Snow!

Sarah's Thoughts:

 There is something exciting about new snowfall that brings me back to childhood.  Suddenly I am eight years old, wearing my full-body snowmobile suit, digging tunnels and making snow angels in the front yard. When I get too cold and retreat inside, my mom fixes me a hot chocolate in the special walrus mug and gives me a candy cane to stir with.  My siblings and I make a pact that no one touches the back yard, so that it accumulates as much untouched, flawless snow as possible. We watch the progress from the living room window, until the glorious day that Erin gives us the "OK".  We dive into the blank canvas that is ready to be molded into an incredible fort or snowman!  Snow covers up the soggy deadness of fall, like winter deadens the demanding schedules of summer.  Real life is always present, hibernating, but we are allowed to forget about it for awhile.  We are given the gift of time to cuddle-up and re-energize, detach and refocus.  It will all be there, waiting for us in the spring, but for now, lets have some hot chocolate, and don't forget your special peppermint stirring stick!

High - Post-nap story cuddle time with my warm, red-cheeked boy.

Low - Waking up at 5:30 am the day after my birthday to Dolly's poop explosion all over the laundry room.  Lovely.

Luke Update:

Luke is looking for inside projects of the outdoor persuasion.  He's thinking of taking on another bow-building project but at the moment is doing a little re-loading (bullets).  I think this is his version of "crafty" and "settling-in for the winter".  He was excited about a hot find he discovered at RayCo Sales.  He was looking for some bullets online and found a great deal - 500 for $60.  However, the great deal turned south when shipping to Alaska was figured in. Discouraged, he tried to think outside the box and decided to look around town.  He went to the local pack-rat gun and ammo shop and low and behold found a dusty box in the back corner that had exactly what he wanted- a box of 500 bullets and for only $42.00.  Cha-ching! He had yet another adventurous, but unsuccessful hunting trek on Saturday.  According to Luke, there were pockets of deer activity and signs that the Rut is underway, but no animals were spotted.  

Owen Update:

I know that every week I write about how in love with my son I am, but I just have to say that I am in love with my son.  Both Luke and I look at him and marvel at how incredible he is and that we made him!  Lately, he's been mimicking sounds.  This morning, he walked onto Dolly's mat (which is off-limits for him).  I said "Owen, Uh-uh" and he stepped off the mat and said, "Uh-uh" in the exact same sing-songy tone. I'm hoping this was part of the learning process and not a sassy streak... Luke gave him a haircut this weekend.  Owen's hair doesn't lay down at all, it grows straight out from his head- looks like a halo when the sun shines through it. If we don't cut it, he has this stick straight blonde afro.  Luke thinks he looks so sharp with a fresh haircut, but it makes me think of a new army recruit and I'm just not ready for that yet...   

Owen in a sweater vest.  

Does this scream Sunday School attire or what?

Feeling the freeze of snow for the first time.

Maybe next time he'll choose to keep those mittens on!

Randy 

(from the Christmas Story)

The mighty hunter returns!

The Brink of Birthday

Sarah's Thoughts:

Every year on my birthday I feel like I should have some sort of amazing reflection on my life and insight to my future hopes and dreams... I guess the biggest change in the past year has been Owen's growth from teensey baby to toddler.  See, my life is mostly Owen....  But I'm OK with that.  I really feel like I was made to be a mom to Owen and a wife to Luke.  I'm so thankful that I'm right where I am.  Crazy that something so fulfilling is something I would have never figured that out on my own- not if I'd spent years in meditation or years traveling the globe. I guess my incredible insight from this year is not really anything new- just that God is big and knows what's best, so its best to entrust everything to Him.  Less stress, more fulfillment, more time to work on my sewing projects! :)  P.S. I think I might be planning a birthday party with my girlfriends- wine, delicious food and the word game?  What do you say, ladies?

High: Getting to go to our old roommate's birthday dinner.  So fun to hang out with friends and get out of the house!  Happy Birthday Chris!

Low:  Spending 3 precious nap-time hours on Saturday afternoon trying to wade through technical jargon related to website posting/programming only to realize that I needed more info from the client to move forward.  Ugh!

Luke Update:

Luke's big adventure this week was a day trip for deer.  He went with his buddy, John, who is now infamous for being a deer slayer.  When Luke first met John, he hadn't ever shot a deer.  These days, John can't seem to go wrong.  Case in point:  Luke and John leave at the crack of dawn for their deer hotspot.  They take the boat, Luke drops John and the gear off on shore and takes the boat back out a little bit to anchor it.  He then plans to row the inflatable raft to shore, but before Luke can even get into the raft, he hears gun shots.  John: 1, Deer: 0.  That was it for the rest of the day.  I have to say that our freezer is getting a wee bit short on meat, so I told Luke that he might think twice before taking John deer hunting again... but maybe John is good luck?  

Owen Update:

Owen started helping clean up this week!  Very Very Exciting!  I can always count on him to throw his diapers away.  As soon as the dirty one is off and packaged up in a little diaper ball, Owen will squirm and wiggle his way to his feet, grab the diaper ball and start waddling into the next room.  (His diaper pail is so stinky, I keep it in the spare room- advice anyone???)  He walks right over to the dresser atop which the diaper pail sits.  I lift him up, open the lid, and he very proudly deposits his package in the pail. Its very cute, especially when makes the trek before I get the chance to put a new diaper on him.  Owen has also started re-shelving his books.  Unlike the dirty diapers, however, this act of cleaning up is sporadic.  One other thing from this week - Owen has been repeating words and sounds.  He especially likes animal sounds.  We were reading a book that has the english names and spanish names for different animals found in the ocean.  Whenever we get to octopus, he always repeats the spanish name "el pulpo" except he says "po-po".  He's brilliant I tell you!  Simply brilliant!

Brushing daddy's teeth.  Dr. Schultz would be so proud!

New Jungle Jammies from Grammy!

Owen REALLY likes to push the shopping cart.  

He puts his little head down and pushes with all his might.  

This is at Costco.

The kids.

Owen and Triton the Hooley's new puppy.  Instant friends!

Feeling sort of gray

Sarah's Thoughts:

This weekend, my thoughts have been rambling and muddled.  I get that way when I'm so excited about one thing that I can't think about anything else.  At the moment, I'm excited about this creative sewing project I have going.  All day at work, I can't wait to come home and get started.  I have things that I should be doing like... hmmmm... making dinner, laundry, dishes, oh, and taking care of my SON...  but sadly, all I can think about is getting back to my project.  I try to crack down and whip myself into shape by not working on it at all.  By doing the laundry and the dishes and taking care of Owen.  But my heart is with my project.  Even now, while I'm typing this sentence, all I can think is "hurry up and say something great so you can be done."  I did go running today in an attempt to clear my head.  I ran 4 miles (I've been running about 5 times in the past 5 months) and it felt great.  I have delusions that I'll continue running every other day... but in reality, after work I'll probably drop my coat at the door and start sewing!

High - Luke and I went out to dinner on Friday night and got a real teen-aged baby-sitter!  We had fun, and Owen did great! Yipee!

Low - Church today.  I got nothing out of the service or worship and had no energy.  I do feel better after the run, though.  

Luke Update:

Luke and midget had another fun-filled week... walking Dolly, mochas with Chris, and jury duty was cancelled.  Luke had great plans of hunting this weekend, but all was thwarted due to gale warnings and torrential downpours.  We did have a nice little Saturday, walking in the rain and a trip to Freddies to pick-up gun-cleaning solvent and a pumpkin and then onto the Nugget for a new pair of Xtra Tuffs. I was trying to take some Owen video with my digital camera, but Luke thought it would be better to use our digital video camera.  He put together this week's video.  He's getting to be quite the film editor.

Owen Update:

Owen went to a birthday party this week for his friend, Isaac.  There were 4 little boys there all within 3 months.  So cute to see these little guys waddling around, grabbing toys from each other, and ending up in a pile on top of each other.  I think it was especially fun and overwhelming for Owen as he is use to being the only little one in the house.  This week, I saw more evidence of Owen's cognitive development.  On Friday morning, I was in the bedroom with Owen and I asked him if he was ready for breakfast.  He immediately walked down the hall to the kitchen and started patting the refrigerator, all the while saying "yum, num, num".  All of the pictures are from Saturday.  Messy breakfast, shower with Dad, a little playing time in the bathtub, and a rainy walk.

I let Owen feed himself Oatmeal.  How and why his foot is 

hanging out is beyond me.  He gets very excited about using utensils, 

but ends up squishing most of the food between his fingers.  Messy!

Heading for a shower... with his sippy cup.

Owen LOVES to sit in the bathtub, whether he actually gets to take 

a bath or just hang out without any water.  Its sort of a good play pen...

Fall...

Rainy Walk

Luke's masterpeice!  The music is Neko Case 

(one of our favorite artists)

Making plans

Sarah's Thoughts:

I am definitely feeling the effects of fall.  Wanting to be crafty and cozy and dressing Owen in these fleecy, snuggly outfits.  This time of year, I am completely content to sit around the coffee shop, dreaming, scheming and compare 10 year plans. The world is my oyster and I have a 5 month cocoon to grow into this incredible being that will take everyone by storm!  When the sun shines again, look-out world because you're going to have to deal with the unstoppable force of Super Sarah!  Then before I can say, "remodel", its April and I'm completely unprepared.  I feel stir-crazy and unsatisfied.  The time for action is upon me and I don't know which direction to head.  All the plans and clarity I had in the fall get muddled and lost and so I sit down and feel sorry for myself.  Maybe a list will help me?  Maybe I should try it this fall...  I'll keep you updated...  In the meantime my sewing machine is humming away and I'm organizing the Thanksgiving line-up. 

High - I am in love with my boys.  They are both so wonderful and precious and I can't believe I am so blessed.  Thank you God!

Low - Having to call my neighbor at 8:30 last night and ask that she put the kibosh on the band practice of her middle school kid and his friends which was happening outside on her second story deck.  I felt like grumpy neighbor, but I did have a sleeping baby and their off-key clarinet was reverberating in our living room.  After the phone call, I kept turning the conversation over and over in my head...  did I do the right thing or did I over-react?  Luke assured me that I did the right thing... but said I was kind of loud on the phone and he was afraid I was going to wake Owen up...  Aye!

Luke Update

Luke had another action-packed week with Owen.  Poor guy was not created to be a stay-at-home dad so the last month has not been the easiest for him.  On Wednesday evening, he was especially mopey and quiet.  I asked him what was wrong and he said that he was mentally exhausted... so I "made" Luke go hunting this weekend and he came back as good as new!  Whew!

Luke was selected for Grand Jury Duty this week.  I gave him all sorts of suggestions to get out of it... "Tell them that you LOVE police officers and if the plaintiff has made it this far, they're obviously guilty,"  or "Tell them your sciatic is killing you and you can't handle sitting for hours at a time," or "Bring Owen with you to court.  That'll teach them!"  Luke tried exactly none of these helpful suggestions, however, and I think he is secretly excited about jury duty because he'll have a good excuse to leave the house and have some adult interaction once a week.  

Owen Update

Owen is on the move, walking EVERYWHERE.  He also has been talking, which has completely caught me off guard.  I mean he talks all the time in his own little gibberish language, but in the last 24 hours, he's started saying actual words.  He's been saying "mama" and "no" for awhile, but I don't think he REALLY knows what they mean.  Yesterday, however, we were driving and Owen wanted a snack.  Usually, Owen whines or makes smacking sounds to tell us he's hungry. On this particular car ride, Luke told Owen to say "Please" and Owen responded with "pishe?" in the cutest little boy voice you've ever heard.  My heart melted and I thought, "Anything.  I'll do anything you want."  Since that car ride, he has used that word a lot and I literally jump to attention.  Owen, can you say "totally whipped"?  He tried on his halloween costume this week. Check it out, Yo!  

The wonderful thing about tiggers is they're so darn cute!

I made Owen a fort by pushing the couches together, taking off all 

the cushions, and putting a sheet over the top.  He liked it but didn't 

LOVE it like I remember loving forts.... maybe he's too little?  I'll try again!

I dressed Owen in a sweater today for church.  He ended up napping right 

through the service so we didn't even go, but doesn't he look darling? 

 

Luke likes to take self portraits when he's hunting alone.

Just a man, his rifle and a blaze orange hat.

It doesn't get much better then this.