Join the party

Jag has been pretending she is Anastasia and it's her birthday all day today. We had a party this morning where she opened "gifts" which were items of hers that she wrapped in doll blankets and assigned to each of us to give to her. Just now she came begging for cake and ice-cream! I told her "later- when I am done doing dishes." But soon she came back begging again saying that all her guests were leaving! So I relented and thought "why not?" So I dished up slivers of leftover cake from Ethiopian Christmas, with a small amount of ice-cream on leftover party plates. Loaded them onto a crystal platter and even grabbed a birthday candle that was laying in the kitchen windowsill.

Jag and Denny began fighting over whose birthday it was. So I grabbed a second candle from the windowsill and stuck one in each slice of cake, lit them and began singing! They stopped fighting and sat at the table in surprise as I added both "Anastasia" and "Denny" to the song and allowed them to each blow out their own candle.

Honestly, that was kinda fun!
I think every day needs a party!

Anatomically Correct

When my two older kids potty trained I thought it was important to teach correct vocabulary, both for anatomy and for restroom apparatus. (You didn't need your son to come out of a public bathroom and happily announce for everyones eavesdropping horror that he "went pee in the sink" when really he used a urinal and didn't know what to call it!)

And with Denny I thought the same guidelines should apply. Recently I had him give potty training a try. And I gave him the vocabulary lesson. But to my dismay he (with his 3rd-child mentality at grabbing for any attention he can and with the help of a 7 year old brother egging him on) the vocabulary became the, er, butt of jokes.

Luckily, our vocabulary lesson had not been thorough and he got a couple words mixed together. At this point I have no intention of correcting him just yet.

I can only grin and be glad that the little old ladies that stop to admire his cuteness have no idea what he is really referring to when he happily announces "I have a penit!"

Summer Fun!

This is a list of my summer plans with my kids! Feel free to snatch ideas, ask to tag along and even add comments to give me your ideas too! I hope you are inspired to have a fun summer with your kids! They are only little once!

1. FREE: Seattle Art Museum (SAM) on the first Thursday of the month (July 1st or Aug 5th) http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/
2. FREE: Museum of flight on the first Thursday of the month 5pm -9pm (July 1st or Aug 5th) http://www.museumofflight.org/
3. Library summer reading program http://www.kcls.org/
4. "Park Day"- choose a day of the week to try out new parks- I am thinking Friday's
5. Forest Park in Everett has a water park & playground -FREE http://www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=534
6. Go up space needle and have LUNCH on a WEEKDAY- includes a free trip to observation deck! It costs only a little more than the trip to the observation deck but you get lunch in a spinning restaurant! http://www.spaceneedle.com/

7. Science center & Ride the monorail http://www.pacsci.org/

8. Ballard Locks , Fremont troll & Golden gardens http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/tour/locks.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Troll
9. Seattle Aquarium, SAM sculpture park (always free!) & Pike Place Market http://www.seattleaquarium.org/ http://seattleartmuseum.org/getout/default.asp
10. Imagine Children's Museum - in Everett. Thursday 3-5pm is $3.75 each. We never stay longer than 2 hours anyways, might as well get half price! http://www.imaginecm.org/
11. Monte Cristo Gallery- Art gallery across the street from Imagine Children's Museum. http://www.artscouncilofsnoco.org/gallery.html
12. St. Edwards Park- hiking trails, playground, bicycling trail. http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Saint%20Edward
13. Tour local Fire House- organize a group of parents and kids to join us
14. Tie-dye in the backyard
15. Beach & swimming: Mukilteo, Edmonds, Golden gardens, Newport beach park, Pine lake
16. Green Lake: walk around lake, playground & wade pool http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=307
17. Arboretum, Japanese garden & Foster Island http://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/gardens/wpa.shtml
18. Day Trip: Washington Park, Deception pass & Fort Casey- we did this last year & it was great!
19. EASY Hikes: Narbeck Wetland 1.8 miles, Spencer Island 2.6 miles, Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve 3 miles, Paradise Valley .5- 13 miles, Barclay Lake 4.4 miles, Rivers Meadows Park 2.5 miles, Robe Canyon 2.4 miles, Big Four Ice Caves 2.2 miles.
20. GOAL HIKE: Mt. Sai- this is my goal for the end of the summer!
21. Camp in the backyard!

Amazing "Grace"

Dene is only 2 but he is one of the big kids. He does everything they do, including bed time prayer. As his vocabulary is exploding some nights he is long winded and we don't know half of what is said. But other times, like tonight, it's such childlike simplicity it's lost on me. I wish I prayed like him more often.



"Dear God, Hallelujah! AMEN!"

Rooting for a swat!

The other night Ocean got himself into some trouble and got sent to bed early. It was only 15 minutes until bedtime anyway. Fifteen minutes later, as I lay Dene down for bed in the bottom bunk, Ocean was still throwing a fit up in the top bunk. Dene in his 2-year-old hardly-understandable little voice happily began to chant "Give him a swat! Give him a swat!" His little foot and a half long arm was swinging back and forth like a pirate. "Give him a swat! Give him a swat!"
I told them both to go to sleep and once I was out of earshot I had a good laugh!
Sorry, Ocean, your little brother is rooting against you.

Cavities and the fall of man

Ocean had a cavity, again. Really, no fault of his. He brushes and flosses and gargles anti-cavity mouthwash meticulously. (And now has added prescription toothpaste to the mix.) But three 6 month appointments in a row he's had to have a filling (granted one of those was just for replacing a filling that had fallen out). Luckily, we have an awesome pediatric dentist who is totally understanding (apparently the same thing happened to her as a kid). And Ocean is totally not afraid to go and have the work done, in fact this last time I stayed in the waiting room with my other two kids the whole time.

It's after the work is done that he is upset. He HATES being numb. He gets frustrated and angry. He thinks that the moment he walks out the dentist's door he should not be numb anymore. So in his frustration and anger he lamented about why God ever made cavities and germs.

I'd never really thought about an answer to this before, but on the spot I blamed cavities and germs on the sin of Adam and Eve, the fall of man. I didn't mean to get all theological on him. But I think it's rather a pretty good explanation.

Spilt Milk

I have come to the decision that I need to just accept that EVERY DAY milk will be spilled. Whether from a cup, a cereal bowl, a sip cup or the jug, whether intentional or not, makes no difference. I think making this formal acceptance will help me to see spilt milk as a daily expectation and not an aggravating annoyance (which usually happens just before we leave the house while running late). Now I can rejoice on those rare occasions in which no milk was spilled the entire day long and no longer take them for granted.
MILK WILL BE SPILLED TODAY!