Another one bites the dust

Well, the boy got one last Christmas present tonight, in the form of a lost tooth! He bit into something this morning that really loosened it, and it's been getting looser all day, until it was really hurting him this evening. I gave him 3 minutes to twist, and if it was still in, he was to leave it alone tonight. Three *seconds* later, it was out.

Fortunately, signs point to this tooth coming out in its own time, unlike the top two, which Jackson personally extracted with great, bloody glee 9 months ago! Perhaps the new one will grow in before his next birthday. :)

There was great rejoicing and excited straining to go to sleep so the tooth fairy could make the exchange...

Snow in the Desert

 
 
 

It really happened! Snow! Enough to close down the base for a day. Jackson was delighted to build "a frosty". Check out Nate's beautiful photos of the view from our front yard into the desert just after sunrise. Don't be fooled by those rooftops in the photo. They aren't from neighbor houses. They are some sort of storage sheds in some fence-enclosed, but otherwise uninhabited lots.
The kids had a blast; the dogs too. I'd forgotten how much the dogs love snow. Kobi, who won't get her feet wet if it's rained, totally frolliked in the snow. It was like a shot of energy hit Bear too, who ran around like a puppy before flopping down to lay in the snow.

Crawling...

Drew started crawling the week after Thanksgiving and then started pulling up a few days later. He is now trying to traverse. Here's a little video clip of him crawling with camera lust in his eyes....its metal and shiny and must be eaten. Please note Delaney in the background. She's playing some kind of game with some animal making a baby noise. She was needing a little mommy attention.

Sweetness

 

So here's the deal....when Drew is happy, he is happy AND absolutely delightful and sweet. Like "could I really be enjoying more today than yesterday? I thought I had maxed out on how much I could love you and adore you yesterday but clearly you're setting a new, higher level today." sweet. Know what I mean? Here's a drippy, wet bath boy. He loves his bath. He tries to squirm out of my arms into the bathtub as soon as I set it down. He splashes, squeals, and explores all facets of his little tub.
The reverse is also true....when Drew is NOT happy, he is NOT HAPPY and you will be aware of it and reminded. I sometimes take pictures of him screaming. Is that wrong? I'm a little conflicted about posting these pictures though.

The Election

Jackson got to "vote" for President at school last week in a mock election. When asked who he voted for, he gleamed, "Barak Obama." You have to understand that Nate and I haven't really talked politics in front of the kids. I was curious about his choice and asked why he voted for Obama and he said that he had heard more about him. (Is my kid listening to the news while I'm not watching?!)

So we're sitting at dinner tonight, listening to election results roll in on NPR as we eat. Jackson wanted to know how Nate and I had voted. (We both voted Obama - catch your breath, Dad, you'll live.) We told him that we didn't HAVE to both vote the same way; that each person has a choice and that's part of what makes this country so wonderful. We mentioned that Papa and Grandma had voted for McCain.
Jackson then asked Delaney who she wanted to vote for. She said, "I don't want to be President." Jackson said, "NOOOOOO, Delaney. (This is one of THE MOST often spoken phrases from Jackson) WHO would you vote for - John McCain or Barak Obama?" She said, with a sly grin, "John McCain."

It's hard to know if she choose McCain because he's the opposite choice from everyone else at the table, or because her Papa voted for McCain, or if she has some secret political savvy, of which we are unaware. I know her Papa is so proud.

Feel free to comment on the cuteness of the children, but comments related to our political choices will not be published. This means you, Dad.

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween with a costume parade and party at school, followed by pumpkin carving and trick or treating with friends. Nate and I made Jackson and Delaney's costumes. I think they turned out pretty well for all materials coming from our garage, craft closet, or printed from the computer. Jackson was very excited to be the only Wall E at school. During the costume parade, one of our two-year-old friends tried to run out and hug him. Delaney enjoyed being Eve (using Eve's voice), but got tired of actually wearing the costume after a while.

Jackson with carpool-mate Nadia. Nadia's mom, Alexia, is very creative and industrious and made this beautiful costume for Nadia. I believe she was the only Indian Princess at the costume parade also.

 
Here's the Drew puppy dog. The kids wanted to dress Drew as the cockroach from Wall E, but I just couldn't find it in me to dress the baby as a roach.

 
Here's Eve. "Directive."

 
The pumpkins...Jackson designed the jack-o-lantern on the pumpkin and Delaney designed the little pumpkin with the shapes cut out of it. Nate executed the designs beautifully, I think.

Our oldest children

We don't always talk about the dogs. We do still love them and play with them and even take them for walks. They have been with us for more than 10 (Kobi) and 9 (Bear) years. If you've never met them, Bear is the big one. They're hips hurt them - it hurts me to see Bear get up from lying down. They sleep a lot these days. However, at least once a day its like they revert to puppies. Bear will fetch until he can't run anymore, lay down and rest, and then bring you the ball for more. Kobi doesn't play outside - she only plays inside. We often joke that she's the wisest creature on the earth. She frequently looks at us with an expression that says, "You people exhaust me - I clearly know the answer to your dilemma if only you were smart enough to understand me."

Anyway, I used to take many more pictures of them than I do now. I took these last week and thought they deserved the honor of being blogged (the dogs deserved the honor, not the pictures.)

 
 

Being 3 can be tough

 

Here she is, the pouty princess. Her mood can turn on a dime sometimes. I don't know if it's her, being three, or some combination of both. Most of the time, Delaney is lovely. I think she was probably sleepy and tired of waiting on Mom to go down the slide with her in this pictures. People often think she's four because she is such a clear talker, trying on words like "suspicious" in fairly odd ways. She is generally so helpful and mature that I forget sometimes that there's still a good portion of her that is baby. Even when she's being ugly or pouty, I just want to devour her whole. My husband thinks its strange that I want to nibble on the children. Maybe you understand what I mean. Sometimes I look at them and am filled with such love I just want to consume them - be filled with them; be that connected to them.

Mud Run....

 

Here they are, Adam and Nate, part of the 5-person mud run team from last weekend's race at Camp Pendleton. They all had a good time although some members of the team were disappointed that the marines along the race were so encouraging and nice.

As you may know, there have been a lot of fires in So. Cal these last couple of weeks. Some of Camp Pendleton's housing was evacuated and then allowed back in the week leading up to the race. As we drove onto the station, we could smell the evidence of fire and saw lots of areas charred white, surrounded by patches of green where the fire stopped. It was an amazing reminder of the power of forces beyond human control.

By the way, after seeing the mud run, Jackson (the big idea boy) has plans for our own mini mud run. He spent a lot of time discussing (read: telling) his plans with Adam. Thanks for listening, Adam - we'll let you know when you and Anne are expected to run the course and survive a few more gruelling rounds of "I spy"

Teeth!

 

Here are Drew's teeth. He's gnawing on everything like there might be more coming.

A Biologist's Guilt...

If you regularly read our blog, you know we encountered a rattlesnake at our front door in July. Well, a few weeks ago, I found this centipede in the house. My gut reaction was to take its picture and then pound it to death. I found it in Jackson's room, under the table where he sits to do his homework. It was not a quick mover, which makes me think it was already dying (we actually use an exterminator every other month - this started after I found a live spider in clean, folded clothes - another day's story.) I took one picture (too close and it didn't turn out) and as the camera flashed, this little guy whipped around and showed me his most-hind legs, which are apparently pretty good for grabbing hold of things (or people) - hence this picture.

After I whacked the life out of it, I did a little research and discovered I had killed a Tiger Centipede. These centipedes are actually really good, as they eat spiders (which I really dislike, even though I KNOW they're good and important critters), mosquitos, and are not known to bite humans. Needless to say, I felt a little guilty, but I'll whack the next one I see anyway. They creep me out! Please don't ever give this blog address to any of my Biology students - they think I celebrate and love all creatures equally.

Let me again say, don't let my little findings dissuade you from visiting. I'll photograph it and whack it to death before you'll ever even know its here. Plus, the sunsets....think of the sunsets....and no humidity!


 

He eats....

 

The Drew-man is a spoon-grabbing, very-curious-about-what's-going-in-your-mouth, hungry boy. At four and a half mos., he weighed in at almost 19 pounds and 26 and a quarter inches long. He's been trying to take our food for quite some time, so we started him on solids. He really enjoys cereal, peas, squash, and now green beans. Perhaps what he enjoys most, though, is a good spoon.

By the way, he's also sitting up on his own for 10 minutes at a time and really trying to get his knees under him. He's still a few days shy of 5 mos. Mr. Big Stuff is awfully cute and quite a flirt.

Peanut Bubba Jelly Sandwich

 
 

As the first quarter comes to a close, I figured it was about time I posted some pictures from the first day of school. Look at these cuties! I can't believe the school year is already one quarter finished!

What does this have to do with the title of the entry? Nothing really - I just needed to get the pictures up.

The title has to do with what I just realized yesterday (I know, I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but none of you noticed or put it together either, so there! :))

When Delaney first started talking, she called Jackson "Bubba."
Delaney's nickname has always been "Jelly Bean."
Drew's nickname is "The Peanut."

Therefore, we have a Peanut Bubba and Jelly sandwich.

Weekend at Carlsbad

 

I love the southern California light in the late afternoon/early evening. We took this trip to celebrate Jackson's 6th birthday and to have a bit of a summer vacation.

Jackson is 6!!!

Here are some pictures from Jackson's birthday last month. I know, I'm late in posting them. At least I'm not as far behind as I am in my scrapbooks. We actually celebrated Jackson's birthday at Legoland the week following his birthday. I can hardly believe how "grown" he is in so many ways and still so little in so many others. At night, I tell each of the children that I'm so glad he or she is mine and I am.

Hard Day

 

"My Grandma and Mommy made me bounce in this thing 'till I just couldn't take it anymore. It's such hard work to play and not even be 4 mos. old yet!" Sept. 6th

He actually went without much fuss. We noticed the lack of grunty-squeals and looked at him again to find Mr. Snoozer, sleeping on the job. (I know some of you will tell me he's too young for the Johny Jump Up thing, but I'm telling you, the kid is 18 pounds, has been standing since day two, and holding his head up since the instant he came into this world. The boy even knows how to bounce the seat up and down and seems to enjoy it.)

Cub Scouts here we come!

 

Here we are, headed to our first Tiger Cub Den meeting. As you might have guessed, I am a den leader - no I don't just like the shirt, although it is rather spiffy as far as cargo-style uniform shirts go. Nate will also be leading our Tiger Den (he's the official Den Leader, I am the Asst. Den Leader - I have the patch to prove it) when he returns from TDY. We didn't have our patches sewn on yet in the picture, although my mom was here to help with the babies and she fixed up our uniforms this last week. Jackson literally squealed out loud with joy as he opened the bag with his uniform item in it. I almost cried when I saw him fully decked out. I just struggle some days with how grown up he's getting and he's hardly 6! What will I do when he's 16?

Abundant Harvest

 
 
Several friends have asked me about our organic produce boxes. These are pictures of a box we got about a month ago (I know, I'm behind on blogging!!). The contents were (I even weighed items for those of you who care...)

9 ears yellow corn
4 plums (1 lb, 4 oz)
6 carrots (1 lb, 3 oz)
2 summer crooked neck squash (almost 1 lb.)
1 head lettuce (1 lb.)
1 bunch radish (10 count, with greens 11 oz.)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (yellow and red)
11 yukon gold potatoes (just shy of 2 lbs.)
3 peaches (1 lb. 11 oz.)
1 bunch basil (4 1/2 oz.)
10 little hot peppers (2 oz.)

By the way, I dehydrated the peppers and will grinding them for hot pepper flakes for pizza, etc.

Drew's Dedication - precious children!

 
 
 

So, I know I'll post a few more pictures later, but I just had to get these up - I love these pictures. We celebrated Drew's dedication over Labor Day weekend with both sets of grandparents and one aunt. It was great. It was a sweet, simple ceremony at the beginning of the church service. We are so grateful that we got to do it with so many family members here. I love the sweet expression on Drew's face and his Papa Jack ears (if you knew my grandfather, you appreciate this trait). I love the intensity with which Jackson is praying. I love the light in Delaney's picture. Thanks Aunt Tymmy for taking such precious pictures that really captured the moment.

Hi, my name is chubs...

 
 

My momma's not really chubby.
My daddy's not really chubby.
My brother and my sister aren't chubby.
But, I'm pretty chubby.

Papa George spent quite a bit of time on his recent trip here looking for Drew's kneecaps - they are hidden under mounds of delightful and soft, pink flesh.

These pictures were taken before Drew was even 3 mos. old! What's kind of crazy to me is how big he looks in the picture by himself and the reality of how little he truly is when his hand is in his daddy's hand.

Drew News

 

So these days, Drew is very busy. His schedule already included a lot of eating, sleeping, crying, and riding in the car. He has dialed back on crying appointments and has really beefed up his smiling, cooing, talking time. He's an expert mommy hair and jewelry grabbeer - if I look uneven next time we see each other, it night be the missing clumps of hair from the right side of my head.

Drew has also discovered the joy of the exersaucer and "making things do stuff" like the whirling beads and the friendly spinning butterfly. He's also been introduced to chewing on his hand. Good times. Slobbery times. He's now trying to get "things" to his mouth to chew on them as well. I can see the concentration in his eyes while his arm flails around in the vicinity of his target.

He's still working out the kinks of rolling over. He's mastered rolling over from his back to his tummy, but the reverse remains elusive. He often lets me know he's gotten stuck on his tummy and is unappreciative of the time I'm allowing him to practice getting unstuck. As soon as I roll him back over to his back, he flips over onto his tummy again and then gets upset he's on his tummy. (Not to suddenly get too philisophical on you, but it seems to me that this is a pattern that many of us seem to practice our whole lives. Sorry, my brain is sleepy and loose for random thoughts.) Unfortunately for me, he's been practicing in the middle of the night quite a bit. We were just getting into good 8 hour stretches of sleep too!