my little vampire

Sadie's new fang teeth...This photo was taken in the morning....




This photo was taken at night....

JUST KIDDING:)

my trip to the coast

We stopped first at this sturgeon farm/hatchery on our way to Salem.
I have never seen such large fish. They were 7 feet long sturgeon. It was kinda scary because they were so massive. I have a fear of swimming in lakes for this exact reason. I do not want to be wading and splashing around then all of a sudden, a freakishly huge water beast swims up by me and brushes my leg....but I digress...

This sturgeon farm is nestled in a lovely spot in the columbia gorge. I thought the "egg incubation" building was kinda funny...

We arrived in Salem, rather late, due to a much anticipated trip to the Portland IKEA! Can I get a WHAT, WHAT?! It was a virtual mad house maze...people were everywhere and packed in there. It was so fun to look, but also a little stressful b/c we had all the kids and I really wanted to SHOP!

The hotel was great...the first night was kind of rough. Sadie and Reese basically cried all night.

We were greeted the next morning (Thurs.) to a completely flat tire...Michael had to change it in all his nice clothes. He did it really fast and we took him to his meetings.

Then me and the kids headed to the Children's Discovery Village (http://www.acgilbert.org/). Oh, my goodness...this was SO MUCH FUN! It was such a great place! The kids were able to touch and play with all the exhibits and it is also very educational.

Reese LOVED this "spider web". He tried so hard to climb it and he had a blast!

Friday we headed to the coast...

We ended up finding a camping spot in Nehalem Bay S.P. I would go there again. It was so beautiful. I cant tell you enough how much I love the coastal scene with the mountains, the grassy sand dunes, and all the green trees.

All the kids slept really well in the tent. I think they were all just exhausted at this point.

We got up the next morning and continued up the 101 and stopped at a few lookout points

And finally stopped at Cannon Beach. We are big fans of the movie Goonies, and I have always loved this beach. It was a little colder and windier here, so we didn't get to stay as long as we wanted.

We went to Ikea again on our way back over to the east side and I bought a few more things that I love!

Then the drive home was tense at times. Sadie screamed for a long time on several occasions. We kept having to pull over and calm her down. I think she was just sick of being in her seat + she had a bit of a cold.

It was a great trip and I always am up for a trip to the coast. I love going there. It makes me feel happy!!! It is so breathtakingly beautiful.

Sorry this is so long!

BE BACK SOON:)

my brothers dancing

Please check out my (RM) brother dancing....

http://newsfromthebitterroot.blogspot.com/2007/09/johnnys-moves.html

MY PERFECT STORM

I have a few comments to make regarding my children.

1. Sadie is drawn to the bathroom. This is her favorite place to spend time. She continually tries to crawl in full circle AROUND the ENTIRE toilet...thereby wedging herself in between the toilet and bathtub...She prefers to eat toilet paper than my well prepared meals. And her most favorite activity in this room is to pull herself up to standing position using the lid of the toilet. She then proceeds to try to play in the toilet water...

(As I am writing this, my stomach is churning in disgust....)

Now, I do try to keep the door closed. However, with 2 other children using the toilet, the door is sometimes left ajar....

2. Reese is still "potty training". He is doing really good...except he has gone ALMOST everyday with an "accident"... occasionally these accidents are not just potty, but poop as well.

Here is where my story begins:

I was washing the dishes after our lovely dinner of kelbasa, corn on the cob, and rice...when I looked up to see a slightly distressed look on Reese's face. He was outside playing on the back patio. His stance was askew, his legs a little further spread than normal. I knew it was coming...

He had gone the whole day w/o an "accident", but the day was not over yet.

I ran to him, only to be met with a frowny face of disappointed and fear.

The deed had already been done...The mess, shall we say, was already in his pants.

I was distressed at this moment...I have had enough of washing poopy underwear in the toilet, while the toilet water splashes on my hands. I was tired of scrubbing spots in the carpet.

But, I DID compose myself and rushed him to the bathroom calmly explaining for the 800th time about where poop goes....

He has poop on his bum and on his leg and even some on his hand, (it was unavoidable as I slid his underwear down).

The first thing I do (after i take the soiled britches off) is to throw them in the toilet to, yet again, wash then out.

Ugghh....I needed to go and get the wipes to clean him off so I could give him another bath. (I do not like the idea of poop in the bathtub) So I tell Reese to stay there and not to move. He nods his head, but this does not necessarily mean that he will comply...

As I run back to the bathroom, wipes in hand, Sadie had slipped past me and was already standing up, holding onto the toilet seat, Reese, had his hand on the flusher, and pushed firmly down without any hesitation. I ran in, grabbed the poopy underwear out of the toilet, and threw them in the bathtub. (I did not want a clogged toilet to deal with)

This is what I like to refer to as my perfect storm.

This is when I began to get frantic....I grab Sadie and took her out to the Liv. Room, I need to get Reese cleaned up first..

But Sadie is relentless, she returns seconds later, full speed charge into the bathroom. AGAIN, I grab her and put her out in the Liv. room and THEN close the bathroom door....moments later I hear her at the door, growling at my defensive move.

But she will have to wait...

I turn to look at Reese, feeling slightly relieved that I can now get down to the (dirty) business of cleaning him...but....

he decided that he wanted to "help" me by cleaning out his own underwear in the toilet.

This is when I let out a loud cry!

I ended up wiping Reese down, washing his hands with soapy water.... and THEN throwing him into a bubble bath....with his sisters...

After the bath, I poured COMET over the entire bathroom and CLEANED! (until the next time)

my little girl

Audrey started her preschool today. She looks so grown up:(

Where is the time going??

my new alarm clock

This is the scene from over our fence from the backyard. This is one of the reasons that I love my house, there isn't another house directly behind us, looking down on us. It makes me feel like we have some privacy and it makes me feel like we are out of the hustle and bustle "city".

That being said, literally, at 4:30-5:00 A.M. we hear the cock crow! Our back neighbors have chickens, a rooster or two, and horses. It is so funny because I feel like I am on a farm. I do love the scene. It is so tranquil.

I could probably throw my alarm clock away and just go by the rooster. I think it is great tho. It isn't so loud...but loud enough that it makes me laugh. I enjoy feeling rustic and I hope that the bliss of my home never wears off!