Happy Thanksgiving

Jamisen helping with Quinoa Stuffing Muffins

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful day full of family, food and fun. We had Kale-Quinoa Stuffing Muffins, Sweet Potato & Apple Casserole and Coconut Sweet Potato Pie for dessert.

Figuring out our Hot Tub Water pH before Lunch

This Thanksgiving celebration was smaller than usual; my brother and sister-in-law are in California. So it was just my parents, husband, the kiddos and myself. It was sweet but we missed family that weren’t there.

Thankfulness Tablecloth + great centerpiece arrangement styled by Jamisen. Tiny art by Julia Clifford. Also, there is a photo on that link of me from 2007. Yikes. That dress (!).

Growing up so fast!

 We have a meaningful tradition in our family: the Thankfulness Tablecloth. We all go around the table and talk about what we are particularly thankful for this year. Then, we take permanent markers and write our thankfulness thought on the white tablecloth. It is always a special moment when we all go around and share our meaning or thought and focuses the day on where it should be: gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving walk. Dinner was the perfect amount so it wasn't tooooo heavy but still, a post-lunch walk was perfect. What great weather!

Meditating Deer & Counting Peas in the Nose

 

See this happy, perfectly little munchin? Cutest. Baby. Ever. Of. All. Time.  Except she has a few extra things goin' on - namely, peas up her nose. That's right; manny Jason called me at work and was like "When I was changing Lily's diaper, I noticed something up her nose. And when I asked her what it was, she said 'peas!' as in, plural and they're up there really high." So, I got to take a trip to the Doctor's office. Chris was on a business trip - Saudi? Seattle? North Carolina? Ohio? They blur together lately.

Any bets on how they get peas out of a 2 year old's nose? I'll let you think of it. Nope. Not tweezers. She wouldn't stay still. And good thought, but no, she wouldn't blow them out either. Any other ideas? Nope, no suction things there. Give up? Let me write you a visual picture, shall I?

I cupped one hand over her mouth. I plugged one nostril (the pea-carrying nostril). And then I carefully fit my lips over her other nostril and ... blew. That's right. I blew and blew and blew and still, that dang pea did not come out. Then, Lily gasped and sucked the pea(s) deeper into her nasal cavity. Argh!

Another pediatrician came in with a syringe and a bulbus tube that we shoved up her nose - more airtight seal - and then we pushed some more air up there until, pop! the pea popped out and, it was only one up there. Whether there really were 5 or if it was just the one, we'll never know. Either way, I totally had my mouth all over her snotty nose and am planning on holding it over her head for the rest of her life. I've got the whole "Dude, I carried you for 9 months; I had to do shots EVERY DAY of that pregnancy and get cut open to get you out," and now I can add, "And I french kissed your nose to get a snot-covered pea out of your nasal cavity." If that's not love ...

Jamisen was very worried about his sister the entire time she was in there. He really wanted to come in the room with us but nanny Jason was firm that he would be a distraction so he waited out in the waiting room to see his little sister and confirm for herself that she was okay. He so so so loves her.

He is still such a huge helper in the kitchen. He is intensely curious about how everything works. Just this morning he said to me, "Mama, I went outside and licked the frost on the grass to see what it would taste like." And I was like, "Oh, okay. How did it taste?" And he said, "Like little miniature pieces of grass ice."  And that was after a very long discussion about the moon, weather patterns and why frost forms. He had most of the details pretty correct and said that he had learned them in school.

 

We had a great time at Bellwood Acres the other day with brother Weston and Aunty Anna. Jamisen totally waited a full 30 minutes for fresh donuts - like, not a whimper, not a whine, nada. Just sat there waiting with me for his prize. That delayed gratification is going to serve him so well in life. 

Another sweet story; Jamisen saw a deer sleeping in our yard the other day. He gazed at it thoughtfully and then said to me, "Mama, I bet that deer is meditating. He is finding his calm."

Kissing Alpacas & Petting Kangaroos

Who knew we had an exotic animal farm near us? I didn't! But, it just took Cheriss's brother + wife visiting to turn us into tourists in our own town. I fell in love with Mr. Alpaca but the dental work left a little to be desired.

This farm had goats, turtles, emus, ostriches, peacocks and kangaroos. Most of the animals, except the ostriches, were super friendly. It may have had something to do with the food that we had in our hands but I prefer to think it was all about our sunny dispositions and witty personalities.

You really could touch the kangaroos. They were sweet, fun-loving and had intelligent personalities. Yes, you could figure that out just by watching them interact. They would even hug guests. And before you poo-poo that as just a trained pet trick, the hugs seemed sweet and heartfelt (so there, you skeptical reader).

Even the baby got in on the action though I'm pretty sure she tried to eat the kangaroo bread at one point. Oh, what you say? I forgot to mention that they eat bread?! Yes, they eat whole wheat seed bread. It looked an awfully lot like Dave's Killer Bread actually ...

Baby Lily was unsure about the entire experience. She and this little kangaroo had quite the stare down going. The kangaroo blinked first. Also, do note that is Jamisen's jacket. Lily insisted on wearing that and not her own jacket. Because, jackets are warmer when they're your brother's.

A Dog, a Strawberry & an Owl All Go Out

Halloween 2015 was full of excitement, candy and rain; oh, so much rain! We started the evening at our good friend Sarah's house. Sarah always does a blowout Halloween party every year with unlimited pizza, beer, wine and full sized candy bars. She also has a professional cameraman and photobooth set up (true story). It is one epic party and really, could these girls be any cuter?

  

The rain barely barely let up for an hour for the entire family to dash out in the rain and head to Fairhaven for some epic and crowded trick or treating. Notice that all of us are dressed rather warmly. I am a glamorous bumblebee under that puffy turns-out-isn't-waterproof purple jacket. 

The trick or treating was so fast and furious that Clifford the Dog got a little warm and had to take his Clifford hat-face topper off.

Everyone in rain jackets. Lily really got the hang of the holiday this year.

Lily is either a watermelon or a strawberry. We were going with watermelon earlier in the night so both she and Jamisen got little watermelon face paint designs on their faces (yes, Sarah had a face painter too at the party! I told you it was epic).

Here we are in all of our finest costumewear. Notice Wilma Flintstone on the right. Cheriss's outfit was homemade and so creative.

Chris was in Saudi so he missed Halloween. Thankfully Uncle Eric was there to carry the baby girls (not that Grandpa Faiola didn't have Lily for quite some time on his shoulders as well).

Jamisen's alternate costume was a flower. Lily is wearing the headband for the flower and Jamisen is wearing the flower costume in this photo. Jamisen insisted on being a flower for Halloween, all the way up until the day-of Halloween, at which point it was alllll about the old Clifford the Dog costume. So, alas, the homemade flower costume was only worn one time, at home. Given the rain, it was just fine that he didn't end up being a flower because that costume would have disintegrated like the little organic matter it was designed to be.

Arizona Trip Finishes

 

Taking a trip with kids isn't a vacation. It's a field trip. So on our field trip to Arizona, were super thankful that Grandma and Grandpa Faiola were there to take the kids for two dinners and several sleep overs (for Lily).

 

Lily basically wore her sunglasses once but the sun was hot (!) so the kids were sunscreen'ed up a lot during the vacation, I mean, field trip.

 

The resort had this incredible lazy river that just went around in a very long, slow stream like fashion. The kids loved it, especially if they were sitting on the lap of Grandma or Grandpa Faiola!

 

The river also had a variety of unfortunate water features that sprayed passersby as they floated leisurely down the river. It was virtually impossible to do the circuit without getting wet!

Happy kids and happy parents and grandparents. It was joyous to see the kids really take to water and learning new things. You could practically see their synapses firing on all cylinders as they swam a little bit more, jumped a little farther and ventured past their comfort zones.

Speaking of comfort zones, at one point, Jamisen stepped off the edge of the step onto the bottom of the warm pool and found himself underwater. Fully. He did not panic. But he also did not push himself up. He sort of just waited there for Grandpa Faiola to come and get him. I was happy he didn't panic (yay! no water in the lungs!) but distressed that he didn't quite have that survival instinct of pushing himself off the bottom down. Of course, it all happened quickly so maybe he would have pushed himself off the bottom. Eventually. We weren't going to wait around to see. 

 

The Arizona trip also had a field trip to the music museum (expensive but fun) and the children's museum. We inadvertently spent almost 6 hours at the children's museum because a dust storm hit while we were inside and driving was not advised for a full 2 hours. No sane adult should be forced to spend six hours in a children's museum, no matter how great of a crafty, active, 'present' parent you are. I joked to my folks that had I been in possession of flasks of vodka or any sort of drugs, I could have made a fortune selling it to the other captive parents. 

We had a great time in Arizona with the Grandparents and are excited about next year. We all came back completely exhausted, and both Chris and I felt just like Jamisen looked on the ride home. Thanks for a great field trip, family! =)

Arizona Sting Rays & Butterflies

While we were in Arizona, Chris had to fly back to Seattle for a business meeting so Grandpa and Grandma Faiola treated us all to a day at the Butterfly Sanctuary. It was such a fun experience. The kids got to touch the stingrays (!). Lily showed zero fear and just plunged her hand in to touch the stingrays. Jamisen was a bit more reticent to touch them though. He was excited and interested in them though.

The butterfly sanctuary had this amazing huge humid butterfly play area where you could go in and look at all the butterflies and if you were lucky, get the butterflies to land on you. Everyone in the family had multiple butterflies land on them. 

 

I got super lucky and had five butterflies at one time - probably because of the yellow pants. =) 

 

We were at the pool in the awesome Marriot resort almost every day by 8 a.m. One day, we literally showed up at the pool at 7:30 a.m. (!!!). The kids LOVED the water play so much. They were both in life jackets the entire time after Lily tried to drown herself in 18" of water.

 

There were 5 different pools that we could visit on any given day. One of the pools, pictured above, is a little kiddie pool that gets no deeper than 18" It's perfect for babies and non-swimming toddlers. I didn't make Lily put on her life jacket just once and within 5 minutes, she had fallen down, underwater. Judging by her flailing and panicked underwater look, there was no way she would have found her footing without help. She was fine after a couple scared wails. After that, it was pretty much life jacket all the time.

 

See? Life jacket! We packed four different life jackets in our suitcase. We weren't sure which ones the kids would like the best. They both liked the jacket-type ones the best.

Jamisen got a little bored with the kiddie pool after a few days and was ready for the 'harder' stuff. He excelled and got much more comfortable with swimming just in those few days. We really need to get them both into swimming classes at some point.

Baby Alise jjoined us for a few days and loved the water too. She especially loved being propelled around the pool in the warm water and naturally kicked her legs and arms like a pro. Lily is demonstrating how to use the little inner tube life jacket. Since it wasn't her favorite one, she's probably trying to talk Alise into buying it, Tom Sawyer like.

I often start my mornings out telling Jamisen that today will be the 'best day ever!' The other morning, I said that to him and then went straight into, "Is there anything you're thankful for today?" He crossed his arms and said defiantly, "No, I'm not thankful for anything and today will NOT be the best day ever!" Given that he generally is a happy positive little tyke, this is a story I want to remember for when he is 25 years old and greeting me on the phone (when he calls me every day just to say 'hi' of course) with "Good Morning Mom! It's the best day ever!" =)

Arizona. Travel Commences.

When Grandma and Grandpa Faiola bought a time share to a lovely Marriot in Arizona, it seemed like a fantastic idea to join them to frolic in the sun, laugh and enjoy quality family time. The logistics of getting us all to Arizona were a little daunting for our family of four though.

 The first night, we stayed in Tukwila and for a $149 price, we were able to keep our car at the hotel for the entire week we were gone in Arizona. Plus, a pool!

The kiddos can't swim yet but with life jackets, they were excited about the hotel pool (!). They were so happy to jump into the water and paddle around. Of course, this meant that we had wet life jackets to pack in the suitcases the next day. This was less than smart planning on our part.

The kids have never been down an escalator!This was exciting and scary but they did it (!). Also, fun story: Jamisen and Grandpa Faiola were on two escalators, side by side. Grandpa Faiola said, "Let's race! Who do you think will win?" And Jamisen said, "These escalators are going down at the same rate. We will get there at the same time." He's four people. Four. The kid is clearly a genius.

The kiddos both got their own carry-ons that they can also ride on. They were so cute walking through the airport with their little tiger and ladybug. American Airlines (US Airways) didn't let us board at the same time as a family - nor did they let us board early - so that was stressful. I walked down the gangplank with Lily in my arms, while Jamisen screamed, "Noooooooo, Mommmmmmyyyyyyy don't goooooooooo." It was traumatizing for us all. And AA was uniquely not interested nor did they care about how sad the entire thing was for our family or the other people on the plane.

Lily didn't want to wear her shoes once we got off the plane. It was not worth arguing with her over so she wandered through the entire airport in her socks with her little suitcase. So cute (!). She's wearing a brand new outfit for her airport trip too.

Lily also got tired of walking and pulling her own suitcase so we pulled her along for a bit and then Grandpa Faiola took the joy on ... on his shoulders. He is the only one that carries the kids like this and they seem to enjoy pulling on his hair and their high vantage point.

Jamisen also tired of pulling his own suitcase so Daddy lent a helping hand. Isn't that photo so cute? Overall, the kids were fine on the airplane. We even got one compliment about how well behaved they were. We had snacks for them, books and then a downloaded movie on an iPad. Lily didn't have a very long attention span for the movie but Jamisen loved it so that helped. We fed them gummy worms to get them chewing on the ascent and descent and no ear problems plagued them. So while it was a bit of a logistical challenge to get us all on the same flight, the actual flights and airport times went just fine.