to the beach and back

The Puget Sound (a.k.a. Ocean) is about 3 miles from our house. One of our favorite hikes winds down through an old forest following a river and it ends up on the rocky shores of the Sound. Last Saturday we decided that Spring had arrived and off we went! Hopefully we'll be able to spend most Saturdays outside now that it's getting warmer.



In case you're curious there are no little animals or fairies sleeping in the trunk of this tree. Brielle and I looked.
Gotta love the moss.

In another month or two this whole trail will be lush and overhung with greenery.......picture it that way when you think about visiting us!
Going through the tunnel (under the railroad track) to the beach. Not all of us fit.

Hyrum was excited to throw rocks. He was also excited to wade neck-deep into the water, which is why Russell's hand is clutching his jacket!

(side note: we DO have sandy beaches too, this just isn't one of them.)



On the way back Russell carried both children, and though the pictures above don't show it, it's mostly uphill (and quite steep in places) on the return hike. But don't think for a moment that I wasn't pulling my load. I had all of the goldfish crackers to carry.

Friday nights used to go differently.....

I think we used to go on dates on the weekends. I'm not sure, my memory of it is rather hazy....too long ago. But NOW we go to Children's Museums!

Last Friday night we went to the one in Everett. And honestly they are kinda fun.

Hyrum and his friend Aiden "building" a car.

Why is it my children never look when I ask them to? For five minutes I begged them just for a glance in my direction, but no.



Playing in the fire truck.

Hyrum and his buddy Aiden again.

A little fire girl.

Those were the only two rooms we took pictures in. Even with a 1:1 ratio (adult to kid) it's still tricky keeping track of each other there, we lost children multiple times, hence no more pictures.

"Can we keep her, Mommy?"

To the children's delight Shona came to stay with us a week ago while Daddy went camping with the Scouts. The kids thought the replacement more than made up for the loss. (sorry sweetie!)

Hyrum especially was in heaven, dogs are his favorite.

While Shona was there Hyrum alternated between throwing toys for her to fetch, and crawling around panting as a little puppy himself.

Sadly the dog went home during nap time, and it's difficult to explain that to a one year old. He's been asking for her ever since. As soon as he woke up he ran to where he had left Shona and stated "No puppy." Then her ran to another of Shona's spots and shook his head "No puppy." That continued for about three days! Now he's become almost reconciled, but he still asks me constantly, "Puppy gone? Puppy all gone?" Poor kid.

In like a lion.....

During our rainy spring days we try to find indoor places to amuse the children. The soft indoor playground at the mall is one of their favorites. (though not mine, much too crowded!)

As you can tell there's an ocean theme.


Russ didn't take as many pictures of Hyrum because shortly after we got there Hyrum took off at full speed in one direction just as a little girl came running in the opposite direction, and they collided head on, with enough force to knock both kids flat on their backs. His happiness was intermittent after that. Like I said, the place is always busy.

Our budding photographer

Brielle keeps sneaking away with our small camera to take pictures of things. Her favorite subject seems to be Hyrum but there ARE several pictures of my legs and rear end as well. Trust me, they're keepers!

Healing Nicely

Hyrum's poor little finger is healing. This is shortly after the stitches were removed, now it looks even better. Though whenever his sister shows me an "ow-ie", Hyrum immediately whips out his finger and starts announcing his own wound, until I kiss it better, then he saunters away grinning.

Fascinating Physiology

I firmly believe that the body KNOWS which nutrients or vitamins it is lacking and will consequently crave foods that can remedy the deficiency. For example if the body were in need of more iron, you would crave broccoli, or iron-fortified Lucky Charms.

I just wish I knew what nutrient was found in brownies, because for the last two days my body has been telling me quite adamantly that we have a significant shortage of it.

A Plague of Sharks

An imagination is a terrible thing, there's almost nothing worse in a child. I'm trying vigilantly to stamp out all signs of creativity in my kids, but it's hard going. I'm sure you other mothers will understand.

There is NOTHING more DESTRUCTIVE or more UNPREDICTABLE than a child with an imagination.

Just today I cleaned up two bowls worth of alfredo noodles off of the kitchen floor, where they had been thrown, so my daughter tells me, to stop the sharks from eating her feet.

Yesterday I had to retrieve all of Brielle's "weapons" (anything even remotely resembling a gun or knife is a weapon; a plastic eggplant is a weapon) from where they had been thrown off of the balcony. The reason? Pirates. Pirates weren't trying to get her, from what I understand she and Hyrum WERE the pirates.

This morning a package of napkins was opened and each one carefully ripped into approximately 37 pieces (500 napkins multiplied by 37 is overwhelming), because it was "food" and the carpet was covered in "hundweds of hungry teeny bugs."

Also this morning 3 feet by 5 feet of my wall was covered in pencil markings because Brielle was a Teacher, trying vainly to show Hyrum how to read. (you'd THINK pencil would be an easy one to clean, but it's not. WAAAAAY more difficult than crayon or markers. And my one year old still can't read.)

After my shower I confiscated two empty tubes of lipstick from Brielle. They did not START OUT empty. She had been getting ready to go "dancing with Daddy." When that line didn't work she told me that she needed "my lipstick back please, today is my wedding. I'm getting married. Like you Mom!!"

And I'm tired of cleaning my room after Kung-fu-Brielle battles her way out of there.

Time and again I will explain to Brielle that imaginary bad guys do not give her the right to make a mess in my real house. She nods sympathetically, as if to tell me she understands where I'm coming from. But in the end it doesn't matter what I say. Shark attacks will always take precedence over house rules.

"Hello, welcome to the malpractice clinic..."

"Uh-huh, good strong heart beat in this shoulder...."

"....well, I'm not going to lie to you, this doesn't look good."

Stay tuned to find out why Brielle emptied two bottles of conditioner, one bottle of hand soap, and a scoop of dishwasher detergent on the carpet in her bedroom....all while I wrote the above paragraph......as soon as I get an answer out of her I'll let you know. (I'm not accepting "it happened as an accident, Mom." for an answer)

Shantell Is Making Me Do This.....

Making handcrafted items is a dying art, but they are so fun to make & get! So, here's a little game to encourage the handcrafting to live & thrive!! The first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a super-duper handmade gift from me.

What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! (I don't even know!)

The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 5 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
3. I don't have to let you know what it is.


(hmmmm......anything homemade huh? I wonder if Brielle and Hyrum count, the first couple of commentators are getting them!)

The Little Chef Retires

We were making muffins yesterday, Brielle and Hyrum were sitting on the counter next to me, and since I was stirring the batter by hand (not with the kitchenaid) I wasn't as careful as I usually am. I knew the blender was on the other end of the counter but I had made sure it was NOT plugged in. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking that my 3 year old daughter could PLUG IT IN. Which she did. I turned my back to put the butter in the microwave and grab some vanilla and that's when I heard the blender. I dropped the vanilla, grabbed Hyrum off the counter and turned off the blender, only then did I realized he was bleeding. He must have been in the process of reaching in when he hit the "liquefy" button.

The cut on his knuckle was very ugly, the skin and fat layers gaped away from the bone and every time he moved his finger it looked like the bone would come out of the skin. I had it covered in a towel and was applying pressure in the first 8 seconds, had the pediatrician on the phone after 15 seconds and took him in to the Urgent Care 5 minutes after it happened. Hyrum was a real trooper throughout the whole ordeal. He cried for less than a minute when it happened, and then didn't cry again until the doctor was injecting anesthetic in four places, right before sewing him up. Three stitches.

I didn't get to see any of that, the nurse only let Russell and Hyrum back there. I think she thought I'd be one of those moms so overcome by emotion that I would have hindered more than helped with my presence. Shows how much SHE knows!! I wouldn't have hindered, I probably would have STOPPED any cruel doctor from pinning my baby down and sticking needles in his poor little skin. I cry when my kids get vaccines, often more than they do, so watching someone put stitches in my baby would have been near impossible.

Needless to say, we're not cooking any more.

The Diet Saboteur

Hyrum loves to watch me cook. No, that's not true. Hyrum loves to HELP me cook. And though he slows me down inordinately, and I sometimes find weird things in my baked goods, he's just so passionate about it that it's hard to say no. If I tell him we're making muffins he runs to the cupboard and pulls out muffin tins, if Russ talks about popcorn, Hyrum races to a different cupboard and roots around til he finds the popcorn maker. The kid knows what bowls, pans, pots, or measuring cups are needed for most of my main staples. And I swear, I just have to THINK about brownies and he's off to the pantry to pull out a mix, which he places next to the KitchenAid, with a clean measuring cup, and a chair for him.

Honestly, most days I don't even want to bake something chocolatey and gooey. But Hyrum will come up to me, and dish out the full arsenal of his limited vocabulary. "Mom. Up. Get up. " So I do. "Come, Mom. Come kitchen" So I will. He'll pull out what he wants to make, (sometimes as rudimentary as a bowl, and a bag of sugar) put it on the counter, and say "there ya go." Then he'll point at the spot next to the mixer and say "Me." It doesn't get any clearer than that! Our neighbors/friends borrowed the kitchenaid once and as Russ took it over Hyrum ran after him sobbing and shouting "Mine, mine, MINE!!!!"

I think it's cute.

Sugar and Spice

...and the dressing-up begins.

...what we like to call the RIGHT way!

In college I crocheted a hat and a couple of ties. Years later, when attempting to teach the Young Women how to crochet, I learned that I had been doing it the WRONG way. (Thanks Joy!) So now, with my new found skill I've crocheted my first two things, using what we like to call the RIGHT way. Two bunnies, because what ELSE would a person crochet.


See the little tail? How crafty am I!!

I just like that you can see my pictures of the kids in the background.

Anyway, don't go putting in any requests, since it takes me about a month to complete one of these guys. Basically they're priceless, and extremely rare, so if you ever get your hands on a Heidi Original, then treasure it. Seriously.

C.S. Lewis

An agnostic in his younger years, Lewis understands the objections of non-believers and deals with their arguments head on. In one of his most well-known observations in Mere Christianity, Lewis dismisses the most "foolish" idea people have regarding Christ: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." Lewis magnificently disposes with such fallacious thinking in one paragraph:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis

I've only read 4 books by Mr. Lewis, but I always like what he says. Only problem is it's hard to read Lewis (or any thought-provoking book) with background screaming. Odd, I know.