Mr Walmart.com Can't Drive Fast Enough!

If you see the Walmart.com driver who has my order of footless zipper pj's, tell him to drive a little faster! On Wednesday, we had another "fingerpainting"accident. Again. And I almost had the heart to pull out my scissors and start cutting away on the feet of Colin's footed Carter's pj's. Almost. I just couldn't do it.

Yes, this fits in the parenting category of "this too shall pass." And until then, I will continue to self medicate with a post clean-up trip to Starbucks.

Promised Land

Last year I did the "Believing God" Beth Moore Bible study. In our first week of the study, we discussed the concept of a promised land as a New Testament believer, where we may apply this concept spiritually. Our own promised land is a place of God's unapologetic blessing to the obedient. A place where we are abiding in Christ's love and a place where God brings forth great harvest.

I reflect upon this because yesterday Colin was so excited to sing along to one of his Veggie Tales songs where they sing, "We're going to the promised land!" This song had him so tickled that he was just laughing and banging his hands on the kitchen counter with pure joy.

Dear Colin, I hope some day you have this kind of pure joy when you find God's promised land for you.

Dodge Ball

I had some flash backs to fourth grade today:

It's PE period and it's Friday. We did crab soccer last week, so we all know what today is: Dodge Ball day! I cringe as we select teams -- Please don't put me opposite of Rhonda or Johanna! They pack a killer punch and always win!

So why did I have this flash back? My dear hubby is playing dodge ball at a work function right now. And I wonder if he's getting pegged by the Rhonda of the workplace, or if he's the Johanna that's doing the pummeling. Hmmmmm; I've never played dodgeball with my own husband.

Their "elementary" workplace fun (a competition between rival divisions) will end with appetizers and wine. Somehow it was never that good when I was in 4th grade.

Just plant your feet and catch the ball, honey!

Day 2 of Preschool

Today was the second day of preschool and you'd think Colin had been going forever. Once he saw where he was going, he gleefully hit the door running to the toys and didn't even care to stop and say goodbye.

This week is a fish theme, so on Wednesday he'll be taking his fish puppet to class for share time. And yes, hippo made it to class for share time today. He was so happy to have hippo in class with him.

Speaking of his class, there are 8 kiddos, and only 2 are girls. This will make for a busy year for his teachers. In general, boys are just busier & a little more rowdy, so it will keep them on their toes!

Getting a Little Too Creative

Messes. They're a part of everyday life when you have kids. It's just part of growing up. But I had always heard stories from my other mommy friends about "the one" which I considered to be the worst kind, and I was so glad that I had managed to avoid it so far for the most part. Until this weekend.

Over the past 2 days nap time has turned into an incredibly smelly and awful finger painting adventure, and we're not talking about the nice finger paints made by Crayola. Yah, that kind. The wall, which has a gorgeous scene of a mountainous beach island was greatly enhanced today, and we had to use various forms of scrubbing bubbles and scrubby wipes and over 45 minutes worth of muscle power to clean the mess. The floor. The crib. Some books. The carpet, even across the room. Pooh bear. Bedding. The walls (worst of all!) Oh, and not the mention the child! Yep, he got a good scrubbin' and a brisk shower, too.

So I found and ordered something which should be a helpful solution, which we may have to consider using during the daytime nap as well: footless zipper one piece pj's. Hanna Andersson and Gymboree don't make them in a large enough size (just up to 3T, not big enough!), but leave it to our friends at the Gap and at Wal-Mart online to save the day. Those folks down in Bentonville are smart folks, ya know, selling a 2 pack for less than $10. Footless one piece pj's can be zipped up backwards to save the day. A little Colin Houdini will have 100% blocked access to 1) strip and to 2) access any finger painting supplies. Because. That's. Gross.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Colin's first Day of preschool. He was a bit apprehensive when I dropped him off.

And here is a picture of Colin when I came and picked him up. Happy because Mom came back, and happy because he had lots of fun at school.

Here is Colin's "share bag." We received this today and each day of class he will bring an item from home to share at the group share time at the end of each class.

And this is who we think will be going off to class with Colin next time. For perspective, this plastic hippo is maybe 10 inches long...He's a current favorite animal.

Beach Time

I realize for many of you school has already started and days at the beach seem so long ago, but around here, school starts this week, and the weather has been super warm. So in light of enjoying our last big weekend before school starts, we hit 3 different beaches over the course of the weekend.

Yeah for sunshine and lots of fun at the water! At the first beach, which is in West Seattle, we enjoyed gorgeous views looking back to downtown Seattle, and also got to watch a seal take a nap on the beach (very cute!)

An Update On Our Stripper

Yup, our lil' man is still casting off his pjs and diaper each evening. last night I went in to check about 30 minutes after putting him to bed and he was laying there. In all of his glory.

So, we re-diapered and then I proceeded to make him select pjs that he would wear the entire night. And at this point I could care less if he matches. Red plaid bottoms with the green basketball/baseball/basketball knit top? Sure! Moose top? Sure! Just keep it on!

And this morning he kept the important half on his body -- the bottom half.

And tomorrow I am going in search of footless full bodied pj's. I have been told Hanna Anderson makes such a thing. I plan to put them on backwards, causing him great grief in trying to perform his great Houdini PJ act. I know I could cut the feet out of his zipper pj's, but I'm not quite ready to mutilate his pj's for a phase that will hopefully be gone later in the year.

This is definitely not one they tell you about in parenting books, but thank goodness for Google -- seems as though we aren't the only ones battling this phase.

A Galveston Fish Tale - The Fish that Didn't Get away

Matt shows off 3 huge red fish and a speckled trout, summer of 1999, Galveston

We've all seen images over the past few days of the damage hurricane Ike has imposed upon Galveston and the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast. I have watched the media coverage via the web very closely. Brief phone messages from my dad report that all is OK at their house in Houston (power and phone lines out, but no flooding in the house.)

As I sit and watch various media reports about the devastation around Galveston, my mind is flooded with memories from the various places they report as damaged and destroyed. I thought in light of all that is now gone, I would share a Galveston memory of happier times. You see, this is the place where Matt and I would go on many a weekend to get away from the city. We have spent time there at the beach, as well as in the bay with our canoe catching red fish.

Simpler times, one might say. The times when I was falling in love with the man who would become my husband, and later as a newly weds out looking for a place to relax and unwind.

~~~

I am always so taken with the photo above, as it will forever define my concept of the sport of fishing -- catching, that is. On this particular weekend, Matt and I were fortunate to have a friend and colleague loan out to us the use of her second home in Galveston. As you might be able to tell from the picture, the house was elevated up on beams and the ground floor was simply the car park area with a door leading to stairs on the second level. As an aside, I feel certain this house may well be gone. It is on the still flooded West end the media tells us is still unreachable.

On this particular day back in 1999, we paddled our canoe up through various canals and out into the Bay of Galveston, which is the area between Galveston and the main land. We canoed in a shallow area, sometimes a foot at most, and saw water brimming with red fish. I can clearly remember seeing that distinctive red mark on the tail just flipping through the water like the water was so alive. And the thrill of watching Matt land each of those fish was just so much fun -- they put up quite a fight and make for true victory when finally brought on board. What a workout!

And I recall the drag of these 4 particular fish in the water as we paddled for almost an hour to get back up the canals to our docking area (we had them on a line in the water back behind the boat.) I wondered how four fish could possibly make it so hard to paddle our lil' red canoe, but boy howdy (as we would have said) did they ever!

In future fishing trips we were never able to replicate our fishing success -- maybe it was the tide or just plain luck, but we never had that same success. But you can imagine in my mind I knew it was possible, so we kept on trying over the course of many, many weekends.

We were last in Galveston briefly this past March as we drove down while Colin napped in the car. And some day we hope to take him back there for red fish "catching." Someday.

But for now, our prayers go out to those in Galveston who are all left with nothing but memories.

Ready for the Ride

When I was growing up I would look through my mom's books that looked at the ancient world - Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc. The mystery and wonder of the ancient world, and in particular, the places where the stories from the Old Testament took place, have always captivated my interest.

And I am so excited to start this Beth Moore study on the Patriarchs, which will take us through an encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Already we have recapped the genealogy of Abraham and have learned about the history of the naming of his descendants.

Beth cautions us that we are in for a wild ride with this study. I can hardly wait!

Stripper

Last night at 11 pm before I went to bed I went in to check on Colin before I headed to bed.

Umh, honey, we have a problem.

Yah? What's that?

He's naked. Again. And his diaper is, well, right here in my hand.

So, we proceeded to strip the bed of the wet sheets and blankets, because he's been, you know, naked for a while, And we then partially woke him to re-diaper and then redress with pj's.

He lay quietly on the floor and slumbered back to sleep while we re-clothed his bed.

And this morning when I came in to greet him? He was naked. Again. Fortunately he hadn't made it to the diaper yet.

This is getting old! On Tuesday he shredded his diaper to smithereens somehow. I had never seen anything like it.

I had a friend recommend we take the zipper pull off his pj's. I'm getting out my pliers and trying it out! We've tried all types of PJs, and short of painting them on him, I am afraid we are destined to see him in all of his natural glory for many more mornings and nights to come.

More Pictures from Pacific Beach

I thought I'd share a few more pictures from our trip to Pacific Beach this past weekend.

We collected and saw so many unbroken sand dollars (returning most back to the water) - it was fun to find so many whole beach treasures.

Colin stepped into the photo making it look like he drew his name with the shovel. With so much open beach, it was begging for a few inscriptions in the sand.

The dump truck was fun to push around on the beach. The sand was very wet and compact, making it easy to walk around and play with assorted beach toys.

Pacific Beach Vacation

Colin's Grandma and Uncle Dave from Colorado joined us for a Labor Day weekend vacation to Pacific Beach, which is located along Washington's Pacific Coastline.

We rented a great beach house with a view of the ocean and just a few minutes drive down to the beach. Our first evening was a bit wet at the beach, but Saturday and Sunday were sunny and relatively warm (if 62 degrees on a beach can be warm...)

Colin has overcome his aversion to sand and enjoyed digging in sand and smashing sand castles. He had a healthy supply of digging toys, dump trucks, and buckets to create lots of sand masterpieces.

This beach, unlike others I have experienced, has a huge area of sand between the sandy cliffs and the location of the water. This was an almost unlimited playground for a 2 year old to frolic and chase birds, to collect sand dollars (a dime a dozen, literally), and to puddle jump.

The mornings at the beach were great with little wind, but by afternoon it was a bit hairy. Our accommodations gave us a few passes to a local resort's indoor heated pool. Colin enjoyed the pool, especially given that there were lots of other kids to play with and to watch.

On Saturday evening, Matt and I had a date night at the Ocean Crest Resort Restaurant, an intimate restaurant with peek-a-boo views of the beach and the setting sun. I enjoyed a seared sea scallops curry dish, and Matt had the lamb -- both very tasty!

On Sunday, following lunch at the Navy Resort's Windjammer Restaurant, we watched the local Kelpers Parade. This small town parade was so much fun for Colin since he kept having a mountain of candy thrown his way. He also got Mardis Gras beads, a glow stick, a beaver toy (from the local park ranger), stickers, and a baseball toy. What fun to have people throw you such fun items to collect! He particularly enjoyed the Ocean Shores pirates who came by.

It was indeed nice to get out of town for a relaxing, slow paced weekend.