Adventures in Ellensburg

Austin, Dakota (the dog), and I headed out on Tuesday for the West Side. We stopped in Ellensburg for a diaper change and lunch. I decided to go McDonald's for the Play Place for Austin. They had one, but it was outdoors. Bummer. As we parked, there were two sketchy guys and a sketchy girl standing on the sidewalk. They eyed my car and I pretended to fiddle with stuff trying to figure out what I should do. The door doesn't lock, and I was loaded down with a dog, a kid, all the supplies needed for the three of us of a few weeks, plus three suitcases bound for Peru. The girl went inside and the guys walked away.I grabbed my purse, the diaper bag, and Austin and we headed inside, with three of the four doors locked.

I waited in line for the handicapped bathroom, hoping there was a changing table inside. Luckily, there was, but it was perpendicular to the wall, parallel with the toilet. Joy. I laid Austin down and he started fussing. And who can blame him when he's lying on a downhill slope with his legs hanging off the end. I give him the wipey container to play with and I start changing. Messy. Great. I get him cleaned up, notice there is some on the leg of his onesie and start working on that a little bit when plop! the wipey container lands in the toilet. Yay. I fish it out. (Ugh!) and give up on the onsie. I don't want to put a new diaper on Austin and get gunk on it, so I stand him up on the floor to take his shirts off. I'm working on that (The kid has a big head and his sweatshirt has a small hole) when he starts peeing on the floor. I give a little yelp and it shuts off the water works. I yank the shirts off, so he's naked except his socks and a fruit snack stuck to his chest (red.). And he starts peeing again, on my leg! I quickly get him diapered again, out his sweatshirt back on, try to mop up the huge puddles with toilet paper, rinse the wipey container in the sink and head outside.

The girl from outside (had been in the bathroom when I went in) was standing in the hallway. As I approach the 4Runner, one of the guys was standing behind it. RIGHT behind it. As in an inch or two from the bumper. I open the door, and put Austin inside. The guy looks around the side, gives me a weird grin, then ambles away. The girls also comes out about this time. I got into the backseat and got a change of clothes for Austin, got him dressed (and took off the socks) buckled him in, apologized for lack of running around time, and hit the drive through. There was no way I was going to back inside and give them time to steal my stuff.

Note: When I got to my parents' house, the wipey container hit the trash. I had to save it in case he needed changed on the way home, or I would have dumped it then.

Depends On The Day...

As I was picking up 20 Tupperware lids off of the floor, I imagined a friend asking me, "Doesn't that bother you?" What? You don't have imaginary conversations with real people in your head? Well, I do. Often. Anyway, I digress. So I thought this thought, and my response to my imaginary conversation with a real friend was, "It depends on the day." The I realized how complicated this response truly is. It's not just, on a long day I feel this way... and on a good day it's like this... No. On a long day in which I am tired of fighting with a screaming kid, it can be: "Sure heck, do whatever you want. Just don't hurt yourself. As long as you're happy, I'm happy." But on a long day of cleaning up after the kid time and time again it is: "Can't you just stay out of things!!!!????" And on a good day of cleaning the house it can be, "When you play with my Tupperware, it gets them all dirty and germy." Or on a good day of being in awe of my child, it can be: "Sure, play with those. Stack. Put the lids on, take them off. Learn. Explore." And it's not just the Tupperware. This is how I live my entire life. It depends on the day.

Black Friday

Our car broke down last Saturday so we made an appointment to get it fixed at James Toyota today at 8 am. Probable cause: old belt that runs alternator. Estimated repair cost: $60-70. The plan is; Zach will take the 4Runner, and I will drive his parents' Bug. We will leave about the same time (7:30ish), and I will stop and give meds to a lady, while he continues. If he has any problems, I will catch up to him shortly.

-So I get up at 6:30 this morning to shower and get ready.
-At about 7:15 we realize I left the 4Runner key at his parents. We only have one, because the other broke. I leave to go get it.
-I come back, drop off the key and grab Austin. Before I can get out the door, Zach tells me the car won't start. Yay. (Its nearly 8)
-I go give the meds, stop at Schucks and buy jumper cables. Excuse me, "booster cables" as they say on the package. Since when?
-Back home. Austin is in the car with me, and getting cranky about being in the car seat while I run inside to get Zach, and we fiddle with the rigs.
-Jump start the 4Runner, let them both run, still connected, to help get the battery a bit more juice.
-Finally leave. Luckily we have no problems once we get going. Zach is far superior to me and doesn't forget not to use his blinkers. (I forgot once when this started and turned it on automatically. Luckily, it didn't die.)
-We roll into James Toyota at nearly 9 am. Not bad. We leave it running for them, let them know it's there and running, then we head to the stores.
-Have a fun day shopping until they call and say it's done. It wasn't the belt, just a bolt that was loose. When they tried to tighten it, it broke. They had to take the alternator off, replace the bolt, and then put it back on. Total costs: $135.36 ($120 for labor.) Ugh. $135 for a bolt.

Oh well, it wouldn't be automotive repair without an outrageous bill for nothing. And like we discussed, it was way easier than us trying to do it. And really, is $135 too much to save a marriage? I don't think so...

And on the up side, we got to go shopping and buy fun things for our trip to Peru!!

Twilight: The Movie

First of all, just let me say, it wasn't a bad movie. There were just some things that detracted from it in one way or another. Bella, for the most part, was not as much of a gushy girly girl as in the books, but she had her moments. Ok, it's bad enough when guys cheer when Star Wars begins, but I can handle that. The bazillion girls at the midnight showing screamed. And by screamed, I mean that "little girl at a Hannah Montana concert" scream. They screamed at the beginning, they screamed when Jacob Black came on screen, they tittered at this and that, and luckily, they were engrossed in the movie enough that by the time Edward showed up, I barely heard noise. Thank goodness. I was about to vomit. And the biggest detractor of the entire movie? (I say this easily because it happened the entire movie.) Robert Pattinson's (Edward) performance. He's supposed to be some smooth, suave guy that everyone wants. In reality he was a nerdy, "stumble over my words so I sound like Captain Kirk" guy. It never got better.I don't know whose decision it was for him to deliver his lines that way, but it was a bad one. So, yeah, I didn't like the movie. I didn't like the books either. All you Twilight fans are on your way to picket my house I'm sure, but hey, whatever. Oh yeah, and when he sparkled, he looked Stupid (with a capital S).

On a side note: When the celebrities had their premiere, the question "Bella" was asked most often, and I quote, "What's it like to like to kiss a vampire?" Uhh, vampires aren't real, and Robert certainly isn't really Edward. The closest you get to real vampires are people who think they are. You wanna find out what it's like to kiss one, go ahead. It will be like kissing a normal person, but you die at the end because they're psychotic.

Ok, enough ranting. I don't feel well, and my kid is running amok. But it had to be said.

Southern Cross Humanitarian

You probably don't know this, but in December Zach and I are headed to Peru with his family. We are doing a humanitarian mission with Southern Cross Humanitarian. They are the ones that own the Sunflower Home, if you've heard of it. I have added a button, a link, and here are a couple little tidbits on how you can help their cause without spending a dime. (That's the kind of support I can afford!)

Here is How to Make a HUGE Difference with No Cost to You!

Register your Albertsons Preferred Customer card with Southern Cross Humanitarian as your charity. By doing so, Albertsons will donate 1-3% of all your purchases to Southern Cross. Each person who uses their Preferred card on a regular basis contributes an average of $100 a year to Southern Cross.
All you need to do is email your name, address, phone# & Preferred Card#, to Ken@sxhu.org or complete the registration form on our website on our "How Can I Help" page.
This is a great service opportunity for high school & church youth groups as well as a qualifying Eagle Scout project: register people in front of a local Albertsons store - for more information contact Ken@sxhu.org.

Do you shop at Amazon, Ebay or iTunes?(Apple, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Expedia, Half.comMacy's, Overstock.com, Target, Travelocity)Use GoodSearch Shop these and many other websites through GoodSearch/GoodShop and they'll donate a % of your purchase to Southern Cross! Remember to go to Goodsearch first and they will give us a percentage of your purchase.
Bookmarking and using GoodSearch, an internet search engine powered by Yahoo, is a great no cost way to help Southern Cross! Just enter Southern Cross Humanitarian for your donation in the messages field and you're ready to search.

Click here to try Goodsearch

We are so excited for this trip and the opportunity to reach out and help those in need. Not to mention all the cool things we will get to see: Machu Pichu, the Reed City, and lots more!

Cleaning, Gotta Love It

So I spent all this morning cleaning, without seeming to accomplish anything. I did dishes (constantly), I mopped the floors, I even gave Austin a bath. Zach came home from Job 1 (construction) with really muddy shoes. Entry way mopping pointless. Then he needed two pairs of muddy shoes washed, so into the tub they went for "pre-cleaning." Bathroom mopping pointless. I diligently washed them (He said he was going to, but it would have been a day or two before he got to it I'm sure.) and let them soak, then rinsed again. Tub now disgusting. Then he didn't want the laces in when I washed them. He said to just toss them in the dryer with the shoes, so I dutifully pulled them out. I was going to wash them by hand, but then realized I was making more work for myself. Shoes, laces and muddy gloves went into the washer. Mopping utility pointless. Our washing machine is missing a leveler, so I have to sit on it during spin cycle, twice per load. Austin likes to sit with me too, and has recently taken to sitting on the dryer. Not bad, except he's been whiny this afternoon. So, that's my day so far. Cleaning for no reason at all.

As an added bonus, Austin threw up, and I found one of my shoe inserts ripped in half. (A pair of my shoes have this really funky insole so I cut foam pieces to fit inside when I worked at PSPT. It would cost $5 to get new foam and it's only about 1" x 2".) Ugh. Not a good day.

I Win!!

Update on the cat.

I got a spray bottle at the dollar store and set it to kill (straight shot, no spray). Finally, after weeks of waiting, my day had arrived...The cat was back today. I was on the computer and I heard the beginnings of a fight. I ran and got my "gun" from under the sink (dang child locks!!) and ran outside. One shot, direct hit, and the cat was on the run. I laughed and gave chase. It ran and hit the fence and I sprayed into the bush blindly. I could hear it scrambling, and I kept shooting. It finally got out and ran through a gap in the fence. Haha! Victory is mine you evil beast!!!!

Bad Ol' Puddy Tat

So a couple weeks ago, I heard cat fighting. The first since we had moved (there was a bully cat at our old place that picked on Boomer at 2 am.) So I opened the door, and saw Boom high tailing it for the door, and the offending cat chasing him. I whooped and hollered (my southern heritage) at him and got him to back off my porch. He then stood there defiantly glaring at me. I was within two feet of him and he wasn't budging. Since I still had my pj pants on, and I know how much cat scratches hurt, I wasn't walking into a crazy cat to live through a cartoon experience. I turned and went inside with my own cat.

Today I heard round two. I opened the door to see an actual fight going on. At the sound of my voice Boomer took off and the other cat followed. I did too, more slowly, and picked up a couple rocks on my way. I tossed the first one and Boomer jumped back a couple feet, but stood wary watching the other cat. I tossed another rock and it hit the ground right by it's feet. Nothing. Then I tossed the third and it hit the cat in the shoulder. It flinched (barely) but just slowly walked away glaring the whole time. What a mean cat!!!

Love you and miss you Max.

Tales of a Toddler Mom

Here are some thoughts/short stories/whatever.

First, as we were eating dinner, Boomer came up and looked like he was thinking about jumping into my lap. Normally I like a nice warm cat in my lap, but not necessarily at dinner, and I realized that the past few times he has come up to me I have been fairly timid. The last time he jumped in my lap, I was at the computer and he was under the desk. I moved back to give him more room right as he jumped, resulting in a scratch several inches long down my leg, and torn pj pants. So, yes, today I realized I am afraid of my cat.

Speaking of dinner, it was mac and cheese again. Not because our cupboards are empty but rather because we've made everything using one of the main ingredients that we have in the past few days. I was feeling uncreative (is that even a word?) so M&C. I left the table and when I came back, all Austin's M&C was gone. I asked if it was all in his lap, and sure enough... I picked him up in the seated position and stood him up on the table. (We have carpet under the table.) All the stuff fell off making a squishy plip plop noise. It made me laugh. Here I am, standing my kid on the kitchen table brushing mac and cheese off his lap. What kind of mom am I??? Laid back, that's what!

And last, I saw my living room. A total disaster. Toys, clothes, and cracker crumbs everywhere. And you know what? It made me feel good inside. I liked it. It told me I have a wonderful little boy who will only be small for a little while. He is happy and healthy. We spend the day together playing, and I can quickly clean the room in a matter of minutes when he is asleep, rather than fighting it all day long and missing out on his wonderful smile.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

OK, so I'm usually the one muting my computer when pages have music or the like. Mostly because I'm usually multi-tasking so several songs playing at once isn't all that beautiful. Shannon came over tonight (this was written awhile ago now) and we were reminiscing of old times. Mainly our trip to Winlock for a WSU football game and my birthday. We called into the radio station and requested a song that I wanted her to hear. We were laughing so hard I'm sure the DJ thought we were drunk, or high, or both. Well, I've added it and only it to my blog page for a limited time only. Get it while it's hot. Courtesy of Darren Day, I proudly present: One Night in Winlock

*Update* I couldn't figure out how to add a playlist. (At least not that could find the song) So I found this video on YouTube.

Another Tag

Shannon tagged me forever ago, and since she's abandoning me I figured I'd do it while she still had a chance to repent.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:.

1. Living the single life.
2. Enjoying my first year of college.
3. Spending too much money
4. Working at daycare
5. Had just bought my first car (the first one I paid for.)



5 Things on my "to do" list:
1. Clean the house
2. Shower and get dressed
3. Organize the office
4. Yard work
5. Get our 72 hour kits put together instead of the stuff being where ever.

5 Places I've lived:.
1. Winlock
2. Pullman
3. Vancouver
4. Pullman
5. Winlock

5 Bad Habits:.
1. Procrastinating
2. Picking Austin's crusties
3. Playing online
4. Not cleaning as much as I should
5. Not keeping in touch with friends

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:.
1. Buy a house
2. Buy 2 new cars
3. Pay off student loans
4. Build a house for my parents
5. Start a charity

5 Favorite foods/snacks:.
1. Chocolate
2. Sunkist soda
3. Dr. Pepper
4. Chocolate (it needs to be said twice)
5. Chocolate (or maybe three times)

Such a Big Boy

I am so amazed at how quickly Austin picks up on things. He just picked up a new sign (sock) so here's some of what he can do:
Make sounds for:
Lion
Snake
Dog
Cow
Sign:
(wave)
Thank you/ blow kisses
more
please
shoe
sock
Say:
Boo (for our cat Boomer and playing Peek a boo)
Dada
this
yes
ball
shoe
and he's really good at imitating things we say, so he can repeat words but doesn't use them regularly like Micah, Hannah, Jake,(once each on the names) go, no and others

He's a proficient walker, goes up and down stairs, has started running, loves to play chase, read books, play with Dakota and pester the daylights out of Boomer by throwing things at him (He plays fetch with Dakota) and about a billion other things. It seems he learns something new every day. It's so fun to watch. His latest thing is to "woof" every time he hears a dog bark. Ok, I'll get back to watching my kid. I was just so excited about him signing sock I had to share.

Twilight Video

This is hilarious. Enjoy.

Following In His Mother's Footsteps

Why is it that every time Austin falls hard enough to warrant crying, he smacks his mouth and starts bleeding. He even did it on carpeting with a little fall. Is it because his head is now in the 97th percentile? Or is it that he is his mother's son? When I was little I fell out of the little basket near the bottom of the shopping cart and killed both front teeth. They turned black and then finally fell out. Then as my permanent teeth were just coming in, I fell on the asphalt at school and chipped one and killed the other necessitating filling the chip on one and a root canal and other work on the other tooth. I'm just waiting for Austin to do the same. I'll let ya know when it's official.

On a side note; I realized today why moms get big backsides. It's because they use them to accomplish various tasks. Today I found myself bent over to pick up my gardening tools off the porch while trying to shut the screen door with my rear before Austin could get outside. Muscles get bigger with use. I gotta remember not to use this muscle anymore.

Dinner of Champions

So normally I only blog occassionally. And often I think of witty things to write but I never get it posted. So why today am I posting this? Because I believe you have the right to enjoy my wonderful and creative sense of humor, my intelligent writing, and my beautiful timing. Ok, so you have to provide the timing yourself, but if you know me well enough, you can hear me as you read. Timing is thus provided. I'm amazing! On to the post!

I babysat three days last week and on the final day, the mom forgot her checkbook. No problem. She promised to drop off the check the next day. Next day comes, no check, and we have to pay Zach's tuition. Mom and Dad to the rescue!! So, I'm watching the kids again this Friday, when I'm assuming I will get paid for all four days. Zach will get paid Wednesday from one job and Thursday from the hospital. So Wednesday, Thursday, Friday paydays. Nice.

So what do you serve for dinner when you are days away from several paychecks, have $5 in the bank, and even less in your cupboards? Mac and cheese and hot dogs of course!! The "All-American Dinner"! Unfortunately, Austin doesn't like mac and cheese. Oh well, I made it anyway and figured I would supplement as needed. Not that this dinner has a whole lot of nutritional value anyway, so I guess I would need to supplement anyway, but that's beside the point. Well, amazingly enough, he gobbled up the mac and cheese and ate almost an entire hot dog all by himself. Ok, when I go clean up, it will probably reveal itself to be more like half a hot dog. (In my gusto as I "made" the hot dogs, I sliced mine in half too. Bummer.) But the main thing is that when all is said and done, my kid got his daily dose of orange powder, butter, highly processed carbohydrates and most importantly his unrecognizable protein for the day.

*note: I don't usually feed my kid like this. At least I try not to. It can be rather difficult when you're cooking for two, or rather, one very finicky adult who eats tiny amounts at a time, and a toddler who would rather create floor art.

Well, I'm off to wash the carpet under the table (who would put carpeting where a table goes?!?!) and find something to eat to get this disgusting taste out of my mouth!

Yummy

My friend Bri has a list of things she has found in her kids' mouth. I love this list. I think it's great. Personally, Austin hasn't had too many weird things. Yet. He does have a love for pencil erasers, however. Every time he gets a pencil, it loses a chunk (or more) of eraser. Today I hopped in the shower and when I reached for the soap (I use bar soap for shaving) I noticed it had teeth marks in it. Evidently Austin decided to taste the soap. He must not have liked it because none was missing. It just had several tiny teeth indentations on each side. I had to laugh. I wish I could have seen his face when he tried it!

29 For The First Time

On Tuesday I turned 29. Yay me! I really have no qualms about being 29, or that 30 is just around the corner. I could care less because you know what? Caring won't change a thing, aging is inevitable, and it's not like I will feel any different when I hit 30. At all. So hurray for 29. And hurray for hitting 30 next year. My dad will be 60 right after I turn 30, so double hurray for that. Here's my list of 29 things I love about being 29. Let's see how far I can get without getting into weird random comments (For me that will be, like, maybe 5) Anyway....

1. I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.
2. I have the most wonderful son ever. Cutest too.
3. I have a bunch of grey hair. Found my first at 20.
4. I have experienced high school.
5. I have experienced college as a single co-ed.
6. I skipped classes to hang out. (See, I told you 5 was my limit.)
7. I skipped classes to sleep.
8. I skipped classes to eat at Pita Pit.
9. I skipped classes for no reason at all.
10. I have friends from way back in preschool.
11. I have friends in preschool.
12. My insurance rate is lower.
13. Zach's finally is too! (I married a baby.)
14. I own my own house. (Well, technically the bank does...)
15. I own my own car. (Two actually)
16. I get hugs and kisses every day.
17. I can play online all day and only have to answer to myself. (Although I could never actually do it.)
18. No one nags me about cleaning my room or doing homework.
19. I can be slobby all day if I feel like it.
20. I can get all dolled up for no reason other than wanting to look nice for Zach.
21. I don't have to worry if so and so likes me.
22. I don't have to deal with petty girls trying to "steal" a guy I like to prove they're cool or hot or whatever they're trying to prove.
23. I can stay up as late as I want. It's just a matter of how tired I want to be the next day.
24. I can pick my friends. (Believe me in a class of 45, there aren't many choices)
25. All my friends have adorable kids. (or will someday).
26. I get to watch my children grow up.
27. I get to spend every day with the ones I love.
28. Knowing my family (and friends) love me.
29. I love me.

So that's it. Unedited. I'm not going to go back over it to see if I like it. Just 29 things I thought of. Ok, so I cheated and wrote 29 before I actually got there, but I felt it was a good sum up.

For Raya and Nathan...

One day a snail climbed up on a turtle and said.....

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Cake Decorating

My latest thing is cake decorating. I started when I was little as my mom decorated cakes. I recently took Wilton's course 1 at Michaels and am excited about starting course 2 in a couple weeks. (No, I didn't learn the skills to do the bear from class, we learned things like flowers and such). Anyway, I came across this lovely website, which I find quite entertaining and am currently having fun perusing old entries. Feel free to check it out. I'm also adding it to my "Extra Credit" list. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Austin's Birthday (Belated I Know...)

Well, Austin turned the big 1 on July 25th. I would have had these up sooner, but that camera I broke way beck in April-ish, just got more brokener before his birthday (no, I didn't break it even more, it just stopped working alright!?!?) and I had to borrow Em's camera (thanks Em). She thoughtfully made me a CD, so here they are:

The race is on...

The ball Aunts Em and Hannah got him, which he loves!

You do know I can't read this tag to find out what's in here right?

The Button Blanket Grandma and Hannah made. We then added buttons from Grandma J and Great Grandma so all but one Grandma have buttons on there.

Austin loves books.

His very own remote control. Although he still prefers ours.

Cake on his actual birthday. It wasn't very good.

His bear cake. I forgot the M&M's that go on the bottom front.

(Jason and I both had this cake for our first birthdays)

The first bite.

You're not gonna take it away are you?

Taa-Daa!!

Cougar Car

We got a free car from our friends (thank you Ryan and Megan) and I got this crazy idea to paint it. So here are a couple before and after shots. We are going to put a Screaming Cougar logo (all you Cougs know what I mean) on the front, but couldn't find the right type of sticker. It will be white and go on the red area right infront of the steering wheel. The dark looking spots on the door in the after shot are just the angle. I am really happy with how it turned out. I would like to paint Tin Man or something on the license plate on the back too, but I don't think it would look too cool with my hadn writing. Anyway, just wanted to share my little project with y'all.

Breaking Dawn Release Party

I introduced my SIL to the Twilight series, which she loves. As I was reading the paper yesterday I saw that there were a couple release parties in Moscow starting at 11. Em gets off at 11, so we decided to go. We had never been to anything like that, so what the hey. Luckily, she had to clean a contact room, so she wanted to take a shower when she got home. We got to Hastings at 11:40. The first thing we see is a girl dressed as a vampire (I swear, had she not had braces she probably would have had the cheesy fangs that make you drool all over and pop out if you try to say anything.) giving an interview. The question posed was, I kid you not, "Who is your favorite character, and which character do you identify with the most and why?" Ummmmm. That's a lot of thought to try to wrap your head around and answer coherently. Yeah, so we each grabbed a Dum Dum and meandered around the store. They were drawing names for a book and we were bummed we hadn't gotten our names in the hat until we realised it was an Eragon book, I think. Yeah, never mind. I'm OK with missing out on that one. They announced that they could sell the books at 12:01, to which people moaned. (It's ONE minute people!!!) And which lines to get in if you had already reserved your copy. There was a mass movement to the lines, so we moseyed that way. In line, we amazingly enough knew where to send one girl to get in line. (The only thing we did know) then oh my goodness!! The worst smell hit. We left the line, came back and had to leave again. When we came back again a couple girls had gotten in line, and the smell was gone. Like I told Em, I would rather change Austin's diaper than smell that!! It was bad! So we stood in line making fun of the whole shebang and having a good time. Em posed the question, "How many people do you think are going to go home and read the whole thing tonight?" I flicked my finger around as if counting heads, and said, "Everyone here." Sure enough, we bought our book, and as we left there were people sitting on the sidewalk outside the store, reading! How pathetic!! Wait five minutes and GO HOME!!! So we joked the whole way home about what we were going to do for the midnight showing of the movie. We laughed so hard, I had tears coming out of my eyes. I won't bore you with what we said, because I'm sure it's a "You had to be there" kind of thing. Suffice it to say, there was talk of shouting things like"I'm a Cullen!!" and, "I have my own vampire!!" (ode to Shannon on that one.) Anyway, as lame as the "party" was, we had a blast mocking the whole thing. Thanks for a great night Em!! Oh! And we got buttons.

Here I Come Grandma!!

Austin started walking almost a week before his first birthday. At first, he would walk from one person to the next, or cruise along something, then walk. But if he fell, he would crawl the rest of the way. He is walking more readily now, not cruising to the end of things, just pulling himself up, then taking off. He still isn't standing up without pulling up on something though. He fell three times today, hence the bruises on his forehead.

Happy Three Years!

Short blog, I have to go frost my cake for my decorating class tonight. Zach and I have been married three years today. Yay. It is also our best anniversary. We woke up and he told me he wasn't working tonight and we went and saw Dark Knight at noon while Micah watched Austin for us. Yup. That's it. So far anyway. And it's still the best we've had. Our honeymoon was 108 degrees everyday, with nothing to do closer than 100 miles away. For our first anniversary we went camping during a national heat wave. We lasted one day, then spent our last $100 on a motel room for a night, with all our camping stuff in the bed of the truck where anyone could have stolen it, (They didn't) Then, when we got ready to leave Lewiston (Yup that was where we rented the motel. Lame huh?) the battery to the truck was dead. Last year I was 9 months pregnant, and little did I know, 2 days from delivering, so obviously I was in no shape to do anything. So this year wins the prize. But no matter how lame our anniversary, marrying Zach was still the best thing I've ever done. Thanks for putting up with me honey. I love you.

These are from bowling right after we started dating.

8 Things Tag

Bri is famous for tagging me. I guess you could say that anyway. Out of the two times she's been tagged since we found each other, she has tagged me both times. But it's ok Bri. I actually find them kindof fun. But I think I hear Buzza up, so I will finish this later. Well. It's later. The magic of internet, no time has passed for you.


8 Things I'm Passionate About:
My Family
Nature
Outdoor activities (ie camping, hiking, fishing, etc)
Being a patient and understanding parent
Letting my kids be kids (Make messes and have fun)
Sleep
Cake Decorating (ok, I'm not passionate about it, it's just my newfound fun)
Tennis shoes. (I love 'em)

8 Things I Say A Lot:
I can't believe he's up already!
Have fun at work.
That's not for Austin.
I love you.
With my luck...(followed by something bad that would happen in a given situation)
I think it's bedtime.
What do you want to eat?
What do you want to do?

8 Things I Would Like To Do Before I Die:
Travel
Be better about doing the things I know I should. All of them
Have my farm
Pay off my student loans
Get in shape
Have a clean house every day
Do temple work for some close relatives
Get another degree

8 Books I've Read:
Twilight Series (I had to see what all the fuss was about. Started eh, then got lots better.)
Harry Potter series (just reread the whole thing)
The Entire Standard Works
Pendragon
House of the Scorpion
Charlotte's Web (it was one of my favorites growing up)
Chronicles of Narnia
Horseshoes, Cowsocks, and Duckfeet (By Baxter Black)

8 Movies I've Seen 8 Times:
Night at the Roxbury
Spider Man
Harry Potter (all of them)
The Waterboy
The Italian Job
Elf
Office Space
Cars

8 People I Tag:
Ok, not eight, but anyone who wants to do this, just for kicks.

Big John

So I'm doing this one last, but the way it posts them it will be first. My family (particularly Dad) has had a rough year. He has lost many friends and family in a short period of time. Probably one of the nearest and dearest was a good friend and neighbor of 15 years. Well, at the parade I saw a log truck coming, (not unusual in Winlock) and I noticed that the truck looked familiar and it had a beatiful load on it. I didn't recognize the name on the side, so I just figured it was coincidence that it looked familiar. As it rounded the corner where we were at, I saw this sign.

John was a log truck driver. He bought my dad's truck after Dad got hurt. He lived in my Grandparents house, where my dad had grown up, not 100 yards from mine, for 15 years. When he moved in Nicole and I made him cookies and took them over. He never forgot that and I wish I had done it again. He was a good man and a good friend. Thanks John, for everything.

The Rest of the Weekend

Here are some random pictures from the weekend.

Layne, my nephew, at his baseball game.

Austin going on his first quad ride.

Calyx, "Take a picture of this Crystal!"

Playing fetch in my parents field.

Dakota doesn't mind the water. This is at the Little Pond. (Yup, we have a Big Pond too. Aren't we creative?!)

A couple pictures of a small part of my parents' beautiful property.

My handsome boys.

Austin playing in the water. It was a little cold, so he preferred to be outside the tub and just splash.
Just look at all this fat. I gotta do something about this.

Austin loves the puppers, and she loves him too.

Our neighbors brought us a huge pan of the yummiest strawberries. Dark red all the way through. This one stood out from the rest for some reason.

The class of 98. Or, those that came to the reunion anyway. Not a bad showing for only having 45 that walked.

Egg Day Parade

We went home last weekend for my 10 year class reunion, which was held on Egg Day Weekend. Now, most of you are probably like Zach, not realizing how big Egg Days really is. The whole town turns out. Plus some. If you're coming to Winlock at all over the summer to visit family and friends, this is the time to do it. Everyone is there. The parade was over an hour long. Quite an accomplishment for a town of a little over 1,000. Here are some of the resulting pictures. I tried to take a variety of the floats to give you a feel for the town. First, a couple that I can't take credit for; the giant egg in our town, and a few of the chickens around local businesses.

Yup, the pride and joy of our town.

For some reason, they have started putting these chickens all around town.

Our Egg Day Royalty float.

Austin wouldn't nap before we came downtown, so he ended up conking out right before the parade. This was taken as the fire trucks and ambulances were going by.

Cedar Village IGA Float. They usually throw out mini loaves of bread. This year it was Twinkies. Mine got smooshed in the stroller before I got to eat it. Bummer.

Our buddy Calyx bustin' it getting candy.

One of the many many chickens seen in the parade.

Live 95 has a Wonder Truck they give away each year. This is the current one.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield. His daughter was a year younger than me. Great family.

Xoee helping Christine Webb get elected. The huge red shirt and red hair kind of make her disappear in front of the red truck.

Xylee hand delivering some candy to us.

Roller derby chicks that kindof stunk in my opinion.

Only in Winlock (and the other towns near it) would you see goats promoting a politician.

Jane and her girls Xylee, Alex & Lexee (twins), Xoee, and Calyx. And Zach of course. He burned his head the day before at Layne's baseball game, hence the really cool hat.

At the end of the parade, still snoozing. He woke up just a few minutes later.