sandertreehouse

Quepos & Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

2011-02-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

We have spent the last three nights in the funky surf town of Quepos, Costa Rica. I will admit to a small amount of anxiety the first day as we were walking around and we were the only tourist family I saw. The next day on the public bus to the beach, on a twisty and hilly road, I again questioned our decision to vacation here. Then we arrived at the beach... and my fears were erased. We saw a family with a tiny baby and an older child and another with a baby in an Ergo. Granted, these families all seemed to be speacking French or Dutch, but either way... we were not the only family!

Digging at Manuel Antonio beach.

Adeline drinking coconut water straight from the coconut. watching the guy with the huge machete chop the coconut open was worth the price - drinking the water inside a bonus!

Mac has spent hours digging holes in the sand. Sometimes they are sand chairs, sometimes jumping spots, sometimes feet washes, sometimes.... just holes.

First day on the beach: adeline got tired, came up to the chairs, got her green blankey and immediately fell asleep. She wouldn't let us put the chair down flat, so eventually she sort of slid into a more laying down postion. Pretty cute.

McKinley and his favorite meal: gallo pinto (black beans and rice). apparently, only a breakfast food. The juice he has is starfruit juice, another favorite.

The kids enjoying juice after going to a funky festival where we watched a Costa Rican game show/dance contest being filmed in the bull riding arena. Then, we came back to town to try and see the horse parade. The signs said "2 pm", the girl at the desk of our hotel told us it would be "on Tico Time(Costa Rican time), and it would be at least 3pm. By 3:30 we still had not seen the start of the parade and since there were still big trucks of horses being brought in, we figured it would be awhile. We went back to the hotel, swam, showered, and went back out for dinner. At that point, the parade was still going on!!

More beach holes...

Mac and Curt jumping in the waves.

We won't let them touch any of the stray dogs running around - very hard for them to understand! This little doggy was hanging around all day, so we snapped their picture by it.

Sunset on the first night. This is when we discovered "one block from the ocean" does not mean "one block from the beach". Live and learn. We are one black from the ocean, however the beach is actually a 20 minute bus ride away. Totally worth it, and the kids are now bus riding pros.

Tomorrow we head to Dominical to the animal reserve. We hear we can feed the monkeys! Hopefully, the road is flat and straight, but we're all taking drugs just in case. Costa Rica is not really for people who get car sick easily. Windy's trick of taking a tiny piece of those pink allergy pills from Costco is brilliant - I don't get nauseous, but I stay awake. Claritin for the kids seems to be doing the trick too.

2011-02-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of our January:

I've commited to doing a Project Life Album again this year. I started in the middle of 2010, so I'm still finishing that one up, but it's a fabulous process. I'll go into more as 2011 unfolds, but it's based on a Picture of the Day. I don't take a picture every day, but it's close. I go more for "about 28 pictures a month". Then there's little slots for journaling, sticking meaningful pieces of paper etc. It's a look at our daily life. There's a couple of blogs that I read that give prompts for taking pictures of our everyday life. I'm enjoying the perspective and the kids LOVE the Project Life books.

Adeline created this little nest for herself when we used to have a rocking chair in front of the bookcase. I thought it was brilliant! I've been helping her foster her 'nest building' ever since. She loves it. Her babies are there and she can 'escape' whenever she needs to. (although currently big brother has a little to much access to it.) There was one night in December that Matt, Windy, Kolby and Kaya came to visit and in our toy-filled downstairs, they all thought they simply MUST play behind the rocking chair in Adeline's nest. Pretty cute. And she was willing to have the company, thank goodness!

Mac, forever curious and 'helpful', investigating the source of a chronic drip under our sink.

We do A LOT of playdough. I am the master snake roller and Adeline cuts them all to pieces. Mac gets into mixing all the colors. Good thing we always have a lot of playdough.

I love this mug. Use it every day. Love!

The kids with the new Project Life box. I intended to submit the photo to the woman's blog who created Project Life (http://www.beckyhiggins.com/) but both the kids look a little goofy, so I didn't. They love sitting here in the morning working on stuff while I putz in the kitchen.

YMCA basketball. Mac had so much fun! The trophy he got when it was done is a prized possession! He's in the red shirt and green shorts with his back to us, shooting the basket.

Almost every night is game night. UNO and Sorry are the current favorites. Our friend Sara Stiles has been coming down and hanging out on the weekends. She goes to college in Portland. Mac is learning a lot about being a good winner and a good loser. He hates to lose.

Goof balls.

Homemade coconut-raspberry ice cream (dairy free, made with coconut milk). That's Sara hanging with the kids again. Adeline's favorite milk is "coco milk" (coconut milk). She'll tolerate almond milk and rice milk but refuses to drink cow's milk. She calls it "goat milk" because once I gave her goat's milk to see if she'd like it and she didn't. That's the only referance she has. Mac has begun drinking lactose free milk. We'll see how that goes for him. So far, so good. Perhaps he's outgrown his dairy allergy? I really miss cheese. We recently discovered a vegan cheese called Daiya, which Curt and I liked, but the kids boycotted. Maybe we'll just rotate foods, so we fall back into the habit of eating so much wheat a dairy. We'll see.

McKinley's Birthday!!!

2010-12-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

McKinley's 5th Birthday Party

He's not quite five, but he's celebrated a LOT the past four days!

Today was his swimming party at the YMCA. He told me "it was exactly what I wanted!"

The kids and I decorated his cake this morning. It was certainly a group effort with lots of baths for the scuba divers since the kids kept playing with them and I wanted them to be clean before putting them on the cake. It turned out cute. Mac's tradition is to always have a "mountain" as part of his cake. So here's his underwater mountain.

Swimming at the YMCA. We did the slide 100 times. It's fun for the kids because they can go down the slide on our laps.

Hotdogs in the party room after swimming.

Opening presents.

Blowing out the candles. Thankfully, the YMCA had a bag of candles - I forgot to bring some!

Happy Birthday McKinley!

The crew... (from left to right) Adeline, Kolby, Norah, Kaya, Lucy, Josie, Mac, Liam, Garen.

Cousins pic: Adeline (2), Norah (6), Josie (4), Mac (5)

2010-11-20T16:53:00.000-08:00

McKinley had his first basketball practice this morning! A few weeks ago, out of the blue, he told Becky and I he really wanted to play basketball. I have never really played, or watched basketball with him so we were both surprised. We later found out the reson he did is because he gets a free ticket to a Trailblazer game.

With all that said, I was impressed that he did so well. He doesn't have the genes for ballin' at all, but if you're in Sherwood and four years old....look out! The Raptors are comin'!

If you remeber, MJ also scratched his butt after scoring.

Here is Mac during open shoot-around. Notice the one-handed dribbling, the boy's got skills eh?

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

We've had a seriously good Halloween:

Trick or Treating in the neighborhood.

Trunk or Treat at the YMCA.

Our little purple cat and red robot...

Freeze dance to "Thriller" at school.

Swinging at Stella Olsen after school on a beautiful fall day.

Kids checking out Mac's robot costume. They all loved it!

Waiting for a game at Lucy's Halloween party.

A little costume swap.

Halloween jammies from Grandma Mary were the perfect thing for them to wear under their costumes!

Trick or Treating at Aimee and Lucy's during playgroup.

At Lucy's.

Until next year...

Texas "boy trip"

2010-10-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

The boys headed to Texas to visit Great Grandma, Paula, Shelley, Kim, Trey, Blue, Porkchop, Chubsie and Mia. Mia is still not thrilled to have kids come visit, but apparently Blue and Chubsie were fine. Porkchop didn't mind but didn't really come around much. Anyway. Bet you can guess who was behind the camera of the dog pic - MAC! That kids loves animals. I'm surprised he didn't bring home a dog in his suitcase. They had a fun trip, depsite lots of travel. Chubsie, Kim's new dog. He's maybe five pounds!
Wading in the lake

Learning from Trey. There's Blue.

Seeing the longhorns.

Is this awesome or what?

Addie and Daddy

2010-10-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Adeline and I snuck downtown a few weeks ago while Mac was at school and met Curt for lunch. She was so delighted! She kept hugging him, kissing him and saying "Daddy! Lunch!" I love these two...

Kid's Gym

2010-10-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

The kids and I have fallen back into our Monday morning routine, after all of the summer fun activities have ended. We go to the YMCA every Monday at 9. Mac goes to Kids In Motion (a little class where they do an art project then some sort of movement activity), Adeline goes to Child Watch and usually just watches the babies or sits and eats her snack, and I exercise. It is a fabulous way to begin the week. At 10, Addie and I join Mac in his classroom, and there is 'open gym' time for the kids. They love it! Adeline spends almost all her time on the trampoline or walking on the foam abstacle course (different every week). Mac likes to jump off the big stack of cushions onto the big foam cushion. They are sweaty and happy, and I feel so much better having gotten some exercise.

Enjoy the videos!

2010-08-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Happy August! We have been so busy all summer, that I have completely forgotten about our blog. So, here's what we've been up to in August (minus pics from the week in Idaho, which deserves it's own post at some point!)Our big two-year-old!
Harris, Mac and Adeline at Harris' birthday party.

Kids on top of the half pipe at Garen's brithday party.

Adeline, Garen and McKinley pausing long enough from the half pipe to have some lunch.

Playing at Sauvie Island beach with Lucy.

Mac is into taking pictures, but hadn't really discovered the art of composition, and would just snap pictures of whatever he could find. Then I found this one. Awesome self photo eh?

Sherwood Family Triathlon - Mac and I in the bike transition.

swim portion - down and back.

he used a life jacket and a kickboard.

He'd never swam in this part of the pool, so he was really nervous, but he did great!

The Finish! He ran the whole half mile!

Adeline, Lucy and McKinley having lunch at the Oregon Zoo on Samudra the baby elephant's 2nd birthday.

The airplanes at Oaks Park on the reduced ride bracelet Summer Reading day.

The motorcycles.

The cars.

our girl

2010-06-24T16:05:00.001-07:00

Adeline loves to dump and fill. These beads are a daily source of comfort and joy for her. She sorts through the beads, picks them up, puts them very carefully in whatever little container she has: little jars and an empty TicTac container are her favorites. I love watching her do this. The concentration and attention are delightful to witness. She does the same thing in the sand box. Oh, to be almost two!

2010-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Strawberry picking!

Summer has finally decided to show it's face here in the Northwest, and we headed out to French Prairie Starwberry Fest to pick berries. Quite yummy, but a lot of stopping over.

The kids had a blast and were very good at picking.

Mac and Garen took turns being "bucket boy".

Addie was thrilled, and actually did a decent job of finding and picking (and immediately eating) the red ones.

Yeah for the arrival of summer and the rotation of ripe berries!

(I think visiting various berry fields might be our Friday field trips for the summer!)

2010-06-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

Happy First Birthday Kaya!

June 11, 2010

Victory Dance!

2010-06-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

A little laugh coming your way.

Here's Mac's victory dance!

It cracks me up every time.

Midweek surprise!

2010-05-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Is this hilarious or what?

The kids like bathing together, and a couple days ago decided to try tandem belly time.

I was laughing so hard. They didn't even notice because they were having too much fun together.

I love it!

oh, their cute little tushes.

Adeline really likes to copy everything Mac does, which thankfully, he finds funny.

Happy middle of the week!

Adeline

2010-05-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

This girl...This girl has completely stolen our hearts!

She turned 22 months old on Saturday and keeps us laughing, playing and generally feeling incredibly blessed to have her in our lives.

She:

* loves blueberries.

* loves her ducks and usually carries one down from her crib in the morning and after naps.

* loves her blankets (thankfully she has three, so we can actually wash them)

* has decided that she is the "director" and that we are the actors in her play - and we need to sit, eat, lay down wherever she tells us. She's not upset about it when we want to do something else, just very persistent. Since she can't talk much yet, this is done by pointing, hand guiding, grunting, head shakes and simple words. Like today at REI: Adeline goes into a tent. Curt squats down by the door. Addie points to the middle inside the tent and says "Dada". Curt tells her he's right here. Addie shakes her head no and says "Dada!" while pointing to the middle of the tent. So... Curt goes in. And we do this all day long... it's fun until we have to do it differently and then do the tears pour down her face!!

* likes to read as much as McKinley does! Every night, there are tears when books are over. It used to be that eventually, she would hit her limit, head to her crib for her blanket and we'd move on to lights out. Now, we go back and forth negotiating. We really try to follow her lead about how many books to read, but lately, she just never wants to stop and then then time dictates stopping. But it's funny, when books are over, I'll get her blanket, she's crying and saying and signing "book! book!" over and over as if I don't understand, and she'll be so sad, but then after a couple minutes of crying, she'll point to her crib, snuggle in and be completely calm and usually asleep within minutes.

* bath has become loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggg. She went through a phase of not liking her bath, and now she's swung the other way. She loves it. She plays on her belly. She washes her baby. She fills up all the bottle with water and dumps them out. She tries to blow bubbles. Sometimes Mac is with her, but it really doesn't matter. Tonight, she tooted in the tub, laughed and then looked really upset and wanted out. She immediately got out her little potty (she's been showing interest without results for months) sat down on the potty, tooted again and then freaked out when I thought she was done with her bath and tried to dry her off. No way. She only wanted to sit on the potty and then she got back into the bath for round two. Hilarious!

* She is an outside girl. We moved the little play house to "the woods" (as McKinley calls the trees at the back of our yard, much to my heart's delight) and Adeline can't get enough. I am usually messy and trying to keep them both safe, but somehow I need to get a picture of our sweet little rugrat after she's been playing in the sand box, hiking through the trees, hanging on the trapeze, splashing in the dirty rain water in the swimming pool and digging in the garden - all while wearing a pretty pink dress with ruffles. It is so cute!

* facial hair is scary. Yup. Not so sure about those men with facial hair. She has made strides in realizing that not all men with facial hair are scary because we have numerous friends who currently have facial hair. She is in love with McKinley's buddy Garen, and Garen's dad (Alan) has a beard. But Addie really likes Garen and Garen really likes his dad... so Adeline warmed up to Alan and even went for a short walk with both of them when we were out with them the other night, then wanted Alan to pick her up. At some point I told Adeline that we could ask Alan if it would be okay to touch his beard. Alan said yes, and Adeline stuck out one finger and touched it. Then she realized he was wearing a puffy down jacket and she really liked that too! Ahh... sweet moments of progress!

* have I mentioned that she likes purple? oh, yeah... getting dressed in the morning is a chore because most of the choices are "blah!" (seriously... she says "blah!" if she doesn't like it and there is no way to convince her to put it on. none.) so we go through the choices. Purple is usually the winner. Thank you to The Children's Place for selling lovely plain purple girls clothes. oh... and shoes are a big deal (atta girl!)

* I could go on and on all night! She is a delight and brightens our days. To watch she and McKinley exploring the world is difficult to describe. How amazing.

Happy 22 month birthday Sweet Adeline!

May so far...

2010-05-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun month so far... here's a few highlights:Adeline discovered the pegs...

we released our butterflies!

Gearing up for summer!

I got a new kayak for Mother's Day! woo hoo!

Mom sent me an Edible Arrangement for Mother's Day - yummy!

Testing the kayak on the Tualatin River.

Feeding the Lorikeets at the Zoo.

splashing in puddles in Spokane.

Riding the Carousel in Riverfront Park with Papa.

Mac rode three times!

Addie wasn't so thrilled.

Playing world class baskteball with Papa and Nana with a little kid over-the-door hoop.

Adeline was in it for the celebration!

2010-04-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Mom's visit: We had a great time with my mom a couple weeks ago. I'm just a little behind getting them on the blog.Adeline loves sunglasses, playing in water, and wearing her brothers new hat.

She also loves bubbles.

The kids, my mom and I stayed at the beach one night and McKinley had a great time feeding the seagulls from our balcony. I had a great time attempting to photograph them!

It was sunny on the beach, but windy and cold. Not that it bothered the Sander kids! The love the beach!

"Mom! This is my heart-sun for you!"

(I like to think of it as "heart-son")

Addie loved climbing on these rocks.

Note her abundance of purple, including purple flipflops.

The girl loves purple and thankfully, has a purple jacket or she would never wear a jacket.

Mac wrote his name in the sand for the first time!

(He writes the letters in the correct order, just backwards.)

Thes big long strings of sea grass entertain him for hours!

Wooden Shoe Bulb Company, Woodburn Oregon

We love their annual tulip festival, complete with Cow Train.

There's no pictures of the cow train this year because my camera battery died. Some of these were taken with the camera on my phone, so the quality is not the greatest.

Mac and I rode the cow train, Clarabell, again this year, through all the muck and mud. SO fun!

Hilarious! That's my mom on the left, then Mac, then Adeline.

Mac loved these water pumps!

Holding some sort of fried Mexican chips.

Looking at the spiders in the window of the little windmill.

2010-04-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

We actually got a picture of the kids with "the Easter Bunny!"

Mac told me that he's not afraid of the Easter Bunny with a painted face.

Addie, clearly, is still not so sure.

real eggs, hidden outside!

Easter breakfast - bacon, deviled eggs, apples, and Easter waffles with peaches, marionberry syrup and whipped cream.

A littel Easter walk.

The kids got new Keens from Papa and Nana and they love them!

Spring Fever

2010-03-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

We have some serious Spring Fever around here!

We went to our favorite nursery and picked out some pansies.

Then, we started digging.Found a couple of worms.
Then the kids cleaned the playhouse with baby wipes.

Curt and McKinley built some new supports for the raspberry bushes.

Addie was in some serious "hat training" and not at all happy about it.

I am determined that she will learn to wear a hat so I don't have to smear her head with sunscreen.

Thankfully, she has a ton more hair than Mac did at 18 months.

Remember how bald he was?

And, of course, McKinley had to get naked.

"Mom! I'm too hot!"

Clothing removed.

"Ahh... now I'm on my deck in just my boxers. Much better."

Note the double bandaid on his belly. Tree climbing accident earlier in the day.

And what good almost-Spring day would be complete without ice cream?

Thanks to Papa and Nana, and the Valentine's gift certificates that McKinley has been reminding us about every other day, we finished off our day of yard projects by having some ice cream.

YUM!!

Addie "shared" mine.

That won't happen again.

A girl deserves her own ice cream cone, right?

I thought she wouldn't eat the whole thing.

Silly me. She about had a fit every time I tried to take a bite.

Thankfully, she quickly realized that not only was I giving her licks, but so were her brother and her dad, so she was happy.

oh... and if any of you are now feeling like you are missing this glorious weather in Oregon, it snowed at 500 feet last night and rained a ton this afternoon. Think it maybe hit 40.

I am hoping the newly-transplanted pansies make it!

Happy Almost-Spring from Oregon.

2010-02-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

I promise I will post pictures from Wisconsin, but I have a quote from today that has had me chuckling all afternoon.

At lunch, the kids and I were eating leftover couscous with chicken, green beans and peanut sauce. Mac was sort of singing "couscous" over and over and then he stopped, smiled and said:

"If you ever ride a moose, do you wanna eat some couscous?"

I burst out laughing and we have been laughing about it together all day.

Another funny side note: Nana and Papa sent McKinley a Nanobug for Valentine's Day. We finally took it out of the package today. It's hilarious and already provided hours of fun. It actually "acts" like a real bug. Too funny. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Individual-Nano-Hexbug-Robot-Online/dp/B002R7IK74/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1267161630&sr=8-1

We're headed to the mountain for the weekend! Yippee!!

Visit to Wisconsin

2010-02-17T18:59:00.001-08:00

Greetings from Wisconsin! We are in the midwest visiting my mom and Grandpa and other family. It's been wonderful: lots of snow on the ground but very little coming from the sky. Mac "shoveled" the snow in my mom's front yard for at least an hour today. Just moved piles around happily. He is definitely a snow boy.

We just got back from four days at the Kalhari Resort in Wisconsin Dells where my mom had the annual HeadStart convention. We mooched space in the room and the waterpark passes that come with it! The kids had a blast at the waterpark, even though most of the stuff is too big for them. Last night, Mac and I ran down to the waterpark alone while Grandma Mary hung with Adeline in the room. I thought Mac might actually go down the big raft ride with me. He wanted to, but got freaked out when we got to the top. So... we scoped it out for when he's Five. Then, the world won't look so scary. To his credit, he was much more into the water slides and spraying water than I expected him to be. He even went down a waterslide that had water spraying from the top. Granted, he looked at it from the top, told me he was scared, I pointed out that it was shallow at the bottom and he could go look at it if he wanted, so he went down (by himself) and scoped out the bottom, then came back up, went right by Addie and I without saying anything, climbed into the chute and went down! I let out a whoop and he gave me the biggest smile and arm pump ever when he got to the bottom. Then, he went down about 20 times in a row, teaching Adeline how to do thumbs up each time he went by her. She waited patiently at the top of the stairs for him. It was good practice for me to abandon any 'need' to have the kids do what I thought would be fun for them. I just followed them around and added to the joy when needed. We watched the raft ride for a long time. We flicked the fountains with our toes for even longer. Then we sat on them for a bit. We pulled the rope for the little bucket (thank goodness the Kalahari doesn't have the gigantic bucket dumping hundreds of gallons of water like Great Wolf lodge). We went up the stairs and back down. We kicked our feet in the water. And for almost one glorious hour yesterday morning, we lounged on the lounge chairs, eating snacks and just sitting in the sunshine (coming in through the windows). How wonderful to let time slow down. Still... I would have loved for Curt to be with us. Next time honey?

The trip from Portland to Chicago was so easy. I'm almost afraid to mention it because I don't want to jinx our return trip. Adeline was screaming and clinging to me the morning we left and I was seriously concerned. Once we got her into her carseat at the airport, she was fine and never made another peep the whole trip. Keeping my fingers crossed for the return trip.

Grandpa Degner is doing really well after breaking his hip a month ago. He's still at the rehab facility, but planning to go home on Saturday. The facility is less than a year old and beautiful. I took some cute pictures of Grandpa and the kids, but the best picture was one of Grandpa taken by McKinley. I'll post it when we get home. So sweet. He's getting good with the camera.

Last Saturday we made some time to hang out with some of my cousins and their kiddos. McKinley was so enamored with Stellah (9 months old) and Caitlyn (5 months old). He kept asking if they could come play in his room. At one point, my mom asked if he would get a blanket from his room for Caitlyn to lay on. Mac ran back there to get one. We could hear him doing something... and after about five minutes he came huffing and puffing down the hallway with the huge comforter off the bed. He'd been working to get it off!

There's a bunch of Wisconsinisms that I thought might give some of you a few laughs:
- they say "stop and go light" (or maybe that's just my mom)

- they call lunch "dinner" and dinner "supper". I never know what anyone is talking about. Dinner and supper are the same in my book, although I never say supper.

- they really do say "oh, yeah." and "fur sure"

- the accent is for real. honest. I used to have a very small one too.

- cheese. it's the state food. well, besides beer or brats. I don't mention that we don't eat dairy. I'd fit in more if I grew horns than if I mentioned that we don't drink milk or eat cheese. I have let the kids have a little while we've been here and both now have the tell-tale red rash on their faces. Amazing how fast it happens and how quickly it clears up when we go back to no dairy. And tomorrow I know that Kraemer's Dairy here in Watertown has fresh cheese curds, and I may just have to go get some. Because hey, if we're eating only a little dairy, shouldn't cheese curds be part of that? And for those of you who've never eaten a real cheese curd. You are missing something!!!

- pretty much everybody owns snowblowers. It's a rite of passage and a necessary survival tool here. The guy next door to my mom has one that has this plexiglass shield around it. It's been cracking me up all week! I must get a picture of it.

- Walmart. They. are. taking. over. They are everywhere. Seriously, it's almost hard to believe how prevalent they are. Again, I don't mention how people in Portland practically riot to keep Walmart OUT. There's a really amazing book I read a few years ago, but can't remember the name. I think the authors first name was Barbara... book about how Walmart only pays thier employees enough to shop at Walmart... anyone remember the name?

Well, my mom has been reading to McKinley for at least two hours, so I better go start him towards bed. He's been so delighted to be able to stay up later while we've been on vacation. He told my mom tonight that Adeline goes to bed at 7:30 and he goes to bed at 9:30. Then he looked at me hopefully... I said "only on vacation".

I'll add pictures to this post once we get home. Hugs...

Adeline puts herself to bed...

2010-02-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

It's true. Kids never cease to amaze.

Look at where we found our sweet Adeline the other night: alseep on her bedroom floor.

We'd done our bedtime routine, but I needed something from downstairs, then McKinley needed to come along, so Adeline was looking at books in her room and the rest of us headed downstairs.

A mere 8-10 minutes later, we came back up to find her crashed out on her floor with her blanket.

wow.

could. not. believe. it.

so, of course, I ran for the camera. now, most of you know our multi-layered sleep story with high-needs child #1,

so this from #2 is completely mind-blowing!

Granted, Adeline has had "practice" sleeping in other places (daycare) from a much earlier age, and she was "born a sleeper" as I like to say, but still. Wowo!
And this was a normal day, normal bedtime, healthy (finally!).
And I was able to pick her up and put her in her bed with no problem.

And her sweet, relaxed hands.

I need to remember nights like these when the night doesn't go as smoothly as this.

Fingers crossed for "easy" sleep when we travel to Wisconsin, because here's the real killer:

Adeline doesn't like to sleep on vacation and McKinley sleeps all night long.

Go figure.

I'm excited to be heading to Wisconsin because we haven't been there in a long time and I'm anxious to see my Grandpa! He's gonna be so delighted by the kids!

Adeline has the stomach flu

2010-02-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

The stomach flu has hit our house this week.

Adeline has been sick since Tuesday.

We think it's just a virus at this point. Little sweetie.

She and I had Tuesday and Wednesday together to just lay around (McKinley was in school as thankfully, he's not sick). It was so wonderful to be able to give her whatever she needed exactly when she needed it.

Mostly she just wanted to sleep on me, then occasionally I could lay her down for a bit.

She couldn't resist a cookie from Grandma Vickie's cookie jar when we stopped by there after school on Tuesday, but she wouldn't eat it, and when we got home, she fell asleep on the futon, still clutching the cookie.
The advice nurse at our pediatrician's office told me to give her 1 tsp. of peach juice (from a can on peaches) every 10-15 minutes for an hour then to switch to Pedialyte. That perked her up, but a few hours later she threw up again.

McKinley desperately wanted to be close to Adeline and comfort her, and I even more desperately wanted to keep him away. In the end, I let him sit next to her and sing to her. She calmed down and he felt helpful.

Now that it's Friday, and Adeline is still sick, and I haven't gotten a good night's sleep all week and Mac is full of energy, he is trying to "help", but we're all just a bit stir crazy and needing everyone to be healthy again. Thankfully, tomorrow is Saturday and I have lunch and a pedicure scheduled with some work friends. Nothing is keeping me from going!

Sweet picture of Addie at the easel in one of her few upright moments this week.

More coloring. Thankfully, he can entertain himself for a while doing this.

Need to get some more coloring books as we've about exhausted our supply!

That will be a good outing for McKinley and I this weekend.

Harris

2010-01-29T21:00:00.001-08:00

I'm posting this "as is"... the order is messed up and I can't figure out how to fix it, but the content is there...

A little help from Adeline to whip up some Valentine's skirts...

I think I'm addicted to making skirts.

She was very interested in the sewing and quite content to sit on my lap and "help".

Our coloring boy, who just this month developed a neat tripod grasp and is coloring so carefully and intricately. Note the butterfly under his arm - he did that all on his own! It's amazing!

These very cool markers are Crayola Color Surge. Highly recommended.

On a completely unrelated note: Mac learned to skip tonight! He's been practicing and practicing, but it's only been a step hop on his coordinated left foot with nothing on the right. I'm content to leave it at that, as skipping is definitely not a four year old skill. However, Lucy can skip and can skip well and Mac really wants to skip with her. So tonight we were walking out of Mudpuddles, and he started "skipping". We were holding hands, so I started just lifting him up a little every time he stepped on his right foot. It was just the right amount of cueing he needed to skip for real! It wasn't pretty, but it was skipping! He was thrilled. We'll see if he can do it again tomorrow.

This is Adeline's good buddy Harris from down the street. We hang out with them a lot. Harris is three weeks younger than Addie, and they adore each other

(could we really be so lucky to have found a "Lucy" for Adeline??)

Anyway, I have been feeling guilty that as much as we hang out with them, that I have virtually no pictures of the two of them. Geez!!! Today, I took some pictures. Isn't he the cutest thing ever?

(I have been contemplating buying this amazing scrapbook kit called Project Life. Has everything needed to complete a page a week documenting life's little things, which really are what make our days full. Right up my alley - but can I keep up with it and will I love it or will it be just another thing on my ever-full "to do list"? Check it out at amazon.com and send me your opinions!)
Building with the Lego Quattro blocks. Well, Addie was building and Harris was knocking it over. That's little boys for you!!

I think the kitchen sink from the pink kitchen is the most used toy we have. That thing gets used for everything and every kid that comes over takes it out.
Either a useful design flaw, or a very smart toy company!

(One of the possible uses for Project Life is to take a picture a day, and jot a couple notes about the day... perhaps easy if I can keep up with it. So, I decided to try taking at least one picture a day. I've seen this on other blogs, and love it, even when I don't really know the people. I tend to take pictures of the kids and that's it. AND SO... when I got the pictures off the camera tonight, what did I have? Pictures of the kids. Yup. Nuthin' else. So, I will attempt to branch out and document our life in addition to the kiddos. But here's a few from today. )

2010-01-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Mac got a haircut today. Cute, eh?Addie showed us that she can stack blocks,

and was persistant at stacking the long skinny blocks on top of each other.

I was amazed!

2010-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

Dancing to "rock and roll" - an excellent rainy Sunday morning activity

2010-01-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

January pictures: ballerina rockstar birthday party
washing shells

playing Princess Chutes and Ladders

snow hole

tuck position

learning to ski

skiing!!!

washing his hair

bathtime with Lucy after playing in th rain!!! Spiky hair.

Mac picked out all the clothes he needed to take to daycare.

They do get wet and messy every day, and usually need a change of clothes, but for the most part, he's in his underwear.

2010-01-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick story before we dash off to Mac's best friend Lucy's Rockstar Ballerina birthday party:

Yesterday, Mac, Addie and I headed to the bathroom to wash our hands. This always involves some amount of water play, peeing, talking about the dog food, washing spilled water off the floor... you get the picture. Never a short trip despite my best efforts. So Adeline was happily playing in water in the sink and Mac had to go to the bathroom. He said to Addie "Adeline, boys shake. Do you want to watch me shake? I can shake it really good." Lovely! I worked hard not to crack up. Addie seemed indifferent and went about playing in the water.

Happy Holidays 2009

2009-12-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

A few pictures from our celebrations in Leavenworth, Washington.

Santa pictures from a few weeks ago are at the end.Eating Swedish coffee bread by the tree on Christmas morning

while we wait for the others to wake up.
Santa brought Adeline a doll house!

Addie hanging in a camp chair during the present opening.

McKinley's present from Santa: Hot Wheels Big Rigs Recycle Action Pack

Loving his new snowshoes from Papa and Nana.

"Mom, I can snow shoe all by myself! I know I can!"

...and he could! and he loved it!

One of the coolest things we did was to go out at night snowshoeing around Jim and Care's property. We all wore headlights and tromped through the woods. After the first loop, most people were done. McKinley wanted to go again, and he wanted to be the leader.

We loved it!

Stockings hung with carabiners on the rock fireplace.

The fireplace is actually outside on the deck and

the woodstove will eventually go where the doll house is sitting.

Kids table! McKinley, Josephine, Adeline and Norah.

Family picture on the real sleigh ride we took on Christmas eve!

Addie wasn't so sure. We put mittens on her that had no thumbs and she just kept holding up her hands and staring at them, like "where are my thumbs?"

The horses were Belgian Draft Horses named Sis and Hank.

Mac made good friends with them afterwards. They were beautiful!

Cascade Mountains around Leavenworth as viewed from the sleigh.

Josephine all bundled up.

In the "way back" of the mini van!

The sleding hill at Jim and Care's.

Lovingly tended with shovels and water by Jim and John.

Getting ready to go sledding!

Accepting a candy cane, but no way was he sitting on his lap!

WHY in the world does any kid sit on this guys lap?

Sorry, Addie. Just wanted a Santa picture.

Maybe next year?

How do we fill our days?

2009-11-15T21:10:00.001-08:00

Our days begin early, but it gives us lots of time for play.

So, how do we fill our days, besides the endless laundry and dishes? Here's a sample:We play outside. Mac's on top of a pile of bark chips from some tree branches we had cut down from our big trees in the backyard.
We drink.
Addie loves her Dora straw cup, but also loves to drink out of anything Mac and I are using.

We have tea parties using every cup in the house and every snack from the snack cabinet.

This was one of my favorite activities last week. Mac started it with a vase, a wine glass and a picture from the hutch. Then he came and asked for a tablecloth. I asked why and he told me "Mom, I'm setting the table for a beautiful dinner!" I asked who was invited, his answer: "you and Addie!" I asked if I could bring anything, he said "A salad would be wonderful!" I love that kid and I love "almost four". What a fun age, even if he does push my buttons regularly...

(See the baby in the carrier at the bottom? We also play babies on a regular basis.)

We eat. Seriously. We eat about every hour. On this morning, Addie just stood at this table eating while Mac kept serving up the treats. Hilarious!

We act goofy and want someone to take pictures.

We play in the leaves. I get these two outside as often as possible. Addie has started bringing me her coat and shoes and this morning I swear she said "go!" as she handed them to me. She cried so hard when Curt and Mac went outside without her, that we needed to immediately follow.

We help with projects. Mac loves projects, especially when they involve tools.

Here they are putting the new stickers on Curt's car.

We color with friends. Our buddy Garen brought over Crayola Color Surge Tinkerbell pictures. We love to color anyway, but then to use these seriously amazing markers that turn a solid piece of paper neon colors and FAIRIES to boot! Magic. Pure gimic, but magic none-the-less. I went and bought a pack to take on the plane with us when we fly to North Carolina next week. Now if only we can keep Addie from eating the markers.

We do tricks while sucking on a lollypop.

Mac. He likes tricks.

We celebrate birthdays!~ Happy 68th Papa!

And yes, that's a homemade apple pie and it was yummy.

We also bake a lot, but I'll save that for another post.

Happy third week of November!

We officially have a paper chain for Mac to tear one off every morning and read the number and that's how many days we have until North Carolina. I'm not sure who's more excited - me or Mac. I can't wait to snuggle my new baby niece Nora!

2009-10-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!picking pumpkins
our little animals...

our princess

Addie in her Halloween skirt

(Lucy and cousin Nora have matching ones, Mac has pants with matching pockets)

dragon and butterfly

cutie pies...

We'll let you know the status on the candy fairy. Mac isn't convinced he wants her to come to our house this year. He wanted to know where she takes the candy. Curt and I both had to think fast... and came up with that she takes the candy to the boys and girls who are in the hospital and can't go trick or treating. Sounds reasonable, right? He wanted to know when she was coming and if he could eat some candy before she came. Smart kid.

random cute pictures

2009-10-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Random pictures from the last month... in no particular order.Mac playing with Polly Pockets at Norah and Josie's, wearing one of the girls jammies. Next time we visit, I'm not packing anything for him as he only wants to wear their clothes anyway!
addie loves climbing into things, so mac followed. now if only they could fold the clothes too!

our sweet girl

making an "L" collage for Lucy (shhh... don't tell Lucy!)

bathtime! now that addie has stopped splashing the whole time, they can take baths together again.

these crooked straws are so much fun.

they worked and worked until they each had an end

(and I only needed to do a little monitoring to make sure nobody lost an eye!)

I love this look.

she's wearing pants made from the sleeves of an old, and well-loved shirt of mine. They were the test pants for making pants from a sweater. Both pairs turned out quite cute!

more straw play

Soccer!

Mac loves his little soccer class "with Coach Dennis" at the Sherwood Indoor Fieldhouse.

Addie's hair is getting longer and curlier!

Our little princess, twirling.

Note the darling blue and red Car Movie underwear peaking out from beneath the dress.

Bathtime at Norah and Josie's.

I love that Addie is spitting water out of her mouth in this picture.

playing dinosaurs in the bathtub with the baby doll potty.

adorable picture of Josephine.

amazing... all four in the tub! and they actually played in their for quite a while!

Welcome Fall

2009-10-12T13:50:00.001-07:00

We are welcoming Fall to Oregon. The days are crisp and bright, and the mornings are downright cold (even by Curt's standards!) Mac still wants to wear shorts, so we are letting him learn his own clothing needs. Addie got some hand-me-down clothes from Norah and Josie, including this awesome green handknit hat. These are pics from last night as we enjoyed the last bit of sunshine in our yard. It was the first time we had to pull out the hats and gloves, and even Mac wanted them!

Addie's walking!

Happy Fall.

Curt's Birthday

2009-10-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Curt! 38 amazing years. We are so lucky!Mac is all about the cake.
It's a baseball, in keeping with the theme.

Addie, loving the cake.

We celebrated Curt's birthday yesterday at the Mariner's game in Seattle. Drove up just for the day. Thankfully, the kiddos slept both on the way up and the way back, so we got off really easy. It was Kids Day, possibly Ken Griffey Jr.'s last game, the last game of the regular season, and a beautiful day. Addie was a maniac in the stands... trying to climb all over. She and I spent a long time walking around. I also didn't think it would be sunny in Seattle, so I didn't pack sunscreen or a hat. Tried to get her to wear Mac's Cougs hat, but she wanted nothing to do with that.

Vickie, Lisa and Edwin enjoying the game.

Mac and Curt. "Ich-i-ro!"

We got Curt the Birthday package, which included a Happy Birthday message on the Jumbotron. Our seats in the bleachers meant we were directly under the Jumbotron, but Curt still got to see his message. I, on the other hand, being slightly clueless about baseball (messages happened at the end of the second inning, but I wasn't paying much attention) and completely focused on keeping Adeline from flinging herself over the front of the seat in front of us, missed it. Darn! I wanted a picture!

Mac thought the mascots at the beginning were hilarious. Of course, when we tried to go see the Mariner Moose, he hid behind my leg.

The mascots. Teams spend a lot of money on these things, so I guess it's good they can "visit" other stadiums too. Look right in the middle, it a clam. Can't remember who that was for, but I think it's funny!

2009-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

U2 and Chicago rocked!

Curt planned a surprise for me for our 10th anniversary back in June - going to Chicago, just for the weekend, to see U2. It's not the first time we've traveled to see them, but now we have kids. That changes everything.

I was nervous intially, but so excited!

Mac stayed at Lucy's and Addie stayed with Vickie and Lisa.

They did great.

And we loved Chicago!

To see pictures of the stage, hear clips from the show and to generally see all things U2, go to www.u2.com. Amazing band. Amazing. Go see them live. You will love it.

We've already decided that next tour, we're seeing them in Europe.

Maybe even with the kids.

The heart of the Miracle Mile, from a kayak.

Curt is on the right, kayaking the Chicago River. We went right downtown! Amazing.

For more info: www.kayakchicago.com

On the river.

Heading downtown.

Flying first class back home. wow.

thanks, honey. I loved our weekend away.

This girl likes to eat... and it's messy.

2009-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

almond butter and marionberry jam toast

tacos!

2009-08-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

Crazy kids = crazy nights.

A little peek into our nighttime routine.

Addie has decided that she doesn't want to miss the good times in Mac's room that usually happen after we put her in bed. She's been teething, trying to walk and trying to switch to one nap, so her nights have been messed up. The past two nights, she's slept for an hour at 7, then been up with Curt and I until we go to bed at 9:30. Crazy girl.

Mac is really into making faces these days: see below for evidence.

Quote of the week: (after playing at the park with some of his school friends)

Mac: "Mom, 'Sara' bites me."

me: "yes, 'Sara' bit you last year in school."

Mac: "I don't want 'Sara' to bite me."

me: "Well, 'Sara' is older now, and so are you,

so maybe you can talk to each other and she won't bite you."

Mac: "Mom, she can't talk to me if her mouth is on my arm biting me!"

Good point, Mac.

Addie-cakes is cutting teeth...

2009-08-23T21:51:00.001-07:00

Our sweet Adeline is cutting her molars! I can't believe it!

The top two came through a couple of weeks ago and are still working on coming all the way in. Her bottom two have been swollen for a week, and she has been chewing on everything! She loves the Tupperware lids, and carrots in the mesh bag Baby Safe Feeder. She's been really emotionally sensitive and waking up in the middle of the night again. Her hair is getting longer and starting to curl. I have tried to put it up in cute pig-tails that stand up off her head, but she really hates it. I mean, she screams... but Mac ends up with two cute pig tails, because he can't resist!

(stayed tuned for pics of Mac and his friend Garen getting their toes painted bright red... and I thought I needed to have a girl to get pedicures!)

So, she's now a 10-tooth girl, working on #11 and #12. wow. where did our baby go?

2009-08-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Danskin Triathlon, Lake Washington, Seattle August 16, 2009

transition from swim to bike. Heading out on the bike.

SO excited to be done with the bike.

I finished!

Time: 1:54

2009-08-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Addie and her rocking chair. My mom gave Addie this chair for her birthday, following a tradition that started when my Grandma and Grandpa Degner gave me a rocking chair for my first birthday. Mac now has that chair.

Addie loves her rocking chair! She has learned how to climb in, can almost turn around and sit by herself, and then can turn and crawl out! She works many hours a day at climbing in and out of her chair!reading a book
Addie in her rocking chair, Mac in the big rocking chair.

climbing out.

I did it!

Eating toast. A favorite food.

2009-08-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

Pump It Up, Jr.

Windy suggested a trip to Pump It Up, Jr., so last Friday we all went to check it out.

The boys LOVED it!

I joke sometimes, about needing "a padded room" when Mac gets wound up. Well, that is Pump It Up, Jr! They have two rooms with three huge inflatable play spaces each. Mac was in near constant motion for 2 1/2 hours. He couldn't get enough. There were two different slides, a maze with a slide at the end, and two play spaces for smaller kids that Addie could crawl around on. It was delightful to watch. We will definitely be back! Kaya watching the entertainment (aka, Mac and Kolby)
taking a short break for some food and drink

"How do I get up here?" Addie thought it ws hilarious when the kids would come down the slide. She was squealing with pleasure!

Look how happy she is!

I enjoyed watching her as much as I did watching the boys.

Whee!

Who wouldn't have fun here?

Adeline turns one

2009-08-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

Our sweet Adeline is ONE!

We are amazed at how fast the past year has flown. Addie is darling, opinionated, curious, fast-moving. She loves to follow her brother around. He can get her to laugh like no one else!

It is fun to watch their relationship developing. We are so lucky!

Windy took most of the pictures, and I don't have them on our computer, but here is a sampling from the party. If you want the full Costco link, just send me an email. Kaya (6 weeks), Kolby (2), Mac (3), Addie (1).

Next summer, after Addie's birthday, Kaya will be 1, Kolby 2, Addie 3 and Mac 4. Cool, eh?

Mac and Lucy helping Addie dig into her cake.

Want some?

Flower and ladybug applesauce cake with raspberry filling and cherry frosting.

Ladybug placement by Mac-a-doo.

No doubt they are related!

2009-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Texas was fun and hot!Mac and Porkshop.
Great Grandma and Adeline.

Our little cowboy.

Our little cowgirl.

Playing "to hick to hick" (no idea) on the mattresses in the cowboy house. Addie is not sleeping, she is laughing, kicking and squealing in joy!

Fishing. His new passtime. Didn't catch a thing.

Perhaps because Paula and I cut off the hook before they left the house. hmmm....

at the awesome museum in Waco. SO much fun... a piano you can run on!

beautiful mural of the life cycle of a butterfly. We were enchanted. Mac, obviously loved it. Even took his cowboy hat off for a brief moment to have his picture taken.

Checking out Great Grandma's nails.

Four generation photo, with a slightly hesitant three year old.

"riding horses" at the Ft. Worth stockyards.

Good thing Grandma's wallet was full of quarters.

Addie's first ride on any kind of horse!

Happy Girl at Kim's graduation celebration!
The brisket tacos were out of this world!

Mac had a slushy starwberry drink that made his day!

Doughnuts after our hike in 95 degree heat.

He hiked almost two miles! Kim carried him the last little bit.

Very hot Adeline.

yup. H.O.T.

"Mac, don't touch sticks - they might be snakes. Oh, and don't touch the plants because there's poison ivy all over."

Yes, and it was 95 degrees. We did it though.

Porkchop eyeing Addie's snack trap with Cheerios.

Porkchops nose fit right inside.

She really didn't have to beg because Addie willingly fed her Cheerios.

What's a few germs between friends?

Stingrays at the Dallas World Aquarium.

Mac loves doing the computers, especially when he had to hang like a monkey to do it!

2009-06-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

We've been out of the loop for a while, so here's a few pics of what we've been up to the past month. Busy and fun... More to come when I have more time.

Mac checking out strawberries - in boots, underwear and his Bloomsday Finisher T-shirt that he sleeps in most nights. Also, our new garden.
Mac and Addie crawling in the water at Cannon Beach. Addie was beside herself with joy!~

Addie naps on a cot at daycare, much to our complete dismay - wow! And she crawls up there on her own and goes to sleep when she's tired!

More water play from our day at the beach with Aimee and Lucy.

The three kids having a blast.

yes, she ate sand. I couldn't keep her away from it! Try washing sand off a 10 month olds hands. Impossible.

Fishing. Mac loves it. Kolby, Norah and Josephine and there families were with us too.

Addie in bed with dad.

Mac perusing the hymnal at John and Tatum's wedding. Thankfully, he got singing "Down by the Bay" out of his system the night before at the rehearsal dinner.

Four generations.

Our little explorer, aka, the reason I should vacuum every night (but don't).

More later!

update

2009-05-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Just a quick update: our computer is dead, so until it's fixed, replaced or I figure out how to get pics onto Curt's computer, there won't be any new pics. Sorry! It's so hard not to mess with them. My night's are getting later and later as it's the only time I have on the computer.

Little Miss Adeline turned 10 months old today! She is a squealing, speed-crawling, opinionated littel girl. Such a delight to be around. She definitely let's us know what she wants. And, man, can she EAT! We are done with baby food. She occasionally let's me give her something on a spoon, but she mostly bats it away and screams for real food. She can shovel it in!

She adores McKinley, who has taken to singing "down by the bay" or reading a book to her whenever she cries. Of course, other times, he is the reason she's crying. She's gonna give him a run for his money!

She has seven teeth, can pull to standing and is obsessed with trying to get to our shoes to chew on them. She is doing well at daycare, and next week I will not be rushing off at lunch to let her nurse. She's been eating the refular food there for three weeks and doing well, so we're gonna try skipping the midday nursing (just on the day I work, she can still nurse whenever when she's with me). I think she'll do just fine.

Our daycare is a dream. It's so small and personal. I absolutely love it. Addie heads right to the ball pit every time. It's only open during the school year, which is the only downside. We're working on a babysitting swap with one of the other families for two days a week this summer.

Mac has recovered fully from his tonsillectomy and is doing great with the ear tubes. We are still working on improving his sleep - what's new?
He has become an avid bike rider, and can successfully complete the short, medium and long loops of our neighborhood. We've been doing it almost every night. He just gets on and away we go, his little legs pumping, helmet on - he's excellent at steering and controlling his speed while keeping his feet on the pedals. We are considering getting a two wheel bike with training wheels for the summer.
He's also loving his scooter, and even took it to Home Depot. Pretty cute.
We're hoping to take him to a trout farm fishing with Norah and Josephine this weekend, and he is so excited. He may be disappointed in the size of the trout, however, since he thinks he's gonna catch a salmon - oh, yeah, trained him right! We had salmon tonight for dinner, and Mac probably ate half of it. Addie thought it was pretty good too. I love it!
McKinley is also showing me that the hundreds of hours I have spent singing to him (both out of joy and out of necessity) have paid off. He ask me to sing with him the other night and sang at least five songs I had never heard him sing before. My favorite - "Tinkle, Tinkle, little star". Cracks me up! He's getting close to the right notes and definitely has the correct timing. So fun.

Curt and I are eagerly anticipating a weekend on the mountain this weekend. We're meeting Robin, Brian, Norah and Josephine for three days for some hiking, swimming, fishing and playing. We weren't daring enough to make camping reservations, but it would have been a good weekend for that. Summer's coming!

2009-04-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Mac and I went to the driving range for the first time on Sunday with the clubs that Santa brought him for Christmas. Becky and Addie came along for moral support.
It never really dawned on me how tough it's going to be teaching a left handed kid how to do things, until now. He may spend his entire adolescence in velcro shoes, I can't imagine showing him how to successfully tie laces.
He was very upset when we had to go. All-in-all it was a very good first trip and he can't wait to go back. Look! Nice ball launch, follow through, head down (kind of). It went a good 5-6 yards.....with his 7-iron!

Getting some pointers from Dad. If he doesn't become the next Tiger Woods he can blame me, the next Bill Murray.

Saying good-bye to the ball.

One of life's challenges being left handed; Dad can't remember which hand goes on top.

Getting ready to do some damage.

2009-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Smiley girl with FIVE teeth! Number six is almost through. I still can't believe she has teeth!
Adeline is happy and smiley most of the time. Her giggle is infectious! I love it.
And her little feet... yummy!

Happy Nine Month Birthday (on Earth Day). She was so tickled to be outside. Mac spiked her hair in the bathtub the night before, and it stayed!

Laughing at the grass and at my attempts to keep her on the blanket.

"Hi Mom!"

Addie often is talking or "singing" with her mouth wide open.

One of her newest things is to imitate McKinley - she'll make the same sound, shake her head back and forth when he's doing the same thing, or clap when he's clapping. Sometimes she claps when he stops doing something - I think she might be signing "more".

She signs more when she's eating, and Curt thought she signed "milk" the other night.

Tonight, she was signing more, then putting her hand up in the air and shouting. Curt said "Addie, do you want milk" and signed milk. She got a huge grin on her face and looked over at me and signed "more".

We get it, honey! You are signing! Oh, how I love this stage!

I am not exactly sure how doing video on here works, but let's try this and see... it's Addie on my legs giggling. I hope it works!

2009-04-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

McKinley's surgery to have his tonsils and adenoid removed and to get ear tubes placed in both ears went well. I can't remember to upload the pics in reverse to how I want them to appear and it takes too long to rearrange them, so here are yesterday's events, in reverse order: Making vanila smoothies with Curt (Mac wouldn't drink them, but making them was fun).
Where he spent all afternoon. Thank you, Morphine!

Getting ready to go home. He's too heavy to carry, and I forgot to take the smaller stroller, so he got a ride in a wheelchair.

Dressed and ready to go home. Watching his all-time favorite "digger video" on the Zune (without sound because he couldn't wear the headphones after surgery).

Waking up after surgery.

Loopy after getting the pre-op meds. He told the anesthesiologist that he wanted "a hair net". Where he got that word, we'll never know!

Loopy, waiting with me. He couldn't sit up or talk well.

Watching TV with Creature. Mac and I made Creature on Wednesday.

Creature got a hair net too and got to go to surgery with him.

Today was harder than yesterday because McKinley was hungry, cranky and sore. We are trying to keep him well medicated, but it seems to be wearing off sooner than we can give him more. It's been better since I stopped giving him the Tylenol with Codeine and switched to ibuprofen alternating with regular Tylenol. He was really out of it for a few hours this afternoon, then perked up after we gave him Tylenol and we were able to take the kids for a walk. It was beautiful here! We expect that each day will be easier and less painful for him. It's going to be hard keeping him on a "soft" diet for a week because he really wants toast, chicken nuggets, and chewy fruits.

2009-04-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Walking with Lucy at the zoo.My birthday party!
Our Adeline.

Eatin' crackers. I can't get enough of her eyes!

These Cheerios are awesome!

A big worm! Then it pooped on his hand and he about had a heart attack!

Grandma Vickie saved the day by wiping it on her pants.

Paula, Vickie and Mac at a waterfall.

Mac and Addie on a walk.

Walking through the trees.

Adeline and her buddy Harris at library time. The scarves were for peek-a-boo, but I couldn't resist making them into doo-rags!

It is a delight to watch Mac and Addie grow!

Mac's in underwear!

2009-03-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

No pics necessary for this post, but we believe Mac is "potty trained".
It happened yesterday. We've been taking his diaper off in the morning and letting him just have his jammy bottoms on. Yesterday, he ran into the bathroom and had already peed on the toilet by the time I got there.
Today he asked for just his jammy bottoms, and again did it all by himself. He had a couple of accidents today, but they both were when he was in the bathroom, trying to get on the toilet. Then I made the mistake of putting a pair of underwear on him that actually sort of hold the pee in because they have an outer layer made of the same material as the diaper wraps. I didn't tell him this, but he later informed me that "it's alright to pee a little in these underwear because they hold the pee in". What? I about peed my pants myself I was laughing so hard.
Later, he told Curt he wanted to wear his pants (no diaper or underwear) for his nap. OK. And he did it - dry as could be and then later went and peed on the toilet. Curt tried to help him that time, and Mac told him "No, Dad, I want to do it all by myself!" And he did, handwashing and all.
I was beginning to think the day would be a long time in coming as so many of his friends have been using the toilet for months. He's been asking me which friends pee in diapers and which use the toilet. He's also really motivated to use the little potties at school (which means he then can wash his hands at the very cool little sink), and last week told his teacher he needed to go on the toilet, but since she was the only adult in the room with 8 kids, she was unable to help him. That made a big impression.
We'll keep you posted!

2009-03-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Mexico was amazing! Curt and I got the chance to try boogie boarding and we both loved it!
Mac absolutely loved the beach and the water. He even got used to going in the waves! And boy, does the beach tire a boy out!

Playa del Sol Grand had a fantastic pool. Many, many hours were spent here.

Chillin' in their Hawaii clothes from Jim and Care. We couldn't get Addie's top to stay on, so she's looking like a boy in this pic!

Addie sprouted her second bottom tooth the day we left, her first top tooth the first day home, and the second top tooth the next day! Geez! And man, she'll be eating steak in a few weeks given how huge her top teeth are!

Curt and Mac "night swimming". Note the subtle change in the water... the pool had an infinity edge and looked right out onto the ocean. Incredible. I love night swimming!

Addie in her "I will NOT get burnt" get-up.

Papa getting "pushed" by two dolphins on their "Dolphin Adventure".

Nana getting "pushed".

Papa, Nana and Mac at the swim up bar, drinking "smoo-vies!" Mac thought that was the best, well, next to the little bags of Panditas (gummy bears) and Dolci Gomas (gummy fruit globs) that the mini mart sold for 10 pesos.

Mac swimming. Lois Baker filled us in ahead of time to bring floaties for McKinley.

I have always really hated these arm swim things due to my years of lifeguarding and parents that think these things make a kid safe (they don't). At swimming lessons, they use foam rings around their arms, and that is one of Mac's favorite times because he gets to swim by himself. He did great in the pool with these arm floaties because their were so many shallow parts for him to play in (one day, he spent about five hours in the pool, with one 20 minute break to devor a whole plate of fish tostadas... then, right back into the pool)

Heading to the pool.

Sweet post-swim nap.

Day trip to Sauyalita. Mac was sand from head to toe.

Addie and Daddy hanging on the beach in Sauyalita.

Sunset view from Playa del Sol Grande.

Sweet Mexican girls in Bucerias (up the beach from where we stayed) that adored Addie and were taking pictures of her on their phones. This picture doesn't display their enthusiasm!

Get this: one day old Leatherback turtles. Only the third time the have had Leatherbacks hatch on Puerta Vallarta beach, and we got to see them released.

Releasing one day old Olive Ridley sea turtles.

beach nap on dad.

2009-02-09T20:58:00.000-08:00

Life is always busy around here! Here's a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. Mac is looking so "old" at times! Then he begins screaming because of something or other and we are reminded that he really just turned three.
Addie's eating food and loving it! She's so dang cute.
Don't you dare take that spoon away from her or she'll give you an earful!

First tooth! She's had it a while now, but I finally got a picture.

See it? Way down on the bottom.

It's a tooth!

Is she cute or what?

I don't know why this one uploaded sideways, but it's another example of our happy girl.Please -- someone come take this kid skiing! He's been using these two yard sticks to "ski"! I can't believe Curt hasn't taken him to the mountain yet. Maybe after Mexico.

I'll try to post some swimming pictures soon. Hilarious. That's all I have to say!

2009-01-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Six Month Birthday, sweet girl! Adeline is so cute! She can push herself way up on extended arms, then tucks her toes and lifts her belly off the floor. I haven't gotten a picture of it yet, but I'm trying.

Sweet thing...

First rice cereal - she loved it!

I've been wanting to do this for a while. Here's Mac's first bite of rice cereal. Look how much shorter he is than Addie! Sometimes, I think they look alike, others, I don't. Addie is much more smiley than Mac ever was, and talks a ton more. Their heads are shaped the same, and their eyes are the same color... what do you guys think? Do they look alike or not? The below two pics are Mac at six months.

2009-01-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Somebody has a tooth! Addie! Curt discovered that Addie has her first tooth, the bottom right. No wonder she was a little cranky and wanting to nurse all the time yesterday! Our girl's gettin' big.

Tonight: her first taste of rice cereal. Pics to come!

2009-01-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

He'll kill me for this someday, but... here's Mac and his best bud Lucy today after her birthday party. Lucy decided to take off her party dress and wear her tights and a t-shirt. Mac asked if he could borrow some tights. So Lucy kindly helped him into her favorite pair of pink and purple flowered tights! He was thrilled! The horse is from Lucy as a birthday present (for his horse party that was canceled due to snow). I am so glad the Berg's still had their tree up today so we could get their annual "Christmas shot". This is definitely one for the record books!

Just another little tidbit to make you all laugh: after Mac's playgroup birthday party, Lucy hung around to play a while longer, and they decided to get completely naked. They then spent the next 30 minutes running around in their birthday suits. Those two crack me up!

2009-01-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

It's good to have "cousins".

Mac, Norah and Josie technically are second cousins, but you'd never know it based on the way they love each other! We don't even see them that often, but when we get together, they have zero adjustment time - it's just right back to zooming around the house and playing!Norah (4), McKinley (3), Josephine (2) - darn - I should have had them sit and hold Addie so she could be in the picture! They stood very obediently for this pic, then...

this happened! One of Mac's favorite things to do - Roll around and be crazy!

They all loved the girls new computer set-up from Grandma and Grandpa Phillips.

I thought Norah was so amazing for how well she could do it only having it for one week.

Then, Mac got on and with only a little coaching from Care, he was navigating screens, drawing pictures, putting stamps on the page and (get this!) "saving" his work in a folder!

Unbelievable.

The next generation really is hard wired slightly differently.

The usual bath picture. They barely fit in ther together anymore!

Then we even added Adeline! She loved it!

They each took turns with her and were so careful to keep her face above the water.

The morning we were to leave for Sammamish, Mac woke up (in our bed), crawled over Curt without a word, went downstairs, turned on all the lights, then came back upstairs to my side of the bed and announced "I'm waiting to go to Norah and Josephine's house!" We cracked up.

A couple of mornings later, he got out of bed and again went downstairs without a word. We heard him turning on the lights, but he didn't come back up. So Curt went to investigate. Mac was sitting by his bookcase looking through his new cookbooks and told Curt "I need to find a recipe to make today." Atta boy!

2008-12-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

Addie in the Bumbo. She won't need it for long. She'll be sitting soon, if she decides to stop moving - the girl is fast at rolling!
"I love my brother! He's so funny and he tastes so good!"
Playing on Addie's new blanket from Grandma Vickie.

Addie and her new dolly, named "Dolly" (my Grandma's (Lorraine Riedl) nickname).

Addie loved it instantly and talks, talks, talks whenever we let her sit with Dolly.

Our cool new hats from Jim and Care.

Adeline and I hanging out on Christmas morning.

Addie and another new doll (all organic and so soft, from Grandma Mary)

Mac and his tools from Papa and Nana.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve! more to come...

2008-12-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

Curt measured 17 inches in our backyard this afternoon! Finally stopped snowing but it's difficult to impossible to get around.
unable to measure due to the thick layer of ice from a couple days ago!

where's the Beemer?

Can you believe how much snow we have?

Buried.

2008-12-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

yes, they really were wrestling in the snow! Mac loved it! Then a mitten fell off, and it was all over. He also refused to put his wonderful, warm snow pants and winter jacket on, so he was out in fleece pants and a vest, but the only thing that bothered him when it got cold was his hand. go figure.

pre-wrestling

watching curt attempting to sled down the street.

Snow, Snow and more snow. Then some ice. And a little wind. That's been our week, and it looks like that will be our next week as well. Maybe getting up to 35 on Wednesday. oh. my.

2008-12-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

McKinley Thomas Sander turned THREE!!He's been working on holding up three fingers, rather than two.

We worked together yesterday to bake his "mountain" cake,

then worked together again today to frost it.

Wait until you see how we ate it!A very cool talking globe from Papa and Nana.

A big digger from Addie.

Diggty Dog game from Grandma Mary. We've been playing this one at Mudpuddles, and he loves it. He said "Yeah! Diggety Dog! Same like at Mudpuddles!" when he opened it.

birthday morning blueberry pancakes. He is wearing his (soon-to-be) felted crown on his head. I got it almost finished. It will actually fit his head once it's felted. May take all week to dry given the wet weather we are having (more on that later!)

oh, our sweet little boy!
building gingerbread houses, compliments of the Stevenson family, who braved the elements to come celebrate Mac's birthday!

Adeline, taking in the sights (she's working on those two front teeth!)

Windy, Matt and Kolby with their gingerbread house!

(I'm allowed now to let you all in on the secret that Kolby will be a big brother in June! yippee!)

2008-12-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas (a little early). Friends of ours have an annual Santa party, which was yesterday. Mac is still not sure about Santa in person, but sure talks about him a lot! He'd like Santa to bring him a crane (he is).
Mac and his best friend Lucy.

Sweet Adeline and Santa - what a sweetie!

Lucy watching Mac open his zoom cars from Santa.

Closer than last year! Santa said "Merry Christmas McKinley!" and Mac said "Merry Christmas Santa!"

2008-12-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

This is what Mac told me the other day when we were deciding what to put in his party goodie bags, either M&M's or Tic Tacs:
" I want M&M's because kids really like candy. Kids really need candy, mama!"
M&M's it is. To him, Tic Tacs fall in the "mint" category, which apparently is NOT candy.

2008-12-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

Great Grandpa Degner, Adeline and McKinley. We got the name Adeline from my Great Grandma (Adeline) Degner.
Grandpa and his house. I love this pic.

So, have you ever driven in the snow, behind a slow moving older truck loaded with a HUGE hay roll (it's not a bale, but I don't know the official name), with both your wife's Grandpa and your mother-in-law giving you directions to a "maybe-it's-open-on-Sunday" restaurant while your wife tries not to puke in the third row of seats and your son tries to be patient for food? Well, that describes what's going on in this pic. Curt was SO patient! And we did eventually find a terrific restaurant with a view of a river that served home baked chicken and pork with potatoes - all for $6 a plate. wow! And, McKinley watched the river the whole time and saw a beaver swimming. He was so excited (even though he thought it was a fish).

Addie and Mackenzie at the Watertwon Holdiay Parade.

A little boy and his little legos. I didn't think he was ready, but he showed us, he is quite capable with the little legos. He picked out every square piece and built this huge tower!

Clifford the Red Dog at the Watertown library. Addie loved him. Mac did not.

Friday night fish fry with Great Grandpa Degner, Great Uncle Dave and Great Aunt Mary.

Adeline and Great Uncle Dave.

Adeline and Great Aunt Mary.

My two crazy boys.

Addie and Great Uncle Jack (who's thrilled she's not screaming because Mac always screamed when Jack held him!)

Austin, Kolton and Mac (second cousins). Mac is actually the oldest, but he's the shortest.

Adeline meeting Mackenzie (Austin's sister). Mackenzie is a month older that Addie.

Adeline and Great Aunt Bonnie. (Addie's wearing the hand knit dress our friend Traci made for her! It's so beautiful it was almost hard for me to put in on her knowing it was going to get dirty! Then, I got over it, and put it on her.)

Great Grandpa reading a book to Mac. To Mac's great delight, Great Grandpa read every page of a very long nursery rhyme book!

We had a great time in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Mac and Curt were delighted to get to play in the snow and Addie and I were thrilled to snuggle inside and stay warm!

We took a day trip to Discovery World in Milwaukee. It's part science museum and part aquarium. Mac was so interested in these huge fish you could pet, but wouldn't touch them. This picture says it all!

Very cool walk-through aquarium.

I love this photo! That's a shrimp hiding on the rock.

Amazing jelly fish. They had just been fed and we could see the food inside them. wow.

Mom, thanks for a terrific trip to Wisconsin! You always take such good care of us. I especially appreciate that you didn't buy ANY cheese, knowing that Mac and I are not eating dairy right now (this is where my Wisconsin relatives stop and say "what the hell, not eating dairy?")

2008-11-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Song by Mac yesterday while he was quietly searching through books in Addie's room:

"One little, two little spiders jumping on the web.

One fell off and bumped his head.

Daddy called the doctor and the doctor said:

'No more spiders jumping on the spider web!'"

I cracked up!

He's in a language explosion this week. Here's a few gems:

at 5;30 this morn when he woke up and began talking, I asked "what?" his response: "I'm just talking to myself, mom!"

opening a card from Aunt Paula: "oh my goodness!" (in the exact same tone I use...)

talking to Binjin, who was worried about something and we were trying to get her to lay on her bed: "It's okay. I'm here. I'll keep you safe from Morgan (a little girl at school that has been pushing him). You can lay down. I'll stay right here. I'm here."

and in bed tonight, I always lay with him for a few minutes, and we've been putting lotion on our hands and massaging them. I hurt my finger a few weeks ago and it's still swollen. I have been showing him how massaging it may help the swelling. As he was very precisely massaging my finger, he said "I'm being very gentle with your body mama." (that's what I have been saying to him about how he can interact with Adeline) "I'm helping get the swelling out! " Again, too cute!

And little miss addie is still quite the sleeper. I see why people must have thought curt and I were freaks and exaggerators when we talked about Mac's (lack of) sleep. Seriously. She fell asleep last night at 8:00, woke at 3:00 t0 nurse, then slept until 8:00. That's 12 hours, people! I don't think Mac has ever, in his entire life slept 12 hours (almost) straight. Amazing. Hopefully our extended trip to Wisconsin for Thanskgiving won't blow the whole thing! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And we can't forget to wish our little sweetie a happy 4 month birthday today!

Finally, I love Wisconsin, but it's supposed to be ZERO degrees tomorrow. yuck. It will be fun, but I will be wishing I was here:

(Costa Rica)

2008-11-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

Aimee and I took Mac and Lucy to the roller rink at Oaks Park this morning. Who would have thought they would be into this? It was the preschool skate, and they had a blast. The wheels were tightened down, so the wheels barely moved, but they loved it. I couldn't get a picture of it, but mac loved the stopper/brake and would walk a little and the "put the brake on" and just stand there. Quite funny! Aimee and I were able to walk with them in our shoes, and I had Addie in the stroller. Mac was very excited when I asked him if he wanted to go skating with Lucy - then when we got there and he was watching some women rollerskate, he watched for a while and then asked "Mom, where's the skateboards?" I had to laugh. He'd really like to skateboard, and he thought I was finally going to take him skateboarding!

2008-11-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Mac is in a serious growth spurt. Sometimes it's funny and others, well, it's not pretty. He screams, he runs around nuts, he kicks like a bronco and then two seconds later, he's doing yoga with me, or cutting paper into tiny pieces, or getting a toy for Addie. It's got to be hard to be "almost three". I wish I had half his energy! He's been wanting to wear underwear more since watching two different friends pee on the potty in the last week. Today, he had his underwear on for a long time, and then all of a sudden he was shouting to me - "mom! My pants are all wet! Oh! I peed" I guess we start somewhere...

Addie is also in a growth spurt, but I guess that will be true for the next 9 - 12 months! She rolls over to her belly almost every time we lay her down. It's almost as if she can't stop herself from rolling. She woke up a ton last night and I think that was what was going on for her. Hopefully it won't last too long, as we've gotten quite spoiled by her awesome sleeping habits. She has also started giggling. It's delightful! It's in response to my imitating her fake cough. Her smile is awesome and her giggle even better!

2008-10-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

Enjoy your pumpkins! (warning: this will make you laugh out loud!)

Mac and Kolby last weekend after we carved pumpkins.

2008-10-31T07:54:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! Our playgroup had a party yesterday. Talk about crazy! The kids had a blast! The girls were all some form of princess/mermaid/disney character (with one exception, the little ladybug sitting next to Mac) and the boys were all animals - penguin, zebra, dinosaur, bee and Tigger. So super cute!

Our little matching penguins. They are so cute!

2008-10-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

Addie at the pumpkin patch in the hat I made for her.
A family of four!

Oooohhhh... I can't resist her sweet cheeks!

Our little penguin. He's actually thrilled with his costume, despite the look on his face. He also LOVES candy! When we were talking about Halloween today, I asked him if he remembered what he says to people on Halloween. His response "I want candy, please". Hmmm. We'll have to keep working on it!

They are both penguins! Addie was less than thrilled with the hat, but she got over it.

Mac rides a horse!

2008-10-20T15:28:00.001-07:00

Mac finally rode a horse. He's been talking about it for months. He loves going to his friend Brennan's house to visit the horses, and has gotten slightly more comfortable with them, but I really thought he just liked the idea of riding a real horse, and that he wouldn't actually do it. Lee Farms is a pumpkin farm near our house. After a failed attempt to ride the ponies there this summer (we went - no ponies until October!), I was determined he would at lease get the chance to try. So Saturday, we went. They had the ponies. Mac said he would ride, if he could ride the white one named Bubblegum (a story for another time). Thankfully, there was one white horse, and the lady said Mac could call him Bubblegum (but her name was actually Misty). I bought some tickets, and Mac confidently walked up to the horse and let the lady put him on! When I asked him if he wanted me to walk next to him or if he wanted to do it himself, he told me he'd do it himself. wow! So Curt, Addie and I watched from outside the fence. Later, Mac told us he'd like to ride the ponies again, "a brown one this time!" So we got some more tickets, and he rode a brown one. Curt said the look on Mac's face was "No big deal. I ride horses all the time!" So cute.

Mac with the pumpkins and Addie in the Ergo with Curt.

Nursing baby pigs. Now that's a tough job!

2008-10-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

We wear a lot of crimson in our house!

Curt is a huge Washington State fan, despite their record this season.

This past weekend, Curt, Mac and Papa headed down to Corvallis to watch OSU and WSU.

The weather was great!

2008-10-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

Blog day ONE - I've finally managed to come up with a title/address that was not already in use! Check back for updates on what's happening in our treehouse.
cbma