Video Mania!!

These are all video clips from the last month or so. Just click on the triangle to play the clips.

Roman got an easy read book about Buzz Lightyear and Woody from The Toy Story movie. He's been reading it to griffin.

This was christmas morning.

Video of Griffin and Roman with their Gingerbread houses. Griffin got so excited. He's saying "look at me" in a shrek.

Roman only asked santa for a Buzz Lightyear and a Woody for christmas. This video is of when he opened his Buzz Lightyear. He was so excited!

This is a video of Roman's Preschool Christmas Program. Roman is NOT a singer! He didn't sing a note the entire program, but he was good and pretty still, and of course extreamly cute.

Short one of Griffin and his dinosaurs

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve we made our ginger bread houses. I think we will try to do it every year.

Griffin really got into it. This was the finished master peice.

Roman and Daddys finished ginger bread house.

The Christmas tree Christmas Morning after Santa came and before everyone was up.

Cookies for Santa. The boys and I laid out milk, but I guess Santa felt like a beer.

Note Santa left for the boys.

Time to open gifts!

Roman cleaned up when teh paper piled up.

Jet Transformer for Griffin.

Box of Dinosaurs for Griffin. He opened them almost first and played with them all morning.

Paint spinner kit for Roman

Pirate Puzzle

He loved the dinos

Roman got a United States Talking Puzzle. It says the name of the state, state capitol, and state moto when you press the state.

Buzz light year and woody was the only thing on Roman's wish list from Santa.

Walking, Growling dinosaur for Griffin.

Griffin's shopping cart was a big hit.

Rich made this really cool table for the boys. There are huge bug inside that can move around with magnets.

I took Roman shopping to get a gift for Griffin, he picked these fruit roll-ups.

Both the boys got imagination movers t-shirts.

Our neighbor got the boys this cool limbo game.

Bubble stuff for Roman. This was fun but I don't even wanna know what ingredients are in it. I was high for about a hour on christmas because of this stuff.... so was roman.

Dot markers for Griffin.

This car track thing was for both the boys.

For me, this was teh best part of the day. Our yummy dinner. Beef tenderloin, roasted red potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, and a spinach salad.

Well, that was our Christmas in a nutshell... Hopefully all of you had a happy Christmas also.

December (except christmas)

December 12, 2009. Took the kids to see Imagination Movers Live. Imagination Movers is a show in Disney Channel about a band of guys who sing and solve problems. When they came live to Seattle we could miss the chance to see them in person. The put on a cute show.
They watched intently. While all the kids danced in the isle they watched very still with dropped open mouths.

We went down town to see the christmas lights and blow off some bottled up steam the boys couldn't get rid of before bed. They loved the lights and running around in the cold air. Griffin say's "Gismas lites, ook at all the gismas lites!"

Roman practices writing his letters on his dry erase board most every day. He's getting better and better with writing.

Roman helped me make Christmas cookies one day. He's a good helper and taster.

Griffin laying on the top of the couch like a cat. He's getting SO long.

November.

November (just wanted to mention it is January as I type this) was a blur!

Roman's Preschool Picture.

Got Griffin's picture taken too. He was quite the ham with the photographer and only had to take 2 shots to get the perfect picture.

Thanksgiving was spent at the Coast Guard Station eating a very yummy meal with Rich's coworkers. the XO's wife and myself fixed the meal for about 15 people.

I made turkey cupcakes.

In other news....
November 8th my 83 year old Grandma York passed away. She battled Alzheimer's Disease for several years. I traveled home by myself for her services, while Rich stayed home with the boys. While we were all mourning her passing, it really seemed like more of a celebration of our family. Below is pictured all of my cousins on my Dad's side. These all ALL of my grandmothers Grandchildren. We had not been all together since I was in high school.

Aunt Gertrude traveled from Las Vegas for the services also. She really amazes all of us! Andrea gave her a manicure.

My mom wrote a poem for Grandma's service. Just wanted to share it, it's really beautiful.

Grandma enjoyed the simple things in life.

She did't wear fancy clothes; a sweatshirt fit her simple style.

She simply loved her family and worked hard to support them.

You could say that Grandma was a down to earth farm girl.

She loved digging in the dirt to plant vegatables, flowers and trees

and watching them grow

You could say that Grandma could predict the future by dangling a

wedding ring of an expected mother's belly.

We watched anxiously to see if the ring would swing in a circle or a strait line

to find out if there would be a new baby girl or boy in the family.

You could say that Grandma's kitchen was where the magic happened.

Those yellow noodles, cherry chocolate cake, and gooey cinnamon rolls

will never be equaled in another kitchen.

You could say grandma loved the simple things nature provided.

Long walks in the neighborhood, searching for the first humming birds in the spring,

the sound of the fall wind blowing through the leaves.

Grandma truly appreciated the simple things in life.

You could say that Grandma's leaves have fallen but her roots are deeply planted in our hearts.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We just back back from our first halloween party of the season at the YMCA we belong to. Here are some pictures of the kids and their costumes.

Griffin, Team Scream Baseball Player

Hugging on Daddy at the party.

Roman, Team Scream Football Player.

By the end of the night he was a vampire football player!

Besides working on the costumes and made cookies for both the boys to take to their schools this week. It's been a while since I made mom's sugar cookies!

Owls.

Pumpkins

Candy Corn

bones and spider webs too....

Rolloff Farm Pumpkin Patch (yeah, the one on TLC)

We (the boys and I and our friends Gina and her son Seth) visited Rolloff Pumpkin Patch (the one on TLC Big World, Little People) in Portland, OR.

Roman pulling Seth and Griffin in the pumpkin wagons. You can see the catapult in the background that the youngest son of the family got hurt on a few years ago (if you watch the show)

Us at the top of the hay pyrimid.

Cool barn on the farm

Roman on one of the 2 tractor pulled wagon tours of the farm.

Zack drove the tractor on our tour.

Matt Rolloff built this castle for his daughter. It was pretty huge!

Matt's parents where at this little saloon part of the tour taking pictures with everyone.

Roman picking out his pumpkin.

Our pumpkins.

Gina... holding Seth and pulling a very heavy wagon full of pumpkins... and griffin!

The family home was right on the pumpkin farm. Their house was really beautiful. They just remodeled to accomidate their height.

Roman's scarry jacket/skelton thingy.

Griffin after going through the hay maze a bunch of times.

Gina got her picture with Amy, the mom. She made this cute little rock that said "LPBW" on it so he would be happy for the picture.

Little Seth, Big Chair

So we had a great day at the pumpkin patch. Driving back to our hotel all the boys fell asleep! HEAVEN! They were so cute!

THEN all hell broke loose when we stopped to check in ... they all woke up crying; screaming crying! They were all tired and pissed!

Gina and I could only laugh at them....

Big shout out to Gina, who was so patient with my boys and everything we encountered on the trip. It was super good!

Family Pictures 2009

Family Pictures October 2009.

I really wanted to get family pictures taken this fall, so before going out and spending alot on a photographer; I though I'd give it a shot with my camera.

They actually turned out pretty good.

Sports Fans? Not really....

No, we are not major sports fans; but when an opportunity arrises to do something new we take it. Rich won a lottery at work for the chance to buy discounted tickets to a Seahawks game. So we went to the game Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears.

Qwest Field.

The crowd.

The stands were packed.

They lost. It was fun though. Those Bears fans are nuts!

So the following weekend Rich got free tickets to a Mariners baseball game.

After we climbed up to our seats, which were on the very top row, we figured out why they were free...

Cotton Candy of course.

It was Ken Griffy's last home game (or something like that). We got Griffin some t-shirts that said Griffy.

Rich was on the news!

Rich was interview for a piece on the local news show. Click on the link below or cut and paste it.


http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=400582&shu=1

Now that summer is offically over, I wanted to show some end of summer pics.

We enjoyed having my mom and dad here a few weeks ago. The boys are blessed to have such great grandparents.

Grandpa and the boys.

September 13, 2009

September 19, 2009, We went to the Puyallup Fair. Roman had a great time riding the rides. He was so brave!

Poor Poor griffy spend most of the time waiting at the exit for Roman because he was not tall enough to ride the rides. Next year buddy, I promise!

Tuckered out! On the bus from the fair back to where we parked our car. I tried to hold him, but he was comfortable just like this!

This one is for Aunt Andrea.

From camping in early august.

9-12-09 Boys' Seasame Street Birthday Party

We held a party in honor of Roman's 4th and Griffin's 2nd Birthdays. We had the Seasame Street themed birthday party at a park.

Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Elmo Cupcakes.
Balloons and treat bags.

The park we had the party at has a small scale running trians. This was the entertainment for the kids and adults.

Dad and Griffin at a nearby play area.

Roman with our huge Seasame Street character balloons

Griffin looking up at the balloons.

Rich grilled hotdogs for all of our guests.

2 of a kind!

Time for cake!

We had to stuff ourselves back in the car along with 5 huge balloons...

Where's Roman?

The boys played with new toys and the balloons for many days following the party.

The boys had there Birthdays in the past month and a half. Here are some pics. They had a co-birthday party that I will share pictures of in a separate blog entry. But these pics are from their actuall birthdays.


Pirate Cake per Roman's request.

Blowing out 4 candles

Smile for the camera!

Baseball Cake for Griffin.
It was rainbow inside.
Yum, it's great to be 2!

Roman's Birthday. 8-22 Griffin's Birthday 9-19

PNW VACATION!

Just got back from our week long vacation. We had a amazing time!

**Quick Thank You to Nana Jorja for staying with the boys here in WA while we were gone. We all love you so much!

The first day we got up early and took the ferry over to Seattle. We'd been with the kids, but wanted to experience it as free adults! We took a few tours. First was the Seattle Underground Tour. It was really fun and we learned alot about how Seattle was born. Then we went on the SubSeattle Bus Tour. This tour took us around to the different neighborhoods of Seattle and our tour guide told us fun stories of murders and scandal that has taken place in Seattle.

Chief Seattle.

Totum Pole at Pioneer Square
Memorial Bench next to Kurt Cobain House, one of our stops on the SubSeattle Tour. This was the house he lived and died in. This bench replaced a bench that was completely covered with fan goodbyes, this one was nearly covered also.

Amazing granite sculpture at Volunteer Park. Isamu Noguchi's "Black Sun" The Japanese sculptor used the government check he received after Hiroshima to purchase a huge block of granite for this sculpture inspired by what he saw after the atomic bombings. You can see the Space Needle though the whole. Wish I would have thought to take a picture of the interesting dynamic group hanging out in foreground. Every eclectic group of all sorts that apparently all belonged a bicycle club.

Me at the top of the Space Needle.

Seattle from the Space Needle during the day.

Seattle from the Space Needle at night.

DAY 2/3. We drove to Pacific Beach Resort on the Washington Pacific Coast.

We just played and relaxed on the beach for 3 days.

The weather was so nice and warm we decided to lay on the beach and take a nap after taking in a afternoon movie. You can drive on the beach, so we found a good spot to park the car and layed out a blanket on the sand. An unsure amount of time when by because we both fell asleep. A few kids screaming and yelling 'hey, get up... GET UP" woke me up about .5 seconds before the ocean tide soaked us... Luckily we only got a little wet and nothing got ruined. It was pretty funny and I really wish I could have had video of it. So we drove around for a good while with Rich's we clothes and shoes on top of the car to dry off. Luckily my shoes and clothes were in the car.

After we dried off we took in a game of putt-putt.

Day 4. Road Trip!! We drove up the coast toward Forks.. (that's right I said Fork, WA pictures later)

We stoped at a Qunault Rain Forest, home of the Largest Spruce Tree. Totally Beautiful!

Tree Hugger

We took a 1 mile hike trail around the forest and saw all sorts of natural beauty.

Rich standing on the under roots of a tree that fell over.

A small tree's roots growing over an old stump.
close up.

Back on the road again... Rich stopped for a snack from a wild blackberry bush along the road.

More rain forest. Tree branches were covered in a heavy thick moss.

Sea Monster.

Tree Monster

So while Rich was driving 60 in a 30mph zone through a national forest, I had to keep myself occupied so we didn't fight on our super romantic getaway... so I stuck my camera out the moon roof and snapped some shots. They turned out pretty cool.

And we found big foot.

Just before Forks we pulled off to Ruby Beach. Simply on of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I could live here.

First you have to climb over these dead trees to get to the beach. Totally worth it.

The only thing you could hear was the waves crashing on the rocks.

The beach was covered in large flat rocks and dead trees. It was an amazing place.

OK. We made it to Forks! I just had to stop, it was on the way. If you don't know why this is significant, then you havn't read or seen Twilight. Twilight is a book series takes place in Forks, WA and is about Vapires and the teen age girls who love them. The books and movie are very popular right now. Forks is just a small town, population 3100. So I thought it would be interesting to check it out. I had NO idea that it would be so Twilight CRAZY!!

After being in Forks for about 10 minutes or so, I realized that nearly every single business had something to offer all of those twilight fans out there.

This is large machenery rental company just as you enter Forks. The other side of the sign says "Used Mowers $50" But notice they also offer Twilight Signs and bumper magnets!

Twilight Headquarters is at the ACE hardwear!

At the Dew Drop Inn you can get a "Bella Suite" with creepy red comforter and black curtains.

F&P Produce welcomes Twilight Fans... and has milk, eggs and bread.

Hey, Bella shops here!

Forks Library

Town Pharmacy

Pharmacy Window. Sign Reads: Rain Rain Go Away, I want to see Edward Sparkle Today!

"Bella Bags" Small leather-ish bag things with teeth on them

Flower shop sign.

Even the Golden Gate Chinese Resturant has a Twilight Poster in the window.

Really???

Ok, so I'm not a crazy super fan. I have read the first book and seen the movie. But I mean how could I not have my pic taken with Bella's truck?

Rich took this pic no one thought it was weird.... no one.

Our last days were spent at Sol Duc Hot Spring.

We had a small cabin like this. The scenery was pretty unbeatable.We arrived too early to check in to our room so the front desk girl suggested we take a hike (literally) She suggested the Lover's Lane trail. So we decided to go for it.

At the beginning of the hike. I think it had not sunk in yet or maybe I blocked it out that the trail was 6... yes 6 miles!

one of the many cool bridges.

We got a little slap happy about 2.5 miles into it and Rich started moving hollow tree stumps around and sitting in them.

big ass tree

Fungus. At the front desk they did offer a fungus guide for only $11.99. We passed on that, so I have no idea what this is.

Long bridge

More big ass trees. Can you find Rich?

More Hiking. By this point I was starting to realize I don't really like hiking that much.

3.5 miles. We finally made it to the Sol Duc water fall. It was really beautiful.

After we were done appreciateing the falls, Rich says "I guess we go back the way we came?" I began to cry. The next 3 miles was pretty quiet and to be honest with you I may have done some complaining about how hungary, hot and tired I was and how much I think nature sucks. (allegedly) And I MAY have gone off on a tirade about how Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort should change their name to "Sol Duc: Nature Until you Wanna Puke Area" featuring a hot as hell pool that stinks like sulfer(that they call a 'natural hot spring') (allegedly)

The highlight? A bee chased Rich the last 1/4 mile back to the cabin. Yes, After hiking 6 MILES with hot, hugary, and tired (who does not tolerate being hot, hungary and tired well) he had to RUN 1/4 mile!

Honestly, I'd skip Sol Duc if you are ever in the PNW. Just go to the beach, you will not be disappointed!

Now, I'd like to take a minute and thank my amazing husband for taking me on this fabulous trip. The time we spent is very special to me and I'll hold it close when I need a happy thought to get me through a rough day. I love love love you. I'm looking forward to the next 10... and the 10 after that....

Happy Birthday to Roman! He's officially 4 years old. Here are a few pics from the day.

Monkey Cupcakes!

I made these cute little monkey cupcakes from a cooking magazine cover. They were so easy. I used a banana cupcake recipe from the same magazine.

I made them for a playdate and got rid of the last 2 for dinner last night.

Grif was already a huge mess, so I figure that me might as well have at this cupcake.

The kids had such a long fun day yesterday, this was how I found roman about 5 minutes after we put him to bed.

Camping at Fort Worden State Park

The family packed up a few weeks ago and went camping at Fort Worden State Park. It was so beautiful. The last few times we camped we only went about 2 miles from our home. Fort Worden was about an hour or so away. I was surprised how beautiful it was, there was even a sandy beach.

It was really windy, which was perfect for flying a kite on the beach.

Rich and Roman setting up the tent. Roman was very intent on helping daddy.

Ok, so this was the most exciting part of this trip (for me anyway) Rich had a long night with Griffin waking up a million times, so when I woke up I didn't have the heart to wake him up. I was, however, really hungry. I decided to take it upon myself to fix a campfire breakfast (which I had never so much as ever started a fire)

This is the fire I start all by myself, it only took me 10 minutes and 20 matches!

Step 1: pancakes.
Things were a little rough cause I forgot butter or oil...

One heaping pile of pancakes. Side note... next time I will bring butter and syrup. I figure my first batch of camping pancakes would be like the first child. You do many things to screw them up, you still love them and just try too keep notes of what you did wrong so you don't screw the next one up.
Step 2: Eggs. Also, oil would have been a huge asset, but I remembered salt and pepper!

Step 3: Sausage. It was frozen precooked... pretty hard to screw up.

So this is my first campfire breakfast. Very Proud!

Roman ate it, so it couldn't have been that bad!

Rich was pleasantly surprised that I had fixed breakfast before he woke up. And like a smart man, he kept his mouth shut and ate it. Said it was the best breakfast he ever had while camping at Fort Worden!

Update on Griffin.

Sunday morning I went to change Griffin's diaper and was surprised to see that his diaper rash was going away! We went camping Saturday and Sunday, I packed the basic stuff, but never pack milk because we waist it or it goes bad. By monday morning his rash was really almost gone, just a few bumps and no red at all. I realized he'd had no milk for 2+ days. I kept him off the milk and now his rash is gone and his poop is looking normal... so I think he's lactose intolerant. He's almost 2 and really no longer needs whole fat milk, so I'm switching him to soy to see if that works.
I'm up for any advise anyone may have of milk intolerance...

Also took Griffin to Holly Ridge where he has been recieveing therapy for low muscle tone and speach therapy since this winter. Griffin has made such improvements! I asked to have him retested to see if he was still behind, because from what I could tell, he was communicating and moving well. So he tested above average on his verbal skills, exactly average on his understood language. He took direction, stacked a tall tower of blocks, did a puzzle, walked up and down the stairs (even did a stunt dare devil jump off the last step on to the floor), and walked a balance beam. He was really showing off for those therapists. So he tested out of both occupational therapy and speech therapy. Holly Ridge Center offers a preschool for his age group, so they asked if I was interested. I think it will be so good for him. So this fall he will be in preschool 2 days a week for 1 1/2 hours.

The therapists said he has really come such a long way and there is really no reason to worry about him anymore at all. Such a reliefe!!

I really appreciate everyone who follows my blog who has expressed concern for Griffin. It is such a comfort to be able to share things about what is going on with my family while we are so far away. Thanks for all the love!


Griffin sitting on couch douced in powder in romans underwear to help get air to his diaper rash... picking his nose.

A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine

Friday July 17, 09. We drove to Snoqualmie to have a Day out with Thomas.

We parked in a school parking lot and rode a school bus to the train station down town. Roman was so excited!

Griffin on the bus.

We got to the depo about 2 hours before our train was scheduled to depart, so we took part in all the fun activities

Picture with Sir Topom Hat. Kids were scared. Roman went limp as soon as he saw him and Griffin was ready to rip his head off!
Roman's got the tickets!

Roman got a train tat00 on his hand.

Toured an old caboose.

Watched the model trains on the track.

Roman jumping in the bounce house.

A little fast cart took the kids on a ride.

Waiting in line to board.

Thomas took us up to the top of Snoqualmie Falls. It was really pretty.

Griffin blowing his Thomas Whistle.

The ride was short, but fun.

The kids were sleeping before we got all the way out of the parking lot. It was really fun!

No pictures, just a funny poop story.

As mothers often do; I'm about to talk about poop in great detail. You've been warned!

As a mother of 2 boys and a wife to a man; it would be challenging to really gross me out.

Let me tell you, about 3 weeks ago my little sweet lovable Griffin was producing poopy diapers that were not of this world. The brownish-greenish color, the slimy texture, the putrid smell was obviously abnormal and unhealthy. I found quickly that hourly funky diapers will cause a sever SEVER diaper rash.

Griffin was in a tummy achy, weird poopy, diaper rashy, crab crabby state when I took him to the Bremerton Naval Hospital last week. Just before the doctor arrived Griffin took an alien like poo. I was relived she could see first hand what we were dealing with here and with her ninja like doctor skills, she could immediately diagnose and treat Griffin and we could sail out to eternal normal poop bliss.
When the doctor walked in she was likely hit with a rancid smell that I had grown immune to by that point.
“Oh, you’re just in time!” I tried breaking her pinched face with a little joke.

She immediately did an about face turn, and came back with a bread bag from her office.

“Here,” she said shoving the bag at me, “just dispose of it in this.”

I took the bag disappointed in her inability to appreciate what my son had created and tossed the diaper in the trash. The doctor proceeded to explain that Griffin had diarrhea and a diaper rash and that it was no big deal and he would get over it in 6 weeks or so.

So I here I’d like to pose a question, would you like to have diarrhea and a chapped ass for 6 weeks? Me either!

I argued that this seemed more than run of the mill diarrhea and that I was very concerned. She said that if it would make me feel better that she could get some cultures from his poo to rule out some kind of virus. I agreed, and she sent me down to the lab.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I went down to the lab; but like everything else I have experienced so far in motherhood, it was awkward and uncomfortable. The lab tech gave me 6 small tubes. 5 of them were half full of liquid and the 6Th was larger than the others and was marked “FRESH STOOL.”

“Directions are on the bottles,” she said as she shoved them over the counter toward me.

My blank stare encouraged her to ask, “Want a bag?”

‘No, I’d rather try to carry all these bottles individually and risk dropping them so a strange navy guy can pick up the one that says “FRESH STOOL” for me.’ I thought to myself.

“Ummm, Yes Please a bag would be nice” I finally said.

After I got home, I spread all the bottles out on the counter and read the instructions. I was to put a sample of poo in each preservative filled bottle, I had 72 hours to get it back to the lab after each sample was collected. The larger bottle marked “FRESH STOOL” had to be full and back with in the hour of collection.

Just then a familiar stench hit my nose; Griffin had pooped. I was actually a little anxious to get that poo in my little bottle. I quickly got the diaper off Griffin and over to the counter. I took the lid off the first bottle which has a little spatula attached to scoop the poo into the container. I went to scoop the poop and knocked the damn bottle over, spilling the preservative all over the damn place. As I reacted to the spilled bottle, I got poo on my hand. So mission poop scoop #1 was scrapped due to turbulence.

Later that day, I successfully got 2 bottles filled with a sample. The next morning I took my 2 samples to the lab. I knocked on the closed lab door and a 7 foot young man comes to the door. We say nothing to each other. I hand him my ID and the brown bag. He turns and shuts the door. I waited.
He came back quickly and asks with a furrowed brow, “Who sent you here? Where did you get these bottles?”

“I got the bottles here. The doctor sent me.” If you know me, you know I instantly turned red in he face.

His lips pursed together, he crossed his arms, squinted his eyes and tilted his head down. I could tell he didn’t believe me! He thought I was lying!
“There are no orders for you on our computer, Ma’ma.” He said accusingly.

I realized he thought that poop was mine, and thought I had some sort of mental condition that caused me to steal medical supplies to recieve lab testing.

I said, “That’s not MY poop, it's my son's!” In which Griffin and Roman start to giggle and repeat “POOOP! POOOOP!”

The lab tech and I were both red faced now. I was relieved a little to know that he now knew that that was NOT MY poop. He went back into his secret laboratory and got it straitened out in his computer and came back to return my ID; we avoided eye contact.

For each subsequent ‘drops’ I made sure to announce that the samples were indeed for Griffin.


Editing in to let you all know I just dropped the last 'sample' off yesterday morning, so I still don't know what the problem is with Grif's belly troubles. But I assure you, I am determinded to get Griffin the proper care.

home made salsa. mmmm....

We made and canned salsa over the weekend. I thought I'd get some pretty pics with my new camera.

Submerge tomatoes in boiling water to loosen skins to make them easy to peal.Place hot tomatoes in sink to cool.
Lots of fresh peppers, onions & garlic.

Pop in all in the food processor and blend to desired consistancy.

It needs to be hot when it goes into canning jars so they will seal nicely.

It thickens up.

inserting picture of Rich eating salsa for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week!

We made about 6 quarts. So good and easy!

Fountain Fun

Downtown Bremerton has a beautiful fountain, so we went downtown yesterday for some ice cream and relaxation.
It didn't take long for Roman to find something to do.

Griffin made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in getting wet, but he did slash around alittle.

Friday we had our first family camping experience. We camped just a few miles from our house at a small state park.



We grilled out at the play ground first. We went with the traditional first time camping food; hotdogs, chips, baked beans and coleslaw.


Our campsite was really nice. It was a cement slab with a fire pit and picnic table.

This was probably the most vital part of our sucess. I had 4 going.

Our tent. It wasn't too bad. We forgot pillows; actually I'm not sure if seasoned campers sleep with pillows, but next time we'll make room for pillows!

As soon as our camp was set up we broke out the only thing we knew for sure we wanted; the marshmellows, graham crackers and chocolate bars!

I'm not a big fan of charred marshmellows.
Monkey see monkey do. When Roman saw my marshmellow catch fire, he tried the same trick, sucessfully. We tried to get him to eat it, but he explained to us he didn't like his marshmellows "camped"

Griffin ate alot of cold marshmellows that night. It was against my better judgement, but he was so happy.
Smores. Mmmmm.

Roman loved his sleeping bag.

If we'd has someone around to video the going to bed process in that tent, we'd likely win a Million bucks. It was a sight to see and I'm sure it gave our camping neighbors a good chuckle. But we finally all got to sleep.

The next morning Rich made a yummy camp fire breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.

Now 2 days later, neither Rich or I have full range of motion in our necks.

Hopefully we'll take many more family camping trips as a family this summer and try to get a little further away from home next time.

Preschool and a Mad Face.

Summer is in full swing here. It's been unseasonable warm here in Washington. We had a week of 90 deg weather. Now it's back in the 7os and we are enjoying it.
After house hunting for a few months we still have not found a house. The house we want to buy is in short sale and that process is taking WAY too long. We'll resign our rental lease sometime this month. We tired; it's just not the right time for us I guess.

Roman started summer preschool last week. He likes it there so much! The teachers are really nice and it's a fun and comfortable environment.

I had to show you all Griffin's "Mad Face". He makes this face on command when we say, "hey Griffin, show us your mad face," with out cracking a smile. It brings lots of laughs around the house. He does show this face spontaneously on occasion when he disapproves what's going on or feels he's being slighted in anyway. It's very intimidating!

This is where I'm from.

When I was growing up on this farm in Missouri I felt like nothing could be more insignificant. Now when I go back to visit, I feel so lucky to have this farm and this small chunk of the world part of my life. I'm proud to say this is where I'm from.

This is just a snap shot of what my parents see every morning.

Rutledge, MO. Blink and you'll miss it. There is a small general store where you can get a fresh baked loaf of bread, out dated box of cereal, a cheese burger served in a napkin and an ice cream sundae. Then there's the gas station and a post office. The train passes through several times a day to liven the place up a little.

This is where I went to school from kindergarten to fifth grade. There were 2 other kids in my grade, 12 or so students k-12th grade. k-4th grade where all in one room (called the little room upstairs), then the big kids, 5th-8th grade, where all down stairs. We ate a delicious home cooked hot lunch together every day.

Back Home.

We're BaAAck!! After spending 3 1/2 weeks back on the farm in MO we are back home.
Here are a few snip-its from our time back in MO.


Grandma Randi and her boys. Grandma Randi was a true trooper during our invasion. We took over her house and she welcomed us with open arms.


Grandma Randi attempting to sew a quilt, give a horsey ride to Griffin with her leg and trying to avoid getting stuck with a "sharp" (sewing pin) by Roman, who insisted on having full control of the pin cushion.

Griffin and Grandma formed a strong bond. She didn't get too far out of his sight.

Grandpa took Roman fishing and he caught lots of catfish, which we ate for dinner.

It was so fun seeing my girlfriends from high school. I didn't take many pictures besides these. We visited a classmate of mine, Emily and her daughter Mallory. Mallory is 3, drives a pink caddy and has full access to cool pops and does all the driving... good catch!

When Roman got home we told Grandma all about our fun afternoon with Mallory.

Grandma asks: "what did you think about Mallory?"

Roman puts his hand on his chin and thinks a moment, "Just Pretty"

HA!

Mom made these sunflower cupcakes. Very cute and very yummy!

We stayed with Aunt Andrea in St. Louis for a few days. We decided to go to Grant's Farm.

We rode the Carousel....

Andrea will be such a good mom. She saw the fear in Griffin's face before in came out in the form of pure panic... she got him off the horse and they finished the ride in the bench seat. Huge Tortoise

Petting the Guinea pigs.

Baby Goat wanted some of roman.

Fun at Grandmas

Silly...

Relaxing...

Getting Dirty...

Griffin got his first bummed up knee.... the first of many. It's tough being a farm boy.

We took the boys to have ice cream. Roman went many time with Grandpa, but this time was with Grandma and I.

Then we went across the street to a small park.

I thought this would be such a good place for a sweet picture of the boys. It turned out a little different than I had envisioned... as most things in life with kids goes.

Such a sad picture!

I'm not sure why you tell a kid to say cheese when you want them to smile... all of Roman's pictures have this face of him making a CH sound... ug!

No, this picture doesn't exactly scream happiness... but they are together and stationary. What more could I ask for??

My Aunt Gertrude turned 95 years old while I was home. She rode a train from California to Missouri with out a sleeping car at 95 years old. Can you imagine?? I'm really glad I've got just a little of her DNA in me.

We celebrated her birthday with cake for breakfast. The boys were thrilled!

The pictures barely do our trip justice. It was a great get away!

Spring Update

Spring has finally arrived here in Northwest Washington. The sun has been shinning and it's been nice enough to play outside for several days in a row now. The flowers are so pretty, the bumble bees are buzzing around here and it just smells like spring.

Spring is bringing some changes in our lives also. Rich and I are looking to buy a house here in Bremerton. The time is just right for us. The house we are buying (hopefully) isn't too far from the house we rent now. It's in a great neighborhood and is a good floor plan for us. It does however need ALOT of work both exterior and interior. But the price is right and we are young so we can handle it. The homeowners accepted our offer, however because they are so upside-down on their mortgage; their bank must approve the offer, then the house must pass the almighty VA inspection. So we have lots of hurdles to cross before we make a deal everyone agrees on. The housing market has not been as affected here as badly as the rest of the US. There are very few homes to chose from the the home prices are outrageous. Hopefully by mid-summer we will be homeowners.

The boys and I leave in a little over a week now for that great little northeast corner of MO, I call home. I'm dreading flying with the boys, but I know seeing my family will be so worth it. I can't wait to just relax on the farm with the boys. So if you think of it on the morning of May 5, pray that a miracle happens and the boys sleep peacefully through the flight... although I'd settle for just not screaming bloody murder for 5 hours!

Griffin has literally made leaps and bounds since the day we were wondering when his chubby little legs would finally take their first steps. in February Griffin was evaluated and was deemed to be developmentally behind in gross motor skills and speech. The nurses and therapists who saw Griffin said besides having loose ligaments; he also has mildly low muscle tone. In late March he started receiving speech and occupational therapy and participates in a play group with children his ages of all abilities and disabilities. We do fun things everyday to build Griffin's muscles and he is walking perfectly and starting to run. As soon as he started walking well, he's speech followed suit. Now he is talking just as well as any other 19 month old.

Roman is becoming quite the boy. I'm thinking he may be a politician or CEO. He's got an opinion about everything, never backs down, and doubts every single solitary thing I say. He has truly taught me the meaning of "pick your battles". We butt heads on a hourly basis and distracts every bit of energy my body contains, however I truly can appreciate his will and spirit. He'll make an amazing strong man one day.

Here are some pics I shot of the boys today. I'm getting more used to my new camera now.

We made a huge box house for the boys to play in. Roman is fairly sure it is haunted but finally went in it today after sucking up all the ghosts in a flash light! Glad we don't have worry about the ghosts anymore!
Griffin pointing out the "A-pane" in the "ky"

Griffin riding on this little four wheeler... he is Dangerous on this thing!
Pretty flower bush on the back side of the house.

Bowling Pins Cupcakes.

Just wanted to share these. We had a girls night out last weekend and went bowling (yes, we're exciting like that!!) My "hello, cupcake" book had these cute bowling pins cupcakes and I just could not resisit.

Easter Party in the Park.

Thursday April 9, 2009. The great mom's group that I belong to and help organize hosted an easter egg hunt at a beautiful park in Bremerton. We ended up having good weather. The rain held off all morning; it was just a little chilly. The kids didn't seem to mind the cool weather. We hid about 250 eggs. If you look closely you can see all the eggs scattered over the grass.

Get ready, Gets set, Go!

There were so many eggs; the kids had so much fun.

My boys were not exactly sold on the eggs in the basket deal. They wanted to open each one as they got them. It took alot of convincing.









Roman's OCD was on high alert will all the broken eggs. It really bothered him when he came up on one that was already broken apart or broke apart in is basket.


Roman's loot.

Little Griffin took this task of getting eggs pretty serious. He had fun and it was so cute watching him with his bucket.

I made cupcakes, of course. Bunnies and Flowers.

Roman had no intentions of wait to open his eggs. He was the first kid sitting and cracking open all his eggs for the goods.

Mmmmm. Cupcakes.

Some of the kids sitting for lunch.

Pictures of the day!

I'm not Irish... I just like to make cupcakes!

I could let such a huge holiday pass with out making cupcakes! He He!

Making Play Dough

Roman and I got crafty and decied to make Play Dough. Roman was so good at measuring and stirring!

1cup flour

1/2 cup Salt


2 teasoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon of oil, and 1 cup of water

Stir till mixed

Add food coloring (roman wanted purple)

Stir some more....

Cook on low/medium for 3-4 minutes while stirring, It pulls away from the pot and gets a bit darker in color when done. Let cool. This is what it looked like when done. It's grainy because of the salt, but the more you work it,the smooter it gets.

Roman played with his play dough all afternoon!

The texture didn't suit Griffin, but he liked to play with the tools over the play dough.

Griffin gave up the dough play long before Roman. He resorted to his very favorite past time, peek-a-boo.

Feb. Pictures

February went be pretty quick. Here are a few pictures from the month

We had a few really nice days, so we took advantage of it and went to the Tacoma Zoo.

I took this picture to prove Roman was actually with us at the Zoo. It's like pulling teeth to get a picture of his cute little mug!!

Griffin loves walking outside with is walker. It's great practice for him and helps strengthen his legs.

Roman loves the fresh outdoors too.





Pushing a tractor is Griffins favorite past time. He was sleepy when I took this picture, so he just layed down and pushed it back and forth until he got a second wind.



Griffin practicing his walking in his "little crabby" shirt from grandma and grandpa York.

Where's your nose?

Where's your belly? (his favorite)

We've finally become acquainted with Chuck E Cheese's. It's a fun safe place for the kids to run around on weekday mornings when no one is there.

I'll credit going to Chuck E. Cheese's with teaching Roman how to ask for something nicely.

I give him 3 tokens at a time and every few minutes he come running, stops right in front of me and holds his hand out and says, "Mommy, may I please have some more money, Please?"

Griffin Driving the big jeep at Chuck E Cheese's. He puts the money in all by himself.

Roman's Day with Rich in Seattle.

Rich took Roman to Thomas and Friends On Stage in Seattle last weekend. Rich got some cool pictures of Roman at the Seattle Center where the space needle is located.
They had a great day just Roman and Daddy.

Valentine's Day 2009

Happy Valentines Day! We had a great valentines day with the kids last weekend. I hosted a Valentines Party at our house for a Mom's Group I help orgainize.

My littlest Valentine

I let the kids lick the beaters after making the cupcake frosting. They were both suddenly felling the love for me after that.

Decorated the house in hearts and red streamers. It was fun to decorate the house.

The spread! Everyone brought red or valentine themed food to share

I made cupcakes.

Roman decorating his valentine bag. All the kids brought valentines to share so all the kids made valentine bags to recieve their goodies.

We lined all the bags up and lined the kids up and all the kids took turns dropping a valentine for everyone.

Romans valentines were so cute. He helped me make the airplanes and was so happy to give them out to all his friends.

We got a great group picture of all the moms and kids that came to the party.

Birthday Sushi

I made these "sushi" cupcakes tonight for Rich birthday. Just wanted to share them with you.

The cakes are mini cupcakes

For california rolls mix coconut with white frosting. Top cupcake with frosting and wrap with colored fruit roll-up. The centers are made of jujji fruits (some of them i cut and then stuck together with other colors)

For the fish peice, i frosted the cake with white frosting and rolled around in white sprinkles and wrapped with a strip of fruit rollup. The fish is just a gummy fish.

Green colored frosting for wasabi, chocolate syrup for soy sauce, and cut up dried pineapple for ginger.

Griffin took his first steps!! Jan. 15 2009

The moment we've all been waitin for has finally come!

Griffin stood up in the center of the floor all by himself and took 4 steps! I had my back turned away and was startled when I heard Rich saying "whoa, whoa, WHOA!!" I quickly turned around to see the part when he fell to his bottom. After Rich told me what just happen, I was anxious to see it again, so we had him try again. These are the videos we got. They are not great, but these are truely his first few steps. Very exciting!

Great Moments.

Some really great moments of our Christmas in Missouri

Roman and I took a long long nap together. It was GREAT!!

Just Like Grandpa

Picked up this hat at the Duchmans Store in Cantril, IA.

Roman was pleased as punch with is cake from Santa

He had the Christmas spirit, and found it in his heart to share with Griffin. No one told him to give Griffin a bite.

I really loved watching Roman watch mom sew.

Aunt Andrea is a the best aunt any little boy could ask for.

Mom made Aprons for Andrea and I. I love it!

Griffin in Daddy's motorcycle goggles.

Griffin in Grandpa's reading glasses.

Grandpa Berg and Griffin.

Grandpa was the hero of the day for rocking Griffin to sleep. Honestly Griffin is not easy to rock to sleep, I've maybe only been able to do it a handful of times myself!

Griffin's face kills me in this picture. He loves that little puppy.

AWWWW!

Mommy and Griffin Time.

Andrea and Evan.

Spaghetti and Meatballs??? Look Closer.... These are cupcakes! Mom just piped icing for the noodles and covered Roche chocolate candies in Strawberry jelly for the meatballs. Super Easy!

Everyone actually hesitated before eating these, they looked so real.

So close!!! He was on his tip tip tipy toes! Those cupcakes weren't fooling him, he new exactly what they were!

Dad playing with Griffin with a toy wrench. We would make funny noises and twist the wrench on Griffin's arms, legs, feet and ears. Griffin squealed with laughter!

The night before we left, Evan let Roman help him play the guitar. Evan was so patient and let Roman play the strings and probably mess with things he shouldn't. Roman thought it was really cool.

Family Pictures

Family Pictures Christmas 2008

Rich, Roman (age 3) Griffin (age 15months) Brie

Chad and Randi York

Brie and Andrea

Andrea, Chad, Randi, Brie

Evan and Andrea

The Whole Family

Family Picture 2008

How many takes does it take to get a.... just good enough family picture??

Come on Griffin... smile!

Lets see some eyes there, Brie!

Me saying, "oh, I blinked"

Not ready!

Where are we looking here?

Rich, who are you talking to?

Wait a minute...

This is getting a little ridiculous!




There, Good Enough!!!! Ta-DA... Family Picture 2008

Ice Storm Dec 18 2008 Missouri.

The night after we arrived in Missouri there was an ice storm. It literally rained ice. We listed to it tick-tick-tick against the house windows most of the night. By morning this was what it looked like at my parents house.

This is a chunk of ice that I broke off from the ground. It was almost 1/2 inch thick.

When the wind blew through the trees you could hear the ice cover cracking.

Everything little thing was incased in ice.

Christmas at the Yorks. Dec. 26 2008

We flew out to Missouri to spend the holidays with our family and friends this year. It was the best christmas by far!

Mom's tree was beautiful. She sat up at happy little snow village beneath the tree.

We didn't think Griffin would be able to reach the happy little snow village.... we were wrong.

Daddy and Roman reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Grandma Randi and Roman made cookies for santa...

and himself.
We set out the cookies and drew a little picture for santa.

Christmas Morning. Not sure why I'm the only one who acutally looks like they just woke up??

Aunt Andrea helped the boys open their gifts.

Griffin got a "Fur-real" puppy. Its so soft, and makes nice little puppy dog noises and even rolls over. Best part is it requires no food, drink or excersie!

Grandpa Chad spent all morning releasing the toys from the rediculuous twisty tie thing-a-ma-gigs.
Griffin was in Christmas heaven!
Roman only wanted to ask santa for one thing: a CAKE! So santa was nice enough to leave him his very own cake under the tree.

We had a great christmas with the kids in MO!

Christmas Bowling Party December 15, 2008

The CG staion had their christmas party at a Tacoma Bowl and Skate. We figured out pretty quickly that skateing with 2 kids just wasn't going to happen, so we bowled!

They had the end lanes set up with bumpers. Roman had lots of fun.

He found, picked up and carried his 8lb. ball all by himself!

Saw this on a friend's blog, thought it was kinda fun.


Let's see....Things I’ve Done *in green
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the State Capital
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

The boys and I blong to a great mom's group here. Tonight we met up and the kids and moms made christmas houses. Our hostess made these cute little house from graham crackers and icing, then the kids decorated them with candy. Roman was more into eating the house after it was "decorated."

Trinity and yet another little Roman.
Roman's very bestest friend, Kristofer.
Patty, our hostess, and Rochell

So, on the way home Roman broke into the houses and devoured them.

2 empty plates tell all!

Yum Yummy!
Roman did share the goodies! Griffin was covered in royal icing from head to toe.

They Love Each Other!

They Love each other, they really love each other!!

November 29, 2008. A few families from the Coast Guard group in Seattle that Rich works with were going "hunting" for their Christmas trees up in the mountains. Even though we didn't need a tree we decided to tag along. It was a really fun time.

Luckily one of the girls who went was a great photographer, and took a family picture for us.



We literally just pulled over and climbed up the side of the hill into a thick line of evergreens.

This picture reminds of the movie where those teenagers got lost in the forrest and video taped themselves freaking out.... Blairwitch Project. He looks lost in the forrest.

Daddy and Griffin.

I'm really glad we weren't looking for a Christmas tree! There were so many trees everywhere, it would have been too much for my inability to make a decision!

Roman did have fun, although I kinda drug him most of the way.

This was almost a good family picture, Roman was just too excited to pose....

Griffin slept great in the fresh outdoors.

Mommy and Roman

When the hill side got too steep, we came back down. The kids had a blast playing the the back of one of the guy's trucks.

Roman really didn't want to go when it was time. I told him we had to go, or he'd have to ride home in the back of the truck with the Christmas tree... he was totally fine with that!

Griffin did some foot work on the road, he's getting much better at practicing.

We really had a nice day exploring. Next year maybe we'll actually have to get our very own tree!

November in Pictures... time flies!!

These are just a few pictures of our November. It was a quiet month, but went by in a flash!

Griffin is starting to cruise and climb more and more. Hopefully a sign that he will soon be walking.




OK, so before I have people sending me emails about how caffeine is not good for kids... this cup was empty before he got a hold of it.


This picture is very telling. Griffin is full of piss and vinegar!



Roman has a new best friend, Kristopfer. The are play just like real brothers, they love, argue, fight then love some more.

We got Roman a Cool School computer for his birthday. It was completely worth every dime! He is learning to write his letters and actually do a little math. It reads him stories he can change the characters to and even drive a virtual tractor. He loves it!
Click the play button to play this cute video of the kids.

Christmas Tree Oh, Chirstmas Tree!!

We put the Christmas Tree up last weekend. We got an early start because we won't be here for Christmas, and I wanted to be able to appreciate it before we left for Missouri. Roman was very helpful in assembling the tree.





Griffin was mesmerized by the lights.

Mommy and Roman putting the Christmas tree up.

Anybody remember these antlers... maybe from our Christmas cards 3 years ago??

Let's take a walk down memory lane.... Yep, these were the same antlers from Roman's first Christmas. This picture was on our christmas card 3 years ago.

We put a tree up in the boy's room. It provides a great night light.

Roman helped decorate their tree also. We used all the fun ornaments I remember decorating our tree with when I was a kid.

Griffin "helped" too.

Unfortunately, Griffin really hated the tree in his room. He screamed at it for about 30 minutes or so, until he realized he wasn't scarring it away.

Griffin and the Christmas Tree finally made their peace. He likes it now. It might be a permanent fixture in their room.

Click the Play button to watch these cute videos.

Olympic Game Farm

Rich had to work a few days this week in Port Angeles, WA, so the kids and I took advatage of the advantage of the hotel room and tagged along. Port Angeles is a beatuiful little town just before the Olympic Mountains.



On Rich's day off we went to the Olympic Game Farm and had SO much fun! Olympic Game Farm is a drive through zoo sort of. You can buy loafs of bread to feed the animals that roam around. They come right up to you window so you can feed them, and aren't too proud to beg!


Roman loved feeding the peacocks! When the zebra came trotting along, we quickly rolled up the windows.

We were warned that the zebras could become aggressive. I think the warning should have gone more like: The zebras will bite your face off, so keep your window up! We feed them from a crack in the window.

Zebra trotting next to us, after we decided to move on.

Next up, Llamas. They were just as insistant on us stopping. I'm not going to lie, these animals scared me!

Yaks. They literally charged our car as we came around. We feed them, and they rammed our car when we decided to leave. This Yak had us driving 50mph through a drive through zoo!

I figured if the Yak could do some damage, that this buffalo would likely be the death of us. I was too scared to even crack my window, and I wouldn't let Rich stop the car.

Elk. These things are HUGE! The babies were big as the zebra and the adult males had to bend down to get the bread from the window.

The bears were by far my favorite! They were behind a fence so not a threat at all. As we drove up they encouraged us to stop by making funny faces and waving their paws.

Griffin was pretty quiet the entire ride, but he was very interested in the bears.

These bears have a funny way of making you feel like you could crawl in the pin with them and cuddle. They were just so darn cute! I'd hang out with a bear over a mean zebra any day!

Little update on Griffin

Some of you know, so of you don't that durring Griffin's 1yr apt, the doctor was a little concered about his walking pattern, or lack there of actually. He is not walking, nor crusing which puts him just slightly behind. The doc noticed that he has really flat feet and something seemed abnormal. After getting normal results on his hip X-ray, she Griffin was referred to a Orthopedic doctor.
I was not really worried about him not walking, but had noticed that his feet just seemed akward and really 'bendy'
So last thursday we had our appointment in Tacoma at the Orthopedic Dr. He noticed the same thing the first doctor noticed. He did some tests and showed me how overly flexable Griffin is. The doctor bent his four fingers really far back and Griffin didn't even react. He took his thumb to his forearm; and the top of his foot easily touches his leg.
He explained that Griffin has really loose joints, so he does not get the support from his ankles to help him balance. So until he gets better control of his body, he'll just keep practicing and may not walk for a while longer. He suggested getting hightop sneekers (which are very hard to find since it's not 1985 anymore!).
I asked if his delay had anything to do with the fact that he has very small feet for his size. He said he does not have small feet for his size, he has a huge body for his feet!
So pray that Griffin's little feet can carry his big body soon, because he is getting pretty heavy to carry everywhere! His new shoes should be here in a few days.

It's a cool night with thick fog everywhere, so we decided after we trick or treated at our neighbors, we'd go to the mall. There were lots of kids there in really cool costumes.

Rich taking a break with the kids. Roman was getting so hot in his costume and Griffin was getting antsy. Roman wanted to eat every peice of candy as he got it.

We stopped at the play center at the mall before going home. It didn't take long for the kids to be pretty much completely out of costume. Oh Well.

When Roman was Griffin's age we let him eat a peanut butter cup, so we let Griffin do the same on the way home. He thought it was really really good!

The kids where so sleepy!

Just as we pulled in the drive, Roman fell asleep. Notice he's still holding tight to the candy! As I went to pull it out of his hands to carry him to bed, he looked at me, tighted his grip and went back to sleep.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Here are some pictures of the kids.

Roman gets to wear his Pirate costume today a few times. He's having a halloween party at preschool and then tonight. He really gets into character!

Hello Cupcake!

I made lots of Halloween cupcakes this year. It's been a fun challenge to see if I can make them as pretty as the ones in the new cupcake book I got called, "HELLO, CUPCAKE!" The have such cute holiday and special occation cupcakes. I couldn't resist giving some of the ideas a shot!

Here are my sparkely pumpkins. Orange frosting over pumpkin spice cupcakes. I dipped each frosted cupcake in white sugar mixed with orange food coloring. Piped the line detail and topped with a chocolate cookie stick for the stem.

















My mom gave me the idea for these bug cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting. I piped the legs with chocolate frosting. Then added a malted milk ball for the bug face with 2 mini m&ms for the eyes and a almond m&m for the body.
















I saved these wolf cupcakes for my big challange. I used a marshmellow for the snout, marshmello pieces for the ears, M&Ms for the eyes, jelly bean for the nose, red fruit roll up for the open mouth and piped the chocolate fur and fangs.

I baked 18 chocolate cupcakes to make in to scary howling wolves, but after doing six, I decided, six scary howling wolves was pleanty! They all kinda have their own little personalities.
I frosted the rest of the cupcakes with scary chocolate frosting and called it good.

Me decorating the cupcakes. Not the most flattering angle... but hey... anyway....

I wish I could share some of these cupcakes with you all...

JACK-O-LANTERNS

We carved pumpkins this weekend. Roman used a really cool kit that made his pumpkin look like a pirate, just like him.

Roman wanted his pirate to be mean. ARG!
Being a pirate is awsome!
Roman and Griffin helped me take the "guts" out of my pumpkin. This was the one and only time Roman put a hand in a pumpkin. He quickly became uninterested once he felt the slimey cold inside of the pumpkin.
Griffin kept trying to eat the insides. He won't eat his dinner, but really wanted to eat the inside of the pumpkin... go figure!
Roman's just checking that Daddy's pumpkin is just as gross as Mommy's.
Our Pumpkins.
Lit up tonight.

Little Steamer's Halloween Celebration in Port Orchard

We went out last night to Port Orchard's Little Steamer's Halloween celebration. They had little miniature trains that took you around a 'haunted' forest. I use the tern haunted loosely since we went at 6pm it was very little kid friendly. Roman laughted at all the 'scary' witches and skeletons. A nice man offered to take our picture as a family, and it acutally turned out pretty good. Roman "agreed" ( I told him if he didn't we could not ride on the halloween train) to wear his much warmer tiger costume (rather than being a chilly pirate).

This is the sort of trains they had going. They had 2 benches attached to the back of the train which we strattled durring the 6-7 minute ride. It was nice and slow and kinda rocky, but we made it.
Daddy and his boys.
Best picture we could get of the two of them. We had to bribe Roman with candy to wear his hood. Griffin is not fond of his fuzzy hood either.

Roman waiting very patiently to get on the halloween train. He was very excited!

The sweetest lion ever!

Mt. Rainer from Tacoma Zoo

Wanted to share this picture of Mt. Rainer we took while we were at the zoo this weekend. It's and amazing sight.

Halloween Sprit

We've been getting in the Halloween spirit around here. As usuall there have been more "tricks" than "treats" and more "devils" than "angels"




















Roman and Griffin are getting in to the Pirate Character.





















Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!

Ummm no, I wanna be a pirate!

About the time that Griffin was born I was already thinking about cool Halloween costume themes for my boys. You know, ketchup and mustard, peas and carrots, sleepy and dopey dwarfs... (I'm a big fan of super cheeeezee)
This year I had a grand plan of a Little Lion and a Little Tiger (jungle cats for those of you who don't see a theme there). So I got a lion costume for Griffin, and a tiger costume for Roman. I was pleased as punch!

So when I showed Roman his tiger costume he replied... "umm.... no, I wanna be a pirate!"

I was speechless. This little darling boy of mine, has an OPINION! When did that happen? Sigh!

My reply: "Well, your gonna be a tiger...and like it"

So yesterday, with the encouragement of a great friend and a great mom, Elise, I got Roman a pirate costume. It's even kinda scary. So no theme. :-( But that's ok.

And next year Griffin I suppose will acquire some sort of opinion. And I'll be subjected to years and years of evil, scary, bloody, gory Halloween costumes that have no theme what so ever. SIGH.

Pictures to follow at a later date.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

My new and improved bedroom.

I finally feel like i have a really beautiful bed room, I just want to share it with you! .... Not share my bedroom with you... just some pictures. ;-)

For those of you who don't already know, my mother is a really beautiful quilter and she made this amazing quilt for me. It's full of rich colors and different patterns. I absolutely love it.

I got new curtains chocolate suede curtains, suede pillows and new candles..

Griffin really likes it too!

Pumpkin Patch

We got to the pumpkin patch this weekend. Roman is pretty into halloween this year, so it's been fun.

Rich and the boys picking out the perfect pumpkin.

Griffin fought to get down on the ground to touch the pumpkins. He was insistant about checking out every little part of the pumkin. It was a very servious investigation.

It wasn't long before big bother came over to claim the very pumpkin that Griffin was playing with.

Roman sat on this pumpkin and requested I take his picture.
Griffin decided he really like this pumpkin.

Rich carrying our pumpkins to the car.
The pumpkin patch was right in the center of a corn feild. We bought some sweet corn to have for dinner. It was yummy!

Afternoon at the park

Monday was the last day mom and dad would be here. We went to a nearby state park and had a picnic lunch and played at the park. It was a great afternoon.

Whale Watching in Anacortes, WA Sept 21

Mom, Dad, Roman and I went whale watching over the weekend. It was great fun!

Port Townstead, WA. We took a ferry from Port Townsted to Keystone, WA. It was a foggy over cast day. The harbor was serene with anchored sail boats.

Island Explorer that took us out on the 6 hour whale watching cruise out of Anacortes, WA

A Sailboat that was behind us.

I was glad we brough the binoculars. There was alot to see

It was a pretty special day for Roman. Rich stayed home with Griffin, so he go all the attention!

He even took a nap!

After we finally go to Orca's Islands we got our first view of an Orca. There were alot of other tour boats around. There were 3 whales traveling together and we watched them for nearly an hour before they took off.

The view was spectacular!

If you look close you can see a rainbow.

On our way back we saw a Minki Whale. I'd never heard of the species before now. It was smaller than the Orcas we saw, and looked completely different. Our guide said it was probably a young whale. A boat of reasearchers was following it and trying to get it tagged.

I googled Minki Whale.

We also saw some harbor porpous, seals, different birds.

It was a great time!

Happy Birthday Griffin!

Happy 1st Birthday Griffin! September 19, 2008



Not too sure at first....




He figured it out pretty quickly.







Mom and I set up a little birthday party. We worked so long and got it just perfect. Dad and Rich wondered if maybe it the birthday party was a little more for us, than Griffin!






HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRIFFIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day In Seattle. Sept 19

My mom and dad are in town for the week. Friday we went over to Seattle.

This is Roman on the Ferry to Seattle.


Griffin insisted on sitting in his own seat. This was after all, his first birthday!


Hoofing it up the hills in the city. And yes, Rich carried Griffin on his back and pushed Roman in the stroller all day!


We took the city bus everywhere. Rich and Griffin waiting for the bus.


Rich did a great job planning out the day with the bus schedule. Can't explain Roman's behavior in this picture. He was really good except this little fit at the beginning of the day.


First Stop, Pike Place Market.










Space Needle. At the foot of the Space Needle there are carnival rides and fun stuff going on. This day was pretty quiet though.


We rode the DUCK. It took us around Seattle and to Lake Union.








Elephant Car Wash. The worlds first electric car wash. Elvis washed his pink Cadillac here!




This is the exterior shot used for the hospital in Grey's Anatomy.


Pier 70. Used as the Real World Seattle House.


Roman was concerned when the DUCK went from the street into the lake. He said "we're going down!"


View of Seattle from Lake Union.


Million Dollar homes on Lake Union built by the co-founder of Microsoft.


Sleepless in Seattle house is in the picture somewhere. Its in the right corner right on the water.


One of the fishing boats they film on "Deadliest Catch"


Griffin slept through most of the tour. YES!!


Griffin was back in action at Red Robin Restaurant at the end of the day.

Blackberries!!

We were taking a walk last week and saw some people in the ditch with buckets lined up along side the road. As we took a closer look, we saw they were picking wild blackberries. We picked a few and ate them durring our walk. They are SO good. After we got home we realized that these wild blackberry bushes are everywhere! Rich took enough berries from a bush near our house to make a pie. I'm not a big fan of fruit pie (i'd rather chocolate pie or pecan pie), but let me tell you that this pie was delicious and even better with vanilla ice cream!!




As we ate our pie and watched the news, we saw a warning to those who were out picking those wild blackberries. Seems as though little black bears really like those berries too! We're keeping an eye out!

Northwest Trek.

Saturday we went to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. We saw lots of animals that are native to the Northwest states. We took an hour long tram ride around the "free roam" area. They have lots of animals roaming free in their habitat.

Grey Wolf. These were not in the free roam area, but in a viewing area. The happened to be pretty close as we walked by.

Stuffed Grey Wolf looking Roman eye to eye.

Elk in Free Roaming area. These animals were HUGE!

Mountain goat very close to the road as we drove past.

Huge Moose eating from this tree.

Buffalo. We saw lots of Buffalo this day. One (not this one) got very very close to our tram. The driver let us know he was likely looking for a girl buffalo since it was breeding season.

Golden Eagle.

We lucked out and got an upfront viewing of feeding time in the bear viewing area. The keepers spread Nutella all around the rocks and trees, then let the bears out to find their snack.

Roman comparing his hands to bear claws.

It was a really fun day seeing lots of amazing animals in their natural habitats.

Buzzes for Everyone!

It was buzz cuts for everyone in the Berg house tonight. Roman got his usual, and as usual he was less than pleased.

Roman "Before"



Roman "After"



This haircut was a little more special for Griffin because it was his first one! It was not easy watching Rich cut off those little baby curls, but look what a handsome little man we ended up with!

Griffin "Before"

Started out with scissors....

Griffin was very good and patient. We gave him his toy tractors to keep him busy.

We transitioned to clippers to get a more even cut. We also had to upgrade the tractor to a Caterpillar Digger to keep Griffin settled.

To buzz the top or leave it????

BUZZ IT!

Griffin "After"



Daddy and his buzzed boys. These will be the haircut these boys will sport until they can voice their opinion otherwise!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROMAN

Roman's Birthday was Friday. He's officially 3 years old now. Rich took the day off work to make Roman's day even more special. Roman got to open a soccer ball from Daddy, first thing in the morning in bed.

THE CAKE!

Last year I made Roman a Train Cake, so keeping with the tradition of the nontraditional cakes, this year I made Roman a Excavator Cake. Even though Rich insisted that it looked just like the picture in the magazine, I was nervous that Roman would just think it was a cool yellow cake. But sure enough, he knew!

The Best Day

We had a full day planned. Rich packed a picnic that we ate at a small state park near our house. This was the favorite part of my day. Eating food I didn't have to make outside with my beautiful boys.

After lunch we headed to the Kitsap County Fair. As we approached the crowd, loud music, fair rides, Roman got very excited and shouted, "Hey, It's my birthday party!" Rich and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and said "Yeah buddy, its your birthday party!" We are shameless!

The fair was great fun. We spent most of our time in the animal barns. Besides seeing the fair regulars like cows, sheep, and pigs; we saw Ox, Emu, Llama and Roman even petted a Zebra (even though he would not pet a single animal in the "petting zoo").

On the way home from the fair, my second favorite part of the day happened. Both the boys feel asleep in the car! They both took nice long naps for the afternoon. Roman and Daddy finished off the big day with a Friday night swim at the YMCA.

Roman had a GREAT birthday. He's a very very lucky boy! Thanks to all our family and friends for the happy birthday cards, calls, and emails. It really made the day special.

We caught some of the day on video and in pictures. These are some more of our favorites!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Recharged!

After sleeping all afternoon at the zoo and most the way home (much much much needed!), Griffa (nickname given by big brother) was very entertaining during dinner. He entertained us by saying "UH-OH" and laughing hysterically. His laughter is so infectious and he already has a great sense of humor.

Point Defiance Zoo Tacoma, WA

It's almost Roman's 3rd Birthday, so in honor of that we went to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, WA this weekend. The weather was very warm which made our little Griffin a bit more grumpy than usual and the animals were hiding most of the day. We did get to see most of the animals and we had an overall good day.

The kids were most impressed by the Aquarium fish and other water mammals.

Griffin was so quiet in the Aquarium. It's like he understood how amazing it was to see sharks up close!

Romans favorite by far was the Walrus. We were all surprised by how huge they were. They swam right up to the glass and did flips and rolls against the glass. Roman kept yelling "He's coming to give me a kiss!" along with ''WOW!" and "Here he comes!"
We took a break mid-day to have a picnic by a duck pond in the park. The park was filled with geese. We found a big shade tree to get a break from the heat. The kids had PB&J's, popcorn and juice boxes.

After lunch we went back to the zoo to see what else we could see. The animals were pretty hot and sleepy, so there wasn't a lot of action. Right before we left we took a ride on the carousel. Roman was thrilled to find a Walrus to ride!

UNDERWEAR!!

Roman has come into a new stage in his little life. He's offically a pre-schooler. Besides knowing his ABC's and 123's he's doing very well in the potty department.

Roman has added a new love to his list of things boys love. UNDERWEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have Thomas the Train, Lighting McQueen, Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Hulk, and Nemo just to name a few. He prefers to go in underwear alone around the house. I even find him quiet often surrounded by his underwear watching TV or playing with is toys.

Roman Now

Roman Now. Never a quiet moment, handsome, stubborn, loves trains, smart as a whip, thinks he is a Lion, knows he is "big, strong, Roman", sneaks in our bed at 5am and he likes to be kissed on the neck. He steels our hearts everyday.

Griffin Now

Griffin Now. Crawling, funny faces, loud voice, says MaMa and DaDa, wants to be just like his big brother, sweet and irresistible. He steels our hearts everyday.

Potty Training and Crawling...OH MY!

Well this week I've really got the true meaning of stay at home mom... it litterally means, STAY AT HOME because you've probably got a baby who is only happy when he's on all fours trying to get his little body in places it shouldn't be, and a potty training (slowly) preschooler and that you are petrified to see his pee trickling down his leg in public... so you STAY HOME! Please just pray for me... that's all I can say!

Lavendar Festival, Squim, WA

We attended the Lavendar Festival in Squim, WA over the weekend. The hour drive from Bremerton to Squim was really beautiful. After we got to the festival we hopped on a bus that took us to a lavendar farm. The lavendar fields were beautiful, not to mention they smelled amazing. There was music, food, and crafts as well. Roman had a blast running free on the farm and he even got a lavendar balloon.

Pike Place Market, Seattle

Pike Place Market was #1 on our list of things to do once we got to Seattle. The day we went the famous famer's market was a zoo!

As you first enter under the Public Market Center Sign the first thing you hear is cheers and you see fish flying at the fish market. I was thrilled to see it. It was more of a "show" than I thought it was going to be. But it was a well orcistrated show and they fish throwers are really funny. I don't know if anyone remembers the Real World Seattle, but there was a girl on the show who fell for a guy that works at this market, well he still works there and I saw him! My first thrill of the day!

OK. Anyway.

Beyond the fish market are lots of fresh fruit and veggie stands. Now, I grew up on a farm so I've seen pleany of fresh produce, but this produce was bigger and more colorful than any I've seen before. We sampled chocolate pasta from a pasta stand, smelled the fresh cut flowers, there were lots of jellies and other canned goods and art vendors as well. Everything was beautiful. Rich bought some local blackberry honey. It's so good! I bought some peppers and garlic that were strung beautifully so you could hang them in your house. The stand I bought them from had them hanging from the ceiling, there were so many so colorful i found myself just standing in front of the store with my mouth gaping open (which is something I try not to do often). A young man with bright green hair came over and explaned what they were and how to use them. He and and other guys who worked at the stand were SO freindly! It pretty much made my day. Hopefully we'll make pleany more trips to Pike Place Market. I loved it there.

Seattle, first impressions.

Well, we made it to Seattle! My first impression? It's beautiful, it's green, it's amazing! The weather in the last month has been heaven. After living with the year-round unforgiving heat in Key West for a year, Seattle area weather has been a relief. It has not rained at all since we've been here, but I hear there's plenty of rain in the fall, winter and spring. We live an hour ferry ride to the west of Seattle in Bremerton. We love our house. I have enjoyed hanging my pictures, putting out my family photos and decorations that I didn't even bother to unpack in my miserable pregnant state in Key West.

Most everyone has heard things about Seattle, whether they've lived here or not. It rains a lot, there's a Starbucks on every corner, there's a space needle, and it rains A LOT! But the best thing about this area that I can tell so far are the people who live here. I was fully prepared for a city mind set, don't look anyone in the eye, only speak when your spoken to and try to look like your not a tourist. I was taken back our first week here, while staying in a hotel. People said "Hi", as they got on the elevator and "see ya later, have a good day" as we exited on our floor. Strangers tell me I have cute kids and the cashiers smile and make conversation, and the Starbucks barista even asked me how my day was so far. Excuse me if I sound shocked, and I know this is how it should be, that strangers smile at each other and even strike up a conversation, but that's just not the world I've been living in for the past few years. And quite frankly when I got to Seattle I expected everyone to be dressed in black with a venti nonfat double-shot espresso on their way to their Pilate's fusion class and the least of their cares would be if I'd had a good day or not. But I love the people of western Washington. There is such a diverse cross section of people, but they pretty much all have one thing in common, they look you in the eye and smile. It's nice!