Summertime and the living is Easy . . .

Summertime is here and I think it's here to stay. I can tell by the tub ring. It is a friendly black circle around the middle of the bathtub that stays after the water goes. It means the kids have gotten really dirty. The kind of dirty that involves the sandbox and grass and the black tire shreds some genius engineer decided to put underneath all playground structures. In addition all of our clothes start to have watermelon and orange stains. It is still my favorite season because we can finally get outside of our postage stamp sized house!

This weekend we went to the park one evening as a family. It was a spur-of-the-moment picnic and so we bought what ever crusty pieces of chicken and Jo-jos the Fred Meyer deli had left and scraped some old rice cakes and beef jerky out of the back of the van. Not exactly delicious but the kids were busy playing anyway. Half-way through the "picnic" Betsy's diaper blew out and I had no replacements so we stripped her down and she ended up wearing a FILTHY

shirt of Scottie's I had found in the van and rolled up the sleeves. Even better was the fact that All the kids had to go to the bathroom while we were at the park and Fred Meyer had only provided three napkins, two of which had already been used on the greasy chicken. So I sent Scottie behind a shipping container with the last napkin and we continued on with our picnic. I saw Joe finish the last piece of chicken and then wipe his face with a napkin and jealously wondered where he'd found the spare. After a few seconds he asked Scottie where she had disposed of her "toilet tissue" and to our horror she pointed at the napkin Joe had just used on his face!!!

It is just so typical of us. When I envisioned having a family I never imagined it quite this raw but we do have a lot of good times. Lately Joe has been heading to the church to study for a few hours before dinner and Gunner, in an effort to get his bicycling belt loop and pin for scouts, has been coming along. It is probably the happiest moment of his life when he and dad leave the girls behind and they ride bikes up to the church where he plays basketball for hours with whomever he can find in the halls. Meanwhile for entertainment I get out the sprinkler for the girls and I can actually get dinner made. Even Betsy gets in on the sprinkler action!

They grow up so fast.

Well the kids are growing up. I suppose this is always the case but I notice it most after some big event. This past month has seen a preschool graduation and this week we joined the ranks of cub scouts. Both events were terrific. I hate to say I went to cub scouts AND took pictures. It was a bicycle rodeo and learning your hand signal is serious stuff. I took pictures but tried to get them from afar so as not to embarrass my tiny cub! I am excited about scouts having grown up in a family with mostly girls. I always envied my little brother a little and lived vicariously through his cub-camp adventures. I think I actually had him fooled for several years after I told him I had my own "Totenship" card. He should have had you spell it and then he would have known you were lying!! Its Tote 'N' Chip you genius. (Hmmm, I'm always a little surprised at his incredible rudeness, c'est la vie . . . spell that you Arizona hick!) Wait let me see.... Um... nope. I don't speak the international language of surrender. sorry.
(Well I don't speak Jeff Foxworthy! You might be a red neck if . . .)
Scottie's graduation was also good and we have had her re-sing the songs many times. She is a good help around the house and I will miss her when she starts half-day kindergarten in the fall. I think Tess will have it the worst just waiting by the door or at the bus stop. Not only will she want desperately to have a big-girl back pack and ride the bus bus she will miss her best friend.
Another big change is Betsy's proficiency as a walker. She even has different styles of walking depending on her mood. Arms down and limp for tired-walking. Clapping while walking if we are paying attention or the "walk-and-point" style when she has something really interesting to teach us. They are all adorable.

Change is a bit tough to take but since





















I have tried NUMEROUS times to squeeze the kids hard enough to stunt their growth and it has never worked I guess I need to embrace the change!

Ahoo turns Three!

Tess's birthday last Saturday left us in stitches, literally. The poor girl spent around seven hours of her birthday in or around a doctor's office or hospital. We started out the morning with a cute little dance beside our recessed bathtub and ended up spending the entire morning and better part of the afternoon in rapid care. The poor gal bit it hard. After A LOT of debate and medical staff incompetency we/they finally went with a brief surgery to cut away the fat and damaged tissue and super glue. This proved to be the wrong decision with a soul like Tess because she blasted it open within 48 hours and since there is nothing to do for it now, she will just have a large scar under her chin. I have a strong feeling this is just the first of MANY scars Tess will have. The birthday was a success anyway. We had had her party earlier in the week with friends at The Bouncy Place. A place so fun that even Joe had no desire to take pictures and we all spent the time going on all the bounce houses and slides that are usually just for the kids. Since we had had a party and cupcakes earlier in the week, on her actual birthday she had to settle for a strawberry milkshake and an orange to hold her candles for opening family presents.
Here are just a few of her thoughts:

Mom: How did you like your party?

Tess : I loved it!

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Tess: I love it purple!

Mom:What's your favorite snack?

Tess: Ummm huhhuh, I forgot, ummmm Rolls!

Mom: What do you want to grow up to be?

Tess: Uhhh, I want to pick up weeds.

Mom: What shows do you love to watch?

Tess: Darbie (Barbie)

Mom: What is your favorite animal?

Tess: duck-a-lings!

Mom: How do you like your lunch?

Tess: It's nice to be here with a princess like me!

In closing I wanted to mention that we recently read Tess the Frances books( thank you Steff) in which a small badger sings little made up songs about her problems. Tess might have come by this habit all on her own but it has definitely become more frequent since we read the books. Anyway here is a composition I heard her softly singing while she waited for the timer to tick it's way through her time out:

"Mom doesn't love this princess, because she is a ding, and if she comes, to grab my buns, I'll say cawgy and turn her into a speck! But she is listening to me and so I love her and when she is gone I'll call dingwing to her but I found frosting on a Strawberry but mom won't let me have it but I am a great dancer and do not need time out but I am a great dancer and do not love time out etc . . ."

Memorial Day

This past Monday we thought we would try and teach the kids a little about why we celebrate. We took them up to the national cemetery to look at the graves of the local military men and women who had died. The goal was to teach them respect for the great sacrifice of these men and women, the actuality was a lot of tombstone hopping and begging to pleeeeeease take that beautiful, free, bouquet of flowers home.
To try and drive the point of memorial day home we decided to look for Ellsworths, Smiths and other family names and were not disappointed. We all thought the last picture was a little spooky and yes, Tess is genuinely upset, not because her grandma's name was on a tombstone but because Gunner touched the tombstone first.

In the end I think the people who actual experienced some patriotic zeal were Joe and I. (Certainly not the horrified visitors who had the misfortune of arriving at the same time we did.) There were what seemed like miles of headstones representing our nations soldiers. It was a good reminder of how priceless our freedoms are.

The Graduate

It's finally done! Joe graduated last Saturday the 17th at Safeco field in Seattle. It was a HOT 90+ degree day. I was sweating in the stands and that was nothing compared to Joe in his long black velvet robe in the direct sunlight for two hours. It was so good to have lots of family in town and we spent the entire next week having fun with them.
Just a little trouble getting the hood on this particular graduate.

Lately I've felt something has come between us.

How does he fit all that into that brain?


SeatTleUlawgraD

Grandpa was not about to relinquish that little bundle!
The Bachelors

Tess loved hiking around Mt. Rainier with Grandpa.
I've almost got it . . .

With so much to see, we spent a lot of time in the car.

And for some it was all too much.

Others stripped to their skivies on the shores of Lake Wilderness

Jarom and Joe prove that their dad can and will sleep through anything.


Gunner decided the waterfall was pretty enough and his smile wouldn't matter. So much for this picture making it into the Christmas card.

We spotted the Wright brothers and Amelia Erhart at the Museum of Flight.

Aspiring spider men and women, we're gender neutral.

Betsy got a little freaked out by this friendly Orangutan.

But LOVED her birthday presents.


Cousins, is there a better kind of friend?

Hmmm, I wonder, perhaps someday. . . .

It's been a good year!

Betsy is now a one year old. She wasn't born yesterday, she was born Monday and thankfully she is unaware of it because amidst finals week we have had to put the party off until the weekend.
She truly is a terrific baby; mild and sweet with just a touch of 'tude. We all love her very much. Some of her accomplishments so far include, cruising saying mom, dad, uh-oh, and "this" while pointing at any random thing. She can play a nice game of peek-a-boo and down an 8oz. bottle in under two minutes. you know it's a good baby when you wish you could freeze them this way forever. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETSY!

Joe Speaks.

I haven't been the best about writing on the blog. I have been a little preoccupied you might say. I have a little time between meetings so rather than putting myself in the Boeing trance and waiting for time to pass I will holla at y'all. I did have what I thought was going to be a round robin "get to know ya" at Perkins Coie (the largest and in their words the most prestigious law firm in Seattle, heck the United States and if the US then the WORLD! THE WORLD I TELL YOU!) It was a pretty gruelling battery of interviews. I think I did OK but can't really tell. The last interviewer was a Harvard grad so I already knew he would be draconian and so I was spitting my best game. He went through my Law school transcript class by class asking me why I did poorly in certain ones. I was trying to say that I could get any grades I want but I couldn't spend the time to memorize because my kids and wife need me around. Basically, that at home alot was riding on me. I even told about how Scottie was able to speak at a young age but after a year at law school she stopped being able to speak and the doctor said she had disfluencey and it was all our fault. So he is listening to all this with the most sceptical look on his face. After the interview which actually went very well he took me to the elevator and said, "so are you headed home?" I said "no I have three classes tonight."
He said "whoa, why so late?"
"I work full time and I am taking classes in the evening."
I could see it dawn on him that the sob story I gave him was making sense. He was probably thinking about how when he was in law school he learned to sail, drank every night and only attended half his classes. He wasn't made aware of anything about my specific situation. So the elevator was better late than never but we will see what happens.
I also wanted to say something about Pat and Patricia. I sat in the back seat with Patricia for probably 10 hours and I tried to tell her things about Pat that would shock her or test her devotion. She already knew everything or wasn't surprised by anything I said. Which is one great thing about Pat, what you see is what you get. He isn't hiding all his nerdy tendencies and uncool hobbies, he is just lucky to find a girl just as nerdy and appreciates that about him. She does have a vision for how Pat will be after she is done shaping him but what wife doesn't (e.g. eating habits, grooming, his glued together glasses, his plaid shirts (I disagree with that one), his lateness, his disregard for his own health). I think we can all agree that she has her work cut out for her and don't hold your breath.
One little tid bit, she really wants her produce washed and one time she spent about 20 minutes polishing an apple and then gave it to Pat. He was a little confused because he didn't want an apple. I though wow she is so generous. Then she gave a little gesture and Pat said, Oh! and started biting off pieces and giving them to her. It was cute just like the daddy loverbird regurgitating food into the little birds mouth.
I also gave them so much flack about always hugging and kissing and touching. If we were out of the car they were walking while hugging. In the car she was massaging his back or running her fingers through his "hair". I remember those days and I know as the male in that situation it may not be your first choice but really its your only choice.