Artistically Denied

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T13:12:00.005-07:00

Caitlin & Cody had a good time coloring eggs yesterday. We decorated with crayon before we gave them a dip and they all turned out really cool. It was sunny & 72 degrees! Absolutely perfect weather... and we needed it. It rained every single day in March and has only not rained 2 days in April.

Caitlin came in this morning right around 6:30am and was hollering something about an Easter basket she had found. I tried to tell her to go back to bed with no luck. Cody the nighttime, crawl into our bed sneaker had heard Catilin and was climbing over my head to get out and go look for his basket. I managed to hold them off for a while, but by 8am they had already eaten a few chocolate eggs and were zipping all over the place begging to get outside and start hunting. We finally went in and got Anne (who didn't get any extra sleep thanks to the sugar bombed Cody noise) and we headed outside in the rain to find some easter eggs.

Afterwards, it was off to church for a nice message about staying anchored with God, practicing prayer each morning and night, attending regular services and having compassion & kindness for others.

Now Cody's konked out for a nap, the house is mostly quiet, there's a big ol' ham in the oven and it's starting to smell really good in here!

A few more shots...

2011-02-24T09:39:00.005-08:00

Can you believe they would cancel school for this? My news station has been on the air for just about 6 hours now. I think it's hillarious. In my day we used to have to walk to school barefoot, uphill in 3 feet of snow for 6 miles...

SNOW DAY - WA-HOOOOOOOOO!

2011-02-24T09:16:00.003-08:00

All this week, we heard of the "Surprise February Storm" that was going to come in like gangbusters Wednesday evening...probably sometime between 4-6 p.m. It was still sunny outside at 5:15 p.m. When I went to bed last night, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to snow because nothing had stuck on the ground (though it did look icy).

But, when we looked out the window this morning...

It was a winter PLAYLAND! So, Caitlin and Codes woke up their Dad at 8 a.m., and he begrudgingly got out of bed to go play in the snow with them. (What a good Dad, eh?)

Cody, our little ice eater, munched happily on new fallen snow. We only let him eat the stuff in the front yard where there are no doggy land mines.

Caitlin was spending time trying to find sticky enough snow to make snowballs.

They both were having fun hanging out in the front yard for a change.

They were able to make some snowballs and toss a few to Casey. She liked eating the snow just as much as Cody.

Casey also loved romping around in this crazy white stuff.

Brian, big and strong man that he is, was able to make this 12 inch high snow man.

Here's Caitlin, inside where it's safe (from snowballs) and warm. We were providing some targets on the window from the inside. I think Codes and Daddo were aiming at the face in between the stuffed animals! heh, heh

At least we got SOME use out of the snow pants we bought at garage sales and clearance racks!

The toes have it...

2011-02-03T16:45:00.003-08:00

We went home last summer and I had to have my Dad see all the crazy tricks Caitlin can do with her toes. My Dad showed her up with his trick of somehow "grabbing" the second toe with his first and third toes. Somehow, both kiddos have mastered Grandpa's crazy toe trick.

The Andrusiak's sure have some interesting feet.

I know, I know...

2011-01-29T09:29:00.003-08:00

What have we been up to for the past two months, you ask? It's a good question because it LOOKS like I've been too busy to blog, doesn't it? Well, here's a peak at what's been going on!

We've obviously been hanging out with the cat (Raja)!

Which causes the dogs to get jealous, so we had to hang out with them too!
Over Christmas break, we just HAD to go hang out with Uncle Deacon and family at the Sand Ranch. (Who can resist 40 acres of backyard sand fun?)
Of course if we are at Uncle Deacons, we just MUST go on the 4-wheelers!
And, since that is so fun, we just have to beg the cousins to come visit too so we can all bounce around on the trampoline! This is just a brief glimpse of what we've been doing. I will try to make a little time to post about Thanksgiving and Christmas as soon as I get another chance!

The Soup Guy

2010-11-21T09:14:00.004-08:00

Last Thanksgiving, when my Dad came, he made lots of different soups. That's pretty traditional in a Polish household (though I didn't really know that until I went to Poland). In my Dad's family, that's the way it always was, so he had many years to practice throwing things into a broth and making a delicious soup out of it all. Well, about the third bowl into the soup fest last year and Brian decided that soup is easy to make, tastes great and should become his newest hobby. ha, ha

He tried a few times after my Dad left and everything was a little bland, or too spicy, or not enough something, and then the soup fever died down a little. Knowing that "winter" was coming and the FEVER would probably hit again soon, one day I happened upon a soup recipe book while standing at the Walgreen's checkout line perusing the checkstand offerings. The book was $4.00 so I thought, why not?

That book is inspiration and contains so many different yummola soups! The first one Brian made was the chicken and rice soup which uses rotisserie chicken (who can argue with that?) and delicious spices. This soup made a believer out of me, even though Brian thought it was "just okay."

Look at this soup!!!! Just okay?????????? No way. It was so good, I didn't even add SALT and I always add salt. I think the best spice in it is tarragon. Who would have thought that tarragon was the spice of the gods? There's also petite peas (petit pois) which I didn't know would be such a great addition to soup!

If any of you have any great soup recipes, send them to us and let us critique them. ha, ha We're enjoying the cold so much more now.

Halloween fun!

2010-11-06T10:22:00.004-07:00

What fun would Halloween be without carving pumpkins? None at all (for Brian)! Actually, we held off carving until the very last moment this year. Last year, I'm thinking, we had mushy pumpkins by the time Halloween rolled around. This year, they were fresh and tough (to carve that is).

Brian completed the bulk of the job. However, he let the kiddos dig in with their hands, but he used a utensil. That's what I call cheatin' (if you ask me).

Look at those ooky guts. The kiddos actually were scooping it out to start with (until they got grossed out by the texture).

W0uld he dare? Nope he didn't. But the shot was good so I'm using it.

Caitlin was a "bat" this year. She chose her costume (though we had a few fights about some of the other bat costumes she wanted). What is up with the skimpy costumes for kids? Next year I'm going to encourage the cutting two holes in a sheet idea and wearing a ghost costume. We got Cody's costume from our babysitter Carol. It was a little big on him, but Cody liked it all the same.

Here's a close up of the jack-o-lanterns. Brian tried to make a friendly faced one and a scary faced one, but I'm not sure either of them look frightening. One looks more cross than anything. On the front one, the eyeball popped out, so it looks almost crazy. Ha!

We decorated the walkway a little bit more than usual this year. However, that netting for a spider web is harder to work with than cotton with maple syrup on your hands.

I made the ears for Caitlin because she didn't think people would realize she was a bat!

We took them around the neighborhood and made sure they were good and tired before they filled their little Halloween bags up. (Thanks Grandma Diane!) We had fun though and our teeth are not rotting out of our heads, so it's all good.

Finally that boy is THREE!

2010-10-17T19:28:00.008-07:00

Finally, Codes' birthday has arrived! Cody kept saying to me this morning, "When can I have my birthday??" He was getting upset about it when I told him all day was his birthday. Then I figured out he meant the cake and presents. =) Cody seemed really PROUD of being three today. He told everyone that called us!

Brian decided to take the party to S a f a r i Sam's (SS from here on down) because it does allow us to all have fun together and it wears these two out!

Here's a pic of them trying to go through the Black Diamond course. The sign says that in order to be able to try this course, you have to be able to get yourself on top of this blue cube. It's HARD! I always have to get a running start! Cody decided he didn't want to do it (after standing on the rope ladder) so I had to haul him up and out. Caitlin and Daddo were able to make it through though.

We did go through some of the jungle gym and went down the windy slide.

Cody tried to go down headfirst on his back. This is how he came out of the tube.

This is Caitlin's favorite game ever! She loves to try to win candy out of these "try 'til you win" types of arcade games. We did get a lot of loot from it though.

There's also a bouncy area that we've never tried before. The theme in the bouncy area was F i n d i n g Nemo. So this particular bouncy area had some great parts to play on.

See what I mean?

Here's Cody. This is his usual when we first get into SS. He always climbs on this ride (right in his initial line of sight) and pretends to RIDE. It's still a little too big for him, but it sure doesn't stop him.

There's also this SpongeBob driving game. Cody doesn't do too well when you put money in, because he can't remember to keep his foot on the gas. So, we tend to let him think he's playing when it just plays through the game trailer.

Unlike his Dad, Cody seems to like any type of pop. But, he does call them all "Pepsi."

Cody blowing out his three lone candles. Brian doesn't yet know the Andrusiak tradition of always adding "one to grow on."

Bri had to relight these candles because as soon as we starting singing, Cody started to blow them out!

Caitlin and I headed over to Albertson's to pick out a cake for Codes. We decided on cupcakes since there are only a few of us and we didn't want to be eating leftover cake all week long. Caity decided on these Halloween and Birthday ones!

These are the 4-wheelers that Caitlin decided to give him for his birthday. She knows how much he LOVES them and picked them out first.

Here is Codes unwrapping his Medical cart toy. I thought it might help to have him NOT just think about 4 wheelers and motorcycles. I wanted to help promote the idea that someday he might just not want to be an extreme sports athlete, but to consider becoming a doctor. heh, heh

It was a fun day. We hope for many more happy birthdays for all of us!

Pumpkin Patch!!!!!!

2010-10-15T17:43:00.002-07:00

We usually go to this family owned pumpkin patch to buy our pumpkins. We had a beautiful sunny day and decided to go play and take a little tractor ride.

They have these wonderful hay bales that the kids love to play on! (They also usually have a hay bale maze for kids, but this year they were just stacked into rectangles.)

Here's Cody having some fun on the hay.

My beautiful little Caito trying to jump up onto the bales. They were a bit high, but she managed to pull herself up!

We were the only ones on the tractor ride, so we got to sit up front by the driver (who had his dog with him). We were also sharing this yummy nectarine!

Caitlin and Codes just chillin'.

Look at all those pumpkins. We couldn't bring ourselves to buy some because it was the very first week of October and we felt we would have mushy, gross pumpkins by Halloween.

They had these crazy fat, but flat pumpkins out front that did look like they could be worn as hats. Not quite though. Hopefully, we will get back there sometime soon (though now it's all busy) and get some pumpkins!!!!

Seattle

2010-10-15T17:25:00.003-07:00

{I'm just warning you that these posts are out of order, but alas, you get to see all the latest pics.}

So, we went up to Seattle to visit our friends, James and Tisha. I KEPT forgetting my camera, which was so frustrating! But, I did manage to shoot a few pics of this wonderful TROLL under the Fremont Bridge! I can't remember who the artists were, but it was made out of cement with a shiny metal eye!

Brian, Caitlin and Cody climbing all over the troll. It's really amazing how big this thing is, especially the nose! That's a Volkswagon Beetle under the Troll's hand!

Here is Cody climbing up on the knuckles.

Up close of Caitlin and Codes!

Here's James trying to feed Cody to the Troll! For his efforts, he got all dirty from Cody's constant state of Pigpenishness.

We had a great time and only wish we had taken photos of the fountain, the Children's Museum, the Arcade, Pike's Market, etc. But, maybe next time!

My 100th post!!!!!

2010-10-15T17:21:00.003-07:00

Wow! I actually made it to 100! That's pretty amazing to me. Finding time to blog seems difficult, though it's mostly because having time to myself just to relax is SO MUCH MORE desired at the end of my days than doing ONE MORE TASK. Sadly, blogging does often seem like a task, especially when blogger puts the pictures at the top and you have to try to move them and move them and move them. Sheesh.

But, now I'm back for a little bloggin'.

{By the way, still not quite finished with that paint job. Sure is hard to do with two little ones underfoot. BUT, might get finished this weekend!}

Transformation (continued)...

2010-08-07T12:17:00.002-07:00

I had to prime the wall with two coats because the first layer didn't cover enough of the green. But once I started adding my new color, it was love (for me - the jury is still out on whether or not Brian is going to like it!) {When I was priming the walls, Caitlin came out into the living room and said, "WOW, COOL, white walls!"}

Here's is the paint can - toasted honey this color is called. Wet it looks lighter than it really is on the wall. It's definitely brighter though and I already like it a lot. It feels so happy and energetic.

Starting layer one. The color goes on so smoothly with the primer on there. It also looked a LOT better than when I originally tried to paint over the green.

Wall one completed for first coat!

Wall two completed for first coat!

Here they are with the wall hangings up, just so I can see what I think. I really like it, but I still need to add another coat of paint as I have some "yellower" spots that you can see in person. I think it is going to look great! I'm going to paint the trim a BRIGHT white and accent with black. What do you think? Hopefully the other two walls can get done this weekend (or early next week).

Starting the transformation - primed and ready to roll...

2010-08-06T15:31:00.005-07:00

Yeah! I'm finally painting the living room. I just wanted something brighter (lighter) since that room doesn't get a lot of sunlight and the green makes it feel darker than it should. I'm only getting started, but I'll post a few pics and then in a few days, hopefully it will be completed!

As you can see from the above photo (please excuse the TOYS - and books), the walls currently are this mossy green. I do still like this color, but it gets greener and darker in the long winter months.

I started with this wall because it's the first thing you see when you enter the house. I thought I would just get a "feel" for the new color by painting it and seeing how I like it for a few days.

But, then I looked at this lonely old wall and decided, "What the heck? Might as well prime that one too!" Hopefully, I will get both of these walls painted in their new color before Brian comes home and he can be the final decider on if the color is great or just yellow. (The new color is called "Toasted Honey" by the way.)

Swimming lessons

2010-08-02T16:06:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures of Caitlin's first time at swimming lessons.
Here she is with her new goggles (one of her birthday presents from Daddo). She is waiting patiently for her class to start. Doesn't she look so happy to be taking swim lessons?

What? This is the TRUE picture of how she feels. She told me that she's not afraid of swimming, she's afraid of water getting in her nose and mouth. I know EXACTLY how she feels!!! I still have to plug my nose when I jump in a pool. I never got to take swim lessons when I was little, so I'm hoping this helps her learn how to be in the water and feel a bit more confident about it.

I think she's telling Brian off in this picture. Not sure.

Here she is listening to her instructors. heh, heh.

See how she doesn't want to get her head wet? It's hard to see because I really don't want her to be afraid of the water. She loves being in the pool, or lake, or ocean, but is always afraid on the inside. We're really hoping that she gains some skills and confidence the next two weeks.

Settling in...

2010-08-02T15:53:00.004-07:00

Here's a little better picture of Raja, lazing around on her new bed. She is doing better and better each day. She is starting to venture out around the house. Yesterday, she even had a chance to see Casey. She didn't seem all that loving towards Casey, but we will give it time.

We bought this little bed for her the other day (before we got her). It seems that she is comfortable in it and has no problem taking naps there. Caitlin was trying to give her the "royal" treatment and had a stuffed kitty in the bed, a toy, and that blue bear from Grandma Diane that was her music for relaxing. Caitlin is surely going to be a vet or else a crazy cat lady.

Here's Caitlin trying to give Raja her very own hotel room! Caitlin is just in LOVE with this little kitty and so far, Raja is purring her head off with all of us as well! The book is open so that she has something to "look at" while she is getting ready to sleep. She also has a tiny blue washcloth as a blanket. We have to pry Caitlin off this kitty most of the time. She is still learning about cat behavior vs. dog behavior. Overall, I think they are bonding quite well!

INTRODUCING...

2010-08-01T13:14:00.006-07:00

the newest member of the family...RAJA (named after Amy's cat!). Here Brian is deciding if she would make a great addition and he AGREES. We went to PetSmart yesterday to look at the cats/kittens. Brian told Caitlin she could finally get a cat. {It was more of a bribe because she is going to take swimming lessons for the next two weeks and she's a bit afraid of that.} They actually used all the "found" money they've been saving over the past two years and came up with a whopping $28.00!!!! It's definitely not enough to get a cat these days, but we did go to a nonprofit animal adoption agency and found this beautiful little kitty.

Of course, we are holding off on introducing her to the two dogs just in case. We will do it slowly over the next few days. {You can tell Abby already smells her, but she hasn't had a chance to find her or see her yet. } Here she is on Caito's bed. She has done pretty well so far. She doesn't even seem afraid of Cody's loud yelling (though we haven't yet let him "hold" her).

She is also showing herself to be a playful cat. She definitely purred when we held her and does come out from under the bed when we are trying to coax her out. {Though she is still getting the lay of the land.}

The kiddos are having a hard time with understanding the difference between a dog's personality and a cat's. Caitlin thinks the kitty should just play with her whenever she wants and Cody thinks that he can just grab her whenever he wants. We are playing referee right now by not allowing Cody to "hold" her, only to pet her when we are with him. Caitlin is just going to have to learn about this kitty and figure out how/when she wants to play and/or interact. She is going to be a great little cat though, I can just tell.

Bounce 'em!

2010-08-01T13:00:00.004-07:00

We went and spent a few days at nearly famous "Unca Deacon's" house down in Florence. They have a really fun trampoline and we never miss an opportunity to use it! Mackenzie (Kemzie - as Cody calls her) had fun making them bounce!

Stay in the middle...

Up, up and away!

Airborne for sure! We, as always, had a great time at the "Matthews Bed and Breakfast." We love that we can invite ourselves down there, be made to feel like invited guests, and have loads of fun every time.

One last thing...on Aunt Hilary's bed there's a pillow (I meant to take a picture of it) that says, "Guests of guests cannot bring guests!" Funny, eh?

Our old standby!

2010-06-25T18:56:00.005-07:00

There I was, sitting on the couch watching kids' TV (PBS) when an ad for OAKS PARK comes on! I sat and thought a moment about what day it was, and when I realized it was Toddler Time Wednesday, I shot off the couch and sent the kids to wake up their Dad! We were goin' to OAKS Park! Sadly, we didn't get there as it opened, so we had to wait in that loooooooooooong line for awhile, but then we hit the first ride we saw...the Tilt-a-whirl! With Brian on one side and me on the other, we really did have that thing whirling around and around and around...

Here's proof! The kids are holding on for dear life while Brian and I are trying to keep it whirling!

Next, Cait-o and Cody hit the "big slide" with Brian.

Get ready...

Go! (I'm not sure but it doesn't look like Brian and Cody are all the way on the rug like they're supposed to be???)

Caitlin is now brave enough to go on that mini roller coaster. I think it is quite bumpy and jarring, but I'm always willing to have a ride on a roller coaster.

Here's Cody ready to roll on the roller coaster with arms raised. (It took Caitlin until almost age 5 to finally get up the nerve to ride this again, but Codes seems born for adventure.)

Caitlin has always loved this frog hopper. Look how big she seems sitting in the middle seat! Cody is over on the far (stage) left.

Up, up and away!

The lines were rather long when we were there, so we hit this airplane ride since it had a shorter line. Caitlin kept aiming at me.

Doesn't she look like she belongs in some tough girl movie?

Me and Codes - hanging out.

The second time around on the roller coaster, Caitlin wanted to ride with her Dad in the "pink" car. Cody and I were right behind in our favorite color "blue" car.

The final picture...good ole' Chipper, the chipmunk. The kids thought he/she looked awfully cuddly, but weren't sure how to go about getting a hug. They settled for a paw rub instead.

CAMPING TRIP!!!!

2010-06-24T10:16:00.005-07:00

This was our first (of many) camping trip! We got to go with our family of campers - John & Brenda, Josiah, Sam, Caleb, Lee & Claudia (John's parents), Uncle Deacon & Aunt Hilary with Mackenzie. It was loads of fun! This is John cooking some kielbasa on night #1. Don't you love his new grill?

Here's Codes taking a brief moment to get off his bike and play with the toy cars we brought for him. That kid acted like the bike was just an extension of him.

Here he asked Uncle Deacon to "ride with me." He scooted up on his bike and told Deacon to get on with him. It was very cute.

Cait-o couldn't get enough of her bike either. Here she is taking a bike ride with Caleb. Caleb, by the way, was a star and was always up for taking his cousins for a bike ride. (So were Josiah and Sam! Thanks you guys!)

Here's Cody - tearing it up on the road. Next time we will probably try to find a camp site in the back part of the park. We were right near the exit so every few moments someone was driving out of the park. It was a little scary with our two munchkins.

Here's the gang hanging out. We finally had to put Abby in the camper. If you know Abby, you know that she barks at EVERY LITTLE THING. We even got a complaint about her. Doggone dog.

Here's Cody on our bed. We found out on this trip, that what we thought were queen sized pop-outs were actually KING SIZED. It was a wonderful discovery (except that the fitted sheets I brought were only queen sized). I had to go buy some king sized ones because our mattress pad covers are not exactly soft and comfy.

Here's Caitlin getting comfortable with her pets. She had a really great time and did NOT want to leave. (Of course she always wants to stay "one more night" regardless of where we go. She's probably going to have wanderlust like her Mom did - and still does.)

Here's me roasting a twinkie. This wasn't the amazing treat I had hoped, but I think once you pass the age of 20, you might not like twinkies in the same way you once did. I am a s'mores girl down to my core!

Here's the back side of the camping trailer. It was SO much nicer than having a tent. We also got to bike ride around a bit and walk down to the lake. All in all it was a fabulous trip and we are eager to go camping again!

Rare indeed!

2010-06-09T19:33:00.003-07:00

With Brian mainly working swing shift, and me mainly working days, we don't get too many of the family dinner nights. When we do, it is a rare treat for us! Even though the weather has not been cooperating as of late, we still managed to eat outside (a bit chilly, but warm enough for us to last the 20 minutes it took to eat everything). Here's Cody eating his new found favorite "bone chicken." He really enjoys the chicken with my parents old sauce standby...

I LOVE this stuff. Store brand barbeque sauce just doesn't seem the same. This is simply Hunts tomato sauce, some olive oil, some balsamic and a little bit of Lawry's season salt.

Here's my little Caitlin, who is not fond of anything tomato based (don't ask me why...makes me wonder if she's mine). She does love these new tortellini pasta we found at Costco. It is quite tasty. Brian has to bribe her to eat the chicken. Seems she thinks the only kind of "good=delicious" chicken is the rotisserie kind. (She would have loved Boston Market.)

Tuesday...sick as a dog...

2010-05-28T21:52:00.004-07:00

It's true. I was sicker than I can ever remember feeling. I woke up with a headache, body aches, a fever and a sore throat. I really wasn't up to doing much at all, so I called in sick to work and proceeded to spend some time reaquainting myself with illness ~ my own. Sooooo, my sweet little daughter set about making me some "get well soon" cards. She did such a wonderful job that I had to post them for you. (Thanks to Brian who took the shots!)

Our fridge serves as a grim reminder of that fateful Tuesday day when Mom "wasn't really watching us" (as she told Brian on the phone after I made her go call him because I was feeling so awful). Just so you know, Cody was just as sick as I on this day. He and I were laid out and poor Caitlin had to just play by herself. Truly, I wish this every day, but on days when you are sicker than sick and just need a little help with the kids, I sure wish my family lived closer!!!!

What do you do when Mom has sore hands and feet?

2010-05-28T21:18:00.004-07:00

I've never heard of it, but I have it. It's a child's problem usually, but not when you have no immunity against it. I have "Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease." {My friend at school ~ wise cracker ~ told me to quit putting my foot in my mouth and that wouldn't have happened.} But, honestly, there's nothing like going to the doctor's to hear that you have a disease, right? My heart raced until my doctor told me it was a common viral infection among kids (mainly the young ones - preschool age or so). Caitlin had it this past weekend, then transferred it to Cody and I. {Fortunately, I am the only one with the blisters on my hands and feet.} Walking is PAINFUL (but I do think I could possibly walk over hot coals now), trying to hold onto things ~especially keys, pencils, laundry baskets~ is painful, trying to twist off juice tops is painful, sheesh. Anyway, the poor kiddos and I have been somewhat trapped by this illness for the past week. Today, the kids were able to chill with me and watch Kung Fu Panda, build with their lego sets and they found a little imagination in their old funny hats which I happened to catch in pics!
Somehow, these lucky kiddos escaped the brunt of the blistering part of this, but we all had sick as dogs moments this past week. I think we are on the clearing side now though! Let's hope for a restful and pain free Memorial Day weekend!

Wishes

2010-05-28T21:09:00.003-07:00

I was cleaning out Caitlin's school bin. It's really just a hanging wall file, but it works as a catch all for us. Unfortunately, it doesn't get cleaned out enough to really be as useful as I had hoped, especially since Brian will put things in there that I never see, or vice versa. Well, I uncovered Caitlin's secret wish on her pot o' gold St. Patrick's Day art project:

Just a quick post about...love

2010-05-18T19:16:00.003-07:00

Just a story for you today. A few days ago, when the sun was out and the windows were down, a nice breeze blew through the car. I felt it in my hair and was so happy to have sun on my face and that fresh wind blowing through the car. Well, Caitlin and Cody were sitting in the back chattering along. Suddenly, Caitlin said, "Mom, I can smell you." Yikes, I wasn't sure how to take that, so I said, "Smell good, or smell bad?" Caitlin responded, "You smell like...(big whiff)...love." Awwww shucks, put that one down for the memory books folks!

Just like my Dad

2010-05-14T23:41:00.002-07:00

Our kiddos love tattoos. I can't blame them really. I remember how fun it would be to rip open that pack of Cracker Jacks and get a tattoo as your prize. That was my favorite! Well, we asked Cody if he wanted a tattoo like his Daddy's and he was all for it. He wanted it on his arm just like his Dad. Brian told him to "show his muscles" and this is the photo we were able to snap!

If you are noticing his messy face, that was all staged to make him look tougher in this photo. You know? Otherwise he is always perfectly groomed and ready for pictures - HA!

Here they are showing you the comparison. Cody's tattoo made Brian reminisce about when his tattoo was new and so bright. (By the way, looking at these two side by side, doesn't Cody look more like me?)

The "BEFORE" photos...I hope...

2010-05-14T23:26:00.003-07:00

So, we recently acquired this camping trailer from Brian's Dad. It needs some work, maybe more than a little. We would love to be able to use it, but it is going to take some elbow grease, professional cleaning (cushions) and a bit of an overhaul on structure and decorations. However, the kiddos think it's the bees knees and absolutely CAN'T WAIT to go camping in it this summer. I remember the days when summer broke us out of school and we got to put up our camping trailer when I was little. It was amazing...like our own little adventure in the backyard. It would be great to be able to recreate that feeling for our two...but sheesh...it's going to take some doin'. Take a look at the photos, let us know what you think.

What have we been up to lately, anyway?

2010-02-12T08:37:00.009-08:00

I know, I get busy with other things, and the blog gets ignored. I will fill your plate with new pictures though. We had a great weekend on the coast - Lincoln City and then down the coast to Florence for the Super Bowl Game.

On Saturday, it was nice-ish, so we headed down towards Depoe Bay to this hidden beach area off Highway 101. The beach there is covered in sand and pebbles, but has some agates that you can find! (Stay tuned for pics from this beach...we went back on Sunday.) {We didn't have our camera out on Saturday, sadly.}

Saturday night, we turned in early. {It's really tough to get both those kiddos down and it makes you get sleepy trying to make them sleepy.} On Sunday, Deacon came up late morning so we took him to our favorite spot. {Even the dogs love the ocean water!}
Casey in mid-shake...it doesn't matter how cold the water, she is in it every time! Here's Deacon and Hil, out enjoying this lovely spot with us!Love this shot, had to add it. =)

MacKenzie came too with her new boyfriend, Mack. (They are both named MacKenzie, pretty funny ey?) He's a nice guy, we approved. heh, heh

Here's Cody playing in the seafoam.

I try to not touch the stuff, but Cody loves blowing these "bubbles."

It's pretty thick stuff, and there was a LOT of it.

Here's Brian posing with Codes. I don't think he had his shoes off on this day or I'm sure this photo would have caught him playing in it with Cody.

Poor Deacon was trying to get a shot with Cody, but Codes must have though "Unca Deacon" was trying to take him away from his beloved foam. Done with the foam and heading off to wash it off in the water. Here's Caitlin, sitting off on her lone rock. I wish we could have caught her walking up to it. She was pretending she was Godzilla or something, tossing all the rocks in her way off to the side. (Can you see the two rocks towards the bottom middle of the pic? She had tossed these aside and tried to pick up the rock she is sitting on. It was rather funny, but she wouldn't reenact it for me to take pictures. Bummer.)Cait-o was brave enough to jump off this log to her Daddy who was standing below. I think her brother is ramping up her competitive nature. She's now getting gutsy like Cody has ALWAYS been. I miss my cautious little girl (sometimes). {Though I'm really proud of her too when she battles those fears of hers.} This is me, throwing a found stick for Casey. I'm telling you, your arm would fall off before this dog would get tired of chasing whatever you throw for her. She SEARCHES for sticks as soon as we get to the beach. She tends to be good at finding one too.

Cody making use of our sand toys.

Abby standing guard??? ha, ha {Doesn't it look like she's thinking, "What you lookin' at?"}

This was a great time. The sun was shining, little wind, and family abound. As Caitlin likes to say, "It was a great, great day!"

Chicken soup for the Dad deprived

2010-02-11T19:25:00.004-08:00

Sometimes the thing that really hits the spot is a taste of a memory. While I was growing up, my Dad always made soup...the best soup around and that's no joke. It helped that his mother, Grandma Nabozny, made the best doggone homemade noodles this side of Poland. Well, before my parents came to visit us in November, I found these really great noodles ~ Made in Germany ~ at the Cost Plus store. They're somewhat close to Grandma's in size, but nothing can truly compare with noodles that someone you love has painstakingly made from scratch. But, they might be the closest I have found for my chicken soup.

Well, I went to the local market (not the huge chain store where I always buy WAY TOO MUCH, just a little grocery store that has good produce prices) and picked up some carrots, celery, leeks (I love them, and only use onions when I have to), and parsnips. The parsnips remind me the most of my Dad's soup. For some reason they are like sweet carroty potatoes (or something along those lines). My Dad adds them sometimes and it makes a difference, truly. Here was my masterpiece:

It certainly was as good as it looks! Yum!

Oh yeah, and Dad, I found this at that same local market. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll be thinking about you when I do! hee, hee

Out with the old...

2010-02-11T19:15:00.003-08:00

Deacon came and helped us with our shower, which had been broken for quite some time. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) He fixed the shower, then he so generously helped us pull out our old sink (notice the chipped, rusty drain and extra hole) and faucet (you could never really efficiently turn the water on and make it the temp you desired). He helped us put our new sink in (which we purchased months ago) and gave us this really nice Moen faucet (because the replacement faucet we bought truly was a piece of junk cheapie). Thanks Deacon! Look how great it looks now!

and thank goodness for in with the new!

Ahhh, it's like we're living in a hotel! heh, heh, ha, ha

Viola! a la Inspired by Brenda

2010-01-03T22:08:00.003-08:00

Brenda always redoes everything, the paint on her walls, the color of the doors, adding a porch, switching around furniture, changing her room from craft bliss to quiet study, and I was just plain inspired to do SOMETHING to change our house too. So, I've picked out paint swatches and I'm itching to change some wall colors (but Brian is being a wee bit more resistant than it seems my brother-in-law John is). Now, as background knowledge, Brian has been pestering me to finish a project I started about three days before Christmas. However, I'm just not quite crafty enough to be inspired by the kitchen table, so Brian allowed me (and helped me as well) to design a craft space for Caitlin and myself. So, I'm blogging about it. I've finally decided to try to get organized in my craft space so I can do more crafts, no two bones about it. I think it's going to help because I'm already thinking about things to create. Plus, it always helps to revisit your long unseen paper pile to remember those ideas you had so long ago...

Anyway, I was (when we had cable) a crazy fan of "Designed to Sell" on HGTV. I seriously watched it every Sunday and loved the ideas. They all appeared so simple that it seemed I should be able to do something creative in my own space, while I still lived here. But, I think I lacked the follow through necessary to actually embark on and complete these types of projects...until NOW. I saw something similar that the designer did with a spare room and it's closet to add versatility as an office. I'm using mine for crafting.

Well, here are the before and after photos. {Brenda, hope this does you proud!}

Here is the "before" photo...a barren closet, desolate with just one lone shelf to keep it company. (Sorry, I just finished reading "Into the Wild" by Jack Krakauer.)

Then, I took a little trip to Lowes for a hallway door (yep, just a cheapy, but it works really well surprisingly), some 1 x 3's as braces, and some nails. Brian got out some of his woodworking tools and away he went creating a one-of-a-kind masterpiece for my artistic endeavors. ha, ha, ha

We made this fabulous custom desk. We had to call Deacon a few times to figure out what "bar height" actually was. Did you know there are two heights considered "bar height"? One of them is 42" (which is what we chose for this desk) and the other is 36" (I believe, but don't quote me, just call Deacon). I wanted it high enough so that Cody wouldn't get into everything on my desk on a daily basis. I think this is going to work!

It took us the entire day to get it all done (mainly because we didn't really start until 1 p.m. in the afternoon), but LOOK AT THAT! I used this amazing little label maker and WENT TO TOWN organizing and then labeling where everything actually was placed. Should make my scrapbooking pursuits a little easier. (Oh, by the way, a big thanks to Brian who went out at 8:30 p.m. to look for a space/height appropriate chair for my desk. This one I put together - with the drill - in about ten minutes. It swivels and has a cushioned chair - just perfect!)This final spot, along the wall to the right of my desk, is Caitlin's spot. I organized and labeled all these shelving units as well, but still have to figure out how to arrange and organize Caitlin's art supplies. She has so many and they get all over the place so fast that it's hard. But, I'm hoping that since she has space in here with me, that she will keep her things tidy and away from our dining room table. What do you think?

{Yeah! It's a new year and I already have one project under my belt. Can't wait to get my hands on some paint!}

By the way, those of you who I've told could come visit now that we have a "spare" room again, there's still space. All of these items I've arranged so we can move/shift them quickly to restage our "guest" room. So, come visit and check out our new space!

Parade

2010-01-03T21:13:00.006-08:00

Again, I'm behind on my posts, so I thought I would post a few of my "older" photos to try to get caught up! So sorry all you LOYAL fans of "Artistically Denied." ha, ha, ha

This is the parade we have tried to make a tradition (since Caitlin was two) the day after Thanksgiving. It's always so fun with Cody and Caitlin enjoying the "small city" feel, as it's nowhere near as crowded as the big NYC one they have every year. But, it is filled with lots of fun and interesting characters that the kiddos love to see and hug and high five and scream at, etc.

Caitlin and Cody just enjoying the show (but waiting for the next group to walk by).

Ahhhh, the ever so lovely snow things. I really couldn't tell what these were exactly, but both Caitlin and Codes wanted to get some hugs from those big, fluffy, white, marshmallowish people. Cody wanted to hug those big lady bugs, but I don't think they could see him with the eye holes way up high and he down so low.

Caitlin really enjoyed the bands and music. She was dancing through most of it.

A Raggedy Andy hug...what those would have been worth when I was young. Now they seem so much like mop heads or something. They were nice enough to stop and give our kiddos a hug though.

High fiving the gingerbread people. They were very friendly. I think they gave us all some sugar. ha, ha, ha

Finally, the big guy himself...Santy Claus. I had forgotten that he always ends the parade, so we were waiting through this big lull in the parade and I was ready to go. The lady next to me was astonished that I wasn't waiting to see the final float with Santa Claus on it. Whoops! We stayed.

Giving Thanks!

2009-12-13T09:24:00.005-08:00

I am so behind on my posts! Sheesh! We have some pictures from our wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner that have been suspended in cyberspace or somewhere equally undefinable. BUT, I am choosing to find those pics and lay them out in my blog. Yeah!Here we are getting ready to eat! My Dad made the Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, and pierogi style mashed potatoes. Almost ready...Brenda and I are still tring to get everything out on dishes, Brian is floating around with the camera, but the big reveal is almost here!

Viola! Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans and fizzy juices. I don't even think anyone overstuffed him/herself. (From left: John, Sam, Brenda, Me, Cody, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandpa Del, Caitlin (goofball), Josiah, and Caleb.)
We had to give thanks for our parents being able to share Thanksgiving with us. It would have been super if Diane had come as well, but we were shocked and amazed with Del being there! It was great for Brian and Brenda to get a chance to see him. (He only lives three hours away, but we see him less time than we see my parents every year!)

I have to give thanks that we really love our family members! My kiddos genuinely enjoy their cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas, and they love my kiddos right back!

The AFTER photo!

2009-11-29T10:16:00.003-08:00

Remember how nice my fridge looked on the day before my parents arrived? Well, I had to show the AFTER photo, just so you can understand. There's about five blocks of cheese in our "crisper" drawer. My Dad goes to Winco just about every day because they have such good bargains (quite a good bargain on cheese if I understand correctly). Plus, we've had bacon EVERY DAY (brown wrapped items on the second shelf). There's also a bunch of leftovers - though luckily, we use this up quite well with so many people in the house.

This is one of Cody leaning casually against the fridge so we won't notice that he is trying to break in while we are not looking! We're on to you Codes!

Cody's first REAL haircut

2009-11-20T20:59:00.006-08:00

Okay, I'll admit, I have no control over Cody sitting still. And when it comes to cutting his hair, it's definitely treacherous, to say the least. He acts like he can feel each lock being cut and they are all bleeding profusely. Needless to say, it makes cutting his hair about as far from fun as you can possibly get.

Here he is as the "before" photo...trying to help us put the bunk beds (that we are just setting up as separate twin beds) together.

Here he is at the barber shop. He doesn't know what's about to happen, I'm certain.

Now he's starting to get it. Though we had given him some medicine before he went because he's had a slight fever lately.

This is when it really hits him.

It was all worth it though. Just look at this cutie pie! I had to include the photo of him in his new red pajamas. I just thought they were completely adorable. heh, heh

Cleaning it all out!

2009-11-20T20:48:00.003-08:00

My parents are coming. Have I told you what our fridge was like growing up??? FULL! ALWAYS!!! So, I had to make room for all the cooking my father does when he's here. We had to throw away, recycle, clean, etc. so we can have some room for the new homemade, yummy food!

I started with the first shelf! I'm ashamed to say it takes me quite a prod to get this fridge clean. Good thing my parents are coming...it's very motivating!

It's not like it's even hard, truly, as long as the kiddos are busy sleeping! It just takes a little soap and water and VIOLA! all clean!

Here we are - All clean! All this food is fresh and ready to be eaten. What do you think??? It's crazy how much room you have once you clean out all the old stuff. Why do we let those dark corners (ha, ha) exist with old food? I'm not even sure. You just forget about it right? Out of sight, out of mind! Well, I just want to say, "Mom and Dad...we're ready for you!"

What have we been up to????

2009-11-15T19:39:00.004-08:00

Not posting, that's for sure! It's been awhile since the last, so I will obviously have to do a few posts to make up for it! One thing you need to realize is that we are getting ready for some COMPANY! My parents are coming out here this weekend, so we have been frantically trying to rearrange rooms so that they have someplace they can sleep! So, here are some photos of our latest update on the "children's room."

We headed off to IKEA and had to try to buy some matching duvet covers. Here's what we picked for Cody. (We bought these beds off Craigslist as bunkbeds.)

This is the one that Caitlin chose. She didn't like the curtains at all because they were "kind of babyish." It was pretty funny that she was "okay" with the curtains once she saw her duvet cover next to them. She saw how everything sort of matched once we put the curtains up.

Can you see it all? Not too bad. I'd like to decorate the walls, but I still need Brenda's eye. What do you think?

Cody's 2nd Birthday

2009-10-19T08:48:00.010-07:00

Well, he made it... 2 years old on Saturday the 17th! I'd like to say the time has flown by, but honestly it feels just like 2 years. He's constantly testing just what he can get away with, he's an awful light sleeper and he has a quick temper.

Having said all that, he's the cutest little 2 year old punk-o you ever saw. He has an incredible good nature, he's sweet and cuddly still. He's fearless and full of energy & curiousity. He's all boy and I couldn't love him any more. (OK, I'd love him a little bit more if he'd stop pooping his pants all the time.)
He love's to tell knock-knock jokes like his sister. His favorite song is "Girls just want to have fun" and he asks for it constantly in the car - I plan to tease him about that later when he's all grown up.
He's learning his colors and shapes, Caitlin's been a big helper teaching him those. He's absorbing everything he hears & sees. You cannot shake a gum box or rattle a wrapper within a mile of this kid without getting bombarded for "bum please" and "fruit snacks?"

Anne made her favorite cake as a kid and it's pretty safe to say it's now our favorite cake as well.

So for now, it's all about enjoying this time of his little life and making the most of every day.

Happy Birthday Codes, Cody, Coderton!

Pumpkin Pickin' Time.

2009-10-12T09:35:00.010-07:00

Here's some shots of the pumpkin patch & tractor hay ride. We've done this for a couple years now. It's supposed to rain all week, so we took advantage of the cold air & sunshine yesterday.

I told Caitlin if she could carry it, we could get it. She must have tried to lift 20 different pumpkins.

Lifting pumpkins is exhausting work I guess... soon I found my lazy kid lounging on a pumpkin couch.Cody was sitting on pumpkins all over the place. It's tough to find the perfect chair pumpkin.

Some recent shots I wanted to share...

2009-10-12T08:45:00.015-07:00

This is my big girl all grown up & riding the school bus. Cody & Casey can't wait for her to get home every day. She loves the bus ride & has a couple "school bus friends" that she plays games with and talks to. One of them is a boy and she was all proud of herself for not being "too shy".
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We went down to Brenda's for a quick afternoon visit last week. Caleb found a great climbing tree & Caitlin climbed right on up. She's getting pretty brave. The trampoline is on it's last legs, but Cody was still light enough to bounce around a bit. I love the static in his hair.

<----- This picture to the left is just a great looking shot. I think it really captures Cody's good nature. Plus I think he really looks like me when I was a boy... haha, take that Anne!

Caitlin & I dressed up our porch last week with some spooky bats & cobwebs.
I couldn't resist wrapping her up.

Here's a shot of me & the Coderton just hanging out bright & early in the morning.

Then, of course he wanted to take some pictures. I have about 10 random shots of his finger in the way... but this one turned out pretty good. :)

Nice looking up the nose shot eh?

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-01T21:02:00.004-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to find something to do when you have the kids all day to yourself. It should be something fun, but also not the monotonous choices that get us through the long wet winters. It's nice when there is a choice to head out to the pumpkin patch and run through the corn maze, play on the play structures and have fun with the animals! Wheeee!Aren't they sweet together? They usually have fun with each other too!

Here's Cait-o getting static in her hair sliding down the slide. (I love these striped pants that she picked out!)
Truly, who does Cody look like? I think it's me, but the reviews are mixed. Leave a comment and let us know! Here's Cody trying to get the goat's attention. Both of these kids just LOVE animals!

Brian said this rooster was mean and would probably peck you mercilessly if he ever got out of his cage. Yikes! Can't wait to go back here for the hayride and pumpkins!

While the Mommy's away...

2009-10-01T20:46:00.003-07:00

the kids get to JUMP OFF THE SOFA! Brian is great at letting the kiddos play fun games that involve too much "risk" for their cautious Mama. However, they LOVE IT! Cody has been jumping off of sofas since he started walking! Sheesh.

What do you think of that?

We must be doing something right...

2009-09-28T22:43:00.003-07:00

Caitlin came into my room (just before the kids were supposed to be going to bed) and was crying. Since we were about to read some books for our bedtime ritual, I had no idea what was the matter. So, I said, "Cait-o, what happened?" She said that she hurt her ear on her dresser when she was putting her dirty clothes into her hamper. I felt sad for her, poor little sweet pea, and kissed her red little ear three times. I told her that her ear was in "shock" from the hurt as it was just sitting there, minding its own business when that mean old dresser banged into it. She asked what "shock" meant, and we discussed it briefly. I told her that it would feel better soon as the "shock" wore off. I then had to go throw Cody's clothes into his hamper (bath night) and told her to lay down on my pillow until I got back. Just as I got to Cody's room (seconds later), I heard Cody say, "CA-Tin, what's the matter?" I heard Caitlin tell him how she hurt her ear, then heard the sound of a lip smacking kiss. Then, little Cait-o came over to me and said that Cody kissed her ear to make it "all better." Doesn't it just figure that these sweet little moments are so hard to capture on camera or video or something? (I tried to get Cody to re-enact the kissing of the ear, but he wasn't buying it, sadly.) I figure, at least he cares about his sister and it shows. (Caitlin is MOST protective and caring of Cody as well soooo...) we must be doing something right!

Some things to remember...

2009-09-05T22:04:00.010-07:00

I always mean to write down all the cute, funny things that our kids say. They are so easily imprinted in the moment, but forgotten by all the following moments. (Sadly.) I really want to remember some specific phrases and words so I'll write them in here.

Translations for Cody:

Moppas - sunglasses

Pocker - Popsicle

Copper - Helicopter

Hummy Birdie - Hummingbird

(The kid says "wasp" and "bee" very clearly. We are visited often by these insects.)

"Cody do it" - the kid is independent

lub = love (It was so cute the first time he said, "Lub Deacon" just all on his own.)

Sarpy juice - Sparkling apple juice

bum = gum, pum = plum

There are so many other ones, but it's hard to remember it all, especially now as he is getting clearer and clearer in his speech and how many words he says. I'm going to try to remember to write them down as they come up (I'll try!) so I can share those funny moments with others!

Favorite phrases of Caitlin's:

"Oh brother!"

"Negative!" (She really does say this just like Brian. It's all segmented and drawn out. It's pretty cute.)

"Mom, can I have some of your stickers?" ( I can't even tell you how often she asks me this, though she has TONS of her own. Somehow mine are the coveted ones.)

"Can I sleep in your room? My room is lonely." (She gets to sleep with Casey under her bed. I would have LOVED to have a barking, growling dog in my room when I was little. I would have felt so SAFE. I mean really, our dogs bark at everythhing. I've tried to explain that if monsters were real, Casey would sniff them out before she needed to worry about it.)

"Can I have...a sleepover...a bead party...etc., etc.?" (I think that she feels she doesn't see her friends enough. I definitely want her to have friends over. I didn't very often when I was a kid and I know that I ALWAYS wanted to, especially since I had all brothers and no other girls to play with.) So, I try. She has already had a few sleepovers and that's always so fun. Unfortunately, she ends up staying awake until 11 p.m., so I have to move her into my room. =) Feel free to leave comments on the cute things your kids did or said! Cheers!

Caitlin & Margaux

2009-08-30T09:46:00.003-07:00

Here's a great video of the girls riding on the roller coaster (that Caitlin would never before willingly ride on until this year).

Even Cody is brave on this ride.

Front yard fun!

2009-08-24T22:13:00.001-07:00

You know how sometimes kids get bored doing the same old things again and again? Mine have started to think that the backyard is boring, but for some reason, the front yard is SO FUN! I think it has to do with my safety concerns (no fences, busy street, etc.), the hose and that awesome spraying thingy on the end of it!

Cody just loves to get wet - the wetter the better. Caitlin doesn't mind obliging him in this way. Unfortunately, Cody wants to hold the hose as often as he wants to run under its spray!

Here's Cody finally figuring out that you have to hold the bottom of the nozzle to get it to spray!

HA, HA - take that Cait-o! (She loves this game as much as Cody does!)

This picture was the one just before the one where he actually got the hose to spray. He couldn't figure out that he had to hold the bottom to make the water come out! Caitlin WAS trying to help him before she got all cheeky for this photo.

Uh-oh! We've been hanging out at home, no excuses sadly.

2009-08-24T18:59:00.005-07:00

It's been SO LONG between posts...again. I get into real ruts where I just don't feel that I have anything to blog about and don't have any pictures of recent events. I will try harder, I promise. I know how nice it is to see the kiddos change through photos, especially when you can't see them in person!

Oh yeah! Here's a cute photo of our little plum thief! She stands on her hind legs on the fence and bites the plums off. Sometimes she is able to get the ones off the ground on the neighbor's side. It's quite amusing. If we catch her in the act, I'll take some photos of that too!

Here are some photos of the kiddos just hangin' out!

Here are the two munchkins in the backyard sharing (gasp!) the swing! They are so cute when they play together. Caitlin acts just like a little Mommy/best friend. It's so great to see!

It was EXTREMELY hot here not too long ago and the kiddos had to cool off by running around in their bathing suits or else just shorts and t-shirts. Here you see they had been wet and needed towels, but found ways to play inside the house to try to stay out of the HEAT.

Here's Cody getting really good on his little bike. This was a great deal at a yard sale for $2.00!!! $2.00!!!! How can people afford to NOT yardsale?

We think Cody loves the doggies just as much as Caitlin did when she was his age. Caitlin shares Casey reluctantly with him and constantly tells him that he and Daddy share ABBY.

This is one of my favorite photos! They were using all of the track to make one big train track to play on. Didn't they do a great job? I was impressed, especially since they actually put it together, TOGETHER! What a great pair of kiddos!

While the Daddy's away...

2009-08-09T18:56:00.001-07:00

the kiddos will make BROWNIES (and funny faces)!

I can't understand why it's so hard to find SOMEONE to LICK THE SPOON!

More sights and tastes of summer...

2009-08-09T18:49:00.003-07:00

We went and picked blackberries today. Cody, of course, ate his fair share out of our containers. I don't think he understands what "picking blackberries" means yet. I have a LOT of battle wounds (though minor surface cuts, they really STING) as I kept trying to pick the big, juicy bunch of berries that were waaaaay back in those thorny vines. Yow! Anyway, look at the loot we got out of it in our jars of freezer jam!

My Dad would be so proud...

2009-08-09T17:15:00.003-07:00

Here is Brian's first attempt (actually not quite, but it sounds better as this was a success) at making soup. He was inspired by my Dad just whipping soup up when he came to visit last Thanksgiving. He thinks making soup is so simple that he could do it in a flash. So, he decided he loved the recipe from the Olive Garden (Supa Toscana I think) and bought all the ingredients and VOILA! Here is his masterpiece! (Wish you were here to taste it Dad!)

Sure is low in calories! (Yep, full on whipping cream in this here 10,000 calories a bowl soup!)

NEW FENCE - Yeah!

2009-08-08T12:13:00.004-07:00

Uncle Deacon (what a guy!) came all the way up from Florence to help us build a fence (and some minor business of his own in Vancouver - hee, hee). He brought Tommy and they nailed out this fence in two days. That's not how long it takes, actually, but we did have to yard sale and go pick up some vehicles and eat and chat (and all that). Doesn't it look great? We decided to take the existing fence line and move it to be flush with the front of the house on the Eastern side, and flush with the neighbor's fence on the West side. Much more privacy and now room to have a full-sun garden! Plus, our back/side yards seem HUGE now! Yeah! This is the new fence line on the left side of the house. We had to cut back that huge blue flowered monstrosity to fit the fence line behind it. Behind this fence we can probably make a raised bed garden next spring!

Here's the rear view of the same fence. Doesn't it look great? Deacon really did it up right for us!

Here's the right side of the house. We brought this fence line out to match our neighbor's. Too bad the yard behind this is full of rocks and weeds. I've spent some time trying to clear it out, but we have more work to do.

Here's the back side!

What do you think? Isn't it grand?

Here's to Sam!

2009-08-04T19:17:00.001-07:00

Brian wanted a Mohawk as he has never had one. He decided on this, his week off, to shave his head (or at least closely cut it), but wanted to have his little streak of rebelliousness immortalized in this photo. Ha, ha! So, here he is (don't tell him I published it)!

Oaks Park...

2009-08-04T17:57:00.002-07:00

We love this place, been taking the kid/kids there for about 4 years. For $6 you can ride all the rides your tired kids can handle. If you get there on time at 9:30am, the lines are very minimal and you can jump on the roller coaster about 5 times straight. There's nothing like a guarantee your kiddos will sleep a solid two hours for naptime after this.

Here is the "Frogger." Mainly for little kiddos, but an adult can ride in that middle spot. Caitlin and Cody both seem to really like this, and there's hardly ever any line!

Here's Cody on the airplane. Caitlin was with me, Cody was with Daddy, and Daddy had the camera. Hence these two photos of Cody without his sister.

Cody really likes to ride the carousel. He likes frogs and can say "frog" so on it he rides - a win-win situation.

Here's the gang riding the big slide! Caitlin has really started to appreciate more and more of the rides. Cody is just a thrill-seeker. Makes me worry about his older years. They both (and we do too) have tons of fun at this place!

Hunger Site

2009-07-21T18:25:00.003-07:00

I really, truly, ABSOLUTELY want to write an extremely thought-provoking, life-changing, blog entry about helping others. Sadly, I am constrained by my lack of ability to do so. Therefore, I would just like to write that RIGHT NEXT TO the top blog entry there's a small black icon for the "Hunger Site." If you click on it, it takes you to a website where you can click another icon and give a FREE CUP of food, just for clicking. Mind you, if you were to buy something from one of the sponsers, additional cups of food would go to feed the hungry. But, that's for you to decide on your own. I'm just hoping that you will add this website to your list of favorites and click on the free cup every single day. How much more simplistic could it be? I don't think there's an easier way. Please click and donate. Thanks so much!

Just hanging out!

2009-07-20T09:47:00.003-07:00

I just wanted to put one last entry up today because I had some cute photos of the kiddos together (and Brian horsing around), so here they are!

Here are my two munchkins actually sharing a space without yelling, screaming or glaring angrily at each other. I swear, they do really LOVE each other, but sometimes you can't tell by the "STOP CODY, MOOOOOOOOOOM" stuff that I witness. But, when they are being sweet to each other, it's definitely a Kodak moment!

Here's Brian and my little daredevil Cody, doing what they do best, having fun doing some acrobatic feats that bring my heart right up to my throat. Strangely, it seems to affect these two so differently, by making them laugh, then attempting to outdo their last event. Cody does seem to love the tossing in the air, jumping off the couch, and the physical movement whereas Caitlin seemed to move much more cautiously. (I honestly think I prefer the caution.) =)

Fun at the CM

2009-07-20T09:02:00.003-07:00

We got to go to a birthday party yesterday at the Children's Museum. I have to say, it was fun, but I'm always flabbergasted at how poorly the bathrooms are situated at these places. There was one "family bathroom - changing table" but it was just that, a changing table area. I would like to vote for all kids' places to have at least two "family bathrooms" in them. Don't you think?

Anyway, there are some great play rooms at this place. We really liked the treetop room, where the kids could climb a few steps and be inside the "tree." You could also crawl under it and it was fun to play hide and seek there.

Here's Cody on the pretend horsey. He didn't seem to sure about it and he's been on a real pony so maybe he was just disappointed? hee-hee We had fun in other spots too, but I often "miss the moment" with my camera. My little dude, Coders, doesn't like to pose for pictures and is often in such movement that my photos come out blurry anyway. (Also, there's a LOT of flourescent lighting in this place so my pictures were coming out dark anyway. Sorry. At least I blogged about it, right?)

Masterpieces...eh-hem...I mean good tries

2009-07-19T20:25:00.005-07:00

Here are my first attempts at artwork. Ha, ha. I invested in some Mod Podge (is that what it's called?) and set off on my own.

My first attempt at being artistic was painting this ugly old (but great framed) wooden basket. I've thought more thoroughly about it since and probably would have gone with the white I originally thought about, but didn't pick due to some brain malfunction. Brenda will still like it because I tried, right Brenda?

The silver is obviously not the best color, but I thought it might look like galvanized steel (which it doesn't). Then, I decided to put Brenda's name on it and Caitlin got to pick out the name stickers. At least Brenda will always know it is hers. HA!

These two trays are something I've had "in the works" for at LEAST two years (maybe more, sadly). I found them (unstained) at Michael's and decided I was going to make them something special. I stained them (possibly last summer, maybe the summer before, who can remember?), waited for DAYS for them to dry (who knew I was supposed to wipe them after applying the stain?), then just sort of, kind of forgot about them. I finally decided to "GET SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS DONE" this past week end and kicked out three different items. Wow. Some kind of feat for those who haven't an artistic bone in their bodies.

This last piece is something Caitlin and I are working on for her bedroom. I've wanted to hang something that matches her "theme" for quite some time (and probably bought these canvases a few years ago). Today, I went to the store, bought some white paint (to lighten the current pink we have) and Caitlin went to town painting the background color. We bought some wallies at a garage sale (again, most likely two years ago) and thought we could make a pretty picture (or two - we might do both) for her wall. We will probably mod podge it tomorrow! Yeah! What do you think?

Maybe Brenda is starting to wear off on me. Who knew? (I saw BEADS on sale at JoAnn Fabrics this afternoon, while I was buying the white paint. It made me a little crazy thinking they were calling out to me to start making my own jewelry! I might go back tomorrow to look at them all again. I will most likely need a new project two years from now. Right?)

Sights and tastes of summer, YUM!

2009-07-14T18:15:00.004-07:00

Who can resist basil? Not I. The summer is such a great time for home grown basil, home grown tomatoes and delicious fresh mozarella cheese. I love to make this caprese salad (is it really a salad?) with those ingredients and a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

It sure is yummy. So far, I've been able to get Cody to eat it (not a big surprise),

but not my little Caitlin. She still resists the allure of those fresh tomatoes.

Since our tomatoes are not quite ripe (or even fully grown for some of the varieties) we had to buy some vine ripened (organic) from the store. You should really try this and let me know if you like it. I love it (as does Brian and Cody). Try it, try it, and you may, love it, love it everyday.

Good times...

2009-07-12T14:51:00.005-07:00

This year we decided to get a zoo membership. It's very expensive to just take a one time trip (something like $10 for adults, $8 for kids), around $40 per TRIP. So, we thought we would get a membership and try to enjoy going more often (and making us feel like it's so much more affordable). So far, we've gotten our money's worth.

We also like it because of the bonus concerts in the summer. We get free tickets (as long as there are some still available) for Wednesday evenings and it's quite a good family time. We pack up our blanket and head on over to the zoo and set up on the grass. It is hard to keep the kiddos entertained while we are trying to listen to and enjoy the music. But, it does make a fun family time and here are the pictures to prove it.

Here's Caitlin getting a running start to come jump on her Daddy-o.

Cody needs a haircut! (But he really doesn't sit still well and it makes me too nervous, so I do it in stages.) He enjoys bouncing on people's bellies who are trying to lie down and enjoy just listening to some music.

We had to get get some hand-dipped ice cream (which I thought meant dipped in chocolate, but just meant not soft serve, bummer, but lesson learned for next time. I had already told Caitlin we could get some ice cream).

Here we are enjoying our packed snacks.

Caitlin and Coders getting along. Such a cute sight!

I know you are all so impressed because I've posted so many entries in such a short time. Maybe you could get on Brenda's case for waiting a week between entries. I can't anymore because of my poor track record on my own blog. If you'd like to take a look at her blog:

http://sparrowjourney.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

4th of July - action packed!

2009-07-07T20:05:00.008-07:00

We started off the 4th of July by heading downtown to the Blues Festival. It is right on the Willamette River and quite packed with people. We stopped at the Fountains first to get cool (at least the kiddos got to get wet - I didn't bring my swimsuit - next time I will). It's quite a great place to enjoy the water and see lots of other kiddos.

We spent most of the morning into late afternoon, at the Blues Festival on the waterfront. We went with our friend Paul (who is the Dad of Margaux) and had quite a time. The music is so great to hear live. There's just nothing like it...the beat...the way it makes you want to move (and pretend that you can groove)...the food, WHOOPS, I was talking about the music! Anyway, it was a great time, hot, but fun and exhausting!

Here are Cody and Caitlin enjoying their PB & J's on our blanket. We were listening to the A & E stage. Those musicians were very good. I guess there was some type of competition that they were in, so it was GREAT music.

Caitlin getting her face painted (which quickly washed off once we went back into the fountains).

Here are some random pirates that were out on the 90+ degree day. They sure are tough guys to wear all those clothes in that heat!

Later on that evening...

Here are Caitlin and Cody enjoying our amateur fireworks show in the driveway!

Here are the fireworks that we set off in our driveway. We bought a great package at Costco and spent a good hour lighting them off. It was fun and the pictures even turned out pretty good!

Hope you had a great 4th of July! (Please post comments as to what you did or where you went. I always enjoy living vicariously through others!)

Random things...

2009-07-07T19:39:00.004-07:00

Here are some random photos of Brian mowing the backyard (random and rare, I should say). Both of the kiddos have enjoyed the little play lawnmower, but Cody seems to love it. He always wants us to mow the yard and constantly says "loud lawnmower" and "Mom, lawnmower" (because he knows I most often mow the back grass).

Here he is trailing after his Dad. (Cody's newest thing is to call us just Mom and Dad, no longer Mommy or Daddy. Don't know why, it's just so.)

This photo (and action) brought back some old memories. I thought I would dig this out of the archive just to show the sweet, sweet similarities.

This last one is a funny little drawing that Caitlin made. It's "No Codys allowed." I can't even remember why she drew it, but it's funny nonetheless. Happy Summer!

Some old photos...

2009-06-30T15:28:00.004-07:00

Wow! I haven't posted since March! Why do I even have a blog? Brian got a new camera, then proceeded to categorize all our old photos from the memory card onto the computer in Cody's room. I decided today to do a blog entry (gasp!) and sadly, no recent photos were on it. However, we did find another photo card and VIOLA! I found some old photos on it. So here they are!

Here's little Caitlin at the Big Bear Diner sitting on their Kodiak carved bear!

Here she is with Grandma Delores, (I tried to get Caitlin to call her G.G. for Great Grandma) whom she really does adore because Great Grandma D spoils her rotten! She spoils Brian too! ha, ha!

Isn't she sweet? I sure love old photos (especially when you haven't seen them in awhile)!

Caity's creations...

2009-03-27T13:56:00.006-07:00

So sorry for the length of time (endless) between posts, but I'm TIRED at the end of the day! Plus, like I've already stated, the artistic piece of putting a blog entry together escapes me most days (probably what makes me tired, just thinking about it). HOWEVER, I had to post about Caitlin's artwork again. I just love this stuff!

We took a long, painful trip to Seattle this past week. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but the car ride was definitely on the stressful side. Cody was crying often because he wasn't feeling well, and poor Caitlin was just sitting it out. She said, just as we crossed over into Oregon, "I don't ever want to go there again!" I honestly could feel her pain. It was a tough trip when neither kid slept for more than 20 minutes.

The flip side is that Brian gave Caitlin this little set of post-its he'd gotten in the mail, and let Caitlin create small masterpieces to stick up on her window. It was quite funny. I took one of the best ones she did and took a picture of it:

This is me and her walking the dogs! (Isn't it great that she wrote LOVE above it??)

I wish I had gotten a picture of all 8 of the small post-its she had drawn on, they were quite clever.

Today, we decided to go garage sale-ing again (can't wait for summer) and I found a little bag of stamps that I got for Caitlin. She really "went to town" (one of her favorite phrases) with them once we got home. Here's a picture she made:

I glanced through her book and decided to also take pictures of some of the others that caught my eye:

I probably take her for ice cream more than I should, but I didn't realize it until I spotted this one of me with 3 scoops and her with 2! =)

She loves polka dots and stripes, and a rainbow of colors!

Then, I grabbed her little scrapbook for my finale:

This is one she did about the time she helped Brenda make brownies.

This is her and Sam (her birthday cousin) eating chocolate chip pancakes!

Finally, this one is from Cody's baptism. I think she thought that candle meant there was a party. Love how she used these party hat stickers!

I really hope she continues to love doing art. It makes me so happy to see how creative she is and I hope that only gets better and better!

Beautiful beach day!

2009-02-03T22:24:00.001-08:00

I had Monday, January 16th off from school. Brian, luckily, also had it off from his work. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and to celebrate my dream, we headed off to the beach. (We originally planned to go visit Brenda and the boys, but they didn't have the day off from school.) We drove to Seaside and got to have an amazing day in the sun, with little wind, and 65 degree weather. You really can't beat that, middle of January and all. We got there around 11:30 a.m., had lunch at Doogers (can't beat their clam chowder, even I will eat some), then headed off to the beach. It was just superb! The water was very cold, but overall, sunny and beautiful outside. The dogs absolutely LOVE going to the beach. It saddens me to have them get back into the car for the long haul back to boring old home.

Here's a few pictures of Cody enjoying the beach. Soon, he will be as bad as Caitlin asking to go to the "ocean water" all the time. heh, heh

Yep, he's showing off his wet sand finger. He didn't seem very interested in "tasting" sand, which made me happy. But, I've wondered how much he's tried before to draw that conclusion???
This kid loves to climb. If you build it, he will want to scale it. I'm not sure why. It's like he took every ounce of daring that Caitlin snubbed. It's a bit scary at times, but he seems to do pretty well with his balance and such.

At this beach, we can drive on and park. It's pretty nice. There have been times when the waves have seriously chased us all the way back to our car. Luckily, this day was just perfect and we got to go play in the water and rest by the car when we were done.

Here's the gang enjoying a moment of peace on a random log. We all enjoy taking our shoes and socks off and freezing our feet in the water! (All Casey wants to do is have us throw her a branch that she can chase endlessly!)

Here's Caitlin and I resting after climbing up this small dune. There are these VERY pokey weeds that we tried to avoid, but man alive, they were all over and so painful! Caitlin wanted me to carry her on my back on the way down. Nothing like adding another 40 pounds to my back to step on a pokey weed even harder! Yikes! We made it with only a few mishaps.

Brian swears that there are lots of pictures of me with the kiddos, but not him. I beg to differ! He gets lots of face time on the camera. He loves to drag those kiddos out to the thrill of the crashing waves, or of waves that sneak up on us and we have to run like the wind to get out of its way!

Overall, we had a great time and as always, can't wait to go back. Someday I might get to live right on the ocean (houseboat? heh, heh).

I just want to add, two posts in one week. I'm on a roll!

Proof...

2009-02-02T22:05:00.005-08:00

I think I have explained my blog title before, right? I have no talent artistically so I didn't want anyone thinking this blog was going to be SO GREAT and/or SUCH AN AMAZING READ! I just wanted to be able to post what I wanted, when I wanted, and tell a story for others who are far away (and I can't call everytime something is funny or amazing or just what it is). So, this entry is going to be about Caitlin's ability to tell a story with her pictures. I'm always amazed at what she is able to convey on a piece of paper, or a Magna Doodle, or whatever she is using to paint/draw/color us a picture of what is in her head. Here is her latest creation:

She loves the beach! (We ALL do in this family.) It's especially great when you can have the water chase you back to the car, or make sand castles in the sun, or just take your shoes and socks off and feel the STING of that cold ocean water on your feet. We just love it. Caitlin talks about it quite a bit. So, recently, she was sitting down drawing a picture and I casually glanced over and asked what she was drawing. She told me that this picture is at the beach. "But, it's a new beach with diamonds on it." She and Cody are playing on the "diamond" beach. She then showed me the BIG waves and explained to me that Daddy and I were "skateboarding" on the waves. (I was pretty impressed with her idea of what skateboarding was and how someone could do it on the waves.) I told her that it's called Surfing, and she said, "Yeah, that's you and Daddy surfing on the waves." Wow. We must be pretty good too, or else we wouldn't be able to survive in waves two-three times our size. =) I know she didn't get her creativity or artistic ability from me, sadly. But, I'm happy to see how well her imagination works and love to look at her creations. I hope she only gets better and better. Maybe her blog name can be "All that was denied to my mother - artistically." heh, heh

Updates...

2009-01-17T15:23:00.006-08:00

Remember those beloved days (like June maybe) when I posted 15 entries per month? Weren't those grand? I have to admit, I have no excuse for not posting more often. It used to be because our computer was in Cody's room and the only time I could truly blog would be when he was sleeping (which wouldn't work because he's the lightest sleeper I know). So, I got a laptop from school to use. BUT, then I didn't have a card reader for my computer. I would have to remember to get the card reader from the other computer before Cody went to sleep! Sheesh. At Christmastime, I bought a portable card reader, so I really, at this point, have no excuse. I should AT LEAST be able to post one blog a week, right? We shall see.

It's been so long since my last blog entry that I have to go back through the pictures and see what I can find. Here goes...

Here's a recent photo of Cody. He's looking older all the time. He loves to play with phones, listen to people on the phone (he doesn't talk to people yet), and pretend that he has a phone. Here, he's modeling the cute dinosaur pajamas Grandma and Grandpa got him for Christmas! (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I have to take some pictures of Caitlin's new haircut! But, we just bought a new camera today (since we took it out to the beach and to the Sand Ranch, it won't focus) so give me some time to get that done. Here are some photos from our recent trip (beginning of January). We went down to Veneta to visit with John, Brenda, and the boys, then traveled on down to Coos Bay and Bandon for three days.

It was sort of a small family reunion! We got to spend time with Uncle Deacon, Aunt Hilary, Mackenzie, Brenda, John and the boys, plus Brian's counsin Johnny, his wife Nicole, and their kiddos. It was very fun to get to hang out together like that. I think everyone had a real blast!

Here we are at the beach in Bandon. We always go to this access point, and it's usually pretty deserted. But, we've mainly gone there when the weather's been nice. On this particular day, the weather was a bit unpredictable. When we got there, there was a clear spot in the sky. But make no mistake, 15 minutes later, downpour. Everyone got soaked except for me (as I had to wait in the car with sleeping Cody) and Hilary, who didn't have a jacket???? =)

As we were coming back, we stopped by Uncle Deacon's (and Aunt Hilary's) house to have some fun at the Sand Ranch!

It's just amazing to see Uncle Deacon's backyard is acres of sand! He has these three ATVs and we all took turns riding them!Here's Uncle Deacon driving Caitlin and Mason around! He sure is great with kids!

Here's Brian and Cody riding on a sand board (being pulled on the ATV by Deacon).

Here's Sam and Eli (not sure who's pulling them though).

Oh yeah, here's the huge tractor that they use on the sand ranch. I was a little freaked out when I saw this picture too, trust me. But truly, Cody did not want to get out at all. (A few of us actually rode in the plow part of this tractor with Brian driving. He told us he had learned how to drive it that day. A LITTLE scary if you ask me, but we were all game to do it.)
Here are both our little rascals getting some time in the cab of this larger than life tractor. Sheesh.

Here's Caitlin and Maddie just having fun making sand piles. All of the kids had so much fun (and I suppose I should mention the adults might have had more fun than them???)! We can't wait to go back!

Caitlin's Preschool Christmas Program

2008-12-21T08:34:00.004-08:00

Caitlin's preschool class (and the 3's class) put on a Christmas Program the first weekend of December. She was an Angel in it. It was super cute!

These are some pictures from the practice (much easier to take photos then). Notice that in many Caitlin is making faces, not paying attention, looking bored...

Not exactly sure what she is doing in this photo, but they did have gestures for most of the songs. They sang, "Away in a Manger" which she practiced for days!

This last picture is at the actual Sunday service. They had to wait, patiently, in the back of the church until after all the readings were done, then they performed. We also have this recorded on our camcorder (in case you ever want to see it).

Here she is afterwards...a successful performer! She did much better in the service performance than she did during her practices! Way to go Caitlin!

Cute Picture Alert...

2008-12-17T22:17:00.004-08:00

I just wanted to share a few images because let's face it... a picture is worth a thousand words... maybe more if I'm writing them. This was just a great catch mid-splash. Cody's such a different kid than Caitlin. The more water in your face, the better! Caitlin said, "Look mom, I'm Santa Claus."

If he can't have it, he wants even more. I guess we all learn that pretty early. What did he do when I busted him with my pepsi? Grin a big 'ol cheesy grin.

Cody got some new sneakers and he sure was pretty unsteady at first. This was just a nice afternoon in November with a cheese & crackers lunch on our porch.

The dog is just so cute I had to take this picture. I kept telling Caitlin to "get out of my shot, you're goofing it up". She's always hogging into the dog pictures. :) - Seriously, she & Casy are best buddies and it's just awesome to see their relationship grow closer all the time. Casey puts up with all kinds of games, dress-ups, being pulled around the house with a leash tied to a wagon and just asks for a few belly rubs & hugs whenever we're sitting still for 5 seconds.

Blogged By Brian

Thanksgiving Day (After) Parade!

2008-12-17T21:51:00.010-08:00

Does 3 years make a tradition? It's a start. Caitlin had such a good time last year even though it poured rain we found ourselves back this year. Cody was pretty wide eyed at all the floats & loud marching bands but mostly happy to run in the street.

It was pretty cold, but the rain held off this year. Anne's always hugging these munchkins and Cailin's always happy to squeeze into a hug sandwich with Cody.

There's always a big selection of crazy floats... from traditional trailers decked out with flowers, to Santa's sleigh and reindeer. This is a big 'ol caterpillar and crazy bug people.

And last but not least... the very best part of any decent parade as far as Caitlin is concerned...tons of free candy!

Blogged by Brian

A Visit from Grandma i Grandpa (Thanksgiving too!)

2008-12-17T18:56:00.002-08:00

Grandpa and Grandma came for a visit! They got to spend some quality time with Caitlin and Cody. Luckily, they got to see their personalities (and quirks) shining through!

Here's Cody "demanding" food from Grandpa. Cody isn't shy with people (like Caity was) and he tends to just follow the food. =)

While Grandpa was here, he made just about everything. He spoiled the grandkids (for sure) by making them pancakes, French Toast, and cookies! Sure was delicious! Thanks Dad!

Caitlin does like playing with puzzles (and showing people what she can do). She had fun with Grandma and Grandpa too. She was definitely much better this year than last. I think she gets more used to them when they stay a little longer (stretch) at a time.

Part of the reason my parents visit, is to have Thanksgiving with us! It's nice to get family time for at least one holiday every year! (Sure missed you both last year!) We get to celebrate with Brenda, John and the kiddos as well. It's a pretty nice deal, all in all.
Here are "the Krafts" hanging out watching football together. Josiah seemed the least interested, so he and I got to play some games of Skip-bo. I have to say that it was fun to play that card game again (and to win - TWICE). heh, heh
Poor Brian, he's never in the family photos. We probably need to invest in a tripod so we can take some decent photos. You can see all the yummy food out there. I think that Brenda and her family were stuffed (but still had to go to another Thanksgiving dinner). Can't wait for Christmas!

Caitlin's Random Photos...

2008-11-16T08:46:00.005-08:00

Caitlin is all about taking pictures with the digital camera. She often takes very random ones, but her "subject position" tends to be very good! This is one of Abby and Casey on their dog bed. A little dark, but not too bad!This one I think is funny because it is just a light switch cover that I found at a thrift store, but it looks very good centered in this picture!Here is our messy living room with the big beach ball (taller than Cody). My running shoes (that have never hit pavement at a jog) centered just so. This one is my favorite. She caught Cody crying one morning while I was trying to get him dressed. Doesn't he look tired and miserable? He definitely takes after his Daddy in the morning!

We are always trying to guess what Caitlin will want to be when she grows up. Maybe a Veterinarian? Maybe an Artist? Maybe a Photographer? You just never know.

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-01T21:41:00.005-07:00

October 25th, and 31st...

We got to "trick or treat" twice for this holiday. A local grocery store and the rest of the strip mall shops around it, hold a trick or treat time the Saturday before Halloween. We dressed the kiddos up and off we went. (But first, we had to take some photos, right?)Here they are laughing on the chair. Cody was Tigger (as I'm sure you can see) and Caitlin was a "spot doggy" for the second year in a row.

Cody wasn't too sure about wearing his hood. It sure was cute looking on him though. Caitlin wore this same outfit when she was 1.Coders wanted to play "beep the nose" which always gets a laugh.
I really hope that Cody keeps his blue eyes!

Here's Cody, walking around the grocery store. Brian went in a few days later and found out that Cody had won 4th place in the costume competition. We didn't even realize there had been a competition. I wonder what 1st place won?

Halloween Night...
Caitlin got to go out trick or treating with her Daddy, while Cody and I stayed home and handed out candy. I'm just going to post a few of the pictures for you all to see...

We found this neighborhood that was all decked out for Halloween. We drove by it a few times in the past week just because of the decorations. Caitlin seems like she isn't bothered by all the crazy, scary decorations. She usually just thinks they are "funny." Hmmm...
Caitlin did bug us about not having enough decorations up in our yard. We did have a few, but no blow up decorations. Sheesh. Brian and Caitlin found this funny pumpkin on their travels. Some people are so clever!
Caitlin seemed to tire of the walking around rather early, I thought. However, it might have been that she just wanted to go home and hand out candy to the other kids. She did come home with quite a stash of candy though.

Every year, it's more and more fun having the kids experience the holidays. Can't wait for the next!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-01T21:31:00.002-07:00

We all went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago to get some pumpkins. However, I can't find those photos. So, Caitlin got to go to the same pumpkin patch for a school field trip. I found this photo of the two kiddos in the haystack maze. Aren't they so cute? They really do, usually, play really well together and have lots of fun.

Cody's Birthday!

2008-11-01T20:58:00.004-07:00

October 16, 2008

Unfortunately, Brian had to work on Cody's 1st birthday. But, luckily, Brenda, John and the boys were coming up the day before to see a new baby relative here in Portland. So, we decided to plan a party for that day instead. I guess we technically celebrated the last day before Cody turned a whole number.

Here we are hanging out in the living room getting our photos taken! We were waiting on tacos, I believe. Caitlin is ALWAYS SUPER DUPER excited when her cousins come for a visit. She just has a blast with them. They all love to entertain each other. Brenda is so happy that Cody is so much more receptive to being held and loved on by his Aunty! (Caitlin was a teensy-weensy bit less receptive, heh, heh!)Here's Caleb entertaining Cody 'til the food arrives! Love those bubbles!

I'm not sure why, but when we were handing out plates for cake, Sam didn't seem to want to use the mermaid one! = ) {He almost didn't notice at first.}Oh so patiently, waiting and eyeing the cake!I'm going to just flat out apologize to Brenda (and Caleb) for including this photo, but it's a good picture of us eating the cake, right?

This kiddo really doesn't refuse much in the way of food. He sure did enjoy his birthday feast! Hope for many, many more sweet Cody!

(Caitlin helped pick out the photos to use for this blog entry! Thanks so much for your help, Caity!)

Caitlin's first performance!!! (Ha, ha)

2008-10-12T19:35:00.004-07:00

Caitlin's new preschool is in a local Luthern Church's basement. She is loving it and learning all kinds of grand things. She has brought home many new (old) favorites (songs) that Brian seems to know as well. Today at their church, she got to sing in front of their whole church! (Brian said it was a small congregation.) I had to take the children to mass yesterday so I could stay this morning with Cody to nap while Brian took Caitlin to sing at her preschool's church. I was sad not to be able to go and see her, but someone had to stay home and I figured it should be me. =( Well, we did get some shots of her though, so here they are!

Here is Caitlin in her pretty "Christmas" dress from last December. It's very pretty and still fits her, so we wrestled the tights on her, whipped her hair back to fit into her headband, and squished her little feet into her Dorothy shoes. She was all dolled up and ready to go!

Here she is sitting with her Daddy posing so beautifully! They sure look alike, eh?It took us awhile to get her to quit making "goofy, silly" faces and just smile. This one would have been perfect if I hadn't cut Daddy out of it. Oh well, she still looks sweet!Here's Caitlin talking about the apples falling from the trees, umm, umm, good! I wish she didn't have to wear these T-shirts! You don't even get to see her pretty dress! What a bummer! She was still cute though. (We also have this taped, so if you ever come over, be sure to watch it! )Last pictures! I'm not sure what they were singing above, but Caitlin was doing very well. The songs she performed were: "The B-I-B-L-E," "Jesus Loves Me," "Ten Apples," (?) "If you're happy and you know it," and many more. She was doing most of the gestures and singing loudly. We were very proud of her!

What's been happening...?

2008-09-22T19:38:00.004-07:00

Hi All! Sorry for the skipping of posts! It's really difficult now because I'm back to work full-time and Cody and the computer are in the same room. But, I wanted to share a little about what's been happening!

Cody took his first few steps the first week of September. He had been standing up right in the middle of the room and suddenly, he decided to move. (I have a feeling we will be running after him very soon.)

He does like to get into everything! He loves to climb the stairs every chance he gets, and doesn't do as well with climbing down. As you can see here, he is trying to climb onto the step stool that his sister is standing on.

Caitlin has started a new preschool a few mornings per week. She is liking it, though she doesn't know any of her friends' names. She is doing some pretty swell art work, if I do say so myself. This kid LOVES to color.

Here they are "just chillin'" in the living room. Caitlin on her bean bag chair and Cody listening to the music on his walking toy.

Anyway, that's all folks! While Cody is awake, I maybe have 10 minutes (here and there, certainly not all at once), to complete a blog entry. However, he's learned to shut the computer off and it makes it even more difficult. Hope you are all happy! Take care!

What a WEEK!!!! Silverwood Amusement Park, Idaho)

2008-08-24T17:57:00.006-07:00

I sincerely apologize to all the fans of "Artistically Denied" (ha, ha) who have been waiting for my next blog entry. So few comments, so little affirmation, makes me just put off a new entry and put it off some more, until it's been OVER A MONTH since my last one. But, I do have more pics and more comments to add, so here goes!

We spent our last vacation days (I started back to work on Monday) visiting Brian's side of the family in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The next few blogs will be about this trip!

Our first full day in Coeur d'Alene was spent at Silverwood Amusement Park. When we entered the park we stopped briefly at some of the carnival games. Here is Caitlin and Joe standing by this crazy huge game! This picture if for Josiah as he seems to like these types of machines and this one had the biggest CLAW and animals I've ever seen. We didn't actually play this game as it seems to me that JOSIAH is the only one who ever actually gets a toy out of one.

This is a cute picture of Caitlin, but also of the newest attraction at Silverwood called "After Shock."

This ride has you sitting in seats with your feet dangling and a harness support . It brings you up one side and has you dangle in the air facing straight down. (*I must say here that I am not one to believe in the harness keeping me from sudden death. Johnny's daughter Helena said it best when she said, "What if one of those workers accidently bumps the button that releases those harnesses? So true in my head!) Anyway, once the ride is released, you go down, spin around the loop and then do it all backward up the other side. It's quite a rush, I assure you and we got EVERYONE (Daniel, Mike, Diane, Joe, Brian and I) to take a ride on it! There's another part of Silverwood that is a water park. There are these big slides for people to slide down and experience the oh so unpleasant suit up the dupa feeling (at the end). They are pretty doggone fun, especially as you end up going pretty fast and sometimes catching some air on the way down. Here's Mike (who enjoyed these slides just as much as his kids, if not more)!

Here's Brian coming down the "bumpy" slide. This is the one where the first bump throws you in the air a little and it's really oh so fun!This is why we were having so much fun at the Water Park! Grandma Diane had the kiddos set up during their naps and watched them for us while we got to play on all the fun water rides! Thanks SO MUCH Grandma Diane, we really appreciated this!We think that Cody is going to be a real water baby. He sees water and immediately wants to be put down so he can play in it. This day was a little bit on the cold side, so Cody just got his feet wet in the wave pool. Here's Brian, Daniel and Joe as we wait to get on the wooden roller coaster, "Tremors" (? I think).

Here are two of the signs you see before you go on this roller coaster. The first is because this roller coaster has a camera stationed to take your photo, the second is because it's freakishly scary tunnels make you feel like you're going to get your head chopped off. I ducked each and every time, whew!

I'm not sure why we have no photos of Gma Diane or any of Johnny's family, but apparently we were more concerned about riding all the rides than taking photos. I sincerely apologize to Diane, we promise to have more photos of you in the next few entries!

CAITLIN'S BIRTHDAY! Yeah!

2008-07-22T14:49:00.006-07:00

Caitlin turned the big 4 on Monday! First thing Brian did when she woke up was to sing her Happy Birthday AND she got to have two birthday parties on her special day!

Her first party was at her preschool. Her teacher, Ms. Becky had a Hawaiian themed lunch party for her. We brought everyone small cupcakes and "good for you" junkfood cookies (that's what they were called).

Here's Caitlin making a wish (I hope).

Here's she's blowing out her one lucky blue candle.

About an hour later, we had her second birthday party. She invited all her friends (that weren't at her school), Wyatt, Nicole, Margaux, Michaela, Kylie, Hannah, Braven and Lucas. We had the party at the park near our house.

Here's a picture with her and Wyatt (a friend for quite some time) deciding who will ride the swing first. (It was so cute because we saw Wyatt pushing Caitlin on the swing!)

Here she is sliding down the windy red slide showing how old she is! Wyatt is showing that he is 5!Here she is just hanging around with her friend! (He was one of the first to arrive (and incidently one of her first friends) so we have a few more pictures of him than all the rest!)Here is Cody, just hanging out having a good time at the park!Here are Caitlin and Nicole (whose birthday is the exact same day, just one year older) swinging, while Daddy, Cody and Michaela watch and push when needed!

Here we are back in the covered area where Caitlin gets to blow out the candles on her baseball cake. (We went to Costco and she got to pick whichever one she wanted and this is the one she picked! It is a baseball diamond with a baseball glove and ball on top of the diamond. It does say Happy Birthday Caitlin though!) Luckily, it was a white cake with strawberry mousse filling! Yummy!The top picture is the "gang" except for Hannah who was sleeping and had to come later! The bottom one is an up close shot of the cake and Caitlin blowing out the candles! She had four and one to grow on (just like we always did it in my family).

After cake and juice, the gang headed over to the pond where they could all feed the ducks!

This is the gang coming back to get all packed up. It was really a nice time and fun day! Happiest 4th Birthday Caitlin!

Family ties...

2008-07-14T22:37:00.007-07:00

Brenda, John and their family came up on Saturday. We decided to go to the Willamette River and let the dogs be in the water, and the kids just have fun at a park. It's cheap, easy and everyone always has fun! Portland is really a great place to be in the summer!

Here is Brian in the river holding Casey (spazo dog) so that she doesn't chase the stick he threw for Abby (the old lady). I think Sam is mining for gold in the back there! ha, haI want everyone to notice that Cody is NOT crying while Aunt Brenda is holding him. He loves the water and isn't as finicky as Caitlin was about people holding him, as long as they love him. =) Here's Sam playing "got your toes" with his favorite birthday cousin! Caitlin always has fun with her cousin Sam!You would almost think that Uncle John and Josiah didn't have any fun at the park, until we got out the whistling football that makes any person look like an NFL quarterback! Here's Aunt Brenda always taking pictures! Brian is back there trying to wear Casey out a bit. If I had 1/10th of the energy that Casey does, I would achieve greatness! ha, ha, ha

Here's a somewhat good family shot. Cody is trying to show everyone that his Daddy has a caffeine addiction. "WON'T ANYONE LISTEN??? LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS CUP!!" That is what he is saying! (Oh yeah, I think that cup belongs to BRENDA! Caffeine addiction must run in their family!)Finally, here we are trying to get everyone rounded up, while I try to take photos of my cute kiddos. Brenda is trying to help me, while Brian just lies around snapping random photos of people with dogs running through the shot.

We had fun, we always do. Come on back, you guys, so we can do it again!

Noon Tunes

2008-07-14T22:33:00.001-07:00

Brian had started this and only wrote one sentence! I'm here to finish the job! In Pioneer Courthouse Square ("Portland's Living Room") on certain days throughout the summer they have what's called "Noon Tunes." It's local bands playing live music in this mini amphitheater. It's quite fun. You see a lot of people that you know are on their lunch breaks, in all their office wear, hanging out just listening to whatever music happens to be playing. It's very casual, and allows you to have your children with you when you are listening to live music (very exciting for us)! Anyway, Caitlin had a grand old time. She danced...

found a friend who danced beside her...
and played with Cody, who wished he could be out there dancing. (I just know it!)

Cody just "chilled out" with his Daddy, eating a nectarine . He sure likes to eat! Yeah!

I don't even remember the name of the band, but it was kind of funky, bluesy voice, Portlandish type of sound. Pretty good. Made many little kiddos get up and dance. (As well as a few brave adults.) It sounds like once a week they will have this live music during the summer. I hope we get to more of them. (Brian's station promotes it and has a live person there doing live shots.)

Here is the actual Courthouse, and it's pretty fantastic (old and all)!

Finally, as we were walking towards our car, on the sidewalks of some of the streets downtown, there are these fun water sculptures. Caitlin decided she wanted to sit on the seal. Makes you wish you were a little kid too!

I feel like I wish we could enjoy more of what makes Porland, Portland, you know? I really always enjoy these types of outings where you can just enjoy what Portland has to offer, especially the music. Hopefully, there will be more to come...

4th of July

2008-07-11T14:57:00.004-07:00

This year, since Caitlin is a bit older, we decided to buy some fireworks. {Brian ended up spending the whole time in the "tent" (the fireworks store) saying he couldn't believe how expensive everything was!} We ended up buying some "snakes," sparklers, a few fountains, and some crazy twirler things.

Caitlin was having fun with the sparklers. I didn't know that they didn't make those wire ones anymore. Apparently, they are too dangerous. (Isn't fire/fireworks dangerous in general?)

It seemed to take forever to get dark, but finally twilight arrived. We all had fun with the sparklers in the front yard.

Here is Caitlin standing behind the "snakes." They weren't that impressive to us, but Brian said they were to little kids (ha, ha).

My favorites were the fountain ones. They shot up into the air (but not more than 6 feet), and then crackled a bunch of times at the end. (Can you see us through the firework?)

We had fun, and now Caitlin seems to think we can just go buy and shoot off fireworks any old time! She really loves her holidays!

Ahhhhhhhh, the sights and sounds of summer...

2008-07-03T22:01:00.006-07:00

Thursday, July 3rd!
Today was a pretty fun day. Of course I didn't bring the camera when we went to OMSI this morning, but we did have it this afternoon when we went to the off leash dog park over by Oak's Park (right on the Willamette River). SO, we have some pictures to share!

Here I am trying to run some energy off of Casey. That dog goes until you just CAN'T TAKE IT anymore and then you just have to hide her toys so she'll stop bugging you! She's great for a game of fetch though (until your arm falls off).

Cody's latest triumph is his ability to point towards someplace. We don't really know what he's pointing at, but he does it pretty emphatically and it looks so cute! He did point at his Daddy today and then pushed off me to try to go to him. (Little stinker.)

Look at how high the water is! Usually we can go down these steps onto a beach that's about 15 feet wide. The river is really high right now. I'll take a picture later this season to show the difference. It's pretty incredible! (Apparently, it was up even higher a few months ago ~ all the way to the picnic tables.)

Abby and Casey love to get in here and chase the stick. Abby doesn't have quite the "get up and go" that Casey does, so she usually just pretends to go after the stick and takes a leisurely swim. Casey goes and takes it from her if Abby ever does get it anyway.

When we got home, we barbequed! Brian had caught some fish last Friday (see previous post, ha, ha) and froze it. He thawed it out today and he did it up on the grill (along with some corn on the cob which was de-li-cious!). I just know that Brian would be happy to see his fish on here. He's quite the grill master.

Lastly, we had some corn on the cob that we boiled. (I just like it that way!) We got sweet white corn and man it was really yummola! Caitlin really likes it a lot! This was the vegetable that (last year) she ate all of without us having to bug her about it. She's done well with it ever since. You just can't beat it, can you?

Cody got his first taste of it today. He's already proven that he likes corn (most things actually), so this wasn't too much of a stretch. {Grandma Nabozny would be so proud, wouldn't she Dad?}

Amusement Park Time!

2008-07-03T21:32:00.005-07:00

Tuesday, July 1st!

I think I've mentioned before that we like to go to Oak's Park in the summer. They have this awesome "Toddler Time" on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the morning, so we like to go have fun with all the other little kiddos in town!

Caitlin loves this Lewis and Clark ride. It's a little scary inside as it is very dark, and some of the pieces inside are pretty banged up and old. BUT, she always wants to go on this ride, at least twice.

Cody even got to go once!

We also really like the carousel. Caitlin wanted to go on a zebra!

We went on the tiger that doesn't go up and down. I think Cody enjoyed his first ride, especially because it's somewhat breezy and he likes that feeling on his face!

Caitlin also really enjoys this motorcycle ride. Once the ride starts, each kid has a button in front of him/her that makes a pretty annoying BUZZZZZZZZZZZ sound and they each hold their finger on it the entire ride! Sheesh! I'm always glad when the time is up!

Caitlin has been going to this place for going on three years! I wish we had taken pictures in front of this sign every year, but of course we don't have any other pictures to show.

Here she is on the car ride! (I used to love rides like this when I was young. Who doesn't enjoy pretending to drive when you are too young to drive?)

Here she is on the plane ride. I'm not sure what the purpose is for those pretend guns???? This amusement park is quite old though. Maybe it's left over from WWII?

Ahhh, the frogger ride. She always wants to go on this ride. It's pretty slow and easy for the little people, but an adult can ride in the middle seat. I've never ridden it, but I think I will at some point this summer.

Lastly, here we are waiting to get on the balloon ride. This ride basically just goes up into the air and around in a few circles and then comes down. BUT, you can spin it around in your own little circle and that makes me a little queasy. I don't know when I got this weak stomach, but I sure didn't have it when I was younger!

Hopefully, there will be more photos in future blogs about this place. There are still some rides we need to get shots of, and hopefully, we can get Caitlin on the big slide and maybe the roller coaster one more time!

ROAD TRIP!

2008-06-29T11:56:00.007-07:00

Well, actually we took a little road trip down to Veneta. We had quite a time though. On the way down we saw this van. Seems like you only see things like this in the Northwest (especially on your way to Eugene).

I think you can read what his window said in here. I kind of want to check it out to see what his ad says, but it looks a little scary to me. (They really should make a bumper sticker that says, "Keep Portland Weird, Keep Eugene Weirder.")

When we actually got to Veneta we drove around a bit looking at houses and then headed on down to the strawberry patch to pick berries.

Here's Caitlin showing you the big berries we got to pick. They were all pretty ripe, even though we were right in the beginning of the season.

I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but Brenda is a serious strawberry picker. Most of the rest of us would eat a few and pick a few. Brenda would pick a bunch (very quickly) then eat one, then pick more, then eat one...

Here's Caitlin and her cousin Josiah searching for just the right spot to start picking!

Here's Cody and I trying to pick berries. I bet you can guess that this front pack didn't go over too well when you want to pick berries. He was trying to get into everything and he can't have strawberries yet (poor guy)!

This arrangement worked a little better!

This is how ripe those strawberries were! We really got there at a good time because they weren't all picked over yet and they were ripe and delicious.

Brian found one that looked like teeth! (He isn't even close to being a serious picker like his sister!)

Yep, his kids sure love him! (I think Cody looks disgruntled because he can't have any berries to eat! He's already shown that he loves blueberries.)

{I just have to tell this story about leaving the berry patch. When we got up to pay, we had FIVE buckets. Brenda had told us that we could fill them over the top because we just paid per bucket and not by any particular measure. (Apparently, that's what the people had told her last year when they picked there.) Well, we saw this older guy with his bucket piled about 8 inches OVER the top in a pretty spectacular mound. I asked Brenda if we could do that and she said, "I don't think so." ~I think I took this as a challenge. ~ Then, I asked the lady at the cash register if we could and she said we could, but it was pretty tough to get them stacked up so they would stay. So we stacked ours up so we ended up with FOUR buckets that had mounds about 3-4 inches above the rim. So, I turned to Brenda and said, "See, and you didn't think we could do this." She answered, "Well, I meant my conscience." =) }

While we were cutting the tops off these strawberries (back at Brenda's & John's house) John found one that looked like a heart (or Mickey Mouse, whichever). We had to take a photo for Aunt Brenda. (We were making that yummy, delicious freezer jam. It sure makes it hard to buy the stuff at the store again.)

Back at the house is a trampoline, which Caitlin just loves to jump on. Brian was trying to take her photo mid jump, but that proves to be very tricky.

Here she is with her pose! I asked Brian if he told her to pose, but he said no, she was just supposed to say, "CHEESE!"

That night, we were staying over so Brian gave the boys some money for fireworks. Here is Josiah with a sparkler. I'm sorry, but those are my favorite things, as boring as they might be to others!

FRIDAY!!!

On Friday, Brian and John got to go early morning fishing on the MacKenzie River (sp?). This is what they brought back:

I think John caught 6 and Brian caught 4. They look like big minnows to me.

The day was super duper HOT so we went to the Tennis Club pool to cool off.

I don't think Caitlin had any idea how silly she really did look, even without the funny face. (Her cousins were wearing goggles so she had to wear some too!)

I had to put this photo in because Cody really will let other people hold him without crying (as long as he doesn't hear my voice). Aunt Brenda keeps telling Caitlin that it took her three years to be in Caitlin's good graces. =) I think that's a slight exaggeration, but probably very slight. It's amazing how different your kiddos can be!

We really had a great time! Can't wait for the next trip!

"I feel the earth move under my feet..."

2008-06-24T17:12:00.004-07:00

Here is Caitlin enjoying the Earthquake house at OMSI. She loves this. We've had to pull her out of it just to let other kids have a turn trying the 5.6 quake or the 6.8 quake. I've only been in two earthquakes (in Palm Springs), but it was mainly sand under there so felt more like a rolling sensation than a shaking. OMSI is pretty amazing though. Anyone who wants to come visit me can go there with me and see it! There's nothing else like it that I've seen anywhere else. (Sorry this picture quality is so poor, I took it on my phone.)

Cody finally enjoyed it too! He got to play in the infant area. Now that he is crawling a little and rolling a lot, he can get around to the toys there. It was pretty nice today as it was sunny outside so not too many people were there. We had the whole infant area (which isn't that big) to ourselves, so Cody mouthed every ball he could find. Pretty gross, but what's a science museum without a few germs between strangers?

Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to post more videos. I just have to figure out how this all works! Soon, though, very soon...

Summer is HERE! YEAH!!!!!!!

2008-06-21T20:48:00.004-07:00

We have been waiting and waiting and waiting for summer. We love garage sale-ing, the sprinkler, breaking out the kiddie pool, lemonade and sunshine. After a looooooooooooong, rainy winter we've been just waiting to have some nice temperatures. Well, it looks like it might finally be here.

So, the other day we went to the "river water" (the Willamette River) to let the dogs play for awhile. As we were heading home, we saw a FREE sign (can't pass those up) and found a pink nylon bag that I thought had a chair in it. Come to find out, it had this cool cabana in it. So we popped it up and have been playing in it ever since.

Here's Cody, eating a carrot, and Caitlin drawing pictures in the cabana.

We have a blanket out there (thanks Brenda) as well as a bean bag chair, all in the name of comfort. We pretend that we live somewhere that has sunshine all year long. ha, ha, ha

We also broke out the kiddie pool. Caitlin gets to play in it first, but inevitably the dogs end up either drinking out of it, or getting their toys out of it (usually Caitlin throws them in). The water is always FREEZING too. I don't know how we can handle that cold when we are little. I sure don't do well with it now.

Casey is just learning how to retrieve from the pool without getting really wet. She always runs around the pool a few times until we say, "go get it, go on, go get it" then she starts to figure out we're not getting it for her.
We are also excited about our strawberries!

We are actually going to get a few this year. Every year we get a few more. Caitlin always ends up picking them before they are fully ripe, unless we watch her like a hawk! (I think we will even take her strawberry picking this year. Last year, blueberry picking was a big hit.)

Lastly, I had to post a few pictures of Cody and his carrot.

I was talking to my Dad on the phone while Cody was gnawing on this piece of carrot. He was trying to crawl and not lose his carrot. He kept sticking it in his mouth and then getting on his hands and knees. Of course I didn't have the camera ready and only got these two photos, but isn't he cute?

~Cody turns 8 months old~HOORAY!

2008-06-17T20:12:00.005-07:00

What a great age! We are having such fun with the little Coderton. He laughs all the time, you can change his mood with a little tickle or a funny face, and he loves his family. I want to remember him at this age. I swear, every stage he goes through, I feel like I can't remember how Caitlin was at the same time. I remember some things about her very clearly (the purple castle, laughing and loving Abby, no hair, sweet little chubby cheeks, and loving her like crazy), but I don't remember the specifics so much any more. I want to remember the stages, but it all gets so fuzzy with all the memories that get stacked on top of the old ones.
So, I'm making a list of what my kiddos do right now, here goes:
Cody ~ he rolls over and over and over everywhere. He's not fun to change anymore because he practically does gymnastics while we're trying to put his diaper back on. He laughs at every little thing we do when we're trying to make him laugh (it's sooooooooo easy). He has 8 teeth and he sure is grumpy while he's cutting them. He cries when we walk away. He doesn't sleep through the night and you'd swear he was a different kid at night because of how he whines and cries. He already seems like he loves to eat. He's started eating meats like chicken, turkey, and ham. He doesn't seem to like the corn/squash babyfood, and maybe not the beans, but everything else seems to go down pretty easily. He makes this "smacking his gums" sound/face when he sees us eating and it makes us feel guilty. He loves to ride around in the baby carrier that I wear to stores and out walking. Sometimes he looks like he's swimming while I'm walking. He has blue, blue, blue eyes and blonde hair. He thinks it's really funny when you smell his feet and tell him, "P-U!" He seems like an adrenaline junky and likes to be tossed in the air and danced around the house. He loves the songs, "I'm a little teapot," "Ring around the Rosie," and "Mama Jama" (Black eyed peas). He certainly likes to pull hair and kick his legs. He likes to play with anything that's not a toy, especially if someone else has it. He scoots backwards, but can't seem to go forwards yet. He has the best looking sad face where his bottom lip looks like the bottom half of a rectangle (I still want to capture that look on film).

He loves his sister, and she loves him!

That's a lot about Cody, now onto Caitlin~

Sheesh, she's four going on 18. That kid knows her mind and no one is going to change it. She seems so much older than four at times, but acts so much younger at others! She loves being a big sister and often brings about much laughter from Cody. She loves to sing, and dances whenever we hear live music (Woodburn Outlets, Saturday Market, on the radio in the kitchen, etc.). She's still afraid of the roller coaster at Oak's Park, but she braved a ride on it this year anyway. She's timid of physical challenges, but is so smart with intellectual ones. (Though she has started jumping off our bed.) She's a picky eater, unless it's a treat. She likes such an odd assortment of meal time food: kielbasa (kabanos is one of her favorites), dill pickles, pineapple, pears, jello, CHEESE (she's a cheesehead for sure), eggs (boiled especially), ham, salmon, crab?, shrimp, mac n' cheese, hotdogs, bagels, edamame, green beans, raw broccoli, corn on the cob, strawberries, BLUEBERRIES, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, dry cereal, apples (but not so much bananas), and most of all peanut butter and jelly (which she asks for for breakfast just about every morning). To be honest, I've just about named the whole list. She's picky and we have to make her eat her meals just about everyday. She doesn't have to be told twice to eat ice cream or any kind of candy. She really likes dried fruit in granola (especially the mango flavored pineapples). Outside of mealtime, she wants to constantly play "animals" (where we have to have an animal and she has one and we talk to each other). She absolutely loves to be outdoors, or playing with her dog Casey, or to be chased.
She's funny, silly, sweet and kind (especially when she might have hurt someone's feelings). She expresses herself so well that I can usually understand what she is talking about (like when she asked for "that silver thing for the brownie mix that has lines on it"- the wisk, for her to lick the mix off of). She has a bunch of friends, but is slow to warm up, especially when she hasn't seen them for awhile. She likes to go yard sale-ing with us and find new animals, plastic or stuffed. She loves to color ("color with me"), play with stickers, and paint (when possible). She also loves to have books read to her and has PLENTY to choose from on her bookshelves. She always shares with her Daddy, even if it's the sacred "last one." (Which always amazes me!) {Oh yeah, and she always has that chapped skin above and below her lips. I can't seem to get her to stop doing that!} She's an amazing kid, and in one month and one week, she'll be four. YOWZA!

Oh yeah, and this is how long her hair is in the back!

Father's Day

2008-06-15T21:43:00.005-07:00

This one's for Brian. He's a great Dad(dy). He always says there's nothing better in the world than to hear a child guffawing (yep, that's the word he uses a lot). It's true. He really makes the kiddos laugh. He always talks about how he can't wait to take his kids fishing or hunting, or even to watch their first t-ball games. (Sorry kids, looks like you're playing t-ball whether you like it or not!) I can't wait to watch him watch them. There is something amazing about how much you love your children. Who can help it? They can be SO EXASPERATING (as I'm positive my parents felt about me), but you can't help but love them so much it hurts sometimes. Well, who can blame a girl for loving a guy who loves like that? That being said, I'm going to post some of my favorite pictures of Brian with his kids. Hope you enjoy! (I'll try to do it chronologically.)

Brian and Caitlin (a day old). He sure did like to hold her when she slept. (He must have been pretty comfortable because we have a lot of pictures of her sleeping on him!)

He sure loved to take pictures of his pretty little girl. ("She's alright, I guess.") He loves to say this with a big fat smile on his face.

This is us around week two of having a baby. I don't think that Brian knew how much being a family guy would fit him like a glove.

Here he is with the two girls he's raising, Abby and Caitlin.

I just threw this one in there to keep you all awake. {Really Brian, what were you thinking?}

Kid number 2. (I swear I have tons of pictures of Caitlin between these times, but I don't seem to have that many of Caitlin with Brian...at least not that I can find.)

I'm so glad he got a boy too. I know that he's always hoped to have one of each to make life complete. And we did, yeah!

I just love this picture~! I think you can really see how much Caitlin looks like her Daddy (and Cody looks JUST LIKE ME!) Hee, hee

Cody really enjoys his time with his Daddy (and seems to have taken a liking to Brian's ears).

This really shows how much fun Caitlin has with her Dad. She always wants him to play some made up game of his that involves tossing kids in the air, or making faces, or some such nonsense. Caitlin just eats it up, and Brian loves to hear her larger than life laughter.

You know Brian, technically Caitlin and Cody made you a father, but you were made to be a father long before they came along. Happy Father's Day!

PUMPKIN HEAD

2008-06-12T21:43:00.003-07:00

My little sweet Caitlin...master procrastinator. I know that when I was growing up, I always wanted to put everything off (especially those long papers I had to write). I believe I've somehow passed that on to my daughter. She won't go to bed and stay there to save the world. She'll do anything to put it off one more moment! Tonight, as I was trying to get her just to go to her room and pick out her two books for me to read, she found this hat and had to put it on. I had to make myself not laugh when I asked her why she was wearing the hat and she told me that she wanted to be a pumpkin for Halloween.

(By the way, I have to put Vaseline on her just about every other night because she constantly licks her lips and chaps above and below the lip line!)

(This hat is actually for Cody made by my friend Eileen last summer. Caitlin loves to wear it though and see herself in the pictures with it.)
So, I get her to bed and read her two stories (nightly ritual). Then, after she has been in bed for about ten minutes, she gets up and HAS TO HAVE her favorite (stuffed) animal(s). You can never tell which of her animals will be her FAVORITE on any given night. Tonight it was Whopper and O.J. (an orange cat). Of course I couldn't find O.J., so I told her that we would just have to find him tomorrow. "Oh, okayyyyyyyy," she says (as if that was the ONLY toy that could possibly make bedtime happen, and she would suffer and be LONELY without him). When I went in much later to make sure the light wasn't too bright, this is what I found:

(That's Whopper on her chest.) And that orange squished cat by the pumpkin hat (under the elephant) is the one she is currently calling O.J.

Lastly, people ALWAYS tell us to enjoy this time when they are little...it goes so fast. (I would seriously be RICH if I got $100 for every time someone has said that to us!) I know it's true. As agitated as I might get trying to get Caitlin in bed and have her STAY THERE, I know that someday I will miss her 101 excuses for why she is out of bed. ("I'm thirsty, can I just have some water?" "I'm lonely because my animals don't talk to me." "Casey won't let me sleep." "My light's too bright (or not bright enough)." "I have to go potty." "Can't I just stay up with you?" "Can't I sleep in your room?" "When Daddy gets home, can you just tell him...(this one is always something new)." She sure is a stinker, but I know that I do treasure her little personality and her imagination!

Cody eats bugs

2008-06-10T21:31:00.003-07:00

{Just a quick question...who does he look more like? Me or Brian?}

Ha, ha! Cody was enjoying the feel of Caitlin's ladybug today. He is teething something awful and has been chewing on whatever is handy. This bug seems to be a favorite of his. I'm just making a quick entry because I thought this was cute. Not much else was happening, obviously! Enjoy the photos!

Blazin' Trails (and stuff...)

2008-06-08T16:56:00.004-07:00

Today it was finally warm! By warm, I mean high 60's, but I'm not complaining. It's been raining for days, and when it hasn't been raining, it's still been overcast. Luckily, today it's been blue skies and warm sunshine, so yardwork time!

Brian always likes to give Caitlin a trail to follow when he's mowing the lawn. Caitlin loves to run on it. (It was such a nice day today that we had to get SOME yard work done. )

Today she decided to take her "dog" for a walk (run) on the path. We just got this one at a yard sale and it walks and barks when she pushes a button.

She is also really into her cowboy hat right now. Isn't she cute in it though?

I think Cody was a little jealous of her hat.

"Hey, can I borrow that, sis?"

Though his is pretty cute too, for a golfer.

Oh, yeah, we also finally finished painting the wall blue in our spare room (which will someday be Cody's room, we hope). We figured people weren't comfortable staying over with us because our wall was just a blob of blue, with no real definition. = ) It's done now! Whew!

These last two photos were really for Diane. She was always wondering (out loud) when we might get that wall painted. It probably hurt Brenda too, seeing there all blobby and unfinished. Well, no more! Come on over and enjoy my finished masterpiece. heh, heh!

Grand Floral Parade!

2008-06-07T15:25:00.006-07:00

Caitlin LOVES parades! We took her to her first one when she was two years old (the little Macy's parade the day after Thanksgiving). Anyway, I'm always happy for her to see all the great floats and marching bands. She gets so excited, dancing and singing, having a great time. We decided to go to this "big" one just yesterday. We had to get up early so we could get downtown before all the streets closed. We parked at Brian's work and walked a few blocks to find a place to sit. I brought a blanket (duh?) while everyone else had folding chairs. {How was I supposed to know how hard concrete would be after four hours of sitting on it? The parades I'm used to are either over in an hour (4th of July in Caledonia), or you don't sit down, you try to catch beads (Mardi Gras)!}

Anyway, I'll know better next time. Here are some photos!

Here is Bri and the kiddos sitting on a blanket while everyone else has a comfy chair! The show got started late because the lead float broke down right when the parade started. (The parade route started on the other side of the river!) We waited for almost two hours until we saw the first float! Here it is:

It was a cool dinosaur float. All the floats have to be covered in organic material, so everything that's not a flower is seeds, or greenery or something of that nature. They are quite amazing!

Here's Caitlin jumping and dancing as we listened to the marching bands play. She loves the music. Almost got mowed down a few times.

We were sitting by our friend Zach (tall guy behind Margaux) and his fiancee, plus the family she nanny's for. It was a good spot, but right near the end of the parade route.

This is what Margaux thought of what the horses left behind. Sure was STINKY!

Here's Caitlin dancing to the beat (and getting right out there by the band).

Here's the cool space shuttle float. It poofed out smoke from the pipes you see on the side.

There were GREAT looking pirates (very realistic) walking in front of the pirate float. Caitlin even spoke to a few. {They just said, "ARG" to her and stuff.)

This was a great Johnny Depp looking float. The flowers were amazing, truly.

This was one great parade!

Groovy Girl

2008-06-05T17:20:00.003-07:00

Here's our little Caitlinator. She has always liked wearing hats and sunglasses (thankfully). We can usually pick her up a few pairs during the summer at garage sales. The ones in the following pictures are one of my favorite pairs on her. She always looks like a girl from the 60's.

She does like to pose for the camera! She put the glasses on herself, which is why she has that groovy hair under the side of her glasses. Love this look!

We've always thought she would be some type of vet as she LOVES (and I mean LOVES) animals. But in this picture, I can see her being a sunglasses model.

I was trying to get her to pose in this one, but she wanted to take a bite of her graham cracker instead. This is pure Caitlin, never really does what I ask her to do, but usually does some variance of it.

Cody's first haircut!

2008-06-04T20:12:00.005-07:00

Sheesh, I finally did it. I took shears to my baby's oddly few curly locks. I hope he is not mistaken for a girl any longer, but still remains my little cutie, "Cody Coderton." We took some before and after shots, and I must admit, I might have gotten some of my Daddy's skills as a barber. (He's not a barber, but used to cut my brothers' hair.) Anyway, take a look and leave a comment (har, har) to let me know how I did!

Before:

"I don't know if I want to get a haircut, Mom!"

{Curly locks, just on the sides of his head. It's cute, but not exactly boyish!)

During:

Hair pile:

After - Voila!

What do you think? Pretty cute, eh?

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS

2008-06-04T03:36:00.003-07:00

I don't know how to get people to leave comments, but if I have to threaten an end to the blog, I will. You all know how easily bored I get. You know that if no one encourages me (by leaving comments) I will probably get bored. You know once I get bored, I stop my artistic pursuit. (This blog is somewhat of an artistic undertaking, isn't it?) Sooooo, don't you think you should leave a comment, or two?

Roller Derby

2008-06-03T13:10:00.005-07:00

Oaks Park is a wonderful place for toddlers! During the summers, they have "Toddler Time" two mornings a week, from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m., where all the kiddie rides are open for toddlers and parents get in free.

During the "winter," on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings they have roller skating just for kids under 6 years old. Parents are given free admission and fun is had by all. Today was our first time at the roller rink. Brian said that he used to be an ace skater "back in the day." But, I didn't get to see too many moves because Caitlin was trying to decide if she liked roller skating OR NOT. We're still not sure.

This is Caitlin trying to keep her balance while practicing on carpet with Brian (her coach).

Here they go in the real rink. This is the largest roller skating surface roller rink out there. (I think just in America?) There is also a huge pipe organ above (in the middle of the floor). I would like to go back when the guy plays on it. It's supposed to be really incredible. (Probably not as good as my brother John though! hee, hee)

Caitlin enjoying herself as she sits on the bench and hangs on the bar.

Luckily, her friend Margaux (and Margaux's Dad, Paul) showed up and it at least SEEMED more fun after that.

Here Brian is trying to help two little uncoordinated kids learn how to glide on their skates. They did pretty well, all in all.

Here's "the gang" supposedly getting a "lesson" on roller skating from the roller lady. (I have to say, as a side note, that Paul seemed to be having the most fun. He only had ever ice skated before, but seemed to really like how easily his roller skates glided on this hardwood floor.)

Margaux was just her usual self, dare devil, try anything little tyke. She did end up on the floor a few times, but we found out later that one of her wheels didn't move. She sure is a tough little kid!

We had a great time and will probably go back for THE LAST WEEK of roller skating next week. The week after that the amusement park opens again. {Caitlin told us that she is going to ride the roller coaster this year!!!!}

Barbeque Fever

2008-06-02T22:27:00.005-07:00

We sure wish summer would start sometime soon. When Brian has an evening off, we tend to barbeque because it's nice to have dinner off the grill AND it usually gets us outside. Today started off with somewhat OKAY weather, but by the time we got that grill uncovered, it had started to rain. Since we had invited our friends: Anne, Paul, and Margaux (Caitlin's friend), over we decided to just go with it. Brian put the grill under the front porch cover and away we went.

We didn't get any great pictures of the food, but there sure was enough! We had steak, chicken legs, steamed (burnt) broccoli, grilled peppers and onions, and mashed potatoes. I don't think anyone left the table hungry.

The girls (when they are together at our house) have to get dressed up in their princess outfits. Caitlin, I doubt, will ever be a tiara girl, I think she likes cowboy hats better. Caitlin dressed up in her Ariel costume, while Margaux was Belle. They were both cute watching "The Last Unicorn."
{By the way Sammy or Caleb, the hat will make its way back to you at some point!}

Favorite things...

2008-06-01T15:59:00.001-07:00

{These photos were taken during our Anniversary weekend - April 24th and 25th, 2008.}

Brian really wanted me to put up some photos of us at the coast. We LOVE the coast. We love the unbelievably frigid water, especially on hot days. (It actually doesn't feel so cold when it's 90 degrees outside!) We love watching Caitlin chase seagulls, the dogs chase sticks (mainly Casey, Abby is getting old and decrepit), and our family have fun together. Even Cody seems to enjoy it, though the wind at times makes him gasp. So, I'm going to post a few photos that are somewhat recent. Hope you enjoy!

This is a shot of the ocean as the sun is going down. It's just amazing the sky show you get out there. That little stream flowing out to the ocean is fun for Caitlin and her rubber boots! She likes to put her floating duckies in there and race them.Here is a photo that some nice couple took of the whole family. We never really get those pictures. You can see how much our dogs look alike. Everyone always asks about them. They sure love the water, almost as much as Caitlin.Here is a picture shot when the tide was low and you can see all the clams stuck on those rocks. It sure is rather gross up close. I hit some barnacles off a rock and something squishy lives inside. I didn't grow up near the ocean, was I really supposed to know barnacles had things LIVING in them? Yick!Here we are braving the freezing cold water. You can only stand in the water so long before your feet start to hurt. We do like running from the waves though.

These last two are from last fall sometime (don't exactly remember when). But, it's Caitlin doing her favorite chasing game. She sure is a cutie pie, isn't she?

Well, we will keep you updated with more photos as time goes on. We have hundreds (it seems) of pictures of us by water. Once I can figure out how to post a short clip (movie) I'll do it. Those are more fun anyway.

Take me out to the ballgame...

2008-05-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

We went out to a Beaver's (minor league) game tonight. We forgot the camera (of course) so no great photos or anything, but a little write up at least.

We HARDLY watched the game. We took Caitlin's little friend Margaux (and Margaux's Dad - Paul- came as well), so we ended up dividing our time between keeping them occupied (chasing them down or bouncy castle in the Kidz Zone), and getting food. Isn't that always the way it is? I couldn't even tell you what the score was, who was winning, or which team was actually the Beavers (navy uniforms or white? who knows?). It was entertaining. The seats were about 1/40th full (if that) and we ended up sitting up on the picnic tables by the fence. At one point, there was a foul ball (but grounder) and the team guy that fielded it threw it up to the stands where we were sitting. It about hit a poor old guy in a wheelchair (wouldn't that have been a fiasco?), and two kids ended up getting it. I could have taken them both down and gotten the ball, but I restrained myself. = )

Anyway, it was fun and enlightening. I doubt we will do it again until the kiddos are older. Luckily, we got to use our Entertainment book coupons, so the tickets were all half price. There are some benefits to that book. Sure wish we had brought the camera. What am I gonna' fill this blog with, my own jibber jabber and no photos. Can't imagine anyone is going to read it then. Until next time, with a camera!

Crazy Hats

2008-05-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

What happens when the family has been inside too long due to relentless rain? Photo shoots, that's what! We went and found our craziest hats and each tried on a different one. I had to take the photos, so I didn't get to be in on the shots. My subjects sure did pose well though, didn't they?

Roughin' It

2008-05-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Well, to all those that know me, I'm here to tell you I won't be put in a BOX! ha, ha Last week, Brian, Caitlin, Cody and I went camping. I'm not talkin' MY idea of camping (camper, running water, bathrooms, showers, campsites close to each other so you can smell what's grillin'), nope, I'm talkin' Brian's idea of camping. It's called "Roughin' It." Yep, caps and all. He wants us to go out into the woods (where there might be bears), pop a tent, sleep on the ground, roast all food over a campfire, and maybe fish a line or two in a nearby stream or river. That sounds all nice and rustic, but sometimes falls short of fun when you have a 3 year old, a 7 month old and two dogs that bark at everything that moves.

I shouldn't complain. It wasn't all bad. I do like hotdogs burned over an open fire. I LOVE (all caps for sure) s'mores. Plus, being near a running stream has always had a nice soothing effect on my senses. It was fun to bond as a family, even though Brian spent a LOT of time hunting for wood pieces that weren't wet, to keep our campfire blazing away. (One time to the luck of our dog, Casey, who snuck our breakfast sausage.) We went on a short hike down the logging road and the scenery was fantastic!

It was a good time. Caitlin and Cody seemed to take it all very well. I think the hardest part was waking up and turning over right into the WET side of the tent. Really not a good feeling when you are tired and grumpy from sleeping on the hard ground. But, all in all, we had fun and that's why we did it. Enjoy the photos!