We are off tomorrow to check out Seattle for a few days. The kids are very excited and I am hoping it will be a nice diversion for Samuel and give him a break from thinking about his birthday for a few days. He is completely obsessed with it arriving more quickly, poor little guy, and it has become quite a strain on both of us. So we will spend a few jam packed days at the aquarium and the science center. Swimming. A little card playing in the hotel. Some restaurant food and lots of mango tango and chocolate pudding.
When we come back it is all about getting ready for his birthday...Samuel is asking for a DS this year and is very excited to finally be able to play a certain Kirby game. He has plans to go directly to Blockbuster on his birthday {do not pass go!} for this particular game. I am hoping it lasts a little longer than The Force Unleashed did when we were given a Wii last November for Matt's birthday. He finished that in about six hours. Surely Kirby has a few more hours to offer us? Besides the DS he is all about the Lego Power Miner sets. He is completely taken with the Rock Monsters. I have to agree they are definitely cute! I'm not sure we need all of them, but who am I to judge another's desire?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
16 today (or thereabouts...)
Today is Agnes' 16th birthday! Imagine that! I remember thinking at one point several years ago that if there was a cat who would make it to 22 years, Agnes was that cat. At 16 she is healthy, albeit cranky, and very focused on her food and my lap. She has a little arthritis in her knees and can no longer jump up or down from the counter (not necessarily a place she needs to be but certainly a place every cat wants to be). And while most would consider her to be overweight, I give credit, at least in part, to that awesome cat food she eats for her staggering good health. (If Agnes was ever going to thank me for bringing Maxwell home, and I am certainly not holding my breath, it would be for that food. All the cats eat it now but Maxwell has to eat it. There would be no Innova Evo in the house if not for Maxwell and Agnes lives and breathes that cat food! It has become the very reason she wakes me up each day...) So here's to a long and healthy life! Here's to Agnes.
Agnes today after her birthday meal.
Agnes today after her birthday meal.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
It looks like the kids and I are going to go up to Seattle on Sunday to see the Lucy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center on Monday. I am also hoping to go to the aquarium while we are there because Eva has been asking over and over to see the fish. I have never been to Seattle so this should be a fun adventure and with my new AAA membership (thanks dad!) I am all set to drive up there. We have music! We have space. And the hotel has a pool!
I was told today was National Pancake Day (who knew?) and that IHOP was giving away free pancakes. I can't say I am in the mood for a crowded restaurant but I like the feeling of enthusiasm I feel when I think about free pancakes. I have an amazing pancake recipe now thanks to my friend Brian and I really think we might celebrate tonight with pancakes for dinner.
All of the cats have been de-flea-ed with Advantage. I really hope this does the trick because I am tiring of Agnes being a flea hotel. The fleas are definitely testing the limits of my good will. Even the Dalai Lama said that bedbugs and mosquitos tested him. Good to know.
I was told today was National Pancake Day (who knew?) and that IHOP was giving away free pancakes. I can't say I am in the mood for a crowded restaurant but I like the feeling of enthusiasm I feel when I think about free pancakes. I have an amazing pancake recipe now thanks to my friend Brian and I really think we might celebrate tonight with pancakes for dinner.
All of the cats have been de-flea-ed with Advantage. I really hope this does the trick because I am tiring of Agnes being a flea hotel. The fleas are definitely testing the limits of my good will. Even the Dalai Lama said that bedbugs and mosquitos tested him. Good to know.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
outside
Yesterday we went with ellen to Sauvie Island to look for frogs. It is almost time for the frogs but not quite. Instead we saw so many ducks and had sandwiches and enjoyed our time outside. I hope to try again in a week.
Today Eva and I pruned more roses in the backyard and I finished fixing up another flower bed. Thirteen roses pruned, fifteen to go. The wood violets are blooming well now and I found forget-me-not plants and peonies popping up as well. Samuel cut down so many blackberry vines today- he loves using the loppers that my dad bought for us last time he was out. I was sorry I didn't have more for him to cut down. Neither of the kids was particularly interested in clearing away leaves or dead vines from last fall. They do the pruning and lopping and I tidy things up behind them. It is really nice having their help and company. I love this time of year outside and the yard tidying it brings. Turns out I love to prune roses- must be that gene thing again. I look forward to the flowers popping up and enjoy seeing their plants getting set for spring time. I always forget just how many flowers there are in our yard!
Sauvie Island
Always nice to have a good stick...or two!
Today Eva and I pruned more roses in the backyard and I finished fixing up another flower bed. Thirteen roses pruned, fifteen to go. The wood violets are blooming well now and I found forget-me-not plants and peonies popping up as well. Samuel cut down so many blackberry vines today- he loves using the loppers that my dad bought for us last time he was out. I was sorry I didn't have more for him to cut down. Neither of the kids was particularly interested in clearing away leaves or dead vines from last fall. They do the pruning and lopping and I tidy things up behind them. It is really nice having their help and company. I love this time of year outside and the yard tidying it brings. Turns out I love to prune roses- must be that gene thing again. I look forward to the flowers popping up and enjoy seeing their plants getting set for spring time. I always forget just how many flowers there are in our yard!
Sauvie Island
Always nice to have a good stick...or two!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
out of this world
Picture this. The kids and I had just spent the afternoon at Out of This World Pizza with some unschooling friends. We said our goodbyes, Samuel showed off his new robot to everyone, and we drove home. Eva was worn out, Samuel was cheerful, and I even got to talk with the other moms today. A success story. Hooray!
When we came into the house Samuel checked his pant pockets and realized that Sliver and Titan were missing. What? Those two Lego guys travel most places with us inside Samuel's pockets and a lot of the time I thankfully have no idea they are even there. Today I definitely did not know they were there. I was busy looking after Chicky and making sure no one touched the new robot. We looked in all the usual places in the house, under his pillow, in with the other Lego guys, with Eva's Lou. No Sliver and Titan.
I called Out of This World Pizza to find out if they had them in their lost and found? No.
What to do? What to do? Of course we drove back over to Out of This World Pizza and while there we checked under every plasma car, inside both of the jumpy-slidey-bouncy things, under each tunnel and tube. We climbed inside- all of us- every square inch of the climbing sliding play structure that spans how many feet high? So many levels it is hard to count. Just when I was beginning to wonder {again} whether we would go home empty handed- imagining them lying somewhere alone and bereft, lost toys...Samuel climbed down one area and called up to me. "Momma they are here!"
And sure enough there they were! They had fallen out of his pocket and- get this- slid through the safety mesh that surrounds the whole play structure. There they lay, beyond the mesh, in a pile of heavy dust. Definitely bereft but no longer alone. I was so excited I went and found one of the employees and had him climb up and he came down smiling. Yes, he was excited too!
Then things really started to happen. He spoke with his manager and the manager was not nearly as excited as we were. Nothing they could do. We would have to wait until they cleaned the thing. How long until that happened? So I spoke to the manager. Words like "tomorrow when the owner comes in" and "liability" and "I could do it!" were spoken back and forth until finally I told the manager, "Look, their names are Sliver and Titan and we would very much like to take them home with us tonight." Deep sigh. He went and got a broom. Isn't a broom so handy? And then he found himself standing inside the play structure, underneath the area where Sliver and Titan lay in the dust while our employee friend directed him from above with the broom, which by the way would not fit through the mesh. I imagine if this structure were in our home we would have cut to the chase and simply used a Swiss army knife to cut through the mesh. I want to add that before the manager went inside the play structure and stood underneath the area where Sliver and Titan lay (and this is the house that Jack built...) he asked me if someone had put those toys inside there on purpose or if a bully or some other individual had stolen them to torture my daughter (Samuel). I didn't know which way would be better for us- would it have helped our case if some *bully* had stolen my daughter's (Samuel's) Lego guys and shoved them through the mesh?
After a little negotiating under the canvas and through the mesh popped first Sliver and then Titan. To say that I was elated is an understatement. To say that I was surprised? I was amazed. Now is the time for a big group hug is what I was thinking. Now is the time to name my first born son (well, you get my meaning) after the manager. Now is the time...but he would have none of it. I thanked him and he looked the other way, dusted himself off and left. He was quick too because I never even saw him leave. Not in his job description. The other employee was as thrilled as me and let me tell him he had definitely made our week. I thanked him profusely and we left- immediately! and quickly! with smiles on our faces! Hooray! {again} Because wasn't that where we had left off from?
When we came into the house Samuel checked his pant pockets and realized that Sliver and Titan were missing. What? Those two Lego guys travel most places with us inside Samuel's pockets and a lot of the time I thankfully have no idea they are even there. Today I definitely did not know they were there. I was busy looking after Chicky and making sure no one touched the new robot. We looked in all the usual places in the house, under his pillow, in with the other Lego guys, with Eva's Lou. No Sliver and Titan.
I called Out of This World Pizza to find out if they had them in their lost and found? No.
What to do? What to do? Of course we drove back over to Out of This World Pizza and while there we checked under every plasma car, inside both of the jumpy-slidey-bouncy things, under each tunnel and tube. We climbed inside- all of us- every square inch of the climbing sliding play structure that spans how many feet high? So many levels it is hard to count. Just when I was beginning to wonder {again} whether we would go home empty handed- imagining them lying somewhere alone and bereft, lost toys...Samuel climbed down one area and called up to me. "Momma they are here!"
And sure enough there they were! They had fallen out of his pocket and- get this- slid through the safety mesh that surrounds the whole play structure. There they lay, beyond the mesh, in a pile of heavy dust. Definitely bereft but no longer alone. I was so excited I went and found one of the employees and had him climb up and he came down smiling. Yes, he was excited too!
Then things really started to happen. He spoke with his manager and the manager was not nearly as excited as we were. Nothing they could do. We would have to wait until they cleaned the thing. How long until that happened? So I spoke to the manager. Words like "tomorrow when the owner comes in" and "liability" and "I could do it!" were spoken back and forth until finally I told the manager, "Look, their names are Sliver and Titan and we would very much like to take them home with us tonight." Deep sigh. He went and got a broom. Isn't a broom so handy? And then he found himself standing inside the play structure, underneath the area where Sliver and Titan lay in the dust while our employee friend directed him from above with the broom, which by the way would not fit through the mesh. I imagine if this structure were in our home we would have cut to the chase and simply used a Swiss army knife to cut through the mesh. I want to add that before the manager went inside the play structure and stood underneath the area where Sliver and Titan lay (and this is the house that Jack built...) he asked me if someone had put those toys inside there on purpose or if a bully or some other individual had stolen them to torture my daughter (Samuel). I didn't know which way would be better for us- would it have helped our case if some *bully* had stolen my daughter's (Samuel's) Lego guys and shoved them through the mesh?
After a little negotiating under the canvas and through the mesh popped first Sliver and then Titan. To say that I was elated is an understatement. To say that I was surprised? I was amazed. Now is the time for a big group hug is what I was thinking. Now is the time to name my first born son (well, you get my meaning) after the manager. Now is the time...but he would have none of it. I thanked him and he looked the other way, dusted himself off and left. He was quick too because I never even saw him leave. Not in his job description. The other employee was as thrilled as me and let me tell him he had definitely made our week. I thanked him profusely and we left- immediately! and quickly! with smiles on our faces! Hooray! {again} Because wasn't that where we had left off from?
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