Orion and Ollie

Mini-Blizzard of 2012!

January 18th, 2012

Sandy

Before the big snow blew in!

Well, the snow sure did arrive in these parts. Our first dusting happened on Sunday night/Monday morning. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day so it didn’t effect school or work and it was barely enough to sled in at first. We tried though. We took the boys to Lincoln Elementary School and built a nice sled run with side walls and a ramp. John thought it would be a fun thing for other kids when more snow eventually blew in!

School was cancelled on Tuesday. While John was at work, the boys and I started working on an igloo in our front yard. The snow was kind of turning to ice and it was hard work. Ollie abandoned the work early and basically sat on the front porch swing complaining and insisting I make him hot chocolate. I ignored him and eventually he went back inside to warm up on his own. Orion and I toiled away on the igloo for a few hours and then he wandered back inside too. When John arrived home from work I was the lone worker building the igloo. I soon abandoned it too for warmth and dinner.

Then we were told there was a second front of snow coming…and lots of it. Well, it came! On Tuesday night we had about 12 inches blow in overnight…at least that’s what the news reported for our area. John only measured 10 1/2 inches. Still, that was a lot for one night!

The new snow was powdery and covered the igloo nicely, filling in the holes and making it a bit more structurally sound. A good thing! That day State offices were closed, so John went out and completed the work we started while Orion and I headed to Lincoln Elementary School to sled some more. The kids there were really lovin’ the sled run we made. Orion recognized some of the kids from his school and said hello. They gave him the cold shoulder and basically made fun of him right in front of us. Orion was oblivious but I knew what was going on. Suddenly, I wished I was Elf in that scene from the movie where he throws snowballs at lightening speed and runs all the mean kids off. I know. Those are cruel thoughts. But I’m a protective mama bear. What can I say!?

Now it’s Wednesday night and apparently school is cancelled for tomorrow. The rain is supposed to come in tonight and most of the snow should be melting soon but they expect icy conditions on the roads.

It’s been a fun, short burst of winter snow. Just the way I like it. Too much of it makes you stir crazy. Too little of it makes you long for it. This was a perfect amount. Thanks God!

We can even get WIFI in our igloo!

Remembering Baxter

January 15th, 2012

Sandy

There’s a fresh layer of snow on the ground and the boys are excited. I should be too, and I am, but I’m also kind of glum today. A year ago today we lost Baxter. I haven’t forgotten and doubt I ever could. But instead of being a complete downer I guess I’ll share a fond memory of Baxter in honor of him.

When it comes to snow, Baxter was never a huge fan. He’d have to be dragged outside to pee. He didn’t want to get his precious doggie paws all cold. I even pondered buying him dog snow boots but then came to my senses!

The first year we ever had snow with Baxter we lived in Nashville and didn’t have kids yet. John and I decided to take Baxter out in the back yard and see what he did. He was perplexed and a bit annoyed but tolerated it because we liked it. That was his nature. If we enjoyed sitting on hot burning coals he would do it too. He was ever eager to please us even at his expense. His whole purpose for living was making us happy (and, I suppose, butter…he loved butter!)

After Baxter adjusted to the annoyance of the snow we got the flea-brained idea of taking him out on the golf course behind our house and sledding with him. John thought we could somehow train him to pull us on the sled. Yeah…that DIDN’T happen. Then I had the even stupider idea of trying to get on the sled WITH Baxter and go down a hill with him. Oh my. He panicked as we started to move and we ended up in a huge pile as we rolled over and under eachother down this hill…much to the amusement of others looking on.

After some failed sledding attempts, I suddenly and urgently had to pee. So we decided to head back home but then realized that the house keys that were in my pocket were no longer there and we had no spare key or way to get in the house AND I had to PEE! I pondered breaking a window then decided not to. I pondered knocking on a neighbors door but was too embarrassed. So, I did the potty dance while the 3 of us trekked around this huge golf course looking for the keys (basically a needle in a hay stack!) But we had our trusty Baxter with us and he had a good nose on him. He dragged us in different directions and eventually led us directly to the keys buried in the snow. Amazing. Suffice to say, I made it to the potty just in time. Baxter saved the day. You can bet he got some butter as a reward that day!

I love you Baxter. I miss you intensely and will always remember your kind spirit.

A dusting of morning snow

November 19th, 2011

Sandy

"Hey Ollie, Betcha can't cram that whole, huge snowball in your mouth!"

The boys woke up (early, I might add) to a dusting of morning snow. This is the first snow we’ve seen this season so we had to dig throughout the house to find hats, gloves, and general snow gear. Not an easy task as this stuff has been buried in various places.

There wasn’t much snow but enough to have family snowball fights. The boys were good sports while they were successfully whacking Daddy with snowballs, but when he pummeled them back they were a bit dismayed.

Boys reaction to being pummeled by Daddy!

After snow fun we headed out as a family to downtown Olympia for coffee and cocoa at Batdorf and Bronson’s. Most of the snow is melted now and we miss it already.

Halloween 2011

October 31st, 2011

Sandy

Ah Halloween…our biggest event in this neighborhood. This year did not disappoint. We had about 400 trick-or-treaters, but if you counted all the adults that tagged along the number would be in the thousands. It was wild. This year there was even a skeleton drum core that played and marched down our street. So fun!

It was cold with a capital C but thankfully it did not rain. Grandma and Grandpa Jim came over to help hand out candy and see the chaos. Then in the evening they stayed at the Phoenix Inn downtown.

This year both boys insisted that they were to be Star Wars characters. Oliver secretly believes that he is Obi Wan Kenobi, halloween or no halloween, so his costume was a given. Orion decided he wanted to be someone in Star Wars with a gun so he was a clone trooper. I found out that you ought not confuse a clone trooper with a storm trooper. Clone troopers are good guys, storm troopers are on the dark side…duh Mommm!

Anyway, John did his masterful pumpkin carving as usual. Everyone was impressed.

The pumpkin house and our neighbors Dana and Dudley also did it up good. Dana and Dudley recruited friends and they were self-absorbed artists painting on easels on their porch. There was Van Gogh (Dudley), Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol (Dana) and Salvador Dali…as well as a keyboard player. Fun stuff.

We sure love Halloween in this neighborhood. May the force be with you!

Satisfied in You (worship song with lyrics)

October 17th, 2011

Sandy

I’ve decided to make some worship videos with lyrics. Why? Why not? I did this one at 11:00 at night while I had a cold so I didn’t quite hit the high notes, but whatever.

<

Last day of 1st grade and Rotary Auction confusion

June 25th, 2011

Sandy

Orion finally made it to the very last day of 1st grade. Phew…what a wild ride it was! One of Orion’s 1st grade teachers had prepared a slideshow of pictures set to music and invited parents, so I came to share snacks and enjoy. Orion was very keyed up and crazy. I think he was just so excited to be done with the school year.

After that we headed home to pack up the car because we thought we were going to the rotary auction on Bainbridge Island. It’s a major event. Huge. Words can not describe it. It’s like a garage sale that spans many football fields. We plan for it every year. Typically it falls on the last weekend of June. So, we booked a hotel room in advance because if you wait too long those become scarce. Well, that backfired on us because we found out as we were heading out the door that the auction had been moved one week back to July 2nd. Oy!

Since it was too late to cancel our hotel and get a refund, we decided to go to Bainbridge Island anyway. We had no real plan other than to find some yard sales so that the boys could return home with a toy as promised.

We arrived in the early evening and took a leisurely stroll around downtown Poulsbo. Then we went to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant out there, Chungs. After that we took a quick drive around the island to see our old house and check out where the yard/garage sales might be in morning.

The next day we got up early and headed to Sluys Bakery in downtown Poulsbo. They make amazingly yummy things including their famous Poulsbo bread. After we were all sugared up we headed back to Bainbridge in search of yard sales. We found quite a few and Orion and Ollie bought some toys and were happy. Then we drove back to our hotel to check out and headed north to Point No Point to do some beach-combing.

Point No Point is a place that John used to take Orion when he was a baby. Typically on a Saturday morning he would give me a few hours to myself and have a “Daddy Adventure” with Orion. They loved to stroll along the beach at Point No Point. John was thrilled to be back again.

The boys found lots of great rocks and driftwood forts. They loved climbing around in those things. Orion pretended one of them was his own Taekwondo Dojang. He had a blast.

It was a very unexpected and laid back vacation. A nice treat.

Father’s Day 2011

June 19th, 2011

Sandy

Father’s Day was a semi-unplanned, adventurous day. John only knew that he wanted to go on a family hike somewhere.

We started out the morning loading up on a ton of food at the Black Bear Diner. Mmmm…mmmm good. The portions were out-of-control huge so after that we felt like we needed a major hike just to burn of the carb fest we just experienced.

Daddy and the boys at McLane Creek

The weather was gloomy and iffy so we scratched our original idea of going to Mt. Rainier and instead stayed much closer to home. We ended up at McLane Creek Nature trail in Olympia just off of Delphi Rd. It’s a great place for birdwatching and, unbeknownst to us, bear watching! There was a sign posted at the front entrance warning of a recent bear sighting. Yikes!

Regardless, we hiked, threw rocks in the creek, snacked and had a nice time for a few hours. Afterwards we headed home for lunch and a nap. Then we all headed out for a family walk around the neighborhood. The boys love that the Frog Pond Convenience Store is one block away from our house and coerced us into an ice cream stop. The weather was much better than expected.

For an extra Father’s Day treat we got take out from Great Indian Cuisine for dinner. John and I both love curry. It was a very spontaneous and pleasant day.

You deserve a break today…

June 12th, 2011

Sandy

My newly painted music room!

Every so often I reach a meltdown stage where I’ve had just a little too much kid interaction and need to be alone with my thoughts. It’s draining to have everything you do constantly interrupted by someone elses needs. Lately, the boys have been bickering and fighting and I basically start feeling like the combination of a referee and the live in maid that doesn’t get paid.

Well, John saw the train a-comin’ down the track as it was about to derail. He knew I was losin’ it. So, after I vented loudly to him about the kids and my crumbling mental state, he got the message loud and clear.

Early the following morning I hear him scuffling around. He got the kids out of bed, slapped some grubby clothes on them, doused them in sunscreen spray and shuffled them out the door. Then he turned to me and said “We’ll be gone all day and I’m gonna wear their little butts out!” It was like poetry to my ears. What a good man!

Suddenly, and surprisingly, I was free…free to do whatever I chose to do with a weekend day. It was sunny and I could have gone outside and frolicked a bit. But, as a busy mom, there was a checklist of “my things” in my mind that never get done. I always put those things off to get stuff done for everyone else. Well, today I was going to check just one of those things off my list. I decided to paint my home recording studio/spare bedroom.

Formerly, that room was Oliver’s nursery. But he now shares a room and bunk bed with Orion. So, I had moved all my audio/music gear into that room hoping it would become my studio. However, every time I tried working in there, the ultra bright green walls and the baby artwork and toys that still lingered in there just killed my creative flow.

I had previously bought paint in the color I wanted called “Sandy Feet”. How appropriate! It was a very neutral and non-distracting color.

I was very meticulous about taping and painting and in the end it looked great but needed new artwork. So, I went to the basement and dug out my gold and platinum records that I had been awarded as a recording engineer. Those things have been in a box in the basement since we moved into this house almost 7 years ago! Ah…suddenly the room was really coming together. I re-hooked all my gear up and had fun dinking around with that for a little while.

Then, I decided to mow the lawn while it was still sunny. After that I hopped in the shower and back out only to find two little, grubby, exhausted boys knocking at the door.

They had returned. But instead of being annoyed, I was pleased to see their little faces. No, I didn’t spend my free time getting a facial or lingering over a cup of tea. But I did something that really mattered to me and me alone. Fixing up my music room gave me hope that someday I might again be more than just the live in maid or referee. And at that exact moment, I was happy to just be their Mom.

Thank you John. Thank you for hearing my cries of desperation and giving me the break I needed. And thanks for being a great Dad and taking them on so many fun adventures.

Yellow belted!

May 11th, 2011

Sandy

He did it! Orion got his yellow belt in Taekwondo tonight. We are so proud of him.

Geetar and nose pickin’!

May 2nd, 2011

Sandy

I’m often asked to sing on Tuesday nights at church and when I started doing it I knew very few worship songs. That’s slowly changing though. Even so, it is a struggle for me since I’ve never been a strong guitar player. Here’s the most recent song I’m workin’ on learning for this Tuesday night. The guitar pickin’ is killing me. I just can’t get the rhythm down. I reckon I’m good at nose pickin’ but not at geeetar pickin’ !