megasnowpalooza

We've had snow, no snow, mush, ice and nearly a foot of snow (just today)! This is pretty unusual around here, so we've tried to take advantage of the slippery, floaty goodness. Though the roads have been 'treacherous' we've successfully visited Santa (at the mall) been to the post office, did some shopping, some shipping and purchased the boy's first sled- albeit an orange plastic toboggan- and not a proper sled with metal runners. No snowmen yet- ha! our snow's not wet enough! Hope you enjoy the pics. I'll try to be better at posting in the coming days. Michael is home for 2 weeks! Hoorah!

celebrating 12.09 the day our debbra came to be amongst us!

silly man child

happy birthday, two haircuts!

We had a fun weekend. Michael jumped to the next age bracket on most surveys. We celebrated at M's work with a pot-luck feast and black balloons and then again with our good friends Friday with a fab dinner out on the town while the grands watched the boys. Scruffy and Scrappy Doo got their hairs cut to an appropriate 'boy length' and Michael got to play golf with Uncle JJ - who-ray! Our thanks to friends and family!

mister logy, grouchy pants (x2)

Aidan was sick last week. His first real fever turned him into a big ol' snuggly lump. He would moan mournfully when I had to put him down to get him a cup of water (or go to the bathroom). His eyes were dark pits in his pretty boy face. He was one hot tamale! While A and I sat on the chair, the sofa, the floor, Mr Hen played with abandon. He got all the toys and no struggle for the prime place in front of the living room window. He was super happy the first day- but when he figured out he wasn't getting any lap time- and not much one on one time at all- he raised a little of his very special brand of h.e. double toothpicks. He beat the window with his favorite hammer, crashed all the trucks and caused the little crock-piano to dive off the coffee table (for eight hours)! He pulled Arlo's hair and Hammy's ears and Max's tail. Boo. I'm glad A is all better. Our house is much quieter. Oh, I mean... louder. Busier. Happier. Now, we've got to get them in for a haircut!

keep 'em moving

Our boys are confident and crazy! We are finding ways to keep them moving so they crash hard enough to take a nice nap during the afternoon. You can see, they jump right in on their new 'chores'!Well, Henry looks like he might like exploring more than physical labor. Keep an eye on that one!

celebrating!

We celebrated last night! Boy howdy- we had a good time! We are happily feeling very blue. We are celebrating with the state, the country and the world. It's great to live in a country where you can grow up to be anything you set our mind to!

yes we can

hey vote for us!!!!

Please take a minute to go to this blog and vote for the boys (siegfried and roy!) we need your votes by the 4th! Thank you!! http://www.goodhappenings.com/

happy halloween!

covered in fluff

Happy Halloween! In response to the economy (and lack of abilities) I have revised the boy's costumes this year. My intention- as many of you know- was to play up the "how to utilize the 'light/dark' look of the boys"- basically rooted in tv programs of my past. Last year the boys were Siegfried and Roy. This year they were supposed to be Bo and Luke Duke- but I couldn't get the General Lee to work, and really, they wouldn't have stayed seated in the wagon this year anyway. So, I recycled the fur from last year's wagon liner (plus some duct tape, the boys backpacks and the stuffing of a very lumpy pillow) into two lovely and lovable wolf spiders. Oh yeah, I also splurged on some winter hats (you'll be seeing them again, later in the season) and whiffle balls. Here they are, laying in wait for two inquisitive boys to wander by. Who knows, next year they may be the dudes from Miami Vice or Lewis and Clark or Starsky and Hutch. We'll see. Maybe next year I won't procrastinate the idea of the costume away....

now on stage...

Aidan made his way on stage for the first time this morning. He flew through a couple ditties with the grands and then was out on the floor dancing with the seniors of Canby (and Henry & I).

ponies and pumpkins- oh my!

We had a great trip to an AWESOME pumpkin patch today. Animals, grilled corn, tractor rides, giant pumpkins, apple squeeze, old time music, what? These people didn't miss a trick. The boys had a blast and got to ride ponies for the first time ever. Aidan melted down big time when he had to get off Dusty. Henry melted numerous times, but all in all- he was really good. Aidan also loved finding a sunflower, ripping it from the ground and carrying it all over creation. Both little men were amazed by the tractor pulling what looked like 30 consecutive 'cow' wagons. "Wow!" Fun- any takers for next year?

strolling in the park

We took a nice walk this morning. Here's proof!

crazy, fast, fall

We had a surprise visit from Uncle Scotty! We ran and played and ran and tripped and cried and loved up the dog and refused to say goodbye at the end.

friends of old

So Thursday I took the boys over to see Maureen. I haven't seen her for like ten to eleven years. Her twin girls are 12 now- and they were tiny babies when last I saw them. Her sis Kathleen was in town from NM and her folks dropped over for lunch, too. It was an awesome old home moment. A & H loved it. They ran and played and climbed stairs and tortured their dog Annie by hugging her. Dang carnies! I took the camera but didn't take any photos. Boo. Soooooo, I'm posting this photo of us from forever ago. You may not recognize me- I have one chin (well, we all do) and I'm wrapped up in Barry Frisbee. Maureen is super feathery and Kathleen is with her (now) nearly fifty year old husband. Good times.
We forgot the hammer from A's new tool kit- so we'll be going back soon.

visitors from the south!

We had a nice visit with Matt, Mel, Nola and Wren!! Spaghetti Factory fun and then off to the hotel to run and play. Nola shared her toys with the boys- what fun! Aidan left sweaty, sweaty, sweaty. Henry had fun peeking out from behind the curtains and Wren baptized both Michael and I with spit-up. Sweet girl. Pretty baby! Her lips make the perfect bow!

wackadoo kids

Things- as they say- are status quo. If things can ever be status quo with two toddlers in the house. Everything is a mess. Dishes are dirty, clothes get washed at midnight, to get out of the house I go to the store for milk, ride my bike to the park with the baby trailer. Henry's continuing with his 'happy streak'. He is still the straight man to Aidan's eccentricities.
Yesterday we went to the mini-mall for a scoop of payday celebration. Henry wanted to bring his Percy train. Check. Simple enough to track down- should he jettison it. Aidan wanted his tiny kiki (blanket) his hat (green/gray stripes with polka dots and swirls) and the right suede work glove from the toy basket. Of course, he's wearing plaid. (Jennifer will love this). He was pretty quiet- as was Hen, but when some kids showed up A kept waving at them with that giant gray hand. What a weirdo.

This afternoon, while I put Henry down, Aidan found an appreciation for Perry Mason.

shorn, like the little lambs they are...

We got the hairs cut. Such little men. Sitting on my lap and waiting for the cool spray of water, the snip snip of the scissors and the pressure of the hand tilting their head forward. They play along for the most part. Their last cut sits in their memory banks still. No blood- no real damage- just oohs and ahhs when we are through, so they're still in. Thank goodness we get to go to Sandra's for their cuts. I couldn't imagine plopping them in the big barber chair, handing them a magazine, dowsing them in the steam of a hot towel and buzzing them clean. I can wait for that.

20 fingers, 20 toes, 4 knees, 4 elbows, the hits keep on coming

Busy little bees. I know I write about Aidan a ton. I don't mean to be unfair. I love little Hen, too- you know I do! Aidan's just been a super charged baby lately. He explores constantly. He takes everything apart- and does crazy ocd things- for example, he loves handing out car keys or shoes to their rightful owners. (The boys have learned, through repitition, we are going out if we put on shoes which leads to the car-keys chant and then he gets them out of the box and opens the door and takes Henry's hand and we're off! He loves to help. He likes to wash up and cleans with some kind of tenacity unknown to my gene pool. He likes to help bring in the groceries, dry cleaning, and hands out suckies like a champ. He wants to know words and names, names, names. Once he knows a name or any new word, really- he practices them. (!) We're driving around the 'hood doing our chores the other day and he is having a full on conversation with himself. Listing people, neighbor's pets, random items he sees, modes of transportation, animal names, Elmo... the list goes on and on. Yesterday he was asking himself questions. Cooking? Washing? Running? Funny man.
A's latest trick is that he's stopped stripping at nap time and now just removes himself from his crib. And climbs in with Henry. And starts jumping! And laughs JUMPING! JUMPING! JUMPING! Good god. Tonight he got up and came out into the living room. Dear me. I think we're in for a fun ride.
Henry has had a number of really good days. He says truck, hammer, cracker, dinner, diaper but refuses to say airplane. Once he learned helicopter- (well, his version of helicopter) which is hel- ca-ca- thats all he'll say. He can be right under a plane and will watch me say air... plane. He'll say hel-ca-ca. Often times we see both fIying machines within minutes of each other- he can see the difference- but he won't do it! I can just hear the neighbors.... WHY DOESN'T SHE JUST GIVE UP?? I must say airplane 5000 times a day. But- by gum- I know he can do it! It must be in there.
Hen's been taking things a little slower. Or something. He takes a look at things, lets say. If he has a stick in his hand, he'll poke at things. He draws in the gravel of the driveway with sticks. He follows Aidan on jungle safari with a stick- but take it away and he's stuck (or done). He still likes to hit, scream, yell. He regularly throws things and tips over the coffee table. The most AWESOME thing with Hen is that he's taken to doling out HUGE hugs. Repeatedly. He spreads his arms, grabs you and SQUEEZES! Yum.
One silly thing is both boys are in love with the garbage and recycling bins. They push them all over the driveway, run into each other like they're prepping for destruction derby or race them like nascar. WHY? you ask. Don't know!
The other thing Aidan's been doing is ABC's and 123's! He is so insistent with it. At meal time we sing ABC's and he'll beg to do it again and again. "More ABC's?" "More ABC's?" (Henry asks for ABC's too. "cuh-ca-caz"?) Sure thing buddy!
I'm in constant amazement. These are little people. Not babies. Not little lumps of wiggling, burpy, flesh. Like, seriously, little people. Miniature. Not like toys. Like people.

sweet, clean, and snuggly

Here is gabby gabby mama and sweet Henry oiled up and fresh from the bath. I wish you could smell how yummy he smells! He loves nose holes- his, yours, the dogs, you get the picture! (you hear overalls in the drier in the background)

in defense of defense

So, today I was a bad mommy. If Aidan had said, "Mama, no!" I would have said "YOU ARE RIGHT!", right away (and loudly)- because yes-sirree, I was NO. I made a little girl at the park cry.
I am one of the moms that stick with their kids at the jungle-gym-climbing-apparatus-thing. It's not that I totally fear that my sweet boys would head for the hills if I actually looked away from them, I just like to keep an eye on them. Offer them a finger the first time they go down the shiny slide or cross the wiggle bridge. I like to make sure, when they serve up what ever it is they think they're serving, when they scoop up handfuls of bark chips and display it like gold on the little window sill under the giant abacus- that they don't accidentally take out another mini park-goers eyeball. I like to make sure that Aidan is successful at climbing the chain ladder (YEAH! first time success today!) and that Henry can exit the slide before being trampled by the flashing mary-janes of a horde of girls in skirts and shorts (!). And so, it happened. Aidan crossed the wiggle bridge and walked right up to a girl- a foot taller than him- with a very cute 1920's bob- and said "Hi!!!" She ignored him- which is her prerogative- so when he walked around her and said "HI!!!!" to her other cheek she said "Go away." quietly and gave him a nudge. I told Aidan she didn't want to play right now- and he headed over to the abacus to play with the Japanese girls he loves to listen to. When first girl walks up to Aidan's back and says, "Get out of here!" and shoves him to the floor from behind.
**See the evil horns protrude from my forehead- my long claws sparkle in the dappled sun, the hair sprouting from my sweater's sleeve holes and neckline, warts arrive aplenty, my clothes a tattered mess and sticks in my hair**
"Please don't push him honey."
Screams. Screams. More screams. Not from my boy that fell into two sweet little girls and came up bleeding, not from the sweet girls that count in japanese at the abacus, but from the girl, caught by a mommy- not hers- and shocked. Then said girl's mommy comes running. "What's wrong,what happened, where is your owie?" spilled from her, all concern. Aidan by this time is crying. I told her she pushed him, but that he's ok and she's ok. I just scared her when I asked her not to push him.
**see horns shrink, warts disperse, hair retract, claws too**
Oh MY GOD IS HE OK?? It's just a scratch. Daughter still screaming, screaming screaming. Aidan is off figuring out how to jump from the corkscrew, Henry- jumping on the bridge like a big boy. Girl screaming, still. I approach to apologize. Mom waves me off (nicely). That girl is never going to want to go to the park again. Sorry little girl. Sorry little girl's mommy. Next time I'll just let it happen. A can handle himself. I just need to let him.

sun-day on the river

Today, after naps (and pudding) we went on the boat for an enjoyable little trip up and down the river. Sean came too, and helped corral the munchkins in floaty coats. We soaked up some sun and laughter and headed home to celebrate grandparent's day with the grands after some BLT's. The t's were straight out of the garden!

Oh yeah, on the way to the river, Michael got pulled over. :(

what? victoria's three!

This morning we went over to Victoria and Sasha's house for a party! We celebrated the big #3 with Victoria and all her friends from daycare. We jumped on the trampoline, played house, golf, raked up the yard a little, removed only two (!) lawn ornaments and ate some cupcakes! "Nummy-nummy!" to quote our Aidan (one of 2 there) when he got to frost his own cupcake! Henry was mostly interested in the frosting on the stick- funny man. But he did like wearing his birthday hat! Such a little sprite!









The boys and their 'little' babies!

visiting aidan's peeps

Well, we met up with Shilo and Dan and the kids today in Astoria. Dan was good, Shilo was good, the kids were super rowdy and good. We ran into Mary (Dan's mom) at the Astoria market so grandma got to see the little man too. We grabbed some popcorn for the kids and took off to see the gang. We joked that they'd send Trinity out to greet us (like they did the first time we met) and Michael said he didn't think he'd recognize Trinity. I assured him, he'd recognize her- because she'd look the same. And she was the first one we saw and she did look the same. Shilo looked good- her hair is darker than before and she's not recovering from just having a baby- so all in all she looked great. Dan is the same and the boys are just bigger stair steps than they were during our last visit. We enjoyed the sun and the kids laughing and the dogs running around and the toys and the popcorn. It was a nice visit. I'm not sure what else to say about it. After it was over, I felt like I'd been holding my breath and was pretty stressed out. But, now I'm fine. I'm glad we did it. It just seemed unfathomable that Aidan would never see his family until he was an adult. Susan was right, it was easier that I ever thought it would be.
**Our visit brought on more dark thoughts for me. We didn't go in their apartment- at their request. They live in public housing and honestly, it just really brought me down. Shilo is working at a pizza place in town. Dan didn't say if he was working, and we didn't ask. I just feel so bad for them not having their baby (our baby) and frustrated that they are raising their children in the environment they are obviously choosing to live in. Shilo is 'trying' to home school the kids- but if she'd just send them to school, they could get breakfast and lunch and she'd only really have to worry about Sean (and Dan). Hmm. Did we 'save' Aidan? Do I feel like we need to 'save' Shilo now- or Trinity- or the other boys? We were never out to save anyone- we just wanted a baby. Shilo kept calling me mommy- and Aidan would call out for me when he felt he had ventured too far. On the way to their place, we practiced saying Hi Shilo- which little blondie did right on cue- so sweet. All the kids were great with the boys. And really, Dan was too. He gave Michael a nice note- thanking us for coming and for just being us- which was nice to hear. I'm so glad he didn't ask us for the things he had previously- that would have wrecked the meeting for me. The nice thing is, now we'll be able to share the photos and memories of the visit with Aidan. He won't be the kid that never got to see his birth family. Shilo told me four times how well we were raising A. The first time I said thank you. Then the second- after that it got a little uncomfortable for me. Was she convincing herself? Was she really happy for our family- now of four? I can only think she was just happy to see him again- healthy and growing, like we tell her in our letters. She did say it was funny to see what her kids would look like if they had hair- as she has a compulsion to shaving the boys heads in mohawks. Mary told us that they only get a couple of photos from William's family a year (Shilo and Dan's other son placed in an adoption) and that they are so happy with our letters and photo books. We'll keep it up (obviously) and maybe plan for another meeting in the future.

11th anniversary

Michael golfed the course across the street from our rental house. The boys and I went to the beach, we walked and played and even napped. It was a sunny warm day with only a little breeze. Puffy white clouds skidded by, reflected in the wet sand of a nearly pristine beach. The hardest part of the day was climbing the dunes while pushing the stroller! Later, we went to dinner at McMenamins. While we waited for our check, a very nice man stopped by our table to say how good our boys were. Then his adult son came, too. Then the man left and came back with his wife- so she could see them up close. It was like a little celebrate the boys party. I wonder if- before dinner- they were saying to each other "Shouldn't those poor babies be in bed?" We did get started around 8:30. The boys colored their menus and ate in relative happiness and only hollered HI! at a few of the wait staff. When we got back to the house we closed our evening with a nice cup of organic whole milk and a trio of Thomas the Train videos.

state fair goodness

So again, I found myself at the fair. Granted, watching the grands play music for the corn husking competition was inspirational- but, due to masses of cars on the road, we didn't tarry at the stalls of pander-ers racing balloon filled clown heads, offering flying tiger rides and presenting spinning Frisbees to paint or cubes to stand in and pose for a digitally printed sepia toned image dressed as whores. We didn't toss rings on soda bottles in hopes of winning a very 'lethargic' goldfish or indulge in garlic stuffed green olives or wonder mops. We did take the time to eat some fair food and check out some creatures dressed in feathers and fur. We clopped like blond draft horses, laughed at earless goats playing king of the mountain and admired the fluffy black ears of a cow who's alarm went off randomly- charging all in the barn to attention. We clucked with chickens, passed warily behind the hind side of taupe colored cows and were wowed by some mighty giant rabbits. Oh happy day, there were no screams this year, when sheep bleated or pigs squealed. Thanks to Sean, we enjoyed the close proximity of a handicapped parking spot- just past the blue gate phone-booth sentinel. We were sad to find we didn't take the time to explore the neon wonderland of rides the boys won't be tall enough to ride for years and missed the pageantry of viewing those dark haired beauties dressed in spangles and satin, the greasy afterglow of any number of fried concoctions or the fluttering ribbons of the 4H show. The scones are it for me. The scones and sitting on foot vibrating stumps with my grandma very near the 'lost parent' tent- that's what I missed. And Smokey the Bear and the giant sturgeon- that, I'm pretty sure, someone stole from the fairgrounds a dozen years ago. So again, I went to the fair. And I took the boys, and will again.

why you don't give kids candy

Sour surprise anyone? This kid never knows what he's going to get! One day its salmon (YUM!) the next its some form of potato (BOO!) a nice brie (YUM!) a tiny sour candy (uh, mmmm, uhhhh, mama NO!) Remember, this is the kid that sniffs a very used diaper and says mmmmm! right before he says bye bye poo poo!

can't keep it a secret

OK- I'm sharing. Take a look at whatareyouwearingtoday.blogspot.com I'm telling you, it doesn't get better than this. This world is made up of varied and amazing peeps. The time, the consistency, the fortitude, the complete comprehension of texture. Gad.
I have one more blog I keep checking, but after the comments I got from the smith family (earlier post) I think I'll hold onto it for a bit.

more thoughts on birthdays

We had a fun day yesterday. The shorties were pretty well behaved, we went to the park and Costco prior to the RAIN. (OK, I am accustomed to a mild climate- and you may have heard me grumble lately of the heat, I am not ready for RAIN!) We sent some yellow roses to Shilo- Aidan's birth mom. Yellow are her favorite, so I hope she enjoys them as we (all) celebrated this little man and the choice she made in placing him in our family. What would we do without her and him? I've been wanting Shilo to see A lately. Dan too and the kids. But for her to see him and hear him be as awesome as he is. Every other day I ponder changing our agreement with them- will Shilo never see this beautiful boy until he is grown? Still, I have huge concerns, so, to try to keep her in touch, I've been making digital vid's nearly each week and will have to ask Cookie and TuTu for production help on our first ever movie for his mom. Of course we send them cards, letters and photos as required- plus some. :) We tried contacting the family that adopted Shilo's other son- at Christmas time, but no response. Are they as leery of us as we are of complications with his bf? Poor A. We'll no doubt figure something out.
The Grands came by bearing gifts in the morning. Well, one gift, and a giant green bag. Aidan loved watching grandpa blow up the beautiful blue Rody horse. So much so, he keeps recreating the event. The problem is, the 'valve' is in the horses a** and it looks like he's involving poor blue Rody in something illegal in most states.
A's been putting a ton of words together lately. Yesterday it was: open teeth, open door, open gate, open cup, open horse, open phone, and on and on.
At Costco one of the women at check out said (entertaining Henry) "Which of these babies looks like you?"
Hmm.

party like a toddler!

We celebrated Aidan's birthday on Sunday with friends and family. We did a craft, ate snacks and played outside in the not-so-sweltering-as-yesterday heat. We had special Helen Bernhard cake- white chocolate with lemon french cream between the layers and white chocolate frosting. Really the most fab cake on the planet! Aidan loved it so much he ate Victoria's piece too- and took a swipe at Henry's!
We dyed t-shirts for adults (and Mr. A). There were animals aplenty and two by two- just right for a young man's second birthday. Thank you to everyone that could come to our little party- and to those who wish our sweet Aidan well on his birthday. Your thoughts and acts of kindness toward this little person creates the gentle man he will become.

cheers papa- and those that work with him!

Michael's group had their annual picnic on Friday so we got to do something special! We went to the country and played and ate and enjoyed the company of others. It was Africa hot, so it was a little uncomfortable weather-wise, still, everyone was in fine spirits. We had a great variety of food and tons of water to drink.

There were lots of little girls and boys for Henry and Aidan to play with and games to play resulting in babies to chase! There was a lake, hills, trees, airplanes, boats, fishing, bats (of the baseball variety) and golf 'mallets'- and a flock of peacocks-phew! We were ALL tired when we got home.

pilot to co-pilot, come in co-pilot....

Our sweet friend Sandra got us passes for the air show- so we went! Arthur and William joined Michael, me and the boys. We had a great time in the free food tent, Arthur got a huge (small) Hawaiian ice, the boys got in/on all kinds of flying machines, Aidan got in (and immediately out) of a bounce house, Henry was brave and shook a blow up soldier's hand, at one point all of the adults wanted to run for cover- but since the boys were wearing borrowed, bright pink ear muffs (from Vi and Sasha) they didn't feel the urge of fight or flight nearly as much as we did. We wore our sunscreen, drank water, waved when told to (sometimes) and were happy to see the smiles and hear the screeches of our oh so happy boys seeing aer-planes and hell-cotters up close and personal.

aer-plane, hell-cotter!!

I should start today's entry by saying Aidan loves transportation. He loves trains (tooh- tooh) and buses (buh- mama) and cars and trucks (also called cars) and he used to call airplanes cars- but then he saw them flying over JJ and Monique's house one night and now they're aer-planes. Boats are boats- but last week we had a breakthrough, there was a bad guy in our neighborhood- so SWAT was called- and everybody knows, when SWAT is called- the media follows. So we had helicopters overhead all day. So, Aidan now says hell-cotter. So sweet.
I got him a hell-cotter t-shirt the other day at the outlet- and its the only thing he's ever insisted on wearing- even with food on it.
OK, today (for fun) I went to our 'local' airport. Well, fun for Aidan and me anyway. Michael helped us get there (via phone) and we parked and unloaded and up to the big fence we go. "Aer-plane!" says blondie- and both he and Hen start pointing to all the aer-planes. Unsatisfied with our vantage point, I start walking. A is sad and its "Bye bye aer-plane!" about 40 times- until we turn the corner (inside the fence! hee hee) and nearly run into a pilot. And then from ground control, Aidan screams out "Hell-cotter Mama!"
((My heart just skips a beat when he puts two words together- sometimes three!)) Henry is nonplused and continues to suck away and cover his head with his arm. "How dare you take me out when I much prefer to nap!" he grumbles around his pacifier (I assume).
So we parked Bob on the 'runway' (!!), spoke to a few pilots and pilots-in-training. It seems they go up every day at 12, 2, 4 and 6. Just our luck to have arrived at 12. By 12:30 Aidan was pretty much as toasty as Henry so we left, having witnessed many hell-cotter depart. Hoorah! We'll do this again!

new presidential hopeful/bad guy

I swear- if you pop a hat and glasses on this kid and stick a cigarette in his mouth he could be FDR for Halloween! Well, that is better than Smeagol!) AGH! I guess if you slap a hat, monical and cig- you get the penguin too! Decisions, decisions!

today at the park

Our boys had a lot of crazy fun this morning. We were at the park at 9:25! Yikes. The trick to the park is.... get there early! We met a nice woman there. She was sweet and supportive of the boys- without knowing they were brothers. Eventually she asked me who my kids were. "That one (pointing to Henry) and that one up there (to Aidan)." Are they twins? No", she answered herself. "They're close in age", I told her and then filled in with "They're adopted". Was it hard to adopt? No, I explained a bit and we had a nice conversation about adoption and her other kids that were 16 months apart- and how it made her crazy. "You know what's funny? You got a kid with blonde hair and blue eyes." "Only as funny as getting a kid with brown hair and eyes." I said. These comments irk me no end- as most of you have probably heard. Should I tell you she was african american? Does it make a difference? NO. Everybody has got something to say. I've decided to keep a list- to see if that helps me to let it go. We'll see.

23 months 1 day

Sorry if this grosses anybody out- but you know who you're dealing with!

merry men et all

We went to the Robin Hood Festival! It was tiny and cute- and maybe it was the time we were there- but it didn't feel very Robin Hood-y. We watched kids climb a rock and 'bounce' on a trampoline, walked amongst vendors including dentists, McCain supporters and people selling power drinks. Oh there were artists and kids promoting their teams with a raffle- and we ate a hawaiian ice (lemon and pina colada). The local museum had a sign for strawberry shortcake- but Little John must have been there with his rag-tag crew long before we arrived. We found a nice guy in period fur and watched a mini circus act- but the highlight for me was the knightly cutout we found under a tree. I wanted to take that thing home.... I think overall, if we wanted to see people in 'garb', we should have headed to the Highland Games- but we had fun.

friday with arthur

Yesterday, as Henry spent a fun-filled day with his grands, Aidan and I hit the road in search of Uncle Arthur in the Pearl. We found him near PNCA- parked and loaded up the SINGLE (ah me) Bugaboo throne. We hit Cheeky B (where A picked up a new Sigg water bottle and two handles) and REI (where A got his first pair of Crocks). We stuck there for a bit and watched kids climb the rock wall. Then we found our way to Green Frog Toys. Have you been there? Gad- its a kid dreamland! All the best and most gloryific toys I've been reading about for our boy's future fun times. Aidan surprised me by delving deep into his Freudian wonderings... Thomas the train goes in the tunnel... Thomas goes out of the tunnel- and back in - and back out.... there were these flocked foam cars ( I must admit, I want every color, size and shape for them someday) blow up bouncy horses called Rody (want & want), plastic shells (Bilibo!!), PlasmaCar, PLAYMOBILE. Arthur indulged the little prince for a day with his first Playmobile toy. A farm set up complete with sheep, pig, cow, pear tree, girl, boy, cart and HORSE!

Wham- we ran into Little Urbanites and found a fab cardboard play house (which we didn't get- and some oh so cute clothing options. Then we stopped by Sip and Kranz for our mid day meal of turkey sand's for the big kids and grilled cheese and apples for the little. We showed A's sweet bottom to the world as he changed into his swim gear for his adventure at Jamison Fountain/Park/Square. He had a blast and Uncle Arthur rolled up his pant legs and joined in as the tide was low. Towel off, remove 'lovely' poopy swim diaper and change into dry clothes- and off for more baby shopping at Posh Boutique where Aidan got a cutie-pie hat for his blonde noggin. And then to get some ice cream at Cool Moon to finish up the day.
Can you tell? I actually had fun shopping. Sometimes I let the voices in my head rule- and sometimes I let Arthur! What a fun day. Aidan had a blast- I don't think he minded being a singleton one little bit!
Henry was happy as a clam when we got to the grand's, yo. He was sleeping in his nappy tent- but got up to cause a little havoc before we left.
On the way home we stopped at Albertson's and visited with Kristy (Carissa's mom) and had a few "bitey cold" (which means popsicle in Aidan-speak).
The end.