Road Trip

Last weekend Jacy and I loaded the kids in the car and headed to Walla Walla for our ten year college reunion. Jacy and I had been planning our trip with our good friends, Holly and Ron, for the last year. We had a hoot eating at the Iceburg and Clarette's and wandering around Walla Walla and College Place. It was a great weekend of memories and fun.

Birthdays

Yesterday was my birthday. My favorite thing about having a birthday is that my family is so excited about it. Toddo woke me up singing and was thrilled all day that it was my special time. Jacy made me steak kabobs and my mom took the day off from work to enjoy the day with me. The very best part of the day is the phone calls. I love that every one in my extended

family calls to chat for a few moments, wish me a good day and tell me they love me. What a gift!

Today would have been Steph's 25th birthday! I would love to call her.

The birthday call from those you love is a tribute. It's saying, "Hey, I appreciate that you are a part of my family and I love you so much". We can't call Steph, but we do send tribute to her today in lots of different ways. Whether it is a stop at the cemetery or a trip to Starbucks for a tall, vanilla, Americano, we are thinking of her and loving her. I will be sitting with my Americano later this morning just waiting for an adorable firefighter to pass by, it will be part of my tribute!

Nighty Night

Some days I just can't wait to get the kids into their jams and off to dreamland so I can read my book, watch Jon and Kate +8, play a game with Jacy or BLOG. Selfish? Maybe! But a mommy needs her downtime. Another reason I like to get those kids to bed is because they are so darn cute fast asleep. I love to sneak into Todd and Wylie's room and see their peaceful little faces conked out on their pillows. Last night when I tip toed into Todd's room to kiss him he was fast asleep STANDING up. He is a little more comfy in the picture I took of him in my bed cozied with Wylie over the weekend. Nighty night boys!

Wylie Gets a Haircut

Wylie does not like to get his hair cut. My nice friend at the salon works with me every time I get his hair trimmed. I drive around until he is asleep and then he lays on my chest and she cuts as much as she can. When he wakes up she cuts the rest while he screams. This time the phone rang and he was awake for the whole deal and not too happy with me. We finally bribed him with two cars, a lollipop and a whole bunch of crackers. He eventually calmed down, but nothing could convince him that we needed those silly bib things. He and I looked like cavemen by the time she was done with the clippers, very hairy indeed. Next time will be easier, maybe!

Happy Birthday to Jacy

Today is Jacy's 32nd birthday. We started the celebration at Tully's over coffee/tea this morning and then Jacy was off to work. He said the root canal and bridge prep he did this morning were great bday presents. Happy Birthday!!!

Just call me JAWS!

Today I changed from a sweet little boy to a biting toddler in one second. I was playing at the Supermall play area this morning and someone got in my way. I sunk my little fangs right into his arm. Now, I was provoked with a slight nudge, but mommy says that is no reason to bite anyone. I was in BIG trouble. First mommy apologized, then I had to pretend to apologize and then mommy apologized again. I wasn't very sorry until I had to put on my shoes and leave the play area. Mommy says biters don't get to play with other kiddos, they have to sit in their strollers while mommies shop.

The sky's NOT blue, let's go to the zoo...

Last year the zoo started a great ad campaign to encourage people to visit the zoo on rainy days. It worked! Not only do we visit the zoo on gray days, but we sing our own version of the song while we dash through puddles and run to the next indoor exhibit. Today ended up being a lovely blue sky day, although we did sing our song as walked down the path away from the gorillas. Here is Todd's fave version of the song - The sky's not blue let's go to the zoo, we can see the monkeys flinging their poo. Hee hee hee.
Since we go to the zoo every couple of weeks, we discuss at the end of the day something we saw that was new to us or something we learned. Today we learned a lot about bears from Miss Judy, the bear lady. We also learned what squirrel poo looks like when we came out of a building and it was all over our stroller. I am thinking of a new verse to the song, Todd is going to love it!

Bless This Mess

This is Todd's room. I remember as a kid having a disaster of a room and Jacy recalls the same state of disarray in his childhood space. I can honestly say that Todd's room is at least a productive mess. He is actually playing with all of those toys at once. His highly developed sense of imagination incorporates every single little detail of his room into a fantasy world of animal rescue, pirate treasures, book store ownership and mystery solving. Throw his entire set of bedding on the floor, cover with every little Playmobil toy he has, add a generous pile of books he looked at during rest time and turn on a very loud book on CD and you have Todd's comfy space.

God bless him and the mess, but I will be helping him clean it later.

What's an amble????

Jacy, my loving husband, just asked me what "amble" means. UGGGG. I hate my new blog's name, but I can't change it without throwing out the whole deal and I am not doing that now! Anywho, if anyone ever reads this, "amble" means "to walk slowly in a relaxed way". That's kind of what I am doing right now in life. I have a very small house (simple to clean) , 2 easy kids, a relaxed husband and lots of family around that like my kids and want to spend time with them. I am ambling and it's very nice. It also fits a lot better than the other "amb...." words I found in the dictionary like ambulatory, ambrosia or amblyopia. So, I will continue to amble.

Baby Marisa

Yesterday Todd and I went to spend the evening with Kristen and new baby Marisa Rose. We cozied and cozied our favorite new baby. It is so nice to sit and hold a precious, new baby and not wonder how many times they are going to wake you up in the middle of the night. I was so neurotic with both of my babies that I always had a sense of dread in the back of my head about what could go wrong with them. I can enjoy Marisa with a rational brain. She is perfect, smells lovely and I don't have to worry about her college fund. What a lovely treat!