the reason for no pics

Jeremy got back from being in Laos yesterday afternoon.  He's had the camera for 10 days.  Now that he is back and alive, I feel safe putting that on the Internet.

He called it an adventure of a lifetime.  I'm still not entirely sure what he did.  I was trying to get him to tell me about his trip when he was very jet lagged and had only slept maybe 2 hours in the past 24 hours.

He flew from Seattle to Bangkok starting April 25, but I think it took 2 days to actually get to Laos.  After giving him a hard time about not going to Thailand without me, he ended up going anyways.  He says it's because he didn't calculate the dates right.  Hmph.  He spent a day in Thailand.  He liked the papaya salad and seafood he ate there.   Went to visit a big temple there.  Mentioned he wanted to go to a seashell museum in his email to me saying he was still alive, but didn't recount that when he actually got back here.  He did say he resisted the temptation to go to the beach or ride an elephant in Thailand.  And that Bangkok was a bit of a disappointment to him since it was very metropolitean and there were so many people and tourists around from all over the world.  Sounded a bit like New York in that respect.  Apparently most people there looked at him and saw American, not Asian.  Yep.  I agree.

He spent most of his time with a guy named Jordan, who somehow knew him while they worked at Omniture.  Do not ask me how they hooked up for this trip.  I'm very confused about it, too, but somehow they did.  And this Jordan dude knows another dude from his current work at REI here who set up some of the trips plans that Jeremy and Jordan did together.  Some of the time Jeremy was with them and some of the time Jeremy was wandering around in the country doing his own thing.

Jeremy spent most of his time hiking from a nearby spot from the capital of Laos to another town Luang Prabang.  Through the jungle.  He said he saw some bears.  I'll include the photo of that.  They stayed between some mountains and a river for their bearings.  When they would come into random towns, they would eat street food.  He said he liked that.

Some other specific stories he had was a night he decided to stay in a hotel that had been converted from something else.  It wasn't uniform.  A lizard was in his room.  I think Tucker would think that is cool.   He kept slipping in the tub and the water went from hot to cold.

He got up to see the monks being fed in a particular town and had some pictures of that.

I know he went up and down the river in Bangkok and took a ferry to the temple (I think).

He also mentioned how he met a couple (I don't know where) and the woman was six months pregnant, miserable, and "snappy".  I can only imagine, in that heat.  Apparently Jeremy smiled when she made the comment to her hubby it was all his fault.  Husband of mine, are you remembering that I'm eight months pregnant?

He said his favorite thing about coming home was seeing us get excited about the presents he picked out.  And that I wasn't as grumpy as he was anticipating.  Thank you grumpy woman half way around the world for putting into perspective for him how awesome I am!  Whitney and Tucker were very interested in seeing all of his pictures and hearing about his trip.  And he did pick some very good soveniers.  Things that we would all like and not just candy that will be eaten and forgotten about.

If anything more cognicent comes out of his mouth this next week, I'll be sure to write it down, but I'm not too hopeful.  He's back into the work schedule again this week, probably busy with being gone.

The other cute things Tucker and Whitney did this week that I haven't mentioned, I have no pictures of.  But that's ok.

Tucker decided one afternoon to wear my flipflops instead of his to the mail box.  Amazingly, he can walk fairly well in them.  It made me laugh.  I also got a sheet of masonite so he can practice tap dancing.  He really liked it.  Lots of noise that is ok to make.  Jeremy also thought Tucker might be able to copy some of the stuff I do on the piano.  He practiced with Tucker and was right.  Tucker pushed the right keys after him.

I also didn't realize that I've never brought my kids through a carwash before and that I, myself, am a little rusty.  You know what happens if you don't follow directions?  The car wash stops, the guy comes to ask you to roll down your soapy windows while his mouth is full of food because he thought he was going to get a break while you were in the machine, and tells you to put it in neutral.  Hah!  I forgot about that.  Apparently leaving it in drive puts you off track.  And I didn't look for signs while I was rolling up all the windows.  Whatever.  Whitney got scared while we were in the carwash.  It was kind of dark going through all those sloshing things.  I held her hand.  I later heard them playing carwash and part of it was Whitney holding Tucker's hand to comfort him while he put his car through the "carwash".

Whitney spent 40 minutes coloring in nursery yesterday.  Apparently they talked about families and the family sheet they gave them to color matches ours.  A brother, sister and baby brother.  When I came to pick her up, she was showing baby brother in my stomach the baby brother she had painstakingly colored.  Tucker did an amazing outline of his hand on his own.  He went to nursery this time, but only with Whitney holding his hand.

I think most of the pics with people are in Thailand and the scenery ones are Laos.

bears on the trail. apparently already eating

on the trail.  probably why he wanted to go. 

market pic

feeding the monks

market pic

on the trail

working on a wat

mural at a wat

river scenery

farmer field

housing in a village along the trail

mountains

This is one that whitney liked

Too hot.  Need to bring your own shade

gardens Jeremy liked

last week of adventure

I decided to be really crazy and travel.  But believe me,  I have no desire to travel after this for another year.  I'm pretty sure.  Until next February when I really start missing the sun again....

Anyway,  my youngest brother graduated from college.  Trust me.  This is no small miracle.  So I decided to go out and witness said miracle.  I didn't actually see it, but my mom saved me the program.  His graduation where they called his name started at 8 pm.  Bedtime.  No worries.  I knew I'd miss it due to crankiness, both on my part and my kids, but it was still fun to see the family.

After that graduation, I decided to visit a friend that lives 2 hours away if I was going to go all that way.  We stayed with her most of the week, and here are the cute things Tucker and Whitney did during this trip.

We stayed at a hotel with a pool the night of the graduation.  Heated.  Indoor.  It was lovely!!  This is the first time where having a hotel with a pool is a big deal for our kids.   They didn't realize the fun of it until a little later.  The pool was the first thing I showed them.  Even before our room for the night.  Whitney kind of looked at it, but Tucker walked in and started acting like it was a self flushing toilet or port o potty.  He was saying "I don't need to!!" and "I don't want to!!" as soon as we walked in.  I guess swim lessons were a little more traumatic on him than I realized.  He had no desire to get in without me.  Grandpa got in with him first, but after he saw Whitney get in the floatie and play with Grandpa.  He was much more content when I got in the pool, too.

They both ended up playing in there for at least an hour and a half, maybe two.  Thank heavens for grandpas.  My dad stayed in with them the whole time.  They liked making big splashes and the floatie most of all.

My grandpa, whom I call Papa came to the graduation.  This was a bit frustrating for Whitney.  All this "my papa" and "your papa" was a bit much for her, I guess.  Finally, she said.  "No, Mom.  Just Jeremy"  when I referred to her dad as her papa.   She also figured out this week my first name, that Mommy isn't my only title.  She was pretty proud of herself for that.

Some of their favorite activities have been playing "in the dog house", picking flowers, taking care of their bulbs, smashing rocks, and playing with the other kids and their toys.  They are learning a lot from the bigger kids.  I heard Whitney talking to herself while in the bathroom listing out all the Mommy stuff she can do to help the other kids playing doggie.  Put the dish in the oven, go get the toys for the other dogs, give them cookies and water, etc.  She really enjoyed playing Mommy doggie to all the other kids in the "dog house"

My friend's oldest boys take clogging lessons.  So we went to watch.  I was surprised how long Tucker and Whitney wanted to watch them do the same dance over and over again.  This past week after we got back, I discovered Whitney is big enough to fit in the tap shoes I found second hand.  But Tucker is the one that wants to stuff his wide feet in those shoes and dance with me onstage when I'm at clogging.  I guess he really likes the noise and the music.  Ok.  Tucker it is. 

The dog house is the hide out name for a corner of the attic that is carpeted and lit.  Most of the kids went around on all fours, barking, while they played this for a good hour.

Tucker saw one of the kids get up on the trapeze swing.  He had to try it and figured out how to do it.  Another thing that really surprised me is that Tucker chose to stay inside after lunch for an hour playing with toys while Whitney went outside to be with her new friend.  That is quite the reverse of what happens at home!

Our big adventure for the week was to ride the train to a planetarium.  It involved getting everyone in the car to get to the train station.  That took an hour.  We just missed the train (someone stepped in dog poop, something that wasn't calculated into the usual taking forever) so we ate lunch while waiting for the next train.  Probably a good idea.  It made for a relaxing and happy train ride and walk to the planetarium before it was snack time.  Which was pretty much as soon as we walked in the doors at the planetarium.  That is one good thing about being pregnant.  Instead of getting annoyed with always dealing with food, I'm right there with them and totally agree it is snack time....... again.

Our car was in the parking lot all day while we were at the planetarium.  I had to laugh.  Whitney is obviously a WA kid.  We got in the car and she kept asking me over and over to turn off her heater.  The car wasn't on yet.  The windows were up because it was really cold outside.  I couldn't figure out what she meant, but I finally figured out that she thought I had the heater on full blast for how warm the car was.  Yeah.  I guess that doesn't usually happen at home.

In the planetarium there was this three story high machine thing that kept tons and tons of ping pong sized balls moving using gravity for the most part.  The only motorized part was the elevator that brought them to the top.  The balls hit and bounced all over all sorts of levers and chimes.  Tucker couldn't take his eyes off it.  He stood in one spot holding the lunch suitcase (which is what you need with 7 kids, one pregnant lady and one nursing mom full) for about 1/2 hour.  After that, he let go of the suit case and sat down to watch.

While Tucker stared in a daze similar to video games, Whitney and I checked out all the other displays about planets.  She grasped the concept of the world globe look from space while we were there.  I realized this on the way home when we turned on a video in the car and the Universal Studio song with the world turning came on and Whitney said "the world!"  She was also more interested in her globe when she got home.

She discovered Jesus on the globe near the Sao Pablo Brazil dot and got excited about that.  I think that is where she thinks Rocky and Sammy live.  I tried to explain Rocky and Sammy live with Jesus and Heavenly Father above the earth.  Not sure if that sunk in.  Only that Rocky and Sammy got old.  Then she asks me what old means.  That one really has me stumped.  I haven't figured out a good way to explain it yet because she keeps asking me that.  That and how is baby brother going to pop out of my stomach.  She is looking for a window and doesn't like my answer for that one either.  Bah humbug.  How does a 3 year old stump you so fast?

So, as you might be able to tell, Rocky and Sammy passed away April 17th.  The vet recommended lots and lots of meds for Sammy or putting down both together.  Rocky wasn't doing so hot either, but Sammy is the reason Jeremy brought them to the vet in the first place.  Stopped eating, falling down while walking down the hall with no obsticles, and suddenly seemed to go blind and deaf in a short period of time.  Not to mention other symptoms.

He did it while we were out of town.  It was kind of weird to come home and they weren't there anymore.  I stepped over where they used to sleep automatically for a few days.  The lack of noise was different.  My neighbor came and knocked on the door, but I didn't hear it for the lack of barking I'm accustomed to listen for.  The bunnies like it.  They have new plants to eat as there is no longer guarded territory.

Whitney talked about how Sammy and Rocky got old for about day and where they live.  Tucker must have internalized it.  Or doesn't get it.  He hasn't mentioned it.  Or doesn't seem phased, just content to listen to Whitney and I talk about it.  I'm not sure he's really processed it.  In the two weeks since we've been home, a few things have happened that make me think he doesn't get it. 

One time Whitney dropped play dough on the floor.  Tucker wasn't happy with her doing that.  He asked her if she wanted Sammy to eat it.  Whitney yelled back that there is no Sammy.  Another heart wrencher was the UPS guy.  There is a delivery guy that always leaves two dog treats, one for each dog.  He left them for them a couple of days ago.  Tucker didn't know what to do.  He was sure Sammy and Rocky were in the backyard and went looking for them to give them their treats.  He didn't see them at the back door, so he went outside.  Still couldn't find them.  So I tried explaining again.  He looked at me and said "I'm not a dog, so I don't need these treats".  The first few days we got back Tucker still held his food high above his head getting it to the table so no dogs would eat it.  He has recently stopped holding his food up.  Maybe it is sinking in.

The car trip was an adventure both ways for different reasons.  Overall I was surprised at how well they did traveling so much.

On the way out I thought we were never going to get over the mountains.  Whitney apparently gets car sick.  Didn't know that about her.  Either that or she was not used to the swaying of a van going over mountain roads.  Once we got on straight roads, though, she was fine.

I broke up the driving over three days.  Jeremy drove me 8 of 12 hours on the way out, then the whole way on the way home.  The other two times I drove with Tucker and Whitney, they were very patient and not demanding, which was good, since I had no more hands.  Whitney collected rocks at all the stops.

One the way back we made really good time for the first 9 hours.   So we thought we shouldn't push our luck and stopped for awhile.  We found a random old school playground that has a merry go round and swings with very long chains still left.  Jeremy might have gotten a little carried away.  Tucker got sick and was green for about 45 minutes after the last merry go round ride.  Jeremy thought it was funny.  I didn't.  Driving over the pass on the way back no one got sick.  Probably because it was white knuckle driving over the pass with the amount of rain coming down.  Glad I wasn't driving and don't know how we didn't get in a wreck.  I couldn't see the lines and there was lots of construction cones, plus someone tailgating us, making it extra hard to see.  Phew!  We're alive and glad to be home.

Whitney made me "birthday cake" by putting rocks in her upside Frisbee and putting on my "birthday hat", turning her small bucket upside down.  Tucker got in on the fun and found rocks that were fruit, since he knows how much I love that, too.  He served me on his Frisbee in between throws.

Jim showed them his trilobite collection from when we lived in Utah.  Wow.  Were they attentive.  Very fascinated by it.  Tucker liked the "buggies".  Whitney continues to mention that papa wants to bring her to the beach to collect rocks.  That was part of their conversation while he was showing her rocks.  I think she thinks she is going to find a rock like that.  He also showed them some of his topaz.  That was also very exciting.

I was a bit distracted when dinner started today.  No worries.  Tucker took care of it.  He told Whitney to stop eating so he could say the prayer.  This was very surprising because Tucker is the most irreverent one when it comes to prayer time.  He usually talks loud and silly and gets one thing in so he can move on to the next thing, meal time.

Another surprise is that he opted for Mommy snuggle over food and toys.  For some reason he didn't want to go to nursery. My theory is that he didn't like breakfast and thus didn't have enough food to make it through church not grumpy.  I told him he could go to nursery and have snacks and food, or he could sit on my lap and sit through my classes.  Amazingly to me he chose to sit on my lap.  He was very quiet and snuggly.  I thought he was deathly ill and kept checking his forehead for a temp, but nothing.  I guess he just needed a bit of Mommy time.  After class was over he asked for food and told me I "need to go get Whitney"  When we got to nursery, Whitney said she "waited and waited a long time for Tucker", but she had fun in nursery because she had a happy day.  She did.  She was very, very well behaved today in church.

Whitney is trying to figure out the seasons.  I must admit, it's a bit confusing here.  This week it was "warm" enough to have short sleeves on and flip flops.  Not really, but we pretend.  Today the sun came out after the morning rain, so Whitney was convinced it was short sleeve weather, due to the sun.  Not quite.  Still 55 degrees.  Then she started saying "what comes after winter?", "what comes after spring?" "what comes after summer?", etc.  I don't know Whitney.  It all seems the same here.

This is what Tucker did during Aaron's baptism.  He was having a very hard time being reverent so I let him finish the entire sheet of stickers.  He was very amused with his belly.

Sarah and Whitney smashing rocks together.  Sarah was smashing off parts of a geode.  They did this for about an hour

The hideout.  Or doggie house.  Another source of entertainment for long periods of time

watching the birds build their nest just outside the window

Tucker perched on top of the playhouse.  He didn't like Starlight coming up to sniff him too much, so this is where his refuge was when she was out.  I guess he's afraid of dogs bigger than him, even though he has his own dogs.

Tucker stepping me through how he can put his own coat on now.  He puts his hood on and then slips his arms through.

Sarah dug up a bunch of flowers and their bulbs to send home with Whitney.  These are the cups they replanted the bulbs in so they could be transported back with Whitney.  They were watching the dirt get wet after water was added

Reading at the library

Sarah did Whitney's hair.  Whitney felt very beautiful

Tucker playing cars with baby brother.  One of his favorite cars to borrow from Henry

Whitney snuggling baby brother

Mommy downing a malt so she didn't have to share too much.  Tucker already ate his ice cream cone and was salivating

Whitney coloring and waiting to be fed more ice cream

Riding the train

All the tulips!

more tulips

Tucker shaking the chain around the tulips

A potentially dangerous combo.  These two were behaving and being cute at the moment, but I don't know about those vixen faces......

Tucker and Henry.  Unmoving.  Fascinated for at least 15 minutes.  In this exact position

Tucker on the "moon"

Whitney on "Mars".  She really, really liked these rocks

Tucker still lugging the lunch box around

Getting into trouble and having an absolute blast.  Note: Henry and Tucker each have a Thomas.  They bashed these together throughout the day.  They threw all the clean clothes on the floor to climb up on the dresser and threw out a bunch of shoes and Henry's toys.  Made a general disaster of the room and disobeyed the climbing rule.  Did you see any of that in the pic?



Whitney reading the map.  She is telling Papa how to get to the playground.  Papa wasn't following directions, so Whitney drew him a map to get to the playground.  It had lots of pink markings in lots of squiggles.  We ended up turning around a bunch and making turns, so I guess it was an accurate map.  Jeremy was surprised Whitney grasped so many map concepts.  I got a good laugh about that.  Duh.  How much Dora did Whitney watch when he was in charge a few weekends back?

Tucker played with this propeller on this plane quite a long time in the car.  I think that was money well spent, Papa.  Also a good shot of Tucker's car face

on the merry go round.  should have been named Mr. Toad's wild ride.  tucker was green for about 45 minutes after this and threw up a bunch. 

Learning to pump with Papa

Tucker played with this helicopter for a long time, letting the blades (they are made of foam) hit his face or head.  He also has on "flip flop sock", something else he invented on this long car trip back

One remarkable thing about the car trip.  Tucker truly has a bladder of steel.  And he is still deathly afraid of self flushing toilets or port o potties.  Just as we crossed the OR border, Tucker asked to go potty.  so we stopped at the first rest stop.  It was really nice.  Had automated everything.  So Tucker opted to hold it.  Along with every other rest stop in OR.   I can't believe it.  He held it all the way across that section of OR until we got to a less updated rest stop in WA.  Good thing we only cut through a corner of it.

Since we've been back, I haven't taken any pics.  More on that later. So I'll just add a bunch more text to this already long blog. 

We've been trying to web cam with my parents.  Not working out so well.  Jeremy's web cam doesn't have sound.  Mine doesn't have video to send to my parents (we can see them).  So now that Scott has the ipad, my parents want to do face time.  But before all that, we were trying to fix the camera on my computer.  Tucker was being very helpful during this.  While we were working on it Tucker said "Click that one.  Here, I'll help you fix it!"

When Whitney woke up while we were in Utah, she smiled and said "Look Mom!  I'm a quesadilla!"  I didn't do burrito once with them.

I bought Tucker a change of sheets finally.  Too much snot throw up and no sheet to put on the bed while washing it.  I didn't realize what a big thing it was going to be.  The cutest, least expensive option happened to be the microfiber sheets.  Oh dear. As soon as I put those on Tucker's bed, it was lots of fighting.  Whitney no longer wanted to feel her sheets.  She wanted to sit on Tucker's bed and feel his.  Which meant lots of him kicking and hitting her because she wouldn't get off his bed.  Finally I put cotton sheets back on both of their beds.  Jeremy's solution was to get Whitney microfiber Hello Kitty sheets.  The perfect gift!  Almost.  Tucker loves "meow, meow", but at least he doesn't have to touch the sheets.  He'll just point and meow.

Tucker has come up with some odd assortment of games.  He likes to occasionally play Tucker slug.  He lies on his back on the floor and pushes himself around with his legs.  He likes to pretend the black playdough is peanut butter.  He loves to play the piano.  What amazes me most about his piano playing skills is how well his form is with his fingers.  He's already picked up on that.  I had so many beginning students not grasp that for 1-2 years, usually playing with straight stiff fingers instead of relaxed curved ones like Tucky.  He was picking songs out of books for "activity day girls".  Random.   

He is getting very good at Frisbee.  I like this one because he runs around chasing the Frisbee.  Nice and tiring.  He also zipped his jacket himself including putting the zipper together once this week.  He hasn't done it since, but getting better.  He likes clean up time better because he throws the toys in the baskets just like playing basketball outside.  Fine by me.  Only time he's been interested in doing clean up and does it so fast that Whitney doesn't clean up half the time.  I'm sure that will be short lived.

Tucker also knows how to cook oatmeal.  He instructed me step by step of what to do the other day.  If I would just let him turn on the stove or stir the pot that moves if you don't hold on to it, he would doit, I'm sure.

He also knows how to give a baby a bath.  He demonstrated this with Thing 2 in the play kitchen for me.  Made me laugh.  Turned on the sink and everything.

He has learned to pedal his bike on flat or downhill surfaces.  I've come to realize plastic wheeled bikes are total lame sauce.  They prevent learning to pedal because there are so many surfaces that they don't work on.  Driveways that are usually wet or full of pine pollen.  Or gravel.  He often just uses his legs to push himself around.  We went on a 1.5 mile walk around the park and he pushed with his legs around the entire thing.

A new skill they are both acquiring is how to jump well on a trampoline.  I have friends who have those big things in the back yard.  Full of moss and pollen.  But they love it at the moment.  At first Tucker called them jumping beds, but now they call them by their proper name.  The best part about having those friends is that it tired Tucker out the first day he was on one for this season.  He instandtly fell asleep at 8 pm (he usually actually falls asleep between 8:30 and 9:15 pm) and slept until 8 am the next morning.  The sun gets them up around 6:30 this time of year.  What an awesome thing.  But rest assured.  If we had one, they wouldn't love it or play with it as much.     



Another thing that still, but shouldn't, amaze me is how much verbal stuff is sucked into their brains.  There is a Clifford book about going to D.C. that has some demonstrators in it with signs.  Whitney asks me "what are they saying" in many books.  She asked me that with this book, so I said one side was saying "yes, yes, yes.  Let babies live" and the other side says "no, no, no, let mommies choose"  She repeats that every single time we read the book.  Even though all the signs in the picture actually say "for" and "against. 

 

This rings true for disciplining each other or me.  Tucker told me once he was "not happy with my decisions".  I think I put him in time out (again) or didn't follow a rule or something.  

 

Whitney really helped me out the other day.  We got a take and bake pizza and I wasn't paying attention to it.  Typical.  She ran to find me to point out the dough was rising VERY RAPIDLY on one side and needed to be popped.  I didn't know she knew this needed to be done.  I'm sure she'll want to take over cooking for me as she'll get frustrated with my skill and taste in food.  Can it be age 5?

 

Whitney also likes to do puzzles.  She put together a 48 piece puzzle herself the other day.  I didn't know she had the visual skill or patience for it.  Cool!

 

Together they took care of worms.  I was weeding when it had rained in the morning.  Tucker and Whitney spent lots of time covering worms back up with dirt and pine needles to care for them.  Very cute!

 



Tucker really made me laugh about his "dancing shoes".  He likes to walk around in the house with those pink plastic things I gave Whitney for Christmas.  He pointed out to me that he really likes them because his foot fills the entire toe box.  Now he can walk in them.  Loudly.  The faster he goes, the louder it gets.  He even did a demo for me that they stay on his feet so well he can jump on his bed.  In high heels.  Just picture that.  It should make you laugh.

I was trying to type a letter out today.  Gave up and put on the minions mini banana movie.  It's been at least a month since I've shown it to them.  they asked for it about 10 times while I tried to finish my task.  Whitney would say "more banana!"  And Tucker would say to me "It's ok to watch it again!" in a very reassuring voice. 

I was really impressed with some things they did.  One time we went to the park for a very short time before Tucker started having a melt down that we all knew wouldn't get better any time soon.  So I told him that we had to go home if he couldn't calm down. He chose to go home.  Whitney was so good and just came, even though it was her kid brother that made her have to go home after 10 minutes of play only. 

Another time a very friendly kid attached himself to them.  He kept wanting to touch them.  Give them hugs, hold their hands, (take their toys, rocks or flowers).  I was getting very annoyed with this kid, but Tucker was so patient with him.  He would tell him no about taking his stuff, but would let him hold his hand.  He wasn't keen on the hugs either, but just told him no.  Whitney hid behind me and yelled at him if he got too close.   I didn't correct her too much because she was just voicing how I felt about this kid.  But I was impressed how Tucker handled the whole thing.  FYI, the mom was very close by and constantly on her kid to listen to Tucker, but he needed the constant reminder.

My favorite thing this week so far is them working together to make my birthday.   While I was weeding this week, Whitney decided it was my birthday.  This is a very popular game since we've had so much birthday stuff at our house with hubby and friend's b-day.  Whitney "played on her piano" (rock) and sang me the song, then told me to blow out the candle she stuck in her mud cake.  Tucker took a half hour to make me a chocolate cake in my weed bucket with leaves.  They were very diligent in giving me a great b-day.  And Whitney randomly remembered that I want to watch whales for my b-day.  You're right, Bear!  But I doubt a captain would take me on a boat in my condition.  Either way, this was a sweet gift.  Close enough.


And now.....  I'm parking it here for a year.

cupcakes!!!!

We play "spout".  That is code for me doing dishes while they play in the rinse water.  For some reason Tucker calls bubbles baking powder.  He repeats that over and over.  Not sure why.

playing under the pink canopy of blossoms.  My favorite time of year for this tree

playing with rocks and the bucket. 

being cute

Car eating pizza.  The balloon is folded into the right shape and the corner is shut into the hood

anticipation for papa's b-day.  Whitney couldn't wait to make him cupcakes

When they see some of the pictures of baby Jesus, they call him burrito baby Jesus because he's all wrapped up snuggly in his blankets like they are each night by their papa.  They even noticed the light in the picture being held by Joseph and called it "flashlight just like papa".

Today Whitney randomly remembered the ward Christmas party.  Our assignment was to bring veggies, so I brought kid friendly veggies of cucumbers and carrots.  She remembered that I gave her cucumbers and that I forgot to bring home the rest of them.  She remembers this today.   Then she said, "we can do a lot of things at the church.  We can watch people get baptized, we can eat cucumbers.  we can....." and couldn't fill in any other blanks.  But random.  Where do they come up with these things?

Tucker taking out the trash

There are lots of Tucker videos.  Probably because a video of Whitney reading wouldn't be too exciting.  Tucker is proud of how big and strong he is.  This trash can is full.  It cracks me up how big it is next to how small he looks, even though he's a "big kid"

tucker shooting hoops, just like xavier

new toy

Whitney with her dancing clothes on.  Yes.  That is sunshine.  Why are we in the house????!!!

Tucker wanted a picture of him in his dancing clothes.  He tried walking around in the heels for a bit.  Got mad at them for not staying on his feet and dragged his heels the whole time.  Blackmail

Whitney's cube tower in the little house she made with Daddy's Ikea chair pad.  Note: What Do People Do All Day book very close by

I've been dragging my feet about making a decision about a car that can hold 3 car seats.  But I finally procrastinated long enough.  And we now have an awesome van.  Only a mom would say something as ludicrous as that.

The brakes went out in my Saturn and my hubby pointed out that the cost of fixing them would subtract from the worth of the vehicle if we traded it in for a car that can hold 3 car seats in the back.  Whatever.  Fine.  He wins the financial argument this time. 

I think the car companies, car seat manufacturers and law makers must all get money from each other.  Those booster things have a wide base, too.  Anyway, I was thinking about keeping my cool factor by getting an SUV looking vehicle instead of a van.  Hah!  What a pain.  I never even drove an SUV.  All I did was try to figure out how our 3 car seats would fit.  I was so mad and frustrated before I even sat in the vehicle, I didn't even bother asking for a test drive.  No wonder families have vans.  All car seats fit, you don't have to climb over a seat with wet, pine-needled feet every day, and you don't knick other car doors from your three year old insisting he can open it himself and opening the door all the way before you can stop him while you watch that the other three year old is not running out into the path of another vehicle.  Or do it all with a baby carrier in arms, too.  I'd forgotten how I've made a habit to park next to the trees and such so I can get in and out of the car with the door wide open.  Now it doesn't matter where I park.

We're all in love with our new toy.  Jim loves how it parks.  He always hated how long the front of the Saturn is.  He also never particularly liked driving so low to the ground when he is used to driving his truck.  Tucker is in love with all the buttons.  He figured out on his own how he can let himself in and out of the car by pushing his "car button" to open the sliding doors.  He clarifies with me each time getting in and out that I'm not to help him and to let him push the buttons himself.  He and Whitney had a bit of a tussle the first time he offered to help her with her door.  Nothing doing, Tucker.  They've also had fun with the different light buttons and other stuff.  They've been really quiet driving around town.  I keep glancing back at them in the really cool mirror thing that it has.  They are just looking around.  Probably seeing stuff for the first time.  But the most important feature of this van?  That the brakes are working.  Tucker checked himself to see if the tires were on and the brakes were working.  We have had lots of discussion over the past two weeks about why we weren't driving Mommy's car, only Papa's because "mommy's brakes don't work".  Tucker checked to see that they were installed and Whitney cried out "stop!" at the first stop sign we got to in that car to make sure they were functioning.

I'm in love with all the other bells and whistles it has.  Like the windows roll down on the sliding doors and it has a sun roof.  I remember dying of heat in the van we had as a kid because of lack of air flow.  No problem with that in this car.  Tucker and Whitney will never get how cool that is because they haven't known anything else.  And of course I also love the power doors, especially the back lift gate.  All in all it's been fun.  When Jim drove it home, he said "why'd we wait so long?"  No car payment, duh.  But I'm still excited about the amount we paid for such a fun car.  When I first started looking, I was depressed about how much used vans cost.  But then we found this one and it's fun.  Honeymoon is not over yet...

It's spring here.  That means we had a random snow storm and two sunny days in the 60's all in one week. BTW, 60's is warm here.  But today was one of the beautiful sunny days and what a lovely day it was.  Jim went razor clamming.  He said we should have come.  The waves were only lapping at the shore, there was only a slight breeze and it was easy to see all the clams out.  Tucker and Whitney would have been able to spot them and help catch them.  I agree.  Bummer.  I've never known the beach to be that way.  It's always been freezing cold due to a blasting wind and the waves really high so  that when they come in, they come in hard.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

While we were out test driving this week, Tucker pointed out all the "pink trees for Whitney" that are blooming.  Our tree in front has buds about to pop and a few that bloomed.  Whitney walked out the door yesterday and said, "Look mom!  Our tree is blooming!"  It sounds so funny to me to hear her say it, but she gets the concepts about flowers.  Tucker thinks all yellow flowers are daffodils, but not Whitney.  She knows the difference.  An artist would.

We still had a fabulously relaxing day in the sun.  I took them to a park we haven't been to before.  Whitney was a little upset when we got there because she wanted to go to the one with the web that we went to yesterday.  But we weren't at that park.  After awhile, she warmed up and went exploring.  And loved it.  They figured out how to hang and drop from a bar without falling over.  Tucker liked that the most, practicing it over and over while I clapped every time he landed.  Whitney liked having me hold her up so she could be a monkey on the rings.  Then they played on the ship and the motorcycles for the longest time.  I think they were so happy to be outside most of the afternoon without a jacket on.  It was so pleasant!!

Then, we came home and Tucker played hoops and pushed dump truck around while Papa worked on his battery and muffler.  Tucker crawled on top of Jim a few times when he was under the car to see how he could help.  Whitney was loving being in the house reading while feeling her sheets.  The sun shines on her bed in the afternoon.  She was very content to be alone.   She also helped me with the dishes and told me all about the stuff she did today.

They were so cute helping each other fill Easter eggs.  My mom asked if we were dying eggs.  No way.  Maybe next year with the whole spilling dye everywhere is decreased slightly.  I didn't feel like cleaning that up, so we are just filling eggs.  It worked out fine because Whitney liked helping me put polka dots on her eggs to decorate them.

Tucker melted my heart today when he covered me up with his blanket, wrapped his arm around my neck "to snuggle you" and gave me a kiss saying I love you Mommy all before bed.  Whitney melted Daddy's heart by giving him a huge smile and saying "I love rocks!"  when he announced at dinner that he had collected rocks and sand dollars at the beach today for them.  He also offered them mini ice cream sandwiches after dinner.  Whitney made him laugh when she looked at him and said "Is Mommy gone?"  It's true.  He totally busts out the treats when I leave, as well as Dora, Ipads and Kindles.

They are getting really good at helping at the grocery store.  They pick out my produce and know not to drop it in the bag as well as count out the correct number of stuff I ask them for.  Tucker cracked me up when he picked up wet celery.  He said "I need a bag to go with it" in the same voice he does while he reads If you give a Mouse a Cookie.

This morning they woke up at very different times from each other, which let me have a little one on one time with them.  Tucker picked to play dump truck, but also included My Little Ponies in the pretend play with Dump Truck, making sure to add in head butting to the games, too.

Whitney is in love with the Richard Scarry books.  We checked out a numbers one from the library and I found our copy of What Do People Do All Day inherited from when I was a kid.  There is a half a page missing out of it.  Tucker and Whitney both randomly comment that "Uncle Scotti wrecked it".  I said that once about a book and now all books inherited from Grandma that are drawn in or otherwise defaced are because Uncle Scotti did it.  You'll never grow out of your label, little bro.  Sorry.  Whitney was upset the other day and she specifically requested that book to "cheer me up" while she felt her sheets.  It was the book she read for an hour while Tucker and I played basketball outside.

We've had some first discussions about money and Whitney seems to really want to grasp that concept.  They both know what money is versus other objects.  Tucker knows to pick up coins on the street.  But Whitney was trying to figure out the budget.  We were talking about how much different items of food cost.  She would point to one ingredient then another, asking how much it cost.  I did it all in terms of dollars.  So I guess it would make sense that she told me one morning that Papa's truck cost 3 and Mommy's car cost 10.  I think she was getting this budget thing from all our discussion about cars, looking at cars, and then a blinds consultant came over.  There was some special on blinds being advertised through Costco.  Should have known that if  only the discount, not the price, was listed, then it was too much.  After she left, Whitney asked if we were getting blinds and I said no, they cost too much.  Since then she has made that comment on a few things costing too much and if something is ok to buy, that it doesn't cost too much.

This week we made some muffins.  Whitney and I really like muffins.  Tucker, too.  It's yet another bread product.  What surprised me is that in the tub that night, Whitney was "mixing up muffins" in her empty bubble bath container using her glow stick to mix and listing every single ingredient we put in.  Impressive.  She even forgot the salt like I forgot the salt.

Tucker is getting good at basketball.  He watched my friend's kid shoot hoops for a week, not really practicing.  But once we got home, he's had me drag out the hoop and put it at different heights all week.  When he makes a basket he tells me "Mom!  I did it!  Clap your hands!" and when he's done for the day, he says "I'm practicing and practicing, just like Xavier!"  He also is starting to catch on to playing catch and thinks it is so funny.  Cracks me up to play with him.  He gets to laughing so hard, he can hardly stand up.

During Joy school, we were talking about signs of spring.  I asked what spring means.  Whitney said "short sleeves!" and "Easter!"  She was wearing a tank top underneath her sweatshirt.  When I took off her sweatshirt for bath that night she said "aaaaahhhhh...... much better" once she only had the tank on.  Jim is always commenting on how he doesn't like anything constricting him.  Whitney may feel the same way.  She also has not asked for burritos for bed anymore, but Turtle (blanket on top and blanket on bottom) so her arms, feet and legs move freely.  The first day back that it was sunny after our trip, Whitney said to me "Mom, it's a good day to play outside".  She never says that kind of stuff.  We went outside and she hasn't said it since.  I think she had forgotten that outside here doesn't mean warm air, short sleeves and sandals.  Or no shoes at all.

We were talking ages.  Tucker still gets a little confused between being 3 years old and being Thing 2.  Whitney is not confused about her age.  She said "I'm 33.  I'm turning into a Mommy soon."  Close enough.  I'm sure she will turn into a mommy even more, looking after three boys.  Tucker, Baby Brother and Papa.  All of them need their hands washed.

Some days they just play and play and play.  One afternoon Tucker invented the games.  He came up with pizza box with a gear set box thing, which, does open and close like pizza.  Or it is a suitcase, depending on which way you hold it.  They push their plastic chairs around laying down on their backs and put the toy baskets on top to carry all sorts of toys around the house.  This can be cars or trains, usually trains, as determined by Tucker.  One time during a train time, Tucker really loaded up his car.  He kept saying "I'm pushing really heavy things!"  He was impressed with himself, but I'm impressed with his strength, too.  He can pull the trash cans full up to the end of the driveway.  A strictly Washington kid game was "raining outside"  They pretended to go outside while it was raining and put their blankets over their heads like rain jackets over and over.  Like my Papa says, only WA kids.

One day I asked Whitney what she wanted to do that day with me.  She said "make brownies?"  I wasn't going to turn that one down that day.  She was  pretty surprised and happy about the whole thing.  I didn't realize it, but I think that's what she thought we were making for dinner.  She was very, very, sad that's not what we had for dinner that day.  She tried asking to make brownies again the next day, but foiled again.  I think she knew it, though.  She asked in a way like "I'll ask, but I already know the answer is no" tone of voice.

Between being sick (lost my voice for three days and it just keeps going and going as far coughing), car shopping and some other stuff I had to get done for Joy School and Activity Days, they've played independently quite a bit this week.  One thing that was especially cute was catching both of them playing the piano nicely.  Tucker was sitting at the piano playing the keys as if he knew what was up and had his book open to "a small one".  That's his title for "I feel my Savior's love", his all time favorite.  It was so, so cute.  I caught Whitney doing the same type of thing too, the next day.  So cute!

For Easter I decided not to re-invent the wheel and use some ideas from the nursery lesson manual on Easter.  Apparently our nursery leaders did it with them, too.  There was a cut out picture of the tomb, stone and Jesus.  They saw that and knew to "roll away the stone!" and found the stone in the pics in the books.   It was cute.  They also knew some of the words to "Did Jesus really live again" which surprised me.   Maybe they've been practicing, who knows.  But it was a very successful family home evening, to use those types of activities. Maybe I'll keep it up.  Maybe.

Fun in the sun

I decided to finally visit my friend Stefanie after years of talking about it.  The sunny and warm place she lives also really sealed the deal.  When everyone elseis still having winter, they have summer.  They call it spring, but I call it summer.  Close enough.  When I rolled into town, it was about 50 degrees hotter than the weather I left.  Perfect.

I think the best part about being there is that it is a total kid resort.  My friend has 6 years worth of toys for birthdays and holidays, and has three kids in those ages.  When Tucker and Whitney got bored with one toy or friend, on to the next.  They never got bored.

The great thing for me is having a mom around on the same page.  We talked when it was time and did kid stuff when it was time.  It's been about 6 years since I saw her last, so we had lots to catch up on.  Not to mention she totally spoiled me by cooking and cleaning all week for us.  Warm weather, new things to do and explore, a place to stay, food to eat, no chores.  Sounds like a cruise, don't you think?

Here are some of the things we did.  We saw the air show, ate lots of authentic Mexican food, ate shaved ice and slurpees, went to synagogue, went to a swap meet, went to a St. Patrick's day picnic, had a cleaning meeting with her friends, and went to parks almost every day.

As soon as we walked in the door, Whitney and Tucker beelined it to the kitchen/grill/ice cream shop and didn't really leave it for quite some time.  Tucker couldn't get over pushing the ignite button on the grill to cook cupcakes and oranges.  Whitney found a papa ice cream cone ( chocolate), a mommy one ( large strawberry) and a small Whitney one (small strawberry cone).  The next morning the first thing Tucker did was turn on the grill.

They have spent a lot of time climbing in the "dollhouse", climbing ont the dome to play birdies eating frozen veggies ( worms are green beans, bugs are the rest of the veggies).  They are proud of the fact they learned to climb up to the top to sit.  They also figured out the slide, both climbing up it and sliding down it.  It is really steep and slippery.  Tucker talks about how he gets bigger and bigger every day as well as practicing and practicing to figure it out all by himself.

Xavier taught tucker how to shoot hoops.  Tucker likes to watch Xavier practice with the hoop at the highest notch.  The hoop says different things each time you make a basket.  Tucker knows how to turn that feature on and off.  Whitney and tucker both think the "swisher-roo baby" phrase is hysterical.  They repeat it often.

They also love how the kids here are Dora and Diego fans.  Their favorite book of choice is a Dora book of some sort.  They've started using some of the Spanish vocabulary since hanging out with their new friends.  Some other favorite toys around here are the wall tracks using the cars, the remote control cars, the outside "sink"' and the car tracks.  And last but not least, the dirt pile.  Who doesn't love the dirt pile????  Whitney makes cakes and cupcakes.  Tucker digs and operates the trucks.

Whitney has been collecting rocks at almost every stop.  There are some from various playgrounds, some from the air show, some from some parking lots.  She has enjoyed all the new food.  Tacos, tortas, ices, shaved ice, muffins, etc.  She also has been the biggest fan of looking at the stars and moon each night before bedtime.  Another way for our night owl to stay up just a bit longer.

Some amazing feats that have occurred are getting here on the plane and the air show.  I came prepared with activities that don't require a plug, plus food, in addition to the kindle and laptop.  We were supposed to be traveling 6.5 hours total in confined spaces.  And they only used the kindle and laptop for the car trip from the airport, about 2 hours.  Amazing, amazing, amazing.  I couldn't believe it.  I kept saving my big guns for melt downs and boredom, but it didn't happen.  Tucker really liked doing play by plays of take offs and landings.  Whitney had fun sitting next to me and just talking.

The air show was also amazing.  I don't know how far we walked, but it seemed a really long way in a lot of heat and dust.  Stefanie's oldest, 6 years old, pushed Whitney or his sister in the stroller the whole way.  Lots of the dirt was soft.  Amazing.  I can't believe we went with 5 kids under the age of 6, 4 under the age of 4.  Go us.

This is the first thing they played with when they walked in the door.  Tucker immediately started grilling cupcakes

Whitney started sharing ice cream with me and with herself.  Tucker wanted to grill it first

more fun with ice cream store and grill

Whitney would fill up the tank with gas so Tucker could go to work.

Our first attempt at playing at the park.  This was after about one hour in direct sunlight.  Clutching water bottles, flushed and generally not moving too much while staring into space.  Isabelle looking them like they are weird.

This toy was the bomb.  They played with this every day once Stefanie got it out for at least an hour, or until they muddied the water.  The sink pumps the water through the faucet.  How cool is that.  Literally.

Taco trucks are the bomb

Playing at the park at the end of the week.  A bit more adjusted.  The whole crowd.

The words half way up this tower say "sea level"  I was so amused with being below sea level.  I don't think I've ever been without having a wet suit on.

The coolest room ever for us to stay in.  Note, thing one and thing two also painted on the wall.  Wooooowww!!

What is life without a dirt pile?

One of the best play areas ever.