I'm coming!

I'm writing something later today, with pictures. I promise.

Trick or Treat

Annika was the cutest kid in all of Halloweendom, but our camera battery was dead. As usual. She whispered "trick or treat" and i would coach her to say it louder and she would say "TRICK OR TREAT!" Then she would sweetly say "thank you" and "Happy Halloween" and everyone would melt in awe and wonder at her cuteness. Or just me. (They didn't melt at me, I melted in awe and wonder at her cuteness.)

We went out for only 1/2 hour and she got lots of loot. I kind of micro-managed her candy choice. Several people kept offering her plain M&Ms, (snooze), but we already had too many at home, so I'd say, suavely, "no, I think she'd like to try such and such." I hope that wasn't too tacky, but I've been teaching her colors with Skittles and she's been enjoying herself. (Yes, M&Ms are also multi-colored, but, again, snooze.)

Today we went to church and I was just happy to be with my funny family and hold them close.

Jacob and I were spinning in the living room and I was singing a joyful spinning song, (the acoustics are pretty good with the vaulted ceiling, even if it is wasted space) and lost in joy and dizziness, I was abruptly brought to a halt with a big gob of drool falling from the sky onto my eye. ick. Jacob, however, thought my reaction was so funny that he laughed and drooled some more.

We are still trying to convince Annika that the potty is AWESOME but I realized that that freedom is a long way off when she said, "No. My diaper is nice and cozy." We're in deep... well, you know.

Winter gloom comes, but so do the smiles. And laughs. And drool.

It's gloomy and yesterday was rough and my (clean) laundry has banded together and is now terrorizing the neighborhood in the form of a giant dryer sheet. Jacob is weaning himself and I'm sad because I was hoping to go until he was a year old and it means he's growing up too fast and that he won't need me as much (yes, I know that he's nine months and he's still entirely dependent on me.) Also, formula is expensive and nursing helps me not gain weight even when I exercise no self-control and exercise not at all. Hmmph. Now I'll be poor and fat.

Now, the fun stuff. Annika came up to me a few days ago, sat on my lap and said, "Mommy, I love you so much." I say it frequently to her, so its not out of the blue, but it sure sounds nice. Jacob will nurse, stop, look up at me and grin the funniest lop-sided grin with his two teeth and his two emerging teeth and then impishly go back to eating. And then again. And again.

We went to Utah to visit John's family down on the farm, and Annika was in heaven. She chased chickens and dogs and sheep and petted one of the bulls named Mortimer and now she likes to say "moor-timm- errr." A lot. We egg her on and ask her about him a lot because it sounds funny. She adored the attention and the family and the presents and the early trick or treating. That was a big hit. We drove the 14 hours (add on any stops) and drove through the night. We figured that since our kids don't sleep when we're on "vacation", we might as well stay in the car. We didn't sleep much while we were down there either and I had pretty bad allergies so I was in a bit of a haze most of the visit, but we had a great time and loved watching Annika and Jacob with the family.

I hate blogging

So, it turns out that I don't really love to blog. I've never put up pretty backgrounds, I barely put up pictures and I never post interesting links. I don't give political opinions, religious views, book recommendations, recipes, etc. I don't get to brag about all my doings, because my doings are few and not particularly interesting.

So, the bare minimum should be to put up pictures of the kids so that adoring family can see them. Except the #@$%*@!-ed kid (A) won't stand/sit still for a picture!!! I've been trying for DAYS to take a few pictures so that loved ones can see their darling granddaughter/niece/cousin etc. But, no. She wants to hold the camera, point the camera, throw the camera, push the camera into Jacob's face, take pictures of my feet and her feet and the dirty part of the carpet that I can't seem to get clean. (That makes it sound like I've tried real hard to clean said carpet. No.)
Anyway, I'm sorry about the pictures, but its really not my fault. I'm not sorry about the otherwise boring, lackluster blog, I'm just sorry about the pictures.

I'll keep trying. If all else fails, I'll post some pictures of our feet.

The magic and mystery of laundry

Found in my dryer AFTER the cycle. Overtired mother or helpful two year-old?




Repositioned for better brand recognition




There was less lint than I thought there would be. And the laundry feels very soft.

Triple digits

This week is a week of heat records in Oregon. If I hadn't watched the news I would have missed the excitement. I have the world's strongest air conditioning and I often turn it down. So, when I went to water part of the brown area outside of my house, which used to be called a yard and flowers but can no longer be recognized by such terminology, imagine my displeasure at being knocked over, (also, there was a two-year-old that I didn't see) by the 105 degree heat. Ick. Happily, Annika wanted to go outside yesterday at 7:30 am and we played with the hose and the bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Today, at 9 am we played outside with water balloons. Annika preferred the balloons hadn't been tied yet. I would give her one, pinching the top, and she would joyfully point it at my legs and let loose. Over and over again. And again. We found that it was also a fun way to water the "flowers." Again, the brown stuff that lies on the outside of my house.

Let me insert this complaint on a completely unrelated subject. My iPod is currently playing Hot Summer Nights by Miami Sound Machine from the Top Gun sound track. I love John, very much. Very much. BUT... Miami Sound Machine? I don't like Tom Cruise, Goose dies, Val Kilmer was only good in Willow, and, this song relies heavily on the tortuous sounds of the saxophone. John knows how I feel about the saxophone. (See my entry on the worst things ever so that you, too, can know of my feelings for the saxophone. They are not favorable.) So, let me reiterate: I love my husband and with this one, current, exception count myself lucky to be his wife. But, seriously, Miami Sound Machine?

Now, to my summary of our triumphant trip to NY. My parents live app. 40 miles north of Manhattan. I grew up living on a dead end street that ended in a state park. You could hike for miles without seeing anybody or any asphalt, so no, I didn't grow up in a city. Well, technically it was a city, but smaller than the Portland suburb I live in now. There are trees, trees and more trees. And lakes. And the Hudson River. And trees. The trees contribute greatly to the humidity factor. Which is high. You could probably measure the humidity levels by the relative frizz of my hair at any given moment. So, its lots of fun to visit, but it doesn't resemble a major metropolitan area. We went to the lake and had lots of fun with the canoe, the water, the food and the nice friends of my parents who took John and me for a ride behind their motor boat. I haven't been for a long time and I'm hoping that John's inaugural ride was enough to convince him that life isn't worth living without a boat. It hasn't worked yet.
We went to a working farm called Phillipsburg Manor which was established in 1685 and has a reconstructed mill, the original house, animals, and costumed guides. I love the costumed guides, they always know more than regular guides. There were sheep and oxen, cows and chickens. And... a dead, bloated unidentified (because I wouldn't look) animal in the dammed part of the small river. They said that it happens occasionally because stuff comes down river and gets stuck. That was not my favorite part of the tour.
The Phillips, of the said manor, were from Holland and eventually bought up 50,000 acres of land in the area and were, for a time, the richest family in New Holland. (New York.) It was pretty fun and Annika liked the butter churn quite a bit.
We saw Harry Potter, we had yummy pizza (though a tiny bit soggy), chinese food, the best pecan danishes ever from Panera, and played and played and played. But not sleep. Much. We shared a room with Annika and Jacob, neither of whom were very interested in sleep in their own beds. John slept on Annika's small mattress until she fell asleep most nights.
Annika and Jacob were very good on both flights, even on the return trip that was 3 hours late in leaving. 3. Hours. Late. When we finally got on the plane after 2 hours, we were all excited to get going when the pilot sheepishly announced that we were - wait for it - 45th in line for takeoff. 45th. 45th. Meaning that there were 44 massive airplanes in a line in front of us. And maybe some behind us. Where do you put that many airplanes? How is it that JFK International Airport has room for 45 or more airplanes to parade around outside, but not for a bathroom closer than 1/2 mile from our terminal? 45!!! Anyway, A and J were perfect and we were glad for our answered prayers. About the kids, not the 3 hour addition to our 6 hour flight.
(The above was written several days ago.)
We went to the Oregon coast this weekend and stayed at a friend's parent's beach house. A really nice beach house. REALLY nice. We were right at the start of the little path down to the beach and it was one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to. Except the cold water. Eastern beaches are better for frolicking. It was fun to escape the heat, the highest it got was mid-70s. Annika and all the other kids had fun playing in the sand and chasing the waves and running away when the waves chased back. Annika had many baths, both intentional and not.
It was nice to get away, even briefly. Most of our adventures are planned by someone else and we're glad when we get to tag along!