Mostly Owen

Officially Fall

2011-11-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

Seems like a lot has happened in just a month! Annabelle turned one on October first, her golden birthday. We finally installed our wood stove, the weather turned from late summer into fall and then into winter, I moved the kids into a new bedroom, Owen started swimming lessons, Annabelle is officially walking, Halloween, two deer... Busy! Our October in pictures:

The newest and warmest addition to our family.

We are in love. Next time you come for a visit,

you won't have to wear your jacket the whole time!

Owen started swimming lessons today for the first time.

He was so excited that he kept jumping in the pool before

his teacher was ready for him and then she'd have to scramble to

try and keep him from drowning. "My! He's very eager," she said.

Annabelle's first official walk in the sled. I think she
liked it until she fell out and did a face plant in the snow...

Annabelle LOVES to share big brother's popsicles

Riding the pony in his new room

(notice my fabulous painting job in the background)

Big one year old!

Love birds. My brother and his fiance, Kristen

Big Brother and Yia Yia helping the birthday girl navigate birthday candles.

bumpity bump bump...

Frosty's back again!

Luke trying to hook into some fall coho on his fly rod

Showing off the fall colors

Luke with not one, but two deer shot on a
beautiful, crisp, unexpected day off in the middle of the week.

Thank you God!

Annabelle trying to overcome birthday muffin drama.

It's her party and she'll cry (or try to touch

the candle flame) if she wants to!

And finally, monkey vs. cheetah.
Happy Halloween!

September

2011-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Turns out that things don't always slow down once fall hits. We got off the airplane and hit the ground running. Owen started a M-W-F pre-school in September and Annabelle decided it was time to give walking a try. Luke built a wood shed and is working on installing a wood stove. I decided to move the kids into the bigger extra room, so after some painting (pictures to follow on a future post) and lots of rearranging, Owen and Annabelle are set-up in a new room! We had some lovely weather in September, so that was an unexpected blessing. Hope you enjoy, once again, a picture marathon!

Wood! Excited for our crackling fire this winter!

Our 2011 coho haul

Taking a little walk

Mouth full of grapes - Owen and Gabie

my little mountain goat

Annabelle loving the fact that she's free to eat sand to her little heart's delight

happy dog on a lovely day at the glacier

last back porch lunch of the year

serious cycler- helmet, bell, tricycle and all

classic Annabelle-

clutching cuddie with her index finger in the mouth

One year ago ...

One year later ...
same shirt, same couch, same baby!

Busy Bee - runner-up for this year's halloween costume, I think

Busy Beaver- swam right up close on a walk at the campgrounds

Alaskan kids enjoying their Alaskan beach

Lights, Camera, Action!

2011-09-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

And to complete the summer's recap, here are a few short videos of (mostly) Owen's activities. Enjoy!

Underwater Swimming

Owen and T-Rex

(tilt your head to the right and forgive me

for the poor forsight while filming!

Morning time at the Woodruffs

Humpy Heaven

...and August!

2011-09-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

In August, Owen, Annabelle and I took a 3-week trip to introduce Annabelle to my sister and her family. While there, we went to a lake in Northern Minnesota to celebrate Emma and Megan's 13th birthday and drove to Bismarck, ND to visit my Grandma. On the way home, we stopped in Washington for a quick visit and took Owen to the Woodland Park Zoo where they were having a dinosaur exhibit. Then, home again, home again jiggity jig!

Owen and his new buddy, Graham Burkholder riding the tractor at the zoo

little Owen boy

Owen finally meets his love

posing on the pictosaurous

Owen and I with Megan and Parker

my new favorite picture

me and my girl

beware leaches!

Kolden Girls

Annie and Great Grammie

...turns out he also loves frogs!

super Megan!

Parker showing his fancy moves

boat ride and birthday girls

Birthday crocheting lessons

Cousins enjoying a breakfast of Great Grandma's rice krispy treats

It's cereal, right?

Bailey, Erin and Emma

Birthday pipe cleaner tiaras

blondies

sweet blue-eyed girl

So happy with her Uncle Chris

Exploring the park with Auntie Erin

...and then there was July

2011-09-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

In July we celebrated Owen's 4th birthday and got out fishing... Enjoy!

Sometimes Owen likes to take control of the camera...

mama battling a humpy (for crab bait)

luke in humpy heaven

Happy Birthday pinata

Candy Land!

The perfect birthday combination:

oatmeal, strawberries, candles and a water balloon

dino birthday cake

happy beach baby

Owen and his friends- Hunter, Cody and Kyle

fishing fool

water gun at the beach

crabby and crabby

bathtime babies

June in Pictures

2011-09-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

In June, we got to go camping on a long beautiful weekend with our dear friends, the Andersons. We also spent time on the boat, going fishing... here are the pictures to prove it!

Around the campfire

camping arts and crafts

boy on the beach

chubby cheeks

camping dog

Woodruff family

fresh from the dryer

trio of campers

fishermen

wildflowers

hooray for the boat!

passed-out after a long weekend camping

drumming

my solution to keeping rocks out of Annabelle's mouth

pretty girl

beach swimming in undies

boat buddies

Owen with his dear friends, Gabie and Samson

xtra tuffs

4 months later... May photos

2011-09-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Now that the rain has returned, I'm slowly catching up on all those things I've neglected... cleaning the bathroom, putting away laundry, oh, and the blog! So, here are a few of the highlights from May...

beach crocheting -

trying to make a "quick" sunhat for the monkey on my back

Happy Birthday dear Luke!

front yard swimming

giddy-up!

herring slaughter

it's a keeper!

kids in a tree

poor man's pool

skinny dipper

stroller baby

Summertime in the air

2011-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Thoughts: Saturday was ALMOST the perfect day. With the exception of Luke somewhat unexpectedly working for a few hours, it was pretty great. After sending hubby off to work, I remembered that it was our annual neighborhood garage sale day. We loaded up with breakfast to go and a pocket full of quarters, and walked around the neighborhood hunting for treasures. Owen scored with new movies, books, puzzle and a "Simba" towel. If that isn't enough, the clouds disappeared, the sun came out and viola! Summer! Luke got off work early and we spent the afternoon on the boat. A little king salmon fishing, a little crabbing, a little time on the beach. The sun blazed and the water was glass. Although we didn't bring anything home, it was really lovely.

Luke Update: This is the first spring that Luke has been working full-time in 13 years. He's use to having free time here and there to go bear and grouse hunting, steelhead and king salmon fishing. All of a sudden, these extra-curricular activities require more of an effort. Weekends fly by and time off is a precious commodity. He has plans of a bear hunt this weekend with a few after work fishing trips sprinkled in. We did manage to get out in the boat twice this week. Luke turns 35 tomorrow! Steaks on the grill and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Happy Birthday, sweet husband!

Owen Update: Last week, Owen wanted to build our house out of blocks, so we set up the couch, coffee table, T.V. in the livingroom, the kitchen, bedrooms, etc. We picked out blocks for each member of the family. Next Owen wanted to pretend that it was christmas, so we used some green blocks to make a christmas tree. We put all the people blocks to bed and then santa came and delivered presents (more blocks) under the tree. The next morning when the block family woke up, they "ooohed" and "awwwed" over the tree and presents. I told Owen to be the daddy block and pass out the presents. A minute or so later, I checked out the scene. Daddy block had a present as well as Mommy block and Annabelle block. Owen block, however, had about 25 presents. When I asked him what was in his presents the answer was, "Dinos".

Annabelle Update: She likes to move it move it! In a combination of rolling, catipiller scooting and old fashioned stretching, our girl is getting around. I've caught her up on her hands and knees a few times, but no crawling yet. Up until now, she's been sleeping in a cradle in the guest room. She was sleeping through the night, so I decided to set up the crib and move her into Owen's room. Owen was very excited to have a roommate. We've had a bit of a rocky first week, but I'm optimistic that we'll fall into a routine. She went on her very first boat ride this week. I think she likes the boat, but not a big lifejacket fan.

walking on water

storing up for winter

up from the depths

at the beach

SO cute!

beach combing

NOT loving the lifejacket

checking out Annabelle's new crib

summer at last!

good luck kiss

watching the big screen

could this be heaven?

fun at DIPAC

just doing some fishin'

cross dressing in big brother's clothes

climbing trees with dad

looking lovely on the boat

just part of the reason we love Juneau

WARNING! Sunshine = Naked Kids

2011-04-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Thoughts: The amount of sunshine streaming through my window prompts me to dress in short sleeves today. Might be a bit optimistic, yesterday was in the low 50's, but glorious spring sunshine makes us Alaskans act seasonably pre-mature. As I was driving home yesterday, someone was walking their dog in a tank top. I would give my blessings to flip flops, but its not time for sleevelessness just yet although that day may be close at hand. I did kill two mosquitos over the weekend.

Luke Update: With the completion of his Math class, Luke is diving head first into spring and summer. After much pricing, shopping, and debating, he purchased a crab and shrimp pot puller for our boat. This is something we've dreamed about for the past 7 years, so we are excited. He had big plans getting off work (at 3:30) and heading out on the boat for the late afternoon/early evening hours. This week, however, he was unexpectedly transfered to a new electrical shop and is now working 10 hour days, so we'll see what that means for extra-curricular activities. He did squeeze in a fishing trip to Yakutat last week. Despite torrential rain, he caught the biggest steelhead of his life. If you know about fly fishing, that's kind of a big deal.

Owen Update: In Owen's mind, sun = squirt gun and swimming pool. Even on the frigid yet sunny winter days, he was begging to play with his beloved water toys. Somehow, the presence of snow didn't clue him in that swimming might not be the most appropriate choice of activities. As May approaches, the water play might not be too far off. On Sunday, Owen's beloved Gabie came over and they played in the water in our neighbor's muddy ditch, Easter clothes and all. That's about as close to paradise as it gets for an almost-4-year-old! I just might condone some squirt gun action this afternoon... I am wearing short sleeves, after all!

Annabelle Update: Little Annabelle is a rolley-polley giggling bundle of smile and drool. She's trying so hard to be mobile. She strains and grunts to grab objects out of reach. Frustrated, she tries to scoot forward and ends up moving backwards. She's just starting to push up onto all fours for brief periods, so I think crawling is still a little ways off. Poor girl has a lot of heft to support! Although we haven't seen any new teeth, I wouldn't be surprised if she sprouts a whole mouth full at any moment. Her newest accomplishment has been waving. Not sure when or how she learned this skill, but every now and then, she'll just bust out a Miss America wave. Our own Little Miss Sunshine.

And now get ready for 3 weeks worth of pictures:

foreshadowing of things to come?

Owen and Mathias eating lunch in the tent.

Annabelle's first experience in a swing. "Hi Mom!"

Last glimpse of Owen before he disappeared into the tunnel slide at Project Playground. Last year, he refused to try these slides! What a difference a year makes!

Sleepy head

Even though its last year's dead grass, Owen discovered

how fun rolling down grassy hills can be, all on his own!

The pack horse on Luke's recent fishing trip. Notice the Pony Keg in the boat.

Those boys had a good time!

the fisherman and the fish

Big Owen and Little Owen

At least she has her sun hat and socks!

Happy Keester!

(Poor Annabelle is going to hate me in 15 years, but just look at those thighs!)

First backyard weenie roast of 2011

Keeping a look out for hummingbirds...

Not sure why being naked helps with that process...

HEEELLLLLPPPP!!! The Giant Octopus has me!

Crime Scene

Big boy bunny and...

...baby bunny

April showers

2011-04-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: As I started this entry, I began rambling about making plans for summer days and then realized that I always want to talk about time or weather or seasons here. I wonder why that is. Because they are topics I think about when I feel reflective or because they are light and apply to everyone? Maybe its because thinking about the summer sun seems pretty exciting compared with changing diapers and picking up after kids. There are other topics I could tackle, like the obnoxious amount of cheese we consume or my super human tolerance for listening to the same CD in the car for months on end. But see, maybe you really would rather hear about the weather...

Luke Update: 95% Baby! No more math! I am so proud of my hard-working, husband who faithfully did nothing but work, eat, and math for the past 3 1/2 months. He took his test this weekend and passed with flying colors. As soon as he finished, he pulled out his fly tying bench and started working on some steelhead flies. He’s headed out of town next week for a trip with his buddy, Adam, so finished that math just in time! I feel like I have to work pretty much non-stop to keep up on things around the house so without Luke, I can’t manage much besides the bare essentials. However, now that he’s a free man again, maybe we can tackle some of those projects that have been pushed aside... Or maybe we’ll just go out on the boat instead!

Owen Update: My little guy is really amazing. His memory, his creativity, observing to his little brain at work. I’m sure most people with kids this age feel the same way. He is definitely the biggest talker in our house and can hardly manage much else. Eating, for example, can be really difficult since it requires putting food in your mouth. Most every second of every day involves some sort of pretending game. Lately, he’s been role-playing members of the cat family- Simba and Nala, lions, tigers, cougars... I was brushing his teeth tonight and he was being the “Tawny Scrawny Lion”. As I’m brushing he sputters with foamy mouth, “Mom, you’re uppose to say, ‘Wow Tawny Scrawny! You have sharp teeth!’ I obey.

Annabelle Update: The most rapidly changing member of our family has been pretty mellow for the last few weeks. Although she won't be crawling for awhile yet, our little Annabellie is scooting an awful lot. This afternoon I sat her on the floor in the kitchen, facing the refrigerator. When I looked down at her again a few minutes later, she’d scooted her body 180 degrees, still in the sitting position. Not sure how she managed that! She does the same scooting thing while laying on her tummy, mostly moving backwards and in circles. She gets pretty frustrated, since forward is the only direction that she really wants to head. Keep at it, little girl!

sumo baby

snow free porch!

boy & dog

new hat

sharing a little lunchy

dreaming of dino oatmeal

ewwww!

When the sun is bright and the air is warm, then it will be spring

2011-03-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

The previous owners of our house built a sun room off of the kitchen. The reliator referred to it as the “tomato room” because apparently at some point, someone grew a ridiculous amount of tomatoes in it. We still call it the “tomato room” even though my one attempt at growing tomatoes resulted in a utter failure Anyway, this room is built on top of the porch and has no insulation, so in the winter time, (especially during the holiday season) it’s a perfect extra refrigerator. In the summer, it heats up like crazy. We use to have some extra candles out there until they melted. On sunny days, we can open the french doors that lead out to the tomato room and heat the whole house. All of this to say, another marker of spring is the day we can open the tomato room doors for a few hours. That day happened last week. 80 degrees. It’s coming, baby!

Luke Update:

Motivated by the recent spring-like weather, Luke is powering through his math with only two chapters to go! He has a big steelhead trip planned for the last week in April. Luke is already dreaming of chromers and would much rather be tying flies and practicing his cast in the front yard if it weren’t for the nagging guilt of math. Ugh! The one thing impeeding his progress in the homework department is the fact that he’s had to work the past two weekends. My tireless husband put in 11.5 hours on Saturday and another 8 today. The good part is that every hour worked equals money in the bank, and puts him one hour closer to his Journeyman’s license.

Owen Update:

My busy boy has been learning all kinds of things. While cleaning out the laundry room closet, I discovered a spanish version of “Bing” called “Loteria”. I realized that this was the perfect game to play with my three year old. Owen handily beat me three games in a row the first night we played. Proudly he ate his prize of Girl Scout cookies. The following night when I was the champion, I thoughtlessly threw my arms in the air and shouted, “I won!”. Owen immediately collasped into a hot, convulsing puddle of tears. Since then, we’ve been talking about being a “Good Sport” and how to say, “Good Job. Want to play again?” when someone else wins.

Last Monday, Owen got to go ice skating for the first time (video below). Our ice rink has a “Tot Skate” twice a week where they only allow 3-5 year olds (and their parents) on the ice. They pull out these plastic walker-like supports for kids to skate with and let them go nuts. Watching Owen on skates for the first time brought back memories of when he was learning how to walk. So fun!

Annabelle Update:

This week my sweet girl proved to the world and to Luke that I wasn’t going crazy. Her bottom front teeth have started to work their way out. She’s in a constant state of drool, shoving everything she can get her hands on in her little mouth. Her hair is growing more and more each day and I think we’re going to have another blondey on our hands. It’s so crazy to think how much different she’ll look with teeth and hair. I can’t wait! I’ve been trying to introduce different foods, and so far her favorites are bananas and Kix Cereal. Six months old on Friday! I can hardly believe it!

BINGO!

all I want for christmas...

Pile up on Uncle Christian!

ice skating fool

flower child

Owen's first attempt at Ice Skating

Check out pictures from last week that weren't posted until today...

Out like a lamb

2011-03-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

The week in pictures:

too much fun

camping baby

pretty in pink

blue-eyed bunch

beach boys

little cub

Annabelle loves her lamby

fishing dog

on an adventure

afternoon wagon walk

Annabelle rolls over, Owen plays "Cat" and other adventures...

2011-03-12T17:13:00.000-08:00

Sarah's Thoughts:

I love camping. Its one of those things I look forward to all winter long. Being outside, sleeping in my sleeping bag, camp fires, the whole scene gives me perma-grin. Despite my love for sleeping outside, it feels so amazing and relieving in a way to get home, take a shower, put on clean clothes. All this to say, our washing machine broke, so we were without one for 3 weeks. Kind of felt like camping, except for the part where I love it and have perma-grin. Obviously, we had reserve clean clothes, but towards the end, I was wearing pants that were mostly clean, except for the sort-of inconspicuous yogurt spill. We finally got a new washer on Saturday and 8 loads of laundry later, I finally feel clean and a bit like a new woman. Its the little things, I tell you!

Luke Update:

My hard working husband had been going non-stop. When he's not at work, he's studying math and when he's not doing that, he's changing poopy pants or chasing down a 3 year old. I guess this is the time of year when being stuck inside hurts the least. However a few weeks ago, he heard one of the big-time sounds of spring, the call of the varied thrush. Despite last night's snow, spring is coming! Time to get that nose in the books, slam down the 5-hour power and get 'er done! He has bears to stalk and chromers to catch and a wife that wants to go camping!

Owen Update:

Owen continues to roll-play. Yesterday, he was "Cat". Ringing our doorbell, Cat explained that he was an orphan and he wanted to come inside for lunch. While eating his PB&J, Cat spied Owen's cuddle sleeve, and was immediately fixated on it, wanting to hold it and stroke it and rub his little cat face on it. I told Cat that the cuddle sleeve belonged to my son, Owen and it was very special to him. It was the kind of thing that Owen didn't share, not even with his sister and so I was sorry, but I couldn't let Cat have it. After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate terms for cuddle sleeve possession, I was surprised, how quickly Owen returned home. I hope Cat found someplace to eat supper...

Annabelle Update:

Rollin', rollin' rollin'.... Officially weighing in at 19 lbs, 3 oz, Ms. Annabelle Lee can roll over, sit up, wear 12 month clothes, and is starting to eat solid foods. Her hair is starting to grow in and she's even bouncing in jumper a little bit. There were a few nights last week when she slept like a 12 month-old, 13 hours in a row! Foolishly, I thought this trend was here to stay. My little bubble of ignorance was burst at 2:30 in the morning. Ah, well, at least she's super cute and smiley.

My boy loves being naked and wearing things on his head.

Not sure why, exactly, but we love him!

Here comes the dolly!

Yum! Frozen bread sticks!

Sitting Up

Rolling Over

Summer on my mind.

2011-02-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

My house is in a constant state of clutter. I’ve been making an effort to have Owen pick up after himself, but it seems like that barely makes a dent. Although it seems like I’m always straightening up, there are toys and diapers and clothes and food and cups strewn all over the house. Last night, the living room was in its usual state of disarray, a mound of dirty dishes sat in the kitchen, unmade bed in our room and I wanted to cry. My sweet husband hugged me and told me to close my eyes. Then he took me on a virtual vacation where I dug my toes in the hot sand, swam in the ocean, road a moped in my sarong and flip flops and read books while sun bathing. It was lovely. When I opened my eyes, I felt a little more relaxed and I think maybe even a little bit tanner.

Luke Update:

Luke has been at his electrical apprenticeship for 2 1/2 months and the vocabulary at our house has changed. Now we talk about “J boxes”, “conduit”, “strut straps” and “hot wires”. I use to pride myself in being able to carry on a pretty decent conversation about hunting or fishing. Because of Luke I know about Boon and Crockett and nicknames for steelhead. I wonder if, in the next few years, I’ll find myself casually chatting about wire nuts and breaker boxes?

Owen Update:

Our boy has endless energy, a limitless imagination, and expectations for everyone around him to operate on the same level of intensity. He’s still in love with his baby sister and as she grows and does new things, he is wanting to re-live his baby days. Because of her early bedtime, I often give Annabelle baths in the kitchen sink, so yesterday, Owen also had a bath in the kitchen sink. Sometimes I create a little play pen for Annie in laundry baskets. Thus, Owen also wants a little play center in neighboring laundry basket. Maybe this demand for constant ever-changing entertainment is part of the reason I cannot keep my house clean. At three and a half, can you still tell yourself, “This is a phase and it too will pass”?

Annabelle Update:

Its been a busy week. Annabelle had her very first experience in the swimming pool, and did quite well. She has started rolling over from her back to her tummy. She’s scooting herself around a little during tummy time. She’s not sitting up yet, but that too is not far off. Luke likes to tease me because I always say things like, “I think she might be teething,” but I really think her first tooth isn’t far away. Our baby is going to be crawling before we know it and then 13 is right around the corner!

we've got Annie!

sledding fun!

sink bath

mama's little tin man

laundry basket play pen buddies

getting snowy

family

cold proof

boy and his dog

Won't you be mine?

2011-02-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

When we filled out the paperwork at the hospital after our girl was born, I hadn’t thought much about how to spell her name. I’ve never gotten excited about normal names with off-the-wall spellings (like “Aimey” instead of “Amy”) and thought I was spelling her name the normal way, “Annabell”. After we’d been home a few days, in true younger brother form, Christian called me up and said, “Why did you spell her name like that? You spelled it like a bell that you ring instead of being the name ‘belle’.” I tried to convenience him (and myself) that I meant to spell it like a ringing bell... but after that conversation, I had an uneasy feeling. Every time I wrote her name, I felt like it was missing an “e”. After several failed attempts of trying to come to peace with the spelling, I called Alaska Vital Statistics and explained the situation. They said all I have to do is fill out a form, have it noterized, pay $25 and voila! “Annabell” becomes “Annabelle”.

Luke Update:

Luke is chipping away at his electrical apprenticeship. He has to log 8000 hours before he becomes a journeyman, which works out to be 4-5 years and feels like a very long way away. Prior to the finish line, however, there are several milestones and that you reach, mostly rewarded by pay increases. The very first milestone at 390 hours however, comes in the way of insurance for the entire family. I am happy to say that before the week’s end Luke will have enough hours to qualify for insurance! Because we’ve been purchasing private insurance, this will mean huge savings for us. Bring on the doctor’s appointments! :)

Owen Update:

One of Owen’s very favorite things while eating lunch, riding in the car, or sitting in his stroller is, “Mommy, tell me about Dolly when she was a puppy,” or “Tell me about Cing-rella (Cinderella)”. I don’t know why he’s latched onto those two subjects, but without fail, he requests to hear about them again.... and again. And again and again and again. If I ask HIM to tell ME these stories, he gets upset and claims that he can’t. If I suggest that we talk about something else, again, upset. Lately when he makes his request, we’ve struck a deal that one bite of food earns him one piece of the tale. Someday, I’m sure this phase will be over, but until then, if you come over for lunch, you just may hear, “We were visiting Yia Yia and Grandpa Roger when we saw an ad in the paper that said, ‘Puppies for sale!’ ”

Annabelle Update:

Our little lady is getting stronger every day. She strains to sit up and lunges at things of interest. While laying on her stomach, she has been pushing her bottom up in the air as if getting ready to crawl. In the last week, Annabelle has been very interested in her feet. Whenever its time to change her diaper, she grabs onto those feeties and starts sucking on her toes. I know this is classic baby behavior, but I don’t remember Owen doing that. I feel sort of bad covering those feeties up with socks, but our house is so chilly, I quickly get over the guilt. We are constantly in awe at what a sweet girl God has given us... she’s storing up for the teen years, isn’t she?

foot fetish

already holding hands with a boy on the couch!

happy valentine's day!

(see the following post for last week's pictures that didn't get published until today!)

February made me shiver

2011-02-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

Last week in pictures...

Annabelle and Uncle Christian, the hobo

one happy boy

one tired girl

kiddeos

so smiley!

death grip

passing days in hibernation

2011-01-30T16:48:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

I’ve traded in my broom and dish pan hands for yarn and a crocheting needle. A friend of mine gave me this cute little hat for Annabell and at the time, I thought, “I bet I could make that.” Well, this week, I tried and turns out that I can! One hat turned to two and then three. I’ve been putting animal ears on the hats, which automatically cranks the cute factor up like 3 notches. I have grand dreams of making a whole line and striking it rich by selling my hats to the tourist shops, but will probably end-up giving them away as baby gifts instead. Owen, who has been into “The Lion King” lately, wants me to make him a “Simba” hat, but I’m not sure how the whole mane thing would work out...

Luke Update:

As a part of his apprenticeship, Luke has to spend two months each year at a school in Anchorage. We were told that he’d be heading out in mid-April, so he wouldn’t be back until mid-June. Spring is where it’s at here in Juneau, with the nicest weather of the year, bear hunting, steelhead fishing, and Luke’s birthday. We were feeling kind of sad that he was going to miss all that, but accepted it as part of the deal. Anyway, we just heard that the spring school is full, so Luke will be here through the summer and head out in October instead. I immediately jumped on the state website to see if I could book any cabins for this spring, but every single weekend from May through August is already taken! Guess we’ll have to settle for wall tent camping!

Owen Update:

I’ve been working two days a week, so Owen and Annabell spend those two days with some friends of ours who have kids. He is absolutely loving the days that I’m at work. He says things like, “Mom, can you let me stay forever and never come to get me?” I walked into the living room to pick them up last week and they were watching a movie. Three kids were sitting on the floor, each curled inside a clear plastic bin (the kind you might store toys in) mesmerized by “Charlie Brown” while the wood stove blazed. Something about the whole scene looked so cozy, it made me want to stay forever too. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the plastic bins... but maybe the wood stove?

Annabell Update:

We have a four month old girl! Can you believe it? She’s been grabbing at everything- toys, shirts, hair. Its pretty crazy to watch her reach out her hands and patiently try to figure out which muscles to activate to manipulate those little fingers. Her stomach muscles are getting stronger and she’s pushing up with her legs to stand when we hold her on our laps. The second time around, I feel like I’m paying more attention to all these little milestones. The amount of growing that babies do in such a short period of time is amazing. Despite all these changes, she is still so sweet. At least once a day, Luke and I look at eachother and say, “How did we end up with such a sweet, smiley, cute girl?” Thank you God!

Look out! There' s a T-rex in the grass!

pretty kitty

pile of Woodruffs

Dino invasion!

Tribute to Andy Worhol

Buddies at the beach (and Dolly)

Annie and Daddy

baby blue eyes

all clean!

...another week at the Woodruffs

2011-01-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

I’m fast approaching the saddest time of day, taking that last sip of morning coffee. We make extremely strong coffee, which is delicious, but I can’t really have more then one cup without spending the rest of the day with my stomach in knots. So once the cup is empty, I have to move onto boring water. Also, I feel like the day doesn’t officially start while there's coffee in my cup. Before that, its O.K. to take things slower and ease into the day. After its gone, I have to step up and start being productive. Maybe if I warm up the last few drops, I won’t drink it so fast and can let the morning linger a bit longer...

Luke Update:

When he wasn’t working this week, Luke was falling in love with logarithims all over again. Not so much. Despite the fact that math was Luke’s least favorite subject in school, he is faithfully plowing through his Union mandated math class, one practice problem at a time. To add to his joyful weekend, I had to take a class for work on Saturday, so Luke spent the day with the kids. When I got home, the kids were napping and Luke was working on lovely math, so I actually think everything went just fine. Might have to do that a little more often!

Owen Update:

Our boy keeps us on our toes. He’s forever suggesting “great ideas” that mostly have to do with playing some sort of pretend game with his stuffed animals. Grow Annabell, grow! In an attempt to make nap-time more fun, I built a tent with a long bungie cord, ski poles and a large blanket over his bed. He’s been sleeping in it for the past week and a half. Now, at bedtime, he insists on a headlamp in addition to his regular regime of “snuggly stuff," since he’s sleeping in a tent... duh! I keep waiting for him to asked me to take the tent down, but so far he hasn't. I think its all about an excuse to have free access to the headlamp.

Annabell Update:

I can’t be sure, but I think that Annabell may have moved into her own room at night! We’ve been laying her down for naps on the bed in the guest room. Then one night, what we thought was going to be an evening cat nap turned into “down for the night.” I’m hoping to eventually move her into Owen’s room, but I think I’ll wait until she’s sleeping through the night so that she doesn’t wake her brother up. Yet another marker that my newborn is growing up! Still no teeth, though her poor little chin is constantly covered in drool. She’s been doing some squeeling and lots of smiling. We are still in love.

hanging out in her swing while mama makes dinner

my rasta boy with a wee mustach

polka-dot baby

Owen giving lessons to his younger friend Hunter
in the art of playing in the sink

Thanks for the tractors, Uncle Ross

helping daddy with math

dressed in red and drool

the art of adapting to new

2011-01-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

I think I’ve written about my love of lists on this blog before. In honor of the new year, I decided to finally get on top of my chores. I made a list of all the things I need to do to keep up the house and then how often each task needs to happen. I printed off a calendar and made a schedule. I’ve been doing this for a week, and so far its been going good, although I think I might be losing steam. I cleaned the refrigerator yesterday and have been staying on top of dishes and laundry. I’ve even been reading my bible and exercising a little bit, which I’m quite excited about. If I can keep this up for a month, I might be able to make this routine stick... I’ll report back in February. Wish me luck!

Luke Update:

Luke is fully immersed in his apprenticeship. He’s been mastering the art of pipe bending and stud welding and pulling wire. He comes home from work and looks up YouTube videos of the skills he’s working on so that he can review before the next day. In addition to learning all these new skills, he taking an on-line math class that, that has to be completed before he heads to school in Anchorage this spring. Luke has been hopping around between different journeymen and projects, which has been interesting, but also challenging. Adapting to the groove and personality of the different coworkers is a big part of the job, not to mention learning and performing the ever changing job-specific requirements. It’s been a lot for Luke to juggle and its just going to continue for the next few years, but we can rest in the knowledge that God has provided this opportunity and He is in control. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Owen Update:

Owen is a full on three year old boy. He is all about constant entertainment and activity. He is very busy, but is also learning how to take responsibility for his actions. He’s getting better and better at cleaning up after himself and controlling himself, which is pretty huge. He and Annabell have been staying with our friends, the Andersons, when I’m at work (two days a week). They have a four year old, Gabie, who Owen is good friends with. Needless to say, he’s been thoroughly enjoying the days that I go to work and gets a little sad when he has to stay home with mom. I feel like I’m constantly giggling at the words that come out of his mouth. Awhile back he was sitting in the car and said, “Mom, God is my favorite. I like him the best.... and snakes.”

Annabell Update:

This week, I realized that for a brief period in time, Owen and Annabell are the same age - 3 1/2 (years and months, respectively). So my 3 1/2 month old is doing typical 3 1/2 month things like smiling and drooling and nursing and napping. This week, she’s been taking some really amazing afternoon naps, in the neighborhood of 2-3 hours. Once she gets into a little more of a groove, I think she’ll be ready to move out of the cradle and into a crib. Tired of cramming her chubby legs and long torso into her clothes, I moved her into 9 month clothes this week too. All signs that my baby is getting bigger!

triceratops playing with some tinkertoys

every girl needs a pair of big purple shoes

self portrait at the glacier

ice skating, anyone?

family work out

showing off the christmas jammies

Kicking off 2011

2011-01-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

Sarah & Luke’s Thoughts:

Luke and I celebrated 6 years of marriage last Friday. On our way to dinner with the Padens (their anniversary is the day after ours, 11 years before us). We were reflecting on the past year of marriage and concluded that it was a great year. We definitely had our ups and downs, but in retrospect, realized that the downs turned out to be blessings in disguise. It was a slow year for fishing charters, but that meant we got to spend more family time enjoying the summer together. In the spring, Luke had a potential job opportunity that didn’t ever materialize, but now he has a much better job. Its awesome to see God’s hand at work through the downs, especially as we begin another year. Its a good reminder that we can rest in God’s plan and whatever happens, we know that God is in control.

Owen Update:

Our blue-eyed boy has let us in on some little known information regarding the relationship between plastic dinosaurs and water. We didn’t know this, but it turns out that if you ever see some sort of container (plastic bag, recycled sourcream bowl, bucket, what have you) it really should be filled with water and some plastic dinosaurs. Its best if you can carry your container of water and dinosaurs around the house and optimal if you can swing some way to sleep with it. If the container starts to leak fluid or the plastic bag filled with water comes undone, sound the alarms, threat level red! Let EVERYONE know that there is an EMERGENCY and do whatever is humanly possible to PLUG THAT LEAK! If you have any questions about the whole process, just give us a call.

Annabell Update:

This week, I picked up the sleep book that I read with Owen to refresh on sleep patterns in babies and how to deal with that whole aspect of baby life. I’m happy to report that as of last week, she’s started napping on her own. Yipee! She hasn’t really settled into any kind of a schedule yet, but having some Annabell-free time makes life so much more do-able. I think she’s a happier baby too when she’s getting some good rest and I can catch up on things like blogging and laundry and dishes...

Owen and some of his ground-breaking research

Annabell and her birthday buddy and twin, baby Brooks

bathing beauty

soaking Woodruffs

snuggling in the stroller

On the cusp of a new year

2010-12-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

The new year is upon us in just a few days, and because I’ve only written a handful of entries this year, I’m going to use this opportunity to summarize 2010 David Letterman style, in “The Woodruff Family Top 10 Highlights of 2010”

10- Owen’s neighborhood “Friends”

Thanks to a super charged squirt gun from Grammy and Grandpa, Owen quickly made friends with some 5 year olds in our neighborhood. He would quiver with excitement at the thought of playing with his “friends”... Luke and I, not so much, mostly because the kids were quite a bit older then Owen and most of them could use a lesson in respect and sharing. However, funny to think that there are some waist-high people out there who know Luke and I as “Owen’s parents”.

9- New Orleans, trip away from Owen

The dental office that I work for made a trip to New Orleans last spring for a conference on implant dentistry. This was a first for me- visiting New Orleans and spending more then one night away from Owen. I enjoyed seeing a little bit of this historic city and Luke and Owen did great together while I was gone.

8- Summer hiking

We spent quite a few sunny saturdays hiking some of the trails around Juneau. Luke packed Owen in the backpack and I packed unborn Annabell. Many of the trails have cabins at the end, and Owen decided that when he gets bigger, he’s going to have a big slumber party at one of the cabins with all of his friends and dinos and toys and books and swimming pool and...

7- Owen - letters

Owen started showing interest in letters this year. It started out with a placemat that had the alphabet printed around the edges. From there, Owen learned how to spell his name and then started learning many of the letters. When Grammy and Grandpa visited last fall, Grandpa brought a movie with Owen that taught him the sounds that each letter makes. I think that next comes reading... 2011?

6- House projects- tile, shed, sunroom

Like everyone, Luke and I have had a list of house projects that we dream of doing. This fall, when my parents were visiting, my dad spearheaded a few of those projects. We now have a nice tile entryway, a porch and sunroom that are level with the rest of the house, and a fully enclosed shed!

5- Sockeye and Coho

Because Luke had a slower charter fishing season this year, we were able to do more personal fishing. We spent several saturdays on the boat, improving our trolling skills and stocking up on salmon.

4- Canadian camping trip

Also, because we had more free-time this summer, we got to take a 6 day camping trip to Canada. Although the weather wasn’t optimal, we had a great time riding the ferry, seeing a little bit of the yukon and dialing in the wall-tent set-up/take-down.

3- Owen potty trained

Thanks to Lela Paden, Owen spent the majority of 2010 wearing big boy pants. Yipee!

2- IBEW

After 13 years of guiding, Luke hung up his waders and has pledged allegiance to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Luke has been feeling the need for a change of occupation for a few years now, but nothing has worked out. However, in December, he started an 8000 hour (4-5 year) apprenticeship a position. So far, he’s been enjoying the work and learning a lot. Union YES! ;)

1- Annabell

...and the surprise #1 highlight of 2010 was the birth of our sweet Annabell Lee. She is a precious girl, 16 pounds at 2 1/2 months old. She’s a good nurser and sleeper, getting up to eat just once a night. She’s talking and smiling and kicking and we are all in love.

Happy New Year to you!!!

smiley

tummy time

wintery walk

slinky in christmas jammies

sometimes a guy needs a little ear protection while eating lunch...

especially when Uncle Christian is nearby with a nail gun

naked baby in a field of flowers

annabell hearts 212

woodruff family five!

chilly

blue eyes, pink cheeks, take 1

blue eyes, pink cheeks take 2

annabell and velvet, the bunny

find that boy some pants!

Two in tow

2010-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s Thoughts:

I’ve been cheating. So far, two weeks of two kids has been a breeze, but only because we’ve had so much help from my parents. Owen is completely smitten with his Yia Yia (my mom) and hardly gives her enough “alone time” to go to the bathroom by herself. As a result, Luke and I have been able to go on walks and “dates” to the grocery store without two kids in tow. I’m a little bit nervous, but also a little bit excited to see how things go when our household shrinks back down to four + Dolly. Until then, I guess I’ll just ride this wave and enjoy the help!

Luke Update:

Luke has been a busy fellow since the arrival of the in-laws. Fueled by my dad’s energy and know-how, Luke and Dad have been working on all kinds of projects around the house. They installed tile leading out to our back porch. They lifted up the back section of the house so now we are able to lock our sliding glass door. They installed gutters in the back of the house to prevent future siding damage and foundation settling. Most recently, they are working on the shed that is attached to our house, creating walls and even a door. All very exciting, long-anticipated home improvement projects. In between projects, Luke has been sneaking out for a little deer hunting and coho fishing. Its shaping up to be a nice little fall if I do say so myself!

Owen Update:

Annabell’s big brother has an imagination! I don’t know if all the Yia Yia time has encouraged this pretending but most of the time he is not himself- He is either a baby T-rex or a cowboy or maybe even Derek from down the street. If he does happen to be “Owen” then he’s at the airport or the zoo or possibly on a train. His memory is also incredible. Recently, we were watching a movie that had a cricket in it. All of a sudden, he said, “We heard crickets at nighttime at Grammy’s house,” which is true. The last time we were there, however, was last October. I don’t remember the crickets being a big deal at the time, or something that we’ve talked about since. It blows me away that he can remember something so random from when he was barely two years old!

Annabell Update:

Our newest family member is growing! We haven’t officially had her weighed recently, but hung her up on the fish scale in the garage (in her car seat) and deducted that she’s pushing 11 lbs. Thanks to the generous hand-me downs from some of our friends, she now has some girly clothes to wear which makes getting dressed a lot more fun! We went to a birthday party recently and Annabell got to wear her very first dress, complete with tights. Of course, we couldn’t find tights in her current size, so we had to tuck the extra material into her socks, but she looked pretty stinking cute!

very excited to find October dandelions

on Admiralty Island

Grandpa Roger

party dress

Uncle Christian holding a sleeping baby

snuggled up with Grandpa Roger

probably laughing at blonde joke

It's A GIRL!

2010-10-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome sweet Annabell Lee!

After nine long months, we are thrilled with the new addition of a baby girl to our family. Our Annabell was born at 1:41am on Friday, October 1st, just in time to share a birthday with her Uncle Dusty. Where Owen was born a day before his due date, Annabell came three days late. Owen measured 8 pounds, 20 inches long and Annabell was a hefty 9 lbs 11 oz, 22 inches long. Compared to Owen’s newborn pictures, Annabell looks quite a lot like her big brother, but we think her hair and possibly eyes are a little bit darker. In the three short days that we’ve had her, we’ve already discovered that she is a sweet baby. She doesn’t cry much and is perfectly content to be held all day long.

The whole birthing process was just as painful as I remember, but all things considered, went very well. Out of 9 possible doctors, the one that happened to be on-call that evening was my doctor, Dr. Welling. My dear friends, Jessica and Deana came to my aide to rub my back, read me stories of far away places and help me breathe my way through one debilitating contraction after another. And my sweet husband was there through it all, offering a hand for me to squeeze the life out of and strong shoulders to lean on. We arrived the hospital around 10:30pm. Three hours and two big pushes later came the announcement that we’d be waiting for... “It’s a Girl!” I realized in that moment of amazement that I’d been expecting another boy.

Owen is so excited with his baby sister. When he came to visit us at the hospital, I was nursing Annabell and he climbed right up on the couch and whispered excitedly, “Mom! Does she have feet?” He wanted to check out every eyelash and elbow and then he wanted to hold her. He sat perfectly still, smiling ear to ear, while she lay on his lap. When we arrived home from the hospital, Owen wanted Annabell to crawl around his room and play hide and seek. He was a little bit disappointed to learn that it might be awhile before she can crawl around and play, but I have a feeling its going to happen before we know it.

So there you have it! Bring on the polka dots and pig tails!

proud daddy and his girl

Deana and Annabell

Grandpa Roger and a sweet baby girl

checking each other out

just joking around

sleeping baby

looking for mud

mama and a brown bear

woodruff family

sitting up

It's the Final Countdown!

2010-09-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Thoughts: I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the band, "Starship," mostly because they sing the "Sarah" song that made me blush as a 5th grader when it first was released, and again as a 9th grader during "West Side Story" play practice. (Although I've always been a bit more partial towards the Haulin' Oats "Sarah Smile" song...) Regardless, 3 weeks to go until baby and I am getting excited! When I was pregnant with Owen, I made a quilt so I thought I should make something for this baby too. I use to do a fair amount of crocheting so I decided to use up some of the yarn that I have laying around to craft a baby blanket. Because I didn't have the right colors on hand for something gender-neutral, I instead decided to make a girl blanket and a boy blanket. Its been a cozy, settling into fall sort of project and I'm nearly finished. Bring on the baby!

high - impromptu dinner out with my brother and cousin last Friday night.

low- rolling over at night. My hips hurt so bad I let out a whimper whenever I move.

Luke Update: Luke's final fishing trip of the season is scheduled tomorrow, Labor day. I hate to say it, but I think he's secretly hoping that the wind and waves kick up so he have a guilt-free cancellation, however so far, the weather is looking a bit nicer for tomorrow... Charter trip bookings were definitely down this fishing season, but the positive side of that is we've had more time to get out on the boat for our own fishing trips and Luke has become quite an accomplished troller, I'm proud to say. Last count was 3 or 4 kings, 17 sockeye and 8 silvers. Now if we can add a moose or some deer to those numbers, we'll be set for the winter! Luke has been out on a few alpine deer hunts this fall, but no luck so far.

Owen Update: Our little boy is growing-up. He can spell his name, get his jammies on by himself, and even go potty without help. He's all about the freedom provided by the added height from his stool and pushes it all over the house. He's even wrestled the stool outside by himself and climbed in the boat. He's also quite excited about the new baby and likes to call it "Cookie". Not sure where that came from... Even with all this new found independence, he is very high maintenance when it comes to bed-time. He has to have his dino pillow in the right spot, his cuddle sleeve face up in the right position. His soft blanket flipped on the right side, his baby dog, baby lion and lately his dino puppets all lined up under the covers. Sometimes he even demands his slippers. Then when all the necessary items are in place, he requires 3 stories, prayers, kisses and 2 songs. Yikes! Maybe that's why we never get babysitters?

Alpine deer hunt vantage point. Look out bambies everywhere!

self portrait

One last beach day before fall...

puppy loving

his...

...and hers

everyone loves pinks!

notice the stool

blue-eyed boat boy

the belly - 37 weeks

Whirlwind

2010-08-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Thoughts: It seems like an eternity ago that I was feeling so sick and looking forward to the summer. Now the fireweed blossoms are creeping up the stocks and the blueberries plants in our backyard are practically picked clean. I even saw "Back to School" stuff at the grocery store. It's been a busy and fun summer. We've managed to squeeze in some fishing, hiking, and a 6 day camping trip in the Yukon. I traveled to Anchorage for the wedding of my dearest friend, Sarah. Owen turned 3 and he had a parade and a stegasaurus cake to mark the occasion. This basketball in my belly is feeling as large as it ever did when I was pregnant with Owen. With 2 months to go, makes me a little worried when my weekly pregnancy updates say things like, "Your baby is headed into a growth spurt." I don't have room for a growth spurt! Thankfully, aside from a few minor hic-ups, this pregnancy has been relatively non-eventful.

high - Forecasted weather of 70+ degrees for the next few days

low - Owen's urgent potty request while we were driving to the library this morning, followed soon after by "I need to change my clothes." No library story time for us today!

Luke Update: After a rather dishearteningly slow start to the tourist season, Luke's fishing trips have been picking up. Its not going to be a record-breaking season but, with a few more bookings, will be within a stone's throw of average. Yesterday marked the start of deer season, so that is always a very exciting time for some members of our household. Usually involves lots of calling and emailing between Luke and his hunting buddies, checking work schedules and making plans. Captain Woodruff has also managed to hook us up with some delicious coho salmon, so our freezer is starting to fill. He has a trip planned later in the week to Sweetheart Creek to try his luck with a cast net for sockeye salmon. He's also been working on a new net which is slowly but surely coming along.

Owen Update: In the last week, Owen has been very interested in letters. He has a plastic place mat with the alphabet printed around the boarder and at every meal he says, "Mom, can we talk about some letters?" Um... yeah! He knows the letter "O" since that's the first letter in his name. He finds "O"s on signs at the store, in books and on maps. Now he's picking out other letters too. Its pretty exciting to witness this hunger and excitement for learning, especially because I feel like it was unprompted. Makes me wish I could stay home with him and have a little pre-school lesson every day about different letters and days of the week... Another amazing thing he's doing recently is reciting books, word for word, that I've read to him only a handful of times. That little brain is something else! Today some neighborhood kids came and played, which was the highlight of Owen's week. One of the boys had an April birthday and was 4 years old. He seemed SO much bigger and more articulate then Owen, like a kid that might not be into snuggling with his mom. I can't believe that in just one year, Owen will be that big... Good thing #2 is coming soon!

...and now our summer in pictures...

king salmon slayer

Owen showing off his beach body

family portrait

fishin'

Owen and mama (June)

lunch at the John Muir cabin

board walk through the meadow

Granite Creek

What did you pack for lunch?

swimming with dinos and baby Jordan

summer blossoms

solarium Sarah

loving the wall tent

wading in Lake Kathleen, Yukon

Dolly the guard dog

camping in the rain

posing with daddy in Haines Junction

birthday muffins

party time!

bike riding

smoked coho

It's Official!

2010-03-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: I’m officially starting the second trimester of this pregnancy, and I have to tell you, it couldn’t have come too soon. I’ve definitely had a rougher time so far so I’m excited to be feeling better and have more energy. I know Luke is excited for that too! Maybe I’ll finally get to those forgotten piles of laundry stashed all over the house and be able to come up with something for dinner besides grilled cheese sandwiches and frozen pizza. Owen has decided that he has a baby in his tummy too. Today when I was snapping his pants, I accidentally pinched his tummy and he said, “Mama! You need to be careful of my baby!” He’s not sure what kind of baby is in there... could be a baby brother or maybe a baby t-rex... Time will tell!

low- the constant guessing game of “If I eat this, will I feel better or will I get sick?”

high- backyard weenie roast on a lovely partly-sunny evening

Luke Update: Something very exciting happened today. Luke started the boat for the first time in 2010. Roar of the engine, puff of blue smoke and spring is officially here, folks! We are planning a cabin camping trip on one of the islands in two weeks with another family so the boat needs to awaken from winter's hibernation and get ready for action! We’ve been noticing several other signs of spring such as pussy willows, buds on the blueberry bushes and the call of the varied thrush. Despite the surprise eight inches of snow this week, I’ve joined my husband as a believer in the change of the season. Luke has three weeks left in the legislative session which is kind of exciting. End of session equals change of pace for all of us which will be refreshing. Then its onto steelhead fishing, bear hunting, and watching Owen during the day until his fishing season starts.

Owen Update: I am very pleased to announce that Owen is officially potty trained. No more diapers at all, not even while sleeping. Its amazing how long I wondered when he’d finally get the concept of going potty on the toilet, and then one day, it happened! I didn’t even realize that I was buying my last box of diapers for Owen (probably because they were from Costco... so baby #2 already has some size 5 diapers waiting)! I can’t be sure, but I think that Owen might just be moving out of the dino phase, which is also kind of exciting. It seems like he’s been more interested in other types of animals lately, especially elephants and snakes. I mean, he still likes dinos, for sure, but I the intensity that used to come with the mention of “T-rex” is waning... I read Owen a paraphrased version of “The Velveteen Rabbit” last night and he decided that he needed to sleep with a stuffed bunny. Sweet boy.

"The Pile"

Owen's latest favorite game which includes pulling

every single pillow, cushion, blanket, he can get his hands on

and dumping them in a huge pile in the middle

of the living room. Makes a big mess, but secretly, I sort of enjoy it too.

swans on Moose Lake

"Kickin' It"

with Dolly and Chachi

"My future's so bright... "

mountain goats at the mighty mendenhall

our own little bart simpson

backyard picnic

Luke takes the driver's seat...

2010-03-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

So Sarah gave me permission to commandeer her blog since I would have a little more time during the day than she would. Since this is my first time posting, I figured I'd better make it good, so here goes. Some of you may already have caught wind of this but hopefully it will be news to at least a few "Mostly Owen" lurkers out there. And for anyone that we flat-out lied to we are sorry for our less than truthful knee jerk response of "no, I don't know what you are talking about" or something of that nature. The Woodruff family is expected to increase by one in late September. The ultrasound suggested Sept. 22 but Sarah feels sure that we'll be seeing "junior" about a week later. Now I know what many of you are thinking and I had the same concern, "They can't have a baby then, what about Luke's moose hunt?" Don't worry, season starts Sept. 15th so we should have one down and ready for transport within the first few days in time to get back to my very pregnant wife. And if the baby comes early, well, we may just have "junior's" first moose hunt. The wall tent is very cozy.

March Already!

2010-03-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: After more then a month of nothing, I’m feeling the need to explain my silence on the blog scene. Luke and I are hosting a small-group bible study on Sunday nights, which use to be the time I’d post my blog. So far, I haven’t found another time in the week that works for me. This week, however, our office is closed and we’re all on paid vacation (Thank you Dr. Schultz) so here I am. We’ve had a lot going on in the past month... We fit in a trip to Echo Ranch to visit our friends who are spending the winter caretaking. Owen and I took a trip to Anchorage last week to visit my dear friend, Sarah and her new husband, Jim. We’ve been to the beach, spent some time with Uncle Christian, and watched the snow melt away. I’m both nervous and excited to announce that as of today, March 2, there is very little-to-no snow on the ground! Come on spring!

low- poop and other stinky things

high- catching up on things around the house and beyond

Luke Update: While Owen and I were gone last week, I think Luke spent the majority of his time in the garage, “tinkering”, as he likes to say. He’s feeling all the excitement that comes with spring (i.e. hunting for grouse, bear, fishing for steelhead and king salmon, camping and hiking) and needs to get ready! He bought some new arrow shafts and is busy straightening, staining, gluing and sanding. He’s been testing his cast bullet loads to find the optimal combination for power and accuracy. He’s been cleaning and tuning our fishing reels and he even booked a weekend cabin camping trip in April. Once those daylight hours increase just a bit, then look out, great outdoors because the Woodruffs are going to be on the scene, ready for action!

Owen Update: Owen’s big and exciting news is that he hasn’t had a poopy diaper for about 3 weeks (except for an accident in the nursery at church). At this point, I need to pause and give kudos to Lela Paden. She’s been watching Owen for us this spring while Luke is working at the legislature. Lela has had lots of experience and success potty training boys, and ours is no exception! Owen received his first pairs of “big boy pants” after returning from Anchorage and has been very excited to wear them. He doesn’t have the peeing under control quite yet but one step at a time, right? He gets so excited about going potty on the potty chair, however, that whenever Luke or I do our business, he congratulates us up and down and runs to the freezer to get us a “special treat”. I try to explain to him that first thing in the morning, mommy just wants some orange juice or cereal for a special treat. I think he’s getting it, slowly...

And now for a month's worth of pictures...

window watching - Owen and Gabbie out at Echo Ranch

winter waves

happy valentine's!

throwing rocks on a sunny day

family snowmobiling

posing with mama

playing playdough-
Owen likes to line up the elephants and giraffes

T-Rex Owen

hanging out with Abby and Luke at the beach

playing the piano Jerry Lee Lewis style

Owen and Jim enjoying some computer time in their jammies

if I had a hammer...

echo ranch friends at the beach

big boy pants

...

settling back into the groove

2010-01-23T16:22:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: After a month of company, we are slowly remembering how to wash our own dishes and be parents again. It was really wonderful to have my folks stay for such a long period of time. We were able to relax and enjoy living together instead of feeling pressured to cram all our visiting in a brief period of time. So sad to see them go. It is amazing that January is drawing to a close already. You have to be mentally shrewd this time of year, because it seems like spring is right around the corner but it’s really not. There are at least another two months of winter in which we get the most snow and the most cold and flu viruses. It is O.K. to get excited about the day light though. According Luke, daylight expert, we're gaining 30 minutes this week!

low- always cold, fingers and toes.

high- celebrating five wonderful years with my Luke and listening to my smart Owen count to 10!

Luke Update: The state legislature started this week and unlike other years, Luke has found himself quite busy. This is largely due to the fact that he’s the only full-time returning employee in the office so he finds himself in the middle of all questions, training and trouble-shooting. So far, I think he’s enjoying work simply because the busy-ness is making the days go by faster. He’s also started the prep work to make a new laminated wooden fishing net for this coming season. Despite my warnings, Luke is optimistic that spring will be here before we know it and with it, bear hunting, grouse hunting, steelhead fishing, basically heaven on earth. Today he squeezed in trips to both the archery range and the rifle range. That’s my husband!

Owen Update: Owen’s favorite phrases these days is “Me do it!” and “No!”. Is that officially “terrible twos”? I’ve taught him a new phrase, “please pretty mommy?” which will hopefully help to soften his often demanding dialogue. I’m realizing that he is able to do more and more by himself. At his insistence, he successfully climbed out of the car by himself yesterday, but then failed to successfully put on a fresh diaper, so he has some things to learn... ;) He’s still very much all about dinosaurs and has to sleep with a different dino book each night. That way, he’s able to quickly grab the book, his snuggly fleece blanket and convince mama to join him in some dino reading first thing every morning. That’s lucky for everyone involved. This morning, he was showing his plastic dinosaurs pictures of themselves in all of his dino books. He found his big plastic T-Rex and showed it all the t-rex pictures, then grabbed velociraptor and showed it all the pictures of other velociraptors, then grabbed triceratops... you get the idea.

t.v. zombie

anytime is a good time to be naked

"My Yia Yia!"

view from Christian's new house

my brother, the home owner

We make a traditional greek new year's bread called "Vasilopetia."

Before it's baked, you knead a dime into the dough.

When you cut the bread, you designate a piece for

each member of the family and whoever finds the dime

in their piece has good luck for the year.

Apparently, this is the year of the O-Dog.

all you really need is a pair of xtra tuffs...

daddy's boy

bubble beard

bow and flannel.

Our future bandit! We're so proud!

Christmas Recap

2010-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

Its been a whirlwind holiday season. Between cookie exchanges, 40th wedding anniversary parties, christmas, new years, visiting friends and neighbors, it feels like we've been going non-stop for the past 3 weeks. My parents are visiting for Christmas and beyond, so its been really nice having help in the midst of all the business. I had some time off around Christmas and New Years, so we did lots of baking, enjoyed cold wintery walks, and read lots and lots of dinosaur books. Owen showed surprising self control on Christmas morning, waiting for Uncle Christian to arrive before diving into the presents. He cleaned up on the toys, books, puzzles... The morning after Christmas, Owen was a little bit disappointed that there wasn't another pile of presents to open. He's already looking forward to his birthday. We had a mellow new years and de-christmased the house yesterday. For the time being, I'm enjoying the lack of events to plan for. I am, however, hoping to start some good bible reading and working-out habits. If only there were 26 hours in a day...

Happy 2010! Enjoy the pictures...

We celebrated my parent's

40th wedding anniversary

on Christmas Day

mama and me

serious luke

sweet erifilie

pile of dogs

taking a moment to relax

christmas morning

formulating a plan of attack

Christian looking sharp in his new jacket

new christmas clothes,

thanks to our dear neighbors

not only are the presents exciting,

so are the bags they come in

mendenhall lake

(courtsey of Christian)

Short and Sweet

2009-12-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

Feeling pressed for time, I'm just going to give you a brief re-cap of the weekend's highlights. On Saturday, we harvested our christmas tree and decorated it- big outing for the whole family (see pictures below). Owen went to the birthday party of a 1 year old and afterwards, slept for 16 hours- 3pm until 7am the next morning! He also discovered his love for "neg-nog" and would drink a whole gallon if I didn't cut him off. I've been christmas shopping and crafting like crazy and have completely neglected my house... dirty laundry and dishes and piles everywhere. Its sort of driving me crazy, but at the same time, I just can't bring myself to do anything about it. Poor Luke opted for a weekend with the family due to the threat of high winds and freezing spray, only to watch a clear, calm, perfect deer hunting weathered weekend slip by. So that's about it! Enjoy the pictures!

naked bullet re-loading with daddy

Owen loving the party favors

"helping" the birthday boy open presents

picking out our christmas tree

Luke dragging the tree back to the car

(do I even need to tell you how many

references he made to dragging-out deer?)

The finished product!

We're Back in business!

2009-12-06T20:23:00.001-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: My last regular post was recounting Halloween and now here we are, two and a half weeks before Christmas! This is going to be a special year because we're not traveling! We get to celebrate this year at home with Owen, my brother and my parents. In light of my overspending tendencies at Christmas, I’ve been trying to focus on homemade presents. The problem is that I have about 6 x 12 different projects brewing and only 2 1/2 weeks until D-day, not to mention my full-time job and my 2 1/2 year old. Despite these obstacles, I’m spending every spare moment crafting my little heart out. I hope that old saying about it being the thought that counts, is true because there’s a good chance that all of these little crafts are going to turn out pretty hokey.... but, what's a girl to do? In the meantime, I'm loving it!

Low- The nastiness I found when we removed the outer cover of Owen’s car seat. Pulverized crackers, peanut butter and smashed dried cherries...

High- Toss up between getting to spend the afternoon with my brother and my hot Friday night date at the annual Christmas party for all of the dental offices.

Luke Update: When I asked Luke what he’d been up to this week, he said, “Oh, you know. Same old thing. Still dreaming of bigger and better jobs and bigger and better bucks.” He started back to work for the state mid-November and will be there through the end of the legislative session in mid-April. This time of year, there is very little going on in Luke’s office, so if you need any internet research done, he’s your man! Besides working, Luke has been getting out deer hunting on the weekends. He did manage to shoot another deer on his way home from a five day deer hunt, just before Thanksgiving so we are going to make it through another winter! Phew! Luke spent this most recent weekend at home working on our exterior christmas lights. After spending 2 hours out in the 20 degree weather, he discovered that its time to invest in some new lights...

Owen Update: Owen is all about Christmas and he doesn’t even really know about the present part yet. I think he’s going to freak out when he makes that discovery. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Luke was out hunting and I decided to pull out our Christmas decorations from the attic. In order to gain access, I had to back the car out of the garage, fetch the foldable ladder from the shed, assemble it, climb into the attic and retrieve the Christmas boxes and then do it all again in reverse. Needless to say, Owen had some significant “alone time” in the house with the Christmas boxes. When I came inside, it looked like Christmas threw up in the living room. Ornaments all over the floor, rolling under the couch, wire decoration hangers gouged into the carpet, Christmas books and stockings and present tags and lights strewn everywhere, and Owen in the middle of it all shaking and yelling, “Tismas! Its tismis time!” I wish I’d had my camera!

Owen and his daddy

cousins

baby, it's cold outside!

exploring ice.

who knew you could throw a rock onto a lake

and watch it slide?

me and my hot date, out on the town

Winter Fun

2009-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

While we're waiting for our camera to return from the fix-it shop, we thought you might enjoy a little video footage of this weekend's sledding activities. Hope you're staying warm and a Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

(I should mention the idea, most of the filming,

and all the sweet editing of the video is courtesy of my

innovative, thoughtful and talented husband.)

Bummer

2009-11-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

Our camera is broken. Not sure what happened, but I'm not feeling the blogging motivation without pictures! Stay tuned... I'll be back!

Full-on Fall

2009-11-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: Last Tuesday evening, I came home from work a little bit early. Owen had just woken up from a particularly long nap and was in a great mood, so happy to see me. Luke had thrown dinner in the crockpot earlier in the day and I’d made rolls the night before. I decided it was the perfect evening to carve our pumpkin. Owen babbled excitedly about pumpkins as we cut off the top and dug-out all of the goo and seeds. He’s been really into this penguin show lately, so we decided to carve a penguin pumpkin. I drew the design and Luke carved away. Owen and I washed, salted and roasted pumpkin seeds. We lit a candle in our penguin pumpkin and then ate our delicious dinner of slow-cooked meat and fresh rolls. It was one of those perfect fall evenings that you might remember during the days of endless summer activity. I didn’t think about the scattered piles of clutter or the fact that Owen doesn't have daycare come January. I just felt warm and peaceful happiness. The only thing that was missing was a wood stove.

Low- Christmas music on the radio this morning. Come on, now! Who in their right mind thinks that’s O.K.?

High- Realizing that it was really 9am instead of 10am and I had an extra hour to get to church this morning!

Luke Update: We woke up to fresh snow on Saturday morning, so Luke was dressed in camo and out the door before I finished my morning coffee. He headed up a nearby mountain ridge in search of fresh deer tracks. Sadly, all he found were fresh brown bear tracks... Guess that’s why they call it hunting! In between his Mr. Mom duties, Luke has started a new project. He’s working on another laminated net, similar to the one he made last year, but with some improvements, thanks to insights gained from a season of field testing. Once he gets the wrinkles ironed out, he’d like to move into production mode and try to sell them. Until you see his booth at the public market, you’ll find him in the garage, sanding and gluing away, in between diaper duty and slapping together a pb&j.

Owen Update: Yesterday was quite a big day. Owen was so excited about the snow that it was all we could do to get his boots on before he blasted out the door. There was only an inch or so on the ground, but it was enough to make a good-sized snow man. Owen loves our new yard decoration and makes sure that we greet it when returning to or leaving the house. Now that all the snow has melted, our snowman looks a bit odd standing in the front yard. I unsuccessfully tried to remember the words to “Frosty the Snowman” to gently tell Owen the snowman might not be around all that much longer, but I guess he’ll figure it out soon enough!

The fun didn’t end with the snowman- last night Owen got to try his had at trick-or-treating for the very first time. Extremely exciting. He wore a spiderman costume that my cousin Jason, brought back from Thailand (you may have seen it before if you’ve been a long-time blog reader). Owen didn’t care much for the hood, but he really enjoyed knocking on doors. If the door didn’t open promptly enough, he’d walk right in and make himself at home with the candy bowl. He didn’t like the houses with spooky decorations though, “too scary, mama.” He’s never had much of a sweet tooth, so when we got home, I let him spend some unsupervised time with his loot. He opened a lot of wrappers, but only nibbled at the chocolate. Its really fun to watch him actively participate in all of this. Such a fun age, I’m loving it!

the pumpkin, pre-carving

glowing penguin

trick-or-treater in action

checking out the loot

signature self portrait

bear tracks in the mud

owen and the snowman

Bonus

2009-10-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun little video of Owen chasing after the chickens.

He says, "Chickens!!! I want to pet you!"

...and one more of Owen shooting a bow

Enjoy!

Birthdays and Camping and Diamonds, Oh My!

2009-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s Thoughts: Last Sunday, I was talking to this little boy who was telling me how excited he was because his birthday was only 5 days away. He could hardly sleep. I can totally identify with that little guy because even at 33, I still get really excited about my birthday. I don’t usually have trouble sleeping, but I do have this urge to tell everyone that its my birthday. I like to get dressed up and then expect magic all day long. The reality is that its just another day. You still have to get up, make your bed, go to work, change poopy diapers, etc. Despite the potential for disappointment, I had a lovely birthday. Luke made waffles and coffee, my coworkers organized a birthday lunch and then my brother and Kristen came over for steak, wine and coconut cream pie. I think that for me, the magic lies in being remembered by the ones I love- that, and the fact that I looked fabulous. My oral surgeon boss told me that he liked everything about my outfit!

(Thank goodness I didn’t have to make my own breakfast or lunch because it took me 30 minutes to dry and straighten my hair! No wonder I never do anything with it!)

Low- Coming home after 1 1/2 days camping to a freezing cold house. The furnace went out... thank goodness for my own personal handy man!

High- Up until yesterday, my high would’ve been the fact that Owen went poopy on the potty for the very first time this week... but then my brother got engaged yesterday, so diamond trumps potty! We are SO excited!

Luke Update: This week, Owen was watching Luke shoot his bow in the backyard. He said, “Mama, where’s my bow? I want to do that!” I said, “Well, Owen, we better go tell your daddy.” When Owen repeated his request to his daddy, Luke looked at me and said, “Did you tell him to say that?” Needless to say, Luke was able to rustle up a bow and in no time, Owen was flinging arrows across the yard (with a little help). So proud! On Friday, Luke spent a good portion of the day fishing for coho salmon with his friend, Adam. The report was slim pickings... The other excitement was that our furnace stopped working, so Luke spent 3 hours on Saturday cleaning it. Its pretty incredible the amount of soot that builds up in a furnace! At nap time, our house was 50 degrees and I put Owen down under a mountain of fleece. Obviously, we were very happy when it was finally working again.

Owen Update: This weekend we visited our friends, the Andersons, who are care-taking at Echo Ranch this winter. For those of you that aren’t from Juneau, Echo Ranch is a bible camp that is a few miles past the end of the road. This time of year, the caretakers are the only folks holding down the fort, taking care of 26 horses, chickens and just making sure thing around camp are maintained. The Andersons have 2 kids (Gabby is 3 and Samson is 5) and Owen was in heaven. On our visit to the chicken coop, Owen ran in circles, chasing the chickens and yelling, “Chickens! I want to pet you!” Sadly, those smart, Alaskan chickens took shelter in the trees. Then we visited the horses and Owen did get to pet one. He pretended to drive a tractor, played with Samson’s excavator, cooked in Gabby’s “kitchen” and stayed up way past bedtime. Gotta love camp!

swinging with Gabby

birthday girl and her sweet boy

petting the pony

the mighty mendenhall

fishing in mendenhall lake for "sockeye fish"

fall leaves

Owen and the chickens

Shooting a bow for the first time