My Favorite Thing to Make for Dinner is Reservations

We escaped for a little bit tonight to enjoy a long overdue birthday dinner for Todd. We had a gift card for a great steak joint in town, and the food was great, but the shear beauty of it all was the uninteruppted coversation. Ahh, the simple pleasures of life. I'm embarassed to say that Shane's birthday dinner in March was the last time we went out as a couple. We are constantly saying we need to make that a priority, but working out the logistics always seems to get in the way. Thanks Stephy, Adam, Rach and Beth for holding down the fort. If only Ninny and Papa lived closer. . . Now that I think about it, maybe that's why they don't live closer.

Peanut Butter Panic

I know it sounds silly, but even though this incident happened a couple of weeks ago I'm just now ready to "talk" about it. It was an emotional day and I haven't been in the mood to blog about it because it really was one of the scariest things I've been through.

Dawson got the okay from his pediatrician to introduce peanut butter, I wasn't so sure, so I wasn't about to serve him a big ole sticky sandwich of the stuff. But about 2 weeks after the go ahead from Doc, we were in the car driving to meet up with Suzanne, Gabe and Torre and Dawson saw me eating a PB & J and started crying. I had packed the kids some snacks for our little play date, but I always feel guilty eating in front of the kids (did you hear that Mom, I actually feel guilty, unlike someone I know) so knowing we had "permission" to try, I thought now would be a good time. So I gave him a bit of crust off the bottom because I still wasn't feeling comfortable with the whole idea, and figured what little bit made it to the crust would certainly be fine. Well it wasn't. My poor little guy reacted within minutes. His eyes were bloodshot, his face was puffy, he had white hives all over his cheeks and his eyes were quickly closing into little almonds. I was in a panic. I am so grateful I was already in town because if we'd been at home help would have been a lot farther away. Benadryl worked it's magic and I felt so relieved that he was going to be okay. So many little things could have happened that would've changed the outcome of that day, I just look at my buddy and thank God for His protection. So those of you who see us regularly now have a heads-up that you will see me neurotically checking labels and packing stuff from home to parties and play dates. Poor Dawson is going to be one of the kids at the peanut butter-free table at school. He will never know the joy of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, or have a bite of my favorite peanut butter chocolate ice cream. But in case he does, we have 2 preloaded Epi-Pens and a vat of Benadryl raring to go.

Houston, We Have a Problem

Have you ever seen the movie Mars Attacks? You know the part where the machine gun-wielding aliens chase after people saying "don't run, we're your friends." Well lately I feel like Space Station Ruff has been invaded by something similar. My once darling children have taken on the form of little mutants, ready to attack and overthrow at any moment. It's like I'm orbiting planet Sanity but I just can't make re-entry into the atmosphere, so I'm left swirling and twirling in outer space, with impending doom just around the corner. And I can attribute 99% of my frustration to 3 interchangeable words: whining, arguing and complaining. Dawson whines, Ella complains, Dawson whines, Ella argues when I tell her not to whine, Dawson then whines at Ella which she turns into a complaint to me. You get the drift. Thank the Lord above Dawson doesn't have a big enough vocabulary to argue yet, or let me tell you. Now I know this is my fault and I blame myself, okay, I blame Todd too. Let's be real, he helped create these little monsters. But I'm home with them all day and their behavior, good or bad, is really just a reflection of my parenting. So, with some inspiration courtesy of my cousin Dawn, who's light years ahead of me in the parenting department (hey, I'm kinda having fun with the whole space theme, can ya tell?), I set out to implement some great suggestions. The premise is based on a bible verse in Philippians which says, "do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God. . . in which you shine like the stars in the universe." So we made a sparkly, bedazzled and bejeweled star poster, and every time Ella does what I ask without whining, complaining or arguing, she gets to put a star sticker on the poster. I only got a pack of 24 stickers, and at the rate we're going, it could take all year to use them. But we are making progress. And the truth is, our ultimate goal always has been and will be our children's hearts. Right behavior means nothing if their hearts are unchanged. And a changed heart will naturally produce good behavior. So in small ways that make sense to them at their age, we will always try to get to the heart of the matter. And no matter how inhuman they seem at times, to me they are already shining little stars. It's just that at this point, you have to look past some really annoying habits to notice. So wish me luck, Rocketship Ruff is hoping for a smooth and successful mission.

The Cutest Little Soccer Tot

Ella has been having a blast at Soccer Tots. I've enjoyed watching her play and seeing how she interacts in this kind of situation. Mom is there, but not in charge, so it's interesting to she how she responds to instruction, and to get a glimpse into what she may be like in the sports department. Ella has always picked up sports pretty easily and is not timid at all, so I've been surprised to see that she is a little passive when she meets someone who's interested in taking the ball from her. I thought she'd just attack, kinda like I did as a child. Apparently when I played soccer I frequently got in trouble for purposely kicking people in the shins. I swear I was just trying to get the ball . . . Since my girl is so out-going, I didn't expect the trepidation. Actually, I would describe it more as being polite than afraid. When someone closes in on her when she has the ball, she sort of backs off with a smile on her face as if to say "go ahead, you can have it!" We'll have to work on that. I've also noticed that I'm the only Mom that is shouting on the sidelines. Apparently that is not considered normal. Hey, my Mom ran up and down the field with me, she brought the oranges and juice, she made sure our hair was pulled back in the tightest pony tail known to man so our wispy hairs wouldn't distract us from our goal. I have a long line of Soccer Momhood to protect. As long as I keep shouting "get that ball!" "good job!" and "you're running the wrong way!" I think I'm good. Besides, what do I have to lose? After screaming (the good kind) at Aaron during the years and years of sporting events we attended, I think I can officially say I have no shame.

BTW Ella is in the light pink baseball hat and turquoise tee.

Life is Good

The summer is blowing by in a frenzy of birthday parties, vacations, showers and some very unexpected detours as well. I spent the l o n g winter day dreaming about all of the play dates, barbecues with friends, and blissful sunny outings we'd have this summer. What happened?! We have made some wonderful memories so far, but I always feel like we didn't do (or not do) what I hoped we would. Life is busy, sometimes too busy. But that means we are blessed with a good life and surrounded by a lot of people to love. Here are a couple pictures of some lazy summer days with friends and family. I keep reminding myself that summer is only half way over, so I have plenty of time to get peaches at the Bluff, walk the kids to the Farmer's Market, and have friends and family over to dine on the patio. That's my new mantra, "there's plenty of time for that tomorrow, there's plenty of time for that tomorrow. . . "

Play Date with Aunt Stadoo

My sister (Ella referred to her as Stadoo as a baby) had Ella over for a little date so they could spend some time together. My sister is the craft guru, so they of course had a theme for the day, which was sunflowers. They planted sunflowers in a pot for Ella to bring home (which by the way isn't far since she lives right behind me!) and care for. The pot was adorned with a picture of sunflowers, laminated of course, and stuck into the pot. Ella also made a paper chain so she could count down the days until her sunflowers were expected to germinate. To top it off, they made muffins and decorated them like sunflowers. Wow, no wonder this woman home schools! I'm happy to announce that she has tenderly cared for her little seedlings and they sprouted within a week, well ahead of schedule! Thanks Stephy, Ella had a blast with you and the kids, and it is a memory that she will cherish.

A Day at the Beach is Worth a Month in Town

We just got back from our 3rd annual trip to the Oregon coast with the kids. We went with our besties again, but this time we rented a condo and it was a blast! The kids were so good on the long drive there, and all 6 of them were awesome during our little vacation. The weather was gorgeous the entire time, and if you know anything about the Oregon/Washington coast, you know that's a miracle in and of itself. The first year we went we had Ella and I was prego with Dawson. Last year he was only 6 months old, so I was really excited for this trip so I could see him walking on the beach. It took him a day to feel comfortable with the new surroundings, my sensitive boy needs time to adjust. Sand, loud waves, cold water, wind, sleeping in the same room with the whole fam . . . Dawson had issues with all of these at first, but he was a trooper and was digging in the sand, running around and sleeping great in no time. Last year Diane had kidney stones, it rained NON-STOP and Ella got the stomach flu which required an early trip home, so it wouldn't have taken much to make this year better. But it was PERFECT! As always, I shed some tears leaving. I absolutely love the ocean but more importantly, it's just so nice to get away, especially with our favorite people. All of us went through withdrawals the first couple of days home. We got used to waking up to a house full of babies and friends. Vacation with kids certainly isn't relaxing but it is so worth it. While the chaos is fresh in our mind I think I can easily convince Todd to go away with just me next. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can still hear the screams Dawson emitted on the 9 hour drive home . . .

Highlights:

The weather!

Dawson chasing after Todd at the beach
Ella flying her new kite (and every other stranger's) at the beach

Girl Time with Kel and D at Cannon Beach

Watching Shane play Guitar Hero on the Wii

Late night heart-to-hearts

Apples to Apples

Nolan smiling at me with his flirty grin

Diane's re-enactment of R.C.'s tubby time conversation

Richie singing the Ricky Ticky Taco song

Rocky waving his hands to the song mentioned above

Waves of Grain bakery

Livi and Ella coordinating their outfits for the day

All Rights Reserved

Ella has been dying to get her hands on my camera since seeing her cousin Gabe's kiddy-safe digital. So yesterday ("yesterday" was actually 2 weeks ago, I saved this post as a draft and forgot to publish it) while we were playing on the floor I got up to grab the camera and snap some shots of the kids, and decided to let her have a go at it. So after some simple instructions:

1) make sure you see people in the view finder, and 2) push the button until it clicks, she banged out these photos. Not bad for an amateur. Perhaps we have another photography lover in the family, maybe Todd and I can actually be in the same picture once in a while now.

Please don't download or reproduce these photos without the express, written consent of Ella's Photography Studio. Violators will be fined 4 years college tuition.

Happy Birthday Baby!

It's Todd's special day today! I've been with Todd since I was 17, almost half my life, and I can't imagine being without him. I love so many things about him. He is gentle, tender, hard-working, loving, and he always thinks the best of people. I've learned a lot from him as we've grown together through the years, he balances me out and I need that. And even though he comes across as quiet and reserved, he makes me laugh like no one else can. He is part of me and to be honest, I'm not sure where he begins and I end. As corny as it sounds, he's my soulmate, my one and only. And lucky for me he only gets better with age. Happy birthday Honey, I love you.

PS, he's going to kill me for posting this picture, but who's blog it this anyway?

Girl's Day

So I was 29 when I had my first pedicure, thanks to my sweet husband in honor of Mommy's Day, and I've had 2 since. But here is Ella enjoying one at 4 years old, something's wrong with this picture. I chased after Dawson trying to manage the Ritz cracker trail he produced and returning the handfuls of nail polish he was retrieving from the racks while Ella enjoyed a relaxing pedicure. Seriously, who is more in need of putting their feet up? Times have changed, kids get cell phones, highlights, laptops, ipods and mani/pedis. But Todd and I are determined to keep our kids as grounded as possible. We didn't grow up with much and so we appreciated every little thing we got. But the truth is I really love doing special things with and for my kids, it's just going to be a challenge to make sure they have the right perspective. Besides, she got to enjoy this little girly day with Malia and it was worth every penny. By the way, Ella picked metallic gold nail polish - uber trendy I must say. She must have picked up some fashion sense from her Auntie Kel and Aunt D.

Independence Day

Our 4th of July plans were to have a big reunion with Todd's side of the family. The whole gang met up at his Aunt Suzanne's, which is literally just across the lake from us. We had a wonderful time catching up and seeing the newest additions to everyone's family. I must say there were some really cute kids running around - besides ours of course. We ate lots of delicious food, chatted away happily with family, and stayed late to enjoy the fireworks. Dawson really loved them this year and at every break between explosions, he signed "more, more." Ella was in her element socializing with her new-found playmates and eating refined sugar to her heart's content. The day also brought some really difficult news, our sweet friend Jeannie passed away unexpectedly. I don't even know how to describe her in words, those of you that know her can understand why. I will miss everything about her, her encouragement, her laugh, which is famous among family and friends. I will miss her hugs, she gave the best ones. So many people pull away before you can even get your arms around them, not Jeannie, she embraced you. It feels so surreal to know that I will never get to talk with her again or hear her contagious laughter, not in this life anyway. I don't know how people deal with this kind of heart ache without the Lord, He is definitely our comfort and hope in all of this. Jeannie made an impact on me that has changed who I am. I can only hope to be for someone else half of what she was for me. She challenged me when I failed, she lifted me up, and she was always a listening ear. She left a void as enormous as her heart and spirit. My heart has never hurt like this before. She was born on Christmas Day, and met the God she loved on 4th of July. My 2 favorite holidays celebrating the life of one of my favorite people. What a day to go to heaven, now that is true freedom - freedom from pain, from mistakes, from heart ache and disappointment. All she knows now is pure joy. She left behind the sweetest man, her husband Scott, and their equally sweet 11 year old daughter Malia. It's going to be a long, hard road.

I miss you so much already Jeannie, I'll see when I get home . . .

America, Bless God

I can't think of a better picture to sum up what 4th of July is all about than this one. This is my friend Sara welcoming her fiance' Hunter home after 7 months apart. She was in our wedding 12 and a half years ago, and I can't wait until August 30th to be there as she marries Hunter. What an incredible sacrifice, for both of them. I'm also proud to say that several people in our family have chosen to serve our country and fight for the freedom we so easily take for granted. Next to Christmas, 4th of July has always been my favorite holiday. We usually wind up in the woods camping some where or relaxing at the lake. I LOVE the fireworks, the picnic dinner, the chemical-laden cherry chip cupcakes I crave this time of year. But I really want to be mindful of why we celebrate this day. It's a day to give thanks for our independence, and to remember the incredible cost that comes with it.

Happy Independence Day!