Look Who's 2!

Trevor is officially into the terrible two's but I think we have already been there for awhile.  He continues to be determined, independent, and very busy.

The other day I was washing dishes and caught a glimpse of Trevor walking passed me.  It soon registered in my brain that I just saw something very unusual.  My little man was carrying a 3 lb. container of peanut butter and a toothbrush.  I quickly grabbed the peanut butter from him and found that he really was brushing his teeth with peanut butter.  He is now the proud owner of his own personal jar of peanut butter.

In the mornings he grabs his pillow pet and 2 blankets to bring into my bed to snuggle.  This is the only time I can snuggle with this busy kid so I enjoy it.  He has just started to notice the television and has taken an interest in Barney.  I take full advantage of that occasional 10 minutes each day.

He LOVES Lincoln but doesn't like him when he is playing with any of his toys.  Trevor is learning to say sorry and knows that a hug follows for those he offended (or bit).  In the car Lincoln and Trevor will laugh and laugh at each other and I wish I knew what was so funny.

Trevor has a lot of words to say but he doesn't speak very clearly so I am now an interpreter of Trevor-ese. Here are some pictures from his small party here at home.  At the time I knew that A LOT more cake would be in the future so we opted for pudding for dessert (which happens to be one of Trevor's favorites!)

Trevor loves cars but we decided to introduce him to the world of trains.  He did get some new cars, too.  We just love this kid!

Another Year Older

I did not like September 15th this year. Not one bit. I've never had a problem with birthdays before but I spent the entire day moping around and a bit teary. Turning 35 is just no fun! However, with a husband like Tadj it turned out way better than expected. We haven't celebrated my birthday on the actual day for many years thanks to September 15th being the due date for corporate tax extensions. Tadj told me he was taking the 16th off of work and surprised me with breakfast in bed (biscuits with gravy and a smoothie! Yum!) Then I was handed an envelope and led downstairs by the kids to find Marj (Tadj's mom) in the kitchen. I was very curious about what she was doing here and what was in the envelope. I opened the envelope and there was a note that said to pack my overnight bag. After the older kids got off to school, we quickly cleaned a portion of the church, gave some final tips to Marj, then hit the road with an additional stack of envelopes (with strange numbers on the outside).
We headed south on I-5 and on the way listened to "The Help" on CD. A book I decided I just had to "read" after seeing the movie. I was supposed to figure out what the numbers on the outside of the envelope meant but Tadj had to eventually tell me they were Latitude and Longitude. They were for various stops where I would get a gift.

The first stop was the Fabric Depot in Portland where I picked out drapery fabric.  This was my gift from Lincoln.

The second stop was the Keen store where I was supposed to get new shoes from Trevor.  Trevor has a fascination with shoes so it was the perfect gift from him.  I ended up with shoes from Nordstrom Rack and DSW instead, though.

The third stop was Deseret Book where I picked out a couple things from Kendall.  Actually, I got the kids some Sunday CDs because they didn't have the book I was looking for.

The fourth stop was the Costco jewelry counter for my gift from Tadj.  It was here that I learned the reason for the trip was some tax free savings.  Works for me!  Did I mention that I L-O-V-E my husband? 

The next day we hit the mall for my gift from Hayden, new sunglasses.  I didn't have any success with the sunglasses but did get some new clothes!

I don't have any pictures but I just had to do a little bragging about my wonderful hubby and how good he is to me!

Oregon Coast

Our one and only vacation this summer!  We went with some friends and rented the same house we stayed in last summer at Nedonna Beach (just north of Rockaway Beach).  We love this place!  We had good weather, lots of fun, and even found some time to relax.

Here at The Column in Astoria.  When I got to the top I threw my airplane off  and it went straight to the ground like a rock.  I think Lincoln pulled the tail off on the way up.  The kids' planes flew a long way.

Kendall wanted to see the Goonies house...again.

Trying to keep Lincoln warm at the beach. 

Trevor loved running back and forth along the water.

Lincoln kept eating the sand. 

At Tillamook Lincoln tried ice cream for the first time and did not appreciate the cold. He was giving me dirty looks but kept insisting on more.

Tide pools at Cannon Beach.

Here is the part of the trip I don't want to remember and thinking about it now makes my skin crawl.  On Sunday we decided to go for a hike after church.  It started out pleasant but about half way up I see one of the kids looking at the side of the mountain and declaring they just saw a snake.  I didn't think too much of it but as I round the next switch back there is a snake staring at me straight in the eye (and another snake right behind it.)  My body froze but my lungs continued to work as I screamed and screamed and screamed.  It was uncontrollable.  All of the kids in front were crying and everyone behind me knew that there was a snake sighting.  Sweet 5-year-old Josh walked the rest of the time next to me with a rock and assured me that if we saw another snake he was going to take care of it.  Even though I know Garter snakes are perfectly harmless I simply cannot control my fear of these awful creatures.  I also learned that the next time we decide to take a hike I will be doing more research.  Here is what I found on another blog after the hike: "While our surroundings did not seem like typical snake country we were surprised by numerous small garter snakes that would pop out of the bushes in front of us and slither across the path.  It made the hike more interesting and exciting because we never knew when another snake was going to jump out!"  Never again.

Other than the snake adventure we had a lovely time and I am hoping for another Ocean trip next year (but maybe somewhere warmer?!)