home sweet home

Announcing Emmet

2010-11-19T19:38:00.001-08:00

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The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2010-10-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Elliot had a naughty run-in with a classmate this week, because he doesn't know how to wait. According to his teacher, he asked to use the materials the other child was doing, and though the other boy said yes, he could use it when he was done, Elliot stood next to him and nagged until the other child got frustrated - then Elliot got mad... and the teacher had a situation on her hands. Then yesterday I had the realization that he really doesn't know what it means to wait, and maybe I don't either:

He wanted to show me one of his many Thomas the Train scenarios, which are amazing to him, but to the untrained eye, basically look like... a train - the same train you've seen a thousand times since you don't have the super-power of seeing into his imagination. Anyway, I asked him to wait since I was finishing an important email. He ran back to the train, then back to me, and nagged me about 10 times to come look. Finally I explained that waiting means going away, focusing on something else, and not asking again - just trusting that when I'm ready, I will come do what I said I would do. (Anybody get how deep and spiritually significant that actually is? Woah, man. Ponder it.)

So I'm in week 39 of my pregnancy now, and that's what I'm doing. Just waiting. I don't have it too bad, and I really can't complain. I'm not really uncomfortable during the day. Just sore in the hips at night. Plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions which are actually moderately painful, but still - I'm not miserable. I'm not waiting to go into labor...

I'm waiting for Erik to get home. He is due to return two days before my scheduled C-section. Everywhere I go, people notice my huge belly and make comments like, you're ready! any day now! any second now!, etc. And whenever I mention I'm waiting for my husband to get home and still have a couple weeks (well, 11 days), they all say I'll never make it that far. Not really very encouraging, though I know it's just people getting excited. Waiting is hard. Tom Petty knows what I'm talking about. Even though I'm feeling decent, and don't have the delusions of preparedness I did last time, it's just hard to wait. So right now I'm telling myself just to relax and trust that at this time two weeks from now, I will be receiving the excellent maid-service of French Hospital, smiling at my husband, and holding a brand new Emmet Angus Nappier. Yes, and Amen!

Not Scared

2010-09-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

While being pushed on the swing today by his Auntie, Elliot wrote his first song. By first song, I don't mean this is the first time he's made up a song. In fact, he makes them up probably daily, but most don't have a definitive melody, never repeat the same thing, and end up being long and wild adventure stories with lots of blood and gore, and which don't always make much sense. Today was different.

When they came in from a long and "rocky" round of swinging (which means they were close to the limit of how high he could be pushed without falling off), my sister suggested he sing me the song. Not only did it have a graspable melody, it also kind of rhymed, and made sense to me in a very 5-year-old sort of way. If you know how Elliot talks, you will be able to imagine him singing this. Hopefully I'll get it recorded some time soon before he gets shy about it. He titled his song, "Not Scared", and here are the words:

I'm not really scared of swinging

I'm not really scared of swinging so high

That's all I really needed

That's all I needed to be a brave boy

And if it's not rocky, if it's not scary

Then I'll be in bed reading a book

The swing will be resting alone on it's hook

In it's little hole

(repeat the chorus - this time slow and quiet)

I'm not really scared of swinging

I'm not really scared of swinging so high

That's all I really needed

That's all I needed to be a brave boy

Love, Elliot..... 3, 2, 1, LIFTOFF! (we say this really loud at the end)

I used the melody he made up and figured out guitar to match it. Auntie played his new "piano horn", and he played along with a shaker. Gotta say, we were pretty jammin', all things considered. I also love that it was about swinging, his fave pastime and the activity he asks to do several times daily - he asks anyone and everyone at our house to push him. It was great fun, and hopefully the first of many Elliot-made songs.

Here's Looking at You

2010-09-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Did you ever notice it's hard to focus on what's going on around you when you're looking at yourself in the mirror? Whether it's putting on makeup, brushing teeth, or checking out a zit.... if someone is trying to talk to me, I find myself answering without really listening, or I end up saying, what a lot.

It's a nightly problem with Elliot while I'm trying to help brush his teeth. I have to say to him over and over again, "Stop looking at yourself in the mirror!", as he gets distracted by checking himself out, or making silly faces, and turns his head away from the attempted toothbrushing. The problem continues as he spits out his toothpaste while looking in the mirror, and instead of going neatly down the drain, it dribbles down his chin and neck, or sprays all over the bathroom sink area.

Sometimes I feel like God speaks to me through my son and his normal, childlike actions, which often trickle metaphorically, and in various forms, into our lives as adults. While pondering Elliot's mirror issues, I remember myself as a child. Sometimes when I'd get sad or upset about something, I would go stand in front of the bathroom mirror and watch myself cry. As self-pity increased, I would cry harder and longer, until too exhausted to do anything but collapse. I remember my mom lovingly telling me to stop this silliness, she of course recognizing the effect it was having - but for some reason I insisted on repeating this ritual of downward-spiraling agony.

Wallowing in self-pity is something most of us have done in our adult lives at one time or other. It's easy to do. Just thinking about what we want and don't have, comparing ourselves to others, and wondering what if things had been different, can send us down the rabbit hole. And it's only one of the negatives that can result in our lives from being overly focused on ourselves, to the point of denying God the worship which is our attention, and forgetting the feelings of others. Think about it: resentment, jealousy, arrogance, feelings of rejection, anxiety, insecurity, and on and on goes the list. How much less would these arise in us if only our eyes were fixed on Jesus, or our hearts moved to care more about the hurting people around us, and if not for the constant what about me? ringing by the hour in our heads?

It's a simple thought, old as humanity, but one that came clear and new to me this week - so I thought I would share.

Here are some verses that came to mind, echoing similar ponderings.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

^4-11In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

^12-13So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

Hebrews 12:1-13 (The Message version)

Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:23-25

All By Myself

2010-08-31T10:57:00.001-07:00

This morning marks the beginning of a new era. I am feeling the change of seasons now in so many ways, and this feels like the first turn of the gears in the the giant machine that is my life. Elliot started kindergarten today with a smile, as you see. Standing in his new classroom in front of all the new materials he will be learning how to use, wearing the clothes he picked out - old comfy stuff in lieu of the brand new first-day-of-school outfit I bought him, he seemed right at home. With a little negotiating, I managed to get a hug and kiss goodbye "special" just for the first day of school, and left him working on pink box #1 with his new teacher, Ms. Jen. There were only three other kids there when I arrived, and his classroom is pretty small, so I think he will have a small class this year. I'm excited about that because it means he'll get plenty of one on one time with the teacher, and hopefully make some good friends, and I hope to get to know some of the parents as well.

After dropping him off, I treated myself to a Starbucks Pumpkin spice latte (decaf of course) by myself, and then went to target to get him some new undies, which he hasn't been wearing lately, but probably should be. The tags bother him. Anyway.... it was so relaxing, and I found myself remembering that, despite not being a morning person at all, I really do enjoy the morning once I'm up. I love the feel of the hustle and bustle of people getting ready and going to work and school, stores just opening, and the feeling that the day is still fresh - like anything could happen.

Being home by myself is something I haven't experienced in quite a while, and it feels great. The house is already clean, dishes done (like, put away and everything, and the dishwasher is empty!), laundry well underway, and a couple things taken care of that have been bugging me for a long time. I'm so excited to be having this time by myself for a while, and for Elliot to be enjoying school and learning so many new things. Of course, Emmet reminds me every few minutes that I'm never truly by myself, and that there is a tiny squirming someone with me everywhere I go. Soon, my mornings will be a precious time to be shared with my husband and new born baby as the gears continue to turn, and change, the only constant in life, greets us with new treasures at each passing season.

The Bounty

2010-08-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to start blogging again, after almost a whole year. There's just too much to share about, and facebook status updates are starting to seem a bit trite when I just write something short, and too long-winded if I think about what I really want to say.

And there really is just too much... to say, to share, to think about, and I can't bear to keep it all to myself!

I'll start by saying, for those who aren't aware, I'm in the eighth month of pregnancy with baby boy #2, Emmet Angus Nappier. Feeling pretty good, and hoping Emmet waits for Erik to come home, two days before my due date. Erik is currently in Vietnam working in a ship yard, and I just got back from a relaxing and wonderful trip to Hawaii. Elliot starts Kindergarden in about a week. See what I mean? Too much not to tell! These pictures were taken last Wednesday, a beautiful day which yielded quite a bounty, in many ways.

Here's my sweet boy at his favorite pastime, getting pushed on the rope swing in the back yard. I love this picture, and am currently working it into a painting of sorts.

Elliot and I picked a gorgeous bouquet from the garden!

Picked a ton of delicious oranges from Mary and Bill's house.

We have been eating them every day!

Here's what I've been drinking instead of sugary soda - refreshing mint water with fresh mint from the yard. I usually drink the whole pitcher myself by the end of the day. Mmmm.

Donna joined me for a trek out to Gopher Glenn, where we got 20lbs of Empires and 5lbs of Galas. Super delicious apples filling up my crisper.

Got home and picked all this stuff from my vegetable garden. Some of the zuchinni

really got out of control within a week!

Elliot went and got a haircut since he was looking pretty shaggy.

Now he looks like a super handsome big boy for kindergarden!

A Gnome of My Own

2009-09-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

Blogging seems hard these days. All I can think of is one line to say, and then I just say it on facebook, but I think I am about ready to get back to this. Stories are so much more meaningful than single sentences.

Well, the big deal since the last blog is that Elliot has started preschool! He is loving it, and learning so much. I think it's great for him to be around other children, and spend more time in a group setting where he has to learn about rules and listening to teachers. At the same time, since he's in a Montessori school, he has a lot of freedom and creativity with what he does, and I think that makes him a happier boy as well. Although he is only going to school three half days a week, I can tell that his overall behavior is better, and he just seems to be a happier child with so much learning going on, and the stimulation of a different environment.

I am also really excited to be getting involved with his school. One of the things I love about it is that parent participation is required. I have volunteered to head the decorating committee for their annual Fall Family Festival, which is their major fundraiser of the year. Hopefully I haven't gotten in over my head, but I'm really stoked to meet some parents and get creative together!

Here are some recent pictures of Elliot:

For some reason I recently thought it would be a good idea to take Elliot on a hike in a new recreation area that has opened near Santa Maria. Not such a good idea. It was very frustrating with him stopping every three seconds, complaining of getting tired, etc. Also, I realized later that you aren't supposed to go off the trail or climb trees at all.

So, here's Elliot breakin' the law.

Tree hugger!

A somewhat typical Saturday morning of post-pancake hyperactivity.

Elliot has been wanting to dress up lately. I think it started when I brought him to my friend Jessica's Acholi Bead party the other night, and he wanted to wear all the necklaces, but I wouldn't let him. The next day he started wearing Austin's shoes around the house, then put on his basketball shorts, then a sweatband. The next day he dressed himself, and had on a 70's style shirt of Elisha's that Brandi left here, black sweat pants, one of my headbands worn across the forehead, and two of my hair bands on his wrist for a bracelet. Hmm... so I decided to get him a costume, and found this super cute Garden-Gnome costume at Walmart of all places. But also I think it would be really easy to make. Especially if you already have the pants, plaid shirt and suspenders. All you really need is the beard and the gnome hat (with eyebrows attached.) Just felt and fabric. Anyway, he's the cutest gnome ever, and loves wearing his costume. Even asked to wear it to bed. Yesssss! Elliot continues to have the greatest imagination I've ever seen in a kid. The other day I came to pick him up from school, and he was pretending to be an owl up in a tree. Oh, and in case you ever see him pretending to be a bee, his bee name is Rightie. Acting lessons?

A $10.00 Glass of Milk

2009-08-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

The chocolate milkman.

Doesn't like his picture taken, especially with mom.

Ever since we got back from Maryland, where we ate out at restaurants almost exclusively for 2 weeks, Elliot has been asking every once in a while to go to restaurants. It's kind of fun for me, because I like to go out every once in a while, too. So it's a treat for both of us, but the real attraction for Elliot seems to be the Chocolate milk. I always let him get it when we eat out, and he orders it himself, and looks forward to it. The only problem is he almost never eats more than one or two bites of his food, because his tummy is full of chocolate milk. Well, at least he's a relatively cheap date for now.

Some other news... Elliot is officially signed up for preschool! He's going to be attending a Montessori preschool here in Santa Maria. After visiting a few different preschools, I felt overwhelmingly that it was the best one for him. We are all very excited for the new learning and social opportunities that await him. Also, it's going to be a big change for the whole family, since we are not at all used to being on a schedule. Even though it's only three half days per week, it will definitely get us in a better habit of starting our day at a reasonably early hour. I feel like we'll be entering a whole other world of potential challenges, and also learning and growing opportunities, so it will be interesting to see what happens! I don't know yet what I will do with my four hours of free time three mornings a week, but I feel the need to fill them up with specialness, and greatness, and maybe a little selfishness, like going to the gym or walking on the beach or something.

Well, I'm rambling now, so it's time to stop.

I Married Myself

2009-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Lately Erik and I have been saying this to each other a lot: "It's like I married myself!" We keep thinking and saying the same thing at the same time. Having a lot more similar opinions than we used to, etc. But then he really started reading my mind, and now I am convinced that he has some sort of chip in my brain to control my thoughts, or know them before they come out of my mouth. As we were both sitting at the kitchen table the other day, grumpy from basically being robbed by the Ford dealership for some really simple repairs, I started thinking that it would be really fun to draw an anchor tattoo on his arm with a ballpoint pen. So I said, "Hey, want me to do something that would totally cheer you up?" His response was, "By 'something that would totally cheer me up', do you really mean something that would be really fun for you, but would actually make me even more miserable?

I had to admit, yes, that's exactly what I meant. He said he could tell by the look in my eye, but I think it was the chip in my brain. Then came the scary part: " What do you think I was going to do?" "Well, by the way you're looking at that pen, and back at my arm, my guess would be that you want to draw something on me." And so it has continued for the next few days. He can tell me what I'm thinking, and especially knows if I'm annoyed even when I think I'm doing a really good job hiding it. He can say what I'm about to say before I say it, or at the same time, or mouth the words silently as I'm saying them. Our eight year anniversary is coming up, and I'm beginning to wonder if he has a secret plan to celebrate by making me into a remote controlled Stepford Wife kind of robot via some form of mind control. It's either that, or we are just getting to know each other really, really well.

So, if I start wearing ultra-tight clothes, listening to Mike Savage, and washing the cars on an almost-daily basis, someone should come rescue me. But for now, it's the most amazing thing in the world being married to my best friend. It's like I married myself.

Adventures in Merry-Land

2009-07-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't all merry, but most of it was. As some of you may have already heard, the day of flying and traveling over to Piney Point, Maryland was quite nightmarish beginning with a couple loud fits in the airport, and culminating with a five minute screaming freak-out as soon as we got on our plane (he got scared and wanted to get off). But, all's well that ends well, and I think this trip ended well, and overall we had a lot of fun times. I now understand Erik's complete misery every time he goes to school. It's a very nice campus, but being stuck there not learning anything, nothing to do but watch TV, nothing within walking distance for about 10 miles other than a dive bar called The OCI, combined with the really yucky, greasy, overcooked food they serve at the school... it gets old fast. Fortunately we had a car, so Elliot and I typically took off every morning, came back in the afternoon, went for a swim with Erik when he got done with school, and then we all went somewhere tolerable for dinner. I learned my way around the area pretty quick, and it really helped that we had Mary and Bill's GPS to help us find all the cool things to do in the area. The place was beautiful! Surrounded by the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay, there was water everywhere. And that water was absolutely teeming with life: Sea Nettles, Cow-nosed Rays, Dogfish, and Comb Jellies, Diamond-backed Terrapin, and of course crabs and shellfish - all of which we saw in their natural habitat. The landscape was completely green, and sprawling with lots of open space lots of very cute old brick houses, and colonial style mansions along side tumbledown old barns and abandoned old victorian houses with vines growing in the windows. We didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked because of the small storage space of the old camera I was using, but here they are:

The above are pictures from the first free day we had together. We went to the Calvert Lighthouse and Museum/Aquarium, which was great fun. They had a sailboat that Elliot could climb around in, a little lighthouse for kids to play in, a touch tank with a Diamond-backed Terrapin turtle (I fell in love with it - the cutest turtle I've ever seen), rays, river otters, tons of model and real sailboats, etc. Elliot got to build his own wooden boat, which he named "The Cattyboo", and of course we got to go up in the lighthouse. Not to mention we make a pretty cute family of pirates and mermaid.

We also went to Washington D.C. and walked all around the Capital and National Mall area. Elliot's behavior was ... let's just say, not ideal that day. Hence, the expression on Erik's face in this picture that was taken on our final walk back to the car before leaving. But it was neat to see everything, and we took Elliot to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which was cool because we got to see a 3D Ocean IMAX movie. Ellliot absolutely loved that and kept standing up and trying to reach out and grab jellyfish and other sea life that looked like it was coming over to him. It was quite entertaining for us all. Oh yeah, and for some reason Elliot kept stopping and hugging trees. That's right, he's a tree-hugger. So we had to get a picture of that.

Above are some pictures of a lighthouse that Elliot and I visited on our own. It's the Piney Point lighthouse, just around the corner from Erik's school. We were the only ones there, so we got our own private tour. It was very beautiful and old, and peaceful. There used to be a resort right next to it where presidents used to go for some "down time", kind of like they go to Camp David now. So, there was some interesting history behind the place. And here's Elliot looking all touristy in his sunglasses and S.I.U. hat, which he calls his "crusty crab hat", since it somewhat resembles Sponge Bob's hat.

Here is the beginning of the pictures of our visit to Historic Saint Mary's City, which was Maryland's first capital, and is now a living history village. This means people dress in colonial costumes, and have the village set up in the way it was way back then. It was very interesting, and Elliot liked it lots more that I expected. We both had a great day (Erik was in school), and came back with some fabulous souveniers, the best of which was a clay pipe we got for Erik. It was made by the last clay pipe maker in the U.S. I am told that after he dies, there will be no more clay pipes made at all! Anyway, he loves it. The above is Elliot walking with me through the cemetery at Trinity Church, the oldest church in Maryland. Some of the graves were from the 1600s!
Here he is peeking out of an old barn. The outside is recreated, but the inside is really, really old. I wish I remember more details about it, but it was supposed to be a really famous barn or something...
You can see the old wood on the right hand side in this picture. And that's the wagon I pulled Elliot around in for most of the day.
He pulled it some of the time. As you can see, it was very beautiful there. The field to the right was full of wild carrots (the ones you can kind of see have white flowers on the top). And, there were wild berries and roses on the left hand side.
Here's Elliot learning how to water the garden the old-fashioned way. He scooped the water out of the bucket with a gourd and then let the water go through the holes in the bottom of the gourd, just like a watering can. He pretty much watered the whole herb garden. It was a really hot day, so playing in water, and having his shirt off felt good.
Luckily this girl was really patient and liked kids, 'cause Elliot seemed to want to stay in this one house forever. Here she is showing him how the musket was even bigger than him! They also had a bunch of games, including dominos made of bone, and dice made of iron and wood.
Here's Elliot in one of the bunks of the Maryland Dove, a recreated sailing ship. He closed the curtains and decided he was going to take a nap there.
Here's a view of the Maryland Dove. There were jellyfish in the water that we could see off the pier.

This is the print house where the printer would have lived. This girl is spreading ink over the lead letters with leather blotters and getting ready to make a print on this old fashioned printing press.
Here we are at the Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation. The boy in front is getting ready to fire a musket for us. It look him a really long time to get it ready. The most interesting thing about this place was the tobacco field. To us it would just look like a field of weeds. They used the Native American method of farming, so to them a "new field" was basically a forest. They would gird the trees by cutting a ring of bark from the bottom, and wait for the trees to die to let more light in. They never plowed their fields, but just planted the tobacco in individual raised mounds right among whatever native plants were there, and then picked off the horned tobacco worms by hand. So eco-friendly.
And here was Elliot's favorite part of the plantation - holding some baby chickens that were wandering around the garden.

So there's our vacation! It was so fun to go exploring and spend some time with Erik. I hope that wasn't too long and boring to read about. We are really glad to be home and back in lovely California. And.... I got a new camera! Horray! So there will be lots more blogging again, and hopefully lots of lovely pictures! See you next time!

A World of His Own

2009-06-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, why is it so hard for me to just pack up my camera and mail it in? It's one of those things that's really simple, but you just really never feel like doing it. So I have been putting it off for like, a month, and I still have no camera. Bah! I've missed so many photo opportunities that now I just feel like rushing out and buying a new one. Oh well.

So, life has been pretty nice around here lately. Erik continues to be the funnest person I have ever known, and I am so glad that I get to share life with him. Elliot is growing up, becoming really conversational, and still has a really great imagination. He is still pretending to be different kinds of animals quite a lot, but now they have names. And he's also naming his toy animals. It all started when he got a little stretchy plastic lizard as a prize after his first trip to the dentist. He decided to name it Lupine, like the purple flowers he learned of during the spring when they were lining the sides of the freeway. Then last week at church a friend came over to Elliot and said, "Hi, Elliot", a seemingly appropriate greeting. But she was sternly corrected by Elliot, who told her his name was Lupine, and that he was a cat. He was crawling on all fours just as cats do, and got his hand stepped on my an unassuming adult trying to come in the doorway. He screamed really loud, and yelled through the tears, "Someone stepped on the cat's hand!"

The next day he pretended to be a fish at the pool, of course, and then later riding in the car, pretended to be a bird. Out of curiosity, I asked him what the bird's name was. After a long pause, he answered, "The bird's name is just.... it's just Cattyboo." Then he had to be called Cattyboo for most of the night and the next following days. I thought it was cute, especially the graceful flying he does with his wings, though Erik wasn't so thrilled when Elliot told us that Cattyboo is a girl bird. Hmm....

The next animal, Erik did approve of: A turtle named Marshall. Now that's manly. That's a new one as of today, but I can't wait to see what his creative little mind comes up with next. :)

The Show Must Go On!

2009-05-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Since I don't have a camera, and I have found something really entertaining to share, I thought I would do the sharing here at my blog, my home sweet home that I miss so much. I'm not sure people will find this as cool as I do, but here it is.

There was a nationwide study discussed on This American Life, a really interesting radio show, about sound. What kinds of music do people like most, and what do they like least? Including tempo, music style, vocal variety, instrumentation, subject of the song, length, etc. They had everything ranked by participants, then formed all the most liked things into a song, and all the least liked things into another song.

Needless to say, the most liked song was rather typical. A love song with typical instruments like guitar, piano, drums, bass, etc, and a low voiced female singer, and of a normal length. The least liked song is super long, and has a variety of "horrible", yet interesting sounds. For instance; an opera singer rapping, accordian, bagpipes, harp, pipe organ, singing about cowboys and holidays, advertising, animal noises, politics, and so much more that most people hate. I'm posting a link to it at the bottom, and strongly suggest that if you have some time to kill, just put it on while you do other stuff on your computer. I have to admit, I totally love the weirdness of it. Partially because it's so unwanted I feel the need to adopt it, and partially because there are parts of it that really are fabulous and, if extracted, would fit great into "beautiful" music. Most of all, it's really funny and entertaining for me to listen to. At least once.

Please want it.... The Most Unwanted Song

Broke

2009-04-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

So, I think my camera is broken. It wont turn on, and I did drop it the last time I was uploading pictures. Now it has a crack on the back screen, but it was supposed to be "Eva-proof"! Erik got it for me last Christmas because it's waterproof and shockproof. It's supposed to be able to be dropped from 6 feet onto concrete and be fine, but it looks as if a fall of 18 inches or so onto a chair was too much for it. I bet I can get a new one under warranty. Until then, maybe you will be blessed with some deep thoughts... we'll see.

As for life, it's going well. It's been super hot, and Elliot has been in one of his test-the-boundaries phases, and we both have colds, so that's an adventure in itself. Other than that, it's been a lovely time of hanging around the house, gardening, and trips to the beach. We went to Pismo today, and it was super fun watching Elliot run around and play in the little waves. There were a lot of people there, escaping the heat. There were also tons of ladybugs there. Flying, crawling, dead on the ground. It was kind of freaky. After playing in the sand for a while, we walked out on the pier, and ended up seeing a bunch of dolphins swimming by. They were so close to the end of the pier, we could totally see their faces! And, they had a little white baby dolphin with them. So special! Then we turned around and saw a huge brown pelican right in front of us, hanging out with a bunch of fishermen on the pier! I tried to get Elliot to stand by him so I could take a picture, but he was too scared. Probably wise of him. The fishermen said he hung out there all the time, and they even had a name for him, and knew how to get him to do "tricks". Pretty cool day! Hopefully there will be many more like it this summer. I bought myself a backpack chair in anticipation of making it a beach-filled summer. And I know Erik wants to surf a ton on his new board, so hopefully we will get to go together several times a week. I love the beach. It's such a peaceful place, no matter what you do there. Whether you walk, splash, or even just sit in the car and watch the waves, there's nothing like it. And every time I go, I ask myself, "Why don't I do this like, every day?" Obviously I can't go every day, but I'm gonna go more. That's a promise! Anybody want to come along?

Just to Summarize....

2009-04-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, here's a little blog to catch you up on all our recent activity. I think I am ready to start blogging. I'm just waiting for some deep thoughts to come my way. Who knows how long that could take, so I better just dive in.
Here's Elliot at his first day of soccer. He loves it once he gets playing, but he tends to space out and end up running around by himself in little circles out in the field. It's pretty entertaining, though.
Yes, the ducks are laying up a storm! The eggs are wonderful, and this is the first of many quiches made with them. I ended up bringing it to Ann's house and getting everyone to love it before they knew it was duck eggs! ;)
I thought this picture was too sweet to leave out. It's Elliot "ferlaxing" in Grampa Timo's hammock.
Here's Erin relaxing with Roscoe the snuggle dog on one of his last days with us. It was harder than I thought to leave him. I guess I was a little more attached than I realized, what with having him since he was so little. But our house is a much more peaceful place now, and I think he is probably having a wonderful life with three wild little boys.
I tagged along with Erin and Mike and went to see Bonnie "Prince" Billy in Los Osos one night. It was a great show, and really fun to be in "the scene" for the first time in a long time. I felt really old compared to everyone else there, but it was a wonderful night, and music was super cool.
Here's some duck eggs. They are not dyed, these are the colors they are naturally. Off white, light green, and occasionally brown. Aren't they pretty?
I decided to include a duck picture for easter. Here they are poking around a big pile of sage trimmings. They are always so curious! I think the sage made them a little wild because after this, Miss Bennet (the fawn and white one here) kept trying to jump up on my lap!
Easter! Elliot was delighted with what the bunny brought.
The bunny came to grandma and grandpa's house, too! There were eggs everywhere hidden and filled by cousin Grace, who played with Elliot all day long! It was so fun to watch them together! We also got to see Erik's Aunt Arteenia, and cousins Leanne and Debbie for the first time since Elliot was born. It was great to visit, and Elliot was showered with attention and love all day long.
And, birthday! The very next day was Elliot's 4th, and we had all our family, plus the Moores (they're pretty much family) over to celebrate. It was a great, and wild time. In this picture Elliot's biting the alligator daddy sent him in the mail from Hawaii, where he has his days off from the ship.
Here's the birthday boy at the end of the night. He was pretty darned tired. There was one point while opening gifts that he pretty much started zoning out and doing a blank stare, and not responding when anyone talked to him. I think all the candy and excitement took it's toll, and today he's feeling sick. But what a happy happy birthday!

Not Quite All There

2009-03-18T11:25:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't blogged in a long time (for me). I just don't feel motivated or inspired to do much of anything besides play my guitar and hang around in my pj's. I had a great time visiting Jennifer in Wyoming, which I will post pictures of at some point. My ducks started laying eggs, which is really really exciting. And they are delicious. Roscoe got neutered. Hopefully it will make him a bit more submissive, but that remains to be seen. I finally unpacked my suitcase today, which I am kind of proud of since usually it takes me about a month to get around to it.

Things are going well here all around. I just hope I can start feeling inspired to create some things with Ann for our next event, coming up on April 4th at the Apple Farm restaurant. We haven't really made anything since Christmas, and I'm totally not in the mode. Hopefully the creative annointing will fall, and we will be full of beautiful and genius ideas, 'cause right now I've got nothin'.

Okay. That's all. More on the great Wyoming adventure later. :)

There and Back Again

2009-03-01T21:57:00.001-08:00

Isn't it weird how everything goes in cycles? I was thinking recently about how when I first started learning to play the guitar (a beginning guitar class at SLOHS with Brooke Evans) I was so excited about it. The two of us would stay up late into the night playing worship songs, and would even walk around downtown with our guitars strapped to us, and occasionally commandeer Woodstock's for a late night jam session. The guy who worked there got so used to us coming, he started moving the table out of the way before we got there. I think our playing was probably pretty horrible at the time, but we kind of didn't care. We just wanted to make music wherever we went. Well, I haven't felt that way for a long time... until now. Jennifer Barnett and I were just talking on the phone about how when you're not inspired musically, there's really nothing you can do about it except wait - for a new season, we decided, and that's what I feel like this is. I am starting to feel the old feeling of anticipation again for music. Writing little songs in my head, and wishing I had a microphone to try them out properly. And whenever I hear great music, and especially worshipful music, this deep longing to be in the middle of it and be a part of it, and what it means.

I got a new guitar this week. A way better one than I deserve. But I am so excited about it and grateful to have it that I am really feeling motivated to learn to play it better. And that's saying a lot since most of my musical "fun" is in the singing, not the guitar playing. So, here I am back where I started, and it sure does feel good.

Speaking of traveling, I'm going to Wyoming this week to visit Jennifer! Yay! We are going to have some crazy adventures. And I'm willing to bet we will have some musical adventures, too!

Here are some random pictures from the past couple weeks. Enjoy!

It's not funny. He's a guy. A cowboy guy with a guy mustache.
Okay, so it's funny after all. You can laugh now.
Erin got a variety pack of mustaches from somewhere, and we had lots of fun with them.
Here's my new guitar, Brown Rosie. Oh, the music you will make! It's a Heritage H535 (similar to a Gibson ES335 only better-ish), and is #18 of 25 special edition matched pairs, so she has an H150 brother (which is like a Gibson Les Paul). It sounds really great, even at my ability level, so it will be exciting to see what happens with this great guitar.
Oh yeah, and here's a really dark video of Elliot having way too much fun with a toilet paper ball he made himself. Why do I buy toys, again?

P.S. This is my 100th blog posting! Yay!

Peas and Yogurt

2009-02-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

Elliot is more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and so are his mom and auntie. We made up this silly song tonight trying to get him to eat his peas, and we sang it a bunch of times, and then decided to record it just for fun. I kind of can't believe I am even posting this, but we think it's really funny, and figured we might as well share it. So, if you want to listen to our goofiness, click on the RSS feed icon in the sidebar and you can download it or play it. Please laugh. What's the point of life if you can't laugh at yourself. "If you like Bobby McFarren and Billy Joel, you'll love this hot new single, Peas and Yogurt." - Rolling Stone (ha, ha)

Elliot has pretty good taste in music, I think. He has certain favorites, which I made into a playlist for him on my ipod. And he has his own names for him. I think the one that's gotten the most overall play is Tom Petty's "American Girl", which he has named "Turtleneck Girl". The others include: The Cranberries', "Dreams" (The Choo-choo Train Song), R.E.M.'s "Night Swimming" (The Water Bus Song), and Joanna Newsom's "Peach Plumb Pear" (The Girl Song - and as a side note, he thinks she is a little tiny elephant that sings).

On the way to the 99 cent store tonight, we listened to Elliot's current favorite song, Devotchka's "How it Ends", which he calls The Running Song. When we got there, we sat in the car listening to Nickel Creek's "Out of the Woods" - the song now known to Elliot as The Rainbow Song, and while we were listening to it, Elliot looked out the window of the car and said, "Hey, look at that tree saying hi to me!" There was a tree in the parking lot in front of us, and one of the branches was swaying in the wind as if it was waving. Elliot started laughing, and waved back at the tree. Then he said, "He's being funny! (about the tree) He has a lot of fingers on his hand, and his other arm is so long!" It was so cute. I think he really thought the tree was waving at him. Paired with the beautiful song and a windy clear night, it just seemed like one of those moments you will look back on, and remember as a time when you were perfectly happy.

And while we are on the subject of silliness, I might mention a few more of Elliot's favorite sayings of late. For goodness sake! Good grief! You've got to be kidding me! Obviously.... Actually.... Absolutely.... Manicott! Spaghett! Gol-ly! And if you want to know how good his imagination is, he threw a fit the other day because his Lightning McQueen rain boots wouldn't stop looking at him. Seriously.

All Aboard!

2009-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

This morning Elliot played with his train stencils (from Auntie Erin) and some brand new markers from his Nana and Papa. I think it was the most "into" coloring he has ever been in his life. Normally he has a pretty short attention span for it, and ends up asking me to make things for him. But the combination of the stencils and new markers was really exciting! And he felt like he could actually make what he wanted to, which is always trains. So, he took his time and made this awesome train! I was so glad that he was into it, because I was starting to think it was past time that he got used to holding a pen the right way and getting better control over it, but he has never had the patience.... until now! Yay! It was his idea to tape two pieces of paper together to make a long, big train. He was so proud of what he made, and he helped me hang it up in his room. Quite a special event, and hopefully the first of many trains to come!

The Rain

2009-02-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

The rain is raining all around.

It falls on field and tree.

It rains on the umbrellas here

And on the ships at sea.

-Robert Louis Stevenson

This morning has been fun. It's raining for real outside, not the half-baked kind we usually get. We had to get up early this morning to take Chewie to the vet. He is getting some masses removed, poor guy. But Elliot looked cute in his raincoat, with his pajamas still on underneath, and his Lightning McQueen rain boots. Then we came home and made a fire, and put on "The Muppet Movie", which is my fave of the muppet films. It's the one about how they all meet up and go to Hollywood to follow their dreams. I like the songs, and find them inspiring, sadly enough. Plus I love Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and how they play at an old church.

Elliot was laying down by the fire getting cozy with is blanket over him, and was really cute. but of course started moving all around when I tried to take pictures. Then I took a little video of us doing some super-high singing, which we have been doing lately. We both think it's really funny. Sometimes we talk in super high voices, too. I think this runs in the family, because my sister and I think it's really funny, too.

So, yesterday we went to San Luis, and bought some fruit trees! I'm so excited because it's something I've been wanting to do ever since we bought the house. We got a Fuji Apple tree, and another tree that has four different things: Blenhiem Apricot, Elberta Peach, July Babcock Peach, and Fantasia Nectarine. It's not magic, it just has different branches grafted on. Anyway, the funny thing is that Elliot has been looking forward to getting the apple tree, except he somehow decided that it's an "apple pie tree", which will grow apples, and apple pies. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff! Since it is such a cozy-in-the-house day, I am contemplating making some apple pie just to fulfill his dream. Does he even like apple pie? We'll see... maybe apple dumplings?

On a Sunday Night

2009-02-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I drank a glass of wine, photocopied ONE THOUSAND worship songs from church (the ones I don't know how to play, but want to), and made a playlist. So many of the songs made me cry. People have told me that I like really sad songs. But in my opinion, I like beautiful songs. Sometimes I say to myself, "If a song doesn't move something inside you, what's the point?" That's basically what I think. There should be an emotional, or thoughtful response to hearing a good piece of music. Even if it doesn't have words. Otherwise, it's just noise. I loved making a playlist. It was so fun. I will be adding to it when I discover new things. I hope all you in blogland enjoy it. If you think of some music that you think I would like, comment about it. I am always looking for new favorites, and sometimes it's difficult to be "in-the-know" about new music that comes out. Tell me all your thoughts. Music is so powerful.

Dreamy

2009-01-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

We took a day away yesterday, packed a picnic, and went to Nojoqui Falls. It was beautiful, and so peaceful. We were the only ones there, so we sang songs as we walked out to the falls to let the mountain lions know we were coming. When we got there, the falls were barely running, but still it was a beautiful sight to look straight up at. All the little water droplets trickling over the ferns and moss were sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

I thought the above photo might be inspiring for a future fabric print. I love the colors, and the shapes of the roots.
Erin took this cute shot of Elliot and I walking down the tree-arched path.
This was the most exciting part of the day! We saw a fox! The picture isn't great because it was taken with a zoom, and then cropped way in on iphoto, but still you can see how cute he is. We watched him climb straight up the trunk of this 20-something foot tree. When we got home, we looked it up online and compared pictures, and found out that he was a Gray Fox, endangered in the U.S., and the only canine that can climb trees other than some kind of Asian Dog. We felt to lucky to get to see him!

Oh, the glory... we stopped at the cutest little organic farm/store. They had the most perfect looking veggies lined up on display, and an old oak wine barrel with a slot in the top for you to put your money in. The honor system. Sprayers would come on automatically every few minutes to keep the veggies fresh, and there was another table full of winter squash of all kinds, and a sign saying you could call the farmer if you wanted to buy some eggs.
At the end of the veggie table, they had this watering can sitting strategically positioned to catch the water drips, which ran down against this ledge (from the sprayers), and off the corner.... drip, drip, drip into the can. So so cute. It made me wish I had some property to spread out on. Everything seems so much cleaner and fresher when there is wide open space. I decided if I ever did have some property, I would have a small walled garden. One section for vegetables, one for flowers, and plant some random fruit trees around. Let the dogs run loose, let the land be wild. It would be........ so nice.

Ode to January

2009-01-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was little, I had a mental calendar of the seasons, and my own ideas about when each of the four began. In my mind, it mostly centered around school and holidays, or that's what I always thought.... Summer began in June when school let out, Fall began the first day of school, which was always in September, Winter began the first day of December because that was the month of Christmas, and Spring began some time in January after school had started up again. This idea kind of stuck with me, and now I think rather than just a child's idea, it's really more of a California idea. I am so incredibly grateful that while other people across the country are still in a winter wonderland scene, spring is getting a foothold here.
Although in some ways it's not good (plants are waking up that might have benefitted from a bit more winter hibernation), it has been wonderful to be outside enjoying the sun and 70-80 degree weather the past week or so.

Elliot had been jumping in bed with me in the mornings to "get warm" with me. He's so cute, and it's fun that he has been more snuggly lately. He likes to get right next to me and throw his leg over me. He usually starts out facing me, and then tells me my breath is stinky and turns around. But me makes up for it by telling me "You're a really cute girl, mom." And, "I'm so proud of you, mom." He is so sweet!

We went to Guadalupe last week, and it was so beautiful. I loved that even though it was a perfect day, there was hardly anyone there. Elliot ran around in his own little world, and we even tried out his new shark kite right before we left, though there wasn't enough wind to keep it up for very long.

We took at walk on the beach this Sunday with Donna. Walked all the way down the the caves at the end of Pismo. Elliot was kind of scared that there were going to be animals in it, even though he could see the back. He wanted to go in anyway, though. I guess he's a thrill seeker.
This is my mid-January lunch, harvested out of my own back yard! It's pretty cool that I can harvest lettuce, volunteer parsley, and radishes in winter. No greenhouse needed besides the one hovering over California. Ha, ha. :)
Here's the little destructor. He's not as bad as he seems, even though he eats food off the counter, drinks my coffee out of my cup, ripped up all the padding under the swing set, and has now TWICE attacked Miss Bennet, the nicest of the ducks. She's okay, though. Speaking of the ducks, they are getting more friendly, and now if I'm out gardening, they follow me around the yard quacking. If I crouch down to pull weeds or prune, they come around and nibble the edges of my clothing and it tickles like crazy! The are more tame, and if I'm sitting, they won't even run away if I try to pet them. Yesterday I sprayed off the patio, and they thought they had a pond for a couple minutes. Lady Tottington (the gray indian runner) kept running around in a circle and then plopping down. She even tried to put her head under water. Too bad it was only a puddle! They need a pond!

Creative Day in Nappier Plaza

2009-01-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

Erin is over here, and we are having a lazy morning. It got off to a rocky start, with Elliot spilling beans out of his shaker, and the coffee maker not working (it would only brew pots of hot water with no grinding happening - I guess that's what I get for buying the fully automatic kind). I guess I resigned myself to not having a plan for the day, and then things started getting happy. We put on some music and both started drawing, and Elliot dumped blocks on the living room floor and started building his specialty, choo-choo trains. I drew this duck with my new pencils. It was inspired by Miss Bennet, my friendliest duck. I can't figure out if she's the nicest because she's the slowest, and has therefore been held the most and gotten used to people, or if she's the slowest because she's just not as afraid of people as much as the others. Anyway, she's the one that will eat from my hand and come over to say hello when she's roaming around the yard. Anyway, I've had this picture of a duck holding and umbrella in my head for a while now, and it was satisfying to get it onto paper. Happy day!

On another note, this poem came into my head the other night. I had to look it up because I didn't remember anything but the first line, or who wrote it. Once I read it, I really identified with the feeling of it.... but in the past. I feel different now, but it was cool to find this, and I love it, so I will share it!

Acquainted With the Night

Robert Frost

I have been one acquained with the night.

I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eye, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

O luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong or right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

2009-01-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I don't have that much to tell about. It has been great just having some down-time after the holidays. We have taken a couple of trips to the beach. Elliot loves playing in the sand and building sandcastles.

Erik has a new surfboard, which is a copy of his old red one, but is really beautiful. Baby blue on the bottom and white on the top with a really cool logo from the shaper, Russel Hoit. If anyone wants to buy a board, we can get you a discount!

I have been enjoying drawing with my colored pencils, and I have some schemes for doing some screen printing on fabric, and making myself some skirts for the spring. And wearing them with cowboy boots.

Roscoe destroyed almost all the seeds I was planning to plan in my second vegetable bed. I was so mad, I actually cried. It was about $80.00 worth of seeds, and the packets were completely in shreds all over the yard. Oh well!

Erik and I have been talking to our pastor, who is also an independent contractor, about adding on a room to the house. It's starting to seem less like a distant dream, and more like something that could really actually happen. It scares me to think about having another load payment, but I think we just might be able to swing it.

Well, that's what I sound like when I don't know what to say. Now you know. :)

We enjoyed Pismo in the beautiful weather we had the first few days of the new year.
In case anyone thinks we named our dog after Roscoe P. Coltrane, we didn't.... Roscoes Chicken and Waffles! Yeah!
Elliot and his Auntie enjoying a morning round of the Kapla planks. They are so much fun!
For some reason Erik likes to lay down on the floor. So, Roscoe finds this the best way to get cozy.
And, I guess Elliot likes to get cozy as well.

Hopefully....

2009-01-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in this past year, 2008. Mostly, when I think about it, it just makes me feel tired, and I am happy to be moving on to a new year with new possibilities. I am looking to this year with hope, to see what God has in store for us. Hopefully, it will hold some good shipping jobs for Erik, maybe some family vacations. Hopefully, it will be a good year for creativity. Maybe some new songs, art, and AMEN stuff will come out of it, and be appreciated, and reflect not just the little creator, but the big One, too. Hopefully, I will make some new friends, and cherish the old ones. I hope that everyone I love stays healthy and safe. I know there will be change (that's one thing that is for sure), but hope it will be for the better, and that it will be by choice, not necessity. All I can really do is make the most of what I have been given, and put my hope in God. So, here goes... take this year, God, and make something beautiful of it, like you always do.

Happy New Year

Basking in the Glow

2008-12-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about Christmas is the two days after, when you get to hang around in your pajamas all day and play with all your new toys! That's what all three of us have been doing the last couple of days. We had a great Christmas, getting to see all our family and friends, and sharing the excitement with Elliot, but it sure feels good to indulge in doing nothing. Maybe I'll make it outside today to prune the roses, but I don't know for sure. Might need to take a nap or two, or lounge around the house a little longer... there's a lot of lounging to be done. I have been drawing with my new colored pencils, Elliot has been playing his computer, which is actually an educational video-game of sorts, and watching new movies, and Erik has been playing guitar with his new blues-driver guitar pedal. He has big plans today - off to spend a gift certificate at Harbor Freight, the cheapest tool store ever. What a nice little vacation we are having. Ahhh! Here are some Christmas pictures:

My dad spent hours setting up our old, super-fragile electric train around the Christmas tree so Elliot could watch it go around when we got there. So precious getting to share that with him. He ended up getting an electric train of his very own from Mary and Bill - a bigger one that's not so fragile, which was very exciting for him.
My sister enjoying the train with Elliot - she looks so much like our mom in this picture!
Had to throw in this great shot of the dogs. I think Erin took this one.
Later that day, we went to Gary and Leslie's house (Nana and Papa), and visited with all our friends, which are really more like family. Here's Annie and Beau, and their little elf, Dustin.
Christmas morning, Elliot was so thrilled that Santa had filled up his stocking, or "Boon-stock", as he likes to call it, and left him some presents.
Grandpa Timo, Auntie Erin, and Grandma and Grandpa came over for Christmas brunch, and to give Elliot his presents. We got a little jam session going on with Erik and my dad. Erin and I think it's the first time we've ever heard our dad play a "trap set", rather than hand drums, parade drums, and the like.

Elliot was having my dad and sister bury him in tissue paper, and then popping out to scare everyone. It was pretty fun for all. Then we finished off the night at Mary and Bill's house, where Elliot got his big train, but I must have left my camera at home, because I sadly don't have any pictures of it. Erik and I ended the evening at home with a sigh of happy relief and a nice drop of chocolate flavored port. Thus ended a very merry Nappier Christmas.

Reindeer Games

2008-12-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Many of you may have thought that you knew the words to the popular Christmas tune, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Elliot has his own version of it:

"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

Letty letty slimy mose

(a long pause for the rest of the song to go by in his brain)

..... stor eeeeeeeee! Ho, ho, ho!"

There it is! Then he claps for himself at the end, and does the whole thing again. Shorter, and also more interesting than the original, I would have to say. I'm pretty sure we have a rock-star in the making here.

Quote of the Week

2008-12-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

Not that I'm going to start doing a quote of the week or anything, but I just had to share something funny that Elliot said.

As we were driving around Christmas shopping with my sister the other day, he said, "Remember what Santa says?" I said, "Does Santa say, 'Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!'?" Elliot said, "Remember Santa says, 'Hey, check out my jingle bells!'"

We started laughing, having no idea where he got that particular statement. He explained further by saying that reindeers love jingle bells on their leashes. Oh, well that makes sense then. :) Now Erik has him doing it with a somewhat gangster-ish hand motion, which is funny, but I still like the original best.

Okay, one other kind of funny thing. We went to Panera for lunch the other day, and as we were leaving, he walked by this young girl sitting at a table and totally ran his hand up her leg. I mean, all the way up to the inner thigh area. And he wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. She might as well have been a picket fence that he was running a stick across as he walked by. I apologized to her, and she seemed not to really care, but we thought it was kind of funny in a shocking way. As Erik said, "Very few guys could get away with something like that!" ;)

A Long Winter's Nap

2008-12-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

That's what I feel like I'm ready for now that all the crafting flurry has slowed down. But what it's time to do instead is shop till I drop, since up until this week I had basically not purchased any gifts. This isn't like me. The last few years I have had everything done by the time December came, but now I have to deal with the bustle. Oh well. It makes it all seem okay when you can come home and put on Christmas music, turn on the lights on the tree and light a fire in the fireplace. Since you haven't heard about what's going on with the family for a little while, I will fill you in.

Here is our son sitting on Santa's lap for the first time! I said to him, "You might want to tell Santa what you want him to bring you for Christmas." His response... holding up a crooked finger, making himself shake, and telling Mrs. Claus, "I'm turning into a giant bunny!" That's why she's laughing in the picture. Elliot is really cute... he just got a much needed haircut, and I decided to go on the short side so I wouldn't have to cut it again for a while. It's sort of a modern rockstar look, which looks especially cool with food or paint rubbed into it, which is his favorite new thing to do. I guess I should be quicker with the napkins, because if he doesn't have one, he just uses the hair. Ironically, if you try to get something out of his hair, he gets mad at you for "messing it up". Here he is with the "red caboose" he made just for me. He made it all by himself balancing on those wheels!

He likes to be my big helper now. We made Funfetti Holiday cupcakes the other night for no particular reason, and he loved mixing and being a chef. He's also been helping me put the clothes in the dryer, clearing his dishes, and holding the ribbon with his finger when we wrap presents. Now we just need to work on picking up toys!

He's still into pretending, making fart noises, taking long baths (multiple times a day if we allow it), and building things. One of the cute things he says now is, "Mom, sometimes boys like to --------------", fill in the blank. Usually it's something he wants at that moment, like, "Sometimes boys just like to have a candy with their cheerlios." He makes us laugh every day, and we are really looking forward to sharing Christmas with him together again this year. And last but not least... well, kind of least, but you know what I mean: Christmas dogs, and Christmas ducks!

One More Event....

2008-12-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

So, we had a great time at holiday in the plaza! Although we didn't make tons of money, we did make lots of sales, and lots of connections. We talked with a couple of buyers that were really interested in selling our stuff in their stores. That was exciting. And it's so great and affirming to meet customers who love and connect with our stuff. Hearing comments all day like, "This is the cutest blanket I've ever seen in my life", "This is by far the cutest thing in the whole show", "Of all the vendors here, this is what I really connect with", "Pretty soon I'll be seeing you guys in the magazines!"..... I can't help but feel like it was all worth it. All the work and love we put into it, and all the excitement we have about it is not in vain when we get to share it with people who love it equally as much. And it let's me know that I wasn't crazy for getting into this thing... this craft fair adventure.... just brave. Our last show is coming up at Winter Wonderland in Atascadero, which will be quite an event! Five snow areas, pony rides, bounce houses, fire engine rides, iceskating, train rides, BBQ, and vendors will make this Friday a night to remember! Come support your local crafters if you get the chance. It will be worth the drive! Come to the sunken gardens from 5-9pm this Friday!

Come and See for Yourself

2008-12-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

If you have been following my blog, you have seen and heard lots about crafting and AMEN, and the love of creativity. So, for those of you who are local, come out and support us, and other crafters this weekend, and see what the buzz is all about!

It's Personal.

2008-11-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

Driving around the other day, I had some deep thoughts as I was listening to a mixed CD my loving lil' sister made me. As the charming, unpolished notes of various indie-sounding musicians calmed me and the rain fell gently, I started thinking about how much beauty there is in the imperfection of humanity. What is it, I asked myself, that makes you look for the places in the painting where you can clearly see the brush strokes - the work of the artists hand? What is it that makes husbands think their wives look beautiful first thing in the morning with no makeup and messy hair?

My mind traveled on to AMEN Handmade, and how we love things to look worn, flawed, one of a kind. There's also a major uprising going on right now (ucc) of young crafters (renegade) and artists (capsule) who share the same feeling, selling wobbly, almost childlike drawings, and lopsided craft-monsters, funky felted purses where you can see the stitching, and clothing with raw edges exposed. EXPOSED. That's the key word, I think. There's something in all of these experiences that lets you into the secret little world of the person who made it. Somehow you feel that you've gotten to see a glimpse of their honest soul - the inmost part of their creative heart, and that..... that is something precious. More precious than ever in this world quick notes and backward glances, top eight friends and wall-to-walls.

Last weekend at the poorly attended Paso Robles Digital Film Festival, Ann and I were lucky enough to get situated next to a man with a positive attitude. A silversmithing storyteller.

And, he told us a good one as we were about to pack up and go home. In the story of the "Cracked Pot", a water carrier took water in two jugs back to his master's house time after time. One perfect pot, and one cracked. The cracked one was very ashamed of it's flaw, and always apologizing, until the water carrier helped it to see that it was watering flowers all along the roadside each time it was carried, and that the flowers were known throughout the land for their beauty.

Maybe the parts of us that are different are ready to be shared, and maybe what the world sees as awkward or flawed is actually just the intricate and beautiful work of the master's hand?

So, I am not sure why I am writing this (or crying about it), but I know there is something in all of us that longs to connect... to really know and be known. I will end with this verse, which has been a particular treasure to me of late:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Cor 13:12

The Adventure Begins

2008-11-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been a whirlwind of excitement, fun, and learning. We have done two craft shows in the last two days, and really enjoyed making our booth beautiful, meeting kindred spirits and crafty characters, and sharing our creations with people who love and appreciate them. Here are some photos of the cuteness.

Also, you can now purchase our products on Etsy! Click here to go to our etsy store. Happy shopping!

My Two Hams

2008-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy taking care of animals and getting ready for our first craft fair, which is this Saturday, that I have hardly taken any welcome home pictures of Erik! So here is one of him shaving his head, and looking like Friar Tuck! Both Elliot and I are really happy to have him back. Our lives are so much more fun with him here.

The other pictures of Elliot are him pretending he is s snowman, and he is using a piece of fettuccini as a "snow mouth." He is really into pretending. He likes to be a baby fish, a blue morpho butterfly, a giant rabbit, a chinchilla, a dinosaur... what else?.... so many different things. So when he has pasta with parmesean cheese, he always pretends the cheese is snow, and the last couple times, he has done the snow mouth thing, and pretended he is a snowman. So cute, and creative!

Getaway

2008-11-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

We were so blessed to have a little weekend getaway last weekend with our dearest friends, who are really much more like family. Gary and Leslie invited us to join them and the rest of the family who could make it for a weekend in Avila! We stayed at a beautiful condo right across from the beach. It was amazing! The whole glass wall of the livingroom opened onto a balcony overlooking the ocean. It was so great to get to spend some time with Gary, Leslie, Annie, Beau, Dustin (he is getting so big, and cuter and cuter all the time)! Gary's son Tim was there, with his wife Mo, and son Carter, who is about a year younger than Elliot. So it was really fun visiting with them, and seeing Carter and Elliot play together. Mimosas were plentiful, as was love and good company! Time seems to fly by when you have a kid, so it just felt so good to be with everyone. Elliot had a great time playing on the beach, and I had fun wine tasting with Annie, Beau, and Gary, and playing Texas Hold'em, which I seem to be getting pretty good at! :) We walked on the peer, and looked around in stores, took the boys on the swings, and went to Avila valley barn! Such a great time, and a much-needed breath of fresh air for me!

Harvest Time Again

2008-10-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Avila Valley Barn is so great. In my mind, it's become a symbol of all that was once free in the world, and one of the last places on earth where people don't necessarily charge money for something just because they can. I love the old-timey-ness of the place: how you can pick berries, apples, peaches, etc. And I love that unless you buy something, it's all free: entrance, feeding the animals, and the hayride and maze. We were only there for a short while this time to buy squash, and cornstalks as decorations for the Harvest Party we are having this Friday at church, and Elliot didn't get to play in the hay as much as he wanted to. But, in the end, he settled for some bribery (come get in the car, and I'll give you some trailmix (with m&ms) once you're buckled in). The seasons are changing quickly now, and I think today I will finally plant my fall vegetable garden. Hopefully Roscoe won't dig it up before everything gets a chance to sprout.

It's Beginning to look a lot like....

2008-10-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Christmas! Here is a sneak peek of the Christmas crafts we have been whipping up to sell at some upcoming Christmas craft fairs. If you are interested in attending and purchasing some really cute stuff, the dates are: Holiday Boutique at the Atascadero Lake Pavillion - November 15th; Winter Wonderland at the Atascadero Sunken Gardens - December 12th 5-9pm; Holiday in the Plaza in San Luis Obispo - December 6th and 7th.

Make Way for Ducklings

2008-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

The ducklings arrived today! The post office called me around 2:30 and told me I could come pick them up. Four little ladies in a box. I don't know for sure what their names will be yet, but it will have to be something fitting with Featherfield park. Right off the back, we could tell that the faun and white Indian Runner was way more active than the rest, kept trying to escape, and basically thought she was the boss. Here are a few quick pictures of them. Feel free to write in with your name suggestions (they are all girls).

Meet Roscoe

2008-10-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a whirlwind of cleaning for a Pampered Chef party that I hosted (click the link if you want to order from my party - you have until Tuesday). Then I went to pick up our new Boxer puppy, Roscoe (I named him on the way there). What fun! And mess! And fenzy! He is so cute, and really seems smart. He already knows his name, and comes when you call him. Last night he was not enjoying the crate, but when I told him to lay down, he seemed like he pretty much obeyed. Not bad for a little guy! So far only one pee spot in the house, and no poop! He is doing great and is such a mellow puppy for a boxer. Chewie is helping him learn where to go to the bathroom, and get his excess energy out! And, he is pretty tuckered out today after whining half the night.

Elliot getting mobbed by Roscoe's brothers and sisters.

Here's Roscoe in the morning sunlight.

Uncle Chewie abiding over his young one.

It's funny how much alike they are in coloring and markings. Sometimes their movements are synchronized, which is really funny!

Roscoe claimed this blankie as his bed. He likes to take a nap in front of the fireplace.

Mini Holiday

2008-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a busy few days! We went to see our friends, Brooke, Darin, and Mikayla in San Clemente Monday through Wednesday. While there, we went to the beach, San Diego Zoo, and ZooMars... also had a pool party on their deck which I don't have pictures of, but maybe those will come later. What a sweet time with friends! Elliot got along pretty well with Mikayla, aside from the occasional grabbing away of a toy, and scaring her with a growling voice. We enjoyed a very hot day at the zoo, during which we saw Dominique Monaghan hanging out with Billy Boyd and his wife (I think) and kid. So, we're pretty much famous. Also, we accidentally stayed at the zoo way after it was closed. We were way out in the zoo boonies by the hippos, and we started to realize that there was no one else there, but we just figured people left to pick their kids up from school or something. Actually it was 5:25, and the zoo had closed at 5:00. So then we basically took our time slowly making our way toward the entrance and left at about 6:15, I think. It was great because it was finally starting to cool down, and all the animals were getting more active and waking up from their naps. I think those are my highlights, aside from spending some great quality time with friends. :)

Here's Elliot at the San Clemente beach right by their house. He is pretty much in heaven with all the sand to build "nests" in, swings, and train tracks right behind him.

Elliot and Mikayla riding a tortise at the San Diego Zoo.

Aw, he loves the daddy Gorilla.

Elliot and Mikayla chatting over breakfast.

And here's Elliot holding a bunny at ZooMars, a little petting zoo with a huge pen

of bunnies and guinea pigs, among other things.

Me and the Moon

2008-10-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

The moon followed me home from San Clemente tonight. Though I should have been watching the road, as I drove north on the 101, I found myself stealing glimpses of the reflection of the moonlight on the beautiful pacific ocean. It has always been one of the few sights that absolutely takes my breath away. I have tried to take pictures of it, and paint it, but it seems impossible to capture the majesty of the glittering, glowing waters. Tonight it struck me a little different for some reason, and I started thinking about how dark the water is, yet how brightly it can shine even though it's only dimly and intermittently reflecting the moon, which is in turn a dim reflection of the sun. Tears made me into an even worse driver as I began to read the scene as an allegory. I believe that we as humans are a dim reflection of the brightness and perfection of God. Despite all the flaws and folly of humanity, he still sees traces of Himself in us, and to Him we are so very lovely... so very loved.

Featherfield Park Preview

2008-10-05T23:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a little glimpse of the glorious duck house, made by my genius dad. I guess I should say, "duck cottage". That seems more fitting, doesn't it? Check out all the cool features! Wheels that can go up or down, handles to wheel it with. Awesome cedar roof, and a little back door for sneaking the eggs out of the nesting area! Also, you can't see it, but the whole top part detaches from the floor for a thorough spray out a couple times a year. My dad put so much work into this, and I am so touched, and grateful. It's just so cute, I almost don't want to put the ducks in there for fear they will mess it up!

The Nappier Farm

2008-10-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for animals at my house. First thing when I woke up, there was a message on my cell phone from a friend/dog breeder telling me that my puppy is ready to be picked up! I wasn't expecting him to be ready (8 weeks) for another week or two, but I guess we lost track of how many weeks old they were (now they're 9 weeks). Luckily she didn't mind keeping him an extra week, because I am going on a little trip out of town for a couple days next week. But we will be picking him up Thursday or Friday. I think we are going to name him Porter. He is a flashy fawn Boxer, just like Chewie. I think Chewie will be so glad to have a little brother-dog to play with.

A little while later, my dad called and told me that the duck house he has been building me (we call it Featherfield Park) is finished! He has been working on it non-stop for about three weeks, and it is amazing. It looks just like a miniature house complete with hinged doors, and a peaked roof. It has a mesh bottom, and wheels that can be lifted up or locked down so that I can put the house on the lawn (duck fertilizer, you know), and wheel it to a different spot each day! Also, it has big handles that you lift up like a wheelbarrow to wheel it, and a little nest area in the back with a back door right by it so I can reach in in the morning and grab out the fresh eggs! So, among some other errands, I squeezed in a trip to Farm Supply and bought some duck starter crumbles, a waterer, and a feed container. The ducks will be shipped on October 13th in a little cardboard box with air holes, and a heat pack to keep them warm. I ordered them from Metzer Farms, and got all females: a Faun and White Indian Runner, a Blue Indian Runner, and two Blue Swedish.

Erik pretty much talked me into getting the puppy, but the theory is that if the pup and the ducks grow up together, they will be used to each other, and maybe even be friends. I guess I can't complain too much, because I really talked him into the ducks! As soon as my vegetable garden starts cranking out the produce, it will really be like a miniature farm around here! I just hope the animals don't decide to organize and take us hostage or anything like that. But, I am really, really excited about all my fluffy babies. It's going to be so fun to have little creatures prancing about the lawn!

Joys for Boys

2008-09-30T17:56:00.001-07:00

There are few things in the life of this 3 year old that I believe would bring him more joy than running around the yard in his tiny 2T sized boxer briefs...
...filling up his dump truck with water from the hose, then dumping it on the one part of the path that will make a puddle, then bringing over a little tiny matchbox dump truck and driving that around in the muddy water...
...... and of course when you're that busy with your work, you don't have time to go in the house to pee, so you just go ahead and pee on the grass. Somehow you don' t have to train boys to love these things. It just seems to come with the territory - boyhood.

Back on the Radar

2008-09-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you are interested in following the AMEN blog, we have a recent post after a long time of nothing. We should be posting more frequently now that we are going to be crafting again. Here is a copy of the most recent post for your viewing and reading enjoyment:

“Oh my gosh! It smells like a Christmas tree!” That’s what Ann said when she opened up an old notebook, and we started to look through all the cute phrases and Christmas poems we wrote about a year ago. There were pine needles from last year’s tree accidentally stuck between the pages, the scent of which filled us with anticipation for the coming months. The months when the crafter can work feverishly, and the cold of fall, and then winter, awakens the inspiration that has been hibernating all summer. We are once again inspired, and just beginning to make a new batch of fun handmade items, which will hopefully be sold at some upcoming local Christmas craft faires. We will be peddlers, selling a wide variety of things - gift tags for example. Can you feel the cuteness? Updates will be forthcoming!

One Week of Dad

2008-09-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, Erik has been home this week! It has been a busy but happy week at the Nappier homestead. During his week here, Erik has built me two vegetable trellises, set up his new tool boxes in the garage (very gleefully), and collected all the papers and receipts needed for "the audit". We also are getting a home security system installed some time today, and in the midst of all that, we managed to pick out a puppy. What?! A puppy? That's right, a puppy. Updates on that matter will be forthcoming, but for now, I will share some pictures of fun family time we were so blessed with this week.

Erik surprised us and tricked us into thinking he wasn't going to be there till late that night. So then we were out for a bike ride, and Elliot, prophet that he is, started saying, "Is daddy at our house?" I kept telling him no, that daddy wasn't going to be there until after he was asleep in bed, but he kept insisting, "I think daddy's waiting for us at our house. We better hurry, mom." What do you know? He WAS waiting for us, and greeted me with a glass of champagne to toast his return! Then of course the next thing to do was build a giant castle with the boy.

We had a family outing day and went to Morro Bay. After a great walk on the beach we went to a really crappy restaurant for lunch, but managed to have fun anyway. Here you can see that Elliot and Erik were taking turns making funny faces. Like father like son, eh?

Yesterday we got to hang out with Sean and Monique, and their little son, Sinjin. Elliot was so thrilled to have a friend to play with, and they both had a blast riding in the wagon, playing trains, and going in the sand area. Check out Elliot's I'm-a-great-host smile.

It was a great time just relaxing with our friends. A week is too short,

but it is way better than nothing at all.

The next step for Erik is a six week Refrigeration class in Piney Point Maryland. After that, he will be home for real, and will be able to stay with us through the holidays. Halleluia! It will be so nice to have him back!

Meanwhile, things are going to be busy here, what with the coming of the puppy (in two more weeks), the ducks (as soon as the duck house, "Featherfield Park" is finished), planting a winter garden, and hopefully lots of crafts! AMEN is going to be doing some Christmas craft fairs this year, and I am so, so, so excited about it! It is going to feel so good to create again. I kind of have that anticipatory feeling like you get when you take the first step onto an escalator or a moving sidewalk. Like you are about to go on a little bit of a ride. It's that first step that's the wobbliest, but after that, it's just cruising. What will you bring me, future? Let's see, let's see!

Sharing a Laugh

2008-09-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

We haven't been doing much lately, but here are a few

photos of normal everyday stuff from around our home:

My raspberries are going crazy right now, and producing more fruit, and much bigger fruit than they did in the whole spring and summer. What a treat!

I recycled my sunflower stalks into a funky little tee-pee for Elliot. The outside is a table cloth, and the door is a flour sackish thing. It's all held together with clothes pins, except the stalks are tied together with twine at the top.

He had a great time playing in his "little house".

I'm so glad I have a yard, and a dirty sand pit for him to play it.

I hope he remembers this fondly when he grows up. :)

Elliot and I shared a good one this morning, making funny sounds at the breakfast table. Just in case there is any confusion on the subject, all the sounds are coming from the mouth. ;) I love when Elliot laughs out of control, then I start laughing, and then he starts laughing more. It is one of the best things we do together!

One thing I have really been enjoying is doing some fall baking. I made the Rosemary Apple pie from this month's issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It was amazing! But, kind of a lot of work. If it sounds delicious to you, you should pick up a copy and make it. I also made these delicious bran muffins! They are so yummy and also very, very healthy, so I will give you the recipe. Don't you love how bran has this naturally sweet wheaty taste?

Raspberry Bran Muffins

1c whole wheat flour

1c wheat germ

2 3/4c wheat bran

2/3c oat bran

1tbs buckwheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger

3 tbs oil or melted butter

2/3 c honey

1 1/4 c milk

1c nonfat plain yogurt

2 eggs

1c raspberries

1/4c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the dry stuff. Combine the wet stuff separately. Then mix the two together. Fold in the berries, and spoon generously into lined muffin pan. Bake 20-25 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Yum!

Pruning

2008-09-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

I decided this week that I think fall is my favorite season. Maybe it's just because it's a nice change from the baking summer sun, or maybe the coziness the makes me want to make soup and craft at night by the fireplace. Or the color changing leaves (though that's quite to a minimum here in California), or the feel of school starting. I don't know what it is, but for some reason it gets me happy.

This year I am especially excited to plant a fall and winter garden. My seeds came in the mail yesterday for all my cold-hardy vegetables. I will soon be planting onions, peas and beans, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, potatoes, winter-hardy lettuces, sugarloaf radiccio, and many others. This is my first time, so I am not sure how it will go, but I am excited to try. The idea of planting in fall brings new excitement to a season which is typically reserved for pruning. Actually, I love pruning as well. It always makes me think of the bible verse, "Every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matt 7:19)" Most people probably don't think this is a very cheerful thought, but I do. It always comes to mind when pruning, as I am pruning out the weaker branches (maybe not the whole plant!) and knowing that even though my plants are about to look pretty chopped up and bare, the plant will be stronger and healthier for it, and I will see the benefit come springtime when it explodes with flowers or fruit. And, of course I love compost, too. (The very word has come to take on a refined and luxurious connotation whenever I say it... compost. Mmmm.) I get to take all the trimmed and pruned branches, and feed them back to the dirt, so my garden will benefit from it with the next planting!

Today I am thinking that I need to do some pruning of my life. Maybe there are plenty of things in my life that I do for fun, or because I have always done them, but what should I really be doing with my time - with what adds up to my life? Yes, it's a good time now for me to re-assess, take out the clutter and energy-suckers, and get on with the business of living. Anyone else?

Ah, and another thing about pruning... the best part is that I get to take whatever remnants of flowers are left, and fill the house with giant bouquets, the garage with drying herbs, seeds, and lavender, and my table with the last of the vegetables. Bountiful life! I'm not sure why I am getting so deep this morning, but I can't think of anything better to do........ on a foggy morning in fall!

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

2008-09-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Tons of kids have probably been writing essays of a similar title the last couple weeks, so I thought I would throw mine in as well....

Annie thoughtfully sent me a picture disk of our summer visit to the VanZante Family and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk - an occasion on which I very regrettably forgot my own camera! We had a great time hanging out, and got to hear the free concert on the beach before heading home to San Jose for the night. Then the next morning we walked over to a local coffee shop for breakfast and coffee. Aren't we quaint? ;) A great time was had by all, and we were so thankful for the gift of getting to see our beloved friends.

Here we are after we had just arrived, standing in front of the bumper cars.

Elliot rode the merry-go-round twice. He's getting really good at posing for the camera.

Me cherishing a moment with precious Dustin. He is such a sweet and mellow baby!

Elliot loves his Auntie Annie.

Me with a lap full of extreme cuteness.

Yearbook Yourself

2008-09-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Erin for the out of control laughter brought on by the yearbook yourself website and creating these. What more is there to say? I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Block Head

2008-09-02T12:57:00.001-07:00

At first, he only wanted the blocks arranged perfectly in a cube shape with no empty spaces and everything lining up exactly. I was glad to see him branch out today when we (mostly he) build this "giant castle/pirate ship". He worked so carefully and creatively, and surprisingly didn't even get frustrated with the towers toppled time after time. I put this little video on just as an experiment. It's a real cliffhanger. I hope you can handle it. ;)

The End of an Era

2008-09-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

This is the last of the summer lettuce. This evening just as the sun was going down I did my final harvest of what I had planted in May, and then ripped out the bolting plants. Now it's time to plant some new ones for the fall - cold resistant varieties. Yes, fall is here. I could tell for sure this morning when I woke up and the house was freezing. I had to go put on my bathrobe because I was getting goose bumps! That hasn't happened for a really long time.

Today was an interesting day for us. Here's what I originally had planned: mail packages at the post office, get the car smogged, go to the library, and go to the car wash. That would have worked out just fine any other day, but I had forgotten that today is Labor Day! Duh! That, and I also tried to unlock the front door with my car key clicker thingy. Not a great day for the old brain, but it ended up being nice anyway. Elliot and I had a date at Starbucks for lunch, and in the afternoon went to Target (of course I forgot to bring the things I was planning to return) for a meander through the aisles, and I got Elliot some wooden building blocks. He has never had any before, strangely enough, and he played with them from the time we got home, till it was time for bed. He's such a perfectionist, it cracks me up. I kept trying to help, but he would say, "N-n-n-no. That's not gonna work. It needs to go like this."

Also, what do you think of the new template? I think I am going to change it back, but I need to make a custom header like someone I know.... only I don't have the energy to do all that right now. Happy Fall everyone!

Haven

2008-08-30T16:57:00.001-07:00

Well, this is the finished product on the garden of paradise. Finished for now, anyway. There are still a few more things I want to plant. Tuberoses and Stargazer lilies in the fall, and Lupine and California Poppies in the spring. Plus we need some sort of shrub in the far corner by the gate, but all those things will have to wait. Over the last few days, Elliot has been helping me weed by bringing over his dump truck (he pronounces it "domp truck" with the "o" making the long sound) over to the flower bed and letting my fill it with weeds. Then we go together to the compost bin (I got an Envirocycle for my birthday) with him rolling the truck and me walking behind him, and we both put the weeds into the barrel. It has been so fun having him help, I am almost sad that there are no weeds left. But today after I spread out the cocoa shell mulch, which is fabulous stuff if you have never used it, I realized how much more relaxing that garden is. And that's good, because Erik will be home in a couple more weeks, and I want it to be beautiful for him. Well, I am starting to ramble. Yay for my garden. I am so happy to have it all finished (for now)!

My Life at 6:00 a.m.

2008-08-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

When Elliot wakes up in the morning, he usually comes right in to wake me up ask me for some "hot milk". Then we go into the kitchen, get his hot milk, and I stumble around and put on a show for him to watch while he sits in his special rocking chair. He sits there covered in his favorite red blankie and drinks his hot milk, and relaxes for a while before he starts playing. Yesterday morning (which happened to be much earlier than the norm), when we did the usual, he found that his new dragon costume was laid out on the couch with some other laundry that needed to go on hangers. Of course, the everyday mundane routine wouldn't do. The dragon had to have hot milk. The dragon needed to watch a show. And the dragon had to have it's picture taken. Somehow I managed to oblige despite my half-asleep state. I love my little dragon.

Some Things Never Change

2008-08-25T14:05:00.001-07:00

In the world of a child, things are constantly changing and the parents are left struggling to cherish each stage of life, and keep up with the new challenges that come up every day. When Elliot fell asleep on the floor the other day in the exact position he did on the day he turned one month old, I thought it was worth capturing. This was something to remind me that even though he is a big boy, he's still my baby, and that with everything changing in life, this is one thing that has stayed the same.

Long Beach, Sweet Long Beach

2008-08-25T13:26:00.001-07:00

We went to Long Beach to see Erik last Thursday. It was one of those rare occasions where everything seemed to go smoothly, and everyone had a great time! What a wonderful blessing! We picked Erik up at the dock, and Elliot loved seeing all the containers (freight cars to him), and some trains, along with cranes and giant ships. He saw one big black train and said, "Hey, is that Diesel? I think it is Deisel!", and got all happy about it. That's a character from Thomas the Tank Engine for those of you who don't have toddler aged boys. He said the cranes were "Cranky the Crane, and Rocky", also from Thomas. We weren't able to see Erik's ship, but there was one pretty close, so it filled our purposes for showing him where dad worked. He was of course overjoyed to see his dad, and it was wonderful to see the two of them having so much fun together. We had a brilliant time at The Yard House for dinner. Elliot was so good! Then on Friday we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, as you see below. It's such a great place for little kids because they have lots of touch pools outside where you can pet bat rays, sting rays, and sharks! Then they also have a Lorikeet aviary where you can purchase nectar, then bring it in with you, and the birds will eat it out of your hand, and maybe even come land on you. Pretty neat. Then we had to sadly walk Erik back to the dock. Elliot was sad and annoyed that he had to go, but I think he understands now that it has to be done. The last picture is Elliot running through the tunnel on the way back to the car. We even got to have a nice little visit with Brooke, Darin, and Mikayla afterward, passing some time at their house while the rush hour traffic was going on. We might make this a regular routine if Erik ends up staying with this, or a similar shipping route. He is completely loving his job working as an electrician. It's much more fun, challenging, and interesting to him. Plus, he is working as his own boss in a sense. Between ports, he just takes care of whatever he thinks needs to be done, and people call him if they need something fixed. Sure beats 12 hour shifts in a 130 degree engine room! Also, he gets a paid day off every four weeks! Yay for him! He has worked really hard to get there, and I am, as always, so proud of him and thankful for him. :)

Ah, so good to see the father and son having fun together!

Thankfully, he's small enough that he could squeeze

to the front without really being in anyone's way.

The light was too bright for him, so he made little tunnels for his eyes.

Our Last Month in a Nutshell

2008-08-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time, and I have missed blogging so much! Strange how something becomes a part of you once you get used to it. I never used to be into blogs, but now I feel like I have all these pent-up blog entries inside me that are waiting to get out. There will be many more exciting things happening this summer, so I am going to do one giant catching up blog. I hope y'all have the patience to look at the whole thing. :)

So, here's the garden of paradise, which I weeded, mixed in compost and steer manure, and planted about 35 plants in one day.

Here's the finished product!

We went camping with Mary and Bill, Erik's parents, at Glass Creek.

Here's one Bill took of me fishing.

Elliot taking a little bath in the sink in their trailer.

We went to the "Laws" museum, which was really a little tiny old town that was set up so people could look through all the buildings. They had a real steam engine that kids could climb in and ring the bell, and move all the levers and whatnot. Of course Elliot was in heaven.

Bill on Gull lake.

So, they came and stocked the lake with trout while we were there. We started catching lots of fish after that! Felt a little bit like cheating, but it was really fun!

Elliot in the creek at the campground. The water was ridiculously cold - melted snow, but he still liked playing in it!

Elliot catching a fish with Grandpa.

Here we all are at "Devil's Postpile", a really neat formation of hexagonal columns of rock.

Elliot on the "big, big bridge" on the hike back from Devil's Postpile.

We took our annual birthday trip to the sand spit with my dad and sister. We had a great time, and a lovely picnic. The weather was beautiful, and the tide was just right.

Dad and sister getting grounded. :)

It's kind of hard to see, but this is my dad rowing back with Elliot on his kayak.

Elliot fell asleep on the way back to the maria!

Elliot wanted to take a picture with Mommy and Elliot and Auntie, so we did!

Chewie is so funny when he sleeps on his back with his legs up in the air,

and his jowls hanging down. We couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Photo credit to my sister on this one.

Elliot fell asleep on the floor after we got home from a birthday party.

His position is so funny, and I actually have one of him as a little baby in the same position!

I might have to frame them side by side.

About 20 tiny little baby snails were found crawling around in my kitchen sink after I washed the lettuce from my garden. My sis was mesmerized by their intricate little tiny bodies. They are beautiful and delicate when they're this small (in their own way).

Well, that about sums it up. Now you can look forward to regular postings and more witty commentary! I have so much more to share, but you will just have to wait. :)

Coming Soon ...

2008-08-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

I'm bursting with wonderful blogging material, but you will have to wait. When I got home from camping, my iphoto had decided not to work. Now all it does is tell me "loading" for ever and ever (I even tried waiting over night). So, the time has come to upgrade, and I should be installing iLife '08 in the next few days, at which time I will dazzle you with all the camping pictures, as well as the nearly-complete garden of paradise! Yay!

Trippy

2008-07-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip down to Anaheim for a church conference. They decided to make the annual Vineyard Pastor's conference open to everyone, and had kids activities and childcare, so I figured it was too great to pass up! It was a great conference, and since there were sections of the day that didn't have kid's activites, I was lucky enough to get in some time with my good friend, Brooke, and her daughter Mikayla (just turned 1!). They drove up from San Clemente two of the days we were there and we had fun with the kids together. These pictures are of the day we went to Irvine Park. It was great because they had a zoo, a train, and pony rides! We did it all, of course.

The pony rides were really exciting, because Elliot chose to ride the "trot pony" rather than the little ponies where they just walk in a circle. So he rode on a pretty big pony/horse and the girl rode on another horse in front of him. His pony followed the other one. At first I thought he was going to cry because they were trotting, and he was really flopping around quite a bit, but when they came around the track, he had a huge smile on his face! I was proud. The next picture is of him telling how he rode on the big pony.

Then there was the train. Elliot loved it, but Mikayla was scared by the loud narration of the conductor, so she kept trying to get away from the speaker by coming back with me. It didn't really help, and she cried most of the way. Poor thing.

It was a really fun trip. Good conference, and good to see friends! Elliot overall did really well with the travelling and had a great time with the kids activities. He never wanted to leave. Although the week was a success, it always feels great to be.... Home Sweet Home. :)

Sweet and Sour

2008-07-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

Life is sometimes like a rhubarb pie. Sweet, sour, and tangy-delicious. To me it seems like life comes in spurts. One day you feel like everything is great, and you can't even remember the last time there was any drama. Next thing you know, you step on a nail, your husband will only be home for about two weeks of the remaining year, family gets all in a swirl, etc. The part that helps is the sweet moments that keep coming along. Predictable blessings, like Elliot coming in to snuggle with me in the morning. New roses blooming, berries, rhubarb, and squash, and peas ripening. The combination of the sweet and the sour is what gives our lives their unique flavor, and from this we gain wisdom, and learn better how to love.

Some choice quotes from "Sweet Old World" by Lucinda Williams:

The breath from your own lips, the touch of fingertips
A sweet and tender kiss
The sound of a midnight train, wearing someone's ring
Someone calling your name
Somebody so warm cradled in your arm

Millions of us in love, promises made good
Your own flesh and blood
Looking for some truth, dancing with no shoes
The beat, the rhythm, the blues

Independence Day

2008-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Now, that's pretty independent for a three year old, don't you think? All the kids at the fourth of July party had a great time in this little power tractor. They thought they were the coolest for getting to drive, even though they were crashing quite a bit. Luckily it didn't get up much speed, or someone could have been run over, as was a very unfortunate tomato plant. I love these little guys. They run around like at little pack of wild animals, and have a great time together.

Just Reviewing

2008-07-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

These two boys just happened to both be taking swimming lessons last week, so when they got together, they had a great time in the pool and on the slip and slide in the back yard, as well as in the bath! Elliot's second week of swimming lessons was much more productive than the first week. Although he made it through week one of Skippers with no mom in the pool, he didn't like it much, and didn't learn to do much except be in the pool without crying. So for the second week, I decided to join him in the pool with the parent child class, which I found much more appropriate for him. The other kids were closer in age and abilities, and he was able to branch our much more having me there with him. Though it was still quite a process, he was able to blow bubbles in the water, learn to kick, learn to jump in, and finally on the last day, he figured out how to hold his breath. Before that, he was so stressed, he would always gasp under water and breath in water. But he had been practicing out of the water all morning, and he finally was able to do it. His favorite part of the week was getting in the spa after swimming lessons. He never wanted to get out of that one! But his friend, Gideon, has a much more adventurous personality, and Elliot was inspired by him. They ended up doing back floats in the bathtub. Sounds like no big deal, but this is something Elliot had NEVER done in swimming lessons, and had NEVER done in the bath. Normally he hates even getting his hair wet. It was so great to see him being motivated by his friend, and he was so proud of himself that he did it for about 2 hours till the water got cold. And, he has done it every bath since!

Flashbacks

2008-06-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some flashbacks for you. The top three pictures are from a recent father's day trek to Arroyo De La Cruz with Grandpa Timo and Auntie Erin, and Dad. Fun was had by all, and we had to break through the heavy underbrush to get to the beach, and Elliot had a great time throwing rocks in the lagoon. The bottom picture is a ritual shared between father and son. It's called "Boing, boing, boing to the tickle." In this ceremony, Elliot jumps on the bed and then falls down and gets tickled. After some tickling, he has to put one clothing item on ( or take off) and then the process is repeated for each clothing item until he is changed. Erik is way better at this game than I am, but he still asks for it all the time.

Sandcastle Days

2008-06-28T11:05:00.001-07:00

Summer is officially here! We had a great visit from Jennifer, in which summer was commenced with lots of fun outings and good times. We went to the beach three times (and made three great sandcastles), all went in the kiddie pool in the back yard because it was so stinking hot, went to the zoo, went shopping, visited with friends, and had an altogether great time. Elliot has been loving to play in the sand and use the sandcastle molds, as well as look for shells and rocks, and snuggle into his towel. He also has a great time in his pool splashing, laying down and kicking, and blowing bubbles. Then he likes to get out and lay down on his towel on the grass and have me put another towel over him so he can get "nice and warm".

These two pictures were taken on a trip to La Purisima Mission in Lompoc. We went with Ann, and about seven other moms and their kids. A surprisingly good time was had by all. The mission was beautiful and really fascinating for the adults, and the kids had a blast running around looking at the different rooms, and at all the outdoor stuff: little Native American huts that they could play in, fountains, a very entertaining turkey, horses, sheep, and a bull.
In the top picture, Emma and Elliot were looking at each other and laughing every time the turkey gobbled. Obviously in the bottom picture, Elliot is just being himself. :) Thanks for organizing that fun day, Ann and Cindy!

My Skipper

2008-06-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

You may think the title indicates Erik, who headed back on a ship tomorrow morning, but it is actually Elliot's rank.... in swimming lessons! He has been taking swimming lessons this week at the YMCA. I don't have any pictures of it because I have to hide inside and watch through a window so that he doesn't cry for me, but maybe I will be able to get some tomorrow. Monday he cried/screamed in anger the whole way through the class. Tuesday not as much, but clung to the teacher the whole time. Wednesday threw a little fit when I dropped him off, then clung to the "skipper stand" the whole time. Today was the first day that he didn't cry when I left him with the class. He was actually having a great time jumping around and bouncing on the skipper stand with the other kids, and I was so proud of him. He even participated in jumping off the side into the water! Then, toward the end of class he was having so much fun that he lost his grip on the skipper stand and I could see him floating face down in the water for a few horrifying seconds (which seemed like hours) while I ran to the door. But by the time I reached the door, they had him out and his teacher was holding him. I resisted the urge to go over and pick him up, knowing that it would be better to let him get over it so he could end class on a positive note. He ended up having a great time for the rest of the class, and tomorrow is the last day of week one. I am so proud of my little skipper. As for Erik, he has been in Long Beach for a week and a half, but is getting on a ship tomorrow morning with a new company, Horizon Shipping Lines. He will be able to stay on roughly as long as he wants, depending on the route. It could be a far east run, or could be a Hawaii run (let's hope for that!). And it is a rotary job, meaning that if he likes it, he can keep working on the same ship off and on for up to two years. We are so glad that he is able to use his Electrician qualifications that he worked so hard for last fall. I am very proud of him, too. So far, Elliot is doing just fine - missing his dad, but doing fine. He seems to understand that dad is gone for a while, and doesn't ask where he is. He likes to talk to him on the phone, and tells people that his dad is on a boat, and he's gonna fix the boat. What a trooper!

I will give another update with pictures soon!

Paradise is Ready to be Planted

2008-06-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

First, we roto-tilled with a rented tiller. It's worth the rental fee to save several days of backbreaking work. By the way, we - as in Erik - roto-tilled.

Then I marked off with a stick in the dirt, and a rope, the area where we wanted the walkway and patio to go, and Erik and I together used our feet to stomp down the dirt. Then rake it even, then stomp again, etc, till we achieved this.

Erik's dad, Bill, loaned us a concrete mixer, and his expertise to help us mix and color quikrete into a brick pattern, and mold it right where we wanted it. It looked like piles of sloppy joe before we (I actually helped a lot with this part) troweled it into the stamp and smoothed it out. This took about three (short) days of work.

Erik and Bill finished the job of laying the brick/concrete while I was visiting Annie and Beau, and their new baby Dustin for a couple of days in San Jose. (I am so lucky!) Then, Erik swept dry mortar into the gaps, and sprayed it down to solidify it.

Erik and I enjoyed a lovely father's day coffee at the tulip table (he picked it out) under the beautiful pergola he made for my wisteria to climb on (isn't he great?). Elliot miraculously slept in till almost 10:00 - a father's day miracle.

So, the thing is pretty strong. Here's Erik displaying the endurance of his craftsmanship. Not bad for a first time pergola builder! What the heck is on his shirt, anyway? It looks like it says, Amy.... who is this Amy?! Just kidding.

So, I can't believe I'm blogging with a picture of me in my Dr. Seuss bathrobe, but I am. Here I am enjoying my morning coffee. The part of the slab that goes toward our house will lead to a sliding glass door (yet to be framed in and installed) into our bedroom. The slab you see at the bottom of the picture is so that the gate (yet to be built) will be able to swing out without any obstructions. Just picture it full of lovely drought tolerant, yet aroma-therapeutic plants with mostly blue, purple, and white flowers, and you have Erik's vision for this garden. It's been so nice that Erik has an opinion about this part of the yard. He wants it to be a peaceful place for he and I to retreat to and have our morning coffee, so everything about it has to be relaxing, and smell good. Erik worked so hard to get this work done before he left, and I am so proud and appreciative of him. Now I get to do the fun part - planting!

The Ringers

2008-06-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a couple of weeks old, but I thought they were too cute not to post. This is us at a great memorial day BBQ at Gary and Leslie's house. Gurleen's (Gary and Leslie's exchange student last year from India) parents and brother were visiting, so they had all her friends come to a BBQ so the family could meet them. It was a blast. Elliot got lots of love and attention from all the partygoers, and Erik had fun playing horseshoes with Gary. Of course I had to take a picture of his victory when he got two ringers on one turn (he still lost the game, though). As you can see above, Elliot told me to sit on his lap. That was cute of him. I will soon be posting some pictures of our progress on the garden of paradise. The pathway and patios are finished, and we bought a cute bistro set. Everything looks great, so now I can begin planting! I just have to find the cable for my camera so I can show you the pictures!

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

2008-05-27T10:42:00.001-07:00

There is a slow degradation of standards that tends to happen with parenting. I think the same thing happens with health food as happens with cleanliness standards. Or course you all know that when a baby is a newborn people usually sterilize everything, and then by the time the child is a toddler, you're claiming the ten second rule when their food falls on the ground. Just pick it up and blow on it, and it's good to go. Yeah, so the same goes with health food. I started off thinking that I was only going to feed my child the healthiest food in the world. But, that just isn't the most practical idea, especially when you are out and about, going to friends' houses, restaurants, and whatnot. Who want's to make a public scene of bargaining for your kid to eat three more bites of vegetables? Who wants to deprive their kid of ice cream when all the other kids are getting some? Not me. So, before I knew it a couple of days ago, I found myself squishing nacho cheese Doritos (at his request) between the halves of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich at Cisco's in downtown SLO. And, he liked it! And, I have to admit that if he had asked me for a hot fudge sundae, I would have been tempted to deliver it in exchange for a few non-whiny moments while Erik and I enjoyed our lunch on the sunny patio. So, I suppose it's all really a balancing act - at least that's how I choose to look at it. PB&J a la Doritos may not be the healthiest lunch ever, but he liked it, and the parents need it for "mental" health reasons. Works for me. :)

En Guarde

2008-05-21T15:19:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a fun and eventful day. We made a trip to Target to return a disk swing we had gotten there (it didn't work that well for Elliot), and a trip to Target often yields many more treasures and many more dollars spent than originally expected. So, we found soft foam swords in the "dollar spot", and of course we had to buy six of them. Why wouldn't we? Erik told me that if he had the choice, he wouldn't have bought them, but once he saw them, he really didn't have a choice - he had to buy them! He and Elliot had a marvelous afternoon of duels, while I trimmed back my lavender and put it into bundles for drying. What a nice way to end the day, once again thinking on how blessed we are.

Hop on Pop

2008-05-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Just killing time on this unproductive morning. We lingered a little too long in bed, then lingered a little too long in our pajamas. Before we knew it, it was 11:30, and we were gathered around the computer looking at peoples' new babies on myspace and whatnot. Ah, well. We still have the afternoon to get some work done on the garden of paradise. As you can see from the pictures, Elliot likes to be naked, and likes to climb on Erik. Erik always loves to be jumped and climbed on. Especially when Elliot is naked. It's even an added bonus when he is holding a hot cup of coffee! Note the gleeful expression on his face. Ah, family bliss!

Special Delivery

2008-05-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

This was so funny. This is the box that Chewie's dog food comes in (we order it online), and Chewie seems very curious to see what's in the box. You can see the progression of Chewie's ears perking up, then he cocks his head to the side as he gets more curious, and out pops Elliot!
Then Elliot had a great time laying down in the box and asking us to close the lid because he was going to sleep. What he actually said was, "Please close the door I am sleeping?" He said it as one sentence. We finally had to put the box out in the garage because when it was actually time for him to go to bed, he thought he was going to sleep in box. What a clown!

All About Elliot

2008-05-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we are enjoying life immensely. It's great to have Erik here to share in the every-day cuteness and fun things that Elliot says. Some recent Elliot quotes are, "I love to boss! You're not the boss, mom!" "What about weeby-wobble weeby-wobble?" "All right, well, we can do that." It would probably be to lengthy to explain the context of all these, but trust me, they are very cute and funny! Elliot's favorite things right now are taking baths, swinging, running around nude, peeing standing up, singing, being tickled, making faces, dancing, jumping on his big boy bed, eating yogurt, oatmeal raisin cookies, and peanutbutter and honey sandwiches (he calls it, "honey sea-wich and pee-dee butter"), picking up spiders and mosquito hawks, dead flies, snails and any bugs he can find. He tries to get bees, too, but luckily he hasn't succeeded on that venture thus far. He also loves going on walks as long as you're okay with him stopping to pick up every bug he can find. He's into climbing and jumping on mom and dad from as high up as possible (that's loads of fun). The last picture is when Elliot took a really, really long nap. I think it was about 5 hours. I opened his door and started the laundry, put his clothes away, woke him up a couple of times, but he just kept rolling over and going back to sleep. I guess he must have needed the rest, but I figured when he did this pose, it was a golden photo opportunity.

Swingers

2008-05-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

This was Elliot's belated birthday present from us (it took longer than expected to put it together). His swing turned out fabulous! It's really big and sturdy, with two regular swings, and a "trapeze" in the middle. Plus, we designed it so that the top beam sticks out over the grass. We are going to put a disk/rope swing there. Elliot has been obsessed with swings for a long time. In fact, it's almost not fun to take him to parks sometimes because he's on the swing wanting to be pushed the entire time, and then cries when we have to leave. So, he loves having swings of his very own. The only downside is that now he begs us to push him constantly. Oh well, it's good for us to take a break and get outside with the kid! I think he'll learn to pump with his legs pretty quickly, anyway. Fun times! Now our backyard looks like a park, and we will never have to leave!

Oh Boy!

2008-05-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Annie, had her baby! Dustin is so adorable and sweet! I was lucky enough to be able to go and see the VanZante family the day after his birth, and share in the homecoming- new-baby-love. Dustin hardly ever cried, mostly just slept, and it was so great to see Annie and Beau enjoying their new little miracle. I'm so glad that I got to be there when he was so new. Boy, oh boy, do I wish I lived closer to them so I could see them more! It's funny how seeing a baby born is such a different experience than having one yourself. I suppose when I had Elliot, I was mostly consumed with all of my brain and energy focusing on taking care of his needs. Getting to watch (from afar, mostly) Annie and Beau on their adventure, I have been thinking and thinking. Just seeing them have a baby now has brought back memories of Annie and I sharing childhood together, and made me think so much about life and how amazing it is that we all make it into this wonderful and crazy world. Life is amazing!

Sickening!

2008-04-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been sick all week. There's not much to post except that we have not gotten anything done! After the first day of excitement on the Garden of Paradise, Erik and I came down with a gnarly flu/cold, which we are still recovering from - Elliot has it, too, now. Elliot seems to be not as bad, though. The saddest thing is that it's been beautiful weather this week! Every day has been in the 80's, but we haven't been able to enjoy it much besides today. This morning Elliot and I made it over to the toy store to get a new wading pool for the back yard. We came home and filled it up, and he had a blast. I have a couple pictures which I am not posting due to the full frontal nudity. :) But, hopefully soon we will be recovered and back at the grindstone (if you call working outdoors in your own backyard at a leisurely pace the grindstone). We are so blessed. More to come - soon!

Garden of Paradise II

2008-04-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

These are the before and after pictures for day one on the "Garden of Paradise" project, our latest phase of the backyard makeover. This garden is going to be done according to Erik's vision. He's really looking forward to making it into a relaxing place. We are going to make a paved walkway, with a mini-patio just big enough for a little cafe table and two chairs. Then we will make a little doorstep under our bedroom window, and have our window converted into either french doors or a sliding glass door so that it opens onto the little garden and we can have our morning coffee out there. We are also planning on making a little mini-pergola to support a wisteria along the back fence here, and putting a rose arbor at the entrance by the picket fence. For our plant selection, we are going to go with a theme of relaxed colors (silvery gray-green foliage, and lots of purple, blue, and white flowers), mixed with aromatic plants like lavender, fragrant moonflower, rosemary and thyme, etc. This garden is basically going to be a little retreat for the grown-ups. Our own little garden of paradise. I'll keep you posted on it's progress!

Party Time.... Excellent

2008-04-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it was the best birthday part Elliot has had yet, and well it should be because it's the first one Erik has been home for! A great time was had by all, including the host and hostess, which says a lot. All together, we had about 14 kids (not counting 4 babies), and I think about 27 adults. There was lots to do for the kids: We brought out the bubble generator and let them all chase bubbles around, we had Elliot's train table set up as a dinosaur table (for the theme) and even had a soundtrack playing in the closet with prehistoric dinosaur sounds (apparently itunes has been around longer than I realized). We also had Elliot's easel set up outside with markers and dinosaur coloring pages which the kids all colored as a joint effort. Then we did pin-the-tail-on-the-dinosaur (you will see the picture of the winner!). Erik made amazing kabobs with chicken and veggies and beef, and we had fruit salad (thank you, Mary), and lots of snacks. For desert, we had carrot cake cupcakes, and the kids semi-watched The Land Before Time when things were starting to wind down. Then they got their goodie bags, which each had an animal nose and a dinosaur, among other things. The noses and the really loud party blowers were the biggest hits. It was so nice having all our friends and family there together. Erin made the trek all the way from Berkley to share the day with us. Also, my dad, and adopted parents, Gary and Leslie came from San Luis to join in the fun. Of course, the greatest thing ever was to have Erik there. Thank you to everyone for making the day so special and fun for Elliot. Excellent!

What Happens in Vegas ....

2008-04-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

.... well, I guess I could just tell you a little. I just got back from an awesome trip to Las Vegas in celebration of my friend Jennifer's 30th birthday! We all met up there -- me, Jennifer, Marie, and Melissa (her mom and sister), and had four days of fun, fun, fun. It's the sort of thing you can only do about every five years if you want to live to tell about it. In fact, we did the same 5 short years ago for Jennifer's 25th. Time flies when you're getting old -- I mean, having fun. ;) Among our adventures were crashing a (very tame) bachelor party for some Irish dancing, attempting to ward off Melissa's numerous suitors (3 marriage proposals), relaxing by the pool, making up songs and cheers, wearing matching roller-skating shirts and side ponytails, dancing on a deserted balcony (thereby being dubbed "the balcony girls" and pretty much being famous), and much much more. I don't want to bore you with the details. We also went to the Tournament of Kings, The Comedy Stop, a bunch of 4-D rides, and to an Oxygen Bar. What else can I say? A great time was had by all with lots of silliness, and fun bonding, plus a birthday crown. Sometimes girls just wanna have fun!

The Four-Fingered Woman

2008-04-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's not really that bad, but I did chop off the tip of my finger this evening. Just the very tipity-tip. I was slicing carrots with a very sharp knife, and going fast - probably inspired by too many early morning viewings of "Ratatouille". I'm okay. Erik bandaged me up with some gauze and electrical tape so I wouldn't bleed in the food. (As you can see, I eventually changed it to some stylish Sesame Street Band-aids.) If you think that's gross, the really gross part is that I couldn't find the piece of fingertip that was cut off. Most likely we ingested it. I'm sure it blended in nicely with the cauliflower curry. This is so fun to talk about it was totally worth the pain! You should try it! Just kidding, kind of.

Anyway, it was worth it for the wonderful evening we had with Gary and Leslie, who are Nana and Papa to Elliot, and family to me and Erik. It had been way too long, and it was an absolute joy to have them over. After a delicious meal and some champagne, we all played neighborhood sounds bingo with Elliot, and played with cars, and chatted about new recipes to try (that part was primarily Leslie and I), and had an all around great time.

As for my finger, I'm sure it will heal and quickly be forgotten, but memories of good times with family will last forever.

The only bummer is that I'm not going to be able to play guitar for a while.......

Together Again

2008-03-30T22:45:00.001-07:00

Daddy's home! Here are they boys, having a jolly old time doing a piggy back ride. Or, as Elliot calls it, a backpack. Aren't they cute?

Here they are at the Honeymoon Cafe in Pismo after a trip to the beach. Elliot was getting pretty tired and squirrelly but he still had fun. Ah, so good to have the whole family together!

I just had to throw this one in of Elliot because he is so good-looking. I took this while Elliot and I were walking/hanging out on the beach watching Erik surf. Elliot is actually pretty into taking long walks and looking for shells, which is more fun for me than digging in the sand, so that works out well for all of us.

Erik is amazed at how much more Elliot can talk now. He's been using complete sentences more and more. The other day I came into the house and shut the door behind me quite innocently, not realizing that he wanted to shut the door for me. So, he said, "That's ridiculous, mom! You're getting a time out!" I laughed a lot at that one. Then, tonight, Erik was telling him how he might go surfing tomorrow morning. Elliot said, "Um, problem. I can't go surfing right now. I would fall in the water. Maybe just take a bath?" It was so funny! Erik says, "Oh really, it's gonna be a problem?" Elliot says, "Yeah, I think that's gonna be a problem." Who knows where he gets these things?

Also, for those who are wondering, Elliot is very excited and happy to have his dad home. For the last few days, he's been asking for Erik every time he needs help, and every time he wants to play. I am glad they are having some bonding time, and it's great to see them enjoying each other, together once again.

Junior Firefighter

2008-03-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Mary and Bill got a chance this week to do something Bill has wanted to do for a long time - take Elliot for a tour of the fire station! Bill used to be a volunteer firefighter back when that was all that existed in Arroyo Grande, and that's been an important part of his life, so it was really neat for him to get to share it with Elliot. Of course, being a boy, Elliot loves fire engines. Mary said he was a little scared that it was going to be loud, but then he got over it and had a great time checking everything out. They gave him the full tour, plus a toy fire hat, stickers, a coloring book, and a key chain that says, "Junior Firefighter".

Easter Festivities

2008-03-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Elliot went for a pony ride at Waller Park on the way over to the Saturday Easter picnic with Ann's church. At first he wasn't into riding the pony, but once he saw all the other kids riding, he wanted to. It was so funny, because all the other kids were completely silent and seriously looking, but Elliot kept yelling out, "I'm riding a big pony!", and when he would pass some of the other ponies that were just hanging out, he would say, "Hi, Pony!", as loud as he could. It was a long pony ride - at least five minutes, and he was like that the whole time. So funny! Next, there he is doing the easter egg hunt at the picnic in Waller park. I had to really encourage him to look for eggs (which were really just scattered on the grass) because he kept stopping to sit down and eat the candy that was inside the eggs. But then, "he" found the golden egg, and got a special easter basket as a prize! There he is getting into his easter basket stuff on Sunday morning. He was really excited about the candy and the Elmo train. I also got him a really cool preschool bingo game: it has a little thing that makes various sounds, and you have to match the sound to a picture on your card, and when you get three in a row you win. He can actually play it with me, which is so fun! It's the first game he's been able to play. Then there we are at Mary and Bill's house (the grandparents), with the really yummy easter cake that Mary made. It had Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream frosting - so delicious! It would have been perfect if Erik had been here, but we still had a wonderful Easter.

The many loves...

2008-03-25T16:31:00.001-07:00

Actually, his true love is probably Emma Grace, but he apparently likes to hold hands with little girls. That's his friend, Debbie, in the top picture, and Emma in the picture above. So cute! On the way home from church the other night (Debbie goes to our church), he told me, "Mom, I need to hold Debbie and give her a kiss." He moves fast.

Easter Egg Dying

2008-03-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Elliot dyed easter eggs for the first time! He was really excited about it, and luckily I caught him in a good mood right after his nap. He followed instructions really well, and put the eggs very gently into each glass, then scooped them out one at a time and said, "Oooh!" when he saw that they were being colored. Then he really wanted to eat one, so he did. And then he wanted another one, so he had one. He wanted more after that, but I thought two eggs was enough for a little tummy. We had so much fun doing this together! It makes me realize that I need to have him do creative things more often.

B.B.B.

2008-03-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

That stands for Big Boy Bed, and that's what Elliot got today! Bill and Mary came over for the afternoon and Bill helped me pick it up in his truck and set it up while Mary watched Elliot. It's actually a set of bunk beds, which I purchased on faith that I will have another child in the next couple of years, but for now, we only set it up as one bed. I think it would be fun to have bunk beds anyway, so that Elliot can have friends over and whatnot, and they will have a place to sleep, but due to lots of jumping experiments that have taken place recently, we decided to wait on that. :)

On a completely different note, I picked up the phone tonight and heard Erik's actual voice! It was awesome. He was calling from Singapore (cleanest city in the world, where they cane you for spitting on the street), and telling me that he will be home in about a week. That, and his sweet voice, were music to my ears. Elliot had a great conversation with him, too, where he told him about his new bed, and all about his Thomas trains, and at the end said that he loved him and missed him, and, "Okay, talk to you later, dad." So, maybe I told him what to say most of the time, but it was still really cute!

Fun with Friends!

2008-03-17T23:10:00.001-07:00

My dear friend, Annie, told me the other day that I need to update my blog more often. I never realized that anyone was really checking it, but now that I do, I will try my bestest to update you all on our daily adventures as much as possible! Thank you, Annie!

This is Elliot and his friend, Elisha. They often take very entertaining baths together. After the bath, I was asking them to do faces like a puppy. You can see that they had very different interpretations of what kind of face a puppy makes. Elisha was doing the sweetest face he could muster, and Elliot was doing a sad whine/whimper. He definitely has the puppy dog eyes down in the second picture, don't you think?

The last two pictures are with our Elliot's friend, Devinne (they were born two days apart - Elliot was first), and her mom, my friend Melissa. We were lucky enough to have them come and stay with us for the weekend. Though it was a pretty busy weekend, we were all able to get some bonding time. Elliot and Devinne played really well together, and surprisingly didn't fight really at all, with the exception being that Elliot is a morning person and Devinne is not. He would wake up wanting to play, and she just needed a little time to wake up before she was ready for all that. Now whenever I have a hard time waking up in the morning, he says, "You grumpy like Devinne, Mom?", and I say, "Yes."

All in all, the past few weeks have been very fun-filled for all of us. Elliot is becoming more and more like a kid and less like a toddler as he learns to communicate and make choices. He knows the ABCs song, and several other songs, and now likes to make up his own lyrics to familiar tunes. One particular favorite is to replace the ABCs with a person's name said over and over. He also makes up new songs about whatever toy he's into on any given day. People always say childhood goes by so fast, and it's true. I'm so glad I've been able to stay home with him for this time in his life. It is just so amazing. Time flies when you're having fun!

Somebody Pinch Me

2008-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

The last couple weeks have been really rainy, which is ususally a nightmare with a 2 year old boy couped up in the house, but this time it has been different. Elliot's new favorite things to say are, "Oh, okay", and "Oh, sorry Mommy (when he does something naughty)". It's like I'm dreaming, and it's really too good to be true. He's been in such a great mood the majority of the time, and following instruction, complementing me, and saying sorry when I remind him that he is disobeying. Of course, there are the moments when he gets into the candy stash, or my cosmetics, but at least he says he's sorry, which makes it so much easier on my part. I know it won't last... in fact it's probably the calm before the storm of some huge unexplainable tantrums or something like that, but I thought I would share my joy for now.

Meanwhile, if anyone is looking for something to do on a rainy day, I must point out a great website that my friend, Brooke, told me about. It's www.kiddierecords.com, and it's a huge archive of 1920-1960 story and song records which have been converted into mp3 format, and are available for free download along with their beautiful vintage cover art. It's a treasure trove of golden age stories and music. Have a beautiful rainy day.

So, it's been a while

2008-01-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in so long! It seems like I have been really busy up until now. Suddenly I am faced with a bunch of rainy days, Erik not home, and no transcribing to keep be busy! It's actually wonderful. I am getting really inspired to do lots of crafts. I just made my first attempt at printing my own fabric. What I really mean by printing is stamping. I created a big stamp out of foam sheets that I cut up into a really cute birdy design. I'm pretty thrilled about it, and keep telling myself that this is the first of many fabric designs to come. :) I don't really feel that I have the energy to catch you up on the whole past six months, so I will just tell a really funny story instead:

Let's call this "People who need people"

Elliot has been wanting to do everything by himself lately. I usually try to encourage this, since I view being independent as pretty much a good thing, being that I myself am a very independent person. So, I humor him. Let him put his clothes on, climb in and out of the car, pick his clothes out, clean up some of his spills, cook his own "hot milk" in the microwave, etc. All of these things take load of patience on my part, but nonetheless, he persists. His major problem came when he decided that he wanted to kiss his own owies. You know how when little kids get hurt, mom and dad kiss it and it's all better? We do that. So now when he gets hurt, he says, "No, mommy! Elliot's gonna kiss it. Don't touch Elliot!" This became very hilarious when he bumped his head and tried to kiss the owie on his own forehead! He put his hands on top of his head and pushed down, and squished up his little lips like they were trying to reach up to the owie. It was so funny, and so sad at the same time. The next day he was playing around in his underwear (most likely not wanting me to help him put clothes on), and somehow fell on a toy or something and hurt his bottom. Can you see this one coming? "No, Mommy! (not that I was going to kiss his butt) Elliot's gonna kiss it!" He then proceeded to bed over with his head between his legs and try with all his might to kiss his own rear end! I pretty much died laughing. Later as the day went on, I can't remember what was going on, but I found myself thinking, "I wonder if I should ask someone to help me with this.... no, I can do it myself. It will be fine." Then suddenly I realized I was being silly. I remembered that God designs us to rely on each other, and help each other out, and that it's okay -- it's really necesary to accept other peoples' help now and again. From God's perspective, when we refuse help that we really need, we probably seem just as silly as a little blond toddler we all know, trying to kiss his own tushie. Now every time I think of Elliot's wanting to kiss his own owies, I laugh and then I think that I better not try to kiss my own next time I need help. :)

Here are some recent pictures of Elliot, and a photo of my fabric.

Santa Barbera County Fair

2007-07-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

If you're wondering about the title of this blog, they misspelled it on the ferris wheel... it didn't make us very confident in the workmanship.

Wednesday night we went to the fair with the Moores. Fun was had by all the kids, and I think most of the adults, though it was kind of tiring, and I was really freezing by the end of the night. Emma and Elliot were adorable on this tractor/train ride, and were sitting right in the front car, making honking and choo-choo sounds the entire time, and saying, "Woah, tractor!" and stuff like that. They had a blast. Elliot also went on the swings, which ended up going a little faster than I thought. Oops. He started out smiling, then after a couple rounds, had somewhat of a disgusted expression on his face, and towards the end was crying a little bit. He must have gotten really dizzy because he was staring at the middle/hub thing the whole time, and didn't even look out despite my excited-mother-ly attempts to get his attention and cheer him on. I played a carnival game and won him a stuffed whale, which he loved right up until the time he threw it on the ground. We're not sure quite when that was, but it was lost forever. The one time I won a carnival game! Sheesh! (also one of Elliot's favorite words now). He loved the fair food - chili cheese fries and cotton candy. Oh, and right when we got there, we went to see the pigs. At first he loved them - loves Charlotte's Web (new version) - and then he heard some of them squeal really loud and got scared of them. From that point on, he was afraid to look at them and would cry and close his eyes and turn his face away when I tried to show him any animal besides rabbits and chickens. Even the pony rides, which his grandfather will attest he loved at the strawberry festival, he refused to go on after waiting 20 minutes in line. I even had to hold him the whole time we were in the petting zoo. Hopefully he will get over it by the time he sees the horses in Montana! We are leaving on Monday and so excited. On with the adventure! p.s... the last picture is the post-fair recovery picture. :)

El Quatro de Julio

2007-07-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed spending the 4th of July with our fun church family. Here are the kids watching the fireworks. They were really enjoying them, and it was a joy to behold. Elliot, unfortunately, thought they were too loud and covered his ears and wanted us to hold him the whole time. I think he was already feeling sensitive, though, after falling off of Donna's huge concrete turtle and bashing up his face on it's head, plus taking more than a few tumbles over the threshold of their doorway. It was a rough night for him, but he handled it okay. Overall it was a really fun night. Go USA!

Eden

2007-07-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Our yard continues to become a more and more beautiful place. We enjoy it every day, and wonder why we ever leave our home. It's nothing short of miraculous how an empty, weedy patch of dirt can be transformed so quickly into a haven, a peaceful place teeming with life, a new living room, dining room, play area. The sunflowers are blooming a lot right now, so of course I had to take all our pictures standing in front of them. Some of them have started to fall over with the slightest wind now that they are so heavily flower laden. I have to check every day for any that may need to be tied to the fence for support. It's so lovely to always have a bouquet on the kitchen table, and one to bring to a friend's house. Same with the veggies. Although the lettuce needs to be re-planted, the zuchinni and yellow crook neck squash are going crazy, and soon we will have plenty of tomatoes, too. It's amazing how much food we are getting out of 50 square feet of veggie beds. Now I know why kids needed the summers off to help their parents harvest! I gather a big basket of stuff every three or four days! Right now I have pumpkins starting off for the fall, too. I can't wait to see those get big. One variety is called "Cinderella's Carriage". So cute. Anyway, as you can see, we are enjoying life very much...Elliot loves looking at the flowers, bees, worms, and spiders he finds in the garden. He has been spending every day in swim trunks (when he's not naked), and in and out of the wading pool. We could not ask for a better place to be raising and enjoying our son. Thank you, God, for this little piece of Eden.

Copy Dog

2007-07-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

He does whatever Chewie does. This includes running around with the dog toys in his mouth and picking them up off the ground with his teeth, eating the dog food, and drinking out of the dog water bowl by putting his face in it. He's also recently decided that throwing dried up dog poop is just as fun as throwing rocks! Yay.

The Good Life

2007-07-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

My very own little lounge lizard (as my mom used to say about me). Elliot only lounged long enough for me to take the picture, though. Then he got up and resumed his toddler duties of running around doing ten things in two minutes.

10 year reunion

2007-07-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Erik and I went to my ten year high school reunion. I can't believe it's been ten years already! Our friends Annie and Beau met us at our hotel room, from which we had a great secret view (through shutters) of all the people checking into the hotel and arriving for the reunion. It was like being in high school all over again in some respects -- the giddy excitement, but without all the insecurity. We ended up having a blast, despite an awkward beginning. Erik was behaving very badly, going up to people and saying, "Oh my God, I haven't seen you in so long! Yeah, class of '97!", but everyone just thought he was hilarious (though I was a tad bit embarrassed). By the end of the night, all the little cliques had homogonized into one group of dancing friends, just having fun. Over all, it was a healing, and totally fun experience. I'm interested to see how changed people will be at the twenty year mark. Wow, by then we'll all be getting close to 40! Except me... I think I'll just stop aging now. :)

Au de Spank!

2007-06-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

Hello friends and family. I don't have any new pictures to post for today, but I thought I would give an update of Elliot's new words and funny things that have happened.

So, new words are coming more and more often. Hopefully soon he'll get to where he just repeats everything, and takes off language wise. But here are the latest words:

Dolphin, lizard (oh-youd), crab (pwab), whale, moon (bone), shark, seal, animal, lion, van, kid, hair, mouth, nose, hurt, cold, on, off, in, out, up, down, bug, cat, dog (very clearly), yes, oh yes!, all right!, woo hoo!, okay, pita, turkey, grape, pants, jump (pwump), spank, sand, beach, mess, yucky, dirty, shell, splash, throw, lotion, buns, one, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, way (as in out of my), sun, sunflower, wagon, push, ........I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of right now.

I forgot to mention the funniest thing at El Cap (besides Jennifer getting pooped on by a seagull). Elliot was playing naked on the beach and put his rear end right in Erik's face, then said, "Au de Spank!" as he spanked himself, and then took off running!

A week or so earlier, Erik had a funny experience in Starbucks when Elliot came into the men's room with him. He was showing Elliot how it's done, when Elliot reached out and grabbed the stream of pee. Then he said, "hot!", as Erik was trying to figure out what to do. So funny!

Today Erik got his hair cut for the first time since I've known him, and probably the first time in 15 years or more. They put a bunch of gel in his hair and it made his hair stiff. I was surprised that Elliot noticed the difference, but he did -- he kept calling it a hat! We thought it was hilarious.

Elliot counts to three correctly now, and if I say four, he can keep going till nine. He did that yesterday unexpectedly. I didn't even know he knew the rest of the numbers! Mostly Elliot spends his time running around the back yard nude, and in and out of the wading pool. It's so run to watch him enjoying the yard, looking at all the flowers and bees and rolling around in the water. Life is great. Hope you are all doing well, too. xo

The Payoff

2007-06-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is the reward for the work I did in March of re-doing and seeding an empty flower bed. It is the reward of the hard work done by Erik and Bill and me last summer, and Mary's babysitting. It is the reward of my high school Ornamental Horticulture class, from which I retained an astonishing amount of information, and of my mother, who taught me how to grow things. Every day I am amazed at the garden and how much it has grown. It's so wonderful to have a place like this to enjoy with my family. Every time I leave to go to the beach or on an outing, I think, "Why am I leaving? It's so nice right here!" I feel so blessed to have this little remnant of paradise here in my back yard. Thank you so much, God! And thank you to my family for making it happen on the nitty gritty, road basie, concretey end of things. I appreciate it every single day!

Whipper Snipped

2007-06-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

First professional haircut at Whipper Snippers. He watched Finding Nemo very intently while she cut his hair. It turned out really really cute. We will be doing this from now on, I think!

El Cap

2007-06-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

First family camping trip! We got a sloped site banked by poison oak, but we still had fun. The first day we were there, after setting up camp, we headed down to the beach. Elliot played in the water and sand with his daddy while I fell asleep on the beach blanket. When I woke up, there were tons of dolphins playing and jumping out of the water in twos and threes. Just a tiny breeze to curb the heat, and kids and families enjoying the beach. Beautiful! We froze that night because we didn't bring enough blankets, and the next day got really windy in the afternoon, but despite that, we still had a fun and exciting time. Maybe Jalama next year? Maybe Plasket Creek? We brought the body board, and Erik went in for about 30 seconds and caught one wave, after which he immediately came back to the blanket. It was too cold for him. The beach was very tarry, and so was the water.

Good Cop

2007-06-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Elliot hates it when I play guitar. He screams at me and hits the guitar. I basically can't play when he is awake because this happens every time. Erik, on the other hand........Elliot dances to his music and sits nicely and plays with him. They are so adorable together. It has been great to see how much Elliot has bonded to him this time that Erik has been home. Whenever he leaves to go surf, Elliot misses him and searches the house for him about every half hour. He cries when he leaves, wants him when he's sad, and for sure prefers daddy to put him to sleep and wake him up. I'm much more likely to trigger a tantrum or some angry struggling. But all this is okay with me, because I see how much fun he is having with his dad.

First Rodeo

2007-06-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

This was a first Rodeo for both of them! We went on Friday night. After about 30 seconds of "sitting" with Elliot, which really means jumping around and grabbing him and pulling him back and holding his had while he jumps off the bleachers, I realized he was going to need a snack to keep him occupied. Kettle corn worked for a couple minutes. He didn't like the cotton candy. He liked watching the horsies, which he still refers to as "shi-shi", and the chuck wagon as it went around. He loved watching the guy parachuting down at the beginning, and continued to search the sky for more airplanes and guys the rest of the night whenever he thought of it. We all had a fun time this year at the Rodeo. Now we are looking forward to when he is old enough to sign him up for mutton bustin'! We also had a great visit with Brooke and Darin, and are so looking forward to meeting their daughter when she is born!