the dimocks

Making Sandwiches Fun

2012-01-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

Griffey is so picky when it comes to eating. He will go through phases where he loves a certain food and then doesn't want any of it for a long time.

This happened with sandwiches, which he used to love. So I made them fun! I cut out the ducks and told him the scrap pieces were water for the ducks. haha

He didn't want his picture taken.

I was invading his privacy.

"Okay, I'll deal with you."

He likes it!

Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie

2012-01-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

This Chicken Pot Pie is so good and you need to try it. It is so good that I ate it for dinner and for lunch the next day, which is a big deal to me because I despise leftovers.

The recipe is here. It is so good and so easy, so please try it! Tell me what you think!

I remember...

2012-01-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

In one of my classes we have been learning about different ways to get students interested in writing. The main thing is to let students write about what they know and what they are passionate about. One exercise that we practiced is to write a paragraph starting with "I remember.." If you like the topic you wrote about in that paragraph, then write another "I remember..." paragraph to continue the story. If you decide to ditch that topic, then do another "I remember..." paragraph on something else.

The idea is to keep writing and edit later, so that your mind stays in the process of reflecting and writing.

I found this exercise very helpful for journaling and I think when I am stuck in my journal, I will write "I remember..." and see where it takes me.

Our homework was to write for an hour, and I found it very theraputic for me:

I remember when we got that phone call. The call that led to so much anger, tears, and loneliness. Adam and I were on our way to the mall to blow off some steam and let our minds relax in the middle of a busy winter term.

I remember sitting in the car next to Adam and interpreting the conversation from what I could make out on our end of the phone. I knew it wasn't good news. Actually, I knew it was horrible news.

I remember sitting in the car with him, crying. Adam was going to Iraq in two months. It was uncomprehendable. Adam was supposed to be getting discharged in less than two weeks.

I remember hopelessly, helplessly wondering how my husband could be stop-lossed. What is stop-lossed and why my husband? He was a student, five months from graduating and a soon-to-be father.

I remember for months not believing this was happening. Am I really that story? That girl whose husband left for Iraq while I was left picking up the pieces and still preparing for my child to come?

I remember my first night in my dad's studio--the small room connected to his house. I pushed the twin bed up against the wall, so I would feel a little less alone.

I remember the first time we talked since I waved him goodbye in Salem and drove home. I shouldn't have been on the road-- I couldn't see past my tears and I didn't want to getr bac to my broken life in Eugene.

I remember sharing in the feeling that our reality was just some mix-up or bad dream. It wasn't real and it was bound to be sorted out soon. The shock was slowly wearing off and the realization that he was really gone hit Adam before it hit me.

I remember hearing my husband cry uncontrollably for the first time. I tried imagining the scene on the other side of the phone. My husband's life was now a cot in a room full of strangers in a strange town. They were there for a month preparing before going to Iraq.

I remember crying for him. At least I had my family and my possessions and my environment and so much of me still. Adam had nothing but some pictures and, luckily, some memories.

I remember consuming my life with school, friends, t.v, -- anything, really. I adapted fast, as much as I could with half a heart.

I remember growing up that year. I paid bills for the first time and got the oil changed on my own. I even went to Les Schwab and got new tires all on my own.

I remember when I found out that Adam was coming home for Griffey's birth. I remember when I found out he wasn't, a week before Griffey was to be born.

I remember the anger when Adam called me saying he had his bags packed and was ready to get on the plane when they told him he wasn't leaving.

I remember that I shut down that day for the first time. I fled. I drove to the river and sat by the water. I shut my phone off because Adam told our parents the bad news and everyone was calling me.

I remember that I didn't want to be checked on. I didn't want anything. I just wasnted to sit by the river and sob uncontrollably. The kind of sob that come from deep inside and doesn't sound like any sound I've ever made.

I remember looking down at my pregnant belly wondering how I was supposed to feel so much joy in less than a week. I remember never wanting to move. I didn't want to surface. I didn't want to be consoled.

Almost there....

2012-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

School just started up again after winter break and I should actually be doing homework right now, but I needed to decompress a little first.

From now until June, our lives are going to be very crazy. I will be student teaching part-time until April and then I will be student teaching full-time. Also, I have night classes from 5-9 and 3:30-9 three days a week. Luckily until April, I am done student teaching at noon so I have a few hours with Griffey until my night classes.

Griffey takes a nap a 12 or 1 for a few hours, so this is when I will be doing homework. So, actually I will only be with Griffey for about an hour while he is awake everyday besides when I am dropping him off at the babysitter and picking him up.

When I get out of class at 9, I go work out, clean the house, do a little homework, unwind a little, lay out my clothes for the next day and go to bed. This term is going to be very monotonous and long, especially because I have to prepare a unit plan that I will be teaching for three weeks to my students, on top of the 1-2 lessons I will be teaching everyday.

I am feeling depressed and guilty for the quality of life Griffey is going to have until June. Luckily, I get to see him and play with him for a little bit, but not very much. His babysitter has a boy his age, so he has a friend that he looks forward to seeing everyday and our parents are helping out watch Griffey at night, so he gets to be around a lot of people that love him..

It may be harder for me to get used to than him, actually. Winter berak was just so awesome. Griffey and I would wake up, go to the gym where he would play in day care, then we would go do errands, dink around thrift stores, go to the library, or go out to lunch. Then we would come home and play and nap and then wake up and play more. It was so great to just hang out with him all the time and it is such a big change now.

I wake him up at 7 and we are out the door by 7:15 and we only see eachother for a little bit during the day.

People have had it a lot harder though. My sister-in-law, Desi, went through the same program last year with a half hour commute to school and two kids waiting at home.

Although school doesn't get done until August, it will lighten up in June. I just have to power through until then and know that this is just a short part of Griffey's life and I am in school to have a better life for us and show him the value of education.

So, anway, if you want to bring us dinner or come give me a back massage, you are welcome to. just kidding...kind of...

On a positive note, my cooperating teacher from my fifth grade class last term called me yesterday and told me I needed to come in because I have a pile of Christmas presents on my desk waiting for me. So sweet! I love that class.

Christmas Snow Village

2012-01-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, I looked forward to helping my mom set up the snow village every Christmas. I wanted the people to be set up just right and imagined where they were going and what they were doing when I placed them in the village.

I knew that when I was older, I would have a snow village too and put it together with my kids. Luckily, I was able to get so many of the houses and figurines on clearance when I worked at Michaels. I have slowly been building it up over the past few years, and my grandma gave me her snow village to add to mine also.

My favorite building is the little church on the far left. That came from my grandma's snow village and my mom had the same one in her village. I always put it on a hill and out of the way, so it is peaceful. ...I get pretty into it...

Griffey was fascinated with it this year and he helped me sprinkle the snow on.

Everyday he asked if he could touch one, so I would let him look it over and choose one to touch. He loved it!

I only found his trains making their way through the village once.

Duck Football

2012-01-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

Griffey went to his first football game this year. Adam and James went and Griffey and I met them at half time and stayed for the second half. Griffey was a little overwhelmed by all the people and because he was actually at the football game.

Whenever we drive by Autzen Stadium, he asks if he can go to a football game. It'll be fun to take him next year.

I had to take advantage of my last year getting student tickets, so I joined Adam for the last couple of games.

Handprint T-Shirts

2011-12-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

Mom, if you are reading this, it is your own fault if you see your Christmas present early. I already warned you! Check your texts.

I gave my sister a shirt that Griffey and I made for her birthday. We got a shirt from Ross and painted it to look like this owl. It was so cute and she wears it all the time.

Well, my mom was super jealous of that shirt and looks at it mournfully when she sees it. She really wants one. So Griff and I made her giraffe one for Christmas. I got both handprint ideas off of Pinterest, but I also searched on Google and there are a ton of different handprint craft ideas.

We used fabric paint from Michaels and a t-shirt from Target. This is a great gift idea if you are looking for something meaningful and inexpensive.

Hex Nut Bracelets

2011-12-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

This Christmas is brought to you by Pinterest. I'm sure you know about it, but if you don't, hop on over there and sign up!!

HEX NUT BRACELETS

materials:

30 Hexnuts (I used the brass/gold ones) (either size 6-32 or 8-32, mine are 6-32 because I got more in a pack for the same price. They are a little smaller.) These are 5-10 cents each at Home Depot and Jerrys

Twine (whatever kind you want. I used a smoother white kind which looks nice but does not hold a knot very well because it is slippery.) Maybe $4 at Jerrys for way more than enough for five

Clasps (2.99 for 5 sets at Michaels) Jewelry Essentials Findings: Toggle Clasps Item JC11856-102

Crimps (2.99 for 150 pieces at Michaels) Bead Landing Crimps. I just bought the largest ones I cold find because they hold six pieces of twine.

I copied these bracelets from this brilliant blog and adapted them slightly.

Firstly, Cut three 2 ft pieces of twine and tie a knot at the end. Leave a few inches to put the clasp on later.

Braid the three strands about two inches. This is easiest by taping the knotted end to a table while braiding. On the link I have provided there are great pictures of the process which make it very easy to understand.

When it is time to braid the leftmost strand over the middle one, thread a hex nut onto the ledft strand and push it up the the braid. The hex nut should be at an angle with the outside part higher than the inside part. In this direction ( \ ). After the hex nut is pushed up to the top, then braid the left strand over the middle like usual. Pull it tight.

Now do the same thing with the rightmost strand. Push a hex nut up to the braid at this angle ( / ) and braid the right strand over the middle. You will notice that you are doing a regular braid and just beading on a nex nut before you braid over the strand.

Continue this process with the number of hex nuts you prefer. I used 18 on my first one and then decided to do 30 on the rest. It depends on the look you want.

After you have put on all your hex nuts, continue braiding normally for another 8-10 inches, depending on your wrist size. Also, this depends on how many hex nuts you put on and the size of the hex nuts.

The bracelet I made is designed to wrap around your wrist twice. You can also make this bracelet shorter, with less braid if you want it to only wrap one time.

Tie a knot to finish it off.

I wore mine like this and tied the ends, but since my twine was so smooth, it kept coming unknotted. I decided to add a clasp to mine, which the other blog did not do.

To add the clasp, string the strands onto one half of the clasp and fold back toward the knot. Wrap a crimp bead around the three strands and the other three strands that were folded back (6 strands total).

Crimp it tight and do the same thing on the other end of the bracelet.

This bracelet is a unique way of making everyday objects into something beautiful and unique. The hex nuts can be arranged differently after it is made, which makes the bracelet have multiple looks.

Enjoy!

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas party was on December 3rd and I wanted to have a Christmas tree up before then, which meant going to get one during finals week. Since it was such a busy time, we went less than a mile away to the lot in the Walgreens parking lot {so Christmasy, I know. Maybe we'll make it to a tree farm next year. It seems like we should considering we live in Oregon}

Griffey got a free candy cane from a dirty lumberjack Santa and accidentally dropped it on the ground. He put it back in his mouth and when I tried to fish it out, Griffey wasn't about to give up his candy cane, but he did spit out about three pine needles. Oh well. It's fiber, right?

Griffey was really interested in helping Adam with the ropes. I usually help, but I wanted to photograph instead.

Griffey loved unwrapping the ornaments and putting them all on the tree. As you can see, he had a favorite spot.

I think I accidentally overtrained Griffey. When I ask him to smile, this is the face I get.

Ta-Da! I like our tree because it is a story of us. I don't like the idea of having a kid's tree and a nice tree because the tree represents who we are as a family. There are craft projects from when I was a kid on there, ornaments we got the year we were married, and ornaments with pictures of when Adam came home from Iraq.

One tradtion that my family had when we were little was to watch It's a Wonderful Life while decorating the tree, which is something we all looked forward to. Since we don't have that movie yet, we carried the tradition on by watching another Christmas movie while decorating the tree.

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

I think activities are more fun if they have cool names. For instance, Adam and I are in the middle of Winter Workout Madness {see what I mean?!}. So, last night I announced it was Christmas Family Fun Night and the activities would include decorating sugar cookies and reading "A Night Before Christmas" which we just checked out at the library.

We decorated them right before dinner, so Griffey was waiting patiently until he could eat one. Adam and I frosted while Griffey put the mini m&m's on them.

Since Griffey decided not to eat dinner {which was lasagna, who doesn't like lasagna??}, he didn't get to have a cookie. When he woke up I really wanted to give him a cookie, but Adam said to wait. I finally broke down around 9.

Making these cookies reminded me of frosting sugar cookies as a kid because I made the frosting how my mom used to--by mixing powdered sugar, water, and vanilla together, then dividing it up and coloring it. Also, when we were all done, I put the extra frosting in a container in the freezer, which reminded me of how my sisters and I used to sneak it out of the freezer and put it on graham crackers.

Christmas Cross Stitch

2011-12-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for....cross stitching!

I got the package for this little gem at Goodwill and thought it was the perfect Christmas craft project for the free time I had this week. It only took a couple days and it is actually really relaxing and to do. This was my first attempt and it is very sloppy on the back, but no one will ever know!

I recommend cross stitching to all because, while it is very much an old lady thing to do, it is also very fun and relaxing and cheap {especially because there are loads of kits of them at Goodwill}. Plus, once you are done, you can add it to your list of talents and impress everyone. LIke your grandma! That's who this lovely ornament is for.

Good luck!

getting gas

2011-11-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

Griffey was 'driving' his tractor around the room and said "Oh, I need to get gas."

"Oh you are getting gas?"

"Yes"

"How much was it?"

"It was six dollars"

My New Pillows

2011-11-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

I am really liking yellow, grey, white, and dark blue together. So, I started getting a bunch of unique pillows to go in this color scheme. I bought the first two and then coverd two that I already had. I still have some more old pillows of different sizes, so I'm not done yet. Here's what I have done so far:

I made the one on the right. I used fat quarters and trimmed one side to fit my previous pillows.

Each side has a different pattern. The back has is light grey with a dark grey pattern, while this side is dark with a light pattern. I sewed the ends of the ribbon/cord stuff in when I sewed the pillow together and then stitched it in place by hand after I stuffed it.

pillow #1 fabric from Jo-Anns, #2 Target (on clearance!), #3 fabric from Jo-Anns, #4 Ross
I think I need a small, white lace one to finish it off.

This is the only before picture of my pillows that I could find. It's from May 2010.

I thought pajamas were kind of related to all the talk of pillows, so here is a picture of Griffey and I before we went to Pajama Storytime at the Springfield Library. A girl came up to me and asked if I was Griff's sister because Mom's don't wear jammies to these things. She was shocked that I was a mom and wearing jammies. I thought it was funny.

Another related picture: Griffey fell asleep with his flashlight on. He got it for his birthday and really likes carrying it around. His room was actually dark but the camera flash was pretty powerful.

My First Christmas Craft of the Year: Ornament Wreath

2011-11-17T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ta da!

I got the idea from EDDIE ROSS.com, which has some great craft ideas. The link for the tutorial on this wreath is here.

It was so easy and inexpensive because the wreath form is just a wire hanger, opened at the top and bent into a circle. You just string on the ornaments (which I got at the dollar store and a garage sale) and tie a bow on it. The picture below is a wreath from the tutorial. It shows a different way to do the bow, and that the color options for the wreath are endless!

This was a great project because it took about 20 minutes and less than five dollars. Enjoy!

Oh, also, on the tutorial it says to glue gun the tops of the ornaments onto the ornaments so they don't pop off. I didn't do this because the ornaments I got at the dollar store had different tops and this seemed pretty time consuming, so just check what kind of ornaments you get to see if you need to do that.

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

When Adam first came home

I can't believe Adam came home from Iraq only last year. It seems like it was a different lifetime. In a way, it kind of was. I think I took myself out of my life for a little while. I remember being sad sometimes that Adam was in Iraq, but most of the time I think I convinced myself it wasn't really happening. People say that I was really strong then because I was able to push through our circumstances and stay in school and have a baby and hold it together, but I think I was just really disconnected from what was happening then.

My husband was gone for a year. It was hard. He wasn't just gone, but he was in a war.

I know I was strong when he was gone. I know I pushed through pretty well and made the most of our circumstances, but I was only handling a fraction of what Adam was going through.

I had my family and friends and my home and my things and my environment and my school and my own bed. Adam had a dirty cot in a tent with a bunch of rowdy, rough around the edges guys in their early twenties. My husband was taken from everything that made him happy and comfortable and all of a sudden found himself in a surreal nightmare.

It did feel all of a sudden too. I cried all the way home from dropping him off in Corvallis when he left. I laid in bed and cried all night. When I was finally able to talk to him after a few days, we were both in shock. He was just here. At our home. In our bed. Now he was in Georgia training for a deployment he shouldn't have been on. We didn't know what the next year entailed or how we were supposed to get through it.

I remember talking to him and just feeling like this wasn't really happening. How could this be happening? He was in class last week. He was working at his job and eating dinner with me and going to school. He was just here and then he was gone.

When he came home on leave and I touched his face in the airport for the first time in 6 months, it didn't seem like him. It was weird to see him in person and I remember looking at him for a few hours convincing myself he was really there. That week was very fast, but so important.

It was a long, challenging year. There was bitterness, resentment, distance, and anger. Remember this and this?

It was hard, but we learned a lot and grew closer. Our relationship is deeper now and we understand eachother better now. That experience was going to either pull us apart or weld us together and I'm grateful we were both commited to the welding option.

I am so proud of Adam for coming through all that he faced during that year- and there was a lot. He was strong and never gave up what he believed in. More importantly, he kept his family in the front of his mind and the whole of his heart the whole time.

I am proud of Adam for being a veteran on this Veteran's Day because it signifies his strength during this time, as well as during his first deployment and the 10 years he was in the military.

Thank you Adam.

Healthier Changes

2011-11-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

I seem to go through spurts of working out a lot and eating healthy and then getting frustrated because I don't see results fast enough so then I eat junk and don't work out and then I decide I should again. It's been a lifelong cycle.

I have been doing P90X though and going to the gym a lot and I have been trying to find healthier recipes that I like so I won't feel like I'm "dieting" but just eating healthier food that I really like.

I started tracking my food (calories, carbs, fat, protein) and exercise on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ which is a free, awesome website that helps you make goals and adjust your calorie and exercise amounts to meet those goals. Plus, most food are already in their database so it's easy to put your info in.

Just thought I would share because it is a great website!

Smart Thinking

2011-11-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago, Griffey tried turning on the hall light but he was barefoot so he couldn't reach it. He ran over to his crayon box, grabbed a crayon, and put it down on the ground below the light switch.

He stepped on the ground and got the burst of height he needed, because he could reach the switch now. It was pretty funny. I don't really think the crayon helped much though.

Castle Rock

2011-11-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

Castle Rock Hike

2 miles round trip
Up the Mckenzie Hwy near Blue River
Great view!

We spent half a Saturday [oct. 14] driving up here and hiking around. Griffey had a blast hiking on his own. It was pretty steep, so he was in the backpack for most of the time. This last picture was taken toward the end of the trail when he was walking on his own. Right after this picture, Griffey got going downhill too fast and Adam had to run ahead to catch him. I love his little hiking boots that we got for free somewhere.

Griffey's So Cute

2011-11-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

He has been calling me honey or mama or honey mama a lot lately.

I was sick today and almost every time I coughed all day, he said "bless you mama."

He loves the ten little monkeys song. I caught him last week drawing circles on a piece of paper, at least 20 circles. After each one he drew, he had his bear kiss it and made the kissing noise. Then, he would draw another one and bear would kiss another one. Over and over again. I asked him what he was drawing and he said they were monkeys. He also heard people doing construction outside our house and he thought it was monkeys. "You hear those monkeys Mama?"

A couple nights ago, he woke me up crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I layed next to him and asked him if he was scared. He said no. I asked him why he was sad and he kept saying something that I didn't understand. After he repeated it a few times, I realized he was saying, "Thomas doesn't want to play." I said, " You were having a dream and Thomas wouldn't play with you?" He said, "yes," still crying. He was sad because Thomas-the train- wouldn't play with him in his dream.

He loves going to the library. Yesterday, we went for family story time and the theme was pizza. They read us a few books about pizza and then we all made paper slices of pizza. When we left, he seemed disappointed. It was because he was expecting some real pizza too after all that hype. So, he was being cute enough that Adam and I brought him to Costco for pizza.

Jackpot: Best Sugar Cookie Recipe!

2011-10-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

When I want to find a good recipe of something, like sugar cookies, I just google "best ______ recipe." It gets the job done. I found the best sugar cookie recipe on ourbestbites.com.

The problem with sugar cookies are that sometimes they are really dry or crunchy or hard or way, way too soft and crumbly.

This recipe is the best and it does not have a lot of ingredients. You can find a detailed recipe on the link above, but I will share a shorter version here.

Sugar Cookies
recipe from ourbestbites.com

1 C real butter (no substitutions!)

1 C sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 t almond extract (you could use vanilla instead)

3 C flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in eggs and extract and mix to incorporate.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.

Shape the dough into 2 flat disks and wrap in waxed paper and place in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours. If you want your cookies to hold their shape well, the dough needs to be chilled properly. A great tip to speed things up is to immediately roll dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and place on a flat surface in the fridge. It will chill super fast and be ready to go in no time.

When you're ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like them really soft under-bake them. In my oven, about 8 minutes does it. However if you're making large cookies, or ones with small parts or heavy frosting, you might want to be careful because they might break when they're super soft.

About 8 minutes will get you a really soft cookie, a few minutes longer (when they start to just brown around the edges) and you'll get just a little crispiness around the edges and then a soft center, bake even longer (and roll thinner) and you'll get a buttery, crispy cookie that will just melt in your mouth. Any way you do it, they'll taste good. Remove onto cooling racks when you're done and let cool completely. I honestly think these even taste better the second day.

***A change I made to it was that I dropped dough by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and pressed them down with my fingers. This was a lot easier than cutting out shapes.

For the frosting, I mixed powdered sugar and water together to make a glaze that I dunked the top of the cookie into. I put them on a drying rack to drip the excess frosting off of and topped with sprinkles.

Enjoy!!

Waiting to be Booed

2011-10-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

I was reading The Meanest Mom's latest blog entry about being booed and I have to say, I completely have a different outlook on the whole 'booing' tradition.

'Booing' someone is when you leave a sign and instructions on your neighbor's doorstep with a special halloween treat. The instructions tell the neighbor to make a a couple copies and do the same thing to more neighbors.

I am a fan of this tradition because I like giving things to people, I like being neighborly, and I like to come home and see if anyone else has their 'booed' signs up. It is really cool when every house on the street gets booed and everyone has the signs on their doors.

So, I went out and booed my neighbors. I got the sheet off the internet, got some little containers from the dollar store, and filled them with candy and toy eye balls. Three neighbors were given these four days ago.

Since then, one has put their sign up and none of them have booed anyone else. FAIL.

Ugh. This happens every year. I have tried booing my neighbors since we got married. That is four years of unsuccessful booing. FOUR!

In high school, our neighbors all got booed and had their signs on their doors. Everyone in our area of the street had been booed but our house. This was not okay with me. I want to be included!! So, one night my sister, Makenna, and I went out with a Sharpie and changed all the signs that read "BOO" into "BOOB."

This made us feel better, but it still wasn't the same as being booed.

I am going to give my neighbors the benefit of the doubt and wait a little longer to see if they put their signs up or boo anyone else. Then I am thinking of trying it again with other neighbors.

I mean, I even chose people that had pumpkins and halloween decorations out. I thought this year would be different.

Duh!

2011-10-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

You know when you come across something that makes so much sense and you can't believe you've never thought of that? Well, I had food version of that happen to me. See what I mean?:

That's not my hand, I found this online. I did try it though and it was amazing and everyone loved it. Fill the inside of strawberries with cheesecake filling. Then dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. Wal-Mart sells cheesecake filling already made, but I just made some up on my own by tasting it until it was right.

Enjoy!

Random Funnies

2011-10-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I save random pictures on my computer that I thought were cute or funny and then I forget about them. Well, I just found a few that I thought I would share.

Enjoy!

Rain Boots

2011-10-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

One thing that all kids look cute in is boots. I have been on the look-out for boots for Griffey, but there are always at least 6 options of girl boots everywhere and usually only one or zero types of boy boots. And they are usually camo-not my fav.

Well, we found these awesome rain boots at St. Vincent de Paul's today and we came right home and played in the puddles outside our house.

Also, I have been lusting after Hunter boots since last year and after seeing them in the movie, P.S. I Love You, I want them even more. I can't decide what color yet and since they are kind of spendy, I don't want to make the wrong choice. Any suggestions? I am between blue, black, and green.

I like the red ones too, but they wouldn't go with as much stuff.

Despicable Me Cupcakes

2011-10-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Today was my friend, Brittany's, birthday and she loves the movie Despicable Me. When I found these cupcakes on Pinterest from http://www.pluckymomo.com/. I knew I needed to recreate them for her! I think they turned out pretty well.

The only thing I changed is that I only used one color of frosting for the goggles. Also, I just drew the eyes on the smarties with Sharpie because the frosting on the smartie looked sloppy. Oh, and I put the frosting on the back of the smarties and then pushed them onto the Twinkies so the dark frosting oozed out around the eyes to be the rims of the goggles. You can compare strategies on the original blog here.

Fireplace Decoration

2011-10-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

I have been really into grey and yellow lately, which is why we were wearing yellow, grey, and navy in our family pictures.

When I saw this canvas painting on Pinterest, I loved it immediately and created my own version.

I enlarged one of our family pics at Costco (super inexpensive!) and put it in a white frame to match my mirror and bull pitcher (garage sale finds). I thought all the white and large items helped take away a little from the huge dark brown wood wall. I really like the way it turned out!

Yes, that is a dirty mirror!

This mirror is another craft project of mine. It was a beautiful gold framed mirror but it needed a little color in our living room. So, now it is a beautiful blue. Painting stuff us so much fun!

Birthday Bandolier

2011-10-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

I really love Pinterest right now. I have found some awesome ideas on there. For instance, this bandolier:

It has many little rings on it to slip toy cars and action figures into and a little pocket at the bottom. At first, Griffey did not like it, but now he does. He slips all sorts of little toys into it. Look at that happy place.

This was right after Little Bear got a new bow. The old bow ripped off.

I found the pattern for the bandolier on Pinterest, but the original idea was here on whipstitchfabrics.com.

Bath Time!

2011-10-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

Griffey has a love-hate relationship with baths. He doesn't like getting in, but once he is in, he loves it--except when his hair is getting washed.

This particular day, Little Bear/ White Bear was waiting for Griff to be done.

He decided to join Griffey in the bath.

Bear getting wet kind of freaked Griffey out and he threw him out of the bath quickly.

Bear Little Bear.

Also, for Griffey's birthday, we got him these Crayola bath dropz which turn the water different colors. Now Griffey likes to get in the bath because he gets to choose which color of bath he wants.

Is 2 too young for chores?

2011-10-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Actually, I think we started giving Griff chores before he turned 2. We make it a game and it really doesn't cut out me having to pick up after him, but at least it teaches him about cleaning up after himself.

We make little lists and I read them to Griff.

First up: flashcards go in the box.

check!

Next, the books.

check!

Finally, the crayons have their own box.

check!

Yay! All done, big star!

Great Balls of Fire!

2011-10-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Adam is a champ. He partook in the Great Balls of Fire Challenge at Salvador Molly's in Portland a few months ago and I just found the pictures.

He let me plan a trip to Portland where I got to do any weird thing I wanted to, including watch him do this challenge which was on the Food Network's Man v. Food.

Adam did not know what he was getting into. Those fire balls of fire were made up of some seriously spicy peppers and the sauce was even hotter.

If you can accomplish the challenge, then your picture ends up here.

They look delicious, but those things were hazardous.

almost done!

See that sweat? He drank this whole pitcher plus three glasses of milk.

He was hating his life at this point.

Way to power through! By the way, my bbq pulled pork slider was delicious and I fully recommend eating at one of their two locations in Portland.

Put it on the wall!

Pumped Up Kicks

2011-10-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

I keep getting this song called Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People stuck in my head. When I finally get it out of my head, Adam will walk by humming it and it gets right back in there. It has been going back and forth between us lately because the melody is so addictive.

I don't really care that much about music. A lot of it kind of sounds the same to me. There is some music that I know I love and some I know I can't stand, but this song falls in a weird place in between those categories.

I love the melody, but don't care for the words or the story in the song. It is a happy, up-beat sounding song until you listen closely to the words, which are about a troubled boy going on a shooting spree at his school and home. creepy.

I have probably scared you off from the song, but I suggest you listen to it and see for yourself.

Here is an interview with the band about the song's meaning:

KROQ: The beat in “Pumped Up Kicks” is almost misleadingly uplifting – while the lyrics are surprisingly morbid. Is that a typical song-writing trait of yours?

MARK FOSTER: I wrote the music first. So that is probably why the music and the lyrics have their own identity. But there’s definite irony. I like to undercut the music with something that is ironically opposite. With music, you can communicate different layers of a story depending on where the music and the melody go. You put a certain melody under a certain word; you can make that word mean a million different things.
KROQ: But the lyrics about a kid with a 6-shooter gun walking into school is surprisingly dark territory……especially for a pop song. Is this an issue you feel close to?

FOSTER: I kind of wrote the song to bring awareness to the issue. That sort of thing keeps happening more and more in our country; it’s kind of turning into an epidemic. To me the epidemic isn’t gun violence; the epidemic is lack of family, lack of love, and isolation – kids who don’t have anywhere to go or anyone to talk to and that’s what makes them snap.
When a 13 or 14-year-old kid brings a gun to school and does something, sure, you blame them for making that choice….. But at the end of the day, he or she is still just a kid and there’s a lot of other things that led up that moment that should have changed.

I don't want to forget...

2011-10-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

...all of Griffey's cute phrases and sayings.

Right now he says a lot:

"Know that I love you."

"Watch me!" "Watch Mommy" "Watch Daddy" ( to get our attention)

"I told (cold). I put towel on."

"Honey" ( calls Mom and Dad both Honey)

"Weiner water" (In reference to his pee. ya....)

"I barted" (burped)

He put his plastic puppy in time out today and said "Puppy in time out. No listening." Because he has been taking a few time outs for not listening.

He also likes to:

Say the five little monkeys jumping on the bed 'song'. all of it!

Color for a long time with crayons and with chalk ( I let him color with chalk in the garage which he thinks is the coolest thing ever)

Jump off of everything!

Wake me up by crawling from my feet up to my face and put his face to my face and saying "I want a ba-non" (banana)

Talk about the temple. We drove by an old mill and he looked up and saw the silos and thought it was the temple. That was hilarious because it was really dirty and old. We took a drive by the temple recently and he said it was beautiful and asked for a picture of it in his room. We told him the temple was special, so now he always talks about how he wants to see it and it's so special and beautiful.

Hold hands during dinner prayer. He started it when he saw Adam squeeze my hand when we were sitting there before prayer. Then he wanted to hold hands with us too and that's how it began.

Family Pictures

2011-10-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention that we moved? Well, if not, we did!

It has been about a month in our new place- a duplex we are renting near Springfield High School. It has been so great having our own place that feels like a house, not just an apartment. It makes us feel so free being here, having a garage, a yard, and even just the driveway! The duplexes are attached by the garages, so we feel a lot more free and private than in apartment living.

I have been having fun browsing Pinterest for decorating ideas and like what I have done so far. I'll share pictures soon.

In anticipation for decorating our new house and for sending out Christmas cards, we had some family pictures taken by my friend, Kirsten Wilson, from high school. Coincidentally, she is also married to one of Adam's friends.

She did an amazing job. You should check out her facebook page here or her website here and of course, you can ogle us here.

Want a sneak peek at how cute we are???

Experiences from Student Teaching

2011-09-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

This fall, I will be working in a fifth grade classroom for my student teaching. Actually, for this first term, I am not really teaching, just helping and observing. I started a couple weeks ago and have been learning so much. I'm already in love with a few of them!

Yesterday, we were talking about different land formations and after talking about lakes and giving the example of Crater Lake, the teacher started talking about Bays. She gave the example of Depot Bay and asked why the city Depot Bay may be named that. She was expecting the answer that it was named that because it was near a Bay, but it turned out a lot funnier.

Teacher: Why do you think the town is called Depot Bay?
Student A: Because it is deep?
Teacher: no....but good thinking. Anyone else?
Student B: Because it is near a Home Depot?

Ha. Because it is near a Home Depot. I love kids!

Things I Love: DVDs I wish I owned

2011-09-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

These things which I am about to list are a special breed of things I love, because they are things I love but do not yet own. There are some movies which have a special place in my heart and soul, but I just haven't justified buying any of them. These movies are ones that I would buy without hesitation if they were around five dollars or so. Please enjoy my recommendations:

Dunstin Checks in- This movie I used to own when I was younger. I think I got it as a prize or something, I don't remember. I do remember when my ownership of it ended. I was partaking in the Christmas gift exchange called White Elephant when my cousin unwrapped my copy of Dunstin Checks In. Apparently, it was now hers and my parents didn't even think this was crazy that my sister! put my movie in the gift exchange because she was sick of it! ugh. Still not over that Denae!
Drive Me Crazy- A great high school change the guy to become popular only to realize popularity isn't as important as happiness let's go make out in the treehouse type of movie. Yes, the Britney Spears music video is in the end. Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Greniar (Entourage) are in it. I have it memorized but lost my copy.
D2 The Mighty Ducks- Forget the first and third in this series, the second is where it's at. When we were little, we won a copy of this movie and watched it a lot. All I can say is the quack attack is back Jack, now go watch it.
Anastasia- This Fox movie cartoon classic is the best by far. Meg Ryan plays Anya and the music and story are the best, plus Demitri is a hunk.
She's the Man- This is a no brainer. I have the case that mine came in, but it has been watched and moved around so much, that the disk is now gone. Amanda Bynes plays a girl play a boy that is actually supposed to be her brother but isn't to join a soccer team and beat her ex boyfriend who is enemies with her hopefully new boyfriend who is her brother's who is actually her new roomate. Classic story of tampons in the nose and gouda talk.

Summer means...Baseball!

2011-07-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

I have always enjoyed going to the Eugene Emerald's baseball games in the summer. Watching the games is fun on its own, but eating ice cream from plastic hats, singing the songs, and enjoying the atmosphere make these games a necessity for us every year.

Last year, we tried taking Griffey but he was too wiggly and didn't understand enough to sit still. I don't think we lasted a whole game last year.

This year, Griff is way into the games. I ask him what he wants to do every day and most days he says 'baseball game?' Last week, he said 'Taco Bell and Library'. haha. He is definitely my kid.

Here is a look at the two we have gone to this year. My mom got Griffey the ball and glove for the games, which he loves. Also, the lady sitting behind us was the wife of the other team's manager, so after the game she went down to the dugout and got Griffey a game ball!

Things I Love: Candy Edition

2011-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

I love love candy. Very much. I feel that I am not simply a candy enjoyer, but more of a candy explorer and a candy enthusiast. If I see a new type of candy or a new variety of an old favorite, I feel it is my responsibility to try it, disect it, eat it in multiple styles, and analyze the overall experience.

For instance, I had to try the new hershey's chocolate that have air bubbles. It sounded weird, so I needed to know. You know, in case anyone ever asked me. It was worth trying, fyi. But not worth putting pants on and going right now, so sit tight.

I figured that because I am such a candy authority, I would share some of my knowledge with you, so here are my five favorites:

Sixlets {much more than an m&m; much different flavor experience. plus they sell the little strips of them at 7-11 for 15 cents. so that's pretty awesome.}
Twix {this is really a three-part favorite because I love the chocolate twix with peanut butter the most, then the second most is the coconut twix that taste like samoas that I bought at Walgreens once but they haven't gotten them again, and thirdly is the original.}
Spice drops {these come in the bags of candy section that everyone always passes up because they are old people candy. well, I'm telling you--next time, stop and try them. you will not regret it}
Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp milk chocolate bar {these are pretty dang good. they have layers of crispy wafers and milk chocolate truffle, plus they are only 110 calories.}
York peppermint patty {sometimes when I go grocery shopping, I feel the need to buy four of these and put them in my freezer. on the nights when I am begging Adam to get me something sweet from the store but also hoping he won't so I won't eat the junk, I remember that the Yorks are up in the fridge waiting for me. they aren't that bad for you anyway right. they have mint in them and mint is a plant.}

So...enjoy my favorite candies and if you haven't tried one of these, I insist you go try one. They were all handpicked with love.

Picture Overload: Take Two

2011-07-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

Back at it...

We have also been watching Adam play softball once a week. Griffey loves going to his games and yelling "Go daddy" and playing with all the other kids there. He brings a ball and a bat and makes new friends each time to play catch with.

It usually takes a while for Griffey to find Adam because he is waaaaay out there!

Good form!

Grandma "Mama" sometimes comes also.

Contrary to popular belief, we do not go to Taco Bell very often. However, we did go this one day and I thought Adam and Griff looked pretty cute talking to eachother and being all matchy.

We also like to go to the lake, especially Baker Bay. We have gone swimming there a couple times and camped there the weekend after the 4th of July. I thought you may want to see out my window.

Carl rented a raft and took Myla, Carlee, and Griffey out for a scenic tour.

Griffey liked helping guide.

Baker Bay seems a little muddy, but I don't mind it. It is a great place to spend the day.

After all the long days, we like to read our library books and take naps. Griffey and I go to the Eugene Library once a week for "Wonderful Ones" storytime. Or routine is to get there early, walk around and look at the construction machines going and watch the buses at the bus station, then we line up for when the library opens and head inside. We pet the kitty {Griffey thinks it is real and tells it stories and laughs as he pets it. This is his favorite part of the whole day. He pets the cat for a good ten minutes. If the cat is not there, he goes up the lady and asks for the cat. Oh, it is a puppet, by the way.....}. We sing songs during storytime and then we eat chocolate chip banana bread from the cafe and then go meet Adam at school.

Picture Overload: Take One

2011-07-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have been busy running around having fun and balancing that with summer school this past month and a half.

Although we are pretty busy with school, we have taken a lot of time to enjoy the sun and give Griffey a bunch of fun memories. Plus, I think soaking up the sun is the best thing for me right now because it recharges me for the rest of the year. I live for the summer.

We spent the night at a cabin near Willamette Pass with Brittany and Austin and two of Austin's friends. Griffey fell in love there.

Yes, he is giving it a kiss.

For Father's Day, Griffey and I made Adam some lemon bars {his favorite}.

We also made Adam this card that I found on Pinterest. We traced Griffey's hands for it. If you are not on Pinterest, you need to go there now. {Thanks Molly for starting my addiction!}

Happy Father's Day!

In the middle of June, my 15-month Grad school program started. Back to {Grad} School pictures with Brittany! No, this is not embarrassing. It is important to document these types of things.

When we don't want to leave the town to go swimming on hot days, we hang out at my dad's pool. Griffey loves splashing "Papa Geeg" {Grandpa Gregg}

Brittany and I also tried to get our reading homework done while sun tanning at Fall Creek Reservoir. Not much success there, just a lot of papers stained with tanning oil and a lot of chocolate mini rice cakes eaten.

I will share more of our adventures soon!

Did I Forget Something?

2011-06-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah! We graduated!!!

Adam and I after graduation

My Cohort- The 80 people I graduated with in Educational Foundations. We had many classes together and became very close over the past two years.

Desi, Myself, and Brittany before our graduation. Desi graduated in the Master's program that Brittany and I are starting this year.[sorry its sideways]

After we got our diplomas, but before we could get outta there!

After graduation and pictures, we went to Roaring Rapids with Griffey and Steve [Adam's dad].

Griffey had a long day!

Pattern-tastic and an Important Discovery

2011-05-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

Important discovery? Yes!

Shatter. Nail. Polish. {doesn't that seem like it should be pole-ish? huh.}

On Sunday, Adam and I had to give talks at church and everytime I looked down to practice my talk, I got distracted by all the patterns I was wearing, especially my shatter nails. {whoop whoop}

Beyond the pattern on my nails, I really dove into the pattern pool for my outfit. I had flowers on my scarf.

Ruffles on my shoes. Aren't these awesome shoes??? They were a gift. From a special someone. That I am married to.

My skirt was patterned out as well. Thanks Target clearance!

My pink shirt had little cutouts, making for an awesome pattern. Maybe I was subconciously thinking I was creating a giant visual distraction so no one would remember my words? possible.

But I think I am just in love with patterns, especially flowers, ruffles, and stripes.

What's that? Did you need me to model it? Why, of course.

My favorite part of all of this is when I told Denae I needed to take a picture of all my patterns. She quickly joined in, agreeing this is completely normal behavior, and began posing me and snapping away!

Thanks Nay!

Have You Been Nice to an Avocado Lately?

2011-05-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Do you want my famous guacamole recipe? Well, do you??

One packet of guacamole seasoning and two avocados. Yep, it's good. Simple...but good. I suppose you can add some fresh stuff to it too, like salsa or just tomatos or onions.

Trust me, or at least trust the packet. It doesn't lie.

Lessons from Aunt Nay Nay

2011-05-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Watch:

and Learn:

Photos courtesy of Andy.

Griffey Loves...

2011-05-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

...sleeping in our bed.

We only let him every now and then. {We don't want to start that habit} So, he gets really excited when we let him take naps in there sometimes. So excited, that he asks for the light off and the door shut and falls asleep immediately.

Garage Sales! {or fun stuff that we really do need, I promise}

2011-05-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Well last week, I had a garage sale at my mom's and we did pretty good considering we only had a little apartment's worth of knick knacks to sell.

Brittany came and helped and also added a few things to the sale. After decluttering our lives last weekend, we decided the best thing to do this week was, what else? Garage Sale!

We test drove a few things...

...and went all over Eugene, scouring sale after sale. We finally narrowed down our search to specific things {me-frames to paint and Brittany-pots and chairs to paint}.

We were so successful in our day's work that we needed to take a picture:

Yes, it does look like we set up our own garage sale in the parking lot. We may have gone a little overboard, but we thought hard about our purchases before we made them and we didn't spend much money at all.

The movies The Little Princess and Little Women were free so how could I pass that up? The scarf was .50 and I think it will make a great headband this summer.

The bat, baseballs, and softballs are for Adam. I had to call and check and yes, he would like them please.

The owls in the orange matted frames are mine and I do not regret them one bit. They spoke to me. Those frames are going to be white soon though. Gold is not my thing.

I got two little chairs for my nieces for camping. A whole $20 box of unopened fondant for $2, free corks for Denae, and an Oregon pillowcase for my uncle Brad.

The Dodgers shirt is Brittany's, along with the pots, chairs, and Frederick.

And last, but not least, the first and most worthwhile purchase of the day....THE BULL.

This bull pitcher is the most amazing piece ever. After I showed it to Denae, she told me about cereal parties and now I can't wait until Griff is older so we can do that too. This would be perfect for the milk.

But for now, it will sit on the window proudly.

After we set up our loot photo shoot, we called Austin from the golf course behind Brittany's apartment. We said we needed help, but really we wanted to tease him. We told him all of that stuff was Brittany's and mine was already in my car. This was his reaction:

He did not approve! Once I removed all my knick knacks from the equation, he was fine.

I'm excited to get started on painting my frames and I can't wait to set up our own place at the end of the summer!

New Project

2011-05-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a new project that I am very excited about!

I'll post pictures when I am done, but for now...

I cut these...

..turned them into this...

and am now working on the next step!

Best Cookies Ever!

2011-05-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

Recipe for: Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies

To prepare: Preheat of 375°F

Ingredients		Directions
1 C sugar ½ C shortening 1 egg ½ C molasses 2 C flour 1 tsp salt 1 ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp vanilla 1 C oatmeal 6 oz chocolate chips 1 C coconut		Cream sugar and shortening together. Add egg and molasses and beat well. Add flour, salt, and baking soda and mix well. Add vanilla, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and coconut. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet Bake 8-9 minutes at 375°F

These are my favorite cookies ever, so I thought I would share the recipe! Enjoy!

In Twenty Years...

2011-05-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

I think this is what Griffey will look like:

That's Chord Overstreet from Glee. They both have giant mouths {not a bad thing. griff's is pretty cute} and the same hair.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother's Day and it was great!

I woke up to a sweet card with a recording of Griffey saying "I love you Mommy. Happy Mother's Day." and a People Magazine.

Griffey also brought me a flower and let me smell it before he took it away. They had also gotten a big bouquet of flowers that were waiting in the kitchen.

We then went to church where I got a beautiful planted flower from the young men and then went home and watched Swan Princess and ate cookies that my sweet nieces, Carlee and Haylee, made me.

It was a great mother's day! I hope my mom feels better soon so we can have a happy belated mother's day with her {now that we celebrate it and all}.

Here's my momma and I with Griffey and our truffles at the Truffle Shuffle last year. Happy Mother's Day mom!

Let’s get down to business

2011-05-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

First of all, did you ever stop to think that {let's} is a contraction of {let us}. How silly would it sound to say "Let us go get some dinner…" instead of "Let's go get some dinner." hmm.

Speaking of dinner or food in general, I have a serious question to pose:

I took this from sodahead.com

Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke?

Obviously, Diet Pepsi is my favorite because I think it runs through my veins. My body craves it because I am made of it. Pretty sure.

However…I will gladly drink Diet Coke if that's {that is} what I got.

But…Diet Pepsi out of a bottle? Hmm…. I guess it will do in a pinch. Fountain drinks are obviously the best.

Yes, I might choose water over bottled soda.

So…. What do you prefer? Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke?

{This is serious business!}

A Day Up the Mckenzie

2011-05-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

On a whim, we decided to drive up the Mckenzie and get some fresh air and possibly go on a hike. My first thought was Ike's. I went here a long time ago with my dad and sisters and I remember how awesome the broasted chicken and potatoe sliced fries are. The pizza smelt awesome too.

So we stopped and we ate and we stayed a little extra long just in case we'd see Morgan Freeman. Yeah. Apparently, his manager lives around there and Morgan (we eat at the same place, I can call him this) comes here about twice a month to eat. Anyway, we didn't see him.

But, we did see a stuffed snow leopard on the wall. Seriously. I love the way this place was decorated. It definitely made it more fun to eat there.

There was a wall dedicated to the Mckenzie River Lions. This stuff was old and awesome.

Of course, there were antlers and stuffed everythings on the wall. Plus, an arcade area. Adam ran up to me and begged me for quarters. Him and Griffey played while we waited for our greasy awesomeness.

Then we were off to the....

Yep. Fish hatcheries are our thing. We are all about fish hatcheries. I think this may be why we decided to tie the knot. Our mutual love for fish hatcheries and our mutual disgust in eating anything in fish form. We like looking at them. No, love looking at them, but we do not like them (Sam I Am).

We are fish hatchery connoisseurs (Hood River is the front runner) and we are teaching Griffey to love it too. I told Adam I was out of quarters at the arcade after a while, earlier, because I really like putting a quarter in the fish food machine and getting a handfull of smell fish food.

He was not impressed by my craftiness.

Like father, like son. I dressed Griffey without knowing what Adam was wearing. Their closets are so similar that these 'Who wore it best' moments happen a lot.

Forget the fish, Griffey was most excited about having freedom to run around all over the place.

Under the bridge, there were a lot of fish. Griffey was entranced by them. I wonder why so many? Was Adam sharing his Rockstar with them?

The visit ended with a look at the aquarium and then a snack of trailmix that Griffey helped me make (pretzels, raisins, chocolate chips, crackers, and teddy grahams. He learned that if you pull everything out and throw it on the ground, you can get to the chocolate quicker. Yeah....

Once, we got in the car, Griffey fell asleep, and we continued up the Mckenzie to scout of some exploring spots for another day. We went to Blue River and are excited to go back in the summer to camp there. It was beautiful!

I am so glad that Adam was able to take a break from schoolwork (I don't have any. Are you kidding?) and come play with us for the day.

Easter

2011-05-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Griffey, Adam, my mom, and I went to the annual Coburg Easter Hunt. In case you were wondering, no, there are no eggs and no, there is no hunt involved.

Each age group stands around a roped off area and when the Easter Bunny says 'go' everyone jumps in to make a mad dash for as much loot as possible.

I felt that I should show Griffey how to properly succeed at this 'hunt' because there were a lot of kids itching for the stuffed bunny that I planned on beelining to and there is nothing more thrilling than racing and winning against three feet tall children who have just learned to walk...

Griffey did not feel the same rush of excitement. He was nervous and overwhelmed. He puts his fingers in his mouth when he is overwhelmed. I've only seen him do this a couple times. He also didn't understand why a) he had to stay behind the rope and b) why there were stuffed animals and candies all over the grass.

Plus, I may have scared him with my overzealousness...

eyeing the loot and strategizing the plan of attack

Oh yeah. We got the bunny. You better believe that.

Eating candy and looking for more. He is definitely my kid. We love us some sweets.

He wasn't sure about the chic with the big white suit on. He kept his distance.

Yep. Definitely tried to keep his distance.

He did sneek over when the Easter Bunny wasn't looking and grabbed a hard-boiled egg (yuck!) from her basket. Grandma enjoyed that. Griff stuck with his dum dum.

And of course, we tried taking a ton of family pictures. Our expressions never matched. In this one, I didn't get the serious face memo.

Happy Easter!

Monumental Day!

2011-04-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Griffey had is first haircut today! He looks so handsome and grown up now.

Getting him to sit still was a battle though. He was so excited to be in the awesome jeep chair until the lady came over a wrapped the cape around him. We even gave him a sucker, but he just held it and cried the whole time.

He's happy now. And he ate his sucker.

Before the Storm (eating a graham cracker)

During

After!

Allergies

2011-04-19T00:44:00.000-07:00

Allergy season is here, which means I will be in pain and misery for a few solid months. How bad are my allergies? Oh, no, I do not get allergies. Adam does. He gets allergies enough for all of us.

Besides not being able to have picnics on the grass in the park and thinking beautiful blossoming cherry and cotton trees are evil, it's the snoring. We deal with the snoring.

For a good two months, I have to wear my usual adam's-snoring-year-round ear plugs, plus put a pillow on my head, put a blanket on top of the pillow, make sure the industrial fan is on high, and sleep with my head at the foot of the bed. Yeah, I sleep by his feet. It's that bad.

He's tried eating local honey, taking all the medicines, using the breat-right strips, and pretty much everything else. It's just going to stay this way and I have learned to deal with it. It can't get worse. Can it?

Oh wait. Griffey had a running nose today. I have two snoring Adams now.

Want to Make Yourself Go Insane?

2011-04-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

…Try deep cleaning an entire bathroom with paper towels. I mean shower, toilet, floor, everything.

We are officially moved out of our wonderful apartment and into Adam's dad's house. We are trying to save some money because we are both diving into Grad school soon. It was bittersweet to move out.

I spent six hours on Saturday cleaning the apartment in hopes of getting our deposit back. Gateway Village left me traumatized so I cleaned our Crescent Park Apartment like nobody's business. Two nasty sponges and 4 dissolved Magic Erasers later, and I was left with the last bathroom and nothing but paper towels. That was not fun. Luckily Adam brought me Taco Bell to help me endure. Haha.

Seriously though, this time of our lives is definitely an adjustment time. While we are very grateful to be saving money and have family to rely when we need help, we have definitely made sacrifices and been placed outside our comfort zone. It will take some getting used to but I know that we will have our own place someday and we will appreciate it more if we have to make sacrifices to get there.

The moral of the story is, moving sucks but it's not the end of the world and magic erasers really are magic, but buy enough.

Back to Our Parents’ House

2011-04-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, long story short… our apartment complex raised the rent while cutting out amenities so it isn't worth it to live here anymore. We are both starting grad school very soon and neither of us are working because of our school work loads, so all our rent money comes from financial aid and savings. It has come to the point where we don't want to waste that much money on living here, so we are out. In 16 days.

We are moving in with Adam's dad, Steve, and his wife Laurel. Fortunately, they are willing to let us live in their downstairs for a while to save up money and not have to stress about rent for a little while. The plan is to stay there through summer and then look for some cheaper apartments or campus housing in the fall.

While it is very calming and comforting to know that we have somewhere to go in times like this, I am very much mourning the loss of our own space. I feel like I just moved us in here and got everything set up how I liked it. Griffey is comfortable here. We are close to everything here. Plus, I am secretly scared to leave this area of town. This is where I have been since middle school, so I am partial to it.

Side note—did you know that boxes from U-Haul are around $2 each?? That's crazy! We are packing with trash bags and used boxes from craigslist.

So, garage sale tomorrow, moving this weekend, half a month to clean our apartment to get our deposit back.

P.S: I love being married to Adam because he is so weird. I just found that mariners picture saved on the computer.

Things I Love:

2011-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Check out these gorgeous brows!

Getting my eyebrows waxed. Who knew? I love it! I can't believe I just realized how amazing it is until I was in my 25th year! Plucking is so out. So 2010.
Onsies. Very multipurpose. They are the best thing to wear when sick or very cold. Also, they make getting dressed easier. You only have to find one article of clothing. They are not helpful, however, when you are about to pee your pants and have to jump around while undoing 40 little buttons.
Renting movies from the library. I know, Denae, you told me this along time ago, but I was having none of it. Well, I have realized how awesome it is to rent music and movies from the library for free and you don't get in trouble for returning then late, because you have a month to do it in!
Using recipes on packages. Does anyone use these? I just looked down on the package once and realized I was given a gift of free recipes, so I started trying them. Some are awesome-some are not. Add garlic powder to the ones that are not.
People Magazine + Bath = Love. When in doubt, get a magazine and get in the bath. A diet Pepsi by your side helps too. Adam doesn't understand. Oh well.

School

2011-03-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

The day is here—the first day of my last term as an undergraduate! Whoo!

I have been in school since I graduated high school in 2004 and am finally seeing the fruits of my labor! Did you do the math? Yes… I have been in school for seven years! For a four year degree! Ha

I jumped right into school at BYU-Idaho the fall after I graduated high school and went there for a year and a half before I was wooed by Adam and convinced to stay home. We went back together (road trip!) to get all my stuff out of storage. Since I came home at the end of winter term, I couldn't enroll in Eugene and was out of school for half a year. In the fall, I went to Lane CC where I discovered all those classes I worked so hard for in Idaho would not transfer for anything. Lame.

After two years at Lane and an associates transfer degree to show for it, I was told not to apply to the Education program at UofO by my Lane counselor. She said that I needed more volunteer work before I would be able to get it. Wrong. She was so wrong and I was very mad for a long time. I was set back a year. Ugh.

So I went to the UofO anyway and tried a major in math. That. Was. Hard. Hahaha So I finished up as many graduate school prerequisites that year and applied for the Education program the following year. I got in. You don't need volunteer service to get in, by the way. And now after two years in the Educational Foundations undergraduate program, I will be graduating in June! Yay! Finally!

I will be graduating with a whopping 225.5 credits, 60+ of which counted for nothing. Oh well, live and learn.

And because I know I can handle so much school, I decided 'Why not throw in a master's degree?!' so I will start that up at the UofO in June and be done in August 2012 as a full-blown teacher!

I Love...

2011-03-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

..having a best friend.

No

2011-03-23T23:04:00.001-07:00

Well, Griffey has learned to assert himself and our lives have been filled with the effects of it. Good and bad.

I taught Griffey to say "no". Why would I do that? Aren't you supposed to teach them not to say that? Or at least not to scream it in your face, especially in public when everyone stares at you to see how you will react? Wondering are you a fit mother? Do you punish effectively? Not too hard, not too soft? That's the worst.

I taught him to 'just say no' instead of screaming or whining when he doesn't want something. So now he does. Do you want more oatmeal? No. Do you want to read a book? No.

Unfortunately it also goes like this:

Do you want to snuggle with Mama?

No. (casually, as if he isn't breaking my spirit and making me want to hug his bear tighter than he does.)

Do you want to give Mommy the biggest kiss in the world?

No. (as he walks away to read the book he just said no to, by himself)

Well, in case you were wondering, when you teach a one and a half year old to say no, they will. A lot.

No, I do not want my diaper changed.

No, I would rather not go to bed, thank you very much.

Oh boy, the worst is when he says 'no' an inch in front of your face and then decides saying it wasn't clear enough. I will now scream it, still an inch from sweet mother's face. I give him the stern look that holds 48% effectiveness and he laughs and walks away. The audacity. So that is what Adam and I are dealing with. I appreciate the 'no' but the dancing on my motherly power and then walking away smugly as he knows he has won? That part is that part I do not know how to deal with.

He's too young to understand that he is in trouble for saying the very word I taught him because the context has changed and he is too young to understand how much it hurts Momma's heart to scream and run away victoriously, but he is definitely old enough to be held accountable a little, right? Otherwise, before I know it, I will have a 4 year old brat screaming wildly in my face in public.

Well, I guess it's time to peruse the message boards and let the internet train my child.

Becoming parents is a pretty silly thing. Acting all serious and then when Griffey looks away, giggling at each other for how crazy we sound as parenty adult types. Ha

Good thing we're relaxed or this business would eat us up. For example, Griffey was eating a squeezable mango tube thing. I don't know. It's from Market of Choice. And he learned it can be squozed (?)(sure) onto the ground just as easily as into his mouth.

Squeeze. "uh oh". Squeeze. "uh oh". Squeeze. "uh oh". Over and over. I wasn't looking okay? So sue me.

Well, back to my example of being relaxed. I put a towel over his mess and called it a day. I didn't feel like cleaning it then and I still don't.

Craft Time with Denae

2011-03-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

When Denae was in town, she brought over a nifty craft project for us.

She saw these headbands on Anthropologie's website and found a pattern to make them.

Pretty impressive considering we made $19.95 headbands for less than $2!

This is my headband. Oh yeah, and I dyed my hair brown.

This is the Anthropologie headband.

Busy Being Happy

2011-03-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

Griffey loves shoes just like his dad. Isn't Adam's beard out of control? He shaved it shortly after this was taken (thankfully!)

We like to spend our mornings snacking, coloring, and wearing awesome sweatbands. He loves wearing this "hat" and sometimes won't leave the house without it.

Griff loves yogurt in the tube because he can hold it on his own. This one was frozen so he wanted a glove on when he ate it.

Although he is picky at times, Griff always loves noodles with sauce. (He kinda looks like the joker here, right? creepy..)

Of course, coloring is fun, but I must have been intruding on his artistic space when I came up to his face with the camera.

They both love naps. I love watching Hulu while they take naps. smile.

Denae (my sister half of Denandy) taught me how to bake an apple pie. I ate a lot of it. It's apples, right?

We got a new car, which means we got a new carseat. I was going to use the box for packing, but decided teaching Griff about forts was a better idea. He agrees.

Every morning, we look out the window at the trees, birds, cars, and occasional kitty. G stands there while I slowly get up.

Oh, another big step for Griff- he's all about putting his hands in his pants. How do I intervene on this?

Back up to Christmas

2011-03-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

While our Holidays consisted of a lot of running around to family gatherings this year, I was okay with it because we were able to spend a relaxing Christmas morning together, just the three of us. It has been fun to create new traditions with Adam and incorporate some of our families' traditions as well. Plus, it was very nice to have Adam here this year!

My mom made our stockings from a tattered old instruction sheet that has been use to make my family's stockings for four generation.

Griffey had fun opening his stocking for the first time. He liked digging out all the surprises.

Our tree- with Griffey's present that wouldn't fit under it. He figured out that it was a basketball hoop and started shooting balls at it weeks before Christmas.

Adam wearing his Christmas jammies!

Although I look ratty, I wanted to show off my Christmas jammies- a blue onsie that Adam picked out. Also, Griffey is wearing his "Mi Mow" (Mickey Mouse) Christmas Jammie.

Note to Self

2011-03-07T12:25:00.001-08:00

    Griffey and I just went out to lunch at Mezzaluna Pizza. He loves it because he is obsessed with the moon and he points to all the pictures of moons and shrieks, "MOON!" the whole time.
    While we were eating, I couldn't help get sucked into the conversation next to me. The two ladies next to us met up for lunch and were catching up on what had been going on in their lives because they hadn't seen each other in a while. I noticed that when asked what was new with each of them, they both dove into long detailed summaries of what each of their kids was doing and didn't say much about their own activities at all.
    It seemed very odd to me that they had nothing to say about themselves, but were raving about Ryan's trip to Spain and England and how he just got a scholarship and blah blah blah and Chris' new girlfriend who is kind of hippy-ish but very smart and blah blah blah….
    Basically, while I love Griffey very, very much and could easily dive into extensive detail about every cute thing that Griiffey does, I hope I don't get to a point where I have nothing to say about what is new with me besides what is new with Griffey. I have seen many moms who give up who they are for their kids, but I think it would be more beneficial for my kids if I show them the importance of hobbies, talents, and knowing who you are.
   I hope in ten or twenty years I can look back and think about what I am thinking now and stop bragging about my kids and find a life myself. Besides, when our kids grow up, Adam and I will just look at each other and think "Now what?" if we don't keep working on ourselves and remember who we are other than parents.

Hair!

2011-03-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

I have really long hair and I like to try to do stuff besides just ponytails and wearing it down, so I decided I needed to learn how to do a fishtail braid. Well, I googled it and stumbled on to the best you tube videos ever! This girl has tons of easy to follow and understand videos.

It's okay if you think they are boring, I don't care. I am really excited about them because they make learning how to do hairstyles very easy!

One More Step Done!

2011-02-10T15:40:00.001-08:00

We have now both applied to Grad school! I'm so excited to graduate this June and move on to the next step, which is grad school. It seems like it has taken forever, but we are finally rounding a corner and seeing the end of our undergraduate education in sight.

I don't mean "we" as in Adam, either. I have found that often people think that only Adam is in school because I am a mom and they don't think that I would be in school too, so when I say 'we are almost done', they say something along the lines of "oh, what is he studying?" or "I bet you are excited for him." Well, we are both graduating this year and we are both going to grad school and I am so proud of us!

There have been many points of discouragement for both of us throughout this process, especially when we are in class with 17 year-old freshman talking about their last prom and we have been out of high school forever! The reason I am so proud of us is because we haven't given up yet. I am especially proud of Adam for pushing on after being pulled out of school for his mission and two tours to Iraq.

Through this whole process of getting through school, coping with Adam leaving, then figuring out how to reintegrate him into the family dynamic, and then having our practically new car get totaled which left us with an 88 Corolla that is half broken, I have learned a very valuable lesson. Which is: If everything material were taken from me and I was left with an empty apartment, no money for school, no car, no nothing- except my family- I would be okay with it. I needed to have everything mixed around/ taken away/ roughed up for me to finally realize it, but there is nothing more important in this life than the relationships you form and the family you love.

Finally, I very clearly understand that everything that has been stressing me out (car crash/ grad school apps/ money for school/ insurance stuff/ etc.), really doesn't warrant my unhappiness because in the end, I have my family. The most important thing I can do in my life is love and help those around me. School, cars, money, degrees- those are all wonderful things, but I am finally in a place to understand that the state of my possessions should not dictate my emotional stability. Now that I see that, I am able to take a step back and deal with all the annoying things in life calmly and easily, because they really don't matter and I really am very blessed.

Anyway, my life is full of happiness because I have a wonderful husband and son and parents and family who support me and love me. Everything else is a bonus. So, I will no longer stress about getting into grad school or about driving a crappy car with a rearview mirror that you sometimes have to hold in the air to use, and I will patiently await my acceptance letter.

grr

2011-01-02T20:26:00.003-08:00

Broken computer. Broken car. Very frustrated.

Christmas Cards!

2010-12-03T11:25:00.001-08:00

I'm sending out Christmas cards and I know I missed some people last year, so if you want one and you didn't get one last year email me your address or tell me on Facebook. kelsey8537@yahoo.com

Or leave it as a comment!

Thanks!

We live with a raccoon!

2010-12-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

Griffey gets into everything now! It is sweet that he is learning to explore, but it is definitely annoying too! haha.

I learned that I just need to baby proof the apartment better. He lost all the measuring cups, got into the chocolate chips, and decided to drink a bottle of green food coloring.

No matter what he does though, I will always love him and think he's cute!

Halloween Finally!

2010-12-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

This Halloween all the Dimock/Hill cousins got to be together and I got some cute pictures. It's fun to .

watch them all play, especially now that Griffey can walk and follow the older girls around.

Adam and I didn't dress up because Adam is lame and he sucked me into his Halloween Scroogeness. Oh well! Next year I'll make us all wear matching costumes to make up for it!

Carlee and Emily

Three best friends- Carlee, Emily, Haylee

I love Emily's big blue eyes in this picture!

Lawn Gnome, Snow White, Belle, Dora

Haylee's an expert model

Carlee was Dora and even had her hair sprayed brown for the night.

Emily made a beautiful Snow White.

Griffey was a lawn gnome. He wouldn't wear the beard that went with it, but I was just happy he kept the hat on.

Griffey started walking a lot during the week of Halloween.

Bushy Eyebrows!

Hi Denae!!

2010-10-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I saw that someone from Colombia checked our blog because I knew it was you!

I stole this from Denae's blog!

My sister, Denae, and her husband, Andy, and in Colombia traveling around. Check out their blog to hear about their trip!

Also, my mom and her friend, Jody, are currently in Africa hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro. Here's their blog.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting around my apartment in boring, old Eugene.

Fall's Here...

2010-10-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

...and that means it is time for the pumpkin patch!

Griffey got to feed the animals!

Of course, we had to stop for the photo op! Nice face Adam.

He didn't really want to move. Everything was too poky!

Me and Griffey

Brittany looking at one of their many reject pumpkins.

Brittany and Austin came with us to Lonepine Farms.

Griffey finally found a pumpkin he liked.

We saw a little girl posing on the pumpkins, so we decided we needed to also!

Adam and Austin thought we were insane.

Griffey loves his daddy.

Our family...and the evil broccoli.

Brittany trying to get out of the huge, scary maze.

We picked out pumpkins, defeated the daunting maze, bought some fresh produce, and then shared a delicious caramel apple. Good idea Brittany!

Cookie Overload

2010-10-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Someone got into the cookies! Although I was not happy about it, he was too cute to take the cookies away before I took some pictures.

I'm selling Avon!

2010-09-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

I just started selling AVON and I am very excited about it because I love the products and they aren't very expensive and they have all sorts of different products.

I plan on not being pushy with my friends and family, so everyone won't get sick of me. However, in case anyone is interested, I have catalogs and also a website that people can order off of. Also, if anyone wants to be on the email list ofr special discounts and offers, let me know.

Thanks for the support! Here's my website : http://www.avonrepresentative.com/kdimock.

Don't forget....Christmas is coming!

Family Trip to Florence

2010-09-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Griffey loved playing in the sand and Adam loved helping him explore the sand and water.

Last week, we went to Florence on a whim. We brought Griffey to the jetty, had rootbeer floats, and walked around old town Florence (and of course, we got some awesome candles at the Newport Bay Candle Company.)

He was trying so hard to walk!!

He couldn't figure out why his hands kept sinking.

I need to get a tripod so we can get pictures of all three of us at once!

Buddy and Daddy - Big smiles!

Two Successes in One Month!

2010-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

I kill plants. All plants. The only two plants I have ever kept alive for more than a week were a pot of mint and a pot of chicks and hens and the only reason these plants were magically staying alive past a week was because I set them in the path of a sprinkler. By the way, the mint is dead now. ha

Anyway, I am a proud, successful farmer now! Check the picture for proof!

You can barely see it, but I am holding my very first tomato grown from my topsy turvies. By the way, notice both of these plants are beautifully thriving!

My other recent victory came after I joined Bi-mart. I joined for the sole purpose of winning stuff on Lucky Number Tuesday. The first Tuesday after I joined, I won a 2-Liter of diet Shasta cola. Adam thought it was a lame prize and begged me not to redeem it and embarrass him, but a win is a win and you better believe I walked out of the store with my prize. And of course, I made Adam document my giant win:

Success! Just ignore my look in this picture- I had just finished lap swimming and was still dripping!

So obviously August was a victorious month for me!

Happy Birthday to Adam!

2010-08-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late considering Adam's 30th birthday was on July 23, but I wanted to talk about how good the cupcakes were that I made for his birthday.

For Adam's birthday, we went to Baker Bay at Dorena Lake with some of his family and friends to swim and have a picnic. Afterward, we went to an Ems game. Here's my boys at the game.

As per Adam's request, I made three different kinds of cupcakes: strawberry, lemon, and lime. They were so delicious and it was a nice change from boring chocolate and vanilla.

Thanks to the wonderful internet, I learned a simple way to make a box of cake mix your own.

For the lime cupcakes you mix:
-1 box lemon cake mix (18.25 oz)
-1 1/3 C. vegetable oil
-4 eggs
-1 (3oz) pack of lime flavored jello mix (straight out of the box, in powder form)
-a couple drops of green food coloring (optional, the mix will already be a lighter green)
After you mix them, just bake by following the directions on the box.

For the strawberry and lemon cakes, I used the cake mixes that were already strawberry and lemon, but I bet following the lime recipe with any flavor of jello would be good.

As good as these cupcakes were (the lime were the biggest hit), the frosting was even better. The Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling Recipe can be found here. Thank you Our Best Bites for the recipe!

This picture is from the recipe's website.

I mixed fruit flavorings into the icings, topped them with lime and lemon zest, and cut out fondant '30s' for the top.

Even if you don't like frosting, I guarantee you will like this recipe!

Also, did you know that the most amazing way to eat a cupcake is to pull the bottom half of the cupcake off and place it on top of the frosting to make a sandwich?! Blows your mind doesn't it!

Vegetables Adam will eat!

2010-08-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been trying to find new ways to cook vegetables so that Adam will try new things and not get sick of the only few vegetables he does like. (Sorry to embarrass you Adam, but we both know it's true). Plus I want Griffey to grow up liking vegetables too.

So anyway, I found an awesome recipe for yummy grean beans that have bacon, vinegar, shallots, and garlic in them. Yum!

I borrowed the picture from the same website with the recipe (http://www.laaloosh.com/). Their ranch turkey burgers are amazing too!

Shallots and Butter Green Beans Recipe

Ingredients:

- 2 lbs green beans, cleaned & trimmed

- 1 cup sliced shallots

- 2 tbsp Hormel 50% Less Fat Real Bacon Bits

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 2 tbsp light butter (I used Brummel & Brown)

- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

- 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

- 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

(You can cook your own bacon and use that and use normal butter too. This is just a lower calorie alternative and honestly, it tastes awesome this way.)

Directions:

In a medium frying pan or wok, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, bacon, and shallots and saute for about 4 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 1/2 more minutes.

Remove from the heat and add in the grated lemon rind, chopped thyme, salt and pepper.

Cook the green beans in boiling water for about 3 minutes (or until crisp-tender); drain.

In a large bowl, combine the green beans with the shallot mixture and toss well to coat.

I can't believe Griffey is almost 1!

2010-08-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

It seems surreal that Griffey is now a one year old, well he will be on August 20th. It's crazy that my pregnancy took forever and then the his first year just flew by.

Last year at this time seems like a different life to me now. I was all alone and just found out that Adam wouldn't be able to be here for Griffey's birth and I was excited, yet nervous about being a single parent for the first 8 months. That time in my life seems so unreal now, because now that Adam is here, it feels like he never left.

Anyway, here is a little look at everything my big one year old loves to do:

He loves sleeping with stuffed animals while striking model poses. He loves this giraffe because it plays music and he has figured out how to wind it up.

He loves helping with the laundry and riding around in the basket.

He loves being outside, especially hiking and swimming.

He loves his cousins and his teddy bears.

He loves rolling his tongue.

He loves going to baseball games.

He loves the quarter machine cars at the mall. He's a little scared of them too though.

He loves chewing on things, especially straws and lids.

He loves his family, dressing like his dad, and eating graham crackers.

He loves giving kisses.

He loves playing in the dirt...

..and I love him!!

Our Anniversary Cruise

2010-08-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

In June, Adam and I went on a Western Carribbean cruise to celebrate our anniversary and Adam being home. Although it would have been fun to have Griffey there, we knew it would be a lot of work, so we left him behind with my mom.

Our cruise was a week long, starting in Miami and going to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.

I really didn't think that I was going to be much of a cruise person, but it was so much fun and I would highly reccommend them to anyone! It was so nice to have our room cleaned twice a day, have delicious food, waterslides, pools, activities, and to wake up in a different place every day.

Our first port was Grand Cayman. Here's Adam on the shore with our cruise ship in the background.

Every night when we got back to our room, there was a different towel animal waiting for us.

In Grand Cayman, we went to a turtle farm on Botswain's Beach. We got to hold the baby sea turtles and swim in a lagoon with the mature turtles. These turtles can get up to 600 lbs!

Our next port was Roatan, Honduras- a small island off of Honduras. This was our favorite place because the water was so warm and beautiful. We snorkeled here around the reef, which is the second largest in the world, and also around a shipwreck.

In Roatan, there were little huts you could rent right along the ocean.

There were many wild monkeys, peacocks, and iguanas here. Here's Adam feeding one of the wild monkeys.

Next, we went to Belize where we went on an inner tube river tour through caves in the rainforest. I don't have any pictures yet, because they were all taken on our water camera.
Our last port was Cozumel, Mexico, where we swam with the dophins and had matching friendship bracelets made.

June 23 was our third anniversary and we had chocolate covered strawberries brought to our room to celebrate.

In Cozumel, we went on a zipline course through the trees. There was no one else there because we were supposed to be back to the boat by then, so we got to go through the course twice.

Here comes Adam!

The food on our cruise was delicious and abundant. Not only was there a huge selection of food, but it was available all the time. Here is a picture of a fruit salad from one of our dinners.

Our cruise ended in Miami, where we had a day to relax, shop, eat, and swim on South Beach. The people are way different there...you can tell just by looking at this store mannequin!

Here we are at the airport ready to go home!

Griffey Update

2010-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Griffey is getting so big and developing so quickly!

He is a little over 10 months and he has been crawling and scooting around for a while now. He also likes to pull himself up on furniture and act like he is surprising us.

Griffey also started his own version of peek-a-boo recently where he will look at you and then look away really quick and then look back at you. He is will do this over and over again if you act as excited as he is.

I really like him at this age because he is entertaining himself and not quite so needy. Now I can just sit back and play with him. He loves rolling the ball back and forth with us and he loves hugging his teddy bears.

We have taken him in the lake and in the pool a few times. He loves taking baths, so he also loves getting in the lake and pool. Sometimes he freaks out at first but Adam and I are determined that he will love swimming so we keep him in until he gets used to it, then he loves it!

Griffey also loves smiling and laughing and I love that he makes us smile and laugh so much too!

Time For a Break!

2010-06-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

School is out and it is finally the summer that Adam and I have been waiting for since we found out Adam was leaving for Iraq last year. Knowing this summer was coming and that there would be a time when we had no responsibilities and we could just play around and relax together really got us through the last year and now in two weeks we will be relaxing on a Western Caribbean Cruise! We will be gone for a week enjoying the warm water and white sandy beaches. Everyone else, have fun in Oregon! haha. (or wherever you are that isn't as cool as the Caribbean) just kidding!

Griffey in a Basket

2010-05-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

Griffey likes to sit in his toy basket, but he got sick of it after a while. It's pretty easy to tell by some of the pictures.

I love this picture of Griffey and I taking a Sunday nap.

I think this picture of Griffey and Adam is so cute! It was taken at Adam's demobilization ceremony.

Griffey Loves Mud!

2010-05-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

I set Griffey on a blanket in the grass and turned around and he was scooting across the wet grass and then the mud over to the flowers. I thought it was very cute, so I let him play in the mud. He loved slapping the mud and pulling the flower petals off the flowers. He didn't even mind that it was raining.

Griffey also loves taking baths, which is good because he got so dirty!

Recent Pictures

2010-05-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

My friend- and Griffey's babysitter- Kristen took these pictures with her new camera:

The Duck's Spring Game

2010-05-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

This year's UO Duck spring football game was dedicated to the troops who just got home from Iraq. They only chose a handful of all the soldiers from all over Oregon who just got home to get to take part in the on-field events during the game.

Adam and I had to get there early and we were carrying Griffey and two backpacks full of all of Griffey's stuff and a change of clothes for Adam so we were exhausted before everything even started, but excitement soon took over instead because Adam got to go out on the field during the National Anthem before the game and after the game, the soldiers were presented with the players' jerseys off their backs.
Daddy carrying Grif.

Posing in front of the inflatable football player.

The football players and veterans lined up on the sidelines during the National Anthem.

Adam was on the big screen! He's in the middle.

My mom came to support Adam and help out with Griffey.

Adam got to sit with us during the game. James and Carl were there also.

Brittany and Desi also came to the game. Here are all four of us girls!

They lined up on the sidelines until the game ended. Adam is the one in the middle with his hands in his pockets.

After the game, the players lined up on one side and the veterans lined up on the other side, then they walked toward eachother and met in the middle. The veterans presented the players with a coin and the players gave them the shirt off their backs.

Here is Adam in the middle, receving Jeff Maehl's jersey and getting it autographed.

Griffey enjoyed the sun and the loud audience.

Adam proudly showed off his still sweaty jersey.

They love eachother so much!

Griffey rides in style.

Adam's Demobilization Ceremony is...

2010-04-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

on Friday! Everyone is welcome to come to Adam's Demobilization ceremony at the Lane County Fairgrounds this Friday at 1:30. If you are planning on going, you should give yourself a lot of time to find a parking spot and a seat inside because they get really packed really fast.

I am sure that the soldiers would all appreciate your support and acknoloedgement of their hardwork, courage, and dedication over the past year, so everyone may come that wants to!

Yay!

2010-04-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

He's on his way to the U.S!

Home Sweet Home

2010-03-30T19:04:00.001-07:00

I finally have all of our stuff at our new apartment! It feels so nice to finally have everything in one spot and only be paying for the apartment and not the storage unit also and now I can finally focus on unpacking and decorating. Even though I don't want to spend a ton of money on decorating our apartment, I am going to try hard to make it our home and not just an ugly, plain apartment like our last one. Our Gateway Village apartment was so dark and ugly because of the brown carpet and wood panel walls and now that we have a bright, clean apartment, I want to add a lot of color and warmth and happiness. I love Adam because when I told him all the ideas I had for our apartment, he just said "Get what you need. I don't care." He's funny. That's such a boy thing to say. Brittany is a wonderful decorator and I am excited for her to help me because she has a million ideas. The only bad part is that she told me gently, to get rid of my bedspread, which I love and isn't very old.

She hates it because it's old ladyish (spell check tried to change this to ladyfish. Haha). I have a problem because I like some old lady decorations and I buy them and then I look at them later and think "What the heck is this? What was I thinking?" because I go a little over board. Anyway, Brittany is too late and I am not giving up my bedspread, so she is going to have to work around it!

It has been fun unpacking all of Adam's and my things and reminiscing about all the memories that go along with them. I was so excited last week because I found something that I haven't been able to find since before we began dating- our pinewood derby car. Before we were even dating, when I was still just thinking to myself how cute and funny he was and how I wanted to date him, we hung out with a few other people from the Institute (the church branch for the college age kids) and we made pinewood derby cars for our pinewood derby. Adam and I made one together in the likeness of his Mitsubishi Eclipse. The car is so funny because we needed to weigh down the back, so we carved a hole in it and put Iraqi coins in it and duct taped it shut. Adam still makes fun of me also, because he told me to lightly sand down the wheels so they would go faster, so I started sanding and kept sanding until he came back to check and apparently I did a bad job. The wheels were sanded way too much and had flat parts on them. When he saw that, he knew we weren't going to win. Haha.

Anyway, it was fun to find that little car and also a journal that Adam and I write in together. We started writing in it in 2006, describing how we met, things we have done together, and our feelings for one another. It was fun to look back in that journal and read how in love we were then. It reminds me of a song I like by Brad Paisley. I think it is called "Then." Yes, it's country. In the song, he reflects on memories and he says " And I thought I loved you then..but now you're my whole life, you're my whole world…we've come so far since that day, and I thought I loved you then…" It just reminds me of how I feel about Adam because I look back and think that I loved him so much when we were dating and then more when we were engaged and more when we were married and I love him more than I did when he left for Iraq and I didn't know I could love someone as much as I did back then and now that love has multiplied even more. It's just so crazy to think about. I don't think I could love him more than I do right now, but I know that when we are old and sitting around the table with our grandkids and kids, I will think "and I thought I loved you then…" Love is a crazy thing. Haha

Spring term started this week. I am taking a couple education classes, physics, and flag football. I am looking forward to flag football, but scared also because I am one of four girls in the class with 35 guys. I am definitely intimidated right now, but I think I can hold my own!

Oh, and I ran 11 miles yesterday!

Emotions

2010-03-23T00:22:00.001-07:00

I have always liked planning things and I always have many ideas in my head of fun things that I want to do. When I am hanging out with friends, I like to go out and do things and have fun because I feel like I am just wasting potential fun time sitting around doing nothing, so I like to try and plan things.

The bad thing is when I have all these ideas and no one wants to do them. I am not usually the type of person who really begs or tries to convince people to go along with my plans, but I have noticed since Adam has been gone that I have been more upset when people don't want to do all the things I want to.

After being told that some people don't like to tell me they don't want to do what I want to do because I make people feel bad for not wanting to do stuff, I thought about this a lot. That was never my intention. I don't want to make people feel bad for such a silly reason or for any reason really. Hearing that made me really sad because the reason I try so hard to get people to go along with all these plans I have is because in my head I have this great picture of everyone having fun and really enjoying themselves and thinking it was so much fun. I have realized that in the past I liked to think of fun things to do and suggest them to my friends and if they didn't want to, then I would let it go, but since I have been a lot more lonely and alone without Adam, I guess I really need these things.

I have these fantastic plans where in my head everyone is having tons of fun and I am really happy and not lonely and then when no one wants to do them, I get sad and wish people would change their minds and I try hard to get them to change their minds. I didn't used to be like this and when Adam comes home, I know I won't be like that. Right now, I rely a lot on my friends to be there for me because I feel so alone even when I am around people. Even in a room full of people who I know love me, I feel like a big part of me is missing and my body and mind and heart ache for that missing piece.

I am sorry for putting so much stress and pressure on my friends and expecting an unreasonably high emotional tolerance from them.

I don't know how to not feel lonely without Adam here, and the best way I can think of is to distract myself by doing lots of things, so when no one wants to do things, I try to convince people to because in my head I think it will help me.

By saying I feel alone or lonely even when I am around friends or family, I am not meaning to hurt anyone's feelings. I don't really know how to explain it. I am able to get by with Adam gone, but I don't want to have to. It is so hard to want to just hug the one you love the most or simply touch their face and not be able to. I don't feel like anyone understands this and or has patience for me. I could be wrong, but that's how I feel. I know I over generalized by saying 'anyone' and I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings because of this blog.

Basically, I am doing the best I can and I am sorry if I wore you too thin, annoyed you, or anything else. That wasn't my intention.

P.S: I appreciate all my friends and family and all the support I have gotten!

Adam is going to be home soon!

2010-03-15T23:13:00.001-07:00

Adam is going to be home next month! We don't have specific dates and ever if we did, we wouldn't believe them, but we do know that Adam should be in Eugene and done for good in the middle of April. He is currently packing up his stuff in Iraq and will be moving out of his trailers and into tents in order to make room for the new guys who are taking their places. Right now they are training the new guys and after a few more weeks of this, Adam will head to Kuwait and then on to Washington (state) for a week or so and then back here for good!

In order to speed up the demobilization process in Washington and Fort Lewis, family and friends aren't allowed to visit while they are there like in the past. Instead, they are going to get them in and out of there in about a week and then bus them back home.

I am so excited for him to be here! It is awesome to be know that in about a month we will be able to put this whole mess behind us. Lately I have been thinking about how a year ago we were just beginning to cope with the reality that Adam was going and we were just beginning to make all arrangements for while he was gone and now I am making all these plans for when he gets back! It feels great!

I got us a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment at Crescent Park Apartments behind Shopko in Eugene and have slowly been moving our stuff over there. I have had the keys for two weeks so it is a little frustrating that it is taking so long to move. It is definitely hard to plan moving days when people can help and find a truck to use. I have done a lot of moving by myself so far, but I have had a little help. I love un packing boxes and pulling out all our belongings, knowing that we have a home and Adam will be here very soon to be with me in our home.

A great memory that I have with Griffey was the first day that we got the keys to the apartment two weeks ago on Monday. I just opened the door and walked through it with Griffey with a great sense of calmness, relief, anticipation, and excitement. I showed Griffey all the rooms and told him this was our new home and then we both just laid on the ground of our empty front room together. It sounds so silly that this was a great memory, but with this experience are all the feelings and realizations that this crazy, hard, horrible year are over and Adam and Griffey and I are going to be a complete family again and this is where we are going to make that happen. I think of us laying there together in that big empty apartment and I think about how happy I was to know that Adam and I won't have to be apart much longer and we finally have a place to be a family together.

So right now I am working on moving and setting up the new apartment and I am also finishing up this term at school. I have one 8 page paper left that is due on Thursday and then I am free for Spring Break!

Another thing that I have been focusing a lot of energy on recently is running. My friend, Brittany, and I started running together a few months ago, I think in November, and we are helping each other train for the Eugene Half Marathon. I first got interested in running the Half Marathon through my friend, Laura, who sadly just moved away but will be back to run another half marathon in the fall. Anyway, she has been training for the half marathon and I decided to join her and now Brittany and my mom want to do it too. It is 13.1 miles and it is on my birthday, May 2.

Brittany and I have been slowly increasing our speed and distance thanks to a training schedule we found online and just this morning we completed our longest run yet- 9.5 miles! I am so proud of us! I never in my life thought that I could run that far and by actually doing it, I really feel empowered and like I can do a lot more that I previously thought I could. My goal and hope is to be able to run a full marathon this fall. I would like to do the Portland Marathon. Even though I like to tell myself that I can't do it while I am running, somehow I keep going and it is such an awesome feeling to achieve all these running goals I have been setting.

Brittany and I have been great running partners because we both started at the same place- hardly any running experience and the same kind of mindset about running. We also have a pretty similar pace ( I think she is a little quicker) and we motivate each other because when I don't want to run or I want to quick a run she encourages me and when she wants to quit a run, I encourage her. I am very proud of us! I already know I am going to be really sore tomorrow, but I don't care because it is really fun to tell people that I ran 9.5 miles!

So, to sum it all up: Adam will be home soon, I am in the middle of moving, and I ran really far today.

Pictures of Griffey

2010-03-11T21:07:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Griffey that were taken recently. The first one is of Griffey at my mom's after a bath. He loves taking baths and kicking in the water and sucking on his washcloth. The second picture is of Griffey chewing on a teething ring. He loves chewing on those and he also loves chewing on teething biscuits. I like the third picture because he has a teething biscuit in his mouth and a spare teether on his arm.

He can't have those biscuits anymore because he has eczema so he can't have wheat. Apparently the wheat makes it worse, or something. He also has to have fragrance free shampoo and lotion. He gets pampered here!

He has been rolling over a bunch and babbling a lot. He also has a Jumperoo-one of those bouncing seats that hooks to a doorframe- that he loves sitting in. He doesn't bounce a lot yet, but he swivels around in circles and likes feeling free in it.

Playing Catch Up

2010-02-07T22:39:00.001-08:00

I have been so stressed lately! I can't wait for Adam to come home!

I do really appreciate all the help and support I have been given from family and friends recently. It is hard sometimes because I want to see everyone and I know a lot of people want to see Griffey but I really have no time. I shouldn't even be writing on here right now, but I am in between papers and I needed a break.

The last couple weeks have been really stressful with school and on last Thursday I kind of hit a breaking point.

Sometimes I just get to a point where I feel so behind and I have been neglecting the things that I need to do to keep myself at peace and happy. I had a lot of stuff due this week and a couple midterms so I wasn't able to get a paper done that was due on Thursday and I didn't get to shower for a couple days and I didn't get to run all week and I was sitting in my last class on Thursday and pretty much lost it.

I was sitting there thinking about how far behind I was getting in one of my classes and how frustrating it was that I had been trying to write this paper since last week and I tried all last weekend to write it but Griffey was really needy and it was stressing me out that I didn't get it done, so I just started crying. Nobody saw, I'm pretty sure. I had to get up and leave. I was so, so stressed. So, after class I went up to the teacher to ask her for an extension and instead of calmly explaining why I couldn't get it done, I just started bawling. Not just a few tears, but I just started crying so much I couldn't talk. I might have scared her, but I could tell she understood and she gave me an extension.

After that, I decided that I was going to focus on getting caught up this weekend- getting caught up in that class, getting ahead in the readings for all my classes, getting caught up on sleep, and hopefully getting caught up on cleaning (that one didn't really fit in though).

On Thursday night, I did some homework. Then on Friday, I didn't have class this week and so I had "me day" and I invited Griffey along as long as he was going to be good. We went to the bank and to Ross and to Target and I got a new swimsuit and an armband for my IPod and I just relaxed and did whatever I wanted to. Then, I went to my practicum for 3 hours at Meadowlark Elementary School and played with the kids in the afterschool program, and then I came home and hung out with Griffey.

Friday night, I felt very efficient. Griffey hung out and played on the ground while I did all our bills, did laundry, worked on our photo album online, and ordered Three Forks to go. (It's really delicious). I went to bed a lot less stressed than the night before.

On Saturday, Griffey and I woke up and lounged around for a little bit and then I think Griffey knew I needed to get homework done because he took a really long nap and I did a lot of reading for school and a lot of homework. Then my mom watched him for a little while and I got some more homework done. Then my wonderful friends, Erin and Lucia, offered to watch Griffey for a couple hours while I went to a movie.

Yep, I went to a movie by myself and it was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed! I always kind of felt bad for people that I see going to movies by themselves and I always kind of made fun of them in my head, because who really goes to movies by themselves?? Well, I did and it was so blissful. I got snacks and a drink and went and saw When In Rome all by myself. I was a little self-conscious at first for going alone, but the whole time I was there, I was just thinking about how I needed this so badly. I had "Kelsey time" and it was awesome.

The best part of the night was when I was walking out of the theater and Adam called me. I hadn't really been able to talk to him for a few days (the days when I needed to talk to him the most because of all the stress) and it was so awesome to be able to tell him about my solo date and get comfort from him. (He'll be home in a couple months! Yay!)

I want to thank everyone that offered to watch Griffey this weekend! I really appreciate all my friends and family so much! It feels good to know how much support I really have!)

Anyway, today Griffey and I slept in until 10:30 (I know, I slept through church but, I don't even regret it! I needed to catch up on sleep!) and I did the Truffle Shuffle with my mom and Griffey. Four miles without stopping! After the run, my mom watched Griffey for a long time and I read for school and got a ton of work done.

I finally feel unstressed for the most part and I am ready to get going on this next week. For the most part, I am doing pretty well, but every now and then it all catches up to me. I never thought I would be sitting in a class at school crying because all I want to do is take a shower and get some sleep, but I did and I realized that having Kelsey time is important.

So, I will make sure I shower and sleep and manage my time better and of course, go to a movie by myself every now and then for good measure.

Be Grateful

2010-01-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

With the earthquake in Haiti and the massive need for help in that area, I am reminded of how blessed I am. I am grateful to have running water, clean air to breathe, clothes, the ability to shower and clean my clothes, food, the option to buy whatever food I want, the ability to feed my son, and give him a warm home, the ability to go to school, and so much more.

The people in Haiti don't even have clean water to drink. They are living in a 90+ degree environment that reaks of urine and the deceased. They have no food or shelter and most of their families are dead, injured, or missing. Baby's aren't getting proper nutrition and protection and many will die.

Even when I feel that I am tight on money and can't buy something that I want or need, I know I have people and other options to turn to. The people in Haiti have no one to turn to and are facing a very, very tough road ahead.

I am incredibly lucky to be born into a country and an environment, where I don't need to worry about meeting such basic needs. It is pure luck that I am here and not there and I feel I owe it to my existence and part of all humanity to help the people of Haiti. The tables could so easily be reversed.

What if something happened here and no one understood the state of need we were in? What if my family was dying of starvation, lack of healthcare, and dehydration? It breaks my heart to think about if innocent, sweet, little Griffey couldn't get the food and water he needed to survive. It breaks my heart to think that children are starving while I can go out to the store and buy whatever I want to eat and have money and food to spare.

Although there are many ways I cannot relate to the people of Haiti, I can relate to the fact that we are all brothers and sisters and my brothers and sisters are in need while I have so much more than I need.

Doctors Without Borders

American Red Cross

School's Out!

2009-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Now that I am finally on Winter Break, I have a chance to catch up on what we have been up to. I just finished fall term with only 12 credits and it was definitely hard to squeeze in enough time to study and get homework done. Luckily, my mom was able to watch Griffey most of the time when I was in class and my dad and Lisa helped out a bunch too.

Next term will definitely be a lot tougher because I am taking 16 credits, doing a practicum (observing in a classroom), and tutoring at a middle school. Also, I have to take classes earlier in the day and haven't quite figured out what I am going to do with Griffey. I am starting to get a little worried about how busy and stressful next term will be, but for right now I am just going to enjoy my winter break!

Although this Christmas is going to be a bit different, I am still excited to do all the traditional holiday things, especially for Griffey's sake. We went and saw Santa at the mall and Griffey has been dressing up festively.

I also had a Christmas party to try to get in the Holiday spirit. I had a lot of fun decorating for it. I used four rolls of white streamers and lots of white balloons to make it a winter wonderland. I even had crafts set up for the kids. Everyone brought really good food too. It was pretty fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. I get really nervous when I am in charge of something like a party because I really want everyone to enjoy it. That's partly why I had a party-to face my fears! I forgot to take pictures until the very end, so I only have a couple and some people had already left. Oh, and we didn't let the boys in the pictures! haha

Hopefully Adam will be able to enjoy his Christmas even though he isn't where he wants to be. I sent him a couple packages and I know some other people did too. We are very grateful for our family and friends and the support they have been giving us, especially Adam, throughout this year and this holiday season. I bet it is so hard for Adam being so far away from family and friends, especially this time of year, and I have so much admiration and respect for him because he is being so brave and strong through all of this.

Happy Veteran's Day

2009-11-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Veteran's Day! I am so thankful and proud of all the veterans, especially my husband, for serving so selflessly for all of us. I love you Adam and I am very grateful that you are my husband and the role model and father of our child.

Christmas For Adam

2009-11-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

For anyone wanting to send Adam a Christmas present or card, you should know that it takes a few weeks for the mail to get to him so you should start thinking about it soon.

I know he would appreciate just a simple card or letter telling about what you have been up to. He would appreciate hearing happy stories from family and friends.

If you are wanting to send a package, you can get a flat-rate box from the post office for pretty cheap and fill it with goodies that would remind him of home.

You can just do an internet search on what soldiers like to receive or email him and ask him. He likes movies, music, snacks, puzzle books, and things to remind him of home. He loves Big League Chew and other bubble gum.

Let me know if you need help figuring out what to do for him and really, just a simple card or letter would make him very happy!

Halloween!

2009-11-07T23:22:00.001-08:00

This Halloween, Griffey was fortunate enough to participate in many photo shoots! We love taking pictures of him and I think he is starting to understand that he is going to have to endure many photo sessions in his life, so he puts up with us and the camera.

We can already tell that Griffey loves candy just like me!
He was in shock with all his choices laying right out in front of him!

Griffey dressed up as a sock monkey for Halloween. He loves sock monkeys. My mom made him one that lays in his crib with him. Griffey hasn't named it yet. Here he is with his sock monkey friend and the socktapus.

He loves his friend.

No Griffey! We had to teach him that it is not okay to eat one of your own!

Griffey was dressed up for Halloween and I was dressed up for the USC-Duck game. We won of course!

Makenna, Griffey, my mom, and I went to Deterings Orchard out near Coburg a few days before Halloween for Griffey's photo shoot and fresh apple cider. It was so good!

We brought this carved-out pumpkin with us. I think after all the pumpkin posing and the fact that he had to sit in the pumpkin on a couple different occasions, we may have ruined the fun of pumpkins for him. Hopefully he isn't too scarred!

This is when we knew it was time to go!

Makenna did the hay maze. I think her height may have been a slight advantage!

Griffey loves Pumpkins!

This Halloween wasn't very eventful because Adam wasn't here and it's just not the same without him, but it was still very fun to introduce Griffey to all the traditions of Halloween. He was too young to trick-or-treat, so we dressed him up and took pictures and then he hung out with Grandma while I was at the Duck game.

I am excited for next year because Griffey will be older and walking and although he won't understand Halloween or the concept of trick-or-treating, he still will be able to score us candy!

Germs

2009-10-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

Griffey-one day old.

Sometimes I worry too much what other people think. Actually, too often I worry what other people think. I don't worry so much about what people think about me, but I worry about if people are happy and what role I am playing their happiness.

I am not the type of person to say I don't want something in order to be polite, even though I am a really dying to have it. You know? Like saying "oh no, that's okay, you have it..." when you really want it. Just say you want it. I feel like that leads to weird, unecessary resentment of silly little things. So, I feel like I do a good job of speaking my mind and standing up for what I feel is important. I don't understand the point of being passive aggressive.

With that said, I still worry to much about hurting other people's feelings. I know it is good to worry about others because it motivates you to help them, but I think too much about it. I am glad that Adam is my husband and that I can run my feelings in this realm across him because he gives me a great perspective.

I don't know if it is because he is a boy or because he is Adam, but usually when I tell him all that I am thinking about something and how I don't know if I should do this or say this because someone else might think this or do this...he always tells me to not worry about it. He says that their own feelings are on them and I am wasting my energy worrying about what they might get out of what I say or do.

It is nice being married to him, because he helps pull me back to that place when I get too caught up.

Since I have become a mom and the spokesperson for my little man, I have had to put his needs ahead of everything else. His health, happiness, and wellbeing take top priority, especially over my overworrying about what people will think.

Because of this, I have come to the conclusion that it may sound rude to ask people to act a certain way around Griffey or do things a certain way because of Griffey, but I don't care anymore. My top priority is Griffey and I hope people can see where I am coming from.

The reason I am stuck on this is because I felt rude asking people, especially adults, to wash their hands before touching Griffey. It seems weird to check up on another adult's hygeine, but it is necessary and so I will stop worrying.

I don't want Griffey to get sick, especially if it is preventable. I don't want Griffey to get sick more than I don't want to hurt other people's feelings.

Please wash your hands. Especially after going to the bathroom- that is just gross. Please cover your mouth when you cough and stay home if you are sick. Please understand how scary it is to have a newborn in this germy world, especially during flu season.

How do I politely ask someone older than me who thinks they know better than me, to wash their hands or stay far from Griffey. How do I approach other parents about telling their kids to wash their hands before touching Griffey?