This week is the 50th anniversary of La Leche League's first meeting. Bravo to La Leche League and to all of her leaders for helping and supporting breastfeeding mothers and children all over the world. Here is a video discussing La Leche League and its beginnings- it sends shivers down my spine and spreads happiness through my soul.
A friend pointed this video out, a supporter of breastfeeding with a completely different twist. My daughter nurses her baby dolls and has them nurse one another. Many of them still come with bottles, however. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they were marketed to nurse and it was just a given to other little girls and boys that their baby dolls would nurse as well! Some of these babies in the video are even nursing toddlers- hooray!
Here is La Leche League's website if you want to check them out or donate some time or money.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
recent photos
These are our wonderfully abundant blueberry bushes out front. There are four of them and it has been a real treat to pick blueberries at home.
Close up of blueberries, Eva with blueberries
Samuel's photo of his boots, Eva's photo of the number 8, the teddy bear family all together
Pete and Repete
Or is it Peat and Repeat? Or Pete and Repeat? Remember that one? For some reason I always think of crows when I hear this joke and I am not sure why.
Pete and Repete were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off and who was left?
Repete!
Pete and Repete were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off and who was left?
Repete!
Pete and Repete were sitting...you get the idea, right?
So I told this joke to Samuel a while back. Now he tells versions of this joke quite frequently.
Samuel's versions go like this-
This morning he told this joke:
Mommy and Remommy were sitting on a shelf, mommy fell off and who was left?
Remommy!
Laughter, guffaws, chuckles!
Yesterday in the car he told this one:
Snake and Resnake were sitting on a shelf, Snake fell off and who was left?
Resnake!
Laughter, guffaws, chuckles!
It is a whole new way to tell a very old joke! And there are endless possibilities!
Pete and Repete were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off and who was left?
Repete!
Pete and Repete were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off and who was left?
Repete!
Pete and Repete were sitting...you get the idea, right?
So I told this joke to Samuel a while back. Now he tells versions of this joke quite frequently.
Samuel's versions go like this-
This morning he told this joke:
Mommy and Remommy were sitting on a shelf, mommy fell off and who was left?
Remommy!
Laughter, guffaws, chuckles!
Yesterday in the car he told this one:
Snake and Resnake were sitting on a shelf, Snake fell off and who was left?
Resnake!
Laughter, guffaws, chuckles!
It is a whole new way to tell a very old joke! And there are endless possibilities!
spider season
One of my favorite things about this time of year is the spiders. You can see their webs in the grass, all shimmery with dew in the morning or in the rain. There are just dozens and dozens of them all across our lawn. If you get down to their level you can look down into their web tunnels and see them waiting inside the tunnels, ready to jump out and pounce. We have several spiders on the patio guarding egg sacs and dozens in the compost bin. Lots of baby spiders. We have little crab spiders on the flowers. Two months ago we had an egg sac hatch near the patio and we watched the babies for days crawl around and jump into the wind and find suitable places to build the tiniest webs. These babies were banded garden spiders, one of my favorite spiders. They are the giants you see outside in large orb webs, particularly at night, at the end of summer. They can be an inch across with very long legs and are striking when you take a flashlight out at night and shine it on them. Right now they are still young and smallish (about a 1/4 inch) but over the next month or so they will grow quite large.
Friday, July 27, 2007
county fair
Yesterday the kids and I went over to the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro, Oregon. I kept it a surprise until we pulled up in the parking lot and I couldn't hide it any longer. We got there very early because I was trying to beat the heat this year. The carnival part didn't open until noon so we got a good chance to look around at everything. We saw the animals- goats, cows, draft horses, sheep, bunnies, guinea pigs, ducks and chickens. My favorites are the fancy chickens and roosters with the feathers tufted on their heads. We watched the dock dogs compete to see who could jump the farthest in the water. The really fun part in this was watching the people try and convince the dogs who weren't sure of the swimming pool to jump in. One dog in the competition jumped over 20 feet! The kids got to climb around on the tractors for sale. I think this is a true highlight of the fair for many kids- climbing around on giant tractors, excavators, bulldozers for as long as they want. And it is all free. A couple of years ago- or maybe just last Christmas!- they received as gift from Grandpa Huber a stuffed Grinch and a stuffed Sam-I-Am. These two have become a game unto themselves. They are evil rascals up to no good. Samuel and his partner (or minion depending on who you talk to) spend hours and days searching them out and locking them up. When they are out and about they frequently play the Grinch and Sam-I-Am game, without the actual stuffed guys. This is what they played while they climbed and sat in the tractors. They used the vehicles to track down the dastardly villains and lock them up.
Samuel went on a couple of rides (cars and balloons) and Eva tried out the little canoes again. The three of us went on the firetruck that goes up and down in a circle. Then Samuel spent a great deal of time playing the game where you squirt water at a bulls eye and make the little frog go up faster than the others. He won a tiger and Eva won a frog. The highlight of the trip was when we found a sword that Samuel has been looking for since the Fourth of July two years ago (or was it last year?). One of those plasticky-metal swords with a pink sheath than broke last time in a couple of days. And we found one there at the fair! For just $5 we took home a new sword with a bright blue sheath. Eva found a blow-up unicorn that she just loooooved. She has had unicorns on the mind lately, particularly after watching The Last Unicorn. We looked at several pictures of them on the web yesterday as well!
And then the crowning glory came later in the day when we all went to the rodeo. Yes. This is something I swore I would never do, take my kids to the rodeo. But we have this whole horse thing going on and it seemed like a good idea. We ended up leaving before the barrel racing, which was too bad because that was the part I really wanted to see. I guess it is feasible I will go to another rodeo at some time in the future and be able to see barrel racing up close. It was an interesting time. It ran a little late because some of the cowboys and cowgirls on their way to the event were pulled over for speeding. I think they were given tickets too, which is extremely ironic given that their reason for being at the rodeo was speed. It takes like 10 seconds to rope a calf and even less to wrestle a steer. And they have to stay on a bareback bucking horse for 8 seconds. One of the guys had to do that event twice because the judges didn't think the horse bucked enough. You should have seen that horse bucking! It must be tremendous to be able to stay on a horse who is putting all of his effort into getting you off of him. We saw one man get stepped on by his horse when he jumped off to wrestle the steer. They kind of systematically fall off the horse onto the steer and wrestle it down. Wild. And Eva kept asking me if the little calves were alright. I have to say that I too was rooting for the calves...
After all of that I was exhausted. I admire the kids their enthusiasm and stamina. We woke up this morning and Samuel asked if we could please just go to the fair again today...
Samuel went on a couple of rides (cars and balloons) and Eva tried out the little canoes again. The three of us went on the firetruck that goes up and down in a circle. Then Samuel spent a great deal of time playing the game where you squirt water at a bulls eye and make the little frog go up faster than the others. He won a tiger and Eva won a frog. The highlight of the trip was when we found a sword that Samuel has been looking for since the Fourth of July two years ago (or was it last year?). One of those plasticky-metal swords with a pink sheath than broke last time in a couple of days. And we found one there at the fair! For just $5 we took home a new sword with a bright blue sheath. Eva found a blow-up unicorn that she just loooooved. She has had unicorns on the mind lately, particularly after watching The Last Unicorn. We looked at several pictures of them on the web yesterday as well!
And then the crowning glory came later in the day when we all went to the rodeo. Yes. This is something I swore I would never do, take my kids to the rodeo. But we have this whole horse thing going on and it seemed like a good idea. We ended up leaving before the barrel racing, which was too bad because that was the part I really wanted to see. I guess it is feasible I will go to another rodeo at some time in the future and be able to see barrel racing up close. It was an interesting time. It ran a little late because some of the cowboys and cowgirls on their way to the event were pulled over for speeding. I think they were given tickets too, which is extremely ironic given that their reason for being at the rodeo was speed. It takes like 10 seconds to rope a calf and even less to wrestle a steer. And they have to stay on a bareback bucking horse for 8 seconds. One of the guys had to do that event twice because the judges didn't think the horse bucked enough. You should have seen that horse bucking! It must be tremendous to be able to stay on a horse who is putting all of his effort into getting you off of him. We saw one man get stepped on by his horse when he jumped off to wrestle the steer. They kind of systematically fall off the horse onto the steer and wrestle it down. Wild. And Eva kept asking me if the little calves were alright. I have to say that I too was rooting for the calves...
After all of that I was exhausted. I admire the kids their enthusiasm and stamina. We woke up this morning and Samuel asked if we could please just go to the fair again today...
Thursday, July 26, 2007
just when I thought there was nothing to say...
...the kids sent out letters to Santa Claus. Samuel has asked for this police car that is battery operated (not human operated), with working lights and sirens and wheels and working windows (if you can) and a place for a drink (this is an important one). He asked for it last year for Christmas and the year before and decided to send out a special request in July and also wanted Santa to know that this should not in any way be his only Christmas gift and could actually be sent special delivery right now (leaving Christmas free for other gifts). He also asked for a baby doll for Eva so that when his police car arrived she would have something to do and he didn't want her to feel left out of the fun. The police car is a two seater, leaving a space for Eva in the passenger seat. I am really wishing him luck on this one because, as he says, he would really enjoy it.
Eva was inspired after Samuel told her about the baby doll and she wrote up another list to send to Santa. The list Eva sent had all kinds of things that Samuel would like. Things like a race car and robots and mango tango drink and some flowers and I wish I had made a copy of the list before I sent it because it was very sweet and thoughtful. But no, we sent out the letters, stamped and addressed to Santa Clause, The North Pole.
We are also still waiting for a lego Cloud City that Samuel can bid on and win. The last one seemed like a sure thing but at the last minute someone came in and placed a bid that was much too rich for our blood, at least for the time being. There seems, however, to be an unending supply of lego Cloud City sets out there. I wonder at the number of people who bought them and NEVER opened them, just kept them around to sell on ebay for quite a bit more than I ever thought a lego set could go for. Just goes to show ya', there is always more stuff to want.
Eva was inspired after Samuel told her about the baby doll and she wrote up another list to send to Santa. The list Eva sent had all kinds of things that Samuel would like. Things like a race car and robots and mango tango drink and some flowers and I wish I had made a copy of the list before I sent it because it was very sweet and thoughtful. But no, we sent out the letters, stamped and addressed to Santa Clause, The North Pole.
We are also still waiting for a lego Cloud City that Samuel can bid on and win. The last one seemed like a sure thing but at the last minute someone came in and placed a bid that was much too rich for our blood, at least for the time being. There seems, however, to be an unending supply of lego Cloud City sets out there. I wonder at the number of people who bought them and NEVER opened them, just kept them around to sell on ebay for quite a bit more than I ever thought a lego set could go for. Just goes to show ya', there is always more stuff to want.
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