Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Five little monkeys

Five little monkeys, sitting in the bed....

"Calling all monkeys! We're having a party over here."

It all started last year when my mom brought her monkey of 50+ years up for Christmas. Parker loved him so much that we have kind of started a small collection. JoJo is my Mom's monkey on the left. On the right is his latest monkey that is bigger than him (a present from my Mom).

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve we managed to get through the snow and to the mall to see Santa before he left to deliver all the presents. We really didn't prepare for this. If we had, I would have put him in his plaid tie. He looks pretty cute though. We thought we'd have to be in the picture with him, but they managed to get one where he looks fairly happy and isn't arching his back to get off Santa's lap. We wanted to spend Christmas Eve with Grant's family, but because of the weather, it was called off. We were happy to find that it was 50 cent wing night at "Fire on the Mountain", the best place in Portland for wings, and got lots to go. Yum.

We gave Parker just one present.
He climbed over it at least 10 times.

And after Grant ripped the corner of the paper, off he went. There were little scraps and then bigger pieces.
Then he kissed the picture of the kid on the box. He won't kiss me, but he'll kiss his box!
Here it is all set up. A space train set.
We rearranged the furniture in our living room so that the tree is completely blocked off from Parker. The only way of getting to it is to climb on the couch. Grant was sitting there watching over him.

Parker loves when Grant brings out his trombone. I do too. You know, I met Grant in 7th grade band class. If he had not played a musical instrument, maybe we would have never really crossed paths.

Good Christmas. I was bummed that the snow kept my mom from getting up here to celebrate with us, but we met her the following day to exchange gifts. I will post a picture in the next couple days with some of his favorite gifts.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Trying to make the best of it

While Parker napped, Grant and I went outside to make snowmen. Well, the snow was covered with an inch and 1/2 sheet of ice, so we explored a bit and came insdie.

Our front steps were completely covered.
A little pose that shows off my 2 pairs of pants, shirt, 2 coats, gloves, scarf, and hat. Makes a person look heavier than they really are! :(
The sheet of ice that breaks right off the top layer of snow.
Sun bathing on our deck. This was yesterday.
Today the seat of the lounger is completely covered with snow.
This man, that would like to remain anonymous, ran across our deck in his underwear at 12:30 at night! That is one crazy guy! Notice the black bar across his face to hide his identity.Grant built a mini igloo dome on our stairs.

Once you get through the ice layer, it's all powder.
Taking a break.
Our tree out front all frozen. The lights on it are coated in ice too. We just planted a bunch of new plants this summer. I hope they recover after all of this.
Tree popsicle. Yum!
The mound of snow where are steps once were.
I love the wall of snow you see from inside the garage.
Our sweet little house in the snow.

I started out our day by making breakfast. This was Parker's first taste of pancakes... and he is a fan-- whole wheat of course.


Here are a couple of videos--me giving a tour of the ice and snow out front and Grant's attempt to sled using the lid of a plastic bin.

There are these fun and memorable moments in the snow and I'm happy to have time at home with my boys, but there are several negatives.

1) I feel completely stuck inside. We went out the day before yesterday and almost couldn't get back in the driveway. I was sliding all around and the snow had accumulated so much that I was stuck. I thought I was going to hit the jetta or Grant, but finally made it back in the garage safe and sound. I haven't gone out since.

2) We usually eat out a lot. Now we have to cook. You would think with all this time in the house, I would be able to spend a lot of time cleaning and it would be spic and span. Well, I think it is because we are home that it is a bigger mess. Toys strewn about. More dishes in the sink. I'll catch up eventually!

3) There is no good TV on. All the lower channels have special "Arctic Blast 2008" coverage. I'm sick of it!

4) I NEED to go shopping!

5) Maybe it is just the holiday season, but I think there is something to being inside when it is all snowy that just makes me want to eat bad stuff and drink hot chocolate. The cravings are horrible. I keep reading on Facebook all my friends comment about making cookies and treats and it is driving me nuts. (If you are not on Facebook yet, get an account and add me as a friend!)

I'm hoping that it is less of a white Christmas than it is right now. I want to get together with family for the holidays and not be stuck here. Grant and I have had fun playing board games-- our favorite right now is Trivial Pursuit- the 90's. Grant is making it in to work in the snow. He walks a couple blocks up to the bus stop. He just called me to say that the Mayor of Portland closed down all the city offices and sent everyone home with a full days pay. Yeah!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Snow days



I can't remember a time when we have had so many days of snow in a row. I have had the whole week off of school. I worry that we'll have to make it up in June, but we'll probably add minutes onto the school day to make up the time. I have sure enjoyed this extra time off with Parker though. Makes me want to be a stay at home mom more than ever. I mean, just look at this cute boy-- who wouldn't want to be with him all day instead of 32 5th graders! I have used this extra time off to do Christmas cards, buy and wrap presents, catch up on emails, play with Parker, clean, run lots of errands, and sleep in. It's been great. Well, except for the following.....


Yesterday Parker was walking around the living room and tripped and fell mouth first into the brick fireplace. His upper and bottom lip had gouges in them, his chin has a scrape, and he chipped off part of his upper front tooth. He was crying hard for a few minutes and there was a little blood. I called Grant at work almost in tears, gave him Tylenol, then called Kaiser. We got in for an emergency dental appointment. The tooth is not broken up to the nerve and the Dr. didn't think that he would lose it. I am so upset that my cute boy is not going to be as cute with this broken tooth. I'll try to get a picture of the actual tooth. Everyone tells me that this is just the start of many injuries to come. Noooo! :( Is this what my parents went through with our injuries? Stitches, sprains, several broken bones, surgery. My mom used to say that the Albany hospital should have named an exam room in the emergency room after us. Hopefully, Parker won't be quite as accident prone as his mom. Grant never broke a bone until 4 years ago when he decided to go for a walk in the ice storm and fell and broke his ankle, which required surgery. I told him not to go! He has to walk a few blocks in the snow to the bus stop... makes me a little nervous, but so far so good.

I love looking out the window and seeing the white snow. It makes everything look so clean and pretty.

Why it is so hard to vacuum


Parker loves vacuums. His cousin, Finn, also had an obsession with vacuums. Parker chases me all around the house. He'll put his face up to the light on the vacuum. He gets right in front of it making it very hard to clean. He loves the broom too. Frustrating, but cute!

Monday, December 15, 2008

SNOW DAY!



This is our second day all snowed in. Yesterday we stayed in all day (even church was canceled). Today we ventured out a bit after layering up-- all the Portland area schools were closed. :) I hoped Parker would crawl around in the snow, taste it, and have fun, but he didn't like the cold so much. Maybe next year.


Grant broke off a small icicle for Parker and I to suck on. It was a beautiful day today--
cold and windy though.We made it to our favorite Thai restaurant for lunch and to the grocery store.

Last week Parker and I bought new argyle sweaters.


My funny boys.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Christmas pictures

I love this little boy so much!

Our little book worm.