Please participate in my survey

I'm here to pick the brains of those I love and like. Just consider it research for flavor combinations. Just comment and tell me what sounds best to you in terms of a cake:

1. Coconut and lime
2. Chocolate and coconut
3. Chocolate and orange
4. Chocolate and raspberry
5. Coconut and mango

Truly, I'm leaning towards coconut and lime right now. It's really a favorite of mine.Any other thoughts, please share!

Growing up!

There's just too much going on around here. James has been sitting up pretty well by himself for about a week now and I am just now getting pictures of it. It's nice of him - he will now entertain himself long enough for me to at least unload the dishwasher - or blog a bit. The crawling will come eventually. With scooting and rolling, he's already all over the place anyway. It's all downhill from here. But we're loving it, and we're loving the sunshine!

Julia the Fabulous

She was my mother's day gift from my mom. She's been with me for a week now and she's still alive and actually blooming! After a question of too much/too little water, I think she might survive. And now I want more!
Introducing the Julia Child rose - it's "butter" yellow and smells oh-so-wonderful. How appropriate, eh?
Here's my first bloom. I'm quite proud of it.

Laurel's Preschool "Graduation"

Yesterday was Laurel's "graduation" from preschool. Just a little party with all the kids and parents at the park. She had to wear a pretty dress because she knew her best friend Claire was going to be wearing a dress - Claire always wears dresses, never pants.

A big hug for Laurel from Will. I am so glad I caught this one. I just love it!
Their teacher had the classes come up on stage and then she would read off their names. Laurel kept pointing to herself because she hadn't heard her name called.
And finally, she heard it! Sorry about the red/white eyes. Still playing around with the new camera.
All in all, a fun day. She'll be taking a sabbatical next year while we figure out kindergarten for her. I'm looking into the schools in Seattle, even the private ones that offer financial aid. Aaron and I have discussed it and don't really think I've got what it takes to homeschool, so I'm going for the next best thing - super involved Mom! Seattle has some great private schools (and public), so we'll start exploring our options this summer. Some of them you have to start applying for in September for the next September. Crazy!

Just to confuse everyone

I'm choosing to moderate the comments. Nothing personal. Just being a control freak here. So if you leave a comment, I get a little love note and I come and read it and decide if I want it posted. That's all. Seriously sounds more controlling once I describe it, but there it is.
Please don't let that scare anyone away from commenting. I love them!

It's Raining . . . .

I don't know what we'd do without Aunt Annette. Laurel loves her raincoat and umbrella. She's just practicing for Seattle.

She said she was going out to check on her flower seeds we'd just planted, but I know the truth. She just wanted an excuse to put on her raincoat and get her umbrella out.
This reminds me of when I was a kid in Coos Bay. I remember a friend and I made up some dance routine with our umbrellas. Crazy, but hey, every kid had one down there!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to all! Just thought I'd pay tribute to my baby brother (who's not a baby anymore by the looks of these photos!) who is currently serving in the Marine Corps somewhere in Afghanistan. I tried and tried to get ahold of pictures of all the men in my life who have served in the Armed Forces, but it just wasn't happening. So, Aaron (USAF), Dad (USCG), Ehren (USCG), Erich (USMC), Grandad (USMC), Grandpa Pofahl (USMC) and Grandpa Budke (USMC), you have not been slighted. I just didn't have pictures of all of you.

Iwo Jima at Sunset

These next ones are Robby in Afghanistan - this is what happens when a bunch of snipers get bored - hey, at least no one gets hurt this way!

Seriously - can you imagine what it will be like to date a daughter of his? Talk about intimidating. I can just picture it now, some kid asking Robby what he did in the service. That boy will have heart failure when he hears Robby say "scout sniper." Robby's girls will always be safe!

Love you Rob! We're so proud of you and we miss you - not as much as Corey does, but pretty close. Stay safe.

Semper Fi!

Funny comic - had to share

Bright Sunshiny Day

Last week we had some gorgeous weather. Grown ups might go sunbathing or the like. We went out to blow bubbles. Will is getting very good at his bubble blowing. He would blow the bubbles and Laurel would "attack" - no kidding - she would yell "Attack, attack!" as she chased them down. Interesting.

I know I'm biased, but I just think this girl is so pretty. It was a good day in the sunshine.

Happy Mother's Day - the next day!

I was searching around for a picture of my mom and I. Wouldn't you know I can't find a recent one? For the love, Mom, we need to get in front of the camera together! This one is six years old!

Can I just say this lady is awesome? Saturday, in preparation for Sunday's dinner, I headed over with three kids and three chickens in tow. Mom was going to teach me how to cut up a chicken for fried chicken. See, the education continues. Seriously, I've learned so much from this woman - she's just the greatest mom. We're not the same - I've always been a bit messier than she is. Okay, more than a bit. But I love that we have so many of the same interests. I love that she loves my crazy kids. I love that I can talk to her on the phone a billion times a day and still have something to tell her the next day. I love that she cleaned my kitchen for me last week when I didn't feel well. I just love that I can count on her.

Love you Mom - I'm sure going to miss you when we move! Good thing it's only Seattle.

And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'

I didn't mention this with my last post but I'm in the middle of a raging sinus infection. I sound like a frog, I'm coughing, sneezing, constantly blowing my nose (yes, isn't this fun to read!), my eyes hurt, my head hurts and I still have three kids. Bless his heart, Aaron has been trying to help. Wednesday, he came home as soon as he could to entertain Laurel and Will. Yesterday, he did the same. I went down for a nap with James and he took them to the park. Now, when I take them to the park, I always make them wear tennis shoes instead of flip flops. Too hard to run in flip flops. Aaron did not know this and let Laurel wear hers. Well, she slipped out of them on a wooden bridge at the play area and got a MONSTER sliver in her foot. Bled like a little stuck pig he said. He brought them home and cleaned it up, but he was worried that it was too deep and too big and it might break off. I call the doctor and they suggested an urgent care. My awesome upstairs neighbor was willing to watch Will for us, so just the four of us went. They cleaned it up again, but the doc took one look and said we should go to the ER. Oh joy. Because if they have to go digging, they'll want to sedate her.
So, I call my mom and she comes for Will. I pack our stuff and off to the ER we go.
I refuse to give the play-by-play because I have no desire to relive it. Let me just say 4.5 hours later we were headed to my parents house to get William.
No, I will give some details. Because next time, we'd just wait. I was just worried about an infection or something. We spent more time sitting in our room (no TV, only one chair) waiting for something - the nurse, the PA, the X-ray tech (yes, the actually took an x-ray), the PA again, the doctor. Once the doctor looked at it and determined to do some digging and said they would just give her a shot to anesthetize her foot, the fun started. First, a new nurse comes in (15 minutes later) to give her a syringe of Tylenol with codeine. I tried to tell her that there is no way she would be able to get Laurel to take it. But I'm the mom - I don't know anything. I even asked her if it tasted bad and she said "You know, I don't know." Great. Thanks for that. She tried holding Laurel's mouth open (gee, cuz I've never done that). All she did was spit it out, all in her hair and all over her pajamas. So her hair and skin and jammies are all sticky.
Then comes the shots. That was the worst part. We survived it and the doctor went looking. He didn't find much - said we must have been seeing just blood in the track where the shard of wood went in and then came back out. I'm glad, in a way, that we went. But I would have rather just waited and taken her in to see her regular doctor today. I'll do that next time. I hate waiting around in the ER.
Here's Laurel with her bandaged foot. We're babying her a bit today - but she went through a lot last night! Oh, and her new toy is the syringe that the nurse used to squirt warm water on her foot while washing it off last night.

In other news, James had his six month check-up and he's a moose! 18 pounds, 2 ounces! Yay little growing man.

Drama Drama Drama

Well, one thing I'll say for being married to Aaron - it's always interesting.

Take this morning. Just taking him to school at CBC. Aaron's driving. Moving into the left turn lane (at this time of day, there are always a lot of people going to the school). Some idiot (and yes, after this morning, I can make that judgement call) crosses from the far right lane of traffic to cut us off. Aaron had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting his hot little Acura. Aaron honked at him. Then they exchanged greetings. Then this kid gets out of his car - in the middle of the street, although we did have a red light - and walks up with his arms out (in that "let's throw down" attitude) and asks if Aaron has a problem. Aaron told him that, yeah, he did. Here's where he (the kid) became a complete idiot. He punched Aaron in the face - right side, on the jawline. Then he runs like a pansy back to his car and goes into the CBC parking lot. We followed him, called the police while we were following him. They sent an officer to talk to us and sent another to nab him (he left the school and got on the freeway).

And guess what? My upstanding citizen husband files the report with the officer and this kid, instead of going to school today, gets to go to jail. For those that know Aaron, this is a big deal. He deals with a lot of anger and I know he was working very hard to control himself. In the end, it was the best outcome. Rather than getting arrested himself, he gets the pleasure of knowing his assailant is being charged with assault - it might leave a bruise! The officer even took pictures of his face.

And now for my commentary - COME ON! How can you be so stupid? Raging testosterone? You walk up to a guy, who is sitting in his car, a guy you cut off and you punch him. In front of his wife and three kids? Seriously? That's a good idea? Because you know the police love to nail punk kids like this. The officer even said that - Let's make an example of this one today. Here you have Aaron, clean cut, intelligent looking, married with kids in the car who gets punched by some long-haired, pants hanging off him punk kid. My apologies to my siblings who don't have clothes that fit, or have long hair. But you have to admit that it labels you.

Exciting morning. At least we know justice has been served - and it's tasty!

Six Months

Six months ago, I started having contractions, but got ready for church anyway. Six months ago, I came home early from church so I could rest. Six months ago, I started cooking some stew and rolls, because I said I was going to do that when I was in labor. Six months ago, I went for a short walk to the park with Aaron, Laurel and Will. I called the midwife from the park. She was on her way. Six months ago, I went home and baked some gingerbread, because that was also on my list. Six months ago, my parents arrived to take Laurel and Will for the night. Six months ago, my midwife arrived, checked me and announced I was at an 8.5! 2 hours later, I had my baby James in my arms. And I got to hold him and hold him and hold him. And then I got to eat yummy stew, rolls and gingerbread.

I love this little blue-eyed boy of mine. He looks so much like his sister, but has his own little personality. He is the smiliest, happiest baby I ever saw.

I Should Be Worried, Right?

Mr. James is trying to start crawling. I'm so not ready for this. It's funny, because there is a girl at church whose baby was born about 10 days before James was. She's been outpacing him at everything - she's bigger, taller, cut two teeth already, is sitting up and eating piles of solid foods. James is no slouch, but it's tough to talk to his mom, who is a VERY good friend. Well, now I've got something to brag about!


I love how hard he is concentrating in this photo. He really wants to start motoring around.

Oh boy! Exciting times ahead for me!