yum

Last saturday, Christie, Ana and I took Gretchen out for some ice cream for her belated birthday. I figured we may as well extend her birthday celebration for as long as possible!
I almost ordered a boring apple pie, but everyone seemed so disappointed in my safe choice. So, I decided to walk on the wild side and asked the waiter what the most flavorful yummy item on the menu was(I have a habit of asking obnoxious questions like this at new restaurants). The waiter kind of chuckled and the girls were probably shrinking in their seats like they didn't know me. But, it paid off and I did get the yummiest dessert ever. I forget the name of it, but I'm pretty sure it's the one in front here. I know it's cruel to show pictures of such yummy goodness, but I couldn't resist. I'm starting to sound like Lorie with all my "yummy goodness" talk. Speaking of Lorie, she was supposed to join us, but got the flu and had to stay home. Sorry Lor, we missed you! Here is some virtual cyberspace ice cream for you.

We had the nicest time ever and I learned all sorts of interesting facts about Christie and had fun getting to know Ana(on the left) better.

my name sake

A few years back I sat in a local steak house with our good friends Alisa and Dave. We had all recently migrated here and had a history that dated back to the summer we worked at Hume. When I first met Alisa, I was totally intimated by her cool, quiet, mysterious beauty. For some reason, I was determined to be her friend. At first she kind of looked at me with a puzzled expression, but she finally got used to me and it wasn't long before we were best of friends. We were soo opposite--she liked it freezing cold and I liked it lukewarm. She woke up early, I slept in. Her side of the dorm was neat and clean, my side was a mess. However, she eventually trained me to make my bed every morning.

After the amazing summer of Hume, we went home to our seperate ways. I married John, she married Dave...she got pregnant on her honeymoon and had a darling boy named Caleb. We eventually moved here togther and hung out all the time.

So there we were, sitting at the steak house. I felt a flutter of excitement, because I recently found out I was pregnant with Finn. Other than my immediate family, NO ONE knew. I wasn't planning on telling anyone for a while. I presumed everyone was as secretive as I was. So as we were leaving, you can imagine my surprise when Alisa tells Dave in an antsy voice that she needed to stop at the store for a pregnancy test.

Dave: "Like right now?"
Alisa: "Yes, right now. I cannot wait a minute longer."
Me: "hjdfxhjakfhdjksafhjld?????"
Dave: "Fine, but don't pee on the stick in the store."

The next day she came over and told me she was pregnant. I was thrilled and couldn't keep my secret any longer...I spilled the beans and we rejoiced together. There is NOTHING like being pregnant with someone you love.

A few weeks later she thought she was miscarrying, but to her surprise, she found out she was going to have twins...a boy and a girl.

For months we happily tossed around names together and her hubby kept saying he wanted to name his girl "Davi". I was like "yah, right" since I was the only Davi I knew.

Finn came 3 weeks early and we were shocked and excited that we had a boy. I instantly named him Finnley Neil, without hesitation. We were going to call him Finn.

One week later, Alisa's twins were born. There was a lot of hesitation in naming them, and in the end it was Ethan Gray and Paige Davi. Somehow, my name snuck in there! Dave wanted to name her Davi, but they thought it would be confusing since we were such close friends.

Finn hung out with Paige and Ethan all the time. I loved going over there and I loved Paige. After all, she had my name as her middle name. Therefore, she could do no wrong in my eyes.

10 months ago they moved to a different town to help out with her family.

And yesterday, I got a surprise call from Alisa. They were in town, and wanted to visit.

Sure! I hadn't seen the kids in ages.

When Paige waltzed through the door, my heart melted. She hugged me and flashed me her dazzling blue eyes. We had a wonderful visit. Paige is a charming little thing. Her mommy says she's wild and bounces on her ball all day long and doesn't care much for numbers and letters. People always tell her she's beautiful and she bats her eyelashes and says "yes, I am". Which drives her mommy CRAZY! And when her brothers all got the flu, she danced and twirled around them saying "you're all sick, but not mee-eee. I'm not gonna get sick". And she didn't.

Paige happily let me follow her around taking pictures. I love this girl, my name sake!

p.s. it's also my 100th post

our funny clothes

I was walking down the street with my boys when we came upon a brickel bush(actually a tumble weed, but the boys call it a brickel bush, from a Dr. Suess book). I was going to take a picture of this brickel bush with the boys, when I noticed Finn wearing my LEAST favorite play shirt ever. This shirt is an unsightly blue and yellow striped collared shirt. Here are some additional reasons I don't like it:

1. Collared shirts just don't seem like play clothes. He may as well wear a suit and tie out to play. My idea of a play shirt is a ringer tee, which Finn has plenty of. However, he always gravitates toward his 3 old collared shirts instead.
2. The collars are so big, Finn drowns under them.
3. He pairs them with clashing shorts, colored socks and brown loafers.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. I took 2 of the worst offenders, and hid them in a bag on the washing machine, headed for the trash. Then I started to feel a bit guilty. What if he asked for them? And how would I feel if someone threw away my favorite over-sized black fleece maternity shirt? My sister gave it to me years ago when I was pregnant with Finn and is going to be mortified when she reads that I still wear it, especially since I'm not pregnant. However, it's the first thing I grab when I'm cold and nothing else will do. I should retire it, because it looks so unflattering and frumpy on me. I usually can't wear fleece at all because it makes my fingers want to gag, but this fleece does not bother me at all. It's magic fleece.

Speaking of fleece, John has a pair of ugly black fleece pants he wears once in a while, only when it's really cold. I should throw out those pants too.

And since I'm telling you all the funny-looking things we wear, check out Calvin's "ketchup and mun-stard" pj's:

I am well aware that Calvin is too old to wear a onesie. However, we all get such a good laugh whenever he wears this.

And you should hear people gasp in horror when they see Ollie in this body suit. They cannot believe my baby would wear such a silly contraption. Honestly, he only sleeps in these things when it's cold.

So, I decided to take a picture of Finn in his striped shirt with the Brickel bush after all. I'm trying to be a good blog reporter.

Here is a red collared play shirt that I actually don't mind, because the collar is smaller and has a snug fit. I have nothing against collared shirts, as long as they are small and don't overwhelm the frame.

Notice Euro-Finn is wearing dark socks with loafers? John and I crack up when Finn wears these with shorts, because he looks European. I'm pretty sure Europeans don't wear white socks, though I could be wrong.

let's go fly a kite

That was one long, exhausting week. By friday night, I was completely glazed over. So when John walked in the door with Chinese food, he was my hero. He also came home bearing gifts for the boys--bubbles, sidewalk chalk and their very first kite. John is our fun around here. We spent a lot of time outside learning to fly the kite. It was the perfect way to end a taxing week.

I had my first little heartbreak as a mom this week when a 5-year-old boy(who has older siblings) referred to Finn and Calvin as "babies".

Who you calling a baby??

It was so sad, and it forced me to realize that Finn is NOT 2 anymore and so I've had to re-think a lot of our ways. Like Finn carrying his sippy cup everywhere. I think it's time for a thermos/water bottle. And time to drink from a real cup at the kitchen table. And no more straps on the back of his flip-flops.

I'm sure there are many changes to come in the next few months. In the meanwhile, Finn is as happy and as carefree as can be...dancing up a storm tonight for some reason. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I am sooo using this footage as amo when he gets older.

Calvin seems to be entering his "terrible twos" finally. Such opinions lately. And fighting and tears. Poor thing is at odds with both Finn and Ollie at times.

Since Finn is a couple years older than Ollie, they get along SWELL. Finn is not threatened at all by him. Baby-talking to him and hugging him all the time. It's actually very sweet, considering when we first brought Calvin home from the hospital he suggested "throwing him in the trash":(

Ollie has been much more cheerful lately and is back to sleeping through the night(please no more teeth for now! ) He's around 10 months old and constantly cranes his neck to see what Finn and Calvin are doing--he perks right up when he's right in the thick of things.

Regardless of our ups and downs this week, we had a relaxing weekend playing outside. Hopefully it's enough to tide us over for this coming week!

Calvin and Lady(Grandma Betty's dog)

drum break

Two separate times this week, the boys took a little break from their beloved drum sets to play their guitars together. The first time, they were kicked back in the family room, playing along with the music to one of their favorite TV shows.

Then just today, I walked into the living room and saw them standing up on the trunk/stage. The spotlight on the piano was shining on them and they were ready to go. When I informed them that it was Miss Gretchen's birthday yesterday, they decided to seranade her...and Mike. Apparently it's your birthday again Mike--how time flies, eh? And sorry this is late Gretch! We love you!

Lazy Deck Days

Almost 6 years ago, we moved from a small apartment into our present home. We were sooo excited. Our apartment always had this gigantic puddle before the front door and I was so happy not to hop over it anymore. And John was thrilled that we had our own washer and dryer. We were so ecstatic, that we did not even seem to notice that our backyard was just one huge dirt bowl.
But as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years, I'm sure our neighbors took notice---they must have been less-than-thrilled about our dust blowing into their backyards. And then the weeds came. Oh my goodness. They were as tall as John's shoulders every spring. We thought long and hard what to do, but nothing really seemed feasible. No time, no money. However, John could not bear to pull weeds for much longer. As we sat in our dirt/weed concoction one evening, I thought about our lazy vacations to Hume Lake and how nice it was lounging on Grandma's deck--everyone fighting over who got to nap on the oversized cushioned chaise lounge. I felt very inspired by those lazy days spent on Grandma's deck. But, I realized it was going to take a miracle to make anything happen in my desert backyard that I lovingly refered to as "Gahena". However, my dad is very handy and came to our rescue. To him, nothing seemed impossible. "Whatever you want, Davi" he would always say.

John and dad started working on the deck in the Spring of '05. I was pregnant wtih Calvin at the time and as they worked, I happily envisioned feeding my new baby on the deck with Finn playing in the yard. It was quite the labor of love, as dad snuck away for many weekends, sometimes working in 90 and 100+ degree heat. Here are some photos of the various stages.

My original plans for the deck had more of a cottage feel, but dad decided it was going to be more barn-ish due to it's boxy nature. Whatever dad does, I always end up liking way better though! When we first got our new wood, I remember saying that I wanted it to look old & distressed--dad told me to set the wood in a field for cows to pee on:) We stained it greyish and white instead:

And the weeds still plauged us till last spring, when we finally put grass in. It was one of the most exciting days of my life. Now I could finally sit in my backyard.



And this deck has inspired great laziness indeed. Ellie and Lorie came over last week and we were supposed to take a walk. Instead, we lounged around on the deck in our pj's and polished off a whole plate of cookies instead.

It seems every time I come outside to play with the boys, I get sucked onto this couch...a cool breeze with the sun warming me up. I can't move one inch. The boys run and play and their laughter fills the air. They pick me flowers off the neighbors fence because we don't have any flowers of our own yet.

And I will never, ever, ever take grass for granted again. After having dirt for 5 years, this green stuff will always be special to me.

Gretch and I, hanging out with the babies

Ollie and Lijah playing in the grass

Mike jugging

Special thanks to dad and John for all their hard work. I LOVE playing in my backyard!!

Time for TUBBY BYE-BYE

Baby Bear

As you already know, it's all about the stuffed kitties around here. Occasionally another stuffed animal will resurface for a day or two, but then it's back to kitties 24/7. A few days ago, baby bear came out of retirement and had his day in the sun. Finn took him for quite the spin on his big wheel.

When I put Calvin down for his nap, Finn busied himself for quite some time, fashioning baby bear a nice comfy bed. He made him a little alarm clock made of blocks, with strict orders to wake up in 40 minutes.

Later on, baby bear became quite ill, and Finn proceeded to re-enact our entire puking episode. Finn verbalized baby bear's condition in great detail, giving me minute-by-minute plays. He told me in a very excited, fast voice "Good news mommy! I called the doctor's office to stay open... and then we went in...and came home and got the bowl..." Finn was an extremely vigilant nurse and baby bear received the finest of care.