Expressions of Love

So Christopher and I are in California taking care of Great Grandma Althea while Jesse's dad has surgery in San Francisco and his mom takes care of him. So far we have been doing really well! Today we went on a little walk around the neighborhood and since it is Valentines day, I was reflecting on expressions of love.

I love my little boys. I love my husband. I love my family and extended family and I love my God. I hope that my actions reflect this love everyday. I hope that they will never question how much I cherish them (even when administering discipline).

Happy Valentines Day!

PS. my in-laws got me a Wii and I am beyond excited. I know that a lot of you ladies out there don't quite understand the excitement of video games, but I am a dork. God made me especially for my husband and to be a mother of boys, so he put in me a desire to play video games.

Also this is a picture of us right before our walk. Grandma is really excited but due to her stroke, it is hard for her to smile.

eTrade Baby

I don't know what it is about talking babies, but this made me laugh!
I love the line, "I really underestimated the creepiness".
Have a great day!

Fat people are full of it...

Ok... so I'll probably offend a few out there, but this is something on my mind, so if you don't like it... don't read it. My tolerance for people that can't face reality is low today.

A couple of days ago Jesse and I were watching a show (THS Diet Fads) and it had all kinds of diets, and a lot of people talking about them and it got me to thinking. How dumb are people?

Do you really NOT get it? There is no secret. Healthy eating and getting off your butt. Now I am preaching to the choir here. I am in no way qualified to dole out great advice on losing weight, but I am not about to pretend that I didn't know that the potstickers I had for breakfast were in any way beneficial to my waist, butt or thigh area. But you have a choice... it's hard and it's work, but anything you (and I) say is an excuse and you are just being LAZY. You have a choice what you put in your tank...

vs.

vs.

vs.

I thought this was a kind of funny ad from 1920s.

Disclaimer: Not I know a few of you out there may even look at my examples of "healthy" food and can give better, healthier and more nutritious choices, but I wanted to keep it simple and just make a point.

Tagged

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No (But funny story when I was about 5 I thought that my middle name (Rae) was named after a very large family friend (Ray) so I would never tell people what my middle name was until my mom set me straight)
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday while looking at Adoption websites
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Colton and Christopher
IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Of course
DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes
DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?yes
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, unless someone pushed me, but I would sky dive- go figure
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?Trix or Cinnamon Life
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically-No, Spiritually-yes, Mentally- uh, I'll get back to you
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? B&J Phish Food
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? their mood
RED OR PINK?red
WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I can be complacent and lazy
WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Colton when he is at his dad's
WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue fleece pants and socks
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Potstickers (for breakfast)
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Silence, ahhhhhh
IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? silver
FAVORITE SMELLS? My baby's hair after the tub
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Wendy (mom of little girl I pick up for school)
FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Colton playing soccer (we didn't even watch the Super Bowl)
HAIR COLOR? brown
EYE COLOR?blue
DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes
FAVORITE FOOD? Anything Italian (Rachel's answer) I second that, woo hoo Mario Batali
SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Meet the Fockers (when I was sick)
WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Brown
SUMMER OR WINTER? both
HUGS OR KISSES? Both, but kisses only from my immediate family (my sister has an uncle-in-law that kisses everyone on the mouth, ugh)
FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate lava cake
WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? 40 Days of Prayer, and Prince Caspian with Colton
WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? dont have a mousepad-Laser mouse
WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T. V. LAST NIGHT? King of the Hill, Ace of Cakes and Sex in the Bible (interesting show on the History Channel)
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND? Colton singing a random, made up song, or Christopher saying Mamamamama (or Dadadada when he has a poopy diaper)
ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Define "home", went to the Bahamas for my sisters wedding
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Appearing to be a normal, got-it-together person when I go out in public. (I like Rachel's answer-Managing to keep everyone fed and alive while maintaining my sanity each and every day.)
WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Iowa (Idiots Out Walking Around)

Ok, I tag Jackie and the Evan's Quartet (Amber, Christel, Elisha and Marissa)...

A virtual Squishing

If you wonder what this is about, go here:
{decorate your soul}







...I must have too much time on my hands or I am avoiding laundry.

So that's where it goes...

Hmm... So I thought that Christopher had a really great grasp on finger foods and as soon as I would give him one and turn around, it would be gone. Apparently he has found a new friend in Sierra and thinks it is hiLARious to feed her. Though she still gets the left overs, the dog now has to wait until baby is out of high chair to enter the room.

(Mom points: Yes, that is a Cheeto in the first photo
My defense: They were bought as a quick snack from the day before and never got opened, so we were all munching on them. Hey if they sold nutritious, baby finger foods at gas stations, he would've been eating them. And no, mom, they are not a staple of his diet.)

Ratatouille

I know you all probably do the same thing. Watching a new movie you go through the previews and rate them under the categories: Theatre worthy, Rentals, Nothing else Rentals, or You couldn't pay me to watch. Well, if you don't, we do. We really love movies and we even DVR Ebert and Roeper (though we don't always agree with them) just to see what's coming up.

Anyway, to get to my point, when I saw the previews about a rat that loves to cook and controls a guy by pulling on his hair, I thought, "Ennnhhh, maybe we'll rent it, Colton might like it."
But you know what, WE LOVE IT! This really has been the cutest kids movie since Shrek 1&2 (not 3)! If you haven't seen this movie (even if you don't have kids), I would highly suggest it.

It has encouraged us to have fun with food and cooking, and if there is anything out there that can get my skinny kid to experiment with new foods, i'm for it!

We've also started DVRing the Iron Chef America :)

PS. It's also fun to say Rat-a-too-ee!!!

Christopher's first haircut & us being goofy

Before and After

Not too bad if I do say so myself. It is amazing how much older he looks without his little "wings". It was kind of sad snipping off his little baby hair. Sorry I don't have any pictures of me cutting it. Jesse was holding him on the counter, trying to distract him by letting him splash his feet in the sink, and I was wielding the cutting utensils. Needless to say, I didn't get a chance to snap and cut at the same time.

These pictures are from a couple days ago. Colton and I got the sillies and this is the result:

The Great Toy Organiztion of 2008

So we took every toy in the house, brought it to the living room, and proceeded to find a place for each one! It's amazing how a few shelves and some Rubbermaid tubs can transform cluttered, unused stuff into an organized, user-friendly space. (And of course, a box of stuff to donate).
Here's to Amber, (whom is tasking herself with 52 projects in 52 weeks) my inspiration for tackling the projects we really don't want to, but need to get done! And to my wonderful husband who motivates me when all I really want to do is relax on the couch and spend the day in my jammies (and puts up with my weird freakish control issues)!

From this:
To this:
And just for fun:

My husband buys Vanity Fair

We are not big celebrity followers, nor do we really keep up with celebrity news, but as we were zipping into the checkout lane, I had to stop mid sentence, look around and wonder where the heck did Jesse go? What could've stopped him dead in his tracks? The latest issue of Vanity Fair had his favorite actor on the cover... Harrison Ford. And it immediately got tossed on the pile (which normally would be quite a splurge for us, but I understood).
Jesse has been checking, on about a weekly basis, about development on Harrison's final Indy movie. Every update is excitedly read out loud and followed by "I hope you know we are going to the theaters May 22. If you don't want to, I'm leaving you at home!"
"Ummhmm, I know, I am also really excited to see it."

But I can completely understand his excitement, due to the fact that I am stoked about the Prince Caspian movie (sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)! I'm a big fan of the books and we started reading them to Colton before bed. Check it out!

So what movies are you looking forward?

3000 miles

We drove over 3000 miles on our trip.

The equivalent of driving from Seattle to Miami.

One hour from home we got a flat tire.

At 1:00 am and nothing was open.

The dog almost got run over on the interstate.

At one point both children were screaming, the wet dog was sitting on Colton and we were laughing hysterically at the situation. I grabbed my camera.

Here are the pictures:

This looks like one of those pictures you are supposed to find stuff in.
Can you find 1 dog, 2 children, ton

Jesse working on the tire.

At this point we were just delirious!

Please people... save me from my parents and get me outta this car!

Over the river and through the woods...

...and through the mountains, and across the desert, and by the ocean, and through the redwoods...
do you get the point?

Christmas with the Atchleys was great! We had a great time and the weather was surprisingly pleasant almost the whole time we were there! (We refer to rainy days here as "a Humboldt day") Here are some highlight pictures and if you wish to see the extended collection (i.e. mass amounts of pictures of our vacation) check out the link on the left.

Christopher in his "candy cane" pants and "baby's first christmas" shirt
Grandma Linda with Christopher on his new rocking horse.

The crew stopping for fish & chips and Chowdah at an Irish pub

A pelican trying to get into Target

Hike up the Trinidad Head

(minus Jesse, he was feeling poopy... literally! sorry too much info)

Jesse with his brother Erik, do they ever grow up ...didn't think so.

Had to stop in Reno on the way! Circus Circus was a blast!
Great Grandma Althea, Jesse and Christopher

Christopher giving Grandpa Jim snuggles.
Um, what is a New Years and why am I supposed to be happy about it?

This is my favorite Christmas picture. His bright eyes looking at the light of the tree.

(right before he stuck one in his mouth)

Just a quick note

Hey, just to let you all know that I haven't abandoned blogging. We got back Sunday morning at 5:00 am. uggggghhhhhhh! To include 3,000 miles on the car, a flat tire 1 hour away from home at 1:00 am and the dog almost getting hit by a car (while dealing with fore mentioned tire). I am still trying to get back into the swing of things. I promise many pictures they just have to escape from my camera. PS Santa got me Adobe Photoshop/Premiere for Christmas, so now I will have FABulous pictures... once I learn how to use it! :)

Christmas times a comin'

Colton getting the tree ready. Someday I will get a real tree for Christmas, but for now I will go with the kid-friendly, non-vacuuming needles, not-thinking-about-fire-hazard-because-I-forget-to-water... plastic tree.

These last two were taken with the camera on my phone. Sorry that they are all pixelated, I forgot my camera!

Christopher checking out Santa. Jesse says, "There's only one fat guy bringing presents to our house and he isn't wearing a red suit." Thankfully Colton doesn't get what he is saying, but laughs anyway.

Colton putting in his "order" to Santa.

Dear Lord, please let us find a Bumblebee Transformer. Amen

County Roads, take me home...

So really I took a plane, but there are a lot of country roads here in the midwest. On a whim (and cheap $250 tickets), Colton, Christopher and I hopped on a plane to visit my family in the midwest for Thanksgiving and to give a proper send off to my *baby* brother. This weekend he is leaving the nest and moving into his first apartment. Today we went to thrift stores to see what kind of stuff we could find to fill his one bedroom bachelor pad. John is venturing out into the true workforce as a police officer for a little town in Iowa.
Congratulations John, we're proud of you!

And of course I couldn't do a blog without a couple of funny pictures of the boys! Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

1. No sleep the night prior
2. Some animal tearing apart trash and slewing it all over the yard.
3. Possibly eating $250-500 in a remodeling issue
4. Cell phone possibly(probably) stolen, being used by someone else.
5. Teething baby
6. Fight with husband where I act like a crazy person and take all frustration out on him. (In which he is responsible for none of it and doesn't deserve.)
7. Crying in front of the contractor. (Thankfully he is a good friend and had some good advice)
8. Teacher conferences.
9. Deep and sincere apologies to husband (most likely to include and back or foot massage).
10. Puffy, tired eyes and headache.

Dear blog friends,
I truly hope that you don't take my ranting as mere whining (because truly that's what it is). So I apologize to you if you were looking for cute kid pictures and my witty banter. But here is hope and wisdom:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT

Or as Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day"

May the force be with you

Just a quick post to share our halloween costumes and pumpkin carving. We stopped at a few neighbors and co-workers and then had a great time at the Fall Famtastic.

Baby YodaI can believe I am wearing this. I will get my parents back someday.

Boba Fett (Star Wars)Sampson and Delilah

This wig is just way too funny. I love you Jesse for doing this for me!

The pre-halloween outfit. I didn't figure I could get away with him wearing it any other day!Colton loved scooping out the "brains"Christopher just wanted to chew on it!