My New Hairdo

I went and got my hair cut today. I think it had been almost a year since I last got it cut, which is a horrible thing to do to one's hair. It was so damaged, I couldn't even comb it without getting my comb stuck in a nest of snarls. So off it went. Not completely; just the damaged parts. Which were many. I also got a little brave and got myself some bangs, which I haven't had since the sixth grade. I kind of like them. They make me feel girly. And since I didn't cut them myself, they go down past my eyebrows. A little bonus. The best thing about it, though, was when I got home and David said, "I thought you went to get your haircut." Men.

Here is a little
Before:


and After:
*



*Posed by model

Another Stumbling Drunkard

My little Drewbie finally decided to start walking. It was so strange. He's been watching Owen walk (and fall) for months now, and he just never seemed very interested in trying it himself. And then suddenly, last Tuesday, he just stood up and walked across the kitchen. And he's been walking ever since (unless he falls, in which case he crawls to his destination and then tries walking again to get to the next place). He looks so funny when he walks. He keeps his legs and back so stiff, and he holds his hands up in the air for balance, and crosses his fingers (for luck?). I guess he doesn't look so much like a stumbling drunk, but more like a drunk who's trying to act sober.

I guess since the title of my blog involves my kids, and that's really what the whole blog is about, I will continue with talking about Drew and Owen:

They crack me up. They are learning lots of "words," but all the words sound pretty much the same. For example, if they say, "Naa" it could mean any of the following: snack, banana, no (though that is usually pronounced "neee"). If they say "Daaa" it could mean Dad, down, what's that, over there, or pretty much anything else. It's the catch-all word. "Mum" means some or more. (they don't really say "mom" yet; all they have to do to get my attention is cry). And the other day, Drew started chanting, "Ashes, ashes!" So I assumed he wanted to play "Ring Around the Rosie" and now he and Owen walk around the house yelling, "Ashes, ashes, Daaa!" and then they sit down. It's very amusing.

So that's that. I think 12 to 18 months is what a lot of people refer to as the "Golden Age," when kids are really fun and don't throw a whole lot of tantrums yet. I'd like it better if there were no diapers involved, but it is a fun age for Drew and Owen and me.

On The Farm

Last Saturday, we took a trip up to my Grandpa's in Oregon. I hadn't been up there in years; maybe ten or more. I remember the ride up when I was younger taking all day. Now, though, thanks to increases in speed limit and not having to stop for potty breaks at every rest area (you know how it is with family vacations; not everyone has to go at the same time), it didn't take very long at all. So I think I'll have to go visit them more often. Grandpa actually only lives about 30 minutes from where David was working in Nampa. If I'd known that, I would have gone to visit the week before, when I was up there. And when Grandpa found out we'd been in Nampa and didn't call...big trouble... We promised we'd never let that happen again.

It was a great visit. Grandpa wasn't expecting us, so when we showed up he was tickled pink. And then about two minutes later, more of my dad's siblings showed up and added to the fun.

Grandma had some delicious food made for us; it was better than a Thanksgiving feast. After dinner, we went out to look at the animals. Grandpa used to raise turkeys, foxes, and mink on a large scale, and kept them far away from the house ('cause they stink), but now he has just a few foxes and turkeys that stay in pens somewhat close to the house. He also has a big ancient donkey, and some smaller younger ones. Drew was fascinated by the donkey; he thought it was a big dog from far away, but when he got closer, his eyes got enormous. He must have been thinking, What in the world?? Owen really liked to pet the horses. One horse kept trying to nibble us, so we didn't stick around him for very long. I'm no carrot. Then we went to look at the ducks and peacocks. Drew doesn't discriminate between species of bird; they're all called duck-duck-duck-duck.

We all had so much fun. I hope we get to go back soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures:

Left: Country Bumpkins. Right: Grandpa, Drew, Me, Owen, Grandma

The Root of the Problem

I found it buried under five inches of wood chips and packed dirt. We've had a week of really nice weather; the birds are chirping, the squirrels are romping, and the dandelions are in full force. I thought I had done a fairly good job of digging them up last fall, but I realized this year that I had been breaking the roots and leaving large chunks of them in the soil, just sitting there waiting for the first chance to pop up and drive me crazy.

I spent all afternoon digging more dandelions. I have a feeling it will be an on-going project this summer--I'm still leaving chunks of root, and I don't want to dig too much because I don't know what kind of bulbs might be down there, along with the weeds. I discovered some daffodils and some tulips this year, that I didn't know were there. Two years ago, I discovered an Amaryllis Belladonna, which I thought was very strange, because it had a tall stalk with no leaves and only one flower on it. I almost dug it up, but am now glad I didn't because it came up with four or five blooms last year, and looked quite pretty, although a little lonely. And last summer some snapdragons popped up, and thrived all the way til fall. My little "garden" is just full of surprises.

Last fall, I planted Crocuses, Lily of the Valley, Freesia, Russian Sage, Creeping Myrtle, and Lenten Rose. So far I've seen my crocuses and maybe a lily (I'm really not sure what it is), but I'm worried that I may have waited too long to plant the others, and they might be dead. But it might also just take a year or two for them to become established. And then again, we've only had one week of nice weather; enough for tulips, daffodils and weeds, but perhaps not for freesia or sage...

Here are some pictures of my "Naked Lady" (the common name for Amaryllis Belladonna. I quickly learned the scientific name because I didn't like saying, "I found a Naked Lady in my yard." It was tricky to find, because you can't just go to Google and type in naked lady and expect to get pictures of flowers...And also, I guess the flowers aren't incredibly common.):

A Little Randomness

Despite the serious look on his face, Owen likes his Hello Bee Bee money bank. He's been working on his fine motor skills, putting coins in it, and I've been working on my watching really closely skills, making sure he doesn't try to eat any of said coins. He's been pretty good, so far, about not eating them.
The best seat in the house is in the bottom drawer with access to the stove drawer (where all the pots and pans and various noisemakers are kept)! This is Drew's absolute favorite place to play.

I was also going to try to post a video, but I couldn't figure out how. I've been trying to catch Drew making animal noises on tape; he can do a dog, a cat, a duck and a cow. But I guess I request them at the wrong times. The video was Drew wanting to get down from his chair, and me ignoring him and asking him to tell me what a dog says. According to Drew, dogs bark and growl really loudly when they want to get out of their highchairs (normally, they just say, ruff-ruff). So if I can figure out how to post it, I will. Hopefully I'm not the only one who thinks it's funny.

I Thought I Was So On Top of Things!

Woke up at a good hour today, felt refreshed. Got the boys up, fed them, clothed them, everything went so smoothly. Patted myself on the back for having everyone ready for church on time. Got to church just as they were finishing the song and saying the prayer. After the prayer, everyone got up and left! I was so confused! I thought maybe they were doing something different today; mixing it up a little... Went and asked my friend Brenda what was going on. She said, "Well, we're at church. The first hour is over so we're separating for classes." More confusion for me: "Doesn't church start at 11 o'clock?" Brenda's starting to get confused: "Yes, it does. It's noon already." *light bulb!* I totally forgot that they moved that stinking Daylight Savings Time up three weeks. Darn those rich businessmen!* So I was an hour late for church. Despite having slept well, I was feeling a bit sick this morning, so I almost skipped the first hour of church (on purpose). Good thing I didn't, or I would've been two hours late, and there wouldn't have been anyone to help in the nursery! Oi! Crazy, crazy. But I guess it all worked out, and made for some good laughs for Brenda and me.

*David's grandma is convinced that Daylight Savings Time was set up by rich businessmen so they can go golfing before they go to work. It could be; golf was invented in 1744, and Benjamin Franklin was probably just old enough to hold a club...

INFP

I found a link to a really cool personality test today. I liked it because it didn't lump me into one broad category; it narrowed things down, but also gave me the option to fit more than one type of personality. I am a INFP, which is an Introvert, iNtuitive, Feeler and Perceptive all rolled into one. I'm actually just borderline on some of those traits, and some of my answers seemed to contradict other answers. Maybe I have some kind of split personality...
I'd like to have David take this test for himself; I took it for him, based on how I perceive him, and according to my answers for him, he is my exact opposite: ESTJ (Extrovert, Sensor, Thinker, Judge). Maybe that's why we fit together so well: "opposites attract!"
Anyway. I just thought I'd share this link for anyone who wants to get to know themselves better or just have a little silly fun--however you want to view it. Enjoy!

Clack My Ruby Red Slippers

I'm so glad to be home! We spent the last six days not at home, and I am tired (with a capital T-I-R-E-D)!

On Sunday we drove an hour and a half down to Logan for my nephew's baby blessing, then we drove to my dad's house, which is four hours in the opposite direction, and we stayed the night there.

Monday, we continued on to Nampa, which is another three hours from my dad's house. We hung out with David, when he didn't have to work, mostly going out to eat and driving around looking at things. I learned there's not a whole lot to do in Nampa if you have small children and you forget to pack your bathing suit. We went to Boise for some shopping, though we didn't buy anything (I should've purchased a bathing suit, but I couldn't justify it 'cause I've already got three).

We also came across a little Asian market, so I went in there and got some candies and some Asian ramen, which is waaaay better than the Nissin or Maruchan brands they sell in our grocery stores. Owen found a little container full of candy that's shaped like a little girl, and her hat is the lid. It also doubles as a money bank when the candy is gone. I used the word little, but the thing is actually almost as big as him. It was cheap so we bought it, thinking that we'll make him use it and when he gets older and his friends ask him why he has a little girl money bank, it will be a lesson to him about begging for things at the store. Not really. It's made of thin plastic anyway, so who knows how long it will last.

When David was at work, the boys and I hung out in the hotel room most of the time. The one time we ventured out to find food, I got lost and ended up in the city to the north of Nampa, with a dangerously close-to-empty fuel tank.

Oh, and, raise your hand if you just spent $90 on gasoline in less than a week. I really shouldn't say any more about gas prices. It just makes me mad and raises my blood pressure. But I will say this: we are going to trade cars with the in-laws for next weekend's trip. Theirs is much more fuel efficient than ours.

One highlight of the trip was meeting David's cousin and his (the cousin's) wife and kids. They are super nice people, and very funny. It's always great to have nice relatives, even if you usually only see them once a year on Thanksgiving.

The low-light of the trip was leaving David in Nampa and coming home to a mostly empty house. But Vito made me feel better by giving me a Welcome Home sniff (I won't say where, but it's the usual doggie-sniffing-place-of-choice and it drives me crazy to be sniffed there; at least someone was here to greet the boys and me). And Merle gave Drew a Welcome Home bat-your-head-around-like-a-punching-bag, to which Drew was not sure how to respond.

Overall, it was a good trip: good to see David, good to be in warm sunny weather with no snow, good to have a change of scenery. But somehow, it's always better to be home.

This'll Teach Her...

I had a couple good posts lined up the other day; had one of them half-way typed, when Drew came and stood by the computer and before I even noticed anything awry, all the icons on the screen disappeared, the computer lady said "Good-bye, David" (his computer talks to him. Heehee), and the screen went black. Drew just looked at me like, "Well? Let's play." Okay. I can take a hint. So we played with cars and books and had a grand old time. Now I don't remember what I was going to write about, but I don't think it really matters.

We have been more bored than usual, this last week. David has been temporarily transferred with his job; he's about a three hour drive away from us. I chat with him on the phone everyday, but of course it's not the same. Drew and Owen miss him, too. Every morning, I get the boys out of their cribs and we go back into my room so I can lay back down until I'm actually awake. Owen walks around looking for David and yells for him: "Da! Daaa!" I tell him, "Daddy's not home. He's at work," and Owen seems to understand that he's not here, but always gets this sad look on his face. It makes me want to cry. But we're survivors. We can make it 'til next week, when we get to go visit. And we've got plans to go again on St. Patrick's Day.*

Last night when David called, I put the phone up to Drew's ear and had David say hi to him. Drew's face lit up when he heard David's voice. And he also looked amazed, because this is the first time the phone said his name. He understands that we talk into the phone, but I don't think he ever realized that there is someone on the other end talking to us! He didn't know what to do. He just whispered, "da." When it was Owen's turn to "talk" to David, he just smiled his Mona Lisa smile, and made little grunting noises. It was so cute.

*I'm very excited for this trip. We're going to meet David at his hotel, then travel a couple hours more to Oregon to visit my Grandpa. I haven't seen him in years, and he's never met David or Drew and Owen. So it will be fantastic!