Caity's creations...

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!

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...

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...

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

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...

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!

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!)

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...

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.