Reach out and touch someone...

Steve reads Thomas stories out of the Scriptures every night. Last night he was telling Thomas the story about how Jesus called 12 disciples to administer with him. Thomas turned to Steve and asked...

"Jesus had a telephone?"

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe my baby girl is 2!

(please excuse he huge double chin)

There is so much I can say about our little Clara Jane. She is such a joy to have in our family. She is spunky, independent, and very funny. She loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses and loves to play with her brother.

My favorite things right now...

When she falls down she yells out "I'm Okay" even if she is in a room all by herself.

She says bless you when someone sneezes. Many times I have been downstairs while she is playing upstairs, when I sneeze and I will hear this little voice from the play room say "bless you."

She loves to put on make up. It is how I am able to do her hair. I stick her on the counter with a bottle of lotion and tell her it is make-up. She will occupy herself with it for a good 10 minutes.

She will not stay in her crib. We need to get her a bed, I just keep procrastinating hoping some how she will un-learn how to climb out.

She loves to play with her babies.

She has mastered the scream. (I guess that is not my favorite)

She loves chocolate and has quite a sweet tooth.

We love her so much and are so glad she is part of our little family.

Because it's always all about her.

My friend Heidi came over yesterday morning to have me take some shots of her kids. I was telling Derek* how to stand when we had a little visitor who wanted to get in on the action. I didn't ask her to stand next to him or pose like him, she just did it on her own. She already had her shirt off because that's just the way she rolls.

I really hope that 20 years down the road they fall in love and get married because this would make a great picture for their wedding invitation.

I was glad that Clara wasn't in the shot for this next one. It didn't turn out too well because we were sitting under a green tarp, however I thought it was pretty funny as did Derek and Ashton's mom.

I thought the rest of the cowboy shots turned out pretty cute. Ashton wasn't too cooperative for the shoot, but the back of her head was.

*When I was asking permission to post the pictures of Derek, I was told I could take credit for the pictures, but I had to give Heidi and Mike credit for creating the model.

How to ruin a perfectly good morning

Because of the holiday, Thomas had preschool this morning instead of this afternoon. Usually when he is at school, Clara is sleeping. This morning Clara and I got to spend some mommy-daughter time. We went shopping for last minute Thanksgiving things and then came home for a while. She decided we were going to play hide-and-seek. She loves this game and is always the one who counts. Nothing is cuter than hearing her squeaky little voice count and then shouting out "ready or not here I come."

I was hiding in the pantry and took my camera with me. I have a shot like this of Thomas and wanted to get one of her, too. She found me and we celebrated for a minute.

Then I noticed the lighting in the room and decided we needed to do some experiments.

Can you tell I ruined her morning?

This is what she did to try and rebel...

She gave me a nasty look and started to take her pants off because I have been making such a big deal about her leaving her clothes on.

Part of my day.

Naked toddler.

Mommy not caring that the toddler is naked, she is picking her battles.

2 kids eating chocolate-chip pumpkin bread

Toddler says, “I poop.”

Mommy turns to say “what” and sees toddler putting something brown in her mouth.

Mommy jumps to conclusions and starts screaming “no” and running toward toddler.

Mommy realizes it’s just bread and calms down.

Mommy decides that diaper and clothes must go back on.

Mommy also tries to teach toddler to only say "I poop" where there is poop.

Didn't you want a shell when you were little?

When I was in 6th grade, I wanted to work in the advertisement industry for some odd reason. I thought making commercials would be so much fun. Actually, I still think that. With that being said, I would like to give a Christmas gift idea. (The real reason for this post... I am bored and everyone is asleep. I've caught up on all my TIVO shows and the only other things to do is laundry or clean the house.)

Last year I was reading an article on the best toys for kids and these Bilibos were listed. When I first saw them I thought, Are you kidding me? A big plastic bowl? Really? But after more research I decided to get them for the kids.

My kids LOVE these things and they play with them every day. If your munchkins enjoy a nice cardboard box like mine, then they are going to love these, too. It is what it is...a big plastic bowl, but with a little imagination it is so much more.

Back Seat Driver

I love this age! Clara is just about to turn 2. I can't believe how fast these past couple of years have gone. She is constantly amazing me.

The other night we were driving home from Grandma's house. It was late and I was surprised that both kids hadn't fallen asleep. As I pulled off the freeway and was driving down the main street to get to our neighborhood, Clara started to give me some instructions.

Every time we would begin approaching a stop sign, she would put her hand above her head and say, "stop, Mom." There are about 4 signs along this street and she did it each and every time. When we were pulling up to the final stop sign I pointed to it and asked, "what does that red sign mean." She said it again, "Stop, Mom."

I think she is a genius, but I may be a tad biased.

Like a thief in the night.

I just did something. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. I just ransacked the toy room with a large white trash bag and filled it to capacity. I don't know why I feel bad doing this, it's part of being a parent and part of the pre-holiday tradition.

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Recently, Thomas and I checked out Too Many Toys from the library (here is where I should insert that I have not yet returned the book even though it is weeks upon weeks overdue). It is a fantastic book. I love any book that is entertaining for the reader as well as the listener. The title pretty much says it all, so there is no reason to give a synopsis. I checked it out in hopes of opening up a discussion about what we were going to do with all the toys that have made it into our home, not to mention the toys that are hidden in closets, trunks, garages, and at Grandma's house for Christmas. However, the book backfired. Every time we read it Thomas gets this worried look on his face and then proceeds to say things like, that's a good story, but I don't want to get rid of any of my toys. or I like all my toys, why would you take them away from me?

.

This afternoon while Thomas was at preschool and Clara was sleeping I decided it was time to do the deed. It felt so good to clear out some junk, but I did feel like I was scrambling to get it done just in case Clara got out of bed or Thomas happened to hitchhike home and come walking into the house. With every toy that walked the plank, I was rehearsing what I am going to say when he asks where something is, which I am pretty sure isn't going to happen, but I must be prepared. I'll say, "hmmm...I'm not sure." I figure this is true and I am not lying because I won't know what happened to them once they get dropped off and become someone else's mess.

.

So, as of 2:56 pm I am almost there. The room is cleaned out, the toys are in the car and now I just have to get to DI before Thomas discovers his junk in the back of my trunk. Wish me luck.

It really is the little things.

Thomas was asked by his preschool teacher what his favorite part of our trip was. His answer had something to do with the amount of powdered donuts he was able to finagle out of his Grandma Barb.

Drift Creek Falls

8 years ago Steve and I came across a hike when we were vacationing in Lincoln City. It is a hike that is kind of difficult to find, but so worth the hunt. 4 years ago when we were there, we tried to find it again, but drove forever up the wrong road. We finally gave up.

Before we left home this year, we looked up Drift Creek Falls on the Internet and got directions. There was no way we were going to miss it this time. Even as we were driving to get there we were starting to have doubts. The hike is about 9 miles up a twisty, unpaved road. We thought for sure we had driven to far, but sure enough as we rounded the last bend we found the trail head.

When you grow up in the desert, areas like this seem fake. As far as I'm concerned, places like this only exist in strange movies with characters that have wings or that are small in stature. The colors are unreal as is the smell. The air is so fresh, Thomas kept on saying that it smelled like candy.

Every time you take a step, the ground gives. It felt like we were walking on a giant sponge.

Grandma and Grandpa stayed back at the house with Clara. It is a good thing, I don't think she would have done too well. The hike down was an easy 1.5 miles, but climbing back out of the canyon was a little bit tougher.

Once you hike down, you find this huge suspension bridge over the river. The bridge sits on top of the waterfall that is pictured above. It was so cool. I thought for sure Thomas would be a little scared to walk across, but as soon as he saw it he was so excited to go on the "Diego Bridge." (that's a Go Diego Go reference for those of you without little boys between the ages of 3 and 9).

Thomas got lucky and got to be carried 3/4 of the way up the canyon. Lucky for him he has a very strong Daddy.

Tide Pools

(Disclaimer: Sorry if these posts make you feel like I have you trapped in my living room with a slide projector. This blog is our family scrap book.)
One of the reasons we picked Linclon City was because of the Tide Pools. Steve and I had visited them 8 years ago and thought the kids would have fun exploring them.

The kids did pretty well on the way there. I don't know how many times we said, "stop jumping in the puddles." It really was pointless. By the time we were there, Thomas had soaked his shoes and it was a lost cause.

I was kicking myself for only bringing the point and shoot. I could have gotten some great shots with a better lens!

We were really lucky when we got to the pools. Starfish, sea urchins, and crabs galore!

Thomas was a little skittish at first but eventually warmed up to the slimy green sea weed and the little "things" that would squirt every time you took a step.

Both the kids got lucky and had shoulder rides back to the house. Can you tell she was a little tired? The mile back to the house seemed a lot longer than the mile there. She is getting heavy!

Another perfect end to a wonderful day!

Beach

This year, because of Steve's hospital schedule we were forced to take our annual beach trip in the fall rather than the summer. During the summer, I was a little sad. I was aching to get away from the heat. We took little 3-4 day trips, but it wasn't the same as our big one we take every year. We were originally going to go in September, then October, then finally we decided on the first week in November. It was well worth the wait.

Steve and I are beach people. We especially love the Oregon beach. It is simply breathtaking. This year we picked Lincoln City as our destination of choice.

At the end of our trip, Steve asked me what my favorite part of our vacation was. I answered that the first night at the beach house was. That night we walked out onto the beach and we were the only ones there. The weather was unbelievable! We didn't really need jackets, but didn't want to take the time to remove them.

This was the house we rented. It was fabulous! Steve and I slept in the bedroom on the end with the french doors. We were able to watch and hear the ocean all night long.
Thomas was in heaven.

Clara is quite attached to her Granddad.



It was a perfect night.

Halloween in Washington

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating. Thomas was an old pro, he was showing Clara all the ropes. She caught on to this new game really fast. This is the best picture I got of her in her costume. She was supposed to be a cat. She wouldn't wear her ears and her tail got lost in the pettiskirt. I need to do a shoot of her in her costume, but she is at a very uncooperative age.

This was the last stop, Grandma Barb and Granddad's house. Thomas couldn't care less about the candy, Clara on the other hand has my sweet tooth and couldn't wait to get started.
And finally...the Buddy The Elf Costume. I was thrilled with how it turned out, and so was Thomas. He wore it with pride, even when people talked about how cute his Robin Hood or Peter Pan costume was.

One of many

Fantastic trip.

Tons of pictures.

I need sleep.