foraging

As soon as I start making dinner, Natalie wants to eat, NOW.

I can try to start dinner earlier, but its not the time that matters. Her hunger is signaled by the sound of me working in the kitchen.

A few nights ago she was rustling around in the pantry closet as I was making dinner, and I heard the "whoosh" of something being poured onto the ground.

It really is too bad you can't hear the "mmm" noises she was making or get the affect of how proud she seemed to be about feeding herself.

Since the picture also showed her usually scraggly-hairdo, (please, grow hair!) and adds to her poor neglected child look, I thought I would put in another photo that shows her cute little pigtails she wears sometimes.

It involves a wrestling hold and a lot of jelly beans bribes though, so it's not an every day occurance.

the boy who lived

Look who has come to visit us now.

Harry Potter has been here for the past three days.

Don't worry if you forget to call him "Harry." He'll remind you.

At first I didn't realize what he was doing as he was waving a pencil at things at yelling, "NINTENDO!" ("flipendo," for you muggles)

Then he starting sneaking around looking for lotions (potion) to drink.

That was about when he came and introduced himself to me.

Now he has put together his whole ensemble and I don't think Ian will be back for a while.

Harry is very well mannered though, as well as entertaining, so I told him he can visit as long as he wants.

geeks unite!

This collage was inserted only for attention getting-purposes. Kimi is not a geek. :)

Did you know that it is GEEK PRIDE DAY today?

I feel like asserting some of my rights as a geek.

I didn't make these up, but you would think so from how well they apply to me.

Rights:

1. The right to be even geekier.
2. The right to not leave your house.
3. The right to not like football or any other sport.
4. The right to associate with other nerds.
5. The right to have few friends (or none at all).
6. The right to have as many geeky friends as you want.
7. The right to be out of style.
8. The right to be overweight and near-sighted.
9. The right to show off your geekiness.
10. The right to take over the world.

HAPPY GEEK PRIDE DAY!

a knockout

Remember the night I attacked the stair railing, and it won?

I went back for round two, and round three, and round four and ended up with this:
Much better. I must say. Perhaps "knockout" is a little too strong of an adjective, but I didn't have time to think of a wittier post title.

After I had battled with it some more after that first night, Scott decided it was time to take it outside.

Really outside.
The sight of the banister missing was kind of weird.

I actually liked it, but then envisioned little Natalie plunging over the side to the bottom.

I decided having it gone wouldn't be prudent.
I told Kimi to blame Ian in the picture.

It came pretty naturally.
So anyways, we coated it with an orange paint stripper that was supposed to be safe to use.

Look how it all bubbled and peeled.

Problem was it didn't take it all off, so I had to take another trip back to Walmart.

This time I came home with a paint stripper that wasn't safe.

The paint fell off.
That had taken all day so we had to put the stripped banister back up for safety and wait a few more weeks for another nice Saturday.

This last weekend we had some nice weather again so out came the banister and out came the spray paint.
I love spray paint.

It makes me feel like some kind of graffiti-spraying rebel no matter what I'm painting.

And Viola! We have this in the end:

dinner and a show

One thing I love about dinner with children is that it is never dull.

Natalie is learning to feed herself, and has begun to refuse help.

This is okay with me because I enjoy eating my dinner while its warm.

She is doing better now, but a few weeks ago she was having a little trouble finding her mouth.

Ian's new crash landing spot has become the dinner table.

I was taking Natalie's picture when Scott told me to look at Ian.

This was the first time, and now it is repeating quite frequently.

The other night people were asking for things at the table and he asked for a pillow.
I also wonder if anyone else has noticed the strange phenomenon of the toddler being drawn to anyone who is sleeping.

(A few days ago Ian fell asleep in a snug little corner, next to a basket of blankets, in the basement, and Natalie went straight to him when she got up from her nap.)

We moved Ian from the dinner table to the couch and Natalie (after she was cleaned up) went straight over to poke him.

I, of course, didn't protect my vulnerable child.

I took pictures.

Ten

Today marks ten years since the beginning of this family.

I'm glad I found someone who loves me through the good and bad, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and through thick and thin (literally).

I can't wait to see what the next ten years will hold.

GOAL!

Soccer has been going about as predicted. Cali's team has scored one goal so far, the other teams have scored. . . more than that against them. But the most important thing is they all seem to be having a lot of fun. Even when it is only 40 degrees and raining. They are troopers.

Another thing to do when it is 40 degrees and raining: go run a 5K.

I don't know if I would have actually gone this morning if I hadn't set a goal to do one at the beginning of the year. A friend of mine told me about one that was in my price range (aka: free) and we ran it together.

I went into it thinking I would do it to get it over with, but I had so much fun!

This is the face of someone who just did something she never thought she could.