Taber got on a missing Alaska kick the other night so I thought I'd put up some good old AK pics. His parents don't live there anymore so we don't go back as much, but we did go 2 years ago when Teya was Brinley's age. Crazy thing about that first picture is you'd think it was taken in the middle of winter but that was actually taken in May!
Here's one more from that trip. I had to throw it in because Brinley is now rockin' the same sprout hair do that Teya did at her age!
It was Taber's idea actually. I guess way back on 08-08-88 He recalls baking a cake to celebrate the date. I guess if it made a big enough impression to last in his memories for over 20 years it was worth doing with our kids too. The girls and I had fun baking the cake, filling our tummies with frosting (and putting some on the cake too) making decorations and learning about the number 9. Teya has found learning numbers a little more challenging than letters, so this was a fun way to really make number 9 stick!
Brinley helped too, but this was the only picture I got of her, complete with marker and ketchup stains on her shirt from decorating and eating.
For the grand finale we sang "Happy 9 day to you" and we all helped blow out the candle.
This weekend our friends Maile and Dave organized a big labor day camp out. It was our first time camping with the girls and even though I was nervous about the kids being able to sleep, they both did awesome! I think all the great activities like s'more roasting, exploring in the woods, fireworks, and watching the campfire really wore them out. I thought we'd have to lay with them for awhile to get them to fall asleep but we put them down a little after 9 and Teya just hit the pillow and was out! Brinley required a little more coaxing, but after a couple lullabies and back rubbing she was gone too. With both girls out we headed back to the campfire for some good chatting and bonding time with the other adults.
Yummy S'mores!!
Chocolate S'more face
Some pics of the campfire crowd. I think there were around 13 families that came. It was a great group!
Teya exploring the "spooky woods"
Our cute little tent. It looks small but it actually fit all four of us really well!
I brought the girls in the tent to change them into their jammies and they got all crazy hyper in there!
Teya was pretty excited about the sparklers! Huge props to JP for bringing those, they were a big hit with the kids.
This is Brinley right before we put her to bed. She was SOOOO tired! (can you tell? : )
And here she is waking up in the morning with Daddy.
Can't get enough of her big fat cheesy smile! How can you not be happy waking up to that face?
Today's Friday Foto is from earlier this week when Teya had her very first visit to the Dentist. Doesn't she look so grown up in that chair? I can hardly stand it! She was so brave and did a great job.
It may have taken us 3 1/2 hours, and I may never attempt such an ambitious recipe again, but Maria and I are claiming kitchen warrior status for the homemade lasagna we made for our men last night! Here is a link to the recipe http://mylasagnarecipe.com/ Let's just say it involved us cutting up fresh basil leaves, grating a pound a real mozzarella, and throwing in spices I've never cooked with, like fennel seed. Oh yeah, we are hard core!!! (all you REAL hard core chefs are like, "aw, cute, Becca thinks she can cook now... bless her heart") But seriously! We felt so accomplished! (Of course, I think it would've taken me 5 hours without Maria and I probably would've had a meltdown somewhere in the middle) Still, I'm patting myself on the back for trying something new. I'd also like to mention that we made homemade bread rolls, fresh green beans, and a strawberry poppyseed salad for extra credit. Our men were quite appropriately blown away, and I'm giving myself the weekend off cooking because I EARNED it! : )
Next is a close up of the TV stand. Why are there 7 DVD's out of their cases? No wonder Teya's cartoons always skip...And maybe someday I'll think of a better place to keep my hand weights, but today is not that day.
Here's a closer look at our table. Ramen noodles stuck to the table top. Teya's slimy frog to accompany her for lunch. And toy shelves in my dining room because let's face it, that's where all the toys end up anyway!
Let's visit the kitchen shall we? More bottles. I really need to buckle down on the bottle weaning. I will say that the sink actually looks pretty good! (it should considering that I am constantly loading and unloading the dishwasher all day long)
Kitchen counter with a can of Slim Fast, a tribute to my futile attempts to break up with junk food. At least I'm trying...What else? Wipes, baby shoes, my purse, and the mail. Sometimes my counter doubles as a desk, but more often it's just my catch all when I walk in the door.
Here's my "desk" (a.k.a. cheap card table with all our electronic junk thrown on top) I see snacks, my empty bowl from lunch (blogging makes me hungry) the diaper bag, oh and that's a little egg timer by the computer because I'm trying this new thing where I limit my computer time. (As I've already spent an hour on this post I will say that the egg timer isn't working...yet...)
At the top of the stairs is my room. I'm only posting this little corner because you can only be so brave... Bed isn't made, my jeans never made it to the hamper, more wipes and clothes from one of Brinley's many spontaneous diaper changes. Monty's dog food bowl that he drags in our room to eat and his special monkey Zander.
Our loft. Uh... yeah. I think I pulled all that camping stuff out 2 weeks ago to make room in the guestroom for my parents. Then I just left it there because we're going camping this weekend. I guess at the time I thought, "why put it away when I'm gonna use it again in three weeks?"
And since I won't post pics of the bathrooms or my closets of shame, I give you my own crowning jewel, Teya and Brinley's room. No need to describe the beauty you see here. Although I would like to point out the lovely Dora blanket that I draped over the window to block out the light when they sleep. Someday I'll put in curtains, but once again, today is not that day.
The crowds were unbelievable. (125,000 people attended that day) My friend Adrienne told me it made Disneyland look sparse. She was right! If you turned around you could lose your family, even if they were standing 10 feet away from you. I saw a family with all the children dressed in bright neon yellow. Not a bad idea...
After I ate my fried food I was pretty much good to go. But we decided to stop by the Miracle of Birth exhibit were they had a ton of pregnant animals ready to give birth any day. We saw baby pigs that were a day old, tiny ducklings, baby chicks coming right out of their eggs, little lambs and a very pregnant cow.
I thought the cow birth would trump everything else that happened at the fair, but on our way home when I asked Teya what her favorite part was she said, " I really liked it when the baby chick almost climbed in my hand but it didn't." Gotta love kids! I'm just glad we all had a good time. : )
I'm going to start this post by saying up front that I totally hit the jackpot when it comes to parents. I adore my Mom and Dad. They uplift me, support me, and always make me want to be better. They were able fly out last weekend to watch the girls while we ran our race. In true grandparent fashion, they showed the girls the time of their lives. They had so much fun that when we came back, instead of being greeted with a "Mommy I missed you!" Teya took one look at me, clung to my mom and said, "I don't want Grandma to go bye bye!" Guess I can't blame her really. It's not like I ever take her to the Mall of America and let her ride all the rides, buy her matching bracelets and necklaces or let her pick out her very own slimy tree frog from the Rainforest Cafe. Yeah, I'm definitely not as cool as Grandma. : )
My sister Naomi came out too to help with the kiddos and to support her husband Kevin (who ran with us) at the finish line. There really aren't words to describe how happy it made me to have my parents and sister in town to support us. They are the kind of people that I hope to be. Just good, through and through.
After the race my parents stuck around for a couple days. I loved watching them with the girls and seeing them do all the things I adored as a child. Swinging Teya by both hands through the parking lot, giving her quarters for the gumball machine, singing songs in the car and my Dad's famous "buzzard" tickle finger.
I was also amazed at what a cleaning machine my mom is. I mean, I try to be pretty productive but my mom puts me to shame! For example, after I cook dinner, I'm done. I slaved away making it, I shouldn't have to clean it up right? Not so for my mom. She cooks it, cleans it, then follows us around and as soon as we put our glasses down they are rinsed out and loaded in the dishwasher. I felt like I had this cleaning fairy following me around. I got out of bed then turned around and she had already made it. Threw my clothes in the hamper and two hours later they were washed and folded on my dresser. Wow! the lazy part of me just wants to invite her to move in, but my better side tells me I need to take a cue from my mom and step it up in the cleaning department!
It was also cool being around my Dad. He is the embodiment of the Aloha spirit. He is warm, outgoing, friendly and fun. When we were at church I didn't need to introduce him to anyone. He just went from person to person, introducing himself and making friends. "Hi I'm Becca's Dad!" "How are you? I'm Becca's Dad!" By the end of church I found him in the hall hugging people. Love that guy!
When I was a teenager I was told that my parents were the salt of the earth. At the time I was like, "uh, whatever dude." (forgive me mom and dad, I was a teenager!) Now though I see very clearly that that is what they are. They are good, wholesome, humble, unpretentious, and just always seeking to lift others. I'm so glad my girls got to be around them and have their undivided attention for a few days. I'm also glad I got to be around them and to learn from their examples of how I can be better in every way. Thanks Mom and Dad, you guys are the BEST!
