The Life and Times

2010-11-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

The last month or so...

For a moment, I decided to blog post photos.
It's nice here in bloggy-land!

Moon's Art Table
pre-weekly recycling/clean up.

OMSI

Pumpkin Painting in the yard

Bird attracting pine cones, freshly made.

First honey, then seeds.

Notice Lan licking the brush here.

Wild Park Monster

Electronics in nature

More wild beasts

Lan, fresh out of the bath with his new baby from the Candy Fairy.

Luxurious gifts from this years Fairy.
She even let them keep some, which was partially eaten
and then fed to Papa, "because he likes junk".
For the record, Mama "likes junk" too. The kids just don't know it.

Trick or Treaters!

Costumes from Auntie Jen, with a little flair added by the pink lady.

Pumpkin time!

Goodie bag maker.

The carving. Which Papa did pretty much all of.

Another hour of play into the silks. Best toy ever!

Moon's creation

Finally, the day I swaddled the children. It was great.

2010-06-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

2010-03-19T04:03:00.001-07:00

And...
Action!

Guitar happiness

Yoga Happiness

Chilling with the band happiness

SERIOUS happiness

Sweetness

Funniness

Tastiness.
(They ate something I made. It was wonderful. But only pasta)

Good Light-ness.

Out of -ness words. And creativity, obviously.

2010-02-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Some of the things Lan is up to...

Yes, he's really into the computer. Here he is playing a horseshoe toss game and is apparently doing pretty well. The child is a computer genius. Not kidding.

hotdogs

These last two are just gratuitous hair shots.

Cute guy!

2010-02-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Lanny's Birthday!

Cakes for Lan and his sweet pals.

Big Sister making the big people cake.

Lan's new car and ambulance setupSweet friend Max

And sweet friend Shoghi!

Lan goes crazy for all of the flowers coming up

A little game of toss

Lan blew out the candles so fast that we didn't catch the moment.
I assure you it was wonderful.

Proud guy, feeling funny about all of the attention he got while we sang to him.

Happy Birthday, biggest guy!

2009-12-25T04:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

I obviously didn't spend enough time taking photos.
Add some tasty food to the day, and here you have it!

Christmas morning scene. Patrick and I have the tree and gift setup on Christmas Eve down to a 10 minute process. The tree is up for a day or two, then out of the way again!

Oh Max and Ruby, you are such good friends around here.

I thought I had taken pictures of the Santa plate, but I guess not. Moon put cookies out for Santa that she made with a friend, then we added carrots for the reindeer and finally, pepperoni, as Mooner was concerned about Santa's protein intake after all of those cookies.
My job is done ;)

2009-11-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

Halloween, etc

Here is Moon, trying on one of many costumes she created on Halloween. This vest has been worn for years. I am surprised she can still get it on.

Moon and O at the Multnomah Village trick or treat through town.
Super fun. Super crowded.
Lan was there as a kitty cowboy, but I didn't get any pictures of him. For shame...

Later that night, we did a quick up and down the street trick or treat.
Obviously I had picture cooperation challenges.

Here is Moon, deciding what couple of candies she is going to
eat before leaving the rest for the candy fairy.

Lan, post chocolate!
Totally happy little Halloween experience. We had lots of trick or treaters for our neighborhood and the kids had fun handing out candy. Patrick played a party and I headed out after the kids were getting ready for bed with Kathryn.

Funny little modern guy photo. Lan was under the rain shield and had fallen asleep with the iPod and headphones on.

And a quick little moment catching Lan deep in dollhouse play. Fun guy.

2009-10-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

October!
All but Halloween on this roll.

Look here, a little kitty!

And Moon doing make up on Rody. Again with the booklight as prop.

Cute guy on Papa's shoulders.
The camera got stuck on black and white for a couple of days...Not sure how that could have happened ;)

Photo of Moon's bizarre-o art.

Funny little girl with Washable Marker lady-lips.

Photo of Moon's Halloween art.

Little Manly eating spinach hummus.
He loved the stuff for a week or so, and now won't touch it.

Lan at band practice. We love these noise canceling muffs for the kids, that way they can hang out with the band and I don't have to keep them inside and away from Papa hours at a time.

2009-09-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

End of Summer Pictures

First and foremost, the biggest event ever, MAX Greenline Day!!!
When we bought our house 4 years ago, we heard that MAX train route was going to be put out here. It finally is here!
I think that Patrick and Moon are just relieved I am done talking about it so much. Seriously. We got to the MAX stop like 20 minutes early. Nerd; again.

Anhow, here are Moon and Papa, having a good time riding the very full train downtown.

The bliss rate was high, as the weather and moods were wonderful.
The kids were loving the train, people watching, eating snacks all the while.

Here's Mooner, running toward home as we got off the MAX.

Onto other business
Here is Moon, doing her "work". She writes all over Patrick's old training papers and has a cell phone next to her at all times.

Here's a fun Lanny and the big kids moment. Aren't they so darn cute???

Moon, doing a science experiment cooking beans. She has had a recent fascination with measurements of all sorts and wanted to "do the thermometer in my cooking". So we wrote down times and temperatures and she made a science journal (thanks Sid the Science Kid!) and drew pictures of beans. Very cool to see her brain work like that.

Oh you know, here's another Lan and food picture. A few more coming up after this one.
For the record, this was pumpkin.

Ah yes, a nectarine!

And a wee troublesome little fella...
Can you make a guess what just happened here?

Yep, climbed right up that chair onto the counter to get the iPod. Here he is, trying to detach it from the charger so he can escape the crime scene.
And this is after we put all of our dining room chairs in the garage. tsk tsk.

And here is another shot of Lan, with his girlfriend. Lots of time being spent with this particular girlfriend. And lots of heartache and rejection around her as well. It's an unhealthy relationship.

More Lan and food. That's what you wanted right?!?
Corn on the cob from Papa Mike's garden. So tasty!

This is just a funny little picture of Lan enjoying Moon's first day of preschool. When we came home after leaving her there, he immediately started getting into her things and brought me the hoodie of hers to put on him. Funny guy!

A new way to carry things had to devised, as Lan is refusing to walk. We call this the leg-trailer.

Oh but the climbing! Moon took over 100 shots of Lan, and most were like this.

A wild potato disaster in my kitchen. Really though, it bought me a good 30 minutes of peace.

That's it for now, folks!

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Moon's first day at Footprint Farm Preschool!

All ready to go!

After making her own sandwich to bring.

Moon is so happy with her new school and so are we. Totally dreamy place.

2009-09-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

I just can't decide...

If y'all will hate me more for NOT posting in ages, but instead sitting on this loot pile of pictures
OR
If the anger would be greater for posting this entry full of SIDEWAYS pictures!!! I assumed there must be a way to rotate in blogger by now, but it appears there actually is NOT...
So I am lazy and not willing to edit and re-upload.
And you might hate me for it ;)

Anyhow!
On with the fun.
What have we been up to this summer?
Here's round one.
(I did that on purpose. Seriously. Nerd.)

Here is a picture of Manly eating some cookies that he is now banished from because of the OAT content. Yes, another food has been eliminated. Tsk Tsk.

From Moon's photo shoot, Lan pouring water. A multiple times a day disaster making activity.

A prized "cutting activity" moment. She is really into cutting vegetables.
Really, really into it. It's strange.

Oh yes, an action shot from basketball camp. I have no idea what was going on here, but she was wearing a penny, and that was super cute!

Here's what Manly and I did while Sissy was in basketball camp. This was a really excellent time for Lan and I think he started considering not being a baby forever while he played at the park without Moon.

This isn't a sweet guy wanting his mama. It's a wild beast, wanting to push all of the buttons on the camera.

Here's another from the kitchen with Moon.
She must have been making a curried dahl of some sort.

This is the big sissy that Lan enjoys the most. The one that blows bubbles for him.

Lan's first self-photo.

How many more years do you think I have to keep these cars around??? I am really ready to put them on the side of the road. Or donate them to someone with a lot of pavement.

A very fancy pirate treasure pile. Made by miss lady pink pink herself.

Big guy in his big guy chair. Moon took this photo as well!

Big guy CHEEKS.

Bye! See you soon for Round 2!

2009-08-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

How about a pile of old pictures (from May?) from the Tulip Festival?
FUN FUN FUN times with some little pals, Max and Shoghi.

So many wonderful pictures and I have no idea who took what! We will totally be doing this again. The tulips were breathtaking, the farm was spacious and fun, plus they had this carnival type section that was just on the edge of "un-carnival" enough.

Pretty Mooner in the fields.

And so cute as a little dutch girl

Here we play on an old rusty tractor

You know that there were 100's of photos like this. Moon is perfect for places like this.

Irrigation equipment is totally underrated!

Holy Mac! I could not believe how into jumping Mooner was. They actually lifted her on this crane lift thing so that she was probably 20 feet off the ground. So fun!

And the bouncy-slide-house thing.

And the tulip shoe ride, pulled behind a tractor. Lan and I were riding in a shoe a few ahead of Moon, so we were able to snap a quick picture as the driver was taking us on some wild crazy-8's.

A fun water pumping station to race rubber ducks. Pumping the water was more fun than caring about the ducks, but isn't that always the case?

More little Dutchy.

Like the shoes?! We tried to get Lan in. He wasn't impressed.

But this is something else! I really don't think it can get any cuter. Look at his face!

The strollers were ditched not long into the journey, but they are just such a sweet little boy team that I am thankful we got one picture of it.

The End

2009-07-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome, Welcome Sweet One!

The much anticipated arrival of Evie is here.
Sarah and Evie had a beautiful journey together and I was so lucky to get to spend a few days with them after she was born.

Here she is with Big Sister Emma

The kids got to spend lots of time with Uncle Jared and had a great trip. One day soon I will get back on track blogging and picture taking.
XO

2009-06-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

A (wee bit challenging) trip to Kruger's Farm for berry "picking"
haven't been there in awhile...

These kids look so big. And who is that baby in the wagon???
They are pretty cute when they aren't ignoring their mama's. Or running wildly through the farmstand. Or participating in other embarrassing things that we are trying to not talk about.

Lan is going to need to walk soon if he wants to keep in the big kid game!

That's it! If you have any dowsing/clairvoyant etc abilities, please let me know.
I MUST find the battery charger to my GOOD camera. xo.

2009-06-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

Y'all are happy with just pictures, right?!?

A little picnic. Mostly grapes were consumed.

Moon rocking out in the garage. She's getting GOOD!
I think she was doing some songs from Mary Poppins here. Or Boom Boom Pow ;)

Funny little chopstick obsession has been going on lately. Here she is pretending to knit a shirt with them. While watching a show. With her glasses off . Tsk Tsk.

Eating a piece of styrofoam. Notice her finger? Wrapped with tape because she was out drumming with Papa and HAS to tape her fingers like him.

Lanny Boy, naked, yelling, fighting with Moon over the iPod.

Help me, Mama!!!

Dressing up like big Sissy, playing kitchen. He's so cute with all of her stuff!
He brings me accessories to put on him, then Oooooh's at himself. Adorable.

2009-06-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

Some Goings-on

Lan has taken to experiencing boredom, so I have taken to setting up entertainment plans.
This one worked out pretty well.

Lots of bike riding. Somehow I didn't notice that Lan wasn't wearing a helmet until we got to "the coffee place". Yikes!
Anyhow, lucky for me he also didn't notice that I snuck Patrick's coffee in behind him.
I will get these children to work for me if they know it or not ;)

Moon has been creating forts out of all sorts of fun things. This was a remarkable invention. Especially when she finally coaxed Landon in and then left him stranded and crying.
Big sisters are hard.

Moon took up another new hobby as well, this time it was potato peeling.
Best when done outside, I say.

Here she is, feigning exhaustion from all of the (forced?) potato peeling.

And a couple bathtime pics!

Lan is hilarious with this tongue sticking out business.

Good news: More pictures later, from a park playdate.
Bad news: I can't seem to find the camera battery charger (again. oh lord, again), so pictures will be low for the next week or so. It is so frustrating, but

2009-05-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Oxbow Park, Take 2
This time, we brought the nanny, Kathryn.

Mooner and Lan, waiting for Adrienne, Kathryn and Owen to show up.
Moon had to wear her butterfly wings for the occasion.

Immediately, they were to action

Investigating the woods along the shore...

Digging for bones...

and wearing disguises.

Meanwhile, Lan was getting comfortable with the river.

A little too comfortable. I had to put the camera down and grab him because he was happily crawling into the freezing-cold river. I thought for sure once he put his arms in, he would stop. NOT TRUE.
You can see in this picture below he crawled his knees in as well.

This is just a quick shot to remind me in 15 years how much crap we took along with us for 3 hours at the river.

Kathryn took the big kids on some explorations, while Adrienne and I sat around and watched the little guy play.

He was all over cuteness.

Sorry for the binkie in so many pictures, but the temptation to put sandy things in the mouth was too great. Had to put a stopper in!

I think I am going to collect these photos of O and Moon throwing rocks in the river. I assume they will be doing this every time they visit a river from now until forever.

Such a cute guy! Too bad the sun bleached out so many great pictures.

Kathryn with Manly, investigating.

And relaxing. He just loves her.

A nice shot of grubby Lan.

We had to leave the river, after the children soaked/trashed all of the clothes we brought them.
We headed up to the play and picnic area of the park for part 2 of the day.Here we are all starting to slooooow down.
Adrienne made us play Hacky Sack, but I didn't take any pictures. And that was for the better, I now know.

Even this super hero with his cape on started to look a little tired.

Such a good day. I hope that we do it at least 5 more times this summer!

2009-05-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

The rest of our trip...

We made the 3 hour drive up to visit Grammy Suzy and Papa Chuck in Lompoc.
We had a wonderful, but short visit. A quick day trip to see the sites was in order.

We went to Santa Ynez for some cowgirl shopping and excellent Mexican Food.
This store was awesome awesome awesome. You can see Moon's new "hee haw" hat and in her bag is guess what??? Pink Play SPURS! So fun.

A visit to one of the winery's Grammy belongs to.
They have a little farm area with this mean Emu.

And this cool Ram.

A picture of our attempted picnic. Too hot, too cranky for Mooner. Oh well.

And there was later lots of playing and loving and spoiled kid juice-drinking.

see the sweetness?

Oh it was fun fun fun!

Finally, on our way home, a stop at the beach in Ventura.
And a little In n' Out Burger.

Then to the plane and home. Ahhh.

2009-05-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the Wedding Week Roll!
Soon to follow, the rest of our trip.

It's Wedding Time!

I haven't gotten any ceremony pictures from anyone else, and since I was in the wedding, I guess I missed the opportunity to take them myself.
Without further ado...

Here they are! Such a beautiful couple!

Cake!

And dancing!
The pretty and proud Mama's.Kid-Mama dancing

Mooner, cutting the rug.

Nice Papa, who flew in the morning of the wedding.

2009-05-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Getting Ready!

A little Mama-Bride moment
They are so beautiful.

Mooner, post hair doin'

Special moment with Auntie Joe, putting a new pretty necklace on.

Ooooh, isn't she pretty???!!!

Fancy ride!

Beth and us.

Britty and us. SO much fun!

2009-05-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Rehearsal Night!

Joe's In-Law's rented these beautiful villas on the beach in Laguna for the rehearsal celebration. Catered with a steel drum musician, it was gorgeous.
I really hope someone took some decent pictures, because I failed miserably for the whole week of events!

Beautiful Auntie with her littles

Britty, Jason, and Beth

YAY! a photo of the four of us!

Over to Tivoli Terrace, to practice for the big day.

Little Manly, who was usually being held by the wonderful Nan.

Mooner, deeply in love with this dancing backdrop

Isn't her outfit sweet??? Just another gift she was given from Chris' mom (Mama Mary)

A little detail of this beautiful place.

Joe and Papa

Lots of instructions so we all didn't mess up!

A quick picture snap of Chris holding Lan. Looks pretty good with a baby in his arms ;)

2009-05-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Auntie Joe's Wedding Shower

Hosted by this fabulous lady, known as Grandma.

We played this fabulous game, called wrap people in toilet paper and call yourself a dress designer.

Aren't they fabulous?
Incidentally, the gal who won was the one with the built-up papered booty

And finally, gifts were opened. Thank goodness Joe had the help of Moon. I am sure she couldn't have managed to open all of those boxes of lingerie without her.

2009-05-20T09:34:00.001-07:00

California Trip
Prepping to head to Joe's wedding

Lanny in luggage. He was a great "helper".

A bunch more stuff happened, mostly chaos, then we were on the plane!
Lucky for us, we had Nanny with us to read stories to cranky guys.

And a cute girl who was very excited. and squealed during takeoff, asking if we were going to crash into the water. I think she spent a leeeetle too much time reading the "in case of emergency" flyer in the back of the seat.

And again, a bunch more chaotic stuff occurred, then we were at our hotel!
Here's Lanny, eating.

2009-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Kite flying!

We all met up with Erik and Rabbitt and Kai-Mana at the park for some play in the sun. Erik brought his kite and gave Mooner an impromptu lesson.

Turns out, she's pretty good!

Check this one out! She totally got it going. Sweet little Kai ran right along.

And a shot of the buddies in blue hats snack time. Such cute little pals.

2009-05-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Zoo

Just a few pictures of the kids on the train

And of a sweet little monkey guy!

Notice the binoculars...

2009-05-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Cinco de Mayo at Waterfront Park

This is such a fun festival!
Monday was free admission from 11-2, so the kids and I headed down for some rain and tacos.

Here is Mooner, in her gear.
* Edit to Add: Funny Error, this picture is actually from Wednesday at the zoo. How many pink hoodie, blue hat, umbrella days must a girl have each week???

Checking out the booths of crap, er..I mean "imports".

Eating tamale #1

Tamale #2, without jacket this round.
It was so awesome that one of the vendors used corn oil for cooking.
Mooner was so happy about soy free Mexican Food!

At the kids booth, which was amazing and such a gift!
Here is Mooner's spider. I would not have guessed she would pick that, but everyday is a new surprise.

Balloon wand from the balloon guy

A Lan-Mama moment

A Dia De Los Muertos banner, freshly bedazzled.

Lastly, a photo of the Mariachi Band we watched while we had Tacos.
I forget their name, which is embarrassing. They were from Jalisco and played such fun music. Lan was a dancing fool.

2009-05-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday Market. On Sunday.

Not much for excitement, but I took a couple photos to share.
I guess they are just food related ;)

Moon checking out beans and rice and tacos. YUM!

Lan eating a banana

What's remarkable about this event? We ALL went! Yay for days with Papa.

2009-05-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

Lan and Papa Jam

Lan is just starting to be able to really participate with Patrick while playing the guitar.
Here he is practicing with the pick.

Sampling the flavor of the pick.

More practice with the grip of the pick. I somehow missed every opportunity to get a picture of Lan actually strumming. He's pretty good!

2009-05-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Kids in the Sandbox

Both kids are just really happy in the sandbox. Creative and deeply entertained.
Thanks Adrienne, for passing along an excellent yard toy!

Dirt moving business.

Many diapers filled with sand already this season.

2009-05-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

The Third Annual
82nd Avenue of Roses Parade!
ahem.

It's a bit lame, I am afraid. But it's just down the street and it's fancy for the kids.
We headed down to get a good spot, not in front of the Unicorn, breakfast in tow.

I don't think we have had the Kells people in the parade before, so that was exciting.
Of course, P and I met at Kells, so it's a little special.

This was the other big deal. I think.
Here is Moon, looking perplexed at my excitement over...

The "One More Time Around Again Marching Band"!!!

I really, really love these people. They have a full, swinging band with color guard and all kinds of fun band-nerdy stuff. But the best part is they range in age from 18-85.
Patrick promises me we can do this when we retire. You can take the nerd out of the band, but the bandnerd lives strong.

Here is where I am going to say a few things that only locals will probably understand. But it should be said. I think that this parade is an excellent try. I think that last year they did a much better job of representing our neighborhood(s) though. Honestly. This year there was no Chinese Dragon, few other Asian groups, no Russian groups. No Chuck-E-Cheese float. No masses of coupons for Papa Murphys. No excitement over new local businesses.These are things that make up our neighborhood, for better or worse. It seemed like they really had to phish around to get businesses to participate :( And that sucks. Because we all know our neighborhood sucks, but we have to TRY!!! The progressive things like the Montavilla Farmers Market didn't do anything this year either. Unless I missed something, I am unsure if this parade will have another year. Are all of the neighborhoods financially struggling this obviously? Am I over analyzing? I am worried for our little 'hood.

2009-05-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

Moon. Loves. Dandelions.

You all can imagine how *awesome* this is for my yard and garden...

2009-05-02T00:32:00.000-07:00

Moon Creates True Still Life Inspiration.

Anyone want to go for it?

2009-05-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Because Mama's are People too.

I, for the first time in over 4 years, took a night without any children to celebrate Cara's 29th birthday with 2/3 of the other GTG members. In swanky style at the nines. We ate fancy food and participated in Happy Hour on the rooftop. Well, those of us who are not pregnant did ;) The other member lovingly supported the drinking team.

We also gave each other homemade facial scrubs and masks
Holly's husband Brett gave her a strange look, but said nothing when she packed the food processor and mask making ingredients as she headed off to a fancy hotel for the night. Good man.

Gave each other pedicures and wore some requisite matching socks as our feet absorbed the coconut moisturizer.
And in the morning, with feet beautiful,
we put on our flip flops and went to eat another amazing meal for breakfast.

Big Perm, thanks for planning your own party!
We love you and are so lucky to have you in our lives. Your birthday is such a gift.

2009-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

To The River

Oxbow Park (very picture heavy!)

See some little toes in the sand?

Proof!

This river was so perfect.

Imagination Opportunities.

Rock Throwing

Serious muscle building

Fun.

And More Fun!

Clever fisherman.

Snacks. Of course.

So many berries

Cool rafters

And other nature; deer!

And a bonus couple of Lan apple pictures.

2009-04-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

Moon and Lan go to Starbucks in style.
Aren't they just having a good time? I had to help Mooner pull Lan up the hill, otherwise they were both very proud of themselves riding on their own.
Next time I will just rig up a cup holder to the wagon and pin some money to Moon's shirt for my coffee while I sit at home watching TV ;)

2009-04-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Lanny + Pear = Sweet Love

These pictures are pretty sweet. Unlike when Lan eats a banana.
I won't subject y'all to a play by play of that one unless there is a demand ;)

2009-04-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Easter, Part 3

A visit to sweet Echo's house for some egg dying, egg hunting, and a wee bit of show watching.
Of course, I barely remembered to photograph the egg hunt, but better than nothing!

Silly girls and their silly faces

On the hunt. The bunny was very clever.

Isn't she sweetness?!?

Isn't she... something?!?

2009-04-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Easter Party, Parts One and Two

New bike trailer for Lan and Moon from Papa Mike. Over and Over, around and around!

The Easter Bunny worked very hard to make a dairy free/soy free Chocolate Bunny

Morning Snuggles with Papa Mike

Spoiled Cute Little Girl at Aunt Nancy's Easter Celebration.

Lanny Boy with his basket of spoiling and shirt of drool.
(lots of overalls in there. Nothing cuter than a baby boy in his overalls)

Out of order, but pre-refashioning with the Easter gifts

Papa Mike with his favorite little people

The Guys

Moon and Cousin Bridgey
(who Moon thinks looks like Hannah Montana. Sigh deeply with me please)
decorating egg decorations.

2009-04-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Stunt Kids!

2009-04-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Self Explanatory Spring Happies.

2009-04-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

April Begins ...

With Papa's Birthday. And birthdays mean CAKE!
OK, actually brownies for Moon and Papa. With wheat flour! Lucky them.
Cute little bundle of family here.

Lan has a new favorite pasttime; hassling Moon while she's in the tub. Things to do include: throw animals in the bath/at Moon, crawl over to the toilet to make Moon scream and yell that "Lan is going to touch the potty"!!!, splash and fight with Moon so that clothes are soaked, just after getting dressed for the day.

But, Dang, he's so cute.

Then this Saturday we had our first day of real Spring Weather! I have never seen the children happier as they were on Saturday and Sunday. The outside playing never stopped. The imagination was in full kick with a minimal side of whining. PERFECT.
So we had our favorite long time hippie pals over. EVEN MORE PERFECT.
I am so glad we made the most of our time. One day I will post pics of the garden, etc over on the Progress Garden blog that I never update ;)

2009-04-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

A little bit of March
Maybe a bit of April...

We have been Out of Commission for a month or so around here, as we have been hit with a variety of plagues. Cross our fingers, we have all been relatively well for a week now.

Lots and lots of walking going on lately, because even sick Lan's and tired Mama's can manage those.
Now if only we could all be as fashionable as Moon.

We got this play kitchen at a consignment store awhile ago. It has been the best toy ever. For Lan! It's so funny how my idea of Moon playing happily there has been replaced with the 20-30 minutes straight Landon will play there.

Lan's been doing some art with big sissy a bit as well.

Just a couple of cute Moon and O shots on a particularly bored/cute afternoon.
They are so CUTE. Even watching Corduroy the Bear.

2009-03-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

Oh the Zoo.
Will you all ever get tired of zoo pictures? Better not, because we have a looooong couple seasons of zoo ahead of us!

The zoo looks a lot like this, from the mama-angle nowadays.
And Adrienne and I agree: It is very, very nice that way. Only last year the running ahead was cause for anxiety and mama-attacks of that sort.
Now that they are Big Kids we are feeling like sending them off with a lunch and telling them to meet us at the elephants when they are done. Maybe next year...

2 very cool kids messing around with leaves in the water sculpture thing.
Isn't O cool with his sunglasses?
We aren't going to get away without ordering Moon some this year, I am afraid.

And the goat petting zoo was open! I don't think it has ever been open and Moon want to go in before. It was a fun time and on the way home, Moon said that she would like a farm with goats on it at home. Add that to the list for next year. And next house. And next Mom.

O petting this real cool old goat. Moon wouldn't pet "the dirty one".

A nice, over sunny shot of the kids. How did they get so big???

A pause to watch airplanes is always appropriate.

And a totally wild and crazy lunch on the lawn. We have no idea where they got the energy for this run around. We were at the zoo for four (4!) hours Friday!

A video to capture some of the crazies.

Ummm, and of course sweet Lan was there. In the stroller. I did take a picture of him in the stroller, but it didn't make the final cut. Next time, Lanny Boy, next time.

2009-03-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Lucky Us!

We were so lucky to have a visit from our dear friend Erin (who used to rent our basement apt, before she moved back to Hawaii). Words cannot express how much I miss her and it became all the more apparent when it was time for her to leave.
She totally spoiled the kids with some fun gifts, including this PINK Ukulele.

Lanny got to meet Erin for the first time too!

He wore his pink Hawaiian diaper for the occasion, which we noticed matched the ukulele. These things are important.
Moon and Papa got straight to jamming and Moon picked this trick out herself!

2009-03-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

More Photos from our trip to Nanny and Papou's house

Big guy practicing his balance

Also feeding the dog. They were close friends by the time we left ;)

Check out these enormous flakes! I had never seen anything like it.

Moon, in her pj's, out in the snow for just one quick minute.

Kids eating coconut milk. Fatty fats!

From the drive over. The pass was clear and beautiful!

2009-03-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

An update from Nanny's house....

What is going on around here? Feeding Lan. And trying to keep up with feeding the Moon.

It is terribly unclear to me how this guy can be a peanut unless it's one word: metabolism.

Nonetheless, pretty dang cute!

Here is the creepiest picture of Mooner ever, eating with her "down the hill friend" Dom. Can you tell that this coconut milk icecream bar was the best thing she had ever eaten? Her and Dom have a fun time playing and I am very thankful for the 2 times they have gotten to run each other around and burn that little kid energy this week.

I have lots of pictures that I would love to be uploading, but here in the boonies, even the "fast" internet is turtle slow ;)

2009-02-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sunshine

The sun has been out for a few days, so the kids have finally gotten a chance to really play.
A morning at the park with Owie and the new birthday bike.

A cute little guy with a bad cold mostly watched the playing.

But he still worked on being cute.

On Monday, we went to the zoo. I think this may have been our first trip of the year.

Moon at the warthogs.

2009-02-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

Bath time for Lan!

Can you see those big top teeth?

Boat!

Reason for bath? "Incident" with black beans.

And later, a reality shot that I will one day cherish.

2009-02-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Lanny's 1st Birthday

We started the day with a new Single Stroller. This is really a present to myself, we all know. But I am very happy to have some guilt free downsizing from the amazing double jogger. Moon is 4 now, so she can pretty much walk anywhere we are going to be. Nice digs for Lan, huh?

A quick documenting of the hair length at One Year. Not much to see there...

Manly flowers, chosen by Moon as the bluest she could find. Because he's a boy.

The first party guests arrive for the Baby Themed Party. Max and Shoghi got it going later on though, never fear.

More pals arrived; a bit of chaos ensued. This Reed, driving a car on Lan's head. Lan really didn't mind much. He is a second child, after all.

See, he made up later by feeding Lan some rice cakes. Sweet guy.

Many babies, up and down the play structure. The weather was awesome and we were very lucky!

Wild ride Reed!

Even the littlest guys came outside for a bit.

Sweet Kai-Mana, up the stairs.More babies and fun.

Then we did cake, but no good pictures of the candle. Moon blew it out. It was a plain, unfrosted chocolate cupcake. Can you all imagine it now?

Lan was very business about eating it. Not over impressed by its sweetness.

But he did finish it in no time! What a proud guy.

Today Lanny-Boy, as Moon very sweetly calls him, is 19.5 lbs, about 28 inches and has a 19 inch head. Basically a big-headed peanut. A very, very sweet and very, very cute peanut. He isn't walking yet and we are in no hurry! He did, however, decide to nightwean himself 2 nights before my plan to do so, smart baby. He is signing a couple signs, mostly milk and saying Mama and nee-nee, which seems to mean nurse.
He has made it through all sorts of the rough side of being a little brother with barely a scrape and a bruise and a near escape of a pierced ear. He has the PERFECT personality for all of this. He likes to sit back and watch it all go twirling around him, smiling and giggling. We love you Lanny. You are just the perfect gift for us all and we are so lucky to have you.

2009-02-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Another round of the dentist!

This time we brought the fab nanny Kathryn to play with Lan while I went back with Moon. He is just getting to wild for these sorts of situations.
Anyhow, it was snowing, so we decided to take the photo op before going in.

This is the sort of thing that leaves me feeling pretty sad for a few hours after leaving the dentist.
At least she was happy, as there was an iPod on the lamp above her playing some cartoon.
Some collective "good adult teeth" energy is warmly appreciated!

2009-02-07T05:19:00.000-08:00

A few random, unedited shots uploaded.

Cute little Manly guy

Rodi Timberlake

On his way to bustering

Snacks

Moon baking flubber. nude.

Babies on Papa

Babies on Mama.
Mama gets make-up put on by artist Moon while feeding Lanny-Boy.

2009-02-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

Update Coming Soon, I Promise!

blah, hard drive, blah, delete, blah, make some room, blah, same old story. Blah.

2009-01-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

A few more from last month

Moon and Mimi, Holly's little girl. Such a sweet dress up moment they had!

Lan and Papa, sharing a some baby food.
Check out the amount of drool on Lan's shirt. He needs to wear those nasty drool bibs, I guess.

Lan with his first "feed himself with a spoon" meal.

2009-01-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

Takin' it back.
All the way to Christmas '08 ;-)

Patrick was stuck in California due to the nasty weather we were having up here, so we were lucky to have Nanny and Papou come stay with us and celebrate.

Christmas Eve
Lan eating dinner (with unpictured Papou).

Moon crashed out with Alice. Even Lan couldn't wake her. This made for a late night; hard for Santa to do his business.

Cookies and Milk out for Santa

Santa came, leaving a Tree!!! (thanks neighbor Vera!)
And some great presents for Moon and Lan.
Lots of work to do very quietly. Santa was thankful for Papou's help.

The kids were up around 7:00.
Stockings!

And Pink Cakes!!!
All Moon wanted for Christmas was pink cake. We were lucky for an "elf" named Joi (sorry friend if you are an elf-hater!!!)

Moon had a great morning playing dress up. The new props were perfect.

Including a Singing in the Rain umbrella

And a Gabriella from HSM dress up kit. Auntie Joe knows her girl!

Oh the fashion!
Moon also did some listening to books read by cousin Kate, Nanny and Papou. We started the very cool idea this year and are so happy that we did. Not only does it encourage reading, it's helping the kids stay closer to the family.

After the morning fun, Nan and Papou left and we went to pick up Papa at the airport.
I took a picture on the way to try to capture the iceburgs and lakes on the road.
Nasty, nasty drive.

It took so long to go the few miles to the airport and our own JT fell asleep.
Cute stuff.

Merry Late Christmas to all of you!

2009-01-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Moon's Pink Birthday!

Snack land, with oranges and Tings and Veggie Sticks Potato Chip Things.
Oh, and Pink Cupcakes.

The living room. This really doesn't capture the PINK that was going on. The ceiling was draped in pink and Kathryn made these great decorations.

The pink drawing wall. Davina, Echo's mama, drew these pretty birds and the sun above outlines of the kids. Very sweet.
Here is the line up from early in the party. Owie, Emma, and the birthday girl in her fancy Nanny dress. Don't you love all of the participation in the pink clothing?!?
Papa did some serious entertaining.

And got his workout.

There was the cake.

Presents.

Small moments of near meltdown.

And PLENTY of sweet moments.

Definitely a hit. Will we do pink again? I really hope not.
However, I am saving all of this tulle (81 feet, to be exact) for some special little girls who may request such a party later... ;-)

2009-01-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Dear Ones!

2008-12-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

As I slowly upload...

Christmas Eve
Our kind neighbor Vera brought over the stuff to make a gingerbread house with Moon.
We used a bamboo skewer to keep the house upright, but Moon thought they were decorative and added a few more.
You can see that the gingerbread family suffered something very terrible inside their house.
More when I put pics from the good camera onto the computer!

2008-12-26T07:03:00.000-08:00

On day 100, we decided to carry on with our holiday plans.

Papa went to California and the kids and I headed to Washington.
Patrick missed his flight into Cali and I think we should have taken it as a sign that we didn't have an easy road ahead of us this holiday season.

On the road...

A stop in Chehalis to see Papa Mike and clean off a layer of filth from my windshield.

We had a stop in Tacoma to meet up with Sarah and Emma for lunch and a run through Freighthouse Square. The girls were classic in their disasters, including Moon refusing to wear one of her shoes because her foot was hot. So we had to end that fun and hit the road ;)

We checked in to the hotel and spent some time with these people.
And the next day with this guy

And this lady (and the unpictured Papou)

And this lady, who Moon crafted up a storm with.

This guy was around, but pretty cranky. He did check out the spinning machine though.
The snow was so heavy that Patrick wasn't able to fly home on Sunday and we certainly weren't able to drive home. So our adventure continued!

We spent a fair amount of time trying to find these places to keep Mama happy and managing.

Papou's sister let all of us crash at her place. Moon was happy to have Nanny's Alice dog around.
Thanks Bill and Elaine!

On a serious note, we really did have such a great time in Tacoma. It was so nice to spend some real time with our family and a bit of time with friends. Getting snowed in has its advantages. I wish I had taken more pictures of things other than the snow!

But here we are, on the way home. Thanks Nan, for coming back with us!

2008-12-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T06:09:00.000-08:00

The Snow Chronicles

Day 1, a dusting. Something to be excited about.

Day 2, special under gear in place.

enough snow to be interesting

Moon's first (and only) snow angel

A bit of OCD behavior

Note the snow level of the car

Most of our involvement with the snow was really like this:

More terribly exciting pictures of snow to follow in later posts. Aren't you excited?

2008-12-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

What we were doing before it got really cold.

Walking to Starbucks. We did go on Wednesday, but it wasn't good.
Here are a couple pictures from happier times.

Moon is always a picture of fashion while Lan always looks just like a baby whose Mama dresses him funny.

PINK. Pink has been going on for a long while now, but this picture really personifies Moon and her pinkness.

A close up of the slippers

Plenty of trips to the Swap Shop. We just really love this place. It's a membership based community playspace where toys are brought in by members and can be traded out at anytime. There is also a room for swapping clothing and other stuff. There are so many other wonderful things about the Swapper, I could go on forever.
Lan loves that he can really play with the big kids here. It is so safe and fun for both kids.

Lan cruising on the bike

An impromptu musical jam. Good times!

Finally, Lan in the kitchen.
He has taken over Moon's spot at the cupboard and oven. I will have to post some pictures of Moon in the same spots. So cute.

2008-12-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

In other missed exciting news...

A little Henny Penny came flying into my house after being scared half to death by NANNY'S Wild Dog ;-)
She quickly went from table to the top of the shelf. Poor Henny. I think she has recovered now.

2008-12-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

Wildly behind...

Just a few snippets from a couple weeks ago.

Moon was having a rough day and we were struggling to pass the time. She suggested a music jam. We put (bag over my head) the High School Musical 3 soundtrack on and had a great time.
Sorry the pictures are dark; I didn't bother to edit them.

We also took many trips to the park
Here is Moon giving Lanny a ride down the slide with little pal Kai-Mana. Still can't believe he is only 6 days older than Lan!

Cute guy watching the show go by.

Big sister enjoying the pavement at the park.

2008-11-30T22:44:00.000-08:00

Working. Adjusting.Pacing myself.

Back in the blogging business soon, my friends.

2008-11-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Terribly off topic of the day, but here are some pics at our fav coffee place, the Bipartisan Cafe.

Moon with an allergy approved peanut butter brownie. I don't think she actually eats this, as much as picks out the chunks to eat. I have no idea where she gets that ;-)

Some of the babies playing, along with Korin, under the supervision of our Main Man.

A final sweet pick of the gorgeous Kai-Mana.

Unfortunately, after the great iPhoto incident, things haven't been working very well in the photo upload department. I need an expert! Taking recommendations/advice...

2008-11-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

More Stuff

Gluing shapes and stickers from Grandma Lynn

Cute Suit

Moon created this little "piano"

Birdwatching. So far we have seen Crows, Seagulls and Swallows.

2008-11-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

What's Been Going on Lately

Well, thanks to my New Camera (thank-you again Auntie Ann), I have been doing lots of hassling my little world to cooperate for pictures or running and grabbing the camera to get those cute moments before they pass. I have also just been taking pictures because it's fun to look at the world in a different light. To feel thankful for the small things.

Here I am attempting fancy pictures of cooking, since my "time away from the kids" is often "time in the kitchen" or "time in Freddie's", but that's not remotely inspiring.
This is a spinach, beet, and mint on chevre dish.

Is it too obvious how many cups of tea I had that afternoon?

Cooking a lentil dish. I looked down and thought it was funny that I had tea and an iPod right next to my station at the stove. It is a peaceful way to spend time.

Here is a typical scene around the house. I never catch these because I am (obviously) busy, but I really wanted to see if the new camera could do a reasonable job fitting Moon in. I think so!
2 nursing mama's. Moon is nursing her "baby monkey". I am nursing my baby monkey as well.

Here is a nice series titled : How the Lanny EATS.
One sweet potato

Another sweet potato

And egg yolk. and pear too, I think.
Growling at Moon. He was so irritated that there wasn't anymore breakfast for him.
Finally, here is a crappy picture of Moon doing art. Somehow this is the most reasonable of all the ones I took of her. Moving target.

That's it! Only 1000 more to download and sort through ;-)

2008-11-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

Beach Trip

Thanks to Mama A for being an excellent beach hook-up. That morning the kids came over to play with dreamy Nanny Kathryn while the mama's packed up. You can see we got some new cars at Red White and Blue; $5 each.

You might also notice Moon has a stow-away in her trunk.

At the beach, after a pretty mellow trip out.

Two tired kids, back at the hotel. Those phones are a huge hit. As maybe that gleaming television in the room was as well.

Here's Lan having a snack in his extreme bib

An early morning shot from the kitchen area. I love this reality scene.

Such a special trip that we got to have. The kids were wild, moody animals but we are trying to make memories here, folks. So we play along and try to enjoy ourselves. At least the air was amazing, friends are wonderful, and the hotel beds were comfy.

2008-11-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

Moon's Ballet Class
She isn't really a big fan of ballet, but this was one of the sweetest things we could have watched. There was an open class day where parents and other special people come watch the kids do their thing. My camera battery died midway through class, but I got a few videos and pictures.

2008-11-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

The Manly Boy Crawls. Finally.

And he is so very cute about it.

2008-11-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

Oh it's rough.

iphoto ate my library. We will return with the picture posts soon, I hope.

2008-11-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

As If I Couldn't Love the Obama's Anymore...

Grandma's moving in

2008-11-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2008

A very fun time was had by all, trick or treating for the big kids, napping in the carrier for Lanny.
Some pre-trick or treating photos

A butterfly princess, a scary dinosaur and a baby cow.

The big kids loved the baby cow

But he escaped

And the dinosaur chased the princess.
Happiness is the chasing game in full wardrobe.

2008-11-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Things We Do

I have been concerned with what I fear will be our reality in the coming years regarding school options. I think most likely, for the best "education" venue, we will be choosing home. Also fearful of my ability to gauge how much "learning" is taking place, I decided to try to capture some of the moments when I thought something bigger than usual Moon spaciness was happening. I missed so many, but looking through these pictures I can see that we will be just fine.
*note, most of these activities were initiated by Moon, not Mama constructed "lessons". I think that the leaf lesson was the only one I brought up.

Straw sorting. I like to try to take note of more than the obvious things being done here. For example, she was not only practicing sorting by color, but was also learning about space in a slightly more abstract way and shapes and capacity. Maybe over reaching, but I want to know more about how Moon learns, so here I am.

We took a field trip and learned a few things about trains. And about how to relax watching a video ;-)

And keep a baby occupied and smiling

Acorns! We discovered this big pile under leaves we were raking. Moon noticed that they weren't the same size as our wooden acorns inside.

About the season of autumn and changing leaves

Dress up with friends

Making train tracks

Helping mama make stew. Moon was in charge of "putting things in".

Doing puzzles with mama and making paper airplanes.

I caught this one left on her floor after bedtime.

I thought that she may enjoy Lincoln Logs after seeing that. She did. This is the Papa Mike house we built according to the box directions.

Making carrot cupcakes. I forgot to take pictures of the stirring etc, but I bet you can imagine them well enough.
Imaginary play.
This was such a magical moment that I happened to sneak up on. Moon was setting up a beauty shop like on Max and Ruby and was deep in her world, talking to Max because she, of course, is Ruby. The lunchbox is her "delux beauty kit" with all of her accessories needed for playing beauty shop in. She also brought her tea in with her for added sweetness.

Later that day, Owen came over and Moon convinced him to participate in the beauty shop. Lucky guy ;-)
A close up of the beauty kit.

2008-11-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Lanny doing all of his cute things on one video

2008-11-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

Thankful

So thankful tonight, with my two tired kids and wiped out husband. I am thankful for a small chance at a big change. I am filled with gratitude that so many Americans looked at reality, looked at the lives of those much less fortunate than themselves, denounced greed and personal gain, denounced violence in the name of peacekeeping and destruction of our planet for dubious causes, looked at all of this and decided that forward progress must include the health and safety of every human being.
I am not a socialist.
I am, however, a mother. I am a deeply appreciative participant in my life here on earth. I am someone who will pick apart an inch of every cause to find what is FAIR. And I feel that more Americans than ever are finding themselves concerned with what is fair. So I am thankful.
I am thankful that my children will hear from me that while I knew things were on a fast downward spiral, we were able to jump in and make a small change that hopefully will impact them in an amazing way. A change that does not support greed or harm or sadness. At the very least, we have a system that will start to model what we want to model in our family.
So thank-you, everyone who supports that dream. I am eternally grateful.

Hermann Gmeiner: "On the day when we treat all the children of the world as our own, peace shall descend on the Earth."

2008-11-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

Election Day

Oh, my anxiety is thick my friends. The last two elections are still vibrating inside of me. We have to turn things around this time. Please make time to vote today.

Also, you can go to Starbucks and tell them that you voted and get a free cup of joe. Small bonus for the corporate coffee addicts. Like me ;-)

2008-10-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Zoo Trip!
I thought we were possibly done with the zoo for the season, save for Zoo Lights, but this amazing fall weather has taken us for a couple of bonus trips.

Last week we went to the zoo with this character

This usual suspect was in the game as well

The train = WILD FUN!!!
The people in front of us were polite enough to not roll their eyes or cover their ears.

But then there was lots of this, which is really why we agree to pay $3 for them to ride the zoo train anyhow.

Oh, and this sweet guy made it along as well. Like his fancy hat? Thanks for the great hand-me-downs Owie!

Later we saw 2 monkeys

We spent a lot of time observing them

It seems like we did eventually get to leave...

2008-10-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

A Visit From Gram and Papa Mike

Lanny was sleeping here, as he did most of the visit

The leaves were gorgeous and so much fun for the kids.
We are having a perfect autumn.

After our visitors left, Moon and I carved a pumpkin. She chose the design off of my iPod Pumpkin app.
Later that night, the pumpkin filled with ants.

2008-10-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch Part 2, plus Some Fall Art

My chunky little pumpkin

Climbing was much more entertaining for a baby who spent most of his first pumpkin patch trip on mama's back.

Tasty little pumpkins get eaten by Mama!!!

Big Sissy doing some potato stamping and leaf gluing. Hours of entertainment.

2008-10-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Random Pictures

A sweet bath picture

Our first "double yolk" egg from the girls!

A shot of Moon in her ballet suit. Blogger and iPhoto won't let me rotate it for some reason. Probably because it's a crappy picture, but it's all I got!

And a sneaky picture of the class. It's very serious and Mama's and Papa's aren't allowed in to watch. Moon is "Miss Moon" in class and we had a special talk with the instructor the other day about staying focused! Luckily at least half of the other girls did too, but still, Moon is not the most focused of children, for sure ;-)

2008-10-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Auntie Joe
I am asking all of my blog followers to send some loving, calm and SAFE energy to my dearest friend Joe (aka Alyson). Hurricane Omar is heading toward her today on St. Thomas, picking up strength. She is holed up at the aquarium where she works with her sea lions. Not the best of circumstances at all. She is on the north side of the island, so things could be much worse for her. Still. I am terribly worried about her. When this is all over, maybe we can convince her to move back stateside!!!

2008-10-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch, Part 1

Adrienne and I took the kids to Lee Farms last week. After a rough start involving Moon locking my keys in the car and Dan coming to the rescue, we had an awesome time. 2 preschoolers + big outdoor space + animals, pumpkins, carnival toys and a hay maze = 3 hours of great fun. And we left without buying a pumpkin LOL.

In the hay maze

Out of the hay maze

Wild jumpers in the jumping house. I think they were trying to pull each other up here.

Pony rider 1

And pony rider 2

2008-10-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Just because I haven't uploaded in awhile...
I give you a very cute Moon and Papou photo!

2008-10-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Fall Photo's from Amy at Funky Wonder
Such a great set of pics! I am not going to share most of them though, since they are going on the X-mas card ;)

Moon doing "first position". She had her first ballet class last Saturday. A real hit.

2008-10-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here we go...

Moon Gets a Haircut and ColorBribed with a lollipop to sit still
Yes, I know that she can't eat the middle ;)

A visit with Gram and Papa. VERY Very sweet.

Tough guy Lan

Sink Bath! This baby loves the water. Loves it!

2008-09-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Mooner 2 years ago

Since I can't upload, I pulled off some oldies.

2008-09-28T21:54:00.001-07:00

I promise to post soon! I have a major backlog of photos, but our hard drive is full and I need to move things off onto the external drive before off loading the camera. Please don't leave me!

2008-09-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

A Quick Eye Update

Lanny had his first eye appt today and he looks clear for any issues. Check back in 3 or 4 YEARS!!!

2008-09-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yakima

Once again, the sunset blows my mind. I caught this one a bit late, but it was still gorgeous.

Lanny boy eating his raw carrot and green bean. He got 2 new teeth while we were visiting!
Nanny also bought him this new machine (aka walker) that was quite a hit. I have some videos I should upload soon!
We also had to invest in one of these fence/play yard things because Nanny's new puppy got to be a bit much for the kids sometimes. Lanny actually loved the puppy, but Moon was overwhelmed by her sniffy nose/licking tongue/nibbling teeth.
Seriously. How sweet is this???!!!
More pics to come!

2008-09-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Pictures from LAST week.

I'm a bit behind, but we are having fun in Yakima for 10 days.

Onto the good stuff:

EGGS! The Americauna's started laying. I have no idea why the Barred Rock and Wyandotte haven't started laying yet, as they are supposed to be earlier layers than the Americauna's. Mysterious.

Moon was feeling angry at me, so I suggested she color a picture of Monster Mama. I outlined my head and she went to work. Notice she colored my mouth in very dark...LOL.
Moon attended a Very Fancy Princess Birthday Party for her friend Sophie.

She got a butterfly painted around her eyes.
All of the beautiful princess girls

Papa walking Lanny around during the festivities.

2008-09-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

A Week of Appointments and Mama-Trials.

I hate to be a wimp. But really, I definitely am. And this last week did me in. This evening, after trying to clean up dinner, get Lanny to bed, get Moon in the bath and talk with Patrick, I totally lost it. Not in a make-fun-of-myself-later way either. I started shaking so hard that I couldn't stand up anymore. So to the couch I went for some serious deep breathing while P did his best to handle the outrageous nighttime routine that was going on.
Anyhow, I think I fully recovered ;)
That being said, this last week has just kicked my butt. Moon had an impromptu eye doctor appt to check on her progress and to discuss eye surgery. Since we were able to get in because of another cancellation, we were put into a 1.5 hour time slot. Great. Those are the manageable appointments, so I took it to avoid going at the end of the month and doing a back to back Landon-Moon eye appt. Lanny, Moon and I get there, the appointment is going well and then they decided that we should do a full eye exam on Moon, since....drumroll...she has GREAT improvement in her crossing/lazy eye/googly eye! This means we are in for a 3.5 hour appt with not nearly enough snacks or toys. Luckily the closed cafeteria lady allowed us to buy 2 bananas with exact change.
The great news of her crossing improvement changes the direction that they want to go with her treatment. This is technical talk, so opt out at any time:
She used to cross her eyes at about 9 degrees, especially her left eye. That eye is now crossing at around 3 or 4 degrees. Finally some serious progress. When surgery is done to correct crossing, it can usually only correct to within 3 degrees, thus surgery may not be prudent in Moon's case because over-correcting is an issue. Another development is that most of the crossing is occurring at close distances, as opposed to far distances. This is partially due to the atropine drop we put in her right eye, to force her left eye to work harder, but only at far distances. So we need to strengthen her left eye's close vision. To do this, we will get the right lens in her backup glasses replaced with a non-prescription lens that she will wear most of the time for the next couple of months. To deal with the lack of vision improvement and the general tendency to cross either eye a bit at close distances, we will also be switching her prescription to a bi-focal. Very cute.
So, big sigh and deep breath, we are going to "check again" in 2 months to discuss improvement and need for surgery. I made it clear that we must do the surgery this year if it's going to be done because of $$$$ in medical expenses this year. The doctor was supportive of that, thank goodness. She also reminded me that each of these appointments will feed into our deductible that has to be met, so it's no loss either way. Well, unless you count money lost. Which I do. But I digress.
Here are some pics from our time spent at OHSU Casey Eye Center.

Big girl in the exam chair. Hiding from the flash.

Lanny entertaining himself; Mama reading a magazine.

Lots more waiting...

Then Friday, it was off to the dentist for some dental work on the Moon. She had to have lots done under GA, but I think the worst part was getting her to go under! That kidsfights the medicine and metabolizes it quickly, according to the anesthesiologist. Glad that it's all done and she is now on a no sugar without immediate teeth brushing plan. Not that she had much before, but her 1 biscotti and 1 juice a day are omitted :( I feel so bummed for her because she already can't eat so many things. Guess it's her lot in life. At least she still gets burgers and hotdogs!!!

It took me a full 5 days to write this post! I think that this next week at Nanny and Papou's will help me to decompress! Then it's back to the dentist for MOon and I , the eye doc for Lanny and surgery for Patrick. Then September of madness will end!