June 18th-24th

(6/18) Work day for Dad & me, and Sarah had the kiddos today.  I picked up the kids after work, and then we headed home for a quick dinner, and then attempted to run out and get C's helmet fixed for hockey. Only the gear guy wasn't there tonight. Which I didn't find out until I hauled the kids there at their normal bedtime, got them all out of the car (minus a stroller), and had hauled them downstairs to see the note on the door.  Harrumph.  Home again, kids to bed, and I put my feet up.

(6/19) Adventure to Whidbey today!  Kathy invited us out to the beach today, so we left a rainy and gross Everett behind and got on a boat.  It was cold and yucky when we left, so I didn't plan well for swimming, but stripped down to their diapers, the littles did just fine. What a fun day! We took Nanan along with us and she watched one little kid while I had the other little one, and C. C got completely soaked and sandy.  Ah to be a kid again!

(6/20) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  We went out to Chang's for dinner tonight.  D is in such a mom-centric stage that I just carried him over when I went to go get dinner rather than let him sit and scream at the table (he screams when I leave the room, run to the restroom, etc).  After dinner, they brought out soft serve which he loved, but J took one bite and was traumatized. He loved the fortune cookie though!  And his fortune even said that he could look forward to trying new things.

(6/21)  Work day for Dad & me, and Sarah had the kids this afternoon. She said she took all 5 boys (aged almost 2-6yrs) to the park and loved how all the boys played together.  The big boys even fought over who got to play with which little.  J was exhausted tonight and lost it this evening after dinner.  D thought he'd be helpful when it was time to go upstairs to bed and kept pushing him, which made J wail even more.


(6/22) We headed out camping this morning!  We were going to Ice Water Creek Campground, but decided to stay at Taneum Creek instead, especially when we saw that just to get into the campground, we'd get to ford the creek!  We were going to meet Opa at camp, so we waited, and waited, and no Opa.  Finally Dad went out to where he got cell service and got Opa down from the hills and back to camp. They picked up some fresh asparagus from the fruit stand on the way too. The boys made sure I got my exercise since they love to sprint in different directions.  The creek ran along the back of our campsite, and though the campground wasn't terribly busy, there still were a few cars that cruised through to watch out for.  Once Dad & Opa got there, we had an adult per kid, which was very nice.  Dinner tonight was kabobs.  The boys devoured everything, and I was pretty impressed at how little they threw on the ground.

J was so exhausted since he didn't nap on the way over that he was laying on the rock, on the floor mat, on the trailer stair.  They managed to make it to 7p, but it took them a good 2 hrs before they finally quieted down.

(6/23)  J woke at 4am, but went back to sleep relatively quickly after I laid him back down.  He woke again at a more reasonable 7 o'clock and most of us got up for the day.  Sleepy D waited until breakfast was nearly done before I managed to rouse him. Speaking of breakfast, we had a feast.  Sausage, eggs and pancakes!  After breakfast and some trips to the river, we packed up and drove out in the general direction of Buck Meadows.  It was a lot of climbing, and we saw a deer on the way up.  J started snoring in time with the washboards.  That was pretty funny.  We got up near the meadows and saw a sign for Tamarack Springs, so headed in that direction.  Stopped there and got out, but it was a good 10° colder up there, windy, and sprinkly, so we didn't stay out of the car for very long. We did a bit more driving and finally went back to camp.  D took a nice nap along the way, so he was good to go, while J was very tired and went down for a nap in the trailer.  D and I hiked around the campground, all along the river, and out to another campground.  C played catch with Opa, and played out at the river.  D & I roamed around, looked at the river, and wandered around until Dad & J woke back up.  Dinner tonight was jambalaya.  Om nom! I unknowingly put J in glow-in-the-dark pajamas tonight and I think that terrified D, who woke and screamed at 11pm.  I tried to zip him in the sleeping bag with me, but he kept inch-worming out and finally I ended putting him back in the pack-n-play and he went back to sleep.

(6/24) Broke camp this morning.  The boys had oatmeal and bananas for breakfast.  J is very much into the "I'll do it myself" phase and refused to eat unless he held the spoon, and the banana was considered broken if I removed the peel. So I've had to leave it on and help him with it as he eats it.  We stopped at the Cle Elum bakery and hungry J devoured 2.5 fruit bars, some string cheese and then everybody took a nap in the car.  C has a busy afternoon of swimming and hockey, and we hope to squeeze in dinner out too.  We'll see.

Potty talk

J & the ice cream

Twenty Months

(6/11) Closing in on the big *2*! Twenty months today! It was a work day for Dad & me, and Kathy had the kids. Dad wasn't feeling so hot tonight, so picked up the kids early and met me at home with them after work.  I made tacos, and the twins both consumed a burrito each.  D, of course, unrolled his and ate his from the inside out.  J kept his together.

(6/12) Lazy morning.  I was all set to spend the day in jammies when C asked if I was volunteering in his class that day.  Whoops!  With five minutes to spare, I was dressed and ready to go.  Nanan came to watch the boys.  D is in a big-time mommy phase and screams whenever anyone comes over or when I leave the room.  Today was no different, and I left Nanan with two sobbing boys.  I came home to happy boys though, and we had a fun evening with Nanan.

(6/13) Had today off of work and Granddad came over to help haul a couple of loads of fill dirt and mulch over to repair the trenches the dogs dug.  We spent the morning doing that, and Dad ran C to school.  When we were all through, there was still time to collapse on the couch for a little bit before the twins woke up and it was time to go get C.  We went out to sushi tonight and the waitress commented on the twins, "Oh, look!  You're all cute and messy!"   LOL ~ we always leave a big tip when we go... because yeah, they're messy.  Both kids like sushi though.  D devoured a couple of New York rolls (California rolls, essentially, with tuna and salmon).  He discarded the tuna, but loved the salmon!

(6/14) Work day for Dad & me, and C's second-to-last day at school.  Dad dropped the littles at Kathy's and C at school.  I picked them all up after work and scurried home to make dinner.  Grandma & Granddad came to watch the twins so C and I could go see the Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.  I had fed the kids ravioli, which left them and my house rather a disaster.  I came home to a sparkling house and sound asleep twins.  Maybe I can make this a weekly thing? LOL!  Thanks Dad & Lori!!

(6/15)  Granddad and Grandma invited us out sailing today! The littles punched all the buttons, turned on the auto pilot, and J tried to steal the keys I don't know how many times.  I tried to coax them into taking a nap, but D wasn't having anything to do with that.  Too much to see!  Consequently, he was asleep before we even pulled out of the marina when we left. The kids did a great job, had lunch and snacks aboard, and I'm very much looking forward to taking them again!  After the trip on the boat, we went over to Sarah's mom's house for Desy's graduation party.  The water feature was a big hit (bucket of ice keeping water bottles cold) and the boys would plunge their hands in, then run to me to warm them up.  I got a little concerned about them getting a bit too cold/wet, so was a mean mom and tried to distract them with swings.  No dice.  Sarah eventually dumped the bucket out on the lawn and J spent the next hour carrying the ice, piece by piece, back over to the bucket.  An empty container of bubbles that he could take the lid off and put back on was a huge hit as well.  D was *WIRED* due to such a short nap and because I gave him lemonade.  He would run over to the dog, bury his face or plop down on her, get covered in fur and squeal when I picked him up.  Then he'd run away from me cackling.  I finally put them down close to their bedtime so I could sit down and chat with my friends for a bit.  Poor boys sobbed intermittently for about two hours before finally going down for good.

(6/16) Happy Father's Day to the best daddy!  We love you!  C and I scooted out for donuts from Frost and discovered a Dad-must-have: a Butterfinger donut!  Fed the dad, and then Rob & Marc came over to work on the deck.  I whipped up some spicy eggs (deviled eggs) and we went over to Granddad's for dinner.  What a lovely day!

(6/17) Off to work with me today and the boys are with their dad.  This is the second-to-the-last hockey practice of summer for C, and the littles and I will get some QT before bed while the big boys are away.

June 4th-10th

(6/4)  Home early from work since it seems we passed the sickies on to Kathy and Bridger.  The boys and I took advantage of the nice weather and extra afternoon hours to pull out the little pool and play outside tonight.

(6/5) Lovely day home with the kiddos.  We hit the park this morning, and the littles took a nap while C was at school.  After he came home we spent some time out in the pool, sandbox, and play house.

(6/6) Boys were home with Dad today.  J has been running a fever.  Sigh.  Poor bug, I hate it when they're sick!

(6/7) Poor J is still down with a fever.  It was so high this morning, that I decided to call in sick and stay home. Luckily Dad was home until after I had retrieved C from school, so I was able to put the twins down and they napped as long as they wanted.  J slept for a good 2.5 hrs, but woke with a fever again, and it spiked really high after another cat nap this afternoon.  We'll probably head to the doctor tomorrow, if this keeps up.  D has been an eating machine this week.  I think he's making up for being sick last week.  He happily ate all of J's dinner and then was chirping for more shortly after.

(6/8) J's temp has been holding steady this morning around 99°.  We watched some PBS and that seemed to keep him pretty content.  We then went to C's swim lesson, and then C headed out camping with some friends.  We'll be rebuilding our deck tomorrow, so it will be nice to have him out doing something fun.  The twins and I had a quiet evening at home, and I got the TV all to myself this evening for once.  Nice!

(6/9) Got up early and made the demolition crew breakfast.  J was up first and D didn't wake until the crew came and was pretty much done.  J then needed second breakfast.  I guess he's making up for not having much of an appetite the last couple of days now that he's feeling better.   The guys got the deck torn down and we'll slowly be building a smaller section with stairs that go down to the back yard.  We also removed the dog kennel and it has really opened up the back.  We'll just need to bring in something to level out all the trenches the dogs have dug over the years.  The littles amazingly slept through most of the demo that occurred right below their window.  They sure have been entertained by all the activity around here this afternoon, but have been frustrated that we won't let them outside.


(6/10)  Back to work with me today.  Granddad is coming to haul away all the old wood, and Dad has the littles.  Marc and Rob are coming up this evening to continue working on the deck.  I can't wait til it's finished!

J & C

May 28th-June 3rd

Sick D

(5/28) Work day for Dad & me.  D ran a fever yesterday, and it was a rough night wherein I was up pretty much every hour.  He was feeling better by the morning and went to Kathy's like normal, but when he woke up from nap, he had spiked another fever, so I knocked off a little early and went to go get him.  I left in such a hurry that I didn't grab the baby ibuprofen and didn't discover that I didn't have it until after the kids were in bed.  I had to haul them to the store at bedtime, but was so frazzled that I grabbed some bubblegum flavored stuff instead of the dye-free stuff.  D was up buzzing around until after 10:30pm.  But he slept solidly all through the night.  Way to go me. We have not one, not two, but FIVE bottles of Children's analgesic now.  Two in the medicine cabinet that I totally did not see, the one I bought tonight, the one Dad bought tonight, and the one that we had left at Kathy's.


(5/29)  Little man up with a fever again.  We went to the Dr. and he has an ear infection.   So he's on a round of antibiotics.  I also discovered he has molars coming in on that side too.  Double the fun.  The points are through, so hopefully it won't be too much longer.  We had a lazy day today, napping while C was in school.  J ran a fever this evening and went to bed early.  I sure hope everyone feels better soon!

(5/30) J is totally fine and D had a fever again when I checked at 5a.  I gave him some ibuprofen and left for my run and work.  Dad said he was fine all day, but he looked feverish when I returned. More ibuprofen.

What happens when you ask where his belly is.

Someone is finally feeling better!

(5/31)  Dad went to work later today, and D was feeling fine when he went to Kathy's.  He took a looong nap, but woke with another fever. Sigh. Brought him home in just a diaper, but he started talking and perking up, and was back to his happy self within the hour.  We're going back to the doctor if this doesn't clear up soon!

(6/1) Yay!  No fever for D!  Grandma came to watch everybody today so I could go out and run a marathon.  There was a fun fair at Forest Park, where C takes swim lessons, so they got to go to that too.  Spoiled boys!  C & I scored sundaes from DQ too (best treat ever to come home to!)!  D didn't have a fever all day, ate great, and seems to be back to normal.  Thank goodness!  Once I got home, we played in the sandbox, had some dinner and the boys watched Care Bears with C for a little while before bed.  What a lovely day!


(6/2) Lazy day at home. We had a nice breakfast together and did our normal Sunday things.  C had a birthday party to go to this afternoon and Dad watched the twosome.

This week, both J and D have started slapping their heads and saying "OW!" ~ this started because J bonked his head and I said "ow," so now J thinks that's what you say, and D copies.  J is signing 'water' and 'more' like a champ, and D every now and then will sign, but prefers to just motion at whatever he wants.  Both boys are climbing the stairs while holding on to the wall or the railing, and going all the way up.


(6/3) Back to work for me, and the boys are with their dad.