Friday, September 11, 2009

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Fair

Doug and I finally entered some stuff in the fair this year. I keep thinking I'd like to enter a drawing or a painting, but I just never have anything at the right time. But I do have other things! I entered my red sweater and Kate's green sweater, and Doug entered a leather pouch that he made.

When we took our little outing to Ikea at the end of July, we had a radiator hose split on the way back (just as we were coming up that long hill on Hwy 18), and limped home in several legs, stopping in between to let the engine cool down. When Doug was replacing the hose, he mentioned that he should probably replace all the other hoses too. Apparently the hoses in the engine are all the same age, and they all seem to have the same life span, so when one goes, they all go.

Sure enough, a water hose sprung a leak on the day that we took our pieces out to the fairgrounds to drop them off. This was followed by a trip to the nearby Walmart to get some duct tape for a quick patch job, hanging out in Walmart while Doug waited for the engine to cool down enough to touch it, dragging Kate kicking and screaming out of Walmart when she had a major meltdown, calling Cousin Lonnie (who lives in Puyallup), and then crashing Lonnie's ward picnic where Kate got stung on the hand by a yellow jacket. What a day. (We were supposed to go over to Rebecca's house for a game of Settlers in the evening--that didn't happen.)

The fair starts today! We'll be on our way as soon as we can get ourselves together. Hopefully this day will be less eventful!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Snuggle Daddy



A couple of weeks ago Doug and Aaron Gary took the Young Men (all two of them) camping out at Dash Point. When he got home he just conked out. Later Kate said she wanted somebody to snuggle with, so I suggested she go lie down with Daddy. I peeked in and found them like this. Awww.

Doug's been serving as Scoutmaster. He just got called as the ward membership clerk, but they haven't found a new Scoutmaster yet, so he's doing double-duty for a while. (This is in addition to the Stake Emergency Management Team stuff with Scott, so I guess it's triple duty.)

As of now Doug has four classes lined up for Fall quarter. (Yay!) He's been doing some work for Scott this summer. Scott manages two buildings downtown, one of which is about a hundred years old and needs a lot of work done. Doug comes home and tells me tales of the disgusting things that he and Tom cleaned out of the basement. The hours are flexible and it's been enough to keep us going over the summer while waiting for classes to start back up. I asked Doug if he was glad to not be working at the fair this year, and he agreed emphatically.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Andy at 28 weeks

Taken July 11.




I got some great expressions! This kid cracks me up.





Getting better at tummy time!




I think this one is so cute. I just want to squish him all over. Squish!

Sunday, September 06, 2009

13 years

It's our anniversary! Yay!



It was raining and too dark to get a good picture, but we tried!

My family called and sang "Happy Anniversary to you!" (badly). Barb and Kyle came up with a really cute version. We love you guys!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Do the Zoo



Andy's first trip to the zoo!

We hadn't been to the zoo for quite a while. We had a membership but haven't renewed it this year. Since Kate's over three now we'd need the Household option which is more expensive. We'll probably do it again later.




The meerkat exhibit. This guy was taking a turn as lookout, keeping an eye on suspicious hawks and airplanes overhead.



Oooh! Shark!



Clown fish!



Watching the animal show.



The aardvark has a loooong tongue.



Going down the slide. (When Kate saw this picture, she said, "I'm pushing through the grass like a tapir!")



Andy gets a turn on the slide too.



That's a hippo. (Plastic.)



Ice cream!



Andy gets a taste.



What a cute boy I have!

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Andy at 27 weeks

Taken July 4. (I'm so far behind it's not even funny.)




The baby acne came back for a bit, after our trip to Ohio. Maybe something to do with the humidity.




Kate had to get in on this one.




Awwww!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Kate 4.5



(I'm a bit late with this, but the picture was taken on June 27th.)

Kate at four-and-a-half:

Likes her hot dog with ketchup, mustard, and sauerkraut. And then extra ketchup and more extra ketchup.

Can be persuaded to eat green beans or peas with a little bribery, but will eat broccoli with no urging at all.

Likes to pretend to be a dog (usually Clifford) and do tricks and beg for a cookie.

She's strong-willed and opinionated, as usual, though her arguing technique mostly consists of insisting loudly and repeatedly that things are other than they are. ("I don't know how to do that, dear." "Nooo! You do! You DO!")

Lately we've been playing some two-player games like Square Meal on nitrome.com. She likes being able to play with someone. Square Meal is right about her speed.

She's finding that playing with other kids is different from playing with Mom and Dad, where she pretty much gets to tell us what to do ("Let's play shark and octopus. Okay, you be the shark.") There's a bit more give-and-take required with people closer to her own age.

We've introduced her to some fun songs lately, like "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly," and "On top of spaghetti," and "It's been a looooooong winter." Sometimes she asks for one or two of these along with her bedtime books and stories. She also likes me to sing "Stay Awake" once she's all tucked in and ready to go to sleep.

She still has trouble with "sh" and "ch" sounds--they both come out as hard S's.

She's discovered the hilarity of playing with words--like reading Danny and the Dinosaur and changing it to "Banny and the Binosaur". (This is, apparently, a real crack-up when you're four.)

She's reading quite a bit. My mom got her a subscription to Highlights High Five magazine, which she loves. It's so exciting when a new one comes. She'll sit down and look through it and sound things out all by herself.

Kate is an enthusiastic and expressive artist!



Here's a shark that she drew a few weeks ago. I love it. (I'm thinking I should have her draw a bunch of sea creatures for me and then I can get them made into vinyl wall decals for the bathroom.)

She's also getting a little more critical of her own drawing. One day when she was having trouble getting something just the way she wanted it, she called, "Mom! I need help! I can't draw a triceratops!"

So I looked at what she had and said, "Oh! That's a great triceratops!"

"Nooooo!" She wailed, "It looks like a BUG!"

Kate is learning to be a good big sister. I hope she and Andy will enjoy playing together as they grow up.

We love you sweetie!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Eight Things (tag)

I have added Mary to the list of blogs that I stalk, for her gorgeous photography, beautiful children, and her stunning wit. (And for some reason her updates don't show up on my Bloglines, so I have to actually check her blog regularly to see if there's anything new.) I checked the other day and was aghast to see that she had tagged me.

Eight things I did yesterday:

1. Played two games of Go Fish with Kate, while keeping one leg in barrier position to keep Andy from eating the cards.

2. Edited a couple of photos for Scott, of the mural on one of the buildings downtown that he manages (which I am not helping to restore--the mural, that is).

3. Dropped off a small box of clothes at the consignment store and then ran down to Trader Joe's for a few things.

4. Crocheted a bit (I think that was yesterday?)

5. Fielded questions from the neighbor kids, like, "Can Kate come outside?" ("If she wants to.") "Can Andy come outside?" ("Ummmmm.....")

6. Tried on three shirts that arrived from Kohls and decided they were all keepers.

7. Warmed up bacon lentil soup for dinner. I love having leftovers. I make leftovers on purpose.

8. I was going to give Kate a bath, but she was feeling a bit peaky. We'll have to do that tonight.

Eight favorite shows:

(Of the shows that I actually watch...)

1. Chuck

2. Monk

3. Psych

(and for the rest I guess I'll have to go to shows that aren't actually on anymore)

4. Firefly, of course.

5. Stargate SG-1 (though I'd have to say I didn't enjoy the later seasons quite as much).

6. Highlander

7. Farscape (we came to it late and missed out on large chunks).

8. I have a big soft spot for The Greatest American Hero, though I fear it may not have aged too well.

Eight favorite restaurants:

I don't know if I've even been to eight different restaurants here. Let me think....

1. My very favorite restaurant will always be Bruno's in St. John's, Newfoundland, where I painted my first mural. It was such a great experience, and the food and hospitality were fabulous. Bruno died suddenly right after we left. I hear the restaurant is still there, but it's called Cioppino's now.

2. I Love Bento

3. I'm still mourning the loss of Federico's, which was a great little Mexican place that had the best carne asada and carnitas. So good. We used to go there about once a week.

4. Vien Dong (which we first heard about from one of Doug's students)

5. Chevy's, just because we end up going there every couple of months. Kate likes to play with their dough balls.

6. Bombay Bistro (a bit more expensive than the typical Indian lunch buffet, but really yummy).

7. Cerello's pizza (local, run by Koreans, and they're closed on Sunday! And the pizza is quite tasty).

8. O Bok Jip or Chung Ki Wa, down in Lakewood (they're right across the street from each other and we pretty much just alternate. Today we went to O Bok Jip).

Eight things I look forward to:

1. Fall, because I love fall!

2. A new Miles Vorkosigan book (Yay!)

3. Having a house of our own. Some day.

4. Painting more murals.

5. Going back to Korea some day.

6. I've been doing some de-junking and rearranging, and I'm looking forward to making my space a space that I'm pleased with and happy to be in. I'm even planning some decorating.

7. I have some more crocheting ideas that I'm eager to try out.

8. When Kate turns five, I'm going to read her No Flying in the House. That was the first book I read to my brother, when he was five.

Eight people I tag:

1. Heather T.

2. Ida

3. Laura Call

4. Amy B.

5. Bronwyn

6. You!

7. Jeanette

8. Jessica (You can do this on Facebook. You know, if you want.)

Crochet sweater, red

Finished another sweater!

crochet sweater

I took this along to the hospital when Andy was born and worked on it there, and then got busy doing those myriad other things and left it unfinished for a while. The yarn I got was supposed to be burgundy. It's quite a bit redder than I expected. But I suppose this is okay. I like the way it turned out!

I got this one from one of the Japanese books that I ordered.  Somebody has posted the pattern here.  (The pictures should get big enough if you enlarge them all the way.)  I used Sinfonia yarn.  It's different but it hangs nicely.  Can't remember what hook size now... maybe F?  I usually wear a size 12, and this turned out to be a good fit for me. 



(Though I must say I prefer the photo from the back.)



Here's what it looked like blocking on a towel. The pineapple motif is pretty common in these Japanese patterns.

I have another sweater that's about 80% finished, too. Maybe when the weather cools down I can actually wear them!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Six Months Photo Shoot(s)

The day Andy was 26 weeks old coincided with his six-month birthday. I remember the same thing happened with Kate--seems there are just the right number of days in the months between December and June for them to fall on the same day of the week.

When Kate was six months old, Rebecca came over after work and took some pictures for us outside our apartment. (This was the old old apartment.)





I wanted to do the same thing for Andy. I asked Larry Golden from church if he could come over and take some pictures with my camera. I thought the evening light would be best, so around 7:00 we went over to a little strip of trees on the other side of the Seventh-day Adventist church behind our complex.

We had some technical difficulties, in the form of too-low shutter speeds. The pictures were mostly pretty sharp, in spite of this--Larry must have amazingly steady hands--but I, unfortunately, do not have amazingly steady kids.



Andy's got a case of Blurry-Eye. (It's a new thing. Not usually contagious.)



Yikes!



This one would almost be okay--if Andy had his eyes open, and if Kate weren't sucking on her bottom lip (and if Andy's fingers weren't blurry).



My mom wants a vertical photo for her wall. We haven't had much luck with this.



No dear, that's not attractive.

After surveying the damage, we rescheduled. We got together again a few days later on July 1. The shutter speed problem was solved, but the kids were less than thrilled. Andy was getting tired and hungry, and Kate was just thoroughly camera-ed out.



Another attempt at the vertical photo. (Did I mention it was windy?)



Kate is supremely bored.



"Oh--Andy! Let me wipe that up for you."



"Will this madness never end?"



"Ahh! Feel the wind!"



These two I like!



I wanted to try a standing pose and asked Doug to pick Kate up. This was not what I had in mind.




I think this one needs to go on a Christmas card. With a caption like, "Wishing your family much joy and happiness."

So I didn't get that one perfect photo. But the collection is priceless. Thanks Larry!