Future Hope

I can remember praying everyday as a kid that they would invent alternatives to injections.  I am so happy that the future is now.  Flumist is the answer to my shot phobia.  Thanks science.  You make me very happy, oh, and give me one heck of a headache as a side effect.  I will take that any day.

New Friends

A story:

Seal Pup

::Experienced Yesterday::

On our morning walk, my neighbor and I came across a baby seal pup resting while its momma was out in the Sound searching for food.  I almost stepped on it because it blended in perfectly with the sand.  My neighbor's dog didn't even notice him/her either.  What a sight to see.  I wanted to pick it up, cuddle it, kiss it, and have it live in my bathtub for the rest of its life.  Don't worry...I didn't do any of those things.  We just left it right there.  We saw its mommy when we headed back to our stairs.  She was bobbing around for a quick second and down she went again.  That baby was so sleepy and sweet.  I found it funny that I worried all day about whether or not she/he was warm enough.  

Washington State Fair

I am a day late with this post.  Here we were, last weekend, at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup.  It poured down rain while we rode rides at the midway.  It cleared up while we walked around the barns.  It poured rain again while we looked at all of the State Fair vendors.  Fun, but wet.

Let the soggy begin...

Up, up, and wet.

Our neighbors met up with us to join in the madness.

Giant pumpkins.

Squeeeeeeeal.  Piggies.

Dogs that just sit there.  Maybe they get ribbons for sitting so quietly?

Blacksmiths making a hammer.

We love fire trucks.

Double rainbow.

Happy hands.

Quite a different experience from the California State Fair.  Even though it was hot some years, I still hold it dear to my heart and haven't found a fair to beat it.

Fuh

Do you Pho?

Do you call it fuh?

You should.

Read on.

How To Eat A Bowl of Pho Like You Know What You're Doing

Awning

We got our awning today.  It is such a nice change because water would get in any way possible (on shoes, through the door with me as I walked inside, etc.) and big drops of water would ker-plop right on people's heads from the roof eave.  Problem solved.  They did a fantastic job (yay Northwest Awning) and it looks like it was built with the house.  It is supposed to be a 70% chance of rain for the next two days so we will be putting it to good use.

Testing 1,2,3...

My child is in public school.  My child will take his first, standardized test in 11 days.  

I wasn't against testing until a letter got sent home today saying that the kids need to practice using a mouse and computer ASAP in preparation.  They also provided a link so we can practice with our kids to get them accustomed to the style.  I didn't think it would be that hard, but man is the UI terrible.  I had to explain a lot to Blake and he gets lost in their directions (arrows pointing to wrong answers, etc.) due to bad clipart movement.  See for yourself.  Remember, this is for kindergarteners who might have never used a computer before.

Click HERE to begin the practice test.

Mood Board

Things for the house I want:

1. CB2.com console table

2. Chalkboard wall in kitchen

3. Yellow chevron rug

4. White leather chair

5. Metal wall hook

Grammie & Aunt Amy

My mom and sister came up so we could celebrate my mother's birthday.  It was a great visit and we shopped, enjoyed each other's company, and watched a thunderstorm go by.  We will miss them and the house will be quiet around here (sort-of).  The kids will definitely miss their audience.

Cake from Cake Envy in Greenlake

Piper got some new Grammie threads:

Eggs R Us

The hens are laying, the hens are laying!  Super fun.  Yesterday, Andrew found the top egg.  We just looked again and Reade loved finding and carrying "his" egg around.  Thank you hens.

Understanding Music

Ah, it is all clear now.  I am not a huge Miley Cyrus fan so don't think I am defending her because of that.  I saw this video and she explains her artistic ideas and it now makes sense.  They should have made us watch her video before exposing us to the VMA awards.  Gotcha sista.  I know she is in and out of rehab so life isn't so pretty for her, but at least I don't think she is absolutely bagongo crazy.

My favorite song of the moment:

Cuz-n

My posting has slowed, but life is trucking along.  Andrew's cousin and his wife are visiting.  By night they explore yummy eats and drinking holes and by day they are jumping on touristy boats and elevators.  We only get them for 1.5 more days.  Wish I had a nanny.

Lightning

Anyone have two minutes to mindlessly watch videos of the lightning storm that went by last night?  I will forgive you if you don't:

 

Day #2

Day #2 was spent taping reminders around the house to train me to get my act together as a mother.  It is funny to me how I feel like a mother for the first time.  Like an old lady mother.  

I dropped Blake off then needed to stop by Cost Plus World Market.  Going to shops like these end up being a process because they are near downtown.  That meant I needed to pay parking and be near Pike Place Market.  It was 50% local, 50% enjoying the touristy view.  Please make note that I backed into a parking space for the first time (top of a hill/intersection) so I feel I got some Seattle stripes today

There I am, parked like a Seattleite!  Go Minivan.

They're There

 The boys are off to school.  First day of kindergarten and first day of preschool.  Andrew took Reade to preschool and said he walked right in, sat down at circle, and waved a happy goodbye ::sigh::.  I walked Blake to school this morning and he was the happiest kid.  He got giddy when the bell rang and kept saying "this is awesome" for everything.  Happy beginnings!

Reade finding his cubby.

Blake in line to go into Kindergarten.

Teacher L. explaining the day.

All in a day.

Kindergarten Eve

Blake met his teacher this afternoon at the Kindergarten open house.  He found his locker and proceeded to crawl in it while his new friend Eli crawled in his.  I love that they have lockers for rainy coats!  His class is great and there are a handful of good friends in the class.  Tomorrow is the big day.  Backpacks are packed, forms are filled out, and goodies await to be stashed in lunch boxes.  Happy Kindergarten Eve to my two, sleeping school gnomes.

Labor Day Sunday Monday

Happy Labor Day Weekend

The kids enjoyed a Labor Day Weekend BBQ thrown by one of Andrew's co-workers.  He too is creating an urban homestead with chickens and a great garden.  They saved some big boxes so the kids could make forts.  I was surprised they held up so well.

Low tide was at 9am this morning so I made the family head down to the beach for some exploration.  Nice and relaxing.  

Now, I am faced with picking up raccoon feces.  There is a raccoon nest in our tree and it is getting really yucky around the base of our tree.  I am going to call the raccoon removal company ASAP to get that nest taken care of.