All of Them

Wow. Sarah Palin is pretty amazing. When asked by Katie Couric to name a specific newspaper or magazine that she reads to help shape her world view (@3:45), she answered, "All of them."



For being so well-read she sure doesn't sound very smart. Seriously, she couldn't come up with the name of a single magazine or newspaper? She couldn't even make one up? Thursday ought to be very interesting.

Wanted: A Chauffeur For My Kids

On days like today, I wish that I could hire a chauffeur to drive my kids around. I think I went through almost 1/2 tank of gas, just today, hauling the kids to and fro. By the time I got them to their destination and got myself and Josie home again, it was time to pick them up and deliver them to the next locale. Yes, yes, I realize I dug this hole myself. I even saw it all coming more than a month ago. Too bad I wasn't smarter back then.

Perfect Attendance 2 Years Running?

No Such luck. Poor Miss Avery woke up (apparently at 11pm, 2am, 3am, 4am, and for good at 5am) feeling not-so-well. She vowed to go to school anyway and tried to eat an orange for breakfast. Unfortunately, she just couldn't keep it down so a sick day it is! The only reason I'm getting this down in writing is so I believe it to be true later--seriously, this girl never gets sick. She had a couple of ear infections at 18 months and threw up once on Halloween when she was 3 (after a costume party with candy & a McDonald's lunch... whoops, my bad). She has yet to miss a single day of school due to illness (she missed a day in kindergarten when my mom took her to Chuck-E-Cheese's and we took a trip overseas during first grade) and ended up with Perfect Attendance last year. I suspect that's why she wanted to go in today... either that or the fact that it's picture day and she was having a good hair day. Bummer.

Straight Talk Express?

Just 3 questions.

Why is the McCain campaign pushing for the postponement of the first debate? Personally, in times of crisis I'd kind of like to hear what a presidential candidate has to say.

Why is the McCain campaign limiting media access to Sarah Palin? For crying out loud, if she is incapable of answering questions from the media or the public then I have no interest in voting her into the White House.

Does George Bush honestly believe that he can use his fear-based politics to push Congress and the American people into another one of his schemes? I've said it before, but I am so sick of being bullied into immediate agreement with my President or else.

That's all.

Update with a quote from Obama, this afternoon: "With respect to the debate, it's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess. And I think that it is going to be part of the President's job to deal with more than one thing at once." I love that guy.

Must Be a Girl Thing

Avery at 16 months, wearing her pink jammies, playing with my wedding ring:

{*Sorry for the poor quality. I was too lazy to go all the way downstairs to use the scanner, so it's a photo of a photo.}

*****

Josie at 16 months, wearing her pink jammies, playing with Daddy's wedding ring:

Loving the jewelry already. I wonder who they get that from?

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

The other night we were enjoying a yummy BBQ with our dear friends from high school, adults in one room, kids in the other (the best way to eat a meal!). Cayden was calling to Jojo about something, when our friends' 4-year-old responded: "No! It's Jo-sie! Jojo is a monkey's name!"

*****

Out of the blue while we were eating lunch yesterday, Avery asked us, "If you two get divorced, can I be the flower girl at both your weddings?" {She has a friend whose parents recently got divorced and there is a new stepmom on the scene, so her curiosity has been peaked.}

It's a Sad, Sad World

I was watching CNN for a few minutes today as a person behind a desk (Kitty Pilgrim) discussed the economic crisis with a McCain economic adviser and an Obama economic adviser. The McCain adviser was up in arms over the fact that McCain had a plan, and Obama wasn't going to give his plan yet. Then the Obama adviser came on and said that Obama had an economic plan and had stated it before with respect to cleaning up the financial institutions, but wasn't going to comment on "the deal" because there was, as of yet, no deal to comment on.

Kitty Pilgrim performed some hard-hitting journalism, lamenting the lack of a plan, as the adviser continued to indicate that there was a plan. Finally, Pilgrim cried dramatically, "the people want specifics." The adviser, calling her bluff, began to lay out their previously-stated six-point plan in great detail. He had just finished the first point and was starting on the second when the newscaster said, "We only have thirty seconds. We're going to have to say goodbye."

This struck me as a microcosm of the ridiculous election process we have in this country. Instead of the news laying out both economic plans so people can get some sense of what the candidates believe in, they are content to let the people know whether or not a plan exists. The media isn't helping us figure out who is fit to serve in any way--they're just keeping score. They treat each campaign decision and statement with the same weight as they would a sporting event, as though the future of our country was secondary to the great drama being produced by this back-and-forth. After all, who are they to judge what the candidates actually say in terms of issues, or whether or not their record supports what they're saying, or whether or not they're telling the truth?

In the end, the "winner" of each event tends to be the guy (or Alaskan) who can answer a question in absolutes without putting any thought into it. The person with the wittiest comeback. The person who is in posession of "the plan". The plan could involve buying up all of the financial markets, closing them down for remodelling for two weeks, and reopening them as Osh Kosh B'gosh outlet stores, but by golly, it's a plan. And what the American public really wants to know is that someone can put forth a plan within thirty seconds of a complicated economic collapse.

Maybe we should not only tack regulations back onto the financial industry, but onto the news media as well. This is no way to select a president.

No babies were harmed in the making of this blog post

Josie mastered the technique of going down the stairs backwards on her tummy about 2 months ago. But that skill is no longer necessary because she is a big girl now and likes to go down the stairs on her own two feet, with no hand to hold, thankyouverymuch. She's very slow and careful but it's still terrifying to watch, especially on our basement staircase, which doesn't currently have a handrail (a non-finished home project from about.... um... 5 years ago... give or take a decade or so).

My note to Jojo: Slow down little one. There's no huge hurry to grow up too fast. You'll have plenty of time for daredevil stunts when I'm not watching.

Picture Day

We are getting close to Picture Day for Avery & Cayden, both for soccer and at school, in this coming week. Sounds simple enough, but boy have things changed since I was a kid. Although I think the packages were more expensive when I was in school (it was California, after all), what I'm shocked by now are all the choices (Warning to Amy--this is the same rant you just heard the other day at school--feel free not to read any further!). For soccer, the kids only get one pose, but they get an individual shot, a team shot and a shot with a buddy if they want. Then we can opt to purchase refrigerator magnets, trader cards (with all their stats--pretty cute), key chains, a faux magazine cover, coffee mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads, pennants, water bottles, wooden photo plaques, along with the normal 8x10's, 5x7's, wallets, etc. When looking through the package options this morning, each containing an assortment of the above-listed items, my head was literally spinning.

As for school photos, I remember going into the cafeteria, sitting on the little stool, and getting one chance at a good shot. Nowadays, the photographers of course have much better technology, so they snap away in attempts to capture the perfect photo. The kids (and/or parents) get a choice of 4 poses... including standing with their arms crossed and kneeling with their arms crossed on their knees. There really is no "normal" pose of their head and shoulders. Worse yet are the background choices, ranging from (but not limited to) red, purple and green. And we're not talking soft, understated tones... these are bright backgrounds. Ugh.

So after all this, I have two questions. 1) Why does it have to be so complicated?? and 2) Am I a bad parent if I don't want any of these options? Frankly, I think we take better pictures at home... and they cost us a fraction of the cost of these professional ones. I figure we'll be forking over at least $140 for some of the smallest packages, for pictures that may or may not turn out well.

Obviously I know I don't have to buy any... just seems like a cardinal sin of parenthood not to buy your kids' school pictures.

Back to Normal

I never would have guessed when I posted yesterday about Josie's rash that I would get so much feedback. Just goes to show how many folks are reading this silly thing. I had people stopping me at school giving me advice, several emails, and even a few concerned phone calls. How sweet. Perhaps in the future I'll reserve my health questions for more concerning matters, since there is obviously lots of advice out there! Yesterday's rash was more perplexing to me than anything... our older kids just never had weird things like that, that pop up and disappear.

Throughout the day, Josie's rash moved around a bit (from her chest, to her back, leg, even face for a little while), changed color a bit, changed in size quite a bit... and then disappeared. I had decided that if it was back this morning, I would take further action, but luckily it has not resurfaced. So who knows. I did at least find out that this sort of thing happens a lot (apparently just not to my kids). Who knew?

Mysterious Rash

Josie woke up this morning with this red rash on her chest. She had a rough night with some stomach.... issues, which I will not get into specifically. This rash doesn't seem to be getting any bigger as time goes on (so far this morning), but it seems like it might be getting a tiny bit more red. I had to darken these photos to make it more evident, and it's still pretty hard to see (but impossible to miss in real life!). Anyone have any idea what this could be? I guess I'll call the doc but I hate doing that and I hate going all the way there just to be told it's nothing.




Update: So far, everyone I've talked to seems to think it's a heat rash. Would this be the case even if her room wasn't hot at all last night and she didn't even feel warm to the touch? Could it be lingering heat from the daytime yesterday? I just hate mystery illnesses.

Amber Trivia to Celebrate...Whatever

I did trivia for each of the three children on their birthdays, but we were out of town for Amber's. Unlike my very together wife, I do not possess know-how nor the forethought to pre-create trivia and schedule it to post on the desired date. Also, I tend to procrastinate things like emails and blog posts.

That said, without further ado, it's Amber Trivia. Show your work--I will be giving credit for partial answers.

Q: Amber received a single non-A grade in high school. In what class did she receive her lone B?

A: Keyboarding. Supposedly because of a vendetta carried out by the very elderly teacher.

Q: Amber is unnerved by which of the following vehicles:

1. Clown cars
2. 10-foot-tall bicycles (if you're not from Portland you may have missed these)
3. Ice cream trucks
4. AMC Eagles
   

A: Ice cream trucks. She was near a music-playing ice cream truck in the Bay Area when the big quake in 1989, and has been sensitive to them ever since.

Q: Why does Amber usually prefer to have me prepare chicken for meals, even if she cooks the rest of the meal?

A: Because if she prepared the chicken, she would throw away 95% of it. Amber is an extraordinarily picky eater when it comes to meat. Anything that resembles fat will be cut off and discarded. Anything that resembles a recognizable animal part will be cut off and discarded. Anything within 4 inches of either of the above will be cut off and discarded. The family gets much more food if I prepare the chicken. The same goes for avocados. Amber will first cut off all of the "rotten" parts, and then I will pick them up and eat them or feed them to Josie, as they are generally perfectly good avocados.

Q: True or false: you can beat Amber at Wheel of Fortune?

A: Laughably false. Please. Amber consistently solves puzzles based off of one or two letters. If the puzzle is the right type (famous couple, for instance), she will solve the puzzle off of zero letters more often than not. When we used to turn the show on after the kids went to bed (back when the kids went to bed before Wheel of Fortune came on and we needed to zone out in the evening), I used to get all excited when I would solve a puzzle before her. Usually it would turn out that she hadn't been paying attention, but I still considered it an accomplishment.

Note: I suppose you could, in theory, beat Amber at Wheel of Fortune by spinning more times than her and winning more money. Solving the puzzle based off of zero letters is arguably not the best strategy for playing the actual game. But you could not beat her if you were sitting in the living room with her and there was no money involved.

Q: Amber acquired her driver's license over a year before I acquired mine, yet our driver's license numbers are 21 numbers apart (Oregon DL#s are 7-digit numbers). Explain.

A: Seriously, please explain. What system of handing out driver's license numbers would result in two numbers so close together being handed out a year apart? No credit will be given for "only 21 driver's licenses were handed out during the one year period".

Just have to get it off my chest

Sometimes I feel like I could go crazy with election talk... I could talk about it to everyone, every day, all day long if I let myself. So, to avoid that (I don't think it would go over very well with friends and acquaintances!), I don't talk about it at all. Unless someone else brings it up and then I only talk about it a little bit. But, it's slowly driving me crazy because this election season is freaking insane. I feel like we're living in the twilight zone. Here's why, in bullet format, just to make myself feel better:

• The more the McCain camp lies, the higher his poll numbers go... just like this fancy graph shows. Charles Gibson called Palin out on it during his interview, asking her point blank why they were lying in their ads... to which she had some BS answer.
  
• Sarah Palin is not a sign of success for women. First off, as far as I can tell from her policies, she doesn't even seem to like or respect women. Second, it's so obvious that McCain picked her as the GOP's version of Hillary Clinton. Ha! Besides their "female parts," I can't think of a single thing they have in common. Just because she's "attractive" (others' words, not mine) and "likeable" (ditto) doesn't make her capable or qualified to be VP. SNL hit the nail on the head with their Tina Fey/Amy Poehler skit this weekend.
  
• Palin annoys the crap out of me and I just can't understand what people see in her. She has given her same convention speech about 15 times day after day and refuses to answer questions from the media or the public. Today was her first campaign stop without McCain by her side... but we're supposed to elect her as Vice-President in 7 weeks?
• Today, of all days, McCain said in a campaign speech (in Michigan, no less) that he believes the economy is fundamentally strong. He is obviously basing that belief, and targeting his remarks, to the very highest income-earners in this country, the only people who have prospered under the last 8 years of Bush's economic disaster.
• Despite all of this, polls show that Obama and McCain are virtually tied. And if that isn't mind-boggling enough, 10% of people are unsure. How is that possible? Regardless of what your opinion is, these two candidates couldn't be more different if they tried. I just don't get how anyone can still be unsure of who they're going to vote for.
  

There are a million other things but these are the main points for now. At least I live in a city that's full of like-minded individuals, because I don't think I could handle the alternative. Especially right now. Living here gives me hope that this election might just have a happy ending. I swear I won't ask for a single Christmas present if we can just keep McCain out of the White House.

Talking on the Phone, by Josie

I like to talk on the phone.

And so does my favorite Bear.

Defying Gravity

Our Saturdays consist of a little soccer in the morning, followed by a touch of soccer in the afternoon. Avery's fields are too big to get any good shots, so here are some from Cayden's first couple games.

The laws of gravity don't appear to apply to Cayden.

He will not be happy to learn that:
A) I took this picture of him (from afar)
B) I am posting it online

It will have to be our little secret.

Note to Self: No Big Macs

I've either been paying more attention than I used to or there are some crazy new signs out there. Yesterday it was that odd bumper sticker that I still can't figure out and today it was a billboard for McDonald's. I have kindly made a recreation of it to show you since I didn't have my camera handy. Now I know it's been a long time since I learned the "less than" and "more than" symbols, but I'm pretty sure I still remember them.

Mmmm. Makes me hungry just thinking about it. Or not.


Updated: Ah yes, my smart friend Ms. A was indeed correct in her hypothesis that the billboard had been tagged (that's why she's the scientist!). I had to drive by one more time tonight to see it again for myself. If you look real close, you can see that the "less than" sign is actually tape. I hadn't noticed the first time that it was also altered to say less than .100% beef. Too funny.



And not that we're turning into the sign police or anything, but Andrew noticed this beauty a while back. I drive by it several times a week but never actually read it until he pointed it out.


(Little did either of us know, "Cocaine" is actually an energy drink... with cinnamon flavor no less! We are so out of the loop on these things.)

Too Dumb* For Her Height

We have a new problem in our house. Just in the last few days, Josie has become tall enough to reach up and grab things off the counter... or the table... or anywhere else she feels like grabbing things from. She has very nearly pulled down several cups of milk, a ceramic bowl given to me by my brother-in-law and (soon to be) sister-in-law** and a glass baking dish full of taco shells... as well as numerous other items, naturally all breakable or spillable (what would be the fun if they weren't?). I'm terrified that she's going to start reaching up onto the stove, which could spell disaster in a hurry.

I think part of the problem is that while she can reach the items on her very tippy-toes, she can't really see what it is that she's got a hold of. Who am I kidding? She'd still grab the things even if she could see them. That's what 16-month-olds do I guess. I'm hoping that by getting it down in writing here, that will serve as a reminder to me to start placing things farther back on the counter. Amazingly harder to do than one might think.


*I hope no one is offended by me (sarcastically) calling my daughter dumb. In reality, she is way too smart, and smarter than I am.
**It sounds like my brother-in-law's wife is indeed my sister-in-law as well. Good to know.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Seems like things are just too busy around here for a proper post... but I've been thinking all day about a bumper sticker I saw this morning and I need help determining what in the world it means. It read: "Your car and your attitude are my voice mail."

Is it just me or does that not make any sense? Am I just going crazy? Or not getting enough sleep? Oh, and don't ask me why this is weighing so heavily on my mind today because I have no idea. Maybe because it's September 11th and I'd rather not think about that. And speaking of September 11th, Happy Birthday! to my sister-in-law*, Stacy. I'm sure it's not an easy birthday to have anymore.


*Is my brother-in-law's wife technically my sister-in-law too? Another head-scratcher.

Sprucing Things Up a Bit

Nothing much going on here lately (soccer, fence staining, other boring grown-up things), so I thought I'd share some exciting (to me) new things in our house.

Now that I find myself with a few minutes to myself each day (naptime is so awesome), I've managed to finish this photography project that I started (and continued) a mere 2 months ago. We've had the same 2 black & white photos of Avery & Cayden up for years in this spot, but now it is home to photos of all 3 kiddos. I believe this is Josie's first framed photo to be hung on the wall. We are horrible, horrible parents.


*****
And even more exciting than that (to me), we actually finally have a real dining room table. We've had the same 60", 4-chair dining room table since Avery was born and I always hated the thing. It was cheap and you could tell, but at the time we were much more concerned with putting food on the table than what the table looked like! I've looked on and off for about 6 years for a new table... you know, one that might be able to seat some guests if any ever decided to show up. We've always had to piecemeal tables and chairs together when we host a big dinner and it's just been a pain. Yesterday I stumbled upon a sale at World Market, one of my favorite stores to browse, and we left with this:

Since Andrew was catching up on some work last night, I had to got to put the whole thing together myself! Honestly, it was a piece of cake... only took 2 hours or so. I can't wait for our first big dinner!

Not everyone is happy that school started

This morning as Avery & Cayden were leaving for school:

Miss Chatterbox

I thought this video was just too cute not to post. This is what I happily get to listen to all day long. (To quote our friends The McMillers, it might be rated "grandparents only" but hey, who doesn't have 39 seconds to spare?!)

First Day!

The kids headed back to the grind today... and believe me, that 8:00 bell seemed really early. Like all the other ~500 sets of parents, we walked both kids through the crowded halls to deliver them to their teachers. We waded through a huge group to get to Cayden's class, at which point he was greeted by his teacher who already knew each child by name (she must have studied their school pictures over the summer?).

By the time we made it upstairs (3rd graders get to move up to the second floor which is a very big deal), Avery was the last student to enter her class. All her classmates were already seated, working on some kind of paperwork. When she walked in, everyone turned around to look at her... and she burst into tears. She does not like to be the center of attention like that and hates the thought of being late. I knew she'd be fine in about 30 seconds, so we just wished her a good day and left.

When I picked the kids up from school, they were both quite excited about their days. Cayden said he wasn't nervous at all because "it's not like this was the first day ever." When I asked him to recount what his class did all day, he said they went to library and music... "or maybe that was yesterday." {Whaaaat???} On the other hand, when I asked Avery about her day, she literally went on for 25 minutes about every single thing they did, bathroom breaks included. All in all, I'd say the school year is off to a pretty good start! Yippee!

{It's getting increasingly difficult to get a photo of both of these guys with their eyes open}

Ridiculously Long Summer Photo Recap

We have had the best summer. A couple of trips, lots of time spent outside, lots of time spent with friends. I'm a tiny bit sad to see it all coming to an tomorrow with the start of the new school year (1st and 3rd grade!), so just to make myself feel better... I've put together a photo montage that sums up the last 3 months for us:

{dirty, dirty feet... always}

{pool time, pool time, pool time...}

{Josie wants in on the pool fun}

{watching a super soaker fight from the window}

{a scorching hot day at Salmon Street Springs}

{...still more pool time}

{Josie's first milkshake... she liked}

{Cayden would hunt for shells every day if he could}

{kiss, kiss}

{growing up waaaaay too fast}

{the boy is still always on the move}

{alas, all good things must come to an end}

Happy Back-to-School Day!

Time For a Dishwasher Lock

After I found my cell phone in the dishwasher last week (thankfully before it had been run!), we have been sure to check in there anytime something goes missing. However, it appears that one of us parental units (not me) needs to be a little bit better about checking the contents before it's run. This is what I found inside the dishwasher at the beach when I went to put the dishes away:

In case you can't tell, it's my shoe. Full of water.