Happy Birthday, Emma & Chase

The girls really understand this birthday party thing now. When I told them that Emma and Chase, good playmate friends of theirs, were having a birthday party this week, they spent the rest of the day talking about birthday cake and ice cream. The next day, they sung the "happy birthday" song to them 8-different ways (sometimes to Emma & Chase, others to Chase & Emma, a couple just to Emma, etc., etc.). Then, they had to decide which dress to wear and took turns guarding the birthday presents (placed way out of reach on the mantle). How excited they were to jump out of the car, after seeing the balloons on Chase & Emma's house, and bring their presents to the front door. They have also learned to ring the doorbell and proceeded to ring it repeatedly until Mommy could catch up with them and usher them past the sign that said, "Door open, come on in!"
They get it: amid all the chaos of tons of toddlers (some pairs of twins and a set of triplet boys) climbing slides, pushing carts and strollers, going in and out of play houses and whining to parents about scratches, they question when is it time for cake? Is it time yet for ice cream? When the singing starts, they know just where to jump in and belt out their song enthusiastically. Four days later, they are still talking about the party and wondering when it's their turn for a party again. No wonder birthdays seem to come every 4-years when you're a kid!

Nice Day For Ducks

San Francisco is notorious for having cold, yucky weather in the summertime. Granted it wasn't raining, but it still made a nice day for ducks: cool, foggy, and our household had 3-loaves of leftover heels perfect for bringing to Stow Lake. The girls enjoyed watching the ducks and geese vie for their attention (and bread) and learned how to throw the bread crumbs into the water so their feathered friends could eat.

Change Orders

There's the Original Contract (the dinghy) and then the Change Order (the big yacht/speedboat).

Do you think that home improvement dreams can way out of control.... I girlfriend of mine sent me this photo to poke fun at Paul, who insists that without change orders, the construction industry just couldn't make any money.

You never realize how big the Change Order is while living in the dinghy until the two are side-by-side!

Jon's Deployment - A Traveling Soldier

Jon's been sending some photos home of where he's been since he was deployed 6-weeks ago. It seems that getting there really is half the fun!

He had a stop in France, Spain, Greece, Djibouti and Oman before he came to his "home" in Bahrain. There were some nice photos of Greece and it looks as if he spent some time in an Irish pub in Spain (weird). Djibouti looked very 3rd world and poor. The picture I've posted is of him in Omar. There are very few photos he can share online of the base/s, but promises that the curious can see the hard copies when he gets back. I guess with the internet, the photos could get in the wrong hands quite seemlessly.

He's got 7-more weeks left of his deployment and I'm looking forward to hearing more about his trip. Jon was really nice and sent us an email after hearing of Nonno's passing. Thanks, Jon!

Nonno Can Hear Us Singing Now

Along with the whole "twin speak" thing, my girls have created a few of their own rituals. Last winter, I realized that Ava kept singing the same tune with non-sense words. Pretty soon, Bettina caught on and then they both would sing this made up tune with made up words (since their vocabulary was quite small then, it made sense they just created these words). It seemed a lullaby of sorts that, typically, Ava would sing to her "Ee-aw", her favorite donkey-shaped lovie.

It was only natural that I'd want to participate in and recognize their unspoken world, so, soon, I also would start singing the song and learned to articulate their made up words as well as they did. They seemed pleased that I wanted to sing their song too, and allowed me sing with them about things that they valued: beloved Ee-aw and cherished Moo (Bettina's cow-shaped lovie).

Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank),
Ah-la-lo-le (fill in the blank).

That ritual morphed into an evening quiet-time song that marked the transition from bath/pajama time to bed time - a time when we would recount all that we'd done and all we'd seen during the day and acknowledge the blessings of having seen or done them:

Ah-la-lo-le swimming,
Ah-la-lo-le Daddy,
Ah-la-lo-le Ee-Aw,
Ah-la-lo-le Moo.

One by one, we'd recount all the loved things/ones and Mommy would pause between each stanza waiting for one of the girls to think of something/one for which to be thankful.

This week, we lost Daddy's daddy, Nonno, to cancer. We'd sung to Nonno in the past, almost nightly, but Tuesday night, I told the kids that this time, Nonno (who's been hard of hearing for a long time) could hear us singing; he was listening to us from heaven and for the first time, he could hear our nightly ritual and was smiling as he heard his name.

The girls did pretty well during the rosary and funeral, which were both, according the Italian Catholic tradition, open casket. During the rosary service, Ava walked over to him, climbed up on the kneeling chair and pointed to Nonno saying, "Nonno's sleeping in the bed." "Does he look cozy?" I asked. "Uh-huh,' she answered. Tina, clearly interested now, came over too. "Night, night, Nonno," she added and instantly started singing the Ah-la song: "Ah-la-lo-le Nonno...." I motioned to Paul who I think caught his breath and teared up as he looked lovingly to his little girls.

Night, night, Nonno. Love and memories last forever; we love you and will keep you in our memories.

We are Family

Last week, we traveled to our annual Family Reunion. We're a big and loyal group, clearing our calendars well in advance so that the 50+ of us can get together for a week's worth of activities.

On our way up, we stopped in Ashland to visit long-time friend Kathy. We've been friends with her whole family in fact for 20+ years. We caravaned up with Ains and Patrick and met the rest of Kathy's family for dinner at her house. Her brother Jim also has twins - boys Zach and Henry who are 4 years old. Her other brother John also has 2 little ones, so the girls had a blast running around the back yard with all the "older" kids. It was so much fun to see them blend into all the activity, and a special treat with the 7-hour car trip behind them!

We spent all night eating, drinking and catching up -- it's both Kathy and my 20th high school reunion this year, so we ended up looking through old yearbooks and talking about the impending activities. The next morning, a little groggy, while we were packing up to get back on the road, the girls gave us a little surprise. Needless to say, Kathy now refers to them as her little Picassos. They had somehow got a hold of Kathy's office supplies (she works from home) and colored the walls, the mattress, pillow and comforter with their highlighter and dry-erase marker.... any ideas how to get that out?? We did get it off the walls, but worry that the expensive trip to the dry cleaners won't get it all out.... shucks and very embarrassing!!!

At the reunion, we had lots of fun. Even though we've been to Sunriver 8+ times, it seems there's things that we still haven't done. This year, we added a softball game (organized by 10-year old cousin MacKenzie), a trip to the observatory (really great, btw), the hayride (nice for little ones and great for spotting deer), the concerts on the fairway, and for the first time, we didn't have time to shop at the mall or nearby Bend. The girls' naps do seem to chop the day in the useless brackets of time. Also, we ended up celebrating some great impromptu events: Jessica's baptism (in the hot tub by Uncle Gary, the preacher), Jack & Peg's 40th wedding anniversary and a surprise baby shower for Ains and Patrick.

Paul and I really enjoyed spending such a great amount of time together and with family. It was a fun-filled week and we were sad to go back home to "reality." To see the whole week's activities, click here.

Generations

Bettina poses with my Grandma - the oldest and the youngest (separated by 86 years) at the annual family reunion.

Every year we have a family reunion. We're in Sunriver this year - a tradition we'll likely continue for a number of years as there is no elevation issue for our aging grandmother and it's an easy drive for her as well.

The girls are having a ball with all the activity: second cousins, aged 15 to 6, rally around them and escort them from house to house. It actually makes life easier for me having so many pairs of eyes - most with far more energy than me - herding and entertaining the girls.

This year is the last year that Bettina will be the youngest to pose with Grandma, the oldest. Next year, Ainsley's little boy Braxton will take her spot and the generations continue.

You Are the Mother of a Devil-Child!

I put my kids down for a nap at Grandma's house.... Grandma agrees to watch them while I run a quick errand; "Be back in half-an-hour," I call behind me....

I get back and Tina, not surprisingly, is not asleep and chatting away in the other room. As I enter the front door, my mother tells me, "You are the mother of a devil-child." Oh, no... what's she done now?

Not only has she figured out how to disrobe and take off her diaper (we knew that part already), she's also found out how to unzip the crib-tents that are suppossed to keep her from climbing out and creating additional mischief. Appartently, when my mother found her, she had tried to release her sister (she got Ava's tent unzipped - she just wouldn't climb out like Tina does) and was sitting on the floor playing with the electric fan -- plugging it in to and out of the wall. Tina looked a Grandma, peed on the floor and ran out the open door, giggling. The devil child for sure!

"How long since you put her back in?" "Five-minutes." "Well, you know she's got to be out again." Crash!! I go in this time. Tina's out, diaper-less again. Her smile turns to a solemn face as she sees me over the electric fan she's tipped over onto the floor. Wordlessly, I put her back in, strap on another diaper and look for a safety pin and lock the zipper closed. "That will do it," I think.

Ten-minutes later, more footsteps can be heard in the room.... "Couldn't be Ava," I think. I open the door -- it's Tina again. She's found a hole between tie-downs and has somehow squeezed through them.

Nap-time isn't working today. So, we go outside to express some of this creative energy in another way. You think we got that accomplished??

Jon Leaves for His Deployment

My cousin, Jon, left for Iraq this weekend. He flies a C-2 (nicknamed the "Greyhound") airplane for the Navy. He will, fortunatley, have shorter deployments and will live off the ship, but still within what is considered a war zone. We're still hoping he will come home when scheduled so he can see the birth of his second child, a son this time. Above, Jon stands with his wife (far right and preggo) and daughter, the curly strawberry blonde directly under him in the wagon.

We saw his mother (my Aunt) Saturday, and she told us that he's outfitted his house, his mom's house and the laptop he will take to war with him with webcams and everything they would need to communicate with each other and see them as often as possible. She also said that his aircraft also has some communication systems that will allow extra opportunities to chat, gratis. I hope to keep in touch via email to hear about his adventures and views about life abroad and at war.

His wife sent this email out to friends and family:
"At least he has started his 2.5 month Detachment/deployment and now it's just a matter of time before it's OVER! I took him to base this morning at 5:30. Ella in her pjs and Rudder excited to go for a ride in the car but concerned because Daddy had suitcases and he knows what those mean.

He should be on the ship as I write this, where he will stay for 3 days. Not sure what time his plane left but the carrier was a 2-3 hour flight off the coast. I'm not expecting to hear from him until Monday or Tuesday when they get to Roda, Spain. The rest of July he will be traveling the Med. in places like Roda, Sicily, Italy, and Souda Bay, Greece.......yeah, google that one......
Also recently and "possibly" thrown into the mix is Cairo, Egypt. During the first couple days of Aug. they will arrive in Bahrain where he will stay until October 1st when his current orders say he'll be returning to me! As Jon's job does not usually require him to fly missions that put him the middle of warfare, his job flying much needed cargo (such as parts for other air crafts, and other equipment that breaks) as well as high ranking dignitaries of military branches around the world, he certainly doesn't leave him out of harms way all together. Not to mention Bahrain is considered a war zone and he will be living there for 2 months. With that said I ask you to please keep him along with the other 5 COD pilots and their 35 or so crew in your thoughts and prayers.

His leaving hit me a little harder today than I thought it would. I'm used to him working all the time and being gone on weekends but I can at least look forward to seeing him some. The house feels very empty today and I realized it's not going to be full again until he comes home in October. Other than that I'm perfectly fine, we've got fabulous neighbors and friends and Aunt Judy and Lee so close by. I am nervous about this baby wanting to come too early and him not being home in time. I do know that if I do start labor before October 1st the guys taking Jon's place will already have arrived in Bahrain and the skipper will likely get Jon on the first flight to the states to be with us. I can do labor without him, I just don't want him to miss it. "

Our prayers will always include him (and Emily, Ella and baby) and all our hopes of a quick return at the end of his deployment.

Ainsley & Patrick's Bundle News

In case you weren't convinced before by everyone's (Aunt Linda, Grandma Dent, our Mom, my, and Ainsley herself) premonition....

IT'S A BOY!!

Ainsley and Patrick should receive their little boy on or around December 4th. We're so excited and are already thinking of nicknames should they decide to name him Braxton, after our paternal grandfather. I say Jack, the same nickname our grandfather had. We'll see if they decide that the name they had in mind at the beginning of their pregnancy seems to fit him and them come December.

Be careful, though, Ainsley....the story we heard growing up is that Grandpa weighed 14-pounds at birth!! (as seen below)

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Montana Pictures & the 4th of July

We arrived back from Montana safe and sound (although there were a few times we almost lost our sanity!) and had a great trip. Here are some pictures to share: click here.

On our way home, we decided to meet Paul at my sister's house in Tahoe. Her husband is a fireman and it's always fun to stay for their Pancake Breakfast, tour of the firehouse and of course, the 4th of July parade. Ava and Bettina get the choice position sitting next to Uncle Patrick as he drives the Fire Engine to start the parade. This year, however, Ava decided she didn't want to go last minute. So, Grandma got to ride with Bettina who really loved this annual ride. She took her hostess job seriously and waved to the crowd from the fire engine with a beaming smile!! We took a chance with the kids' bedtime and brought them with us to see their first set of "real" fireworks at King's Beach. They watched with wonder, commenting on the colors as they exploded in the air and slept all the way home! The 4th of July photos can be seen here!

This is What It's All About

We've been taking turns watching kids so that two of us can go out kidlet-less for an extended activity. Liz and Lisa went out mountain biking a couple times and I watched the 7 kids (aged 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, 2, and 2). Yesterday, Lisa watched all the kids while Liz and I went on a horseback ride. We went out the dirt road and took a right at the last fence-post at the end of the road and, following a deer trail, climbed the hill up toward the mountain. Sagebrush, juniper trees and lupine dominate the rocky terrain and, from the hillside, we see the entire Ruby Valley from Virginia City all the way toward Twin Bridges with the pine-laden mountains growing from the drier hills. We pause at the top of our hill and take in the view amid our conversation. Snow-capped peaks can be seen and the well-irrigated grass field sway in the afternoon wind. I can see how Lizzie can spend her entire summers here without missing the Bay Area a bit.

We lead the kids double (and sometimes triple) on Jay and Woody around the driveway when we get home. Ava just comes running when she sees a saddled horse. She loves to put on Brynn's riding helmet and cries when it's time to share a horse or put him back. She knows the horses by name and always says goodnight to them (as well as the rabbits) individually when we walk from the main house to the guest house where we're staying. She likes her new routine and there's much hope on my end that she'll follow directly in her mother's footsteps.

With all the little kids asleep and the bigger kids watching a movie in the house, Liz, Lisa and I retreat to the back of the porch that overlooks the rushing creek and each of us plops down in a log rocking chair, cushioned, of course, with a Pendleton southwestern pillow and blanket, with a beer each and finish our easy conversation. We are amazed the week has just flown by and acknowledge with dread that tomorrow is our last day here together. We plan for next summer - this time with husbands. However, knowing it would be different with men, we also plan that we should arrive a few days in advance of our husbands so that we can get our "girl time" in.

So, today we will go to the swimming hole or try some fly-fishing (the rivers here are actually reknown for their fly-fishing). It's sort of a lazy day in which we will have to work out opportunities to clean out the car, repack our stuff and get organized for the 1,000-mile drive back home.

Road Trip - Old Faithful

We're on the road - a girls' weekend while the men stay home, impossibly embedded in "real life."

We traveled 4-hours Friday, after stopping by to visit newest cousin, Brody, in Sacramento for a couple hours and to visit Ainsley and Patrick in Tahoe, to Reno where we stayed with soon-to-be road-trippers, Lisa, Brooke and Brynn. The next day, we traveled 7-hours through Nevada to Twin Falls, Idaho. The kids did fairly well, considering, and we rewarded them with swimming in the indoor pool until all were justly exhausted. All feel asleep well (whew!). Sunday, we traveled 4-hours to West Yellowstone, Montana. Lisa and I have discovered that we'd created a bit of a groove finding that the 3rd row carseat, which we first thought would be a separation anxiety problem, is proving to be a great place for the little ones to rotate to take naps. Ava takes the morning shift as she can always fall asleep shortly after 9am. Brynn follows after lunch and, usually, Bettina gets the last afternoon shift. Today, however, there was no late afternoon shift with our shorter drive. So, when we arrived in West Yellowstone at around 1pm, we wandered the touristy streets a little bit to stretch all our legs until Bettina (who didn't get a chance to sleep during the day) convinced us it was time to do some more swimming. We are quickly realizing swimming pools have huge advantages for travelers with small kids.

Monday morning, we packed up and drove into Yellowstone park. Not 10 miles into the park, and we had already seen a herd of elk grazing 150-yards off the road, a young moose who crossed the street just in front of us and a herd of 150+ bison (buffalo) lazily enjoying the sunshine right next to the street. We made it to Old Faithful around noon-ish and watched the amazing natural geysers. Again, we ended up timing everything just right, before a sleep-depraved tantrum from Bettina. As we headed out of Yellowstone and Montana, Lisa and I peered through the read-view mirror to the most amazing site of all: four children all fast asleep at the same time! This was a first in our 1,100 mile excursion! We enjoyed our grown-up-girl time during the rest of the 2-hour drive to Aunt Lizzie's.

As we were coasting down Aunt Lizzie's driveway Lizzie was coming up, leading Blake and Katherine on Jay for a quick ride around their 14-acre property. After some visiting, dinner, and a few beers for the moms, we settled the kids down for the night. We look forward to showing you more of the house nestled in a grassy valley between two mountain ranges later on in the week.

Raising Cain & Cowgirls

The girls and I went to see Misty this week. The intention was to meet a friend who was going to watch them as I got in a quick ride, but she'd forgotten to tell me she couldn't make it. Well, let's take Misty out for a nice brushing...

The intention was to see if Ava was nervous in the saddle by herself or if Mommy could get a cute picture before she wanted down....she never did want down.

The intention was to see if both girls could share a saddle and take a cute picture before one of them wanted to get down....neither wanted to get down.

We ended up walking around the barn for 1/2-hour and the girls singing, laughing and chatting excitedly about the whole thing. Seems we've got ourselves some confident little riders who need some riding helmets now. Was that my intention?? Perhaps...(wink, wink).

Oh, Give Me a Home!

One week and counting...

In one week, the girls and I will pack our bags, and the minivan, and head out in search of buffalo. We're taking a quick stop in Reno to pick up my long-time friend Lisa and her 2 girls. Six of us, four five-and-under, making our way across the buffalo plains to Yellowstone (with plenty of DVDs and VHS's!). A cowgirl trip with kidlets!

After Yellowstone, we drive north a couple hours to our other friend's "ranch" in Sheridan, MT (most locals don't call a patch of land a "ranch" unless its 5,000 acres+. Us Californians, however, like to call their 14-acre spread a "ranch" - they must mock us so!) . She'll be there with her rabbits, horses and her 3 kids.

We're so excited to sit our bandana'ed little bodies down on the river bank with our feet hanging in the water, watching the horses graze and making all kinds of wonderful western summer fun. Montana, here we come!!

Ainsley adds #11

Great-Grandma Dent came down for a visit last week and gave us an opportunity to take some pictures with her two youngest great-grandchildren. Ava & Tina are the youngest by about 6 years, which is one of the largest gaps in the geneology. The same day we went to take this picture, we got a call from my sister, Ainsley, who was just back from the doctor and finally confident enough to make the *big* announcement (which I forced her to do over speaker-phone while we were all sitting down for lunch)....

AINSLEY'S PREGNANT!!

She and her husband, Patrick, should expect little newborn sounds sometime around December 4th (which puts her at a little over 12 weeks now). And, yes, she made sure there was only one baby in the sonogram (this will be Great-Grandma's 11th great-grandchild). This is great timing for me as I now have an excuse to have her store all my little baby things while Paul and I still scramble to figure out where to store everything during our house transition.

Funny story -- I'd bought her some maternity clothes at the last twins sale I went to and sent them up as pre-mother's day presents. Her comment [paraphrased]: "Thanks, but I'm never going to get that big. Those clothes must be made for mothers expecting twins. Besides, they're short-sleeved and it will be too cold to use them."

Didn't we all think that we weren't ever going to get "that big" when trying on clothes (and as much as we might have liked, they don't make maternity clothes in 'twin' sizes -- you will get that big!)? How long will it take Ainsley to figure out that pregnant women never get cold! In fact, they're always too hot, forever suffering from hot flashes! Layering works well with soon-to-be Moms. Well, she still "doesn't feel pregnant," but don't worry, Ainsley, the ride, and learning curb, is only beginning! Congrats!!

Two Turn Two! Butterflies & Bees

Yesterday was the girls' second birthday party. Today is the actual day. Here's montage of all the fun and festivities... (now to write some thank yous!)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ramping up and Practicing for the "Big Day"...

The girls are really getting ready.... Here's Ava practicing her singing, accompanied by her musical Birthday Bear....Bettina's decided to be like her Mom and capture it all on her toy stuffed camera. "Cheese!" Two more days until the big day!

Bettina Also Goes Pee-Pee in the Pee-Pee Chair

Pee-pee in the Potty

We've had a couple of the Bijoin training potties for the girls around for awhile. They know what they're for. They call them "pee-pee chairs."

The girls have been very interested in Mommy's pee-pee for awhile: "Mommy pee-pee?" as they spread my legs to watch it fall. (It never ceases to amaze me how little they understand about privacy and personal space!) They like to say bye-bye to the pee-pee before I flush as well. I just need to make sure that the public restrooms I use are singles and don't have stalls in them...could cause some public embarrassment!! Up until today, we've used the pee-pee chair as a toy of sorts. I've always been under the impression that toilet training doesn't start until they are 2-1/2 or 3 years old.

This morning, however, Ava was wandering around outside diaperless (a bit of rash we're trying to let breathe). She started talking about the pee-pee chair. I just changed her diaper 5 minutes ago and don't think she needs it, but, what the heck, I think. Let's bring it out for kicks.

I warn her, "Your pee-pee may not be ready to come out yet, but that's OK. You can wait or try again later." She sits down, repeating "pee-pee," then stands up and runs away. It wasn't until 2-3 minutes had gone by that I bothered to stand up from my chair where I watched her "practice" her potty. "My God," I think, "There's pee-pee in there! She actually did it!"

I'm so excited I call both girls, and Grandma, over to see the pee-pee sitting in the potty chair. All sorts of pomp and circumstance follow as well as Ava being able to call Daddy on the cell-phone to tell him herself that she went pee-pee on the potty. We call Grandpa too, just for good measure.

After our celebration around the pee-pee chair, we take the pee-pee to the toilet and tell it "bye-bye." The ritual is complete. Ava has gone pee-pee in the potty, and just before she's turned 2! Could it be that they'll be trained before the end of the summer? How ideal would that be! I'm thinking again that May babies are the way to go. Potty training during summer is just another benefit.