Ladies and Gentlemen!

Start your engines!!

And, best wishes for the race ;)

Playing "Dad at Work"

Austin was playing "Dad at Work" and was hauling tires out of the forest (balls out of the grass by the trees) and building trails (swishing rocks around in the driveway with shovels). He'd take his motorcycle to work and pack things in the trailer...Gabe decided he needed to get packed too ;)

The biggest carrot

Mom!! This is the BIGGEST carrot I've EVER seen in my LIFE!!! Did you KNOW THAT!?!?! Mom!! Did you KNOW THAT?!?! Says Austin ;)

Arts and Apples Festival

We went to the Arts and Apples Festival and Mom took these pics of me and the kids.

Feeding the ducks kettle corn...Gabe didn't get the memo though, he ate his ;)

Down by the river with Nana...

Turnabout is Fair Play

I'll push you...
Now you push me!!

Uhhh..

Uhhh...what? Can I help you with something? ::nervous giggle:: lol

Surprise Mudbath

While attempting to take a "shortcut" to the car after a day at the Museum of Nature and Science, we inadvertently had to go on a dirt drive...in the rain. Oblivious, I pushed the kid-laden stroller onto the drive and Gabe, noticing it, leaped off the stroller and out into the squishy mud...and then promptly fell on his back in the mud...to which I said "forget it" and parked the stroller for a while!

On the dam

Pete took us to the Spillway where one of the lakes spills into the river below and a dam keeps the water in place. Here he and Austin are checking stuff out. Good stuff to have a Dad.

Dad's Wagon Rides!

Pete hauled numerous loads of happy kids on wagon rides around the picnic grounds at the Arboretum on Gabe's birthday.

Tree Tunnel

On the way to the kid's fountains, and Gabe exploring the water in the fountain.

Lava Lamp!

A science kit had directions on making a Lava Lamp. Austin was totally riveted watching colored tablets dissolve in water, adding water to oil, moving things around with a pipette...and we made a little lava lamp in a test tube!

Contemplation

Inside the Peter Rabbit Exhibit at the Arboretum, Austin ponders...

PFD thong

After tiring of near heart-stopping moments while Gabe leaned or half-tripped almost into the deep end of the pool, I decided to try the little life jacket to see if that would calm me. It ended up being so bulky he'd fall even more, but it did sure make me laugh!

Slingin' Boy

After seeing Gabe loving on the baby, Austin wanted to get in on it. So we slung her in and it was too funny to watch him...reminded me too much of me with a baby in a sling only our activities are different...adjusting her here and there so he could get his projects done (building trains, racing cars, etc).

Doll Love

Austin has never been much into doll play. Gabe found this doll at Katie's house and it was all snuggles and kisses. Too bad when we met the real baby it was all hair pulling and eye poking (out of curiousity!...was quickly quelled). :)

Butt Painting

We made a creating out by the pool and when we were done, Gabe came to add his print...butt print that is ;) And since the paint was rather slippery, that act was followed shortly by his 'using my hair as a paint brush' routine :)

In a tub...

While out by the pool, Austin decided to have a moment in the tub of water (the month of August in Dallas was 100* or more). Pete brought out his old harmonica from when he was a kid and after a little impromptu "Oh Shanendoa" from me, he decided he'd like to make music in the bucket :)

Slingin' Mommas

Katie introduced me a friend of hers, Kara, who has three beautiful girls. I haven't known her long, but I hope to know her for a long time to come! It's so good to have friends :)

Happy Birthday Baby Gabey!

Katie introduced us to the Dallas Arboretum while we were there and it is now one of my favorite places. It's like having access to your own beautifully manicured estate, while being totally kid friendly and even designed with kids in mind. There is a little pioneer town the kids can play in, covered wagons, mud houses, fountains, fish ponds, giant rocks over water features the kids can leap around on, all while being stunning. It's an amalgamation of several estates donated as I understand it, and it's where we had Gabe's 1st Birthday Party! They had a whole Peter Rabbit fairytale village set up...more pictures in my phone to come :) I just realized I don't have them all here! Sorry for the tease ;)

Trinity the Dog

Pete came home at midnight with a puppy. He'd been waiting to close the office after a board meeting by hanging out at a local lounge. While outside, a small gaunt puppy came up behind him, licked his leg, and sat down looking at him. He scooped her up and she promptly fell asleep for the next few hours. She stayed sleeping in his arms until he came home. We tried for about 2 seconds to put her in a crate but opted for the sleep instead. She instantly found a sleeping Austin and curled up in the nook made by his legs.

The next morning Pete took her to the vet who reported she was about 3 months old and had probably been out for at least a week she was so rough. Her hip bones stuck out like an old milk cow, her short hair was freckled with fleas, she had worms, parasites, a bacterial infection, etc. Initially thinking Pete might be able to take her into the field with him, or that Katie had expressed interest in a dog to travel with her, she got fixed up.

Once all her ailments had been cleaned up, she became an active and spunky little puppy! The vet said she was a Staffordshire Terrier, commonly known to most people as a pit bull. I began doing research and was intrigued that, though they get a bad rap for people aggression, that trait is actually an aberrant pit bull characteristic. Taking the roots of the dog's development in dog fighting, the trait of people aggression was actually selected out of the dog. Owners couldn't have their dog turning on the audience or themselves, though the characteristic of dog aggression has been bred into them. Not to say they are all dog fighters, but I found that information intriguing. Anyone wishing to read more about the breed might check out www.pbrc.com, a rescue site designed with grounded education on the breed in mind.

Anyway, we decided that wouldn't work for Katie (who has 4 cats already) or our family and we were left with the option of finding a family in about a week (before we left and no one had the time to care for her) or turning her into animal control, and almost certain death sentence in Dallas where I've read 30,000 animals were euthanized in 2009 alone. Another site quoted it as 1 every 3 seconds. Haven't done the math, but either way it's unreal. I spent the week casing shelters from Dallas to Austin with no luck. It was discouraging.

The morning we left, Pete was frantically fixing my computer with a computer tech and mentioned Trinity. His brother had recently lost his pit and might be interested. He said at the very least, if it came to taking her to the shelter that he'd take on fostering her to find a home! Then, later that day I got a call from Pete that a family he'd worked with trail building this summer would take her! She was to be a special addition to the family celebrating a new beginning. The eldest daughter, who had been on dialysis her whole life, received a kidney a couple of weeks ago from her mother and they were now clear to have a pet in the home. I'm so pleased! Pete went over and saw her after her first day there and said he found her sleeping with the girl on the couch, snuggled in on her chest.

I love happy endings and beginnings.

Bounce House

We've been in Dallas for the past month and a half and only Friday got back to MI! One of the first things we did, trying to get kids out of the house, was found a bounce house. This is brilliant. $3 to wear your kid OUT! Austin overcame his uncertainty of inflatable bouncing things and became unstoppable on the obstacle course, and once Gabe got a taste of the giant slide he'd squeal and freak out about going down and the second we hit the bottom, he'd start squirming and lunging for the top.

2010 Auto Show

This was taken at the Auto Show at the beginning of the year but has been stuck on my phone until now. I recently transferred the 1500 pictures on my phone to my computer (so I could take more ;D) and now need to go through them and post a few!

Austin and Papa went to the Auto Show and had a great time. When they returned Austin announced that they should do it again the next day too.

Family Photo Shoot!

I'm excited to change the family shot here on my blog but have to wait until the CD is ready, then wait until Pete gets it on his computer and sends it to me ;) So, since that's going to be another while I thought I'd share our family photo shoot with whoever would like to see the pictures!

www.jcpportraits.com

go to "order portraits/view images" at the top right

email address: gweegimus@yahoo.com
password: family

I'm so happy to have these!

The Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is amazing. Here we are splashing in the fountain!

Austin's Bed!

Baby Gabey and our Superman! We went to Ikea to get some shelves for Gee (Pete's mom) and while she was off measuring and investigating we found the kid rooms they have set up. One room had this cool bunk bed with the "starry night" canopy and Austin climbed up and played on it for a long time. He finally stood up on the end of it and announced that this was the bed we needed to have in Michigan in our room for him. So it's not in Michigan, but it is pretty cool! One of MY favorite parts is that the mattresses are sweet and high quality foamy stuff which means they are super comfortable but only 4" thick...which for anyone who's ever tried to change the sheets on the top bunk will know...that is one COOL feature. No acrobatics for me trying to change the sheets or make the bed!

Loved this....what on earth do I do all day!?!

I never have the answer when people ask, I can only ponder with a blank expression on my face, knowing I am surely busy all.day.long but unable to capture the essence of daily life. I thought this was funny and finally caught a glimpse of what the answer is! click on the photo to make it big enough to read :)

The last human freedom

I've been reading Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" lately. I've been procrastinating starting it because it's his personal account of his experiences in Auschwitz and other concentration camps...a little heavy for my rainbows-and-butterflies preferences. But, how can I possibly hope to raise two sons living exclusively in sunshine and happy endings? I wanted some perspective, preferably before the testosterone surges hit.

The male mind and drive is fascinating to me, and so different from my own biological drive. I'm quite happy to let biology allot men and women different ways of thinking on a whole (please allow me this gross over-generalization as I am aware of exceptions to any rule) but feel compelled to understand where it's coming from and what I can reasonably expect as my own two sons grow. And so I read books of personal accounts by men.

For my own benefit, I found it intriguing that Frankl boils down the last of human freedoms. He and his comrades, who had had everything taken from them, had suffered such a surreal human existence for so long, decided that there is one thing that no man can take from you. The last human freedom is the attitude you choose to meet your challenges with. No one can take from us the freedom to choose our attitude, regardless of whether it's your frustration that you life and identity have been stripped from you and you exist one shade away from starvation or brutal murder, or that the grape in your smoothie didn't blend fully and cause an unpleasant sensation and lump in your mouth.

Sure helps with my perspective on the day. And a hearty thank you to all the men and women involved in making it possible for the latter of the two problems to be mine. Thank you for the things you do or have done in protection of our country, and more sacredly, our opportunity to make memories in a land of peace.

Raw food experimentation station

Well, the more I've been reading, the more I've been excited to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. I'm a little surprised, and definitely still figuring it out, but I've been eating only raw foods for 2 days and feel great :) My attitude is positive, my body feels light, and I just feel good! So, logistics (because that had me stumped for a while), I eat a monster serving of oat groats soaked overnight and blended mixed with fruit and nut milk for breakfast, a green smoothie (the equivalent of a giant green salad with fruit and flax all over it) for snack, another monster snack of salsa or avocado and marinated mushrooms, and another green smoothie for dinner and I feel great. Toss in a handful of nuts or dates or whatnot and I'm feeling awesome! Who knows how traveling will go, but for now it's working for me :)

Anyway, just had a minute to update with something and thought I'd update with that :) And, Austin and Gabe both love the smoothies. Austin was chugging a beet green/banana/mango/flax shake yesterday. hehe...try getting him to eat that regular-style!

Other combos I've had the last few days:
strawberry malt (strawberries, cashews, carob, coconut oil)
banana/blueberry/spinach/coconut oil
watermelon/romaine/flax
mango/banana/kale

I LOVE drinking my greens. My new motto is if you like applesauce, there is a green smoothie that's delish.

:)

A Birthday Boy!

So Pete has been working in Dallas for 5 weeks and came home for a few days, and we celebrated Austin's birthday while he was home. What fun! Austin had no point of reference until a couple of weeks ago we attended a friend's party and he was so excited about balloons, cake, presents, oh my!

Being quite the newbie at birthday parties I had a cake, we had bought him a truck and trailer his cousin Haley has that he's been talking about for a year, and the family was coming over. Missing anything?

Balloons! Papa to the rescue! Pete took Austin in the morning for a car wash and Nana and Papa showed up with balloons, and a giant Lightning McQueen balloon, and party favors, candles, etc. Wow it was like a real party! (insert "dork" emoticon here as I'm clueless about birthday party goings-on).

There is more to post, but my brief computer time has been way overextended. Kids need me! :)

Going to the gym with Papa

Papa surprised us with a trip to the Oakland University Rec Facility, rackets, and balls. He showed Austin the ropes of bouncing balls off walls, which is good fun! Then, in the true spirit of a 2 year old, Austin discovered the great and unexpected joy found while running along the wide benches in the raquetball area, prompting Papa with "Chase me, chase me!" :)

My veggie beds...

Honestly,

My prized and much loved veggie beds have been overrun! The neighbors have a 10 and 7yo and many roads and pies have been made in the veggie beds this spring. But! I'm ready to plant! Kale, beets, carrots, peas...they all need to go in! So...I'm working on a neighboring sand pit design :) Gotta run!

Haircut!

After finally growing my hair back out, it started getting stuck in the clips and swishing all over Gabe's face and mine...and I got tired of the never-ending bun/ponytail. So, I have a new do :)

Mini Budweiser Show!

Feeling like a rockstar!

So, we've had the neglected dog issues here that got better the summer I could tote Austin around on my back, but we're back to square one with two kids now. A book we checked out at the library this week on dogs had a little picture of two 8-9 yo boys on a little wooden cart with canisters of milk as big as they were, being pulled by a dog. DING! Light goes on! He he...I could do that!

Viola! It's not perfect, but it's a work in progress!

Dog harness: $9.99
Chariot: $$ (was a surprise a while back from Pete and I refuse to look at how much it cost Wink )
Feeling like a rockstar getting your 2yo, baby and two big dogs out for daily walks in the middle of winter: PRICELESS!! Dancing Carrot