Coughs and Shiners

Well, the update for the week includes the fact the the kids and I had a hideous cold over the week. Illness is one of the times that I realize how much children have changed my life. B.C. (before children), when I was sick I would drug myself heavily and then sleep for two days. When I woke up I felt great, and went on with life. A.C. involves grouchy children and grouchy mom (with no drugs on board) on minimal sleep trying to make time pass. This seems to make a cold linger about a thousand times longer than normal. And as for the people who say that you just have to wash your hands and you won't get sick; they have obviously never had a sick toddler with rivers of snot coming out their nose and hasn't learned how to sneeze into their arm yet. Yech! I read an article on the flu that said it only takes three viral particles to infect a person. There are definitely three viral particles in one toddler sneeze!

Cora also received her first black eye. We're not surprised that she beat Emmett to that honor. According to what we can piece together a trap-door spider (hmm.. wonder who that was)trapped her and she fell into the corner of the end table. OUCH! Even the emergency bag of lima beans from the freeze didn't keep the cheek from puffing up to twice it's normal size. Added to the HUGE mosquito bite on the forehead she looks a bit worse for wear this week. It was almost worth a photo-op except we don't need any more evidence against us when child protective services comes.

Tagged !

Emmett - five years ago.

Yeah ! My first blog tag is from Erin- mind you I had to google "blog tag" to figure out what I was supposed to do. (:

10 Years Ago....
I was getting ready to do the scariest... and best thing I have ever done. I had graduated from University of Alaska Fairbanks and was working a summer job at a Fine Arts Camp for teens. I was also living in a cabin without running water with my friend Amy. I finished my job and packed up everything and moved to a place I picked out but had only seen once - for one afternoon. Fort Collins, Colorado. Where I literally did not know a single soul in the entire state. It certainly made for an interesting first year - but what a wonderful place to live with such wonderful people.

5 Years Ago....
I was a new mom to a 6 month old boy, Emmett. What a wonderful, exciting change to my life. If only I had realized how short the time that they are babies. Because of that, I try to remind myself on the bad days (what!? not my kids!) that this time goes so fast and to treasure every moment. We were also moving into our first house.

5 Months Ago....
I was spending WAY too much time reading through seed catalogs, learning how to make yogurt and beer, and getting too used to maternity leave.

5 Things On My To-do List....
-Weed, weed, weed
-Go grocery shopping
-Find a shirt that fits, oh yeah is also cheap, cute and comes in different colors so I can just buy 7 and be done with my clothing shopping for the year
-Pack for Yellowstone trip
-Go to the library

5 Snacks I Enjoy....
-Strawberries from the garden
-Veggies and dip
-Hummus and pita chips
-Any baked good that is high in carbs
-Dried fruit

5 Things I Would Do If I Had A Billion Dollars....
-Pay everything off
-Expand my dining nook
-College funds for my kids/nieces/nephews
-Travel
-Start a program that would provide free parenting/childbirth classes, especially to in-need parents

5 Of My Bad Habits....
-I have a very short pause length so if someone even takes a breath, I think they're done with their sentence
-I think I'm always right
-I'm addicted to google
-I love to play devil's advocate in a conversation
-Worrying about things that I have no control over

5 Places I have Lived....
-Trapper Creek, AK
-Fairbanks, AK
-Rochester, MN
-Fort Collins, CO
-That's it...

5 Jobs I Have Had....
-Pharmacy Tech
-Lab Tech doing paternity testing on ground squirrels
-Purchaser of Native American art for museum store
-Medical Biller
-Resident Assistant for Upward Bound

5 Things Most People Don't Know About Me...
-I have majors in biology and chemistry and a minor in art
-I know how to spin wool and weave
-I used to foster orphaned litters of kittens for a shelter
-I didn't learn how to swim until I was 17
-I can touch my nose with my tongue

Whew!! All done!!
Karen, if you're reading this I tag you next (in your spare time!)

New Teeth !!

Thatcher's two bottom front teeth came in today. Yeah !! We should have a couple grouch-free weeks before the next ones come in. It's always so funny when they smile with their new teeth - like a chubby chipmunk. (:

In other news, the birds have learned to walk around on top of the nets to press it against the strawberries. They can then eat the berries at their leisure. This activity has it's consequences as I had to don gloves and cut one out of my net this morning. I must construct some sort of frame next. After talking to my friend Amy (who knows ALOT about birds) and consulting my Colorado Birds book - I've decided it is some kind of Thrush. (Yes - I know - very accurate...) Maybe a Song Thrush or Swainson's Thrush.

Food Testing

Dining with small children can be many things: messy, loud, rushed, slow, but more often than not, entertaining.
Last night Rebecca and I were trying to figure out which ingredient in the Beans and Greens Salad was the source of the bitterness. Emmett, always the Empiricist, proceeded to taste each ingredient separately. Beans, nope. Olives, nope. Wilted greens, BLECH!!!! Yup. That's the one... We wish we had video of that one :)

A Few Things

Some things about Emmett at 5 1/2 -

He is obsessed with all things super-hero. Much to my dismay, he dearly wishes I would change his name to Superman or Spiderman. This has caused large quantities of conflict anytime he has to wear a nametag or introduce himself.

He loves to pretend he is a insect. His favorite is to lay under a blanket and be a trap-door spider. He spends HOURS memorizing facts about various insects. A few I heard this week - only male crickets chirp, wasps don't have venom sacks like bees, baby spiders are spiderlings and ladybugs molt five times. Who knew?

His favorite word right now is "sick". Usually applied to any green thing that I cook, oh and anything with breastmilk in it!

A few things about Cora at 3 1/2 -

She also wishes for a name change. Only she hopes for Cinderella or Gisele or her own made-up princess name "Dooraleenee" (spelled phonetically of course).

She moonlights as a gecko. Cora is the only child I know who can shimmy up counters, windowsills, anything really using just her sticky little fingers and toes. Her upper-body strength is just amazing. Dan constantly fantasizes that she will be a rock-climber someday.

Instead of being a pack-rat, she is a pack-cat/dog. She gets major entertainment out of carrying the cats and Widget under the arms Olivia-style. A large part of her day consists transporting them from one end of the house to the other. Cora can now repeat after me "If the animal wiggles or squawks I need to put them down or I may get scratched".

Thatcher at 7 months -

The amount of food he can consume in one setting is amazing. There is something disturbing about a 7 month old that can eat 1 whole banana + 4 oz of breast milk + 1/4 cup of cereal in one sitting.

He loves to stick out his tongue as a way to say hi. He uses his tongue to show all forms of happiness. In fact it is outside of his mouth much of the time.

Thatcher would rather play with a stick than any other toy in the world. We have proven this by sitting him on a blanket in the yard with about 2 dozen toys in front of him. He will proceed to ignore the toys and spend 30 minutes working his way off of the blanket to reach a tiny stick and shove it in his mouth.

6 Year Anniversary

Today is our six year wedding anniversary!!

Father's Day 2008

Well, first we got up at the crack of dawn (7:00 AM at out house), so Emmett and I could run in the second of the Healthy Kids Runs. This time Emmett heeded my words about a slower start. He had tons of energy by the end and even kept telling me "Come on Mom. Keep running. You can do it." What a great running partner - and just my speed! Then on to some rootbeer floats in Old Town(at 9 AM!).

Then we played at Library Park for awhile and snapped a couple of cute pictures while we were there. It is ridiculously hard to get three kids to all look at you and smile at the same time!

Then Dan picked the activity of the day which was a bike ride. Unfortunately, Thatcher was not too hot on the Burley so Dan and Emmett finished out the ride while Cora, Thatcher and I lounged by the kiddie pool. Then a picnic lunch in the backyard followed by a nice nap.

Here's to Dan, one of the very best dads I've ever met and an absolutely wonderful husband.

Strawberries

We had our first "harvest" of strawberries tonight. A whopping 11 berries !! Of course this is a far greater harvest than the birds intended for us, but we wised up and covered the patch with netting.

More flowers

Forget-Me-Not (Alaska's State Flower)


Red Columbine


Grape Scented Iris

White Bleeding Heart

Geranium

White Single Peony

I love this time of year. Warm enough that everything is blooming but before July's brutal heat turns my plants into brown withered sticks.

Nipples

As I picking up toys to vacuum today I overheard an interesting snippet of Emmett and Cora's conversation. "My nipples are just useless", says Emmett. What?! "Well, Cora's nipples are useful because she'll make milk someday, but mine and Daddy's are useless because we are boys." This conversation was spurred by Cora "nursing" her baby hippo. (No nursing her baby doll; only species-blind nursing for Cora.)

Thatcher's 6 Month Appointment

Well, the official weight is in - 19 lbs and 9 oz. I must admit, after lugging my little chunk around I was thinking he was in the 20-21 pound range but I guess I am just a wimp! But thank goodness that means the car seat will hold out for another pound and a half. And he weighs more than Emmett and Cora did at their one year appointments (19 and 18 pounds respectively). He is now in the 75th percentile for weight and leveling off, while his height at 28 inches is still in the 90th percentile. How on earth did that happen?

So what is a baby pickle?

At dinner last night, Emmett and Cora decided that if a baby pig is a piglet, then a baby pickle must be a picklet! The discovery made for much amusement at the dinner table. I am constantly amazed at the leaps of knowledge that a 5 and 3 year old can make.

Thatcher continues to enjoy his solid food. Well, most of it, actually. He does love yams, carrots, and applesauce (as long as the consistency is just right). Peas are not on his list of favorites, though.

Chicken Part 2

Well, with his interview by Channel 4, that brings the total to two TV spots, and 3 paper articles. Wow !! I'm married to a star! I should take the hens some "thank you" tomato soup. (:

Haircuts and Chickens

Today was haircut day at our favorite place - Cool Cuts. I would say favorite and overpriced, but they just e-mailed me a coupon for $3.00 off of each haircut - so I herded the sheep in for their summer shearing. An organized mom would have staged cute before and after pics - but I am not an organized mom.

In other news - and I mean that literally, Dan was mentioned in a Denver Post article today. He was also interviewed by Denver 7 News. Who would imagine few chickens would ruffle so many feathers? Hehe... Yeah Dan!

Flowers

The weather has been wonderful, and my flowers are starting to look great. My favorite, irises, are blooming. Their only downfall is that their show, despite being glorious, is brief. So I must enjoy them while they last.




And a picture of Thatcher just because we got some good ones a couple of days ago.