The Naked Gordons

Asher's Birthday

2011-05-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

No comment on how old this post is.

Asher's Birthday!! he's "s'ree" years old! Lala gave him a book. Correction, LaLa gave him a HUGE book. it's a classic and Bright wasted no time in settling in with Asher and reading it to him. he's still working on some big words but for the most part, he did it all on his own. I actually didn't even know it was happening until I walked into the room and stumbled upon this sweetness:

At asher's party I got tons of help! Rainy expertly frosted the rainbow cupcakes! She was so exacting and patient with each swipe of the knife, you'd think she was a pastry chef! Thankfully the cupcakes were as tasty as they were pretty and I think they will make a few more appearances at my boys birthday's in the future.

The finished product:

Then we got a surprise, Gran and Grandad showed up! It was really nice to sit and visit with them! Lala and Gran sat and looked at pictures and chatted for a while, and I was able to sneak a picture in:

Science Boy

2011-05-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Bright is a science lover. It's one more nail in the "Nerd" coffin for him, and I LOVE it. He is so fascinated with all things science related: how things grow and change, cause and effect, making up a hypothesis and then testing the theory; and, of course, anything gross.
So when there was a science class at the children's museum entitled "Owl Pellet dissection" I signed up immediately! I got a sitter for Asher so Bub and I could go and enjoy it together just me and him. there were two former elementary school teachers that do these little science classes for the kids there, and they were both so sweet. First the passed around taxidermied bit and pieces of different birds.

Bub got to feel the different types of wings. Some made for only flying and some made for flying silently (owls and other birds of prey) the feather differences were vast. then feet were passed around, big claws for the birds of prey and little soft ones for song birds and non raptors.

Then we talked about what the different kinds of things that birds eat and how they are digested. VERY cool things :)
Bright was completely enthralled.
Soon it was time for owl poop, er...pellets.

Bright was very concerned with "yucky things" so he wanted gloves and glasses. He also thought it made him look more scientist like. All of this soon came off as it hindered his "work".
we used little tools to pull apart the "matter" and found bits and pieces of a mouse and a vole. it was pretty neat. it satisfied Brights love of gross things, and of unearthing interesting things.
(the carnage)

next we sorted the bones and teeth to figure out what kind of animals our owl ate.

detective Bub on the scene.

I love his little growing mind. he comes up with so many great ideas; full of wonder and amazement with our natural world. I think what I love the most, is that he's so quick to bring it all back to the Lord. Saying things like, "isn't it cool that God made hummingbirds so FAST, ma?!?!" or "why do you think God made worms so gross?"
I love my Bub.

a hike in the cold

2011-02-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

Last week we went for a hike. It was actually a park, with picnic benches and lots of nice little walking trails, even a campground. it was so pretty and right next to the river. we parked in the lot and walked down a few of the trails. I was picturing hiking with VIEWS of the river; much like most seattle area hikes are next to a creek or river but there's not much access. not this one. we were RIGHT there. RIGHT next to the raging-with-snowmelt-river, which made it so enticing for little boys. I took one look at this:

and decided we wouldn't be crossing. I was told there were tons of hiking trails on the other side, but when I took a closer look at the other side (thinking maybe I would talk myself into crossing if they looked good) I noticed they were snowed and iced over still (dang it).
well the boys and I checked it out anyway but decided to stay on the side we were on. aren't they the cutest little hikers?

I love bright's boots in that photo.

Here's bright scaling a huge lava flow "mountain" (if you click on the photo you can see an enlarged version)

what we saw on our hike:
a big stripey rock

A cute Asher and a "mountain"

A very chill deer, just hanging out.

I can't wait to go back to the park in the summer when the river is less ragey and the trails are prime.

After we hiked we stopped at a diner. it was set up in an antique rail car. I was sure I had the place figured out before I got in there (greasy spoon, nasty coffee, dirty diner decor) I was wrong! and glad.
here's a photo of our booth, you can see the cool old stained glass window and the wood was all glossy and dark, the lighting was the original 1905 light fixtures updated with energy efficient bulbs (yay), walls adorned with photos of it in its prime.

the boys got some pancakes which were surprisingly tasty, I got some coffee-nasty but a nice warm up after our 30 degree hike.
here're the boys out in front. they were so excited to eat in a REAL train!

The seaside

2011-02-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we visited my folks and decided to head out to Point Defiance Zoo. After much hype and build up, we arrived in the parking lot to discover it was closed. A huge bummer for the boys after driving for an hour. Near the Zoo is a beach and park, so we hit it up. It was loaded with people, dogs, families and combers. I didn't think we'd have a too exciting time, however, while looking in a crack of cement at a former boat launch, I found this little guy:

we were poking him and passing him around a bit,

then my aunt found another one

The thousands of sticky,tiny little "feet" on the bottom were so tickle-y.

Coco was there too, isn't she so pretty?

we harassed them enough and tossed them into the water to escape being eaten by the many dogs that were out for walks

Me and my cuties

Though cloudy and a tad cold, it was a beautiful "Seattle" day

boys

2011-02-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

When I found out I was having a boy, I was worried about things like this.

And this:

definitely about this:

Those poor critters didn't stand a chance.

I really thought we'd be surrounded by girls and I would spend my time with my kids painting nails and playing barbies; instead, we have snakes and legos in the play room, we're going to a monster truck show this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited.

2011-01-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

This post is mainly a diary type entry. nothing about our boys, decor other cool amazing thing that I feel the need to share with you will be posted here. please skip this one if you're not interested in my brain's garbage. thanks.

(this may or may not be my brain)

SO this week I got some troubling news. it involves an unexpected phone call during a busy part of my day. it caused me to stop and really ponder some things: how I handle stress, what I do when I am anxious, and what's really at the root of these feelings when news of this sort comes my way. I have had lots of distressing news/events in the last few years. some of the things happening to me, around me, or in the lives of people who are very close to me(thus affecting me). Not sure if I am feeling nostalgic and reflective because it's the new year, and I can't help but be reflective during Christmas and New Year's, or if it's my minds way of telling me to start dealing with it all, purge it, and to move on.
I like to discuss and analyze with my friends, and then re-discuss and re-analyze. If you've ever helped me out with a problem, you've witnessed this first hand. but mostly you've gotten sick of talking about my issue, problem, friends problem, conflict, conflict resolution, or other such drama; and I love you just the same :)

I find that I don't often physically show stress, maybe in my face,

but I generally don't freak out and get all angry. I find that in times of extreme stress I just get quiet, and try to inwardly figure out a solution. this usually ends up in me getting super anxious and I begin to feel a burden of how can I do this alone.
As I reflect today, I'm reminded of the one who can help, who can ease all burdens, who is the answer to all questions. I would say I have a healthy prayer life, and am so glad that I have the Lord to turn to in times of worry, stress, anxiety, or anger; but also in times of joy, appreciation and happiness. like my theme song for this year: Blessed be the name of the Lord. It's just SO true!!
I love that praying really is communication; a conversation with our creator.

(I always talk to God on a headset)

the same one who invented me, and the formula for me, the one who CREATED me (sorry, sometimes it blows my mind!). There are times when I have to remind myself of this, HE made no mistakes when he made me, it was my sin that caused my problems and all my special little neuroses. He knows all about what's going on and he's probably laughing at my little way of "dealing" with it. He knows he'll hear from me again and again (and again, and...) about it. the best part: he still loves me.
I know that He is waiting to hear from me about the news of this week, and most of all hoping I trust in him, and his perfect plan. I know all about His perfect timing, and am so blessed to be able to glorify him to others through the story of my recent miscarriage.
So, because it's the new year, instead of resolving to be thinner, younger looking, work harder, or make more time, I will be working on trusting the Lord, and being less selfish when it comes to prayer, and my interactions with others. If you're stil reading this, thanks for "listening".

Mobius

2010-12-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

We are really blessed to have a children's museum in Spokane. It's called Mobius and there's a TON of things to do there for kids. I would say it's small but packs in the greatest hits of all things kids love:

A huge water table

Bugs

A "market" where you can shop, or be shop owner

you could even pack your canoe with as many food items as possible for your trek downriver to your dino excavation, as my boys did.

A roadway complete with real traffic signals and "cars".

There's even an excavator run on hydraulics! Asher scooping out a ditch in a sea of lentils:

We don't visit Mobius as often as I or the boys would like, but I am so glad it's there. Especially with the winters being what they are here, we may visit more often!

Scone recipe

2010-12-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

This Scone recipe. How can I even describe it? It's moist, sweet, and delectable. It can also be savory, or spicy depending on how you want to flavor it.
On Christmas morning I always make these scones, a savory batch and a cranberry orange batch. They're usually both gone before I can have one! this is not a flaky dry scone that you'll want to dip in coffee, if you like that, just cut out some of the sour cream and it will harden up. I like mine to be great on their own, with out having to dip them in anything.

If you want to make the dough for a savory batch cut the sugar in half, and in the end stage of scone making add your bacon, cheddar and onion or smoked salmon and Gruyere; or even this idea: ham chunks and green onion, then when they're done baking swipe some brie in the center while it's still warm. Hungry yet?

For the sweeter version, you can add pumpkin and spices to make a starbucks like scone, you can even add blackberries and lemon zest and make a lemony glaze for the top. let me know if you are interested in these variations and I can write one up for you.

Beki's Scones
3/4 c Sour cream (I sometimes use 1 cup to make these over the top moist, and melty in your mouthy)
1 tsp Baking soda
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar (cut this down to 1/3c for savory scones)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1 c Butter, cold-ish
1 egg, gently beaten
1-1/4c dried cranberries (if making pumpkin, only add 1/3c, and then 1-2t pumpkin pie spice)
2 large oranges for zesting and juicing.
1/4 c orange zest, divided (some will go in the dough, some will go in the glaze)

***
Put sour cream in a small bowl and stir in baking soda, let sit and proof on the counter while you sift the rest of the ingredients. I
n large mixing bowl or mixer with whisk attachment: flour, sugar, powder, tartar, salt. stir slowly til combined. cut in butter with wisk attachment or pastry cutter. then add the sour cream stuff, and the egg.
If you're using a mixer, get your dough hook out and switch from the the whisk. again, slowly stir just until combined, this will ensure you don't have a tough scone to bite into, you want moist, and flakey NOT chewy and tough.
at this point add your mix ins (again, i am using the cranberry and orange zest, reserving some of the zest for the glaze) mix them in. then turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface, not to much flour or it will mix in and make the dough tough. shape into a disk about 1" thick, and cut like you would a pizza making a bunch of little triangle shapes. this will make about 8-10 large scones about starbucks's size. if you want the cute little sizes make 2 disks with your dough instead of one. get out a cookie sheet and spray with some spray oil, or lightly grease. bake at 350 for 12-15 mins, you want them to be set and just starting to get golden on the edges, do not over bake, they'll be dry. unless you like that sort of thing, then bake away!
when they're no longer hot, dig in and eat or pour a glaze over them like I do.

Orange Glaze
1/2c orange juice
1T orange zest
1c powdered sugar

mix together in a pyrex and gently pour over slightly warm Cranberry orange scones. this makes a lot of glaze, so you'll have enough for 2 coats of glaze

for a pumpkin glaze
1/2c water
1c powdered sugar
1/2t cinnamon
1/4t maple flavoring

I really hope you guys try these. they're amazing and always on my table on christmas morning, the perfect breakfast to grab inbetween gifts :)

calvin, is that you?

2010-10-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

So Bright is on the very edge of being able to read whatever word is in front of him. he has a little ways to go, but still, he's a big boy! on one hand I want him to be able to read, on the other, I know it will mean I have ANOTHER max on my hands. all that means is, he'll pick up a book and I won't see him for days or until the book is finished. I am excited for that stage of Bright's life, and know that it will mean I won't be asked to play legos nearly as much. Anyway, he's been "reading" a lot of calvin and hobbes. he'll pick out words like "oh no!" and "AAAAAACCCKKK!" or things of that nature and he's pretty good at being able to tell what's going on in the comic just by looking at the pictures. oh, and it's about a boy with a HUGE imagination. Sound like a little boy you know? the similarities between my first born and calvin are endless.

Case in point:

If you look closely you can see on his Mayflower box he's written almost exactly what Calvin has written and in the same "font".
he was reading the comic strip and really thought it would be a good day to serve the public his special brew (aka, lemonade).
I may start reading more calvin in hopes to better understand what it is in my sweet boy that makes him snuggle me one second, and rumble down the hallway as a roaring monster truck, the next.

2010-10-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

Just after max visited for a week in june, the boys and I were invited to a dairy farm with some friends. we drove way out west not knowing what to expect. Not sure how I got lost, since it seemed like only one road and tons of grass, but I did. Before long I figured out where I was and found my way to Spokane's Family Farm.
upon arriving we had a little lunch on some hay bales.

The Woman who runs the farm took us all on a tour and showed off her sweet kid loving animals. Here's a donkey, he even followed us around after all that petting.

Asher and bub braved the crowd and looked for eggs in the chicken coop. no luck.

This beautiful rooster was standing guard nearby. isn't he gorgeous?

Next were the horses. Everyone was feeding them and by the time it was our turn, the horses were full and uninterested. I this one felt sorry for my boys as he came over and politely nibbled. Asher was a tad unsure, so he only held out on blade of grass in an effort to look less desirable. this only made his fingers look yummier, and the horse gave them a taste. Asher wasn't bothered much, just annoyed his fingers were "wet".

We saw some cows out to pasture, and this is where a few were coming over to say hi.
asher was saying "gwoss, smewlls gwoss. jus gwoss"

And here's our last photo. After this was taken the boys had a melt down and we left shortly after. the tour was great, but a lot of it was eduacational for the parents benefit, and the kids got tired. this was taken in the milking area. Bright said "there's lotsa tubes and stuff"

June happenings

2010-10-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

I know, once again I have let this blog go un-updated and I feel awful. mostly because it's max's way of keeping up with us. Consistency is not something I am very good at.

June was a month filled with happenings! The boys and I moved into our new home, though it was without max (and our household goods!) we were still very excited.
I picked up some temporary furniture, cooking utensils, and such from ikea and goodwill. I was loaned several other items from family and good friends, so I was able to set up house in a campy sort of way.

Max cam for a short visit in early june. we packed as many visits with friends and family as we could, and made sure to have some quality "us" time as well.
here is bright playing with one of his besties, Maddeck, Kyle and Laura's boy.

We all spent a day shopping for a bicycle for Brighton. he had a good time picking out his new bike and Toy Story helmet and knee pads.
Here he is trying it all out for the first time.

We have a huge field on the opposite side of the street from us belonging to a middle school. Max and the boys decided to play some ball.

Asher found a box, and played in it. he's like a kitten that way.

We also took trip a down to Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. the squirrels were hungry so we obliged.

They also have rides there. here were are excited to ride. aren't we cute? and naive?

And this is when I imagined us all falling to our deaths.

a 2 year old in a rickety old ferris wheel chair with no seatbelt, flailing around in the air.not the greatest idea I've ever had. I must point out that we stayed up there while loading other passengers, so my little mind was going nuts for the longest 60 seconds ever. the did let us out, but not before "letting" us go around 2 more times. nice.

An end to a wonderful day. My loves:

Cornish (courtney's) BFA Show 2010

2010-05-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

MY SISTER GRADUATED FROM CORNISH!!! YAY! I am so proud of her and how her art and vision has evolved over the years. She is SO amazingly talented and I love her eye for simple meaningful moments in our lives and being able to capture them.
Her Show was Friday night May 14th, 2010. Elizabeth and I decided to take a trip to Isushi and chat until it was time to go, it was a fun date. we were able to chat one on one which is unusual since we usually have kids all around. The Show was in Seattle at the schools studios, which is just a building with 3 wall spaces for "studios". They transformed them all into a beautiful gallery setting, upstairs the walls were light blue, white and grey, downstairs was same, but then in an offshoot room was the "black room". It was THE place to be showing, it was the most gallery like of the whole place and very professional and nice looking. Court was in the further end of the room. Since it was black and anything besides the art was not well lit, it was quite hard to get a good photo of people. I managed to get some blurry ones, so you'll be able to get the feel of her space. here's the best one I could manage of her in her space.

Here's her pricing list, comment book and business cards. Also a sculpture piece (camera with moss) which I love and am VERY tempted to purchase:

This is the best photo I could get of her whole space:

Here's me checkin out the light table she built:

some cool peeps:

This piece was done with smoke on paper. Pretty amazing up close.

This piece was made up of tons of different angles of people's bodies.

these drawings are made of just graphite pencil on paper, and they're about as tall as bright is. really awesome.

besides court's stuff this might be one of my favorite pieces in the whole show.

Even Jim showed up!

My final sentiments:

Bright's Birthday party!

2010-05-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated bright's 5th birthday. He requested a few different presents for his birthday: Legos, robots, and buttercups. sweetie pie.
He ended up getting many legos and a few other great presents. As he opened each one he was so happy and excited. I was proud, there was not one "next" or "oh, it's just ____".
He requested a wallace and gromit birthday, with a wallace and gromit rocket cake. I had my work cut out. I love cooking so this was more of a fun challenge than work, so I really enjoyed it. it definately looks homemade, but Bright was so excited as he watched it take shape, he kept saying "yay! look at my cake!"

Here's the Rocket cake:

I also attempted a treat that I have made ebfore just in another shape for his 4th birthday (robot heads) and he loved them so much he asked for them again this year. I decided to make Gromit heads made from Oreo truffle center with white chololate coating and tootsie roll ears. it was time consuming, but super fun and rewarding to see my result.

ta da!

once everyone arrived we all sat outside because it was SO gorgeous! I was so happy to have a nice day with the kids playing outside, and all of us parents watching and chatting. it was so relaxing.
here's a group shot (nathaniel, jonna, elizabeth, ross, toby, coco, brian, hayley, and stella's hair in front of coco)

The kids all had a fun taking turns riding the sled behind the buggy and chasing the sled (you can see asher waving from the seat with grampa, that's what he did the entire time, waving and yelling "HI!!"). Rainy got on the buggy on her own at one point, and Ross took goldie on it for a short time.

we all sat chatting about nothing inparticular when suddenly one of the chickens decided Toby's head would be a good place to roost for a moment. Toby didn't think so.

After a while we hung the #5 pinata, and all the kids took turns hitting at it. It took all the kids taking 2 turns to get it open. The funniest to watch was Stella, she was so un coordinated: hitting at the air and almost hit some of the kids! most of the kids just found it right away and just whacked away. finally I just took the pinata and poured out the candy. they ran around crazy trying to find it all.

After that we played outside some more then had cake and opened presents. Coco's camera has the rest of the photos, so it will be a bit before I can get those. Bright was so grateful and happy the whole day. it was really nice to see all the kids get along so well and have a fun time. Honey, You were missed for sure. there wasn't 5 mins that went by without me wishing you were here to snuggle with under the tree, or to listen to your funny conversations with Ross and your bro, or to enjoy our sweet little bub together. Can't wait to see you.

MONSTER TRUUUUUCKS!!

2010-02-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Bright is in love, with monster trucks. His first love is Thomas, and all things automobile related. But when it comes to trucks, Monster trucks rule. I mean, it was like a natural thing; one day when he was nearly 2, we saw a book at the library and he was instantly drawn to it. From then on it was a love affair, talking about them playing with them, making the hot wheels get smashed by them. It seems he (and most boys I think) was hard wired to like them. For me, I don't see the draw, big truck HUGE tires, ok but not a big deal. Where's my nail polish and USweekly?

When he had just turned 4 we saw a show advertised, but I was still nervous to take him. I knew it would be loud, and I was worried we would spend lots of money and he'd want to leave just after it started ( a' la circus show 2008 where he got worried with all the people around). This year I felt he was old enough to be SO excited and into it, that it would over shadow his fear of the crowds or nervousness with the potentially rowdy crowd. Now Max and I had originally wanted to make this a family outing, but then somehow the Air Force got involved. So it soon became a "date night" for me and Bright. we went to Dinner and had onion rings (his request) and chicken and BBQ sauce. I later realized the dinner we had was ALL too fitting for the evening we were about to experience.
I dropped of Asher at the neighbors house and Bub and I headed out. The venue was only about 5 mins from our house, wich was perfect since it started pretty late. There were a lot of kids there, but WAY more adults than I expected. we sat next to your typical Monster truck patron: older man, lots of hair, hell's angels type, double fisting coors next to his old bar fly "gal". To complete the look: leather vest, black jeans and "vest" t-shirt dispite the sub zero temps outside. So I decided to get into character as the bubbly ex cheerleader mom, how could he hurt me then? He, of course could not be more nice or quiet.
Bright was so into all the things happeing down on the track. We got there with enough time to find our seats and sit for about 10 mins before the show started, any earlier than that and it would have been miserable (for me) since he asked when it would start aabout 1,000 times. just before the show we bought some Dippin' Dots Ice Cream (freeze dried) and a big foot t-shirt. Bub said it was the best thing he's ever seen.
once the show started he was very quiet and just took it all in. which I know as a very good sign. it means he's soaking it all up. we stayed and watched until intermission (9pm) and then left. here's a few highlights:

BIG FOOT!!

the cutie pie wore his ear muffs the whole night, he was so excited to go he wore them in the car on the way to the show :)

here's one from the wheelie contest:

Ahh, innocence...

2010-02-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

This morning Bright and I did his school work, and afterword he wanted to keep writing letters and make words. He was pretty much just writing random things here and there, you know, nonsense words; laughing as I tried to read them and how funny they sounded. "BAE" he giggled at. Then he wrote one that was actually a word. As he wrote it, I watched..."B"...."O"... ok, what's he writing..."O"...oh no, don't do it bright...

We both laughed really hard at this. Then asher ran around the kitchen yelling "booooob! boooooob!"

Asher's Birthday

2010-02-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

Asher is 2! He's knee deep in defiance and tantrums, and we couldn't love him more. his favorite phrases are "hold mama" and "ree ree hung-ee, mama" (really hungry) and of course, "no" is a favorite. Time outs are becoming more of a common thing and he's very dramatic when he is angry, often throwing cars down on the ground, and screaming through a clenched jaw (red face and all). surprisingly he's good at sharing, as long as you give him a minute to part with the toy (a hug and kiss for the toy)
Favorite past times: playing cars and trains, what else? he's typically obsessed with Thomas and friends, something bright passed on. His favorite toy is his "lady" train whom he calls "own lady" because it's his own.
For his birthday we decided to do a small family thing on the actual date, then a friends party on saturday. He's got a few friends from the church nursery, and both studies I go to, so I thought he'd have fun having them on his turf.I made cupcakes and adult type appetizers, we had balloons and streamers (most of which were ruined or on the floor by the time friends came over) and his new veggie tales cd was playing.

before i show pics of the party I wanted to share these photos. there's a ton. but they are all a physical expression of what (I think) is in a toddler's mind. These were all taken in about 1.5 minutes while he sat in his high chair, post-cupcake.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

So that's our stinker. those photos pretty much sum up each and every day for me. A rollercoaster of epic emotional feelings. can't wait to share them all with you when we come "home".

it's been a while...

2010-01-26T19:16:00.001-08:00

yes yes yes, I knew this would happen. I sign up for a blog then ignore it for a while. Well, we've been busy, k? Has it really been since Halloween? well, the holidays flew past so so so quickly. we went home for Christmas and had some much needed time with family and our beloved Washington. plenty of pelletstove side chats with Lala and laptop chat with my folks. For those of you who don't know, a Laptop chat is when you sit in your cozy spot of the living room and use your laptop whilst chatting about various political, social and/or religious topics with other laptop users. This is what it means to my family anyway. We've solved aids, world hunger and the war in about 2 hours. If only obama could be a laptop chatter.

In other news: WE ARE MOVING TO SPOKANE!!!!!!! I can't believe we will be so close to family! we've always been hoome for christmas but maybe max can be part of it this time! Not only will being "home" be wonderful, it's the opportunities I forsee that will bring us much joy. I know that this time (in brighton's life especially) will be remembered throughout our military life, but I hope it will be a happy time; filled with many memories that we wouldn't have otherwise made being so far away and all. it's definately made us realize how important it is to have support and family in our lives, also to keep bonds strong by sharing experiences and making memories together.
I'm getting sappy and weird now so I will sign off; and I still don't toally trust the Air Force yet, so until max leaves our house for his first day of work at Fairchild, will I believe it.

Halloween!

2009-11-03T05:53:00.000-08:00

This year I really didn't think we were going to do the whole halloween thing. Bright still didn't know what it was, and I was TOTALLY fine with that. however, my parents brought over this costume for bright, max thought it would be something fun to do, and so we went ahead. thankfully the candy thing has not been an entitlement issue at all! he forgot he even has candy. which is great since max and I keep snacking on it! a week ago we got our pumpkins, and carved them. it was a fun day for bright. he designed his pumpkin face him self, I carved of course. I am just glad it was a face and not some space odyssy(which could have very well happened).

max showing bright what's inside a pumpkin.

going in!

the final product (bright's pumpkin, max's, mine, asher's)

here they are all lit up!

here's our little horsey!

his very first house!

later on we took the bike home, and bright came up with his routine. he was wearing his little monster backpack and would ring the bell, say trick or treat and then immediately turn around and expect treats. it was super cute.

we're back!

2009-10-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we have been hiding out a bit over here in good ol ND. we got home from WA just fine. My mom kindly offered to drive me and the boys back home. I am so blessed to have such a kind family who is so generous with their time and love for me and my boys! Each time Max deploys they open their doors to a loud and crazy bunch of gordon's, and are so patient with us as we completely take over their house and lives for a few months.
When we got back here, we settled in just fine and the boys played with all their toys as if they had never seen them! it was nice and they were content. we have been enjoying the nice weather (until last week anyway) and spent a lot of our time outside and doing things that we won't be doing during winter. Family bike rides, walks, lazy afternoons spent in the yard watching the boys get dirty, flying kites and going to the park are all things we won't be doing for a few months. winter here is LONG, so we were trying to squeeze every last drop out of the weather that we could. then our upstairs computer video card gave out. max spent several hours over a few days trying to figure out the problem, and I was able to enjoy watching him do "man" work by trying to fix it. all of these are lame attempts to excuse the fact that I have neglected the blog.
shortly after max came back we went to the children's museum in Fargo. it's basically a large house set up with all sorts of kids things and science experiment type stuff. here's a few photos:

the painting area. asher was shopping for snakes.

this is a giant human heart, and a creepy kid mannequin place there for.....ambience?

here's bub looking through a magnafying glass at the indoor behive:

GIANT FACE!

Here's Bucka beaver (bright named it). it washed up in the big flood of last spring, the museum thought they should stuff it and display it for kids. Asher touched almost every inch of it, Bright was only interested in the teeth. this photo is bub contemplating the name, and a sweet fatherly photo of max.

We had a hail storm, it came on very quickly. I was at target at the time and by the time I got home, and got the camera, some of the hail had melted, but here's a good sample size of the hail we expereinced:

Asher wearing Cars slippers that Bright wore at his age:

Here's daddy and asher playing guitar:

Coming up: photos of our trip to the winnipeg zoo, and some cute bathtime pics of the boys.

House Bread

2009-07-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Our Friends, Ross and Elizabeth, Own House Bread. A bread baking business based out of their home. Ross was so nice to show bright his bix mixer that kneads the dough and also the big oven where it's all baked. Bright was most interested in the ducks that they keep in the yard. Ross has 2 little girls. Stella, 5(i think) and Goldie 2 (again guessing). The boys played with the girls really well, much better than expected! It was SO hot at their house so we mostly stayed in the house. Ross did show me his amazing herb garden.

Here's ross telling Bub what the ducks names are.

Here's Asher being sweet with goldie. She was nice enough to let Asher play with her, and put up with whatever he wanted to do.

Ross loving on his herbs:

A pretty marjoram flower:

the kids being cozy! Bright and stella were buddies.

More snuggling kiddos.

Asher telling us all where Jack's eye is. He kept saying "eye, eye, eye" and poking him directly in the eye. jack just pretended to enjoy it.

The temp at the tasche's. I think inside they said it was 84. the temp actually reached 105.8 before I left the house! yesterday in Snoqualmie it was 109!! too hot for houses with no a/c (which is almost all the homes in western WA.)

california, california, here we come!

2009-07-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I helped a friend drive from Tacoma to L.A. It was really nice to be able to help out as so many times people have helped me with my drive to WA from North Dakota. I left the boys with my parents and made the drive with a dear friend, her 2 year old and her dog. the drive was shorter than it felt, which was nice. we started at about 5 am and got to our destination at about 10:30pm. not a bad day. plus we had tons to talk about and a really nice long visit. after getting to her in-law's house we crashed! the next morning we shopped and ate at a restaurant that max sometimes visits when he is in CA. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard of big tuna and all you can eat sushi. we went, I ordered it, and ate sushi to my heart's content. since max comes here when he's in CA, I was able to see what he was talking about and experience what he has experienced. funny how a random sushi restaurant in CA would make me miss my boy so badly. I had 4 orders of Hamatchi, 1 order of super white tuna, 1 california roll, 1 maine roll (lobster and crab topped cali roll). I didn't finish the rolls.

Then we went back to her in-law's house made it an early night since we had an early morning planned. Saturday we woke up at 6 ish, and by we I mean she-rebekah woke up at 6 ish, I got to sleep in a bit longer. we headed to LA for some shopping and breakfast at the famous Chateau Marmont hotel. it was amazing. She had brioche french toast and I had 2 eggs over medium with organic spinach and tomatoes and melted goat cheese over the top. amazing. Cameras are banned in the hotel but we managed to get a few shots. here is a view of the courtyard where we ate breakfast. we got to sit in the far corner so we could see everything. to the far right corner of the photo is the door to the remainder of the restaurant.

About 20 mins after this (secret) photo was taken Christopher Lloyd came and sat with the woman in the green top. he had 2 adorable dogs with him and he ordered the same thing as me!

The whole place is about 10 times smaller than I expected. it's very small. I would say about 100 people could eat in the restaurant. not sure how many rooms there are but, it's very small and cool. Probably the coolest and most vintage chic hotel I have ever experienced. Here's the bathroom. All the fixtures were REAL silver, and shiny! There were actual towels for drying off. the floor was white marble and the doors all had amazing vintage hardware that was so intricate.

This shot is just the entrance from the parking lot. it sums up what we saw there. I hope we could one day stay here and experience it a bit more. you can really tell that this place is old. the wood and all the furniture are well taken care of and just so luxurious.

I could so totally live here!!

And here!

this store was so great, I know we can get Juicy here at Nordstrom, but it was truly an experience to be had at the Beverly Hills store. I really need a camera bag, and it was REALLY hard to put down the cute little black leather and brass studded bag I found near the door. Max, you can thank rebekah for being the voice of reason! We also went to Gucci, Prada, Chanel and a few other designer stores. At Chanel I fell in love with a black croc skin handbag. small, but totaly worth the $28,289.00 price tag. I could really do some damage there on Rodeo Drive! I really felt like a princess the whole day! Thanks, Rebekah for taking me to a fun place and doing all the girly things with me! I loved it!

lately

2009-07-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

So, we have been busy lately. The last couple of weeks here is always full of last minute hang outs and events. I am really going to miss the end of summer here in WA, my favorite part of summer here is august and september, the cool evenings and hot days of river swimming. here are some of our latest photos.

We have a small kiddy pool in my parents back yard, bright does not always want to wear his swim shorts so he will just wear undies. this photo is of him, post swim and working on the house with grandpa. he's also accessorized it a bit. I think the dirty mouth is just super, but it's the pose that has me laughing. me: "bub, can you smell the flowers behind you and I will take your picture?" him: "but mama, I want to stand like this." and then he poses like this:

here he is posing again. my dad and I were trying to figure out what he was trying to express by this pose. I kept taking photos expecting him to change it up, but we have about 10 pics of him like this. he must have thought the look was working!

this one is just too cute to not post. he's running to catch up to grampa, with backwards undies.

Today we had a church picnic, and it was painfully hot. we stayed as long as we could stand it. the food was good, and so was the company however there was no hiding from the sun. Bub and I did find a nice place to play. he's loving tire swings lately.

About a week ago we found this amazing spot on the river. we stopped on the side of a bridge and walked down to the shore. the water that we initially came upon was pretty deep, though it had a sandy shore. Courtney and I decided to wade up the river (under the bridge) with the boys and my precious camera in the backpack. it looked like there was a perfect shallow spot about 100yds away. BAD IDEA! the river looked as though it got shallower as it flowed under the bridge, so we thought we could stay close to shore and just carry the boys. the bottom was deep with mud about up to our ankles, which made for a s-l-o-w walk. Also, the water was waist to chest deep. but we were so close! finally, after deliberation (do we go back?)we made it under the bridge and to the rocky side. it was perfect. a small creek broke off from the main river flow and created a large island in the river. the creek was great for the boys to play in with shallow water and sand for walking around on.

here you can see the bridge in the background. we parked on the other side and waded under the bridge to this spot. the "creek" that broke from the main river flow is to the left, Asher and I are sitting in it.

we caught a fish.

Here is another part of the river off shoot.

The boys. Asher pretty much just stood there the whole time unless I was holding him and dipping his legs in the water. he was pretty nervous around the water.

Bright was wading out to Coco, but decided against it, shortly after this he slipped on a rock and went totally under! when he came up he was shocked but coco and I just cheered and made it out to be the most awesome thing ever, and instead of feeling scared he ended up feeling really proud of himself. "that was really crazy! did you get a picture of it mama?" no. it's because as I saw it I freaked and ran toward him, so there is no photo evidence. sorry bub.

the cozy car ride home.

speaking of small/furry/cute animals.....

2009-07-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

we were at Twin falls yesterday. It's rapidly becoming Brighton's favorite place to go on a hot day. we hike a bit then stop on the side and play in the water. while the boys were throwing rocks I noticed an infant rodent of some sort. since it was small, cute, furry and only a baby of whatever it was, I thought it was cute. had it been in it's adult form, I probably would have screamed and ran the heck outta there. since it wasn't I photographed the thing, and showed the boys. we still don't know what it is.

it's eyes are still closed, so I think it was looking (smelling) for its nest. it just slowly bumbled about smelling things and trying to nurse twigs. sad. no mommy to be found. finally it found this place in the sun to cozy up in and snooze. it was all I could to to keep asher from grabbing it and kissing it.

Can you see where it is? we were pretty close to it.

here are the real stars of the show! my boys and I can really have a great time in the water! asher's fave was throwing rocks, bright liked sitting on the bigger rocks out in the water and finding creatures. Also, splashing is fun.

gettin sandy!

sweet little hikers! you were with us in spirit, honey. I know you would have loved sharing this day with us!

we found a bee

2009-07-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

we were walking from the car to the house and saw a huge bumble bee on the walkway. both boys were smitten. I, of course, was picking it up and trying to touch the soft fuzziness of it. Asher honed in on that fact and wanted to hold it and love on it. I could tell by the sweet cooing he was making. His "cute animal" voice; a series of oooh's, oh's and ahh's at the highest pitch imaginable laced with sweetness. When I hear that I am at my happiest, since it usually involves my boys being sweet, nurturing and nondestructive, with a cute/fuzzy/small animal thrown in the mix.

I didn't realize until now how fitting his shirt was!

The only thing left to do after you properly harass a bee is to....Play the "drums"!!

4th of july!

2009-07-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

WE had a nice mellow Fourth. We spent the morning working in the garden, stopped in Issaquah for a festival, shopped for dinner items, then it was firework time! Just my parents and my sisters were here and we all had a yummy dinner outside, which the boys just think is the coolest thing ever. I promised Bright that we would do fireworks in the dark AFTER Asher had already gone to bed, and then he could sleep with me in my bed. On the 3rd, he asked me : "Is tomorrow the firework and snuggle in your bed day?" so sweet. I got some really cute pictures thanks to my personal photographer (a.k.a Coco). I think the best part was experiencing the fireworks through bright. It was the first time fireworks and the 4th made sense to him. he kept saying "YAAAAAAAY!" after each firework. we did tons of sparklers, stobe lights, a ground hog,smoke bombs and some bees. Bright loved the groundhog and the sparklers the best. Then when we went to bed he said, "I just don't want this day to be not here." of course I loved the nice snuggle too.

At the 4th festival in issaquah it was not really much of a 4th celebration as much as a train station/frontier life thingy for kids. The kids checked in and got a passport which was stamped at each activity station. There was a butter making station, dress up, train logging, shingle making, mining, and laundry station.
bright did all the stations and got his little passport stamped. The best station was when we got to ride a push cart on the railroad track. bright took it very seriously. he had a great time. Just me and him, asher was with grandma!

buter making

SNAKES!!!

"YAAAAAAAY! YAY FOR THE NORTHWEST!!!" not sure why he said it, but he wanted us to know!

Us with sparklers, I love this pic!

Some cool shots taken by coco.

This picture sums up the night. A great photo of what "home" feels like to me. The moon was particularly amazing. The sparklers were VERY sparkly.

Remlinger Photos take 2!

2009-07-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Here's Asher in the process of squealing with joy.

I made it into one.

This was a bike track, and the bikes were so adjustable that I could ride one, and bright could also ride it. I just followed him on his, just in case he got stuck, as the bike was just a touch too big. he was able to do the entire course all on his own! I had to get him unstuck from another rider who had crashed but beside that, he did awesome! the track had up down, corners, hills and a bridge. bright loved it and wanted to go again. next time we go I think I will ride with him! it looked like fun.

Here we are on the old timey car ride (that's what it was called, I dont normally say "old timey') Asher did NOT want me touching him. I kept trying to steady him on the seat and make sure he wasn't going to fall, but he wanted to drive that car alone! he would pry my fingers off and protest. here he is "driving" and reveling in the process. he kept exclaiming "oooohhh!" kinda in a Poppa Jim sort of way.

Asher and I were sitting in the back seat, behind the "Real" driver. I think bright actually thought that he was crontrolling the car on it's course. it was of course on a track and moving really slowly, but we encouraged him saying "quick, turn right!" and he would pay close attention. sweetie...

Here we all are on the train. look how content brighton is. I managed to get in another shot!

The tiny but fun roller coaster, it was the last thing we did and bright really liked it. he wasn't scared a bit, or so it seemed.

We always miss max when he's deployed. even when he's just at work for the day. But this was truely a day that he was missed wholeheartedly. There are times when I resent the Air Force for taking him away and for missing out on brights experiences like this day at Remlinger. We really miss you honey, and are praying that you are safe and doing well at work today. I hope I have taken too many photos so you feel as if you were there with us. I love you!

2009-07-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the boys to Remlinger farms. They have TONS of things to do for kids ages 4+. Lots of goats, rabbits, chickens, peacocks, and turkeys in various areas of the park for kids to harass. There were rides perfect for bright's age; a small roller coaster, a train that goes around the park, a track with pedal bikes to ride on, and even a hay maze. There's lots more to do but I won't bore ya. check out their website and definately take your kids if you can, the puppet show is worth the drive alone. It was the perfect day to take the boys, sunny but not blazing hot about 73 and gorgeous. The first thing we did was let bright ride on the canoe ride. he liked it. It was his initiation into amusement rides. I think it was the perfect one to ease him into as he is VERY wary of things of that nature.
here he is still unsure, but 100% willing to hop in alone.

and here he is having so much fun in his " 'lil boat"!

"The train's comin', mama"

in this photo you can see we're on the train, but we're looking at the old timey car ride in the background as well as the little farm type buildings that house the turkeys and peacocks. Asher LOVED the old timey car ride.

Asher getting to ride the big (stationary) tractor.

GOATS! Asher just adored these guys. he was squealing with joy each time he touched one.

Ok I am having trouble with blogger now, so I will upload remaining photos after I go to the gym. Maybe things will have settled down by then!

"grasshopper" the frog.

2009-06-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's the name that was chosen. I am pretty sure that Bright picked the name "grasshopper" since the frog hops and is green like grass. I am pretty sure because that's what he told me, he was VERY specific. Bright has been keeping him busy in a jar for a few days and we picked up some crickets to feed him and make him happy. I took some cute pictures of the boys playing with it. they had fun chasing it around the kitchen at my parents house and watching it very patiently as it hunted the crickets which kept drowning in the tiny drop of water in the bottom of the jar. And, every frog knows you don't eat dead crickets.

He wants him to climb on the "bridge".

isn't it so cool?! check out the texture!

this photo is blurry because I can't control the excitement that is vibrating out of asher! he was practically bouncing all over and I think I took about 5 pictures with just a green streak and a caucasian streak across the frame, this one you can at least tell what is in the photo and see asher's expression! priceless.

last week's photos

2009-06-22T11:25:00.001-07:00

Last week we had A few hot days and mostly Cool rainy days. It was Lyda's birthday, then Toby's birthday, then my dad's, then father's day! whew!
here's the boys looking xtra sunny with their beautiful blue eyes.

Here's Asher being a cutie in his pirate Jammies. He looks so old to me in this picture.

Snugglin' with grampa.

Happy Birthday Grampa!!

Cutie pie Asher in the rocker at LaLa's house.

Asher's new hiding spot.

It started raining so hard that a stream of rainfall flowed down the street and into the yard! the kids thought it was really cool, gus and bright were having a laugh about something.

Happy birthday TOBY!

This German Chocolate cake from Whole Foods was AMAZING! so so so good. very coconutty. Asher just had to try some!

Father's Day!

2009-06-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

IT's father's Day here in the states, but for Max it's already June 22nd. The day AFTER father's day. It makes me feel dense, and lame for not remembering that he's a day ahead especially when I spoke to him yesterday and didn't mention it. and I always feel totally small when I realize I need to remember to be better about those things(sending packages, emails, good phone convo topics) while he's deployed. He's such a great daddy to our boys and I can't wait to see him in action as we continue to add to our family. He's been an excellent provider, taking care of us financially and is so good at handling it that I feel 200% secure with his decisions in that area. He spends time with the boys and knows just what his little dudes love, and knows just how to make them laugh. WE miss you honey! We can't wait to snuggle up with you when we are all in our cozy home together again.

What a daddy!

some photos for max

2009-06-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

Max was deployed on june 1st. The boys and I trekked over to WA to hang out while he's gone. We have been having a marvelous time. The boys especially. Max asked for some pictures of our adventures so here are a few, since it takes so long to upload, we'll see how many I actually get op here! Here's Asher sitting on the river bank. it was hot ('bout 95) and we went down to the VERY icey cold river to cool down. no one swam but we took turns daring eachother to sit in the shallow water. it was freezing! Asher enjoyed getting muddy and Bright liked throwing rocks. this picture shows a bit of the beautiful river landscape we got to enjoy. here's the squinter:

Poppa Jim and Bright found a HUGE moth that was Brown and pink. really pretty and pretty weird. bright tried to pick it up so it flew to the nasturtiums in front of the gordon's house (they are famous for those nasturtiums (no evidence of flowers in these pic however)!

here's the cutie pie:

We got some chickens to keep at my parents while I am here, we want some yummy home grown eggs and all that so we looked up on craigslist and found some laying hens that were ready. this chicken farmer in Orting had all sorts of animals wondering around his farm. We found a horse in the barn and asher was in love! he kept kissing it and wanting to hug it and pet it. here he is petting it at about 90 miles an hour as you can tell by his blurry hand in the photo.

We picked out a few chickens but our favorite is this little teen girl, a buff colored Orpington. she's just the sweetest and our most favorite of the bunch. she's at home right in the middle of the boys being crazy, which is amazing, and she's so snuggly. She won't struggle to get free of your arms at all. she seems to just cuddle up and fall asleep, happy to be held for hours on end. here she is at the boys construction site.

Asher wants to hold her so bad.

this last one is of bright pulliing asher in the "train" he says he's the big strong engine. sweetie.

2009-05-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of bright after opening his first present. A calico critters "general store". it's basically a girls toy, but we won't tell him that. it's a miniature grocery shop with tiny fuzzy animals being the shoppers. everything in miniature and bright is really into miniature things right now, hence the legos. Here's bub playing with his boat trailer lego's and calico critters store thing. Here's asher watching him play. It was hard for asher to leave all the new toys alone, but he did really well. Bright just plays on the table with them and asher can't reach them to ruin them. if you look closely mabe you can count the teeth!
Bub had so much fun on his birthday. with each new box he was as excited as the first. he kept asking, "mama, is it still my birthday?" I was asked this about 4 times throughout the day I think he was feeling like he didn't want it to end. I was surprised that he didnt fight at bedtime! finally after a quick webcam chat with grampa, he went straight into bed and said "I'm tired mama." Then when I tucked him in he said "thank you for my birthday, mama. it was nice"

watch how excited asher gets with the marble run. this marble run has over 200 pieces, and it took me an hour to put together what you see, apparently I am not a good engineer.

Bright bright is 4!

2009-05-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Bright's birthday! He woke up to find a present at the foot of his bed and was super excited for his gift of calico critters. Little animals that have clothes and things. he likes miniature things lately. legos and mighty world are big as well. in honor of his birthday I just thought I would post some pics of bright through the ages. he's changed so much since he was born and watching those changes has been the greatest gift. Everyday I think of how lucky I am that I was chosen to be his mom. He makes my heart beat, this boy! Here he is on the day he arrived, May 14th 2005. Here he is around his first birthday. completely bald save a few platinum strands. with daddy shortly after moving to grand forks. his hair is getting longer here, and I remember that was the day max heard him say more than the usual words( mama, no, yep) he was saying sentances, and max was FLOORED. "watertower" was I think the biggest one he said that day here are his cute curls. I will miss those the most, even more than the wrist wrinkles. his third birthday last year. THE SHARK TENT! it's still a favorite. this was last christmas time. This was today.

eco lazy

2009-03-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

everyone who knows me knows that I try my best to be the girl who has it all together. but everyone who knows me knows that I dont. most of the time. I am still holding on to my fantasy that I will successfully morph into Bree from desperate houswives, pearls, classical american decor and all!
ANYway, as some of you know, 3 weeks ago I decided to swich from disposable diapers to cloth. HUGE decision for me. I am so ANTI germ i should own stock in lysol. I have always been aware that our environment is worthy of being taken care of. I believe that people are in control of how much or little we effect our environment from the things we buy, who we elect and how we live our lives day to day. taking that into consideration, I just couldn't think of all the poop I would have to deal with if I was to use cloth diapers. the more I thought of it the more i could imagine how many hours I would spend washing the HECK outta those poopy "diapers". I used to think that just throwing them away was so much easier. UNTIL.....

The Bumgenius diaper. My good friend Renae told me how much she loved them and how easy they were to use and take care of. she really made me feel like I could do it. So I ordered some and began an experiment. I decided that if I didn't love them, or found that washing was becoming too much, or if I was getting really grossed out then it was over and they were going up on ebay. well 3 weeks later I LOVE Them. they are easy to wash, and even easier to put on. no folding, no weird attchments or pins or anything. very up to the minute in cloth diaper tech. the inside where they touch asher's bum is SUPER soft I almost want some undies for myself made out of them! the only challenge is that you can't put diaper ointment on their bum then put the diaper on, it will cause the fabric lining to become repellant to, um..."liquids". so, I haven't masterd that problem,but since asher rarely gets diaper rash, I am not worried. I don't think I would cloth diaper a newborn though. with all that a newborn brings to the house in terms of adjustment, laundry, and schedule there's enough to do. ubt I am thinking for our next one (or two!) I will probably start at about 4-6 months.
I also do other things at our house that are considered green or eco, and I really enjoy feeling more eco-responsible. even if I can't quit driving and ride a bike everywhere (can you imagine in my climate!?!?) i can still do things that will lessen my impact.

I recycle what I can. we don't have curb pick up so I have to drop it off at the recycle center.
I use green cleaning products made from plant oils and other things like vinegar.
I reuse anything I can. old grocery bags are repurposed into small garbage can liners.
I have plastic barrels out side our house for rain catchers. when it rains, I catch the water and use it for plants.
in every room that has a window we open the curtains and use the sunlight instead of overhead lighting. We get an amazing amount of sun, and it's starting to make an impact on our energy bill.
the only wash cycle that gets hot water is diapers, everything else is cold.
bed sheets no longer get dried in the dryer. an extra rinse and then put on the bed damp, this allows for a natural dry and de wrinkle all in one!
instead of snacks, I let the boys eat the food off the floor from previous meals, cuts costs AND saves on the vacuum energy (gross..and you thought I actually did that!)
I buy most things on ebay. REUSE! and you save tons of $$
I changed the thermostat to be a bit warmer in summer and a bit cooler in winter.
During the summer I buy local produce and eggs from the farmer's market, buying local and organic backs my comminment to organic farmers and what they are all about.
At the grocery store I try hard to buy products that are made in factories with wind energy. Lundberg farms, and Annie's Naturals. both brands have amazing products, even if you hate the eco movment their food still tastes better than the alternative.
IF I COULD- I would switch to wind energy. our power company doesn't offer it, so I can't even though I want to. someone should write their senetor....

Anyway, I hope you try some of the things that I mentioned. If a lazy Bree wannabe like me can do it, you can too!

oops

2009-03-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

ok so I had known max's squadron commander's wife and her family(2 young daughters under 6 years old, both gorgeous one has downs) for a while when this lovely situation happened: I went out with the squadron spouses for a spouse get together, and was talking with 3 girls and the sq. com. wife was next to me but talking with a different set of gals. so my girlfriends and I are kinda in this heated discussion about adultry and what "cheating" means and all that. I won't lie, margaritas were involved. anyway, I was saying retarded a lot. for some reason it was my word of the day and in our conversation I was retarded, he was, she was, the people were acting that way, whatever, I was saying it a lot. I finally realized that we were talking quite loudly. did I mention the margaritas? of course I had forgotten that the commanders wife was sitting next to me (she was afterall talking to the other end of the table. I was mortified so much after I realized what I was saying, I know she heard, she had to. but I thought "retarded is a word that everyone says and it's not meant personally to her or her family, I'm confident in our friendship enough to not bring it up" so I didn't really think about apologizing, especially on the off chance she didn't hear me; but since margaritas have a megaphone like effect on my voice, I know she did.

Today I got an email from her. it was a group email sent to the spouses regarding
www.r-word.org

wow, now I really feel retarded!

new friends

2009-02-25T13:57:00.001-08:00

I decided to brave the 1 degree weather (and max's rear wheel drive car) with the boys today for a trip to the indoor play area at the mall. we stopped by the pet store first and looked at the cute little boston terrier puppies, too bad I didnt wear my big coat or one of those little guys would have stowed away! Asher was squeeling with delight as the puppy licked his tasty fingers. bright loved snuggling it but DID NOT want it licking or trying to lick him! then on to the play area. I saw that the oly other family in the play area was a family that we frequently sit by in church and see at Awana during the week, but have never acually "met". needless to say we met and talked for abut an hour about our families and a mutual hatred of the current weather situation in GF. bitter cold, snow, ice terrible driving and bundling up kids just for short errand trips. She's from puerto rico and misses it, but really likes the military life though they are not currently active duty(both she and husband are former active duty air force). she invited me to lunch, and though i knew it was dangerously close ashers nap time and a meltdown was imminent, i agreed. she was so kind and giggled at all my attempts to be funny, so polite of her. her name is joyce. she has twin 3 year old girls and a 5 year old girl. the kids all got along well and her and i talked as if we'd known eachother for a long time. it really feels great when that happens, like God placed her in the mall just for me. It has been an ongoing prayer of mine, with each move, that I find fun godly women to be friends with. sometimes it takes some time but I really feel like I have a good group now.

woodland creatures

2009-02-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

today bright and I were talking about animals. which ones were our favorites of the ocean, land, desert, river, etc. then he said "foxes are my favorite of woodland creatures. they're so orange" adoarble. something he said that was not so adoarable: last week he came to me, "mama, Asher sucks." first I was wondering where he got this word, knowing it was probably me or max I faked shock & responded with "what?!?why? and dont use that word again please!" "well he just sucks because he had a big poop, mama. can you fix it?"
why do most little boy stories revolve aroud dirt or poop??

we're still alive!

2009-01-12T13:41:00.001-08:00

SO! we are still alive and well. Washington has thrown all it had up it's sleeve at us(feet of snow, ice, torrential rain, Floods) and we are still here and loving it. NOT looking forward to the day we say our goodbyes to our lovely northwest, but it will soon come. We love family, friends and familiarity and have been overcome with it since we arrived. There's nothing like driving down the road that you grew up on and feeling like you know every curve and dip and speed limit. being able to see everyone I want when I want to, is a luxury more people should be able to enjoy and take advantage of. I can't wait to share all my memories of my trip with my Grand Forks friends, and see my sweet husband whom I miss so much. It seems that with each deployment I get used to it more, and more independant, yet I miss him more each time. Anyway, we still have some time left here in WA, and we will max out each moment! more posts to come when I am bored back in ND! :)

update

2008-11-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well I have been busy with 2 boys lately! Asher beginning to crawl and wanting to be on the floor more, he's just doing the army style crawl now, not perfect form but still good. He seems kinda mad about it. while he likes the mobility I think he still wants to be held while being mobile too. such a mama's boy! Very much like bright in the way that he wants me near him when he's playing on the floor. if I step away even to grab a toy out of his reach he complains! he's also getting more aware of the world around him, he LOVES other babies, kids and animals. When we go to the pet store in the mall he freaks over all the puppies and kittens. pretty cute. he's also sporting 2 new teeth (bottom front)
Bright is in no shortage of cuteness either, of course. I took bright to the base halloween party thing, and got some cutie pie pics. Daddy was serving popcorn dressed as a purple unicorn.
I am finally getting over a pretty bad sick flu thing, we all got it and now we are getting over it in time for our trip HOME!!!! i can hardly stand it, I am so excited.
here's a tooth pic (HA HA HA HA)

my pumpkins

2008-10-16T09:49:00.001-07:00

what a fun week we've had! The pic above is just so sweet to me! they both love the bath and asher especially since it usually involves a ton of drama surrounding the hair washing of his brother. For the most part i wash them first then just watch them play. asher hold some sort of toy and bangs it on the side of his bucket thing, or he'll sit down in it and cozy up in the warm water. bright pretends he's swimming or his naval fleet is sinking. not a ton of splashing is involved, thankfully.

we went to the pumpkin patch and brought home some pumpkins to carve up. Bright doesn't really know what halloween is, he thinks a pumpkin with a carved face is a "halloween". we aren't really in a hurry to explain it, after all, he doesn't really eat candy, and why start with all the hype and entitlement issues, right? I managed to snap a few good pics of my sweetie pies carving up some squash. As always I will send a snapfish album so you can see it in full. Bright was VERY excited to carve asking me every 5 mins or so if it was time to carve. but when it came time, he didn't want to have any involvement in the scraping of the insides, he wanted full creative control without the dirty work. Here's my cuties carving and asher chewing on a piece:

here's the final product Left to right (Brighton, max, asher, me):

be careful little eyes

2008-10-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

You have to listen really close to what bright is singing in this vid. it's of course, cute, and pretty typical of what bright does while playing. Before I grabbed the camera he was singing the same song over and over for about 5 mins while he dug a "road" in the dirt for his cars. If you listen careful you can tell what the song is, at the end he says some of the words incase you're confused.

TRAINS!

2008-09-27T11:55:00.001-07:00

Today we took a little family outing to the Northern Lights Model Train Society. It is a group of several grandaddy types from around the area who like to collect and run model trains. we drove to East Grand Forks, MN (10 mins from our house) and found the address. it was in a weird little building with no visable access, broken and what looks like a new addition being added. all that to say asher and I had to climb all over the construction to get in, and it looked like there wasn't anything in this little portable building. inside was what bright would consider heaven:

Here he is making sure everyone is doing it right:

The happiest boy in town!

P.S. I'll send out a snapfish soon with all of these and more! be on the lookout!

new pics

2008-09-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

here's a couple of cute pics from the day I cut brighton's hair. he's probably the cutest boy to ever eat an apple, my little emo. max was in japan the week before last, and he just got back from cali yesterday. The cali trip was the first for him being an Aircraft Commander! yay! he's in charge now, watch out!

cute book

2008-09-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

so as bright has been growing up I have created a book of cute little sayings of his, questions, and general cuteness. since max took the camera with him this week to cali, I can't post pics, so I will post some cute book entries.
yesterday:
in the car on the way home from church.
Bright: hey, i'm gonna, ummm, tell you guys a story,k? ok, once there was a goat and a kid. the end.
last week:
bright: mama, my noodles are too hot.
me: do you want me to cool them off
bright: no, just cold them. lemme just cold them. (he blows on the noodles)
me: good job cooling them off.
Bright: no, I'm colding them.

April 2008
Brighton came upstairs and said: "mama, I gotta show you sufin. see it's a frosting." it was actually a cake mix in the box. then he said, "isn't it just cute? it's so frosting!'
I think I will use that word when something is cool "it's SO frosting!"

so there's a few gems. Asher has yet to say anything cute, but the looks he makes are priceless. plus he's turning into a little drama man like brighton. pretty funny to see him get so worked up then the second I pick him up he's smiling and snuggling his head into my houlder or neck. sweetie pie....

new things this week!

2008-09-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

YAY! we're coming home for a visit! I bought tickets this week and we are booked for a nice long trip home for the holidays and for some good family time. Nov 12th-Jan 28th to be exact! I am so excited to spend lots of time with everyone, and for being able to get some breathing room from the boys (just enough to recharge) I have lots of ideas for fun things to do, and as always I look forward to christmas. It's by far my favorite holiday. I love the decorating, the food, the lights the music, and THE SHOPPING. The first (and second) video below is of bright "reading" the poem about the alphabet. the other is asher escaping out the door. yesterday he started rolling off of things like our futon....baby's are just made of cartilage right? now he can roll around every where and you can tell he thinks it's really fun. the boys this week have been as cute as ever. we started awana at our church. I am a helper in bright's "cubbies" class. he was so cute playing with the other kids and singing the cubbie sing, father abraham, and the lord's army. asher is getting more mobile. here's some vids taken this week.

2008-08-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

so today was a hard day to be a 3 year old boy. it was very hard to obey mommy and not be defiant. I'm carrying a wooden spoon in the car now. That being said, I did get a cute book moment out of today. He said to me that he was going to go work on his "com-pyew-ter" (he says each syllable with emphasis) and then he was going to go downstairs and play cars. he said "now, be sad for a little bit when I go, ok? bye bye" all the while cradling my face. what a cutie. lastnight was one for the books too, he had gotten out of bed after I put him down, and when I walked him back upstairs to bed I noticed some marking on the wall near his door. I asked him what it was, and he looked away all ashamed. I told him it was ok, he could tell me. He said "oh....it's just poop, from yesterday." it was a brown line about 12" long and then a nice round cirle about 8" in diameter. he said "see? a circle!" nice....

the weekend

2008-08-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome weekend. Max and I were able to get a babysitter (our good friend Erin) and go out for our anniversary! We had dinner at a restraunt in town then headed to the historical district for drinks and dessert and a bit of gambling and dancing. i say historical district, it's actually the old part of town and it consits of really just 2 streets about 3 block long of some old buildings. VERY extremely tiny, but still a change of scene from us new town dwellers. Max and I went to a place called crosstown to play pool and blackjack. I am pretty horrible at both, but I still had a great time. I had a margarita, and max tried to show me how to play blackjack but i just kept making the decisions before I heard his advice, so I lost my $10 pretty quickly. next it was on to a restraunt close by that we had smores (marshmallows toasted on long skewers served with raspberry and chocolate sauces and grahm crackers). next was on to level 10 a little martini bar. It felt like we had walked through the door and into another city. pretty trendy place, modern decor, techno music, that sort. we danced and had a malibu and pineapple, then it was time to head home to our sad little asher. we knew the whole time he was pretty much just crying while we were gone. we got there and he was almost asleep, then upon seeing us quickly became the happy as a clam and hamming it up boy we know. he was laughing and smiling and charming us all in no time. all this at 11:30 pm. what a fun night. Max got me a new mattress for our anniversary, I got him some new Rock and Republic jeans which he looks amazing in! the rest of the weekend we just hung out, went to the park, took a nice walk/trike ride, saw some grasshoppers, and played in the yard. It has gotten so much cooler this week and it feels like summer is over for this year. I have enjoyed it, though the weather is so extreme we were outside everyday this summer. not looking forward to the long winter ahead, but I am feeling that itching feeling that it's going to be moving time soon. I can just feel it. maybe we'll find out in the next few months. meanwhile I will keep praying for Spokane.... here's a vid of brighton and asher giggling to me making faces at them.

beautiful Wednesday

2008-08-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

good morning! It's a beautiful Wednesday morning in grand forks. A possible storm on the horizon, and I must admit I do like a mid afternoon, electrical storm in the heat. something about all that wind and darkness in the middle of what was once a hot and sunny summer day. this morning has been a bit rough from brighton, he woke up at about 8 and by 8:30 he had already smashed his nose into the footboard corner of my bed, AND fell off the couch bonking his head on the coffee table. both incidents resulting in howling crying which of course bled over to asher who sympathy cried, both times, with his impossible to resist huge glassy eyes, giant lower lip and "bwab, bwab!" sad blubbering.

brighton being crazy with asher

2008-08-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

first post

2008-08-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

ok, so I am not the best at keeping things like this up. So, that being said I will **try** to keep postings on the boys and our family as current as possible. I was just thinking that this might be a good way for family to be a fly on the wall of our lives a bit.