The Murder and Resurrection 12/13/2009

I come home to find the fish food strangly in the middle of the floor...


Our cat Meeks just figured out that we have a fish. The day before he started pawiung at the tank I keep on the kitchen windowsill. My mind starts reeling as I run to the sink....

And I take in the carnage left behind..... An empty tank scattered among my dirty dishes...



He keeps returrning to the scene of the crime like a guilty arsonist...


Me fingering the accused. The evidence speeks for itelf.
I cant keep him off the counter though...Then I get to thinking...'It's like he is looking for the fish...."
What if he's not dead!




Lo and behold! He is in a dirty pot in the sink! I couldn't believe it...

Back home!

The Tree 12/5/2009

So here is the decorated tree. We chopped it down ourselves! A first for me. Trav got the permit from the Forrest Service and off we went one fine Saturday morning with five kids. Well, The Forest Service gave us the wrong map. They gave us the map for chopping down dead, burnt trees - not the Christmas Tree map. All they had to do was take our $6 and hand over a piece of photocopied paper. ANYWAY.......
First, the batteries ran out on the camera...so we only have one picture of Trav driving with Peaches. And we're driving along, driving along.... FOREVER. In the middle of no where. I'm not sure I can explain my increasing frustration as the hours rolled by, seeing NO TREES AT ALL.
So Trav thought trees would be up at the pass (over the mountains to Eureka?...I don't remember...) No pass. Couldn't find it. Even Travis had never been that far THAT way. Warm Springs, Nevada?
So we turn around, cross the valley and go back. The kids are vowing to never go Christmas tree chopping again.
Tears.
Running out of ammo (snacks).
We headed out at 9ish in the morning and it is like 2pm now.
We spot some broken Christmas tree branches on the road, when we stop to pee on the side of the road in the freezing blustery wind. So we follow them. We try to flag down fellow choppers toting trees in their truck beds to ask where they went to chop - but they don't stop.
So we go back to the other pass where Trav said he knew all along Christmas Trees were (then why try someplace else so very far??)
All the while trying not to complain or fight with Travis. ("I should be enjoying the drive...") I did a good job of not being a complaining, upset woman. Which I truly was.
So were looking for Pinion Pine trees. At this point I don't even believe these trees even grow in Nevada. I spot some right away soon enough and Trav gets out without us to go chop one. Well, I hate waiting in the car.
My mother ruined any patience I was born with for waiting in cars.
"Go wait in the car...I'll be right there...." No you wont. I do not wait in cars anymore.
Plus...I just tortured myself with the worst and longest Christmas tree hunt ever. I want to finish this out - by at least seeing the tree get chopped! Geez! Not waiting in the darn truck, while Trav gets all the victory after the war...I didn't care how cold it was. So we all got out and trudged up the hill shouting for "Daddy!".
I scouted the perfect and only Christmas tree like tree.
It got chopped.
We went home.
The Forrest Service owes me seven hours of my life back.
The end.

12/4/2009

This is how Leia holds her bottle - from the bottom. When it is full she likes to finger the milk bag a bit - its squishy and fun. I think its kinda funny she holds it like this...



These are the best kind of pictures. I don't believe in getting rid of every picture that isn't perfect. I like the photos to show real life. And in real life we are sure not perfect!

Plus, Gina just looks so crazy in this picture.

12/2/2009 I leave you alone for ONE minute.....

Leia had a messy dinner and needed a bath. So I laid her on the bathroom rug right there, walked out for two seconds, come back and Shes standing up! Never stood up before. Just boom - like that. I couldn't believe it.

Leia's personality is - "I'm alive, and I'm gonna do what I want - you cant stop me!"

Maybe I will get an early walker yet.

What a Scooter for sure!

11/28/2009 Saturday pics

Trav is making a new dresser for the girls. Mary was very excited to go out and spend some time with Daddy while he made it. Here is her architectural drawing of what it should look like.



This is Meeks our curious cat. He is the best cat ever. I found him as a kitten - He followed me home one day when I was walking around the marina with my friend Diana. I did not steal any ones cat. He followed me home willingly. And knowing Meeks, how friendly and loving he is...he would have never left his family if they were feeding and loving him. We love him. He is my favorite pet - sorry Peaches. If only you could clean yourself it would help... : (




The only name for this game would be "Pretending To Be Fat." This is not what they called it. They didn't call it anything. They just had fun stuffing extra pajamas inside their pajamas. The kids thought it was the best.







I could not resist snapping this pic when I saw this beauty sleeping.... Perfect baby



Another variation of my huge salad for lunch. This time with sauteed portabello mushrooms on top : )

11/23/2009

OK...I absolutely hate this picture. No makeup and it's just not a good pic hands down. But I am proud of myself for getting to 122 pounds. I haven't been this thin since I got married so...here it is.

11/13/2009

Mary is my feeding and baby diaper changing helper. Here we have Leia getting a good dose of spinach smoothie.

I think I can see what my beauty Mary will look like when she is older in this picture...

11/11/2009 Mini Sweaters

I made 16 mini-sweaters for my Christmas Ornament exchange party I go to every year. I even made the hangers. It doesn't get much more awesomer than this. Well for me at least!

11/4/2009 a,d,c,d ....... what?

Take a close look at our new Phonics Firefly game.... A, D, C, D.... What? Some Chinese guy who put this together dipped his hand into the wrong bin on letter 'b'. Funny thing is - I bought this to especially help Mary with her b and d reversals!
My friends at Love to Learn.com have sent me another Phonics Firefly to replace it. They told me to just keep the defective one. So I taped a little b over the d to correct it. So we now have two!
Jane and Mary doing their journal.


Beans doing some 'reading'.

11/3/2009 The Final Suprise Harvest

So our square-foot-gardens completely failed this year. We had our measly 3 pea pods and the first harvest of similar carrots. So we abandoned the dirt-pots. But something was still green out there - lo and behold - a second surprise mini carrot harvest!

We have been blessed.

11/3/2009 Can't Hold Me Down

So we need to say goodgye to the buzzy seat...Leia just does not want to be a baby anymore...
She says,"I want to sit up! Not lay down like a baby!" and so you will...








Too coot to boot