Peace be the Journey

The Face of Sick :(

2009-11-11T22:12:00.001-08:00

Akasha is sick. Not sure if it is the start of the flu, but we shall see. This picture does not do her weepy eyes justice, but you get the idea.

Minibooks!

2009-11-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Orion asked to make some books the other day! I think this was inspired by my friend Rachele on our Seattle trip. They made a couple books together, and Orion really enjoyed it.

He tells me what to write, and then he draws the pictures. I love how the octopi all have only 4 or 6 arms lol. Does that make them quadropi or hexapi?

Looks like a full and happy life for this armless boy. :)

16 month comp

2009-11-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hey, at least I got it up before she was 17 months.

Leafy Happenings

2009-11-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

Somebody discovered the water table full of leaves.

And looks like possibly some dirt on her chin?
Meanwhile, Orion prefers the comforts of the couch.
Modeling the split lip he got at Papa's last night (lower right).
I love the way our tree makes gradients from green leaves to the colors on the ends of the branches.
Later that night, Akasha in her favorite new spot while mama is "cooking". In quotes since I was actually making raw dishes. :)

Practicing

2009-11-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

Orion really wanted me to take this picture for some reason. Akasha loves her potties and often sits on them with or without clothes, so not sure why he took special notice of this occasion, but here ya go.

In Praise of Nursing Cats

2009-11-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

So this post idea started because Orion and I are working on an alphabet book and have been finding pictures of various nursing animals to include in it. I have never had a cat or a dog that had puppies, so I never really thought about how long various animals might nurse if left to their own choice. I always pictured them being done when they were still small as I guess that is what human intervention does in their hurry to send the babies off to new homes. :( So I was quite surprised when this was one of the first pictures I stumbled on:
My goodness, that nursling looks almost full grown! Turns out the internet is full of pictures of big kitties nursing! How does this mama do it?!
But the caption on it was the best part!
"This was taken several years ago when Mini Harina forgot to use birth control, got pregnant, and had about a billion black kittens. They all found good homes and were weaned and eating food by this point but she was such a good mother that she always let them nurse no matter how big they were and how much it inconvenienced her. Now that's a good mother cat." Hmmm, that's a good mother period in my book. :)

Would ya look at all these beautiful colors!

This brood is not quite as big, but that mama belly looks pretty crowded!
Nursing while grooming as only a cat could.
And this one had to be included for the sheer abandon!
There were lots more, but you get the idea. :)

Alternate Worlds

2009-11-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Orion was talking about some trippy stuff in the car the other day, and I want to make a quick note of it before I forget it. I don't remember how he got to talking about "other worlds", but that was the base of the whole conversation. He was describing several different alternate worlds, but there were two that stood out to me the most.

The first was the all white world. Simply put by Orion, everything is white, so you can't see anything because it all looks the same!

But even more interesting was the invisible world. Everything there is invisible of course. But if you are part of the invisible world, you can see the other invisible things. Hmm, well that would be useful. Seriously though, can you say parallel universes? The kid has got it down. Scary.

Leaf Walk!

2009-11-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

Finally been clear for a couple days! Been waiting for a day like this so we could get some semidry leaves to press for crafts.

Orion loves to play in leaves!

I love this one. Not sure if you can see at this size, but he has his tongue sticking out.
Akasha is not so sure what all the fuss is about.

OK, maybe there is something to this leaf thing.
Sneaking up to dump leaves on sister's head....

I couldn't believe this one flower hanging on in the midst of all the bare branches around it!
Awwww!
Wow, this leaf was crazy! Not only did nature design it with two lovely holes, but the wind then placed it nicely on the end of this branch. This was up quite high by the way. I just cropped it way in to see it better. Yay for high res LOL.
This is the house in our neighborhood Orion loves. When he first saw it just before Halloween, he said he wanted to join their family!
Just after getting some more leaves dumped on her head in yet a different yard! Glad she liked it. :)
That's a kitty in there my kids are lovin' on.
This was one patient and affectionate cat. It must live with kids!
Some of our haul back at home.

Orion's New Thang

2009-11-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile, Orion asks to get the Duplos out and has a good time playing with them for a bit. His latest inspiration was to draw faces on them! It works well with kids' markers because they just wipe off. You can see this guy has had several. On one guy, he drew 4! One on each side - happy, sad, mad and surprised. Made me think of the Mayor from NBC. The guy above is wearing headphones. There was quite an elaborate description of how they can play any song in the world, or something like that. But now he is sick. Guess that is why he is sad. Notice the doctor tools lying about. He had no reflexes. Funny how that works when your legs are made of plastic.

Sarah's Poetry Book

2009-11-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

I found this with some of Sarah's stuff and thought it was worth taking pictures of a few of the pages. She loves scrapbooking stuff and always went all out on school projects she could decorate.
Her theme was Love. What a sweet little poem this is:
This is one she wrote:
Yeah, I guess I did things a little differently with Sarah. Honestly, she had ALOT of freedom. And she didn't even have a credit card LOL! Or mall privileges? She could go to the mall whenever she wanted! I guess she was just tying to be funny.

Cutie Pie

2009-11-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

Blurry but cute picture I found on the little camera, so Orion took it!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T23:42:00.000-07:00

And we totally sucked at pictures. Akasha got a late nap, and we kinda ran out of time, but here is a shot of Orion as the Red Power Ranger. Not sure what the pose was all about!
Akasha, on the other hand, we didn't get a single decent photo of. :( She had a cute little ladybug pullover, but you can't really see the antennae here.
This is what happened when I tried to put her down for a shot with brother.
Yeah, she is usually a little grouchy for awhile after getting up. AND it looks like the lens on the little camera is smudged up or something. Must remember to clean it!

You can't tell in the picture, but this would be her first ever taste of a candy bar! After I realized she had managed to gnaw through a Snickers wrapper (no joke!), I figured, what the heck? They don't have a very thick chocolate coating. She didn't have much of a reaction, so maybe she is already almost past her dairy issues. That would sure be nice!
Stolen from Zoe's blog of the whole gang.

Towers Galore!

2009-10-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago, Akasha started stacking some toys together into towers out of the blue. She does it every morning now, and sometimes more. I finally got some pics of the action! She makes some pretty cool stuff, sometimes with something bigger on something smaller, and will often sit an animal or something on top lol. It is like she went from 0 - 60 overnight in the building skills!

Rad Shirt!

2009-10-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite score from Pass it On this year by far! Just so cool somebody created this shirt for a kid!

Let the Embarrassment Begin!

2009-10-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

No, seriously, I officially have Sarah's permission, and even encouragement, to put up things she drew and wrote. She is one confident girl. :) I was telling her I found some great essays from high school that were cracking me up, and she said it was fine if I posted them. So I am starting a process of going through documents to see what I want to put up. At the same time, while I am posting all this art of Orion's, I thought, why not take pictures of some of Sarah's stuff as well? I came across these in an old notebook and thought they were pretty funny!

Another Art Exploooooooooosion

2009-10-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

I got behind in hanging up art, so this is a giant catch up post. These aren't in the order he made them, or any order for that matter. Just some stuff I like! Hopefully these aren't any duplicates from older stuff I posted.

Kid on a slide!

Easter Egg
Snowman
I liked this one with the long armed dude because it was also his first sun with "rays".
A birthday cake!
This is how he draws me. :) I love the cheeks.
This was quite a production for him. He usually doesn't spend this much on a single drawing. This was a whole city he said. There is even a gray street under the cars.
This one has a bit of a story. Orion drew the fireman, then wanted me to draw fire. He kept making the shape in the air to show me, but I didn't realize he only wanted me to draw ONE flame right under the water. So he was quite upset at first. :( Then I suggested making the water go into streams. He liked that and said, "Why didn't I think of that?!" haha This was kindof a big deal because he usually gets really upset and frustrated when a drawing doesn't go his way, then crumples it up. Yay for thinking outside the box a little!
Daddy, who doesn't have blue eyes. :shrug:
Guy on a motorcycle. One of my favorites!
This one is pretty neat because he was wanting to paint a heart, but felt he didn't know how and was asking for help. Tessi suggested he painted the way he thinks of a heart, and this is how it came out!
Fire engine, with a hose and everything! And apparently a flat tire LOL.
This one was quite recent. He said it was several friends singing Mary Had a Little Lamb together. :) Notice the notes, and I guess people close their eyes when singing!
Just somebody under a rainbow. Mommy with a baby in the tummy? The square things on the arms are sleeves.
Orion drew these two then asked me to add the hearts. :)
Mixed media! Akasha loves this one. She cries, "Doggy, doggy!" every time she sees it. I asked Orion if that was a noodle he ate in his tummy, and he said, "No! It's a stripe!" Of course!
He knew just where to put this sticker.

When I asked about this one, it was simply described as "a guy with really long arms."
This is probably my all time favorite so far - a family of dragons! I think it rocks he pictures dragons as spirals!

What to do with that old Halloween fabric hanging around.

Survivor and the Changing Face of the Country

2009-10-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am going to make another post about reality TV.... Ron and I haven't had much time to watch anything together, but he has Survivor downloaded, and we finally got around to starting this season. For those of you who don't watch the show, each season is structured a bit differently. Often, tribes are picked on the first day, but this season, they were "prepicked". They also did something else I don't remember seeing before (although I have not watched all of them). They had the tribes each vote for a leader, just based on appearance and without knowing anything about the people. They didn't even know their names! People had to write down descriptions instead. The players come from all over the country and from many different backgrounds, so I was pretty surprised (in a good way) with the results. First tribe, Russel gets voted as leader:
Not just a black man. A black man with dreadlocks.

Then in the next tribe, Jaison almost wins:

I have no idea when this was filmed in relation to the election, but I have to wonder if there is any connection. Things like this make me think we are headed in the right direction. There were even a few female "names" written down. Would be nice if they were just as likely to get elected, but I have been surprised once.... Where are we headed?

Oh, and for those of you who DO watch the show, no spoilers. We have only watched the first two episodes. :)

Mom and Chuck's Front Page

2009-10-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Finally took a picture of the whole front page of this news paper.
I think the headline is pretty funny considering they get well into the 100s now. Not to mention, don't miss the New 15-Story Building for Downtown! ZOMG This is my favorite article on the page though:
The whole thing is about the petition a bunch of scientists, including Linus Pauling, signed, asking for a ban to nuclear testing. Oh well.

Math Moment

2009-10-25T17:35:00.001-07:00

Just had to document this brief exchange!

Orion: Mom, bring ten strawberries so sister and I can have the same number.
Me: What number is that?
Orion: (with no hesitation) Five!

Gee, I guess they do learn all on their own. :)

Plumper Pumpkins

2009-10-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, the weather was insanely beautiful today! Perfect day to get out to a pumpkin patch! We picked Plumber because they have all sorts of launching devices - popular with the boys!

We snagged a wagon in the parking lot, which was a BIG hit with Akasha. (More "wheewheewhee".)
As much as she loved it, she also absolutely refused to smile!
Oh well, we ended up getting there way too close to her naptime, which was my own fault. I was really looking forward to some great photo ops, and she just wouldn't even look at me most of the time! This one was still kinda neat I thought.
Orion, on the other had, has no problem posing.
He loved this colorful corn!
Funny shaped pumpkin!
Orion is endlessly amused with these stick your head in the hole things.
Not really sure what the attraction was to this moldy headed guy. Ick!
Taking a break for a Daddy hug.
Highlight of the day! This pumpkin gun was some type of air compressor thing. There is a car out in the field they were shooting at, and if you look closely, you can see a little orange dot flying through the air. Orion picked it, and it hit the car. He was so excited. We never saw it get hit again that day, so I guess we got pretty lucky!
This was a shot he did with 8 small pumpkins all at the same time.
Then it was time to try a hand at the giant slingshots. There was a sign that said, Only one person per bay, but luckily the kid collecting the money didn't really seem to care.
Akasha checking out the slingshot action.
This is what the attendant was doing. Guess that is why he was so distracted. :)
Later that day.... Looks like we got some raking to do....
"Yeah mom, I'm gettin' all wet!"
Both kids thought it was hilarious the way this leaf was dangling off Kona's belly when she came in side.
And tomorrow we are expected to be back to the rain. :)

October Happenings

2009-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

There has been all sorts of Samhain spirit around here lately! Orion decided to make some little people out of the leftover S'more marshmallows! They were going to the Halloween Carnival. Here they are riding one of the rides:
Meanwhile, Akasha was sitting in her favorite spot and eating dirt in the backyard. :p
Usually when either of the kids or Kona is in the yard, our neighbor's sweet dog will peer at us from the balcony. Her name is Delilah, and Akasha calls her "Lila".
What to do with a bunch of plastic skulls that are designed for hanging on lights that I saved for some reason? Play games during the baby's naptime! The bottoms are flat, so I decided to see how they would slide on the Pergo. Great as it turned out! First game I thought of was the classic "see how close you can get it to the rug without hitting it". I think that guy closest to Orion was the winner of this round.
We realized it was kindof hard to remember which ones had hit the rug and bounced back a little, so we decided to remove them from the area. Here are some offenders in the "dungeon".
Just because Orion wants to be in pretty much every picture I take LOL.
Next game - line them up on opposite sides of the area and see if you can slide them into the ones on the other side.
Ghosties made out of old and frayed cloth diapers and an old and frayed washcloth I cut into quarters to ball up for the heads. Reusing at its best! :) I was hoping to hang these dudes in one of the trees in the front yard, but so far, Orion wants to keep them in the house to play with them.
Orion still changes his mind about 10 times a day about what he wants to be for Halloween. I think we will go see what is left around Wed or so. That way, there will only be a few days of him being upset about wanting to be something different, which seems inevitable at this point.

More Random Catchup, Featuring Video by Orion!

2009-10-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

Another self portrait. This kid is going to be asking for a webcam soon LOL!
A trip to McDonald's. Yeah, not the best food, but the kids like the play area. So cute how such a small step is a big navigation for a toddler!
She was cracking me up on this little slide. She would climb both sides, but would only go down the same side she went up! And the "wheeee" was essential!

Every time she came down, she would walk away like this. She wasn't off balance or anything, just being silly and cute. :)
Last but not least, an Orion video extravaganza!

Seattle Catch Up

2009-10-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

The little silver camera (AKA Orion's camera) has been missing, but we found it, so now I have some catching up to do. Some of the stuff on there was older, but I figured I would get the Seattle stuff up first.

Here was the scene at the Food Court when we took a break for lunch. I thought it was so cool they had all this stuff set up, and Akasha was just squealing with delight. I was impressed by how careful Orion was to make sure she didn't run into anything too hard.

I was so glad Orion ended up going in to see the butterflies, because he ended up being quite charmed by them! He took a ton of pictures. Some of them were as good or better than mine LOL!

In the hatchery... on cloth diapers!
Orion wanted to take a picture of the guide.
Then this guy was right on the edge. I said to Orion, "I guess he wants to learn about butterflies!" He thought that was hilarious.
Orion also took this picture of the naturalist's shirt. :) This guy ROCKED. He was required to go over several rules as people went in, and he made it SO fun for the young kids, having them get involved with the process. He was also endlessly patient with and even seemed to enjoy Orion's many questions.

And here is a snippet by Orion of the butterfly action:

Yurting at Devil's Lake

2009-10-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

We have had a yurt trip with friends planned for months now. It was a great weekend, even though we had quite a bit of rain and Ron never did make it to join us. He got piled with a bunch of work on Friday, and planned to come up on Saturday, but couldn't find his keys! This was my first time staying in an OR State Park yurt, and they are amazingly nice! Nights were challenging since Orion is used to sleeping with Ron, but we muddled through. :) Also, I forgot my camera. Grrrr. I would probably have alot more to say if I had pictures to go with it, but I just have these few, stolen from friends.

How cute is she in her fleece jumper? I can't remember which of my friends I got this from, but wow, what a score. It was perfect for this rainy trip!
Little bandit! These dudes were literally walking right in to camp trying to steal our food. One almost made away with my bag of marshmallows!
Chaos in the yurt! As lovely as they were, it was pretty crazy in there with 7 kids!

ETA: That yurt was just the play area at that moment. I realized this might look like we all tried to share one. That would have been insane! Each family had their own. You are only allowed 5 people each in them. :)

ETA2!!! Some extra pictures from the Mama Rachele cam:

Love the Outfit Babe!

2009-10-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Akasha, with yet something else hanging from around her neck. Seems to be her favorite spot for stuff!