Picture time, it's picture time!

"It's time again for picture time! It's time to get your crayons and your pen-cils!" Remember that song?! That has nothing to do with this post. It was just a fun title that got me sidetracked.

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I'm totally backtracking here with this post. I needed something to post about. About a month ago, on a warm September weekend, we went with my side of the family to Black Butte, a deserty/foresty resort in central Oregon. We got a rental deal because it is the "shoulder" season (after labor day) and it turned out to be perfect! The house had a beautiful deck where the kids played a lot. Jojo helped spearhead this clever little game: pine cone golf.

It's funny, Jack is closer in age to Sydney, but he and Carson seem to play very well together. Carson adores Jack and Jack seems to want to follow Carson and do what he is doing, so usually it is perfect. One of my favorite memories of the two of them outside is when my mom and I were trying to get Jack to say "pine cone." (He's talking like crazy at this age!) Carson decided to try to help, but with his little speech impediment, he was very clearly articulating:

"JACK. SAY 'PINE TONE.' Can you say that, Jack? 'PINE. TONE.'" :) It was pretty funny.

Here's the 3 cousins after waking up. What a shocker. Pantless Wonder strikes again there on the left.

Three families in a small 3 bedroom house make for some early morning wake-up calls all around! These 2 early birds enjoyed their bran muffins at 6:15am while the rest of us tried to wake up a little.


There was lots of wrestling!

Mostly (ok, only) with all the males in the house.

Carson watched Toy Story and Horton Hears a Who with Jack on the little DVD player and gave him a play-by-play of the plot. In case Jack was...blind and deaf? I don't know, but sweet Jack didn't care.

But we also had lots of storytime.

Lots and lots of stories were read.

One of our favorite things was that Black Butte just got a brand new pool area that also has fountains for the kids to run in. This has never been a huge draw for us, but now that we've tried it out, we know how fun it is!

Oh, I'm so biased, but she's pretty cute.

Jack, checking out the sprinklers...

I love this one!

Jack was not timid at all about the water.

How can that feel good?!

This was taken on our last day, when I didn't dress Sydney down for the water. She still got a little taste of it, though.

It was a great weekend. Thanks Bunches!

Things I'm loving this week

Well, first, as I type this, my house is filled with the DELISH smell of pumpkin bread baking, and I'm loving that. So we'll make that #1!

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Also, we're having a renewed love affair with our Wii. Yes, I said it. A video gaming system. I love it. Now, forgive me as I sound like a commercial here for a minute, but the Wii is just....different. It really is. I've been around video games for years. And mostly my personal experience was watching boys/young men/grown men sitting on the couch totally captivated by some video game while their girlfriends/wives/children/parents observed with feigned interest or just left the room. (The short exception to this was my fleeting--yet victorious--foray into the world of Dr. Mario during college.)

But...

the Wii is different! One of the first things that sold me on the Wii is that you don't have to have a degree from MIT to figure out the control or the games. Pretty much every game we've played you can learn in one practice round. In fact, pretty much every game our PRESCHOOLER can learn to play in one round. Not necessarily excel, but at least participate. Which is the biggest thing for us: an entire room of people can participate. Young and old. It is appropriate, it's fun, it's active and it's transferable (meaning my cousin can pick up my bowling game at frame 6).

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This week we've gotten renewed interest because we borrowed a new game called Wii Resort, with several new games like fencing, 3-point basketball contest, ping-pong, frisbee, etc. Here's some pics of us the first night we got it. Just move the clutter out of your way and pick up a Wii-mote. Here's my boys. As usual: clothing is optional. Trent is trying to master frisbee. Or he could be posing for the camera...I'm not sure.
Here is me in a frantic, no-rules sword fight with my own son. I'm not kidding. You have "pads" on, but you are wildly waving your sword and dueling with your opponent, trying to knock them off a platform into the water. I lost--legitimately--to Carson three times before...
I finally won.

Another thing I'm loving is actually something I've been loving for a few months, but haven't posted a picture. My mom made this carseat cover for Sydney when she inherited her brother's old, dingy carseat. I. LOVE. IT. She's made me dozens of things over the years, and this is probably in my top five.
These are some pics I took of Sydney from the way back of the mini-van. (Which, I'm also STILL loving, thank you very much. Take that, Howerton!)
We arrived to pick up Carson from preschool and were pretty early. Sydney often is very active in her little seat, rocking out to whatever music I have on. I got the sudden impulse to rush into the way back and see if she would keep dancing for me. She kind of kept up her hand motions, but this is very toned down from her usual moves. (Watch carefully the first few seconds of this video...I think it looks like she is plunking out a little air-bass guitar.)

Four...so far.

I can't tell if it's the simple addition of preschool into our lives (and all the book orders, field trips, fundraisers and drop off/pick ups that includes) or if it's just fall and schedules really pick up, but we have felt SO BUSY lately! Thanks for those who commented on my last post. For a couple days there was one comment and I was beginning to think my venture onto a serious topic had alienated all of you. :) I just haven't had much time to blog, let alone good pictures to post. These still are not great pics, but they will hold over all of you gmas/gpas & aunts/uncles.

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Here's a pic of Carson & Daddy playing with one of his birthday gifts: a frisbee that lights up in the dark. It was the night after his party, when the weather was still warm, obviously. Here he's playing with another present, some sidewalk chalk from Nina.
We've had more angry sibling encounters lately, but most of the time, these 2 still get along famously. Sydney is getting older--she's 15 months--and is pretty much walking exclusively, and is a toddler! She pushes buttons and boundaries and wants to investigate any off-limits item from the computer's power button to her brother's toys. But here's a few out-of-focus pics of them in happier times.

I SO wish this one was in focus!

It turns out that deciding to do preschool has been a great decision. Carson is totally thriving. I think the fact that he is the oldest in his class really helps. Those few months are not a lot, but with only 3-4 years of life, they provide a teensy bit of maturity. Whatever it is (stellar parenting?!?), his teachers have been telling me what an easy student he is, what a huge help he is, that he went out of his way to be especially kind to a new boy in class. One teacher even said he is "the model student." I was happy, but honestly, a little surprised, and I told her so. Remembering THAT VERY MORNING he had a complete and total meltdown where I had to physically pick him up, kicking and screaming, and take him to a time-out in his room where he was throwing things at the door in anger. And this was because it was raining and I told him he needed to choose shoes that were not flip-flops. So, yeah, I was a tad bit surprised. When I told her Carson was strong-willed she said "Are you kidding me?!" And I looked at her, trying to be sure she wasn't being sarcastic and I said, "Are YOU kidding ME?" I don't care. I'm thrilled. I hope the magic continues!

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Swimming lessons are another story, but I'm running out of time, so I'll blog about that next time.

So many people I see occasionally say "Her hair is so much redder in person!" Don't know if you can see here, but it is pretty red. And my cheap camera is pretty lousy.

Look at this one for a minute until you see a cute face.

Loving the sunny fall weather!

"Smile, Carson!"

"I said, 'SMILE' Carson!"

Guess who's getting some teeth?! Can you tell by the drool?

Watching brother's antics.

Love that smile!

Gravity

I was pretty vocal about my adoration for the summer show, So You Think You Can Dance. Each season I get pretty sucked in, attached to certain dancers and follow it pretty closely. Sometimes the judges talk too long or don't make sense, sometimes the choreography is weird or strange, the costumes are hideous...what I'm saying is that I don't love every aspect. Mostly, I've just watched for the fun and fascinating dancing! The dancers are truly phenomenal, and totally captivating.
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This last season, though, was the first time that watching a dance actually brought me to tears. I do NOT care for the personality of Mia Michaels, but her choreography is amazing. One of the main reasons I loved this dance was the song choice, which is "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles. It is one of the most musically beautiful vocals I've heard in years--and I thought that before I saw the dance.
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As you'll see in this video, the "story" for this number is that the male dancer represents an addiction that the female character is trying to beat. As I've watched this video, now over a dozen times, I have broadened the interpretation in my mind. I think it easily provides an analogy for any "THING" that has hold over a person: addiction, grief, depression, sin, or [fill in the blank].
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And my personality is one that likes to have everything wrapped up in a tidy box at the end of the story; I want a happy ending, especially to abstract philosophical or spirital topics like this, I'd like to see a dance about how Jesus is faithful and he forgives and loves and you can be healed. But this time, I find it important to give a moment to the horror of evil, or addiction, or grief or whatever kind of pain it is...and how that pain is real, life-changing and oppressive. I think the title of the song, "Gravity" is appropriate for how these issues truly can weigh us down until we manage to find a way out. But "the way out" is for another dance. This one captures the dark of night before the dawn breaks, and I think it is heart-breakingly gorgeous.
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(If you want to skip the pre-dance stuff, you can try to start it around 1:01.)

Jungle Safari! Part 2

My only regret about Carson's party is that I didn't take any video. I think it was a wonderful glimpse into his truly enchanted childhood. (He may not think it is enchanted, but I see how all the pieces of his life add up to nothing less.) He was surrounded by all of his extended family--blood and "adopted"-- who love him, encourage him and shower him with gifts and affection while supporting his parents in this crazy job of raising him. His backyard was decorated with streamers and balloons, and his young friends and cousin(s) joined him in playing on the swingset, opening gifts and eating some pretty yummy cupcakes. I was very proud of the way he handled himself amidst the possible chaos! He seemed grateful (or at least excited, which is similar in 4 year old emotion-land) for each gift and didn't have any meltdowns. It was wild and fun...just like a safari should be!

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Special shout-out to Ivy M, who was one of the first to wear her animal hat and proudly sported it throughout the party, even when everyone else took theirs off. That shows good promise for a self-confident girl! We put the hats in the laundry basket, let the kids choose and brought the mirror out for them to see what they looked like in the hats.
Here's another stinkin' cute girl (whom, hint-hint, Carson is not related to by blood, just FYI for future dating scenarios), our little Abigail! She did like her Monkey hat and I heard she and Ethan wore them into Walgreens later in the week.
Here's the birthday boy when he arrived. As I mentioned, my sweet in-laws took the kids the night before so we could clean and get ready. He fell asleep on the drive back to our house, so he was a little dreamy-headed when he came in to his own party!

The look on his face cracks me up! It's one of the elephant cupcakes, and I swear that was what he asked for, even if it looks like he's about to complain.

Steph & Henry eating my hard work.

The teeny-tiny kid's table we got at a garage sale for $5!

This was the closest we got to having a "kids in their animal hats" picture! It gives you the general idea. I discovered the beauty of Oriental Trading Company online this year and got a dozen hats and a dozen jungle animal beach balls for under $20. They doubled as party favors!

I love watching preschool kids open gifts and see the restraint on the part of all the party-going friends! They did a great job.

A fun combo: Diego and Wii!

Look at all those little helpers!

Even though this isn't the clearest pic, it is a fun moment in time of Carson and his friend enjoying the day. Thanks to everyone who came and participated and made us all feel so loved!