More Fun Firsts

We have taken Kendry to a few “first” experiences over the last few weeks:

{First Parade}
Farmer-Consumer Days is an event held in early September in the small farming community of Quincy, WA, where Justin grew up and where my in-laws still reside. Attending the parade on Saturday was actually a first for me too. There were vintage tractors, floats, farm implements, classic cars, dancing horses, the entire high school cheerleading team riding John Deere lawn tractors (I told you this was a farming town), and LOTS of candy. Kendry didn’t care for the loud horns and sirens.He did like the candy.
Even amidst all the activity, Cousin Ava was ready for a nap.


{First Football Game}
No fall season is complete without taking in a hometown football game. Two weeks ago we cheered on Clarkston High School in their game against Moscow. Kendry was even decked out in his Clarkston Bantams t-shirt, which I found at a yard sale this summer. GO BANTAMS! In true toddler fashion, Kendry was more content climbing the bleachers than watching the game, but he behaved incredibly well. And every time the announcer said “First down!” Kendry would shout “Touchdown!” with both arms raised. Its probably a bit early to explain the difference to a 16 month old, but you know his daddy won’t postpone that lesson for long.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Please allow me to flash my pearly-whites at you while I gloat: I had my 6 month dental check up yesterday and got my first “no cavity” report in two years! Yes, I am simply THAT good at dental hygiene. Or at least I have been that good for the last 6 months.

2. I have become one serious coupon-clipping mama! But the details on that endeavor deserve a separate post, so stay tuned.

3. Kendry’s greatest new word this week, and probably his longest word yet: cucumber.

4. Kendry’s new sign this week: “help me please”. If you only knew how amazingly frustrated my kiddo gets with the simplest task you would understand why I am so excited about the addition of “help me please” to his sign language vocabulary.

5. Disney Movie Trivia: " 'Tis time you knew the truth, lassie. It shouldn't have happened to a dog, but... well, Trusty has lost his sense of smell."

6. T minus four days until the big half-marathon in Leavenworth!

7. My kiddo currently has a fascination with grown-up shoes:


8. The housepainting project we began in May is finally coming to a close...four months later. It looks soooo beautiful! Pictures to come VERY SOON!

9. Kendry helped me prepare dinner the other night - an occasion that most certainly called for his adorable little apron. For Justin's first Father's Day in 2009 I made my boys matching aprons.

Obviously the apron fits Kendry a little better these days.

10. This Week’s Blessing: My hubby being an incredible motivator for my last few training runs - actually, for even more runs than that, but who is keeping track? If I try to sleep in and skip a run in the morning, he is right there pushing me out of bed and out the door. I love you, babe!

The Laws of Working Moms

A girlfriend of mine shared this with me shortly after I returned to work last fall.

We've all heard about Murphy's Law (whatever can go wrong, will). And the Law of Averages (everything evens out in the end). And Newton's Third Law of Motion (every action has an equal and opposite reaction).

Well, The Laws of Working Moms incorporate a little bit of each -- and then some. To wit:

1.) If you have an early meeting, or if the children need to be at school early for a field trip or other event, someone will be up at least twice during the night -- which means you will be, too.

2.) The toddler will sneeze mightily in your face the day before he comes down with a ferocious cold.

3.) Your kids' school or daycare will shut down due to Swine Flu the week after your kids have been out sick with a cold. (Corollary: Your kids will not have the H1N1/Swine Flu virus.)

4.) You will spill coffee (hot or cold, doesn't matter) on yourself if, and only if, you wear a freshly pressed white blouse to the office.

5.) If you are the working mom of an infant, you will discover a cascade of dried spit-up on the back of your jacket, but only after you've worn it for at least two hours (or to at least one meeting). [This one has happened to me more times than I can count]

6.) Any electronic device that's absolutely necessary to your sanity will be a.) missing or b.) out of batteries when you most need it.

7.) If you carry a purse, you will always have some sort of kid-type food in it, which you will discover when you are looking for something, like your ID. What you will not have in it is whatever you were actually looking for, like your ID.

8.) You will slave over an amazing meal that the kids won't touch, and you will throw together a last-minute "gotta get them fed" meal that they devour.

9.) Your kid will have severe Mama Drama on the mornings when you most need to be at work by a certain time. (Corrollary: You will be late on those days.)

10.) You will go to work more than once with a sticky, kid-applied kiss on your cheek -- and you deliberately won't wash it off.

Ten on Tuesday

1. This Week's Blessing: our church celebrated its centennial over the weekend. What an amazing legacy of faith!

2. This Day's Blessing: my hubby left a beautiful yellow rose in my car for me to find when I left for work. I love that man!

3. Am I the only person who does not run with their iPod held in their hand? This would drive me crazy:
I have an arm strap I use to keep my iPod (and headphone cord) out of my way, yet still easily accessible. And don't even get me started on you "I run with my iPhone because it has my music on it" people. If you are running with a phone at all, you aren't a real runner.

(Please note that this is not an attack on Kate Gosselin whom, despite public opinion, I actually like. Her Type A personality reminds me a lot of my own. Her photo was simply the one that got me curious about other people's iPod habits.)

4. Its only been four days since I got my hair cut and I'm already thinking that bangs were a huge mistake.

5. Strangely enough, I also told myself four years ago: "Self, never go through the hassle that is bangs EVER AGAIN!"

Self is obviously a slow learner who suffers from memory loss.

6. Our internet/phone debacle is still ongoing. In all honesty, it hasn't bothered me nearly as much as I thought it would, but the hubby was a nervous wreck when he had no way to manage his Fantasy Football team on Sunday morning.

7. Disney Movie Trivia: "He can call me a flower if he wants to; I don't mind."

(last week's winner: Stephanie)

8. My kiddo is still the daycare biter. He will go a few days without incident, but then he will have a relapse day and bite two kiddos in the span of a few hours. This morning at daycare I ran into the mother of Kendry's main victim, a little girl 9 months older than Kendry. We shared a chuckle or two with our provider about the biting and the other mother complimented on what a friendly kiddo Kendry is.

After I left I had to wonder about the proper etiquette for your kiddo's knack for biting another person's child. Should I have apologized? I just don't know.

9. Habitual biting aside, how cute is this photo of my little man? His Auntie Andrea snapped this one last week.

10. And today I will leave you with one of my favorite fall treats. Some call it Russian Tea. I call mine Kia's Spice Tea because I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Kia.

2 C Tang

1/2 C instant tea

1 1/2 C sugar

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground cloves

1 package lemonade mix

Directions: Mix all ingredients together. Add 2-3 T to hot water. Then curl up on the couch with your favorite fall movie and enjoy!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

Ten on Tuesday

DISCLAIMER: Due to technical difficulties, this week's post will not contain any photos/video. In the process of switching our phone service to Vonage this last week our internet was inexplicably disconnected. And since we cannot set up our Vonage until we have an internet connection, we are without phone service as well.

1. No internet and no phone!? It sounds prehistoric, right? But its actually more peaceful than you might imagine.

2. This Week's Blessing: a STELLAR report with our fertility clinic on Friday! Praise the Lord!

3. I should never let my husband drive in Seattle traffic again.

4. Disney Movie Trivia: "A fine conscience I turned out to be!"

5. The Seahawks won their first regular season game against San Francisco this last Sunday, and our kiddo can now yell "Touchdown!" with his hands raised in the air.

6. If this season is anything like the last few seasons for Seattle, Kendry will forget how to do this touchdown celebration by November.

7. I'm a little embarrassed about my lack of blog posts outside of the weekly TOT, but my half-marathon training is taking up a lot of my spare time these days. Only 17 more days until the big race.

8. I am in love with this t-shirt available at Cafe Press:

9. Since I'm running about 20 miles a week right now I have taken many liberties with regard to junk food - and by 'liberties' I mean four Krispy Kreme donuts in a three day period.

10. Okay, I lied in the disclaimer above. I was, in fact, able to round up a recent video of Kendry. (My apologies to my FB friends who have already seen it.) Kendry has started to identify body parts like his ears, toes and nose - but its his belly he is most proud of.

SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY!

Ten on Tuesday

1. This Week's Blessing: Justin fixed my leaky kitchen sink and pipes! I love my handyman hubby!

2. Less then 4 weeks until the half-marathon! As excited as I am to achieve this goal, its quite possible I am even more excited for my workout-free month which begins the second I cross that finish line on October 2nd.

3. I am LOVING The Pioneer Woman!! I made her Monkey Muffins for my boys over Labor Day weekend. Yummers!

4. And as a follow up to #3, I just might be rekindling my relationship with real butter.

5. How old are we when standing in this position finally becomes uncomfortable?

Kendry could stand like this for hours.

6. Disney Movie Trivia: "Oi! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!"

7. I started working on Kendry's trick-or-treat bag over the long weekend and I love how its turning out:

Each year we will add another photo of Kendry in his costume, so I have left space to iron on those photos. I am also going to stitch some fabric/ribbon on the straps - I'm thinking a candy corn pattern would be the perfect touch.

8. Upon inspecting Kendry's trick-or-treat bag, Justin commented: "You're going to be one of those moms that embarrasses him in junior high, aren't you?" Which made me visualize a day in the not so distant future, when Kendry announces to me that his adorable trick-or-treat bag is no longer cool.

Sniff, sniff. I will not cry.

Why do kids have to grow up anyway?

9. And speaking of Halloween, I have delegated Justin to make a light saber for Kendry's costume. Stay tuned for the hubby's progress on that one.

10. Your prayers are greatly appreciated as we head to Seattle for our yearly work-up with our fertility clinic this coming Friday. We are praying that everything will look great and they will okay us to try another IVF cycle in the next year - once we are financially able to do so.