10 Years

This is my family.

This picture was taken 10 years ago, on my 21st birthday. It was a week after we found out my Dad had an inoperable brain tumor. My Dad past away two months later. His funeral was the last time all my siblings have been together. This afternoon I received an email that all six of us will be together this summer at our family reunion. I’m thrilled!

10 years
6 marriages
3 divorces
11 births
2 deaths

Needless to say my family has changed a lot in the last decade – time for a new family picture… ten years is too long!

Random

Cursed - (Genesis 3:17-18) “…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles (weeds and mushrooms, too) shall it bring forth…” Our family spent Memorial Day outside. The girls played with neighbors and friends while Justin and I did yard work…. all day long. It amazes me how long it takes to weed our small yard. My legs are still sore from all the squatting. In the end it was worth all the hard work. My backyard makes me happy.

Does anyone know how to get rid of mushrooms??? I can’t seem to keep them away!


Bravery – Abigail had her first cavity filled yesterday. According to our dentist (he tends to be overly cheesy at times) “she is the best young patient he’s had in 28 years of dentistry.” I think he said the same thing when she went to the dentist for the first time on her 3rd birthday. They’ve always been able to take all the x-rays on both my girls. I’m not sure where they get their bravery from. I have a very low threshold for pain. The girls don’t even cry getting immunizations. By the time each of the girls went in for their two year check-ups they were brave enough to endure it without a tear.


Aliens – Stephenie Meyer released her first adult novel this month, “The Host” and I got my copy last week from the library. However, I didn’t want to start reading it before our camping trip. I wasn’t sure I could handle reading about aliens invading human bodies while sleeping outside in a tent. The five minutes around the campfire talking about bears was bad enough (and yes Chrystie, we do have bears in Seattle). So I started reading Saturday morning and finished yesterday. 619 pages in three days (with three kids) is fast for me. I obviously really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. Not as much action as the Twilight series, but well worth the read.

Tip of the Day

Do you ever have problems with your aluminum foil and keeping it in the box as you unroll it and tear it out? My mom dropped by while we were camping on Friday night and shared a little tip. On each end of the box of aluminum foil there is a little notch that can be pushed in to hold the roll in place. There have been so many times when that roll comes out and to think I had no idea there was a solution for it. I especially have problems tearing out the clear plastic wrap out of the box. Same solution available. Amazing I never knew about these.

Camping

We’ve been camping every Memorial Day weekend since Carly was two months old. Our favorite campground is in Carnation. There’s plenty of open area for the kids to play, a paved loop perfect for riding bikes, a river to cool off in, flushy toilets and hot showers. In previous years we’ve camped in the pouring rain (unfortunately more often than not) and the blazing heat. This year we had near perfect weather. It was even warm enough on Saturday for the girls to play in the river. We set up camp early Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday night. Justin and I successfully cooked meals in our Dutch oven and made a delicious peach cobbler. I wasn’t sure how well Jason would do, but he slept through the night and even took his naps in the tent without any objections! It was a short trip for us, but we all had a great time.

Getting ready for smores… yum, yum!

Carlyism

My Dad used the term “Hollyism” to describe things I said that didn’t quite make sense. Although, they always made perfect sense to me.

In our house we have “Carlyisms”. I really need to keep a notepad handy so I can write these things down. She cracks me up! Here are a few she said recently:

A recent prayer went something like this, “please bless that we didn’t run into anyone and crash their car and then take us somewhere.”

Carly: Can I have a bar?
Mom: A what??
Carly: From him who makes them (pointing to the picture of the Quaker man)

This morning as I was feeding Jason some leftover baby food, Carly said, “If he finishes those two I want to give him chicken little dinner.” (chicken noodle)

Yesterday I was listening online to the popular song “Apoligize” by OneRepublic. The chorus repeats the lyrics “it’s too late to apologize”. In her adorable four-year-old voice Carly sang, “it’s too late for papa johns.” If you listen closely it really does sound close.

I'm Ready

I just read over the last post (written by Justin). He doesn’t post very often so I’m sure as some of you started reading it, you may have been a bit confused. Holly went to DC? Holly went to DC with her DAD?? Wow, that would be an incredible trip considering my Dad past away nearly 10 years ago. Washington DC isn’t on my list of places I most want to visit, but to be there with my Dad, I’d go anywhere. Justin and I aren’t in the best position to travel together (without children) so I’m glad he was able to take advantage of the opportunity and spend that time with his Dad. I think it’s my turn to start planning a trip. Wouldn’t you agree? Justin says as long as I only spend as much money on my trip as he spent on DC. Unfortunately my boss isn’t nearly as generous as his. Actually, I think Justin realizes I could use a little time away as well and I think a week with the kids would be good for him too.

Justin's Trip to Washington DC

My dad and I spent the week in Washington DC last week. We were able to build in some sight seeing around 3 days of tax training sponsored by Georgetown University. We took the Sunday night redeye to Baltimore (BWI) and arrived early Monday morning. I requested to be seated in a row with no one else in it so I could lay down and sleep the whole way. As my luck would have it, I picked a row where none of the arms go up. Luckily another lady volunteered to switch rows with me. My dad ended taking advantage of the 3 empty seats while I took his emergency row seat. Planes really are not built for the comfort of tall people.


A few of the highlights:

Holocaust Museum

Newseum

Library of Congress

Buca di Beppo, Fuddruckers, Cosi

Tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing(where money is made)

Monuments

(Washington, WWII, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean War, FDR, Jefferson)

Smithsonian Museums

(Air & Space pictured here)

Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home)

Arlington National Cemetery

Capitol Building

JOY

We all encounter faces that bring us instant joy. Maybe it’s the huge smile your baby greets you with in the morning. Or the look of a child completely absorbed in a book. I have no doubt that all parents love seeing the peaceful face of a sleeping child. This is one of the faces that always makes me smile.

Jason moved out of his infant seat this week (long overdue). And although he’ll still be rear facing, his new seat won’t allow me to see him watching me while I drive. I love turning around and seeing those big eyes smiling at me.

Park

Last night we headed to the park for dinner and some family fun.

Nine Months!

I know people say this all the time, but seriously, I can hardly believe my baby is already nine months old. I was holding him in front of my bathroom mirror today and he’s gotten so big. Today he had his checkup with the pediatrician. He currently weighs 21 lbs. 3.4 oz and measures 29 ½ inches long.

I mentioned that we had some "rough moments” last week between Jason having a cold and cutting his first tooth. Today the doctor noticed Jason has a lot of fluid in his ears. Apparently he may have also had an ear infection. As far as I know this is the first ear infection any of my kids has had, although I’m still unclear if Jason is getting over one or if he may be getting one. Anyhow, the Dr. said if he started to act cranky to call in and they’ll prescribe some antibiotics.

Other than that, Jason is doing really well. I was encouraged to give him some more tummy time. Jason still chooses not to roll over and doesn’t seem to have any desire to crawl, but he loves being on his feet.

I took this picture yesterday. I rarely see him sleeping. He always goes to bed awake and never falls asleep in my arms. I went into his room to wake him up so we could get the girls to swim lessons (oh, how I hate waking up a sleeping baby). He had his blanket up over his face and when I pulled it back he didn’t wake up. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. So sweet.