Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.





We've had snow on the ground for almost a week now, which is impressive for Boise. We bundled up both kids to go out and play on Sunday. Annie had fun sledding and eating the snow. Harry on the other hand started crying the moment we started putting his snow bibs on, refused to wear gloves, and was generally unhappy about the entire process until Grady relented and took him back in the house. After about a half-hour, Annie started asking me, "what's something hot we could drink mommy?" I knew she was fishing for "hot cocoa cocoa" as the answer, but she seemed compliant with warm soy milk. Harry whose a non-stop chatter box, repeating almost every word we say, has also started saying "no." Prior to this he just shook his head to indicate no, but now the way he pronounces his "no" is indescribable. It sounds like a cat in heat with a Fran Dresher like accent ("Nooooooo")-- if he weren't so cute it would drive me crazy. Bonnie built a "frosty" with Annie this week and also took the kids to sit on Santa's lap. Harry screamed the instant he sat upon Santa's lap and Bonnie didn't have the heart to listen to him while they took a photo so we just have one photo with Annie and Santa. Annie told Santa she wanted a car's car and that Harry wanted the moon. Santa might struggle with both those requests.

Having Fun with Deucey

Before the snow started flying down around here we hung out with the Dangs on a nice sunny December Saturday. Here's some photos of the kids playing. Both Annie and Harry adore Deuce, who is smack in the middle of them age wise, and have fondly nick-named him, "Duecey."





Friday, November 14, 2008

Bye, Bye Mullet





We decided it was finally time to cut off Harry's mullet, although it was quite hilarious so we took both kids in for a chop. Annie sat still while she sucked (or chomped) on her sucker. Harry did NOT sit still, cried and the poor stylist chopeed her hand. But, she was able to get rid of the mullet to which Annie declared, "Bye, Bye Mullet." He looks a lot more grown up with his little boy hair cut.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Four years ago . . .

It was a little over four years ago I hopped on a plane to Colorado full of hope and excitement and ready to spend 3 days campaigning for John Kerry in the neighborhoods of Denver. I knocked on a lot of doors, handed out fliers, made phone calls, and helped register people to vote. The whole time I was sick to my stomach -- I thought from the nerves of trying to get Kerry into the white house. Turns out, my queezy stomach was morning sickness. On election night four years ago Grady and I sat on the couch in our basement in shock -- we were pregnant and Bush was about to get re-elected. We considered moving to Canada but with a new baby on the way, we felt compelled to stay put, close to family. Both Grady and I tried not to get our hopes up this time after being terribly disappointed in 2000 and 2004. But in 2008 I am happy to announce that my faith in this country and its people has been renewed. We are so proud and grateful that the first president elected after our kids were born is Barak Obama. He is smart, he is inspiring, he is committed to getting our country back on track, and, perhaps most significant for me, he is black. Seeing the type of discrimination that is still very real and very much alive today through the eyes of my clients made me skeptical that our country could do this - that we could elect a black man. The fact that younger voters exceeded expectations of voter turn out and overwhelmingly supported Obama gives me great hope that our country will continue to move in the right direction, away from prejudice. By the time Annie and Harry are able to vote, I hope it seems a uneventful fact that that a long time ago, in 2008, the country made history by electing a person of color. That, as grown ups, my kids won't think twice about putting a black man (and hopefully a woman at some point soon) into the highest executive office in our country will be a true sign of progress.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Harrison


Harry is now talking non-stop saying new words every day - he calls Annie "NNNNA" and Bonnie "Baba" but the rest of his words are pretty right on and include: Banana, Ball, Apple, Ice, Water, Elmo, Hi/Bye Bye, Night-night, and Moon. He also does a very good (and loud) MOOOOOO! every time he sees (or thinks of) a cow. He is showing some attitude these days - getting quite upset when he doesn't get his way and he's getting pretty fast on those feet.
Annie is doing an excellent job being a big sister - she loves to remind Harry that he's too little to have candy, maple syrup, or chocolate chips. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind too much. She also makes sure he doesn't play with any "dangerous" toys, i.e., those that she wants to play with. The other day she took away the snake he was playing with, he screamed, she handed him a tupperware bowl and said, "here Harry, you can pretend this is a snake." He was actually happy that she gave something to him. Annie still has lots of "privacy" in her room which sometimes is unbearable for Harry who stands at her bedroom pounding on the door. Annie is so excited that Harry is talking now - every time he says a new word she yells, "he can talk now!" I'm sure soon she'll be yelling, "be quiet Harry!"

Little Stinker and the Monkey

We had a great Halloween and Harry managed to stay "candy-free." Annie didn't fare so well - she's had plenty of sugar this week-end and has had a good time trying all sorts of new candy -- Jr. Mints and Smarties to name a few. We did some Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood before we headed to our friend's Halloween party where both kids had a blast playing with Zach's toys, watching movies, jumping in the bouncy house, and generally running around making havoc with dozens of other sugared up pre-schoolers.









The Pumpkin Express









Oma and Opa were in town a few weeks ago and we took a ride on the "Pumpkin Express" - a train that goes from Horseshoe Bend to a pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous blue-skied day - perfect for picking pumpkins. Some friends were with us on the train too, including Engineer Deuce. We carved up our pumpkins with Opi's help and previewed our Halloween costumes. Harry now also says "MMM-Ma " (Oma) and UMMPA (Opa). Very cute!

Jen and Brian

Jen and Brian finally made it out to Boise - we had fun taking them around to all of our favorite spots - Saturday Market, Flying M Coffee, Camelback park and Parilla, and downtown for a night out (well, at least for me - Grady stayed home with the kids). Before they got to our house, Annie kept asking me if Brian was "sooo tall" that his head would hit the ceiling - I think she was remembering last time Brian came over to our house in SLC where his head really did hit the ceiling. We can't wait for them to come out to visit us again.


Fall Fun with Nana and Poppy

Nana and Poppy came back to Boise for my 30-something Birthday. I ended up sick, but the kids had a great week-end. Harry can say, "Mama" "Dada" "Nana" and "Pop-pop" - it melts all our hearts! He can also replicate various animal sounds and loves to dance to music. We often hear him saying, "E-I-E-I-OOOOOO" from his crib. Speaking of cribs, Harry's diaper (or its less than pleasant contents, anyway) ended up all over his crib and bedding during nap time while Nana and Poppy were here -- what a mess!
Those are blackberries on his face, not chocolate (so I'm told)!



It's Fiesta Time

Although its now been over a month ago, we had a great time when Aunt Kellie came out for a visit with Alex and Bella! We did lots of singing, dancing, jumping, eating, reading, and laughing!

Seriously - could these girls be any cuter?

Playing dress up with the hats

Story time.


"Toushu??!!"
Harry did pretty good keeping up with the big girls this time.
Daddy getting his grove on.

Fiesta Time! with homemade party hats


Put Your Hat On



Harry and Annie entertain each other playing dress up. Harry loves to wear Annie's hats and shoes - I topped off his outfit with one of her purses. It reminds me of my cousin Allie who used to have fun painting her little brother, Kyle's fingernails (we knew that he secretly liked it) I can't wait until the day that Harry says, "Mom! I can't believe you did that to me - and then you posted it on the blog!"

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Labor Day Week-end

We kicked off Fall with a nice visit from Oma and Opa; although we had some hot weather on Friday/Saturday, it cooled down quickly on Sunday and Monday. We biked downtown to the market on Saturday where both kids got soaked running through the fountain. We continued the water theme and had a picinic dinner at Sandy point beach in the afternoon. The water was a bit cold, but it was nice to get out of the heat. Sunday we took a walk on the green belt and while the kids were napping, Opa took Grady and I down the river on our canoe. There are three drops on the river which everyone, but Grady were nervous about in the canoe. We made the first one and the second, but didn't have such luck on the third. When we go to the top of the drop and look down, straight down, we knew we were in trouble. Even though we survived the drop a wave poured into the boat and quickly filled it up with water. Both Opa and Grady bailed out; I managed to stay in -although it didn't make much difference, I still got soaked. We saved all the gear and climbed back in. Had it been a typical summer day it would have actually felt refreshing, but it was much cooler than normal. Despite our spill it was great fun (we won't be taking the kids for a few more years)!
PHOTOS TO COME.

A Marble Blew Down





Nana and Poppy came to visit us in Boise on a week-end with plenty of fun things going on in town. First, they took us to the Western Idaho fair (well, actually, first they took Annie for a haircut and an ice cream cone). Annie had an absolute blast at the fair and surprisingly did not have a melt down (I say that given all the excitement she packed in and the dinner she skipped in favor of doughnuts, tortatos and french fries - which usually creates a good atmosphere for melt downs). Both the kids fed a bunch of hungry goats, saw cows being milked and baby chickens being hatch (I figured that would leave a imprint that might make vegans of them someday), and pet bunnies. Annie had her first pony ride (some very sad looking mini-ponies tied to those rings that make them walk in circles) and literally was bouncing in her seat like a legit cowgirl. Annie also rode on various fair rides, some all by herself - she seemed to like the fast twirling ones I thought she'd hate, but after she got on, she couldn't stop laughing. Harry, who although he could have probably met the height requirements, was still too little (young) to ride and was a good sport watching his big sister have so much fun. We had been advised by our friends, the Dangs, to make sure to buy a "Tortato" at the fair -- they take an entire potato, put it through a drill of somesort and deep fry it. It comes out in one giant chain of potato chip like goodness which you can dunk in hot sauce -- delicious!
Besides the fair, we all biked down to the "Tour de Fat" celebration and rode in a HUGE bike parade with our bikes decorated -- it was quite the scene as most people decorated themselves instead of their bikes; the kids were pretty good to spend such a long time in their bike trailor and had fun running around with buddy Deuce after the parade.
We also had a BBQ with the Dangs where Annie and Deuce played "pirates" for a good hour or more -- its pretty dang cute to hear little kids say things like, "Arg me matey!"
Nana and Poppy told Annie that they would blow her a kiss from the airplane when they flew over the house -- so, when Annie found a marble in our backyard yesterday, she said: I think it blew down from Nana and Poppy (because they have a chinese checker set complete with a bazillon marbles that Annie loves to play with at their house).