Parent Duty

Ya know, in many ways getting old stinks.

Bob's parents are about the same age as my grandparents as he was a "later in life" baby like Ginger. Both of them until fairly recently have been pretty healthy and pretty together mentally and physically. Well, that has all been changing rather fast.

Bob's mother, Jane, has been going through a series of strokes, a major heart attack, a triple bypass, congestive heart failure and basically uncontrolled diabetes. Her health in the past three years has been in a rapid and continual decline which is so hard to watch. And in order to keep her healthy enough to try and live for the next five years, she has to be forced to take her medicine and to eat right. (And boy does she fight having to eat right. She will glare at you, call you mean and try to sneak food that she shouldn't have. I know this from personal experience.) This responsibility has fallen to Debbie K.. Debbie is the caretaker of Bob's siblings and the one who is making sure that their parents are taken care of. That is not to say that she doesn't get help from Patti, Bob & Diane, but she has the brunt of the responsibility. It has been hard for her to basically change her relationship with her mother from daughter to caretaker. She has to force her to do what needs to be done even though Jane tries to get out of it.

Bob's father, Bob Sr., has also been going through a decline. His physical health has never been too fabulous because of years of smoking and alcohol abuse. After the death of his second wife a a few years ago, the kids got together and moved him out to San Diego so he could be closer to them. Surprisingly, he gave up both cigarettes and alcohol cold turkey after he moved. Which is such a relief because he, his clothes, his furniture and his house just reeked of smoke and it made everyone sick to their stomach. Bob Sr's rapid decline has been more mental than physical. He has been sliding into dementia for the past few years. He will sit and regale you with the same stories over and over again if you let him. He spent so many years sedentary, he has no strength whatsoever in his upper or lower body. When taking out the trash a week or so ago he fell on the asphalt and really scared himself. When he was here yesterday he kept changing the channel with the remote and then getting frustrated that he couldn't find channel 22 (TCM). I think that a commercial would come on and then he would forget what he was watching and then try to use our rather large universal remote and get frustrated when it wouldn't work. I finally had to take the remote away from him after the third time.

How frustrating for them. They were once young, strong, energetic, creative people. Now they are physically weak and have to have someone walk them around for fear that they might fall again. Luckily, Oregon provides both of them with caregivers for a certain number of hours each week to take care of house cleaning, driving them to doctor's visits and ensuring that they take their medicine. But now, they both have reached the point where they can not live alone any longer. Debbie K. will be taking Jane and we will be taking Bob. At least, that is the current plan. We would have to add on a bathroom by the office downstairs first before we could move him in. There are many things to figure out on our end to see the feasibility of this plan. We need an architect to design one, come up with an approximate financial impact and get the thing built. Then of course, Bob needs to move his office offsite to free up the room. So many things. Debbie has tried to get Bob Sr. into assisted living, but there is a waiting list for those places that accept Medicaid. There is no timeline for when one would come available. The only other option for him is foster care in someone else's home. That is just not an option we could live with. We will see how thinds end up turning out.

I know that even just having Bob Sr. downstairs will be more work for me. Not too much, hopefully. I do have three kids, a husband, a house, a yard, two dogs, two cats and Bob's bookkeeping for the company to take care of. But, I believe that sometimes you do what you have to do because it is the right thing. Bob's parents took care of him so now it is our turn to take care of them. Besides, it could be ok. Alexis and Logan could sit and listen to his stories and never get tired of them. They could entertain him for an hour or so every day. If things got really, really bad we could cross that bridge when we come to it.

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Today is my dear hubby's 41st birthday.

Bob is a wonderful and good man. He is responsible, kind, caring, hard working, honest, a great step-father to Katya and an amazing father to Alexis and Logan. He tries to be all the good and wonderful things that you hope your husband would be when you imagine one.

True, he sometimes does drive me up a wall - but he is just human.

A very, very good human who I got lucky enough to get re-acquainted with in 2001. We had known each other since 1995 as casual friends, but then lost touch after some office shuffling. He came along when I had totally given up on ever having a special someone in my life again. I was just going to concentrate on my career, Katya, my friends and family and hopefully have nice relationships with nice men along the way. I never expected the butterflies in the stomach, daydreams about his eyes, giddiness when he would hold my hand and the deep love that I soon felt for him.

I am exceedingly lucky. I played the lotto of life and somehow got a gem of a guy. I hope we get to enjoy many, many more birthdays together.

Katya's Second Track Meet of the Season

Katya had her second track meet yesterday afternoon and she ROCKED it again!

This meet was held at her middle school and it included Tumalo Middle School, Jefferson County Middle School and Gregory Middle School (from Redmond). The weather couldn't have been more different than last week. I went all ready for some seriously cold weather, but it stayed in the 70's most of the day. I had changed into a long sleeved shirt and I roasted most of the meet.

Thankfully, Ginger babysat Alexis for me so I could concentrate on watching Katya. Also, Debbie K. went for a while and she did a LOT of Logan holding for me so I could run around from event to event. Thank you, Debbie!!

Katya had decided to go ahead and give high jump a try and she had to run back and forth to it for a couple of hours as they raised it to the new heights until she couldn't clear the next height.

Katya's first running event was the 110 low hurdles. She had a clean race and came in FIRST! She had a nice lead towards the end and cleared each hurdle with some great form. I wish my camera would have caught some better pictures, but it has a delay sometimes. I like to try and catch her while she is airborne. Bummer!

The next race that she was in was the 200 meter dash. She was amazing in this race. She had a beautiful start and finished with some distance between her and the person behind her. Terren came up here to visit Katya for a week so she didn't have to fly this month. He took video of all of her races and he said he would burn me a copy so I can put them on You Tube to share.

Between the 200 and her 800 relay she finished out with high jump. Her highest jump was 3' 10". That is pretty darn good for just trying it out for the first time in a meet. I think there was only one girl that jumped higher than that and she had perfect form each time.

The last race of the meet is the 800 relay. They do things a bit different than my high school memories recall. There are four kids and each length that they run is 200 meters. Katya was the second leg of her relay and her team got FIRST place again! At this rate I do believe that Katya will be asked to go to the Division meet in May. She is doing so awesome!!

Katya has some really wonderful friends that came out with their mother's to support Katya and cheer her on. Her friend, Bailey, and her mother came out for a good hour or so to support her. Same with her Campfire leader and her daughter. They are some amazing friends. She has two more regular meets over the next two weeks, then is the Division meet. I am so glad that she is at least trying all these events. It is just a real ego booster when she does well.

Beautiful Spring Day

Yesterday was the most perfect Spring day!

I was up and cleaning the house at 5:30am so I felt so accomplished by the time that Katya came down to eat breakfast before school. We had a nice visit before she took off for school.

Then I got the babies up, dressed and fed and we were out the door by 8:45am. I had joined a Hikes With Tykes class through Bend Park & Rec with my Aunt Ginger so we could do some more interesting walks. Ginger pushes Alexis in one stroller and I push Logan in the other. It was a beautiful walk that included a nice stroll by the river. According to Ginger's pedometer we did about 5 miles.

I felt so good when I got home. Alexis had slept a little bit in the stroller, so when we got home she was wide awake. After the normal diaper changing and feeding of the short ones we went outside and played on the front patio. I put warm water into her water table and sat with Logan and watched Alexis play. She played in the water for a few minutes and then pulled the plug on the bottom. She realized that the water level was going down so she plugged it back up. Then she looked under the table and back at the plug. Then she pulled the plug again and then bent over and watched the rest of the water drain out the bottom and all over the patio. The water fun was short lived. Then while she was on her slide and playing with her ball I decided to put her playhouse together. I got it all together and most of the screws in, but to finish the roof I need someone to push the roof down while I screw it in. At least it is all together so she can play with it.

Alexis played for about two hours before she finally wore herself out enough to take her nap. While she slept, I watered all of my beautiful flowers that have popped up all over the yard. I even have one blooming tulip to enjoy. The rest haven't bloomed and the deer haven't come over for any snacks yet. I bought a bag of Dahlias to put somewhere in the yard and I am trying to figure out where to put them. I enjoy putzing in my yard, it is relaxing.

Unfortunately, my fabulous day was cut short after I picked up Katya from track practice. As we pulled into the driveway steam started pouring out from under the hood of my Durango. My gauges didn't read anything being hot so I just shut the engine off. Coolant poured out of the bottom of my truck all over the driveway. BUMMER! I had some warranty work done last month and evidently it wasn't done too well. AAA had the truck towed to the dealership for repair. So, here I sit at home without any car. Wah!

At least I have beautiful flowers to look at while I am stuck at the house.

New Favorie Bizarre Critter

I am a huge science fiend. I love the science channel, I love museums and I love my Discover magazine. I have been getting a subscription for so many years now, I lost count.

In my April issue there is a photo spread of some of the coolest looking critters I have ever seen. They are all creatures of the deep abyss. They are found more than two miles down in the deepest parts of the ocean. Katya and I were having a good time picking out our favorite creature. Hers is the Vampire Squid. Also totally cool looking.

My current favorite funky creature is the Grimpoteuthis. Also known as the "Dumbo octopus", the Grimpoteuthis is a benthic mollusc found on the ocean floor at depths of 300-400 meters. Dumbo octopuses, which can grow to up to 20 centimeters, are soft-bodied or semi- gelatinous octopuses with a pair of fins located on their mantle and webbing between their arms. Grimpoteuthis swim by moving their fins, pulsing their webbed arms, pushing water through their funnel for jet propulsion, or all three at once. They can swim up off the bottom and hover a bit just above the seafloor looking for snails, worms, and other food. (this definition was taken from a website)

Anyway, I thought it looked kind of like a Pokemon. I can just imagine it saying "Dumbo Octopus, Dumbo Octopus" to Pikachu.

The Art of Composting

I haven't mastered it evidently.

Last Spring I bought a huge compost bin for putting all our grass clippings, tree leaves, fruit & veggie waste, egg shells and coffee grounds. I had read all about what to put in the bins and I thought I had this thing down.

For a whole year now we have been putting stuff into that bin and it has been getting eaten up by the microbes. Today I went down to get my first bucket full to use while planting some flowers when Alexis was taking a nap. What did I find? One inch of fabulous looking compost topped by dry leaves, egg shells, veggies and grass. I'm so bummed and so confused!

I am going to get this thing figured out. I soaked the whole mess with at hose really well this morning to add some much needed moisture. I guess it has been too dry for the compost to work it's magic. I am thinking that somewhere in the middle of this thing is some great compost otherwise it wouldn' t have kept going down. Also, when I was watering it down this morning I saw steam coming out of the vents.

Maybe it just needs to be stirred up more. I'm on the great hunt for a compost mixer thingie (a stick with some mix edges that go in flush with the stick and splay out when you pull it up) and some earthworms. I think those two things will help me get that compost ready for spreading in no time at all.

I will master this thing. I have 1/2 acre that could use some good compost and I don't want to have to buy it every spring when I could make it myself. Wish me luck and if you have any great experience with making compost, let me know!

Quandry

I have a bit of a quandry on my hands.

A few months ago, Bob did some volunteer work for a private school here in Bend. A new cell tower was constructed very close to their school and they had made it known to the local paper that they were afraid that the RF would somehow hurt the children attending the school. Bob called them and volunteered his time to go out there and do the RF readings on the tower (his prior experience at Qualcomm had come in handy) to let them know how strong they were.

In return, the school mailed us a $100 gift certificate to a local restaurant called Baltazar's.

While visiting with my neighbor a few weeks after receiving the gift certificate she proceeded to tell me how her and her husband went to dinner at that very restaurant. She had taken her four month old baby with them since he was still being nursed. Evidently the wait staff was extremly rude to them and told them that they would have to put the baby on the floor since they didn't have highchairs. They have no intention of every returning to the restaurant.

Then I just received an email from the mother's group that I belong to here in Bend with a woman's account of her experience at the same restaurant. She had a similar experience as my neighbor and she wrote a letter to the manager expressing her dissatisfaction for the rudeness she received there. He called her back and basically told her he didn't like children and he didn't want them in his restaurant. He then told her off with some profanity and hung up on her.

So, I now have this gift certificate for a restaurant owned and operated by a jerk. It isn't just the fact that he doesn't want children there, it is that he was such a jerk to this woman. Now, the demographics of Bend are such that basically everyone that doesn't already have a kid is pregnant or planning on getting pregnant some time soon. This guy has just cut off a huge portion of the dining patrons of Bend.

What do I do? Do I have someone babysit long enough for us to use this gift certificate sans kids knowing the experiences of other people? Do I just not use the gift certificate at all? Do I save it and give it to someone else who doesn't have kids? Do I go in and ask for a the dollar value in cash for the certificate knowing they most likely won't give it to me? I could use some suggestions.

Suzanne

Ok, see if you can follow me here. Debbie Kocian (aka Debbie K.) is one of Bob's older sisters. Debbie was previously married many years ago to a man who lived in Texas. Her ex-husband had come into the relationship with two children, one of them being a 2 year old named Suzanne. Debbie was married for many years, but the relationship ended and Debbie and her son, Brett, moved out to California. However, Debbie has maintained a relationship with Suzanne to this day.

I first met Suzanne about four years ago while she was working on her Master's degree in something biotech related. We had lunch close to Qualcomm and I instantly loved her. She is one of those genuinely fabulous people who are beautiful inside and out. I have only seen her a few times after that, primarily at weddings or huge family gatherings.

Well, her and her significant other, Tom, moved to San Francisco about six months ago when Tom was offered a great position with a biotech company up there. Suzanne was on the great job hunt this whole time as well as decorating her new apartment. I saw pictures of the apartment and it is small, but so cute! Well, Suzanne starts a new job on Monday but she decided she would hop up here to Bend to visit Debbie for a week before she starts back into the rat race.

Debbie had a lot of parent duty to perform while Suzanne was here (that will be a blog unto itself), so I had the privilege to entertain Suzanne a bit. I mostly just made dinners for them here at my house, but I really enjoyed the time to get to know Suzanne better. She headed back to San Francisco, but she promised to visit in the summer with Tom.

Isn't it amazing that sometimes the people that come into your lives - that have no blood ties to you at all - are the people you love to call family? I have been fortunate in having my life sprinkled with non-blood related people who I feel are some of the most important people in my life and my children's lives.

Katya's First Track Meet of the Season

Well, yesterday Katya had her first of four track meets and she rocked it!

Katya was signed up to do four events yesterday; high jump, 110 low hurdles, 200 sprint & the 800 relay.

Katya's first event was the 110 low hurdles. There were three heats of this event for the 7th grade girls and Katya came in 1st overall!! She really has some speed that she puts in for the last 30 yards of her races that helps her to zoom past some of the other girls.

She was so pumped up about her 110 that she decided to blow off the high jump. I was bummed about that one. I did both hurdles and high jump in high school so those are two of my favorite events.

There was about an hour between events and during this time the weather went from a nice 67 degrees to about 50 degrees with a cold wind. All the spectators started wrapping up in blankets from their cars because it was getting so cold. Alexis had a cold so I had left her with Ginger and just brought Logan with me. He was all snug in his fleece sleeping bag thing and another fleece blanket. He just slept through the whole meet. Luckily they supply the kids with sweats so Katya was keeping warm.

When Katya's 200 event came up she rocked that one too! She came in 3rd overall behind two other really fast girls from her school. Our neighbor's kid, Zach, was at the meet too (he is an 8th grader) and he made the comment that he had no idea she was that fast. That made her feel good.

I was unable to stay for the 800 relay because I had to get back to Ginger's house so she could take Danae to her evening workout class. Katya told me that her team had missed the call for the 7th grade girls 800 relay (this should come to no surprise to anyone with a teenager) so they ran in the 8th grade girls relay and got second place! After their race the weather got even colder and it snowed on them before they boarded the bus to head on back. I told you our spring weather was bizarre.

Katya was really pumped up and felt so good about her performance this year. Last year she also did track & field, but never placed in the top three. What a difference a year makes. I'm looking forward to the meet next week.

Front Porch

Well, Bob has completed another home project. Yeah!

Our front porch is more of a courtyard than a porch, which is very odd for this area. I'm still trying to think of how we can get some of it covered without blocking sunlight for the windows. I'll keep you informed if I get an epiphany some time soon. The one thing that our front porch has going for it is that it is a nice enclosed space with a gate that can lock to keep small grommets inside.

One of the problems that I had with the front porch was that it is a wood floor which is a bit old and has splinters which would make for some boo boos for when Alexis and Logan fell. Soooooooooooo, we put some outdoor carpeting on it. Bob had to do a lot of prep work for it, but he got it laid and it looks great. Our porch gets regular peltings of pine cones from our many, many Ponderosa Pine trees. But the carpet is cleaned quite nicely with our trusty shop vac.

The other problem is that there is a small covered niche where we keep the trash can and recycling containers. Well, Bob built a little ladder thingie to hold all the recycling bins next to the trash can to keep them out of the way but still accessible. Then he fabricated a door with the help of my Uncle Mark and his awesome wood shop that he has in his garage up here. Eventually the door will get painted when we either repaint the whole house or I just decide to paint the inside walls of the patio. Now I don't have to worry about the kids getting into the trash no matter how hard they try.

Next, Bob installed a shelf for me to put my cute garden animals and eventually some plants on. I think that it turned out great! The shelf is actually some wood that was left over from our stairs.

I then ordered some kid friendly accessories for the patio that include a covered patio table and that sand and water table from Target. The slide thing is currently out there, as is the sand turtle and a box that will become a play house. These items will eventually live in the backyard after we (aka Bob) gets it fenced in with some little picket fencing he bought at Home Depot. That is another weekend project for Bob. I'll post pictures of that too when it is finished. After the backyard is finished we have the patio off of the living room that needs to have some work done to it and then we can move to the art room! Unless, of course, another project comes up that takes priority. : )

Kid Update

Hey ya'll (as Debbie K. would say),

I figured that it has been a while since I gave a general update on my kids.

Katya - She has started off the Spring sports season with two sports; lacrosse & track. She has track practice four days a week for 90 minutes. She has been trying out different events to see which ones that she likes the best. I think that she is going to try for the 200 sprint, 400 low hurdles, 800 and maybe long jump or high jump. The nice thing is that she can try every event to see which ones that she likes. Her first track meet is this Thursday. Katya has also started lacrosse. She has lacrosse practice two days a week for 90 minutes. This girl is burning some serious calories. Her first lacrosse game is May 1st (my parents wedding anniversay!). Katya is only one of three girls on her team, but she is a serious player as are the other two girls. She has a lot of fun putting those boys in their place on the field. School is still going well and she is still holding her 4.0. This upcoming Saturday is the school's talent show - Cascade Idol. Katya will be doing a vocal number and she sounds great. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Alexis - She has been really into the whole put things in and then take things out. This includes food into and out of her bowl, legos into and out of any container, herself into and out of boxes, baby items for Logan and toys. I keep a small laundry hamper downstairs because we generate so many dirty baby clothes and blankets. Alexis enjoys taking everything out of the laundry hamper and putting them on her head and walking around the house. Alexis still isn't all that interested in talking verbally yet. She has a few words; doggie, daddy, mama and something that kind of sounds like kitty. She generally is just a happy little girl with a ton of energy.

Logan - We are starting to see a bit more personality from Logan. He loves to be held close and have someone stare at him. He is starting to coo and giggle and smile from ear to ear. It is really sweet to see. Although he has turned over from his front to his back a while ago, he is not all that interested in repeating it. He HATES tummy time and spends most of the time on his stomach screaming his head off. When he is unhappy he sticks his lower lip out in a full-fledged pout before he lets loose with the most heart wrenching sob. At this point, I am thinking he will be the sensitive one. We'll have to get to know him a little better before I can know for sure.

Bag Lady Party

I went to my very first Bag Lady Party tonight. When I was invited last week I had no idea what it was and it had to be explained to me. A group of ladies go to someone's house and they bring a bag of clothes that they no longer like or wear. After some snacks and visiting, everyone starts to sift through the clothes to see if they like anything that someone else brought and they take them home.

Isn't that a cool idea? It really is in theory. As I found out tonight, it really only works if there are people there that are roughly the same size as you are. I am 5' 9". Everyone at this party was 5' 1" to 5' 3". Most of the clothes that were there ranged in size from 3-6. I haven't worn a size 6 since my freshman year in high school. Don't get me wrong, I was a string bean in high school - but my body is just built bigger than that. I had taken some of my old maternity clothes and some of my really cute shoes that no longer fit because my feet grew. Luckily, someone has a girlfriend that is my size and preggo so she was able to take the clothes. The other ladies liked my old shoes.

I really did have a fun time at the party. My sister in law, Debbie K., came over and babysat so I could go to the party. I hadn't had a chance to sit and visit with other mothers without a child present since Alexis was born. Sooooooooooooooooo nice! I feel so refreshed! It is also nice to get to know some of my other neighbors better. I live in a fabulous neighborhood (hence another reason to fix up this house instead of sell it and move) with the nicest people around.

Don't worry, I didn't leave the party empty handed. Katya got a cute grey skirt and 2 pairs of Ambercrombie & Fitch shorts in size 4. She was very happy. That and I also scored her some more babysitting jobs while I was there. I racked up some good Mommy points tonight.

The 3 "M" Medicines

Our medicine cabinet has many things in there, but right now there are three main medicines that are considered critical right now. If we are out of one of them, it is reason enough for someone to get in the car and drive to the grocery store to get more. I was just laughing with Bob the other day that these medicines all start with "M".

Mylicon is for Logan. He is a major little gas maker. His poor little tummy is always a bit hard and he fusses every night because it hurts him. He is an air gulper on top of that so he always needs to be burped and he can belch as loud as a man. And those toots are something of a mystery to me. He has farts that sound like they came from an adult. How that much air can come out of one so small seems not possible. I sure hope that he outgrows all this gassiness. I don't want to have to send him to school with Gas X.

Motrin is for Alexis. Alexis is still working on those same four teeth that she started getting in January. None of the four have fully come in yet and there is one other tooth that is pushing on her gums. Poor baby is always a bit grumpy when it comes to her mouth. If we don't give her a dose of Motrin before bedtime, she will almost always wake up crying around three in the morning. I meet other children and they all have at least eight teeth and poor Alexis has 2 1/2. I think we should be able to buy Motrin in the gallon size.

Midol is for Katya. Puberty is hard enough without having to get used to that "time of the month". Luckily there is medicine to make those times a bit easier on her as well as everyone else in the house. I wish I had known about Midol when I was in Jr High. Or did it even exist way back in those dark ages? My mother swears that I just sat in my bedroom and stewed for two years and occasionally she would throw some raw meat my way.

New Traditions

Easter has always been a holiday of family and close friends. Growing up, my mother would always make us a huge breakfast with all the yummy good things that are bad for you. Lots of bacon, blueberry muffins, more bacon, eggs covered with cheese for those who like them (not me), fresh fruit and everyone's Easter basket sitting on the table. Everyone got an Easter basket every year. It didn't matter that we were adults, our baskets just became ice chests or serving dishes.

For a couple of Easters I spent them with my girlfriends going to the Catamaran Hotel in San Diego for their Easter brunch. Yum does not begin to describe their food. Always yummy and lots of it. We would all get dressed up in our new Easter clothes (a biggie with Michelle), take photos, go to brunch and do a ride on the ferry boat afterwards across the bay. Very relaxing and very fun.

Now that I live way away from my parents and my girlfriends I am trying to find a new set of traditions for here in Bend. Traditions are important to me. Things that you look forward to every year even when you don't realize it. Last year I just made a big breakfast and we all got Easter chocolate bunnies. Bob's parents and my sister in laws all went and did their own thing. Alexis was too young for an egg hunt and Katya was too old. Also, it snowed. It would have been tough to do an egg hunt in those conditions.

This year I've got Ginger and crew up here as well as Bob's parents and Debbie K. Patti is in Arizona until the summer. So this year I did a big breakfast again, but I had a much bigger audience than last year. It was great! We had blueberry muffins, orange juice, sausage, bacon, fresh fruit & eggs covered with cheese (courtesy of Ginger) and waffles. (Sounds like I miss my Mommy's breakfasts.) It was nice to have so many people that I care for under my roof eating one of the few meals that I enjoy preparing. We all got Easter bunnies or baskets or both in Katya's case. Katya's basket was filled with candy while Alexis and Logan just got baskets filled with empty plastic eggs. Alexis spent a couple of hours putting those eggs into and out of her basket. I still have plastic egg parts all over my living room.

After breakfast Katya hid Easter eggs (which she decorated last night) on our newly renovated front porch (I'll post pictures of that later) and on our front lawn. It was fun watching Alexis go around and find the Easter eggs with some assistance from her big sis. Katya had done Alexis' hair into ponytails and she looked especially cute. Logan slept through all the comotion.

After the big egg hunt everyone basically just settled in, napped or chatted for hours in the dining room. It was really nice. I do so enjoy having a house full of people to visit with. I called Vista and chatted with my cousin Beth, whom I miss terribly, and wished everyone there a very happy Easter.

Everyone eventually trickled their way home and we had a nice quiet meal of french dip sandwiches (recipe courtesy of my fab sister in law, Mandee) before the kids all went to bed.

We had a fabulous Easter and I hope you all did too. I look forward to next Easter when I will have two little monkeys looking for Easter eggs all over the front deck and lawn with the help of their big sister after having eaten a huge breakfast surrounded by family and friends.

Thank goodness for the pause button

I seriously don't remember the last time that Bob and I sat down to watch a movie at home without having to pause the movie at least three times. Tonight we were watching, or rather trying to watch, the movie "Stranger Than Fiction". I believe that for all the baby crying, diaper changing, milk fetching, toddler fussing, and telephone ringing we must have paused that movie at least twenty times. Not even kidding.

At home we pay extra on our cable bill every month for a DVR. It is worth every penny. There are shows that we like to watch and I seriously believe that we wouldn't be able to see them if we had to watch them real time. Bob likes to record AMA Supercross, we are both addicted to "Grey's Anatomy" and "Numb3rs", and there are special programs that we like to record occasionally like the series about those climbers going to the top of Mt. Everest and the current "Planet Earth" series. And we don't want to leave out all of those Sesame Street episodes that we record every week for when Alexis needs some wind down time. Considering that Bob frequently works late into the evening most nights, Katya and I can watch these shows and save them for when Bob has time himself. This way we both can watch the shows for when they work into our schedule.

With all the time that I spend nursing, I really appreciate having something to watch "on demand". Plus, with all of my frequent interruptions that I get from Alexis or the telephone or the front door, I don't miss anything because of those lovely pause and rewind buttons.

Family Photos

Well, we finally had our famiy photo taken yesterday. It had been three years since we had a family photo with all of us in it. Needless to say, our family has expanded by two since that one picture.

There are quite a few picture places here in Bend, but all of them are private studios. Since I have so much family and I send so many pictures to people, that isn't financially feasible. Sooooooooo, we have been going to Sears since Alexis was born and I am quite impressed with the shots they get of the kids.

Our photo shoot went rather well yesterday. I am a bit disappointed with the family shot, but I think us wearing darker colors next year will be an improvement. That and the fact that I will have some more of my baby weight off. I am always hoping to get some candid shot of us out on a hike or just in the front yard, but finding someone to man the camera when those opportunities arise are few and far between. However, the pictures of the kids are just beautiful! I won't get the actual prints for two more weeks, but they provided them to me via the web for viewing and ordering more prints if I wanted.

I think the kids pictures are darling. I hope you enjoy them.

Wish Us Luck

Most everyone knows that I live in a house that has gone through a major transformation in the past two years. Bob bought this house based soley on the fact that the house has amazing views of the mountains and it is on a half acre. If I had seen the house, we would not have bought it. Trust me. But, we are making lemonade out of lemons and turning this place into a nice warm home. We've removed walls, moved stairs, redone HVAC, had insulation blown into the interior walls, have new drywall on most walls, replaced structural beams, replaced every window in the house except for three, moved the front door and created a new room out of an underutilized space under the house - the list goes on. We've had more done to this place than you could imagine. But, of course, we are now out of money but not out of projects.

Most of the projects aren't of too grand a scale except for my poor little art room. This is a space under the house that was used for storage and I wanted to use it for a room for myself and the kids. Most of the really tough stuff is finished already. We had the structural beams moved, a window installed, cement flooring and retaining wall built, and electricity pulled in. Now we just need to finish the room. It needs drywall, insulation (actually just more of it), cabinets built, a drop ceiling put in, tile put on the retaining wall and some pergo-like flooring installed. There is still so much to do.

I would really love to have this room finished so I can use it, but there are always so many projects that Bob has to work on.

Then I had an epiphany while watching DIY (Do It Yourself) Network. They have a show called DIY to the Rescue and they were asking for people to submit their most daunting do it yourself projects for them to help with. I knew just the project they could tackle!

Soooooooooooooooooo, I just finished my online application and need to do a little 5 minute video that I will burn to CD and mail to them to finish the application. I had to take a picture to attach to my online app to give them an idea of my room. Let's just hope they take pity on me and decide to take on my room! I'll let you know!

Shaniko & Antelope

This past Saturday Bob, myself and the kids (sans Katya who was in San Diego for Spring Break) decided to get out of Bend for a while. I have been wanting to go to Seattle to visit my girlfriend, Michelle, but that didn't work out because of various car maintence issues. As an alternative day trip I wanted to go to Eugene to find a Trader Joes, but Eugene was having a rainy day so we didn't go West. Instead, we headed North East and found ourselves in the town of Shaniko.

Bob had heard that Shaniko was a really cool Ol' West town and was worth a visit. We had been driving for two hours and Alexis was starting to have a meltdown by the time we got there - but it was well worth the trip. We hit the local ice cream parlor where we had a wonderful conversation with the owners and got some yummy ice cream. I had a full scoop of black licorice ice cream in a waffle cone, YUMMY! I am always amazed at how friendly people are in Oregon. The owners of this little ice cream shop in the middle of seemingly nowhere were a lovely older couple (I'd say in their 70's). The wife came over and scooped up Logan when he started to fuss and bounced him all over the store and cooed at him. The husband, who was rather large and was wearing some equally large denim overalls, talked to Bob about some new bug that had lived through the winter and was proving to be a pest for the store owners. Alexis walked around the store and moved chairs around and the couple were quite nonplussed about it.

Evidently they were the only store open in Shaniko except for the candy shop. The rest of the town opens on April Fool's Day for the tourist season. Bob and I walked all around Shaniko - it is not all that big - and learned a lot about the place. It is a real ghost town. The train used to end in Shaniko before it was diverted to Bend many years ago. When the train bypassed Shaniko, the town basically died. There are all kinds of structures around that are over 150 years old and are all in various stages of renovation. There is also a large covered area that has a collection of wagons ranging from 100+ years old to more current ones. Very cool. Evidently Shaniko has all kinds of cool events from May through October. The next event is a 1950's car celebration with an outdoor street dance, fire house sale, BBQ, old cars and vendors. Then in June they have a gem show (Katya loves rocks, fossils and semi precious gems) as well as Pioneer days complete with gunfighters. We have plans to return for some of these events because it sounds like fun.

After cruising through Shaniko for a while we met a couple of locals that chatted us up for a while. One of them was telling us about the history of Antelope (just down the hill from Shaniko) and a crazy man from India that had taken over the town in the early 1980's. That really got my curiosity up. We ended up heading to Antelope and we had dinner at the town restaurant / grocery store. While we were there we learned more about the town's history. In the early 1980's a man from India named, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had purchased 65,000 acres just outside of Antelope and called the area Rajneeshpuram (formerly known as the "Big Muddy Ranch"). This was some kind of cult commune, although the details are available I am not sure what it was all about yet. After a few years, he decided to take over the town of Antelope by having some of his followers register to vote and have himself elected mayor. While mayor he had the name of the town changed from Antelope to Rajneesh. He was a bit of a loon and started having his followers (homeless people that he picked up in Seattle and Portland areas and moved to his commune), who dressed in pink & purple overalls, armed with M16 rifles. Needless to say, this upset the locals of the neighboring towns when his followers would visit. The government (who I am sure had been following this drama) found some IRS and immigration charges that they charged him with. I heard that he had died, but some internet sites say that he moved back to India. The town voted itself back to it's old name and the city offices were restored to locals. Eventually a billionaire from Montana purchased the land from the government and donated it to a church organization called "Young Life" for youth camps.

I must now learn all about this saga and the bizarre man known as Rajneesh. How a man from India picked the town of Antelope, Oregon (population 34) to create his own little commune is so wierd. But then again, the truth is always stranger than fiction.

Little Miss Daredevil

There are many characteristics that have been linked to genetics in just the past few years. Everything from eye color to taste preferences are attached to some gene that your parents have passed down to you. Unfortunately for us, adrenaline junkie is also a trait that is passed down to Alexis from both sides of the family.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am NOT the adrenaline junkie in our family. It comes from my Uncle Richard who was always testing the limits and my brother who has a thing for rollercoasters and trying new things.

Bob is most definately an adrenaline junkie. His nickname is "Skid" because he ate it so many times on a dirtbike. He has all kinds of scars and two screws holding his ankle together. He started out doing BMX as a kid, then moved to dirt bikes as soon as he could get his hands on one, then motorcycles, jetskis, snowboards and when he got more money he started flying airplanes. Anything that can get his blood pumping or his heart to skip a beat he is all for. Poor Bob, his baby girl takes after him.

Alexis is really at the climbing stage right now and I thought that it was about time that I get her a climbing structure for the house so I don't have to keep telling her "no" all the time. I had bought one for Katya when she was about the same age and it was a lifesaver for her getting some energy out. We had it for years until we eventually passed it down to someone else. I found one for a reasonable price at Target and after making sure I coudln't get it somewhere else cheaper, I went ahead and bought it. Bob put it together for me and we put it in the living room (it will eventually live in the backyard after we get that area turned into a gated dog poop free zone).

Alexis took to it no problem, but she was really freaking Bob out. Bob was standing there with one hand on either side of her convinced that she was going to fall and telling me that she was too young for it. Once I convinced him that she could handle it , and Bob left the room, I let her get used to it. Pretty soon she was holding on with one hand and standing on one foot while waving the other one over the slide. Then she started standing at the far edge of it with only her heels on the platform and she would wiggle from side to side. She tries to walk down the slide and to walk up it. Needless to say, she stresses Bob out to no end when she is on that thing.

Bob's mom says that he is getting payback for what he did to her. Can you imagine when she gets older? She will give us both a heart attack.