't remember what and will have to ask him later and let me know. But when he drinks coffee he gets all excited, how come I don't get excited when I drink coffee?
• ...Pokemon is a lot like Yugioh in the sense that you battle with cards and each card or character has it's own strengths, weaknesses and attributes. (This was followed by a brief run down of a few characters from each.)
• ...he wonders why people have to lie, he understands that he doesn't have to answer the questions if the answer will hurt their feelings but he isn't going to lie because that is just wrong. Why would people lie if they were selling you stuff (this was after I mentioned that some people don't always disclose their vehicles full past when selling cars) because he wouldn't like that at all.
• ...do the clouds on a cloudy, possible thunderstorm day like today here on Earth look like the clouds that surround the planet Venus and prevent us from seeing it's landscape. Wouldn't it be cool to see what Venus looked like.
  
• ...hey did you know that in the Ripley's book he was reading he read about a guy who was killed by lightning THEN his gravestone was destroyed not once but twice by lightning. He suspects that God was really really really not happy with him.
• ...Mr. Hurst, his music teacher, let the kids listen to this really fun Music Rocks song today but Mr. Hurst was worried that he would have that song stuck in his head for at least the rest of the day if not the rest of the week.
  
• ...Sure glad he got to go have lunch with dad because he only had yogurt, apple juice, fruit and milk at school for lunch. Which may sound like a lot but it really isn't because he was really hungry still.
• ...why do people have growing pains, you HAVE to grow right, so why does it have to be painful. That just seems silly and shouldn't happen to people. He doesn't like it when people hurt when they do something like just grow.
• ...Austin couldn't talk yesterday because of his allergies, he is allergic to all sorts of pollen, so we played charades instead. Did you know that charades are hard to play when riding your bike? Well they are but we still did it. Is Jackson allergic to anything?
• ...when I grow up I still want to be an engineer at the dam but I'd also like to design a car that runs on water. Wouldn't that be cool, then you could just fill up your car from your garden hose and be on your way. Of course you'd have to know where all the hoses are on long trips but still, it would be cheaper than gas.
• ...the Columbia is a really big river (as we drove over the bridge) I bet there are a lot of streams that feed the Columbia and maybe a lake or two. If there was only one stream then it would probably be a HUGE stream and just be a part of the river. Hey how do fish find their way back to the place that they were hatched. Did you know that they do that? Hatch, swim to the ocean, grow up some, swim back to the place they were born and it starts all over again. Well, unless they are eaten by a bear then they don't make it.
  
• ...did you know that my friends are going to go to their cousins graduation party tonight. They are. Really.

Honestly, this is not all of it, I can't remember it all. The boy just has days that it doesn't stop and to be honest, it's exhausting at times. I often find myself two or three topics behind trying to catch up and that usually ends up in me busting up and laughing. The funny thing is, that usually doesn't slow him down but for a second or two. Usually looks at me, says, "What?" then goes back to his brain purge.

Closet Organizer

In an attempt to better use our space and organize stuff in the boys' room, Joel made this closet organizer! I think he did a great job! It will have two bars for hanging stuff on either side and a shelf across the full length of the closet on top. The drawers are huge and hold most of what was in the two dressers we used to have in their room. The rest will go on the shelves or be hung up on the bars. I will add another picture once the shelf and bars are in place.

Up on block before being attached to wall.

All pretty and installed.

Teepee

We have this little play teepee that actually got put away a while back then forgotten about. I found it the other day and set it up for Oliver. Of all the things we have planned to do this summer, camping is at the top of Oliver's list. So when he saw the teepee he immediately asked if he could sleep in it. The footprint of said teepee is small and square but that didn't stop him...

Smiles

Made sure I closed it up tight.
Love the end of his sleeping bad sticking out!

Welcome Home

My mom was down in Texas working with FEMA since November and she came home Friday. Oliver and I decided to go meet her at the airport to welcome her home. Since MAX now has a line that goes directly to the airport, I decided to make a little boys day and ride the train to the airport. MAX trains, airplanes and a Gammy he hasn't seen in a while - woohoo!! Of course, I took my camera along for the ride...

"LOOK!! A TRAIN!!!"
Screamed while jumping up and down and nearly falling off the curb.

Checking the train out and deciding where to sit.
He wanted to know what the accordion sides and circle on the floor were for.

I no longer existed once the train started to move.

Checking out the planes in the waiting area.

GAMMY!
Charlie and I didn't exist at this point, to either of them.

Finally got her to look up from Oliver while he was checking out the piece of gum she gave him.
Wait, what is Charlie doing???

NICE! Way to root through the purse and look for treasure while she is distracted with one of her grand kids. I admire and respect that move.

Said our hellos and goodbyes then got back onto the train.
It was empty until just before departure so he got to play around some.

On the way back to our car at the Gateway station, Oliver decided that he was going to be a big boy and sit by himself two rows in front of me. Just before leaving the airport an elderly gentleman sat in the row in front of Oliver. The two of them immediately hit it off and talked the entire way back. I just sat back and watched as the two had a grand time getting to know each other. Seriously, they both had smiles the size of Texas. I was tempted to take some pictures but didn't want to interrupt. Just before we got to our stop the gentleman dug through his pockets and gave Oliver, what I am guessing to be, one of the few coins that he had. Oliver was ecstatic that he not only found a penny while talking to his new friend but then received a nickel FROM him too. As we were departing, Oliver said, "Bye. Have fun on your train ride, love you!" and the gentleman turned to me and said, "thank you." I just nodded and got off the train...

Kanthak Karate Spring Demonstration

Kanthak Karate All Student Spring
Demonstration & Black Belt Graduations
Saturday, June 13, 2009
7:00 p.m.
Shahala Middle School Gym

Kanthak Karate is holding a spring all student demonstration on Saturday, June 13, at Shahala Middle School gym. All students are eligible to attend. The event starts with an all student warm up, then individual classes will showcase what they have been learning the last few months. After the advance class, we will award the new black belts their new rank and they will perform a routine that they have put together for the event. Guests are invited, family, friends, neighbors, teachers, etc. Cameras and camcorders are ok, we will see you there.

Address: 601 SE 192nd Avenue, Vancouver WA 98683

Noah will also be getting his stripe/belt graduation on Thursday, June 11th at the end of his class which begins at 5:35 p.m. Feel free to join us there too.

Lupin or is it Lupine

The spelling, apparently, depends on where you live and since I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest I'm going with Lupine. While watering and weeding our community garden, (check out the latest post here) I took a break, grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures of the few Lupine in the field. Around here you can come across massive fields of these beauties ranging from near white to a deep attention grabbing purple. Today there were just a few scattered about and they were of the light purple variety...

Lupine, no matter how you look at it, is pretty.

Look up at it from down below - pretty.

Look down on it from up above - pretty.

Well hello Mr. Bee!
I bet you think it's pretty too.

Look at all of that pollen on his legs.

Serious vs. Silly

Note: There was a complete second part to this post, I must have hit publish instead of save as draft. It is corrected now...sorry!

My oldest, Noah is a very serious boy. Don't get me wrong, the boy can have fun and be silly but his natural demeanor is serious and straight to the point. See...



Then there is this guy, super silly-potamus to the bone! Well, unless he is in one of those moods then he is just stubborn and frustrating but that's not part of this story. He loves to giggle and laugh and will do just about anything to get you to giggle, laugh or break into a smile (no matter how mad you are). While Noah was off to the side scientifically playing with the hose, determining the effects of water, on that slope, at that speed with various objects placed in it's path, this is what Oliver was doing...

Field Trip

I got to chaperon a field trip to PGE Park on Wednesday. OMSI, US Bank and PGE Park all put on "The Science of Baseball" day and invited a ton of schools to participate. This year the 2nd grade team at Noah's school decided to participate. We left bright and early, got to the park 2 hours before the game started. From 9-10am we walked around the food court area and visited all of the booths that OMSI had set up. From 10:15-10:45 we watched an assembly about the science of baseball and then we got to stay and watch the Portland Beavers play the Memphis Redbirds. It was really fun BUT that was a long time for a bunch of 2nd graders to sit and watch a game. We could get up and walk if we wanted but there really wasn't anything to do so they were a bit bored. We didn't leave and go back to school until 2pm so they were seated for most of the time between 10am-2pm. I lucked out and got three great kids in my group, Noah, Nathan and Shawn were awesome and made the day fun! I taught them a lot about the game, we talked about the park itself, we dodged the constant barrage of foul balls smacked our way. Actually, that was a bit scary at times, we were seriously in foul territory and had, I would guess, at least 8-10 balls hit into our area. I tried to find other things for them to see and learn about as the day went on and the boys got a bit tired of the game. Noah, however, really enjoyed the game and wants to know if we can go to a few games this summer and I'm sure we will!

(The slide show over to the left is after the Beavers got a home run. I kept snapping pictures of Noah as he celebrated.)

Noah explaining that, because I wouldn't let him bring his glove to the field, he will now have to use his brand new hat they gave him at the door to catch the foul balls.

The Portland Beavers warming up.

National Anthem time.

This is an older park and I love it. The board is run mostly by hand, no electronics. Actually, the balls, strikes and outs might be turned automatically but the rest is done by hand.

See the guy sitting under the 10, the boys and I speculated that he was controlling the balls, strikes and outs.

Then we caught glimpses of this guy changing the board to the jersey number of the player at bat.

Go Beavers!!

It was a double.

It was a beautiful day for a game with a few really cool and cute boys.

Memorial Day BBQ

John and Steph invited us down to their house on Monday for a BBQ. It was great food and we had a wonderful time with our friends. At one point, Steph and I took the boys and dogs down to a little creek by her house to let them play. They loved the cool water on the hot day. Thanks again for the invite guys, we had a great day!

Cute way to start off my picture taking.
Don't worry, the shirt didn't last long!

One of the pups (looks like Woodrow), Ollie, Noah and Ty wasting no time getting into the water.

I thought this was funny in a Mowgli from Jungle Book sort of way.

Boys being crazy and building a dam.

I'm really trying not to go there but come on, those dam rocks are being placed by those dam builders. It just makes that dam area even more dam fun!
Sorry! I couldn't help myself.

Roaring and growling are very helpful during construction.

Hey look, there were pretty flowers there too!

5/21/2003 A Girl Was Born...

And her name was Brelynne!! Bre turned six yesterday and I wanted to do a digital layout for her. It took me an extra day so I could use a picture from her actual birthday. I used this tutorial from Designer Digitals, I got to make something fun for Bre and learn something at the same time! We love you Bre, hope you like it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRETTY GIRL!

Quick Visit

Pop and H came to visit us this past weekend, I only got one picture of them (what was I thinking?) and it only shows them from the back! You can't even see their faces. The visit was short but we are glad they stopped by to see us. We took them up to the garden and showed them around a bit. While up there they took off with the boys to explore and play while Joel and I watered a bit. I had my camera hanging around my neck so I snapped a few shots when I had the chance. Nothing too fancy but spring is definitely here and I'm loving it!

This bee buzzed in just as I was taking the picture.

The pond is beautiful, look how much things have grown.

This dogwood was spectacular about a week ago.

This dogwood tree is HUGE, I was standing under it and the branches were cascading down around me. Honestly, probably one of the tallest dogwood trees I've seen.

Wouldn't it be fun to build a tree house waaaaay up there?

Seriously?

Bakugan box, dump truck book, Ben10 Omnitrix, Star Wars watch, pile of Legos, Percy the battery operated engine, white truck carrying engine Bill, 2 monster trucks, pen, rubber band, bouncy ball, crinkled paper, torn paper, stick, Bandaid, remote control, one sock, 2 color blocks from the Rubiks cube, Doc Marten shoe lace paper, Star Trek communicater, piece to a Hot Wheels car and a broken crayon??!!?? This was just swept out from under my couch, I'm thinking I should hold another contest. What do you think?

The Contestants Are

SEE BELOW FOR THE WINNER!!

I will announce the winner shortly after Noah gets home from school. I promised to let him pick the winner...

Beth - I think I recognize the toy trailer, we may have one just like it!! And the quarter...finders keepers.

Thanks for the reminder! Mine wasn't so exciting, although the pen could have done some serious damage. The quarter actually made it past my initial sweep and came out of the washer squeaky clean. :)

Janet - seriously?? You've found all of this in your laundry? Wow! I'm impressed and need to know more about the bananas!
Candy - she submitted a story that I thought was funny...

You would think that 13 loads of laundry since this challenge started would have produced something... But not even one penny or rock. Guess I did a good job of training everyone to empty their pockets!!! So here is a story from about a month ago... Hopefully it will qualify!?!

When I had been sick, Jessica wanted to do something to help me feel better. So she asked Daddy to take her shopping for something to cheer me up. She bought me one of those packs of Kleenex to keep in my pocket. Like a good Mom, I put it in my pocket and forgot about it (Obviously, I need to retake the class myself on emptying out my pockets). They not only went through the washer, but the dryer before they opened sprawling the ENTIRE pack through the whole load. In case you ever wondered, Kleenex really does hold a ton of liquid without dissolving. It looked like it had snowed Kleenex sheets throughout the entire load.

GrandBob -

All I ever find in my laundry is a Kleenex I forgot to take out of a pocket and lint.

Grandma Ricki -

I never find anything fun in my laundry any more...maybe a coin I forgot I stuck in a pocket-that's about it...

Aunt Kelli -
This is so unfair.... I don't have Boys to leave things in pockets. I used to have to check my room mates pockets. That is after the inside of my dryer turned red from a pen. Sadly, no room mates, anymore. I'm with Ritter, just the occasional coin.

Shana - I should have guessed that you would have concrete in your laundry!

concrete chunks, tampon, band-aid, wrench and I think that was it for this week.

Stephanie - LOL!

john says he's too good at cleaning out the pockets for anything to get in our laundry, but i have a permanent marker to prove otherwise

Thank you to all of you for playing! It made laundry a little less painful this week.

Using leftover blue snowflake paper, names of contestants on back.

Noah says this is the winner!

CONGRATULATIONS!!
I will send you your soap a.s.a.p.

Reminder

Don't forget to send me your picture(s) or list(s) of things found in your laundry for a chance to win some soap...
I will pick the winner tomorrow afternoon and announce it tomorrow night.

Oliver is Not The Orkin Man

This is how the conversation went...

MOM! I NEED some crackers, right now.
How would a boy needing crackers ask if he had manners?
(said reluctantly) I NEED crackers now....puh-lease??
What kind of crackers would you like?
Crackers! Please! Just crackers, please!
How about some bunny crackers?
Sure, yeah, yeah bunny crackers.

I hand him a handful crackers and before I could reach for a bowl to put a few more into Oliver bolts out the back door and returns within seconds...

I NEED more crackers!
What did you just do with the handful I gave you?
(said proudly) Gave them to the ants, they are very nice and very hungry. They are our friends.

I gave him a few more crackers and say with hesitation...

Ohhh, you're feeding the ants?
Yeah! And they are eating the crackers, come see!

The feast provided by Oliver.
Let's hope they appreciate the meal and stay outside.

Very happy that the ants are now happy and eating.

Poor little bunny cracker...click on the picture, can you see the ant?

Oliver would scream, "THERE HE IS!" every time he saw an ant carrying away another piece of cracker. We talked about where they were taking the cracker and how it would feed many ants.