Numbers of the Day

3 - # of "Snow/Ice Days" we've had this week
1 - # of short people in the house who are having major case of cabin fever
1 - # of even shorter people in the house who have 'kid hasn't been in school for 3 days' fever
2 - # of times job interview has been post-poned due to weather issues.

3646 - # of emails in over-stuffed work email box (the website job) No, really!
3458 - # (approx.) of emails that are spam or junk
124 - # of emails to let me know that my girlfriend is unhappy with my 'size'. It's so darn nice of them to let me know & to offer to help me find the right medication to fix it!

4 - # of people in this house who have a cold/sore throat/overall yuckiness feeling
2 - # of noses I have helped get snot out of today. (I can see how envious you are!)
1 - # of apologies I am issuing for the image of the last sentence.

6 - # of minutes spent blogging this that should have been spent clearing out the work email and/or snot extracting.

That's my day - what are you all up to?

Who's who?

Okay, boys & girls, this is today's game...
Can you guess which of these children was born in the Great White North and really, really enjoys snow, no matter how cold it is? And which one is the not-so-impressed version? I'll only give you 3 guesses...

Generations

Spent this weekend near Vancouver visting family and introducing Kieran to some of the relatives who hadn't met him yet. My Dad even came down - partly for this and partly for his 60th Birthday. There was a lot of talk this weekend about generations, about how kids get older so quickly, how time flies. All the usual chat that I think most families have when they get together infrequently. My cousin has a teenager! My grandma is 81, has a 'child' who is 60, and 8 great-grandchildren! And somehow I have become one of the older crew, no more sitting at the kiddie table.
My kids are so lucky - they have 5 living great-grandparents who adore them. (Even though Kieran looks like he's about to punch out Grandma in this pic.) I barely remember my one great-grandma and even that is the kind of fuzzy remembering that you get from seeing old pictures. Jaela already has some great memories of her 'greats & grands' and I hope Kieran has the chance for the same.
Here's a little story about this weekend that tells you something about the person my Grandma is... My Dad was on the search for a match and my grandma pulled out a box with some assorted books of matches. Pulls one out and it's from a family wedding - in 1963!! Can you say raised during the depression?! They weren't even dusty!
She also pulled out a waffle recipe that was written out by her mom an eon ago, held together with brittle yellow Scotch tape. It is written in the impeccible handwriting of people who learned to write in Europe (Norway) and Grandma explained that her mom learned to read & write English by reading the newspaper. My Great-Grandma Larvick, sitting at the farm kitchen table, searched through the newspapers to find the words so that she could write out recipes and letters to her son in the army. Cool.
Here's to the 'old folk'!

A Pittance of Time

In honour of Remembrance Day, (which, for you Americans who haven't heard, is kind of like your Veteran's Day), this video is really good. It's based on the real experience of Terry Kelly (the singer/songwriter) who was in a Shoppers Drug Mart in 1999 when this really happened - except for the part at the end of course. Terry was so angered by the man's disrespect and the poor example he was setting for his child, that he wrote and recorded this song on his next CD. I feel guilty for not wearing a poppy today, but they don't exist down here, so instead I've passed this on. Enjoy...

Halloween '06

Had a wonderful Halloween last night - surprisingly relaxed with the 2. 'Course Kieran pretty much slept, big surprise, but I did manage to get a couple pictures of him with eyeballs showing. Jaela beamed the whole time as Dorothy - once she had the bow in the hair and the sparkly red shoes on the feet, she was Dorothy. Brett got into the act this year (it's his favourite holiday) and did the Viking Warrior thing.

It's always interesting when there are 7 kids under 6 under one roof, but fun was had by all and no one is sick this morning! Bonus! There should be a name for today though - the sugar hangover for the kids, the cider hangover for the adults, the day the parents pick through the kid's bucket and sneak a couple (or more) pieces of their favourites out. The day here in the US when it becomes full-on Thanksgiving/Christmas season and you can just about smell the stress rising in the crisp air. Which causes the parents to take more candy out...and so on and so forth. Me, I'm not stressing, but I think it would be down right neglectful of me to leave all that candy lying around for too long.

Doin the Happy Dance!

I'm going to live vicariously through this guy for a few minutes today...
www.wherethehellismatt.com

"Pearls" of Wisdom?

Scene. Adorable little girl enters room and smiles excitedly at adorable mother.

Adorable Little Girl: "Guess what!?! We had Music class today!"

Mother: "Cool! Whadya do?" (*Note to self: mother could use a remedial How To Speak Proper English class. Check Winter Parks & Rec guide.)

ALG: "Did you know that big bells make a low sound - like this...BOoooNnnnG? And little bells make a high sound, like this...Biinng, binnngg!"

Mother: "That's right, they sure do." (Mistakenly thinking conversation is over, Mother inserts head into fridge to continue search for that last yogurt cup that is in there somewhere.)

ALG: "Yep. Just like Poop!" (Mother almost hits head on fridge door and wonders how it is that every conversation with LG lately manages to relate to poop, farts or blood.)

Mother: (taking bait...) "How is that like poop?!"

ALG: (grinning) "Because the big poops hardly make any noise at all, just a ploop. But the little poops make the plink, plink noises. Just like the bells!"

Mother realizes that at some point she can no longer blame this gross-out phase - please God let it be a phase! - on the Bad Boys on the Playground and accept that her daughter is warped and probably the one warping all the Good Little Boy & Girl minds in her class. Sigh.

Punkins in the Patch

It's not as exciting as surfing the Pacfic, travelling the world or even saving the world in Papau New Guinea, but it's our little world right now... For the 4th year in a row, our little playgroup went to the pumpkin patch to kick off Fall. Jaela's favorite part was the old McCormick tractor. Kieran's favorite part was the sleeping in the Snugli-smushed-up-on-the-breast part! Rough life. Another gorgeous day here - maybe winter will forget about us...

Too bad we have wall-to-wall carpet, except in the bathroom, and that would just be wrong. I mean, more wrong. Now if we could hook up a vacuum to those little walkers - then we'd be talkin'!

Autumn...

This is the time of year when I miss being in the Valley - when the colours are a-changin' and the mornings are so fresh and crisp, but the afternoons are sunny. The snow is starting to come down the mountain, but it's not far enough down to be a hassle yet. I guess it's true what that "wise" person once said about not being able to take the country out of the hick ;) - even if this hick has literally left the country. My sister sent me some shots from around Babine Lake this weekend to feed my nostalgia...

One day down, 13 years to go...

The First Day of Kindergarten! It's a little surreal to take my child to school when it still seems like not too long ago that I left school - not counting college, which really hasn't been that long. She's loving it and says she can't wait to know "everything". Hope Mrs. Davis is up to the challenge! ;)
She came home today all jazzed up because they got to play tag in a 'real gym'! (It's sad how many schools don't even have PE, Art, Music, etc. anymore, so we feel really lucky that Jaela's school has PE & Music classes, even for the Kindergarteners.) Along with the start of school came the start of soccer season - so I am officially a Soccer Mom - yikes! Will they let me into the SMClub without a mini-van?!

Day trippin'

Took a little journey South out onto the Peninsula to explore. Would have got some great shots of the area, but the camera died about an hour into the day. Managed to get a couple of the town of Gig Harbor, which was having a Folk Festival when we arrived. It's a terrific little area - almost forgot we were so close to Tacoma. After Gig Harbor, we scoped out the camping situation at the Kopuchuck State Park down the road - planning ahead for next year. Arrived home sun-soaked and exhausted - a perfect Saturday afternoon :)

Polly Pocket massacre...

I guess it's time to start saving for that therapy bill...
Apparently the scene here (in the bathroom sink) is that Polly & friends were taking a sled ride across the frozen pond when the ice cracked and now they are all floating on the bottom of the pond! Except the ones who turned into Mermaids - they'll be fine. Oh, and there's a Polly-sized turtle and puppy in there somewhere who are also survivors of this horrific incident. It also appears that several victims shed their clothing in an attempt to swim to shore. That's messed up!

Half-Pint & the Quart

At the risk of getting repetitive, here are a couple more pics of the chitlin's. Can't help it - my world view is pretty narrow these last couple of weeks. I am finally cleared to drive - woo hoo! - but not yet allowed to vacuum - aww shucks. Thanks to the help of some wonderful family & friends, we are enjoying some 'time off' together to get into the new normal routine before school starts and the new job begins. Catching up on some DVDs & magazines that I've been neglecting and getting my butt kicked royally & repeatedly in Candyland. Life is a little surreal this week, but I know reality will be here full-on PDQ, so I'm just floating with it before the bills come in (having a child in the US is not a cheap thing to do!) and work beckons.

My discovery today...

I'm probably way behind the times, so forgive me if this is long old news, especially for those of you out of the US (we're always the last to hear about new music here, unless it's local). Anyway, heard this song on the radio called 'I Wish I was a Punk Rocker' and now I'm in love with Sandi Thom. Maybe a new album to replace the Curious George soundtrack in the car right now? (Jack Johnson fans take note - that soundtrack is really, really good.)

Far-Away Retreat Weekend

Went on my first overnight trip with Kieran to the Core Team retreat in Longbranch, WA last weekend. We stayed at this amazing old 1910 mansion originally built by the family that started the Bon-Marche company. It's right on the tip of the Key Peninsula with 180 degree views of the water. I forgot what total quiet sounds like! Kieran & I tried out all of the built in swings on the property until we found our favourite one, overlooking the dock. S'mores on the beach, fresh BBQ salmon, and iced tea & pineapple in the hot tub - that's a good weekend!

Kieran Rhys is here!

Kieran decided that he wanted to make a dramatic entrance, so we had a c-section on Wednesday, August 2nd and he took his first peek at the outside world at 11:29 a.m. He was 8 pounds, 4 ounces (!) and 20.5 inches long. He surprised us all by having blond hair - his Viking side, maybe?
All is well in the universe :)

Geez kid, are you taking up enough room yet?!

So, I've been getting rather harassing emails asking to see just how huge I am getting - well, here you go folks! Be careful what you ask for! (Since we don't have a full length mirror, seeing this pic was a bit of a shock to me, actually!)

I am using the defense that with the heat wave I am retaining a lot of water, which while true, is a bit of a stretch in explaining why it looks like I'm about to give birth to a small whale. ;) Ah, but we're both healthy and everything, so I sure won't complain.
(12 days...tick,tick, tick... )

A new member of my 'family'!

Congrats and swift recovery wishes go out to my friend Charmaine who gave birth last week to Ainslee Kaede! Another source of estrogen for the O'Coffey house, along with big sisters Raelee, Araceli & Denali. I wish I'd seen that middle name, which means 'Maple Leaf', sooner - I might have stolen it for our bumpkin as a nod to the "Home Land". Guess we'll have to settle with 'Telkwa' now - good for a boy or girl, dontcha think?!

Tick Wisdom

"Everybody was a baby once. Oh, sure, maybe not today, or even yesterday. But once... Babies, chum! Tiny dimpled fleshy little mirrors of our us-ness...that we parents hurl into the future like leathery footballs of hope. And you gotta get a good spiral on that baby or evil will make an interception.
Ready?
One, three, thirteen, twenty-six, hike!
Go deep! Go deeper!
~The Tick (cartoon superhero)

PS - 22 days & counting...only 4 shifts of work left...down to only a half-billion things on the to-do list. :)