Dancing, riding, and crashing

Despite my best efforts at a "themed" costume ensemble this year, we ended up with two ballerinas and a cowboy on his ride. They looked pretty adorable IMHO and had a blast collecting what actually ended up being a reasonable amount of candy at a non-ghoulish harvest festival. Parker, however, apparently regretted missing the opportunity to get his face painted. Last night he remedied that with his own shades of black, blue and purple thanks to a close-up with a wooden chair. This one's for you Mom!

Ranchin'

My favorite THREE year-old!

Pick... him!

Alyssa tends to take after me, in more than just looks. So when it comes to making a fool of oneself, she isn't usually the first to volunteer. Parker, however, is his daddy. If there's an opportunity to get on stage, he's there! Prior to a family trip to Mickey's place today, Parker decided that he really wanted to be chosen to participate in the Jedi Training Academy. Previous such attempts have been most disappointing, so smart boy that he is, he enlisted the help of the sibling with legible handwriting to create a sign. Apparently the Jedi master liked Alyssa's plea to "Please pick my brother" because Parker was the first child selected. Needless to say he was thrilled, and Alyssa was more than happy to cheer from the sidelines.

We enjoyed our usual slew of rides, beautiful weather, and time with Daddy. And though we're really not so into Halloween, we were dutifully impressed by the annual selection of Disney-themed pumpkins. No hope of such artistically-carved gourds showing up on our doorstep!

How's it going?

We’re now two months into the whole homeschooling thing and this is a question we get a lot. My answer (most days) is “we love it!” As I anticipated (and occasionally feared), there are times when my patience runs low and days when the kids would really rather not do school. But more often than not we enjoy our time together, enjoy learning, and enjoy the freedom of making our own schedule. So far Alyssa’s favorite part is getting to sleep in. Where I once had to drag her out of bed each morning to rush her out the door for school, she now usually sleeps later than her traditional start time. Of course this sleepy mama doesn’t mind that change of pace either! Instead of dinner as a family, we eat breakfast together. Rather than playing, reading and wrestling with daddy in the evening, we enjoy him in the morning. School doesn’t start until after he leaves, around 11. Not normal, I know, but it works for us! The hour-and-a-half I would have to spend in the car picking up and dropping off, we spend doing school together instead. Actually sitting down, teaching, and planning takes even less time than I had anticipated. We’ve fallen in love with the library, and I think I might enjoy reading together even more than they do. Parker is learning to read on his own – something I initially thought would intimidate me but has proven quite intuitive. Alyssa who once hated math now often wants to do only math. I’d like to think it’s my incredible teaching ability, but I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the fact that I let her use real money =). But mostly I feel like I have my life back. And my kids back. I love having them around, and love getting to teach and learn on our own schedule. Homeschool progress report month two: I’ll give it an A!

Rain!

It's a bit of a novelty around here. Parker actually wondered aloud if we can drink rain. I suppose we need a lesson or two on the water cycle! Alyssa, Parker and Reagan were all too happy to slosh around in the backyard after dinner tonight, filling up their new rainboots with all the water they could stomp. My little point-n-shoot did it's best to keep up, as my favorite toy is getting ready to leave on a grand adventure with my parents. Methinks it will be rather glad to capture images of real wildlife for a change after months of shooting only these monkeys!

10 years

Had you asked me on October 9, 1999 whether I could ever love a man more than I loved Danny at that moment, my answer most certainly would have been NO. But I could not then appreciate what a wonderful husband Danny would be. I didn't know what it would be like to know and be known so well that we would be able to anticipate each others' thoughts and actions. I had no concept of how much more lovable a man would be after watching him love my children with a ferocity matched only by their mother. I didn't know grey hair would be so sexy. I didn't anticipate that maturity would be immeasurably more attractive than goofiness. I just didn't know how good marriage could be. Or how great a catch Danny really was. By God's grace and Dan's diligence I truly love him more today than I did on that amazingly fun Seattle October day. And I pray that the love we share today will pale in comparison to the love we'll enjoy in the decades to come. I am so grateful that Danny said "I do," and even more grateful that he had "done" more for me in these past 10 years than I could have ever hoped for.

If ever your patriotism tank starts running low...

go to an air show!

Danny's been doing a great job lately of planning fun family outings - usually something he's wanted to do but needed the kids for an excuse. Whatever the motivation, we've all had a good time! This week was a trip south for the military air show at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Through some connections I still don't fully understand, we got to sit with the families of the Blue Angels and had a front row center view of everything. I don't think our kids fully appreciated the privilege, but Danny and I certainly did. They were impressed by the loud jets (and grateful for the ear protection), paratroopers, tanks and helicopters, and especially excited about getting to climb up on them. I was impressed by the excellence of execution and the technology, but was also struck by the sense of pride among the military personnel and their kind respect towards all of their giddy, and probably overwhelming, guests. I also became convinced that it most certainly must have been young men that thought up most of the maneuvers. No woman or mature male in their right mind would have considered attempting any of them!

(that's two planes people!)

(Alyssa in a goofy moment)

(Parker listening intently to instructions about how to fire this Marine's weapon)

Daddy's boy

My dad didn't have a boy. Raised as the youngest in a family of sisters, and blessed with only two daughters, he is certainly not afraid to wear pink. But he is a masculine man with masculine interests. He had no other male in the family with whom to share his love of sports, so I became Daddy's little boy. I wouldn't characterize myself as a tom boy at all, but my dad succeeded in instilling me with a great appreciation for sporting events. Somewhere in a box in the garage are scorecards from the multitude of Seattle Mariner games we attended together. My mom and sister enjoyed the food and the chatting more than the action, but I meticulously recorded each and every out. Me and Dave Valle... fast friends.
When the Kingdome wasn't buzzing, my dad and I cheered on the Everett Aquasox AAA baseball team, the Seattle Supersonics, and most every sport played by a University of Washington Husky: women's basketball, men's basketball, women's volleyball, and my favorite, men's football.
The latter developed into a love for all college football. Danny routinely brags about the days he'll come home to find our Tivo filled with random games I've watched and saved for him to enjoy. As long as it's a good game, I can be entertained by any team from Purdue to Fresno State. My parents' birthday present to Danny then was every bit as fun for me as it was for him: tickets to the USC game. And not just any tickets, but 5th row, 35 yard line. Definitely a step up in my book from last year's gift!

I still carry some devotion to my UW Huskies, so this is the hat I had hoped to wear:

But last week's huge upset of USC, coupled with the fact that their opponent this Saturday was UW's biggest cross-state rival led me to choose this one instead:

Danny thought it might be the better option if I hoped to avoid being mugged. Either way, we had a wonderful time, the home team won, and Danny's entrance into his mid-thirties was significantly eased.

Fuzz

So I have a number of oddities. Just ask Danny, I'm sure he could give you a long list of things that are weird about his wife. But perhaps the peeve he enjoys torturing me about most is my utter abhorrence of peach fuzz. Love the flavor of peaches... hate (yes, I'm using the word hate) the fuzz. Just thinking about that strange, almost velvety covering makes goosebumps run up and down my arms. If I actually touch it (or rather, if those who claim to love me succeed in rubbing it against my skin), the goosebumps make their way up my neck and down my legs. Think fingernails down a chalkboard times 100. As is clear from the photos of a recent trip to a peach orchard, my children have not inherited my fear and happily chow down on all things peachy-flavored. But the God who created peach fuzz and my peculiar phobia also graciously created nectarines. Praise God for nectarines!

Another world

In 5th grade, Danny prepared his state report on the great state of Alaska. That little gem still occupies a spot in his sentimental box in Parker's closet, and the state has ever since occupied a place in Danny's imagination. Our upcoming 10th wedding anniversary provided an excuse to visit the land of his dreams, and I can't say that I was an unwilling participant. Thanks to a great deal on cruise travel and two sets of very willing grandparent babysitters, we thoroughly enjoyed a week away in a very beautiful, very different part of the country.

I'd visited Alaska as a little girl, but had not remembered just how remote the place is. The land is so rugged, so steep, that the population is confined to a few very narrow valleys, surrounded by impenetrable mountain ranges. Much of it is accessible only by boat or plane, and so few people live there that many towns don't even have a doctor. The tourists outnumbered residents 8 to 1 at two of our stops. Some still live without electricity, high-speed internet (gasp!), running water, or more than a very occasional glimpse of sunshine. I grew up in Seattle so I know wet and miserable, but Alaskans take it to a whole new level. As you might guess from the photos, we left the sun behind in California, but to us rain is a novelty so we didn't mind a bit. My only regret is that the fog made it even more difficult to capture just how vast and breathtaking the landscape really is (or at least I'll blame it on the fog - couldn't have been the photographer). Everything is just so big, but with nothing around to compare it to, all perspective is lost. We were fortunate to see a bear (that little black speck in the stream, second to bottom photo), salmon spawning, whales (or at least Danny did... I might have seen them too had I been willing to set aside my books in favor of exercise... apparently there were great views from the gym), and a couple of bald eagles. We saw glaciers, fjords, waterfalls, icebergs, and very charming towns. The boat wasn't bad either! We made a few friends among the retirees (we were most definitely the young 'uns, making it very easy to feel sexy on formal night!), ate well and often, and just as I had hoped... slept! All in all a wonderful trip, and already probably more than you wanted to know. Home is great though too, and I'm thrilled to be back with my babies. They didn't seem to miss us a bit, but a week without them is long enough.

Zzzz....

Were you to ask my kids, husband, parents, sister, best friends – anyone who knows me well or has lived with me – about my favorite pastime, the answer would unanimously be… SLEEPING! I’d like to think that none would simultaneously characterize me as lazy, but sleep is indeed a cherished friend.

Even as a child I was a sleeper. My mom has often recounted her panicked conversations with my pediatrician about this baby who just slept and slept and slept. He wisely counseled her to just be grateful, and in 30+ years my sleepiness has not worn off. As a teen I remember routinely dozing until noon on Saturdays, and am still haunted by memories of being roused long before dawn on those dark, dreary Seattle school days. Torture I say. Pure torture. In college I embraced the night life in the dorms (wild as it was at my beloved conservative Christian school). But most every afternoon I made up for my night-owl ways with a cat nap. Fast-forwards to the months in which I was anticipating motherhood: the secretary at my accounting firm used to send me into an empty office for 15-minute power naps. I guess I looked like I needed it!

My mom worried that my sound sleeping habits would prevent me from being able to hear and care for my new baby girl in the night. Fortunately for me, God blessed me with a child that sleeps as well as I do, so those midnight rousings only lasted for a couple of weeks. And it really is quite remarkable how well I do hear the cries of my own needy children when I truly hear nothing else. Even now, seven years and two more kids later, I still occasionally follow the new-mom advice: sleep when they sleep. I'd pick a power nap over a daytime drama anytime!
The only other being that can disturb my sleep is the one I share a bed with. While perfectly adorable and an otherwise fabulous husband, Danny is the master of bed stealing and cover snatching. He is actually able to get the sheets wrapped completely around his body, leaving me with the option of either waking up entirely to unroll his 6’0” frame, or sleeping coverless. Even the advent of the sleep-number bed has not completely solved the “get off my side!” problem. The man has to roll uphill to steal my half… and he does!

So what do you think is one of the highlights of my anticipation of our vacation next week? Ding, ding, ding! You got it! Sleep. And not just any sleep, but uninterrupted, solitary sleep in my very own bed. We’re going on a cruise to Alaska to celebrate our 10th anniversary - our first ever big trip without the kids except for the few days in Vietnam before we picked up Reagan - and our perfectly dark inside cabin comes equipped with two beds! I’m fully aware that they can be squeezed together to make one queen-ish sized surface, but am very much looking forward to my very own space. Danny’s on board with this idea and knows that I won’t neglect the romance of the moment altogether. We’ll cuddle…etc… but then when it’s time to sleep, I will retreat to my own little sleeping cocoon! What could be better?!

Smoke gets in your eyes

By God's grace our home is relatively far from the fires currently devastating Southern California. But that doesn't mean that the smoke hasn't settled like a thick grey blanket over it, and everything else around here. The hauntingly beautiful pyrocumulus cloud we saw on Sunday has spread out to rain down ash and obviously unhealthful air. Most of the time, the sun casts the kind of yellowish glow you might typically enjoy only at sunset. Yesterday the sun was actually red, with no visible rays. Our inconvenience is truly minor, but it is a great reminder of just how easily the things of this world will slip away, and what a joy and privilege it is to store up treasure in heaven!