Change is good.

My new blog title is "Raising Redheads." I was sick of the old title, and I really like alliteration, so I decided to switch things up a bit. The address is still the same, I am assuming it will eventually change on all the blogrolls and all the favorite places list (which I know I am at the top of everyone's list) when blogger updates. If it doesn't, oh well.

How a 3-year-old entertains a 7 month-old.

Sunday night, Thomas was in the bathroom while Clara waited patiently for him to finish up. While she was waiting, he decided to pass her something to quickly pass the time.

My Apron Swaps

(Lila, do not read this post unless you want to spoil your surprise!)

I signed up to do some apron swaps last month. I love to sew, so I figured this was a good outlet for my hobby. I had 3 aprons due today, and 2 more due in 2 weeks. These are the ones I finished for this round. I had to come up with a cowboy theme, a vintage 50's theme, and a Halloween theme.

The Halloween one is reversible. There are little black crows sitting with the witch, so I thought a bird on the reverse side would be fun.

Lots of stuff in one post

I have been extremely busy with my swaps (I have 5 apron swaps, and 1 tote bag swap, I'll post pictures later), so I have not had time to sit and post about what we have been doing lately.

I have been taking the kids swimming almost every day. We have been going over to my brother's house. He lives within walking distance, so it is easy to get there. I meet my sister-in-law, Crystal ,and her kids (She also lives within walking distance. I know, we are a crazy family to all live so close to one another), and my Mom joins us half the time. I have to admit I have ulterior motives for taking them. 1. It gets me out of the house without having to spend any money. 2. It's nice to be able to sit and visit with adults. 3. It makes the kids really tired. I love getting them all worn out so they either take really good naps when we get home, or I keep them up for a couple of hours and send them to bed early.

I have to lather my white children up with sunscreen before we head out. I have been rubbing it all through Clara's hair so her little scalp won't get burned. As a result, she has been having some pretty bad hair days!

Yesterday I took the kids down to Anderson Dairy for a little tour. I kept referring to it as a "Milk Factory" so Thomas would have an idea as to what a dairy is. We had a fun time, but Thomas did not like the freezer section. They blow fog into the corridor and have thunder and lightning sound effects. He was not impressed with it at all. As we were leaving he said, "Mom, that was really fun, but I didn't like the movie part or the cold part."

Jumping on the Bandwagon

So, I have heard about these books for a while now. I remember talking to a friend about a year ago and she asked me if I had heard of the book Twilight. I shocked her by saying, "no." Then she said I had to read them. She told me they were about Vampires and that's when I made the mental note to not read them. I am not really a Sci-Fi kind of girl (especially anything about aliens).

Well, a few of my friends read them and loved them, so I thought I would give it them a try. I asked to borrow my BFF's copies and take them on vacation. She came to pick us up for the airport and surprised me with all 3 novels wrapped in a big red ribbon, a gift for me! She wanted me to be able to have them for myself and it is a good thing she did. There is melted chocolate on a couple pages and maybe even a couple of splashes of diet coke on others.

While we were on vacation, my wonderful mother-in-law gave me many opportunities to hide down in the basement and read while she watched the kids. It took me a while to get into the first book, but eventually I was sucked in and really enjoyed it. I was so glad I had the 2nd book with me because I had to know what was going to happen next.

I was almost finished with New Moon by the time we made it home from Washington, but I didn't have the luxury of built-in-babysitting, so it took a little time to finish. I finished that one up a few days after we returned home and started reading Eclipse this last week. I had a hard time through some parts of the 3rd book (the legend story in the middle), but again was sucked in after a hundred pages or so. Last night, I had to finish it. I wanted to be able to read without anyone asking for food or to have their bum wiped. So, not thinking, I stayed up until 4:30 am finishing the last book and ended up loving it as much as Twilight.

How to get far in life.

Remember this kid?

For those of you too young, it is Eddie Haskel from Leave it to Beaver. He has been reincarnated and I am now raising him. These are just a few examples of the many Eddie Haskel-isms he has been throwing around lately.

To a recent nursery leader: “I sure do like you dress“.

To an aunt: “Nice shoes, Aunt Crystal!”

To me: “Mom, nice pants! Sister Jones has some just like that." (The pants he was talking about were black pantyhose that I was wearing to church one day)

To Grandma: “I really like your shirt.”

To me: “Mom, that was a great dinner! Just like Grandma Barb's.”

To Grandma: "Grandma, those are nice lines on your house!" (meaning the eaves that are painted green)

Where do they keep the fly swatter?

We came across this little jewel while we were in La Center, WA. I am so glad that we don't live in a place where this is necessary. I am on the hit list for mosquitos and they always seem to find me whenever I venture out into moist environments.

I wonder if you need an entomology degree to work for the district.

New Found Freedom

Clara is now on the go, not afraid to try anything. She has been crawling like a pro for about a week now and is already attempting to do the stairs. Crazy girl, crazy mom!

Mom vs. Thomas

I’ve been trying to work on the whole disciple thing lately. I seem to run into too many problems when The Golden Child does something that he shouldn’t. 1. I sometimes think it is cute, if the infraction isn’t too bad (I know…bad mommy!). 2. I make a loud Ba-Ha noise because I am trying not to laugh. 3. He has me wrapped around his finger so tightly and he knows all the right moves and buttons to push.

So after many tests and experiments, I figured it all out! My new ammunition… I have found that if I threaten to throw away one of his toys, he is putty in my hands. This has been working well for about a month now. I have finally felt victorious over this 3 foot tower of strength who has the ability to read my mind. He has stayed in bed, picked up his toys when I have asked, and done anything else on the long list of requirements for being a 3 ½ year old. But like all good things, they must sometime come to an end. Recently, I found that my ammunition has run out and I am now left with nothing but blanks.

This was what went down at Walgreens the other day. I made the mistake of taking him along while I downloaded 600 pictures. I thought it would be a quick trip. I always do it at home and time isn’t an issue. Walgreens was and issue. I had to stand next to the Walgreens Photo Kiosk for 20 minutes waiting for everything to finish. So in other words, I had to keep him entertained and within a 5 foot radius of myself. Because we were standing right next to the Clock “department,” (a.k.a. 3 feet of dedicated shelving) Thomas found a Cars alarm clock that he had to have.

T; Mom, look at this!
M: Oh, That is pretty nice.
T: Mom, can I get it?
M: No, honey. Not today. We can’t take that home on the plane with us.
T; But Mom,. Please.
M: No
T: PLEASE (he has learned this fun negotiation tactic)
M: Thomas, put the clock down now. I told you we can not take that on the plane with us. (Honest answer would have been: We can not take that on the plane with us because I bought too much stuff at Craft Warehouse and we don’t have any more room in the suitcase.)

The begging went on for a little bit longer.

I finally had had it and was about to blow a gasket!

M: You put that clock down right now or I will throw away one of your toys when we get back home!

He paused and looked at me with his huge brown eyes. I knew he was scheming something up.

T: Okay mom, when we get home you can throw away that monkey.
M: You mean the sock monkey I made you?
T: Yes, I don’t want it anymore. I want this!

After I took the knife out of my back, I explained to him calmly that I made the monkey and there was no way we were going to throw it away. I then pulled trick #2 out of my hat and used the old lets-ask-Santa- for- it-next-Christmas trick. Somehow that appeased him and he put it back on the shelf and went on as if nothing had happened.

Don't you hate it when people make you look at pictures from their vacation!

We had a wonderful trip to the Pacific Northwest! Here is just a smattering of the many pictures we took.

We spent a couple days in Port Townsend. The drive up was beautiful, even though it was really long. We thought it would take us about 4 hours and it ended up taking close to 7! We had to stop several times for construction on the 101 and then there's the whole - "Mom, I've gotta pee!" factor. Once we got there, we really enjoyed the beach.

We had a great time at the grandparent's house. We were able to break Nana out of the "home" for a few days. Thomas had a so much fun playing with her. How many 91-year-olds do you know that can still hit a baseball? Very impressed!

Clara decided that she was going to go on a baby food strike once we got up to Washington. She ended up letting us feed her nectarines, an avocado, bread and some chicken and rice soup. One morning she even talked me into a powdered doughnut.

There is something about this guy that just puts her to sleep!

We drove up to Steve's Grandmother's home on Monday. La Center is a beautiful little town just outside Vancouver. Thomas had a great time exploring everything. There is a giant cherry tree in the backyard. We had fun eating the cherries right off the tree! He really wanted to know what was in that red barn!

Just up the hill from La Center is the Cedar Creek Grist Mill. I really wanted to take the kids there. The amount of green is unbelievable. The mill is situated so deep in the forest. The sunlight just barely makes and appearance there. I could not believe the amount of moss that covered everything. It is such a contrast the the dust that covers everything here at home!

Our last stop was Multnomah Falls. I love this place. I never grow tired of visiting and just sitting and watching the falls.





Can I just say I love my new SLR! I was able to get this shot from the bottom of the falls. After I took it, I had to get out of the sight because watching Granddad show Thomas the falls was giving me the willies!

This is the current favorite aunt for the kids. They had a blast playing with Aunt Leah while we were there. She is so much fun!

I will miss looking at this! This is the view from the family room and dining room in their house! Rough life, wouldn't you say!