Partying

There are some nights when a certain little boy has decided that he should stay up late (9 pm!) and, as he calls it, "Party". These nights do not happen very often- usually about once a month he gets to cuddle on the couch with us and enjoy some uninterrupted Mom and Dad time. These nights usually occur on a Friday or Saturday, but tonight Brady deemed it a night that Teigue got to party.

You see, a certain little lady was a teeny weeny bit overtired and was a tad bit, um, coo coo this evening. One should always listen to their Mommy Inner Voice and force gently suggest to little ones that some quiet and sleep would be wonderful, no matter how much fun one is having playing kitty, doggy, or aliens with their brother. Teigue was momentarily ignored while Brady and I attempted to coax our little lady down from the crazy no sleep induced screaming for her lollipop 20 minute tantrum that she could not come out of. Thankfully Sandra Boynton and her silly dog drawings once again saved the day and our little princess fell into a deep, and hopefully long, slumber...at 6pm. 

That gave Teigue over 2 hours of party time. Two hours of cookie and ice cream, watching a movie and snuggling with Mom and Dad time. 

Brady and I both cherish these nights and wish that we could do them more often (and I'm sure that Teigue does too). We both know that little boy snuggle time will not be around forever and we relish the evenings that Teigue deems Party Nights. We know soon enough (but not that soon), he will know what Party Nights really are, and they won't involve Mom and Dad.

The Fruit Snuggler

If he could have had all the mangoes that I bought today in his bed he would have, but he settled for two. His main love? A coconut. I think it's going to be the Summer of Fresh Fruit.

Flower Crafts

What to do with an empty egg carton? Make a spring flower bouquet of course!

Isn't it the most beautiful bouquet you've ever seen?

IrisH

After everyone left from dinner Stella asked, "Where my cousin Irish go?". We love our Irish.

Curls

For some reason that I can not now remember, back in December we I decided that it would be a good idea for Teigue to get a hair cut. That it would be a good idea to get his beautiful curly in just the right places people pay loads of money to have their hair look like hair cut. As soon as the stylist started cutting I wanted to yell, "Stop! I have made a huge mistake!" and then pull him from the chair and run to the safety of the Subaru. But I didn't. I let her cut his beautiful hair. Such a mistake. He actually looked so different with short hair that all his buddies at school thought that he was new until he started talking. 

Now, if you know me, you know that hair is not something that I care deeply about (unless it gets dyed from my natural light brownish to a horrible platinum blond- then I freak out and want to wear only hats...) but Teigue's hair was so pretty. So perfect. So Teiguee. As soon as it was cut we decided that we would grow it out again. It was also never again be cut as short. Then as it was growing out, it was growing out...straight. Where were the curls that we loved? The perfect wave? If you look at the previous post you will see a little boy with poker straight hair, not a single crimp anywhere to be found. Well, I am glad to tell you that today, the curl has begun its return. You can all relax now.

Sunday, March 13, 2010

I am a bad blogger. Sometimes we do fun things during a day, but for one reason or another, I don't post the activity. I always mean to do it the next day, or the next. Then it's a week and a half later and I am finally posting. At least I'm posting, right?

A couple weekends ago, our friend Brennan was in town from Portland. To enjoy some time with him and our friends we decided to have a BBQ at our house. Unfortunately a hive of bees also got wind of the party and decided to attend as well. Thankfully we have Max and Jill and they graciously...and a bit unwillingly although Jill will never admit because I forced her in to it and she's too nice to say no...had everyone over at their house. 

We love going to Max and Jill's. LOVE going there. Their house is one of those houses that you just feel at home at and everyone wants to have fun at. Especially the kids. They love it even more when Jill busts out the hose, buckets, shovels and lets the kids go wild in the mud. 

I love this picture. I love how Iris and Jayno are just giggling and smiling at each other- I can see the future in this picture. Hopefully that future is in Oregon...

What are kids to do when it's too chilly to play in the mud and it's time to chill? Introduce Iris to the fun that is an iPhone and do some Smack Talk!. At one point Iris was yelling, "I want a phone!". Sorry M&J...

Oh, and those bees? They decided that our house wasn't suitable and moved on. 

Treasures

Who knew bike helmets were so useful?

March Madness

LeBron Teigue shot 66% from the field today. 20 points 5 rebounds. 

Steps

Part II of finally working on the outside: Making steps on the slope.

Last year  I was reading something that I check out from time to time: Martha Stewart Living. There was a garden in it from California that had the most wonderful beautiful perfect landscape. Agave, lavender, prairie grasses...I was in love as soon as I turned the page. I fell most in love with the wonderful steps that the homeowner had installed herself with no proper training or knowledge of how they should be placed. It was a yard that looked structurally very much like ours- super steep slope, bright sun, a need for low water plants. I figured that I too could make these pea gravel and wood steps. So today, the kids and I got to work.

With Teigue as my foreman I had no problem digging out where the steps should go. In fact, if I happened to stop digging for a moment (to get some water, sun screen the kids, get some water) I was told by the foreman to "Keep on digging." So I did.

Teigue decided that the steps were a success and would work. The kids enjoyed the steps so much that they each had a section that was their house. Stella had little dogs that would get hurt so Teigue the ambulance had to keep on coming over to bring them to the hospital. They even laid down in the freshly dug earth and pretended to nap. Did they get dirty? My kids?

After looking at the outline that I created and thinking about the pea gravel, I decided to change the original plan and use the piles (and piles) of brick that we have under the house (previous owners were big fans of brick apparently). Although the pea gravel would look awesome (and be much easier to install), knowing my kids and their love of all things able to be thrown, I figured we would have to replace the gravel every week. Not very cost effective. Tomorrow, we head to Home Depot to get some concrete to set the brick!

Planting Mania and Boo Boo Update

We sadly decided a few weeks ago that moving to Bend is not in our near future, or at least not until the housing market rebounds. Since that could be a few years away we went out and bought more fruit trees today to fill up our backyard. Umm...4 new fruit trees. Putting our total at 22.:

Apple, apricot, grapefruit, Myer lemon, pink lemonade lemon, guava, 2 nectarine, nectaplum (nectarine and plum), 2 orange, plum, 2 lime, yellow peach, white peach, avocado, pomegranate, 2 passion fruit vines, tangelo and a mango.

I'm pretty sure that Brady could not have dug the 4 new holes today without the help of one Mr. Fox. He is pretty much the fruit tree master. Just ask him. He'll tell you.

Everyone is invited out here in June of 2012 to share in our bounty!

On another positive note, we took the little lady's band aid off tonight and it seems as if the stitches are all out and the cut has healed nicely. We are planning on leaving the band aid on for a bit longer, until at least everything has healed and new skin comes on in- since Stella can't leave any cut alone. Brady and I were both really happy with how it looks so far. Hopefully it continues to heal like it is and her scar is minimal. 

Note To Self...

Do not let Brady purchase clothes for little lady anymore.

The shirt says:

AKRON

WHERE THE WEAK

ARE KILLED

AND EATEN

Lovely.

Spring Walk

The last few days Teigue has been wanting to go on walks around the neighborhood. This is a very new thing for us- we usually drive to places like the zoo and SeaWorld to walk and have neglected our own backyard. I have no idea why we do this, just a bad habit that we started, I guess. The other day we went on a bike ride and met and chatted with some lovely neighbors that we have not met yet...even though we have lived in our house for almost 5 years. We learned things (that we didn't want to know) about our house. Like the old owner owned a goose. A goose. Ahhh...sometimes ignorance is so bliss.

Well today we decided that a walk would be a perfect thing to do on a warm spring day. A day perfect for sharing and tasting nasturtium flowers (which we discovered were a tad bitter),

Hiking in the canyon while pretending to be an airplane

Finding some passion fruits (and enjoying said passion fruits on the walk home). 

We met some other neighbors while on our walk and decided that it is such a silly thing to drive to places, no matter how wonderful those places may be. We have a wonderful world to explore in our little neck of the woods. A world with passion fruits and fun treasures like this...and yes it is as pokey and hurts as bad as you would think when you touch it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have I mentioned how Teigue is slightly obsessed with any potato that has started sprouting eyes? He checks the potato drawer weekly to make sure our supply is in the clear. If any of the spuds are sprouting even the teeniest of eyes, he takes them to bed with him and then plants them in the yard the next day. We currently have about 10 plants throughout the yard. Well, we did. Today we decided to celebrate our Irishness and dig those lovely potatoes up to eat with our corned beef and cabbage. I suggest if you have any potatoes that are sprouting some eyes to run out and plant them in the yard. Yum.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! 

Easy Things

Even though it creates a mess on the deck, in the kitchen, on the couch (from their dusty cornstarch clothes), cornstarch and water is probably one of the most fun things that my kids play with. It's a liquid...no a solid...no a liquid... 

Plumber

Teigue was nice enough to help me today by washing the mirrors out on the deck.

OB With Daddy

Spring is Coming!

Come June these flowers will be juicy delicious peaches and plums. Unless little hands decide that the fruit needs to be picked in May. Then they will be compost.

Spiderman!

Running through the driveway and yelling at the top of her lungs, "I am Sp-I-der-man!" 

Teigue's Trip to Ohio with Daddy

Daddy here. Teigue and I flew to Ohio last week for Uncle Bill's funeral. We visited my home town under very sad circumstances, but being with our family brought us a lot of happiness. Saying goodbye to Uncle Bill was emotional for everyone, but sharing stories about why we love uncle Bill was comforting.  Reconnecting with the people I love most and getting the younger kids together made me smile and laugh, even under the saddest of circumstances. We have an amazing family.

Teigue was in pure bliss most every waking moment of the trip. I attribute this to him being welcomed to the family by my cousins' kids, non-stop wrestling with Ben + Andy + Uncle Jimmy + and cousin Mike's kids, and PLAYING IN SNOW!!!!!!!

This blog post is dedicated to Teigue's adventures in Ohio. I sum it up in one quote from Mr. Fox - "Daddy, I want to stay here for like 49 more days".

He smashed every piece of ice he saw.

He punched through blocks of ice.

He had snow ball fights with Gramma.

He made a snow horse with Monica, Mary Jane, Gramma, and me.

He roughed up the locals.

I expect this trip home is something Teigue will remember for a long time. 

Home

Ahh...bliss...the boys have returned. The lady and I were so very excited at the airport waiting for them to come out of the terminal. We rocked on chairs, ran through baggage claim, had some Starbucks. Anything to pass the time until our favorite two people in the whole wide world came running down the hallway.

We searched and searched...and then...finally...we saw them. Brady's face was beaming- it seemed as if the light was directly on his cheeks making them brighter than anyone else's. He was holding Teigue's hand, and then Teigue saw us. He broke free and ran as fast as his little legs could run. As he was running, he only had eyes for one person. The person that he missed most out of anyone. Jayno. 

He ran right for her and gave her the tightest and longest hug. They kissed and hugged for the longest time. He told her how much he missed her and was so glad to see her. They continued the lovefest through baggage claim and to the car- never letting the other's hand go. It was such a wonderful feeling to look at your kids loving each other as much as they do and know it's not forced. It's just there. They just naturally adore one another and didn't want to let go of each other. 

We got home and Teigue built his cave fort in the hallway for Jayno. As she was laying there she asked Teigue to come snuggle with her. Which he did. For a good 5 minutes my kids snuggled in the hallway cave fort and just loved one another. Ahhh...bliss...

Helping

I am pretty sure that she was just making sure I had the spacing correct for her new wall hooks. Looks like she's taken over her brother's job of Inspector while he is away. Even though she's only 2, she's quite particular about her wall decor. 

Notice her outfit...we cleaned out Teigue's closet tonight and took out all the clothes that no longer fit him. Well, Jayno had to put all the clothes on. At one point she had on some Spiderman light up snow boots, a jacket, sweatshirt and pants. Oh lady lady lady.

♥♥♥♥♥

As a parent you get to certain point where you think that you can't possibly love your kids more than you already do. Then *pop* something happens and your heart grows that much more. I'm not sure if it's the hat that she now has to wear to protect her boo boo from the sun's rays, her little arm reaching as far it can to touch every starfish, the silly things that we talked about, her constant singing, her need to pick all of her clothes out...and pick out a cuter outfit than I would have...her "baby in my bellay" walk...whatever it was, today I fell more and more in love with my little lady. 

Balboa Park

While I have been missing my boys something terrible, I have been quite enjoying my extended one on one time with my little lady. It's nice to go out and do things and not have a set time that we have to be back home. We have enjoyed some evening walks where we chat about silly dogs that we see, silly dogs that we want and even act like a silly dog. Tonight before dinner I decided to take the lady to a place that Teigue and I spent loads of time pre Jayno, but for some reason we haven't been in a long long time- Balboa Park.

It was such a wonderful pre- dinner walk. We walked around the fountains, ran in the grass, hiked in Palm Canyon. Did you realize that King Kong and T Rexes both live in Palm Canyon? According to Stella, it's true. She says that she has seen them herself. Crazy, I didn't believe it at first, but once she beat on her chest like Mr. Kong does, I just had to believe her. 

It was so nice to just chat about what we saw and heard. We could just walk at our own pace and not rush through things like we usually have to do. I am also thankful that I have some time to visit some other favorite places that we have neglected and just stroll and chit chat and discover new things.

Wolverine

When I discovered that I was pregnant with a girl I was immediately terrified that I was going to have a pink princess loving, handbag collecting, bracelet wearing, cares about clothes kind of girl. A girl that had no idea how much fun trucks and dirt and sports can be. Then I had Stella. And while she is definitely a cares about clothes kind of gal (she already chooses all her clothes at the store and even has favorite items of clothing that she has to wear all the time) and loves her handbags, she is most definitely a tomboy...with style. Phew. 

Since the boys are away...sob...I figured that the little lady and I would get to play things that she always wants to do but her events coordinator Teigue usually steers her away from. Like her dollhouse, coloring, dolls. Nope. Today my little lady woke up (in her brand new soon to be favorite size 4 pink monkey jammies that are almost like her favorite almost getting too small size 2 blue monkey jammies) and declared: "I am Wolverine!" and proceeded to don a Trader Joe's reusable bag as her cape and run through the house as if she were flying. It seems as if Stella knows as much about the Super Heroes as I do. She then went to the deck/playroom and rescued all the animals and got all the "bad guys" that were out there. Notice the band aid...no princesses for this lady. Of all the choices at Target of fun band aids, she chose Spiderman. 

I had nothing to worry about.