that's a ballard baby!

When we were visiting my brother and his family over Thanksgiving, we ate at a great little restaurant in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard. As we were leaving, one diner looked at Sam very appreciatively and said, "Now that looks like a Ballard baby!" Jared and I were mystified until my brother explained that there is a great deal of pride in these Seattle neighborhoods, particularly in Ballard, which is known for it's Scandinavian heritage and houses the Nordic Heritage Museum.

So for Christmas, my brother sent Sam a shirt to proudly declare his Ballardness:

Our little viking

Incidentally, the shirt is a 4T (my brother wisely bought for a "husky" toddler) and it fits Sam perfectly. He really is a viking!

Hope you all have a lovely New Year's Eve! We are staying home and having a party with the kids tonight, complete with games, Martinellis, stuffed mushrooms, and at least six kinds of cheese! Happy New Year, everyone!

merry christmas at last

As I sit here eating the last of the Christmas dinner (mmmm...candied yams. Sorry, Jared - I couldn't resist any longer,) I am ready to admit that Christmas is really over. Kind of sad to see another Christmas go - we had such a good one this year. Jared's parents came to visit us all last week and we had such a great time with them. They are my kind of treat-eating, movie-watching people! One of the best things about having them here is that I don't have to pick up my camera the entire time - Jared's dad does it for me! So here are a few glimpses of our Christmas week together (in no particular order):

Release the hounds!

Sam, looking coy in his Sunday clothes. And holding a pot from Eleanor's new kitchen (which he has taken over.)



The girls in their new Sunday "gowns"


I could not open this toy fast enough! This picture does not quite convey how agitated Sam was about not being able to get at his new tools. And oh what rapture when I finally broke through all the molded plastic!

Some serious ballet poses in their new gear from Aunt Miranda. The tutus were a huge hit.



Our annual gingerbread house extravaganza. Eve looks like she questioning my ability here.

Reading the note from Santa.


Eve tenderly looking over the art kit she has yearned for during the last year.

Ah, Christmas magic

in which we decide tree permits are overrated

Cost of tree permit: $5

Hours spent driving: 3.5
Minutes spent walking in woods: 30
Average temperature: 30
Times Sam fell in mud: 2
Times Eleanor expressed her fear of poison ivy: 4
Trees rejected by Eve: 8
Birthday parties we had to rush back for: 1
Lunches consumed: 0
Lollipops consumed: 8

Trees cut: 0

Cost of tree from the lot 7 minutes from our house: $29

Knowing we will probably not be attempting this again: priceless

The woods were beautiful, even if we didn't get a tree. Sam had so much fun running.

See? We still kind of had fun.




Kind of blurry and not decorated yet, but isn't it nice? You don't find trees like that in the woods, let me tell you.

ruining christmas

Right now, I am trying to kill time while we wait for the majorly iced over roads to melt so we can cut down our Christmas tree. We are all bundled up, the car is full of blankets and maps and flares (because of this - by the way, we are going up towards Butte Falls. If we don't come back, alert the authorities of our whereabouts!) We would have gone last Saturday, but my family kindly agreed to wait till this weekend so I could go gallavant around Portland with my friends. And we woke up this morning to a thin sheet of ice covering all of Medford.

So while my kids ice skate in the cul de sac and we wait for the roads to thaw, I thought I'd drop in and report on my awesome adventure last weekend. I have only done an overnighter with friends once. My lovely DC friends planned a surprise sleep over as a going away bash when I moved. We stayed up late and were so loud our neighbors in the next hotel room over called the cops on us. It was awesome! This time, however, it wasn't just an evening - we had the whole next day to hang out and shop and spend 5 leisurely hours in IKEA (well, we were kind of forced to - that store is an impossible-to-navigate labyrinth of Scandinavian design, I tell you!)

It was such a good time. Perhaps my favorite part was the 5 hours up and the 5 hours back. It's so rare that I get to have such a large chunk of uninterrupted conversation with friends. 10 hours and I bet we still had more to say! So thank you, friends, for an unforgettable time. And, most of all, big thanks to our husbands who so graciously took on all our children for 36 hours. The incessant nature of mommying can be so rewarding, but so wearing at the same time and I'm sure we all came back from our brief respite renewed and refreshed and ready to be better wives and moms than we were before.

Jared is always so encouraging and supportive when I need some time away. He and the kids seemed to have had a blast. They went Christmas shopping, saw Santa at the mall, went out for lunch, had a movie night, and cleaned the house from top to bottom! In fact, maybe the best part of the entire weekend was walking in the door to a spotless house, peacefully sleeping children, and a smiling husband. I'm a lucky girl.

Now, hopefully writing this post killed enough time that the roads will have thawed a little bit. Wish us luck! Remember - Butte Falls! Luckily, Jared has his Snow Cave Building Merit Badge!

why Jared is a rock star

In just 30 minutes, I am leaving with three good friends for an overnight trip to Portland! Jared is such a hero for coming home early today and staying with the kids while I party it up in the big city. I am so excited and I couldn't have done it without the awesomeness that is Jared. I am considering this an early Christmas present, so one down, honey! :) Now, to get my shoes and coat...

all she wants for Christmas

So cliche, but such perfect timing!

in which I apologize for yet another prolonged absence

Wow! My new resolve to start blogging again didn't really last very long, did it? In my defense, my life has been pretty routine lately and I have not had a lot of good material. (Note to kids: be more funny.) But we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I didn't want it to pass without noting it.

It turns out our Thanksgiving was so wonderful, I didn't take any pictures of it! *sigh* We drove up to Seattle to share the holiday with my brother and his family. They are always such great hosts and we had a very pleasant, relaxing weekend with them. They were very patient and understanding when both Sam and I had a relapse into the nasty hacking cough that had been plaguing us the week before Thanksgiving (hey, that's why I wasn't blogging! I knew there was a reason.)

Some of the highlights of the trip included:

• eating my sister-in-law's cooking. Gingerbread bread pudding is not to be missed! Nor her delicious brined Alton Brown turkey
• watching Star Trek movies II, III, IV. (Should I admit that?) They were awesome.
• buying a new computer desk at Portland IKEA on our way through. May it solve all our organizational problems!
• eating at some fantastic Seattle restaurants. One where the waitress was super nice to our kids (and thought I was a lesbian...long story.)
• getting to see my grandpa, my favorite aunt (you know you are, Aunt Julie!), my uncle, and sweet cousins.
• reuniting with my long lost DC bosom buddy Rebecca! It was magical!
• a double date with my brother and his wife. So nice they always arrange that (and big thanks to the aforementioned aunt and cousins for sitting.)
• being reminded of all the things I have to be grateful for, too many to even begin to list.

I can think of several more, but I think this post is already wordy enough. All in all, it's nice to be home and I'm looking forward to a happy December. Now I'm off to work on finding a place for our new desk. It always looks worse before it looks better!

halloween

Finally, Halloween pics! We were quite an eclectic bunch this year. Eve was a pioneer, Eleanor a mermaid, and Sam was a rather husky Clark Kent.

After whining to my talented seamstress sister about having to make a pioneer dress, she very galantly offered to sew it for me. Thanks, Miranda! She carefully noted Eve's preferences and made it just how her little pioneer highness wanted it. And that dress is a work of art, I tell you! No corners cut or sloppy sewing - it was perfect. To say Eve was thrilled would be an understatement. I wish I could capture the magic moment when Eve lifted her beautiful dress out of the package. It was all I could do to keep her from wearing it everyday until Halloween.

Eleanor's mermaid costume was a bit of a challenge for me because I'm not very experienced sewing clothing or with patterns. But I found one she liked and modified it into a skirt, and Nora seemed very pleased. It turned out pretty satisifactory, I thought! The crown was her idea, of course.

We mostly wanted Sam to have an easy and warm costume, because he wasn't really trick-or-treating this year. Sadly, Sam does not naturally sport Clark Kent's washboard abs, but I'm pretty sure this tough little guy would be impervious to kryptonite. So who needs abs?

We had fun at the school's annual Halloween carnival and the church's trunk-or-treat and meeting up with friends to go trick-or-treating (not all the same day, thankfully.) The Oregon weather was kind to us and we all stayed mercifully dry.

I'm not a huge Halloween lover - sexy nurses? greedy teenagers without costumes? gory headless decorations? - but all in all, it was a happy Halloween. The girls are already planning next year's costumes. A fish?! Are you serious? *sigh*

With good friends the Wilhoits at the school carnival

pumpkin patch

I told you I'd be back! Here are pictures of our annual trip to the local pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. Nothing too exciting, but grandparents (especially those in other continents) deserve pictures of every enduring family tradition! So without further ado...

Sliding down the mountain of hay. Eve did it in a skirt and no tights. Yowch!

I blame facebook

So perhaps you have noticed my prolonged absence from my blog. Or perhaps you haven't. I'd be surprised if I have any loyal readers left after my shameless three week hiatus. Have I no sense of decency? Where is the pumpkin patch trip? Where is our front yard makeover? For the love, where is HALLOWEEN?! I am the most negligent poster ever.

In short, I blame facebook. I joined facebook earlier this fall and tried to stave off the mania that is facebook-status-updating-and-checking, but I completely gave in a few weeks ago. What if I missed something? What if a friend said something important and I was the only one who didn't know? What if a friend posted what she ate for lunch and I missed it?! So in the occassional empty 30 minutes that come my way, I would check facebook and guiltily avoid my blog.

But enough! I am back! Be gone, facebook! In the words of Jennifer Connelly to David Bowie, "You have no power over me!" As soon as I get my photos off my camera, I promise there will be many posts. I am just trying to take the first step toward recovery.

In the meantime, if any of you eat something really great for lunch, just post it in my comments. That will really ease my withdrawal symptoms.

the best 9 years

Jared, thanks for making me the happiest girl alive 9 years ago today. I still am! (Happy, that is. I'm alive, too, but I meant happy.) I love you!

letter to an occupant

Dear Swine Flu,

I'd like to thank you for your recent extended visit in our home. You have made for an exciting house guest and it has been very interesting getting to know you and all your delightful quirks.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I was wondering if you could finish out the rest of this week somewhere else. I would just like to have back the corner of the couch that Eleanor has been occupying for the past 48 hours. I would also like to see Eleanor in a semi-conscious and vaguely lucid state. I'm also worried about the effect you may have on other members of our household. Your enthusiasm is...infectious.

xoxo,

Gwyn

PS. Is vomitting in your symptom repertoire? You are so full of surprises!

PPS. You suck.

seoul food

I know this announcement is only exciting to me, but we finally have a Korean restaurant in Medford! It's the only one between California and Eugene, OR which covers quite a large and kimchi-less expanse of territory. So hooray for me! Hooray hooray!

That said, I'm a little worried about the fate of Seoul Garden. Number one, its location puts it at a slight disadvantage. Unless you think the Food-4-Less parking lot is a very chic place for a new eatery (um...it's not.) Also, it's in the Ramada Inn. Number two, the sign actually reads "Seoul Garden: Korean * Texas * BBQ * Sandwiches." Well, good thing I love Korean Texas BBQ Sandwiches! Mmmm-mmmm, my favorite!

The blurb in the paper said it is owned by a Texan man and his Korean wife, so they were trying to bring both cultures to the table (hopefully, not in the same dish.) It said that it serves a number of standard, homestyle Korean dishes. So we'll see! As long as I never see the bottom of that kimchi bowl, I'll be in good shape.

I have complained for a good 18 months about the lack of Korean restaurants or markets in this town, so I won't be too critical now. I'll report back after I've had the chance to give it a try!

first days

They're off! Eleanor had her first day of preschool yesterday and I just got back from sending Eve off to a big day at second grade (actually, a second/third split class. I'm kind of excited about this, kind of nervous. Anyone done this before and have any words of advice for me?)

So far, everyone has been all smiles.

Nora loved her preschool yesterday and already made a new friend. And though Eve was too nervous to eat more than two bites of her breakfast, she did great once she got to her classroom. Something about seeing your name on a desk just can't be beat! Her newly constructed school is so shiny and beautiful. I wanted to stay, it looked like so much fun. I love that delicious smell of newly sharpened pencils and fresh crayola crayons. Can't wait to hear her report when she gets home!

Waiting at the bus stop. Eleanor had to come, too, of course.

breaking up is hard to do

Dear Summer,

I think we both knew this couldn't last forever. The long walks on the beach, the picnics in the park, the late nights and the lazy mornings - they were magical. But change is in the air and it is time for us to be moving on. The nights will be cold without you, but I look forward to seeing you again in about nine months.

warmly,
gwyn

PS. Why don't you take a trip? Maybe New Zealand, perhaps?

a last hurrah

With the school year bearing down upon us in a matter of days, we decided to have one last day of pure fun. We drove out to the coast yesterday and enjoyed a day at the beach. The weather was gorgeous, the drive went smoothly, and we all had a summer-iffic time. The perfect send off to summer vacation.

Sam sacked out even before we were all in the car. A long day of playing in the sand.

new hair cuts

wasps: vanquished

I don't like to tell the whole blogosphere when Jared goes out of town and I am left at home alone with only my dagger-shaped letter opener in my bedside table to protect me. But now that he is back, I don't mind saying that Jared has been in Las Vegas from Sunday afternoon until late last night. Hence, my difficulty with spraying the wasps.

(Though I did have many kind offers from friends to do it for me - thank you, friends! Had I been able to find the wasp spray, I would have taken you up on your generous offers.)

So after Jared got home last night, he got the spray (he knew where it was, of course) and made short work of the wasp nest. So far, I have only seen one straggler buzzing around so I think my waspy days are behind me. Hooray!

Though, I'm not sure why the helpful suggestion presented in this book didn't occur to me earlier. It's such a great idea.

fighting back

It is day three of Waspwatch '09. Fed up, I hunted in the garage this morning for the wasp spray, but couldn't find it, so I decided to try this ingenious little plan suggested to me by several friends:

Doesn't it look menacing? I think the general idea is that the wasps eat themselves full, they fall into the water and because they are either too full of hotdog or their wings are too slippery from the soap, they drown. This is just a stop gap measure until Jared gets home from his trip tonight and can find the spray, but I have high hopes.

I'll have to let you know if my weenie death trap lures many wasps to a soapy grave. But in the mean time, we are no longer afraid of you, wasps! We are fighting back! We are reclaiming our front door! FREEDOM!

**UPDATE** So far, our awesome trap has not so much been catching many wasps. I think they have had a few nibbles of the hot dog, thanked me for thoughtfully providing a snack for them, and then went back to throwing themselves at my front door. This was not the desired effect. Do they not care for my Oscar Meyer All-Beef Frank?

5 hours until Jared gets home...

feeling waspish

Last night, I painted our front door. The inside part of it. It used to be cream, but I painted it white to match the trim I painted last month. It was the last step of our living room paint job. Not a very exciting or blog-worthy story, I know.

This morning, I woke up, removed the tape, and stepped back to admire my lovely white door. But it's beauty was marred by the hundreds of nasty spiderwebs crowding the windows on the outside. (We live in Oregon so we have millions of spiders. They are the state bird.) So I got my spider-whacking broom and made short work of those nasty webs. And then I windexed the windows - that door looked like a million bucks, I tell you!

Later, after coming home from a few errands, we looked out our lovely clean door windows and noticed about 50 wasps buzzing furiously around our door. They were throwing themselves at the door and windows making this incessant thwacking sound, like a million tiny tap dancers. It was alarming! What did I do to make them so mad? Did I choose the wrong paint color? Who knew the spiders were such a vital part of my front door ecosystem?!

(Maybe this is a good time to mention that Eve delevoped a severe, start-hyperventilating-and-burst-into-tears anxiety about wasps when she was bit twice by one earlier in the summer. Needless to say, she was not very happy about what was going on outside our front door.)

And, to make this even sadder, Eve's friend B. had come over while we were gone to see if EVe could play. While standing on our porch and knocking on the door, poor innocent B. was attacked and ran home with a wasp bite! And later, I had to come running out of the backdoor to intercept the FedEx guy before he ventured into the dangerzone. And I am supposed to have a presidency meeting here in about an hour! Luckily, I have a backdoor but I feel like I should put up a sign or something.

What should I do?! I'm trapped in my house by a million angry wasps!

This picture looks very ominous when you know there a million angry wasps swarming just on the other side of that door, throwing themselves at it with ferocity! You can't even tell how pretty the new white paint looks. It's called Crumb Cookie.

weaned and fabulous!

Hopefully this isn't too much information, but Sam is now officially weaned. It was a happy and mutual weaning - he was growing less interested and more teeth at the same time, which had a dampening affect on my desire to nurse. So we are now officially done and Sam is a sippy-cup toting fool. And I - at long last - have my body back! After 9 months of pregnancy and 13 months of nursing, it is such a liberating feeling to have no other physical demands on my body.

Also liberating is being able to wear dresses at long last! Dresses are not very condusive to nursing. I know this because I once observed a friend attempting it in the mother's room at church and it definitely yielded questionable results. I have about a billion skirts in various colors and patterns and styles, but I am ready to move on.

The thing is, I haven't bought a dress since nearly high school. Where should I go? What would look good? While pondering these important questions, I stumbled on this adorable site. Shabby Apple dresses cover all the things I would like covered and still manage to be super chic. Yes, out of my price range but still fun to look at and sigh over. Some of my favorites (so many, it's hard to pick!):

Go and find your own drool-worthy dress! And in the mean time, tell me where you find cute non-skirt church apparel.