Stupid Face

Audrey has started saying "stupid face" all the time.  All. the. time.  I have no idea where she learned it, but it's hilarious.  She says it with all the conviction she can muster, and it's great.  Amos and Maggie wail and wail when she says it to them, and I have to try SO hard not to laugh.  She is so naughty, but so cute.  She'll get far in life.  (Don't tell her I said any of this).

Happy Mother's Day!

No sappy post from me, instead, what made me smile most this week...

Now, the backstory:

I bought Amos these bookends from Urban Outfitters (an obviously PG-13 rated store, not endorsing it, just the bookends) and with the receipt came a sheet of tattoos:

I didn't realize the kids knew how to apply tattoos, and I was shocked when Amos and Maggie came out of the bathroom with their arms COVERED.  In surprise I said,

"Oh my gosh, you're all tatted up!"

Amos didn't miss a beat...

"Yep! We're all tatted up!"

And, in honor of Mother's Day, my favorite one:

Classy.

Of course I couldn't get them to come off, and all of the kids had to wear unseasonable long sleeved shirts to church today ;)  That's how we roll.

Moving In

Backtracking just a little here...

We moved into our house on Monday, April 29.  The Saturday before, my parents, Anna, and Iva were in town for a quick visit.  They were such a big help in getting two of the kids' bedrooms upstairs painted (from Seahawk green).  The rooms aren't big, but I severely underestimated how long it would take the paint to dry in this wet climate...I never could have gotten it done without their help.

My favorite pictures from their visit:

Wardie was all over Iva trying to get her bottle.  Foot to the face and all.  They're going to be such cute little cousins.  I hope they get the chance to be close.

When moving day rolled around, the kids and I left the apartment in Bellevue at 7 a.m. to be to the house before the movers arrived at 8.  We made it in plenty of time. Especially because they were 3 hours late.  Grrr. 

When they finally showed up, they had three trucks and 11 crates of our stuff.  It was shocking how much stuff just kept coming and coming of the trucks.  We really don't need that much stuff...

One of the first things off the truck was Wardie's bumbo...he sure missed it!

They unloaded into the house all day, until the place was completely overwhelmed.  Then they headed home, and we headed back to Bellevue for one last night in the apartment.

Mag's is an apartment dweller like her mama:

Having the apartment to go to was a huge blessing, because the house was totally unlivable at that point.  I spent a month longing for all of my stuff, and now that I had it all back, I just wanted it to all go away again!

The next morning the movers returned again with two trucks and 4 more crates.  Gah.  

The kids were really good during all of the moving in.  It was like one big picnic for them.

When the movers finally left, I set about trying to find all of our stuff.  Unpacking the boxes was like unwrapping Christmas presents wrapped by some seriously drunk elves.  Stuff was EVERYWHERE.  I found pieces of one lamp in three separate boxes.  Before that experience, I would have guessed lamps only came apart into two pieces...

The highlight of the unwrapping had to be when I unwrapped some very carefully wrapped rocks.  Like, from our yard.  I am sure one of the kids had brought them into the house.  The movers aren't allowed to judge our belongings, so we're now the proud owners of some Utah rocks in Washington.

When all was said and done over 500 "items" (boxes, pieces of furniture, etc.) were left for me to deal with.  No wonder I have been so exhausted.  It is good to know that it only takes about a week to reach a normal-ish level of living again.  And that's with four "helpers."

I should also mention that the Relief Society presidency from our ward stopped by after the movers left.  They arranged for the kids to be watched two afternoons, for dinners, and for help unpacking.  How amazing is that?  For me, that week, the Relief Society quite literally, moved a mountain.

Life starts in Duvall

The view of our backyard from my kitchen window almost makes the lack of reliable Internet worth it. Almost.

We're settling in nicely into our new home.  I've unpacked all of the boxes in the house (just a few stragglers in the garage left), Eric is mastering his commute, and the kids are in heaven.

We're alive!

We've moved into our next temporary home (1-2 years temporary). It's awesome and great, BUT there is no cellphone service, and our Internet won't be hooked up until Saturday. I am dying! Literally dying. I feel so cut off, it's scary.

Otherwise, we're doing very well. I am slowly chipping away at the mountain of boxes. The kids are making it exponentially more difficult, but that's life.

Hopefully by Saturday I'll have some presentable rooms for pictures, Internet, and the energy to post again. ;)

Dada's Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated Eric's birthday.  It was very low key, but nice. 

On Friday, I told the kids we'd go to the store to get the stuff to make a cake for Eric the next day.  When Saturday rolled around, Eric told the kids he wanted to go on an adventure in the mountains.  Maggie said,

"But what about going to the store to get stuff to..." (mumble, mumble, trail off)

When Eric asked her what she meant, she said,

"I mean, I want to go to the mountains!" 

The she came over and whispered to me about going to the store for cake.  I assured her we would go after the mountains.

After the mountain adventure, the kids and I went to the store and picked out a cake and supplies to decorate it for Eric.  The kids were SO sneaky.  Obviously, Eric knew what we were doing, but they thought they were tricking him and it was so cute.  As we were mixing it, Eric came into the kitchen and said, what's that?  The kids (scary fast) concocted a story that it was sauce for chicken.  While it baked, Maggie said,

"That sauce sure smells good!"

They spent the rest of the day talking about chicken and sauce.  They didn't even buckle when Eric told them he didn't want sauce, but he wanted cake.

As for the activity for the day, we went to the Space Needle.  Eric and I went on one of our previous trips here, and we noticed that people like to leave notes on the window, and as you rotate around you get all different notes and can leave your own.  We knew the kids would think that was pretty fun.

So, post-its in hand, we headed to lunch.

Sure enough, the kids loved the note "passing."

And a special dessert for the birthday boy:

Also a big hit with the kids.

Wardie was there too.  He didn't pass any notes, but he might have eaten a few:

After lunch we headed up to the observation deck.  Eric was oddly absent during this part.  I think his old age is making him a scaredy cat ;)

Truthfully, the kids and I didn't last up there long either.  It's high!

It was a good day, and hopefully Eric/Dada knows that we love him.

Swingin' in the Rain

Things have gotten better since my last post.  They might have gotten worse first though.  That night I finally got Maggie to sleep, and left Amos to fall asleep on his own.  A few minutes later, I heard Amos and MAGGIE playing!  He woke her up.  I sent him right to timeout.  Where I left him.  Until he fell asleep.  Oops.  It actually didn't take that long, which makes me conclude that I am right, they are tired, they just won't quit monkeying around.

The next day we had another (and thankfully final) failed attempt at the park.  It was sunny when we left our building, but by the time we got there, an arctic rain was falling.  It wasn't the nice Seattle mist either, it was real rain.  Not able to bear the thought of going back to the apartment without getting some energy out, we stayed and tried to play in it.  It was freezing and we were all soaked.  Luckily Amos came up with a way to make it more manageable:

Since that day we have had three WONDERFUL days at the park.  One day I even managed to get Wardie the teensiest bit of a sunburn.

Yesterday Amos asked me if he could bring a bunch of paper airplanes to the park for his friends.  Sure, why not?  The minute we got to the park Amos ran up to a boy just his age and said,

"Hi, will you be my friend?"

while thrusting a paper airplane in his face.  Awesome.  The boy was playing with his dad, so he looked to him for approval, and when his dad nodded, the boys were off.  They played and played.  The boy had a baseball with him, and he and Amos found a stick and soon had their own little sandlot going.  Inevitably, the ball hit Amos square in the face and he came running over with blood pouring out of his nose.

We got him all cleaned up, assessed that there wasn't really any damage, and then he declared:

"It's ok, we are still friends!"

Sure enough.  Thankfully, after that they switched to soccer.

Eventually the boy had to go, and Amos spent the rest of our park time finding more friends to bestow his paper airplanes on. 

One thing I am noticing is that no one seems to come out if it's raining.  My kids did not get that memo.  (Arctic) rain or shine, they are ready to play.

Best face ever:

MUCH more like it: