dovie

living in community and "About a Boy"

2012-01-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have seen this movie enough that Joe and I use quotes from it as our daily-living-language. I enjoy Nick Hornby's writing, so I thought I would finally check out the book, since nearly 99% of the time the book is better than the movie, right?

It was interesting reading a book of a movie I knew so well. I wasn't sure it would keep my attention, but it did. The parts that weren't in the movie that the book had were interesting, but I can see that the screenplay writers kept the essence of the story and the characters very well in tact, which must be done in an adaptation since it's impossible to deliver all the details of a book in two hour movie limitation.

If you didn't know, the book is about a man, actually. Well, an adult male, named Will, who believes he is able to fully sustain himself without any need for relationships, except at the most shallow level. He basically has lived his adult life worshiping and serving himself. Then, through a egotistical (and comical when delivered on screen by Hugh Grant) plan to pick-up on single moms, he becomes connected to a pre-teen boy. Through this relationship somewhat forced upon him, his life becomes beautifully messy. He tries to fight against the complications of caring for others, but realizes that the clean, put-together life that he had been living was empty. And, to remain in that life with no passion, no hardship, no serving and caring, he was "kind of... blank".

What has drawn me to this story is the undeniable need we have for community and the undeniable desire we have to serve ourselves. As Christians, we are called to our own individual faith, but we cannot fully image God without being in community. Community, here, is defined as the social circles we associate in, where we serve and pour ourselves out for others. To truly live in community, you have to train yourself. I still fight my instincts of saying "no" because I just don't want to figure out how to serve someone, even a friend. However, serving others, sharing your life with them, as Paul writes to the Thessalonians, is how we can image God more fully. Since God in himself is three in one, in constant community with himself, by isolating ourselves because we worship ourselves and our comfort, we deny opportunities to grow in Christ by showing love for others and allowing them to show love to us. Committing to relationships is knowing that your life will get messy, be uncomfortable and probably difficult, but the rewards are greater, the joy is deeper and we grow closer to Christ because we can more easily recognize our need for him. May the Lord bless you with a messy life full of relationships that bring you closer to him.

hairs cut

2012-01-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

I found this old post that I never published. I'm pretty sure it's over a year old, but it's fun for me to see how different the boys looked then. Now, when cutting hair, I get my game face on and do all three in a row. The most recent time, Joe helped and buzzed Leo and Tiz's hair. Not my favorite look, but much easier and faster. Oh, and I don't take pictures because it's all about moving fast, cleaning hair, distracting with whatever necessary, cleaning hair, wiping hair out of screaming mouths (looking at you Leo) and on and on... It is the only time I'm jealous of people who just have girls. Since Joe has stated he does not want our boys to have "Home Improvement" (remember that lovely show?) hair-cuts, and I agree, I do this crazy endeavor about every month and a half.

Luca's hair was getting quite long. Don't get me wrong, we think it looks pretty sweet that way, but I guess I've found that I am one of those moms who can't take it when the hair is in the eyes. (Something my mom would laugh at since I remember her wanting me to use a barrette for my bangs that were perpetually growing-out.) If it were constantly swept to the side, I wouldn't mind, but that's not reality, that's TV. Also, Luca's thick hair was getting a bit bushy in the back.

So, one night, I went for it. I didn't want to cut it too short, so I just used our scissors which are a notch above kitchen-drawer-scissors.

It's hard to make these kids look bad, however it is pretty obvious that I am learning.

Tizzy's hair is much more fine (got that from his mommy) and so it takes much less time to cut. However, because it's fine and straight (also from his mommy), you can see every little snip.

But, like I said, his cuteness shines through... even blurry.

I thought about cutting Leo's, but after getting the older two done, I was done. So, it wasn't until this morning that I decided to trim those bangs of his that hit his lashes and the "side burns" that Joe keeps mentioning he'd be even more cute without.

Before: happy

After: not so sure.

In my defense, he is eating. My friend suggested giving him something non-sticky to eat to keep his hands occupied while I cut. Brilliant!

I have to say, I love the longer hair, but I figure I should get the practice in before they're going to school. The great thing about hair is, it always grows back... for a while at least.

The Graveyard Book

2012-01-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

So, I don't like to write too much about books because, if I recommend them, I hope that you become interested in reading them and I don't want to spoil it for you. Here is a great, quick read that I recommend. I found The Graveyard Book on a friend's goodreads list when I was looking for a book to put in Joe's Christmas stocking. He really liked it and couldn't wait for me to read it to so we could talk about it. I too enjoyed it. There's a bit of mystery to it, though each chapter is supposed to be a story in itself. Considering the title, it is not creepy or a thriller, though there are a few eerie parts. I was intrigued and entertained by all the different levels of life and death, comfort and longing, hope and despair that were illustrated in different characters and scenarios. Go get yourself a copy and hand on to it because you're kids will feel like they've discovered a treasure when they get to reading this.

If you're interested in learning more about the author, here is an interview.

hi, five

2012-01-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

Back in September, Luca turned 5-years-old; back in November, I started writing this post.

I had been planning this birthday ever since he turned four because he seemed a bit sad he didn't get an actual party for his fourth, but only a super awesome trip on a ferry boat with his family where he got a toy... I mean, I'm not holding it against him or anything. Really, I wanted him to feel loved for his birthday. So, I thought of all of the things he enjoys and decided to try to incorporate them into his birthday fun (within reason).

He seriously loves animals and is like an animal encyclopedia. In fact, I checked out DK's Animal Encyclopedia from the library and he was constantly "reading" it. So, when he woke up on his birthday I had DK's Nature Encyclopedia wrapped up and waiting for him on the table. I didn't want to get him the same one as the one we had been checking out at the library because it kind of seemed like giving him a book he already had, though we don't technically have it.

On the actual day of his birthday, we went to the zoo. Joe ended up having the day off so we could take a little longer than we usually do. We go to the zoo often because we have a family pass, but Luca is always up for it.

The Zoomasium (yes, that is what it's actually called) has a play area for kids of all ages to run around and climb, but they happen to have these cool toys that all the boys liked playing with. I forget the name of them, but they have all these animals pieces so you can either put together a normal zebra or some hideous eagle-cheetah-fish-bug. (If you live in Seattle, they said they sell them at Top Ten Toys in Greenwood, but when I looked for them at Christmas time they were sold out, of course.)

Well, here is the star of the show, Bush Baby. If you have never heard of a bush baby, you're not alone. Everyone asks Luca what it is wherever he goes because Bush Baby (yes, he named him Bush Baby) soon became a constant companion. It was such a surprise that he responded like this considering none of our boys have every really been attached to any stuffed animal or blanket or anything. So, here is my five-year-old and his good friend.

Perhaps you know bush babies by their other name, Galagos? No? Well, in case you were wondering they live in central Africa, are primates, live in trees and are known for their big eyes that make them look like babies even after they are in adulthood, hence the name.

We even sewed a stocking for Bush Baby. Not only does Luca love animals, but he loves crafts. After seeing me work on Leo's stocking, the wanted to make one for his little friend. We used animals that I had already cut out years ago for baby quilts that I never made. And, yes, Luca did actually help with the sewing- by machine and by hand. I mean, I certainly helped, but the layout and everything is his design. He pinned them on and we did two different kinds of stitches to put them on.

The loop to hang it has Bush Baby on it, in case you forgot who it belonged to. It was a fun project to do together, though it did make me exercise patience, gentleness and having self-control about wanting to be in control.

Bush Baby even made it into one of the pictures I used for our Christmas cards. If you got one, you were probably wondering what that ratty little tail was attached to. Now you know.

Luca wanted this photograph in the card because it was a better picture of Bush Baby, but I had to decide: Does this card need more Bush Baby, or more Leo and Tiz?

Five is fun. Luca makes a lot of things fun; he gets that from his dad. He is busy, but he does crazy things like draw for 30 minutes on different pieces of paper then tape them together to make a "book" and tie something around it as a small gift to me. He says insane things like, "Mom, I haven't worked on my letters in a while, maybe we can do that?" Sure sometimes he's kind of stalling so he doesn't have to rest on the couch while the little guys nap, but sometimes he really just wants to work on his letters. I am constantly amazed at the gift that God has given me in Luca. It takes a decent amount of energy to keep up with him, and sometimes I don't do it joyfully, but it really delights me to see the unveiling of who God has made him to be: artistic, creative, gentle, a peacemaker, funny and smart.

To wrap up the birthday event, we did have an actual party for Luca with both sides of our family. I kind of stay away from themes and what not for various reasons, but mainly I thought of what would Luca like most? Family, especially his boy cousins, and cake were the main things came to mind. I made a Lego cake that went horribly wrong, but thankfully, with Joe's help and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I was able to chillax and remember what really matters. It was a very large and lovely time that I didn't document at all because I just enjoyed visiting... oh, and I was kind of feeding 20ish people.

Thank you Jesus for giving me five amazing years with Luca.

morning and evening, today

2011-11-09T15:51:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to get Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional for a long time now, but, as these things go, I forget or the timing doesn't work out with remembering and having the resources to get it. No matter, Biblegateway.com has heard my dilemma. I recently been using Biblegateway a lot for my Bible Study Fellowship homework. It has a gzillion translations of the Bible in various languages. Mostly, I use it to look up verses. BSF uses NIV version, so I use that when it refers to verses since the language can differ from the version I now use, ESV. Anyway, last night I was checking out the devotionals that they have before I went to bed and I was so happy when I found that they had Morning and Eveing. What a gift! Please check it out to refresh your time with the Lord.

Here is this morning's devotional:

"So walk ye in him."
Colossians 2:6

If we have received Christ himself in our inmost hearts, our new life will manifest its intimate acquaintance with him by a walk of faith in him. Walking implies action. Our religion is not to be confined to our closet; we must carry out into practical effect that which we believe. If a man walks in Christ, then he so acts as Christ would act; for Christ being in him, his hope, his love, his joy, his life, he is the reflex of the image of Jesus; and men say of that man, "He is like his Master; he lives like Jesus Christ." Walking signifies progress. "So walk ye in him"; proceed from grace to grace, run forward until you reach the uttermost degree of knowledge that a man can attain concerning our Beloved. Walking implies continuance. There must be a perpetual abiding in Christ. How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to the world all the day: but this is poor living; we should always be with him, treading in his steps and doing his will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man's walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call him ours, and anon lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him. We must keep to him, cling to him, never let him go, but live and have our being in him. "As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him"; persevere in the same way in which ye have begun, and, as at the first Christ Jesus was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let him be the same till life's end; the same when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and enter into the joy and the rest which remain for the people of God. O Holy Spirit, enable us to obey this heavenly precept.

Lord, please show me where in my life I am not acting in faith. Help me to remember the habitual and continuing aspects of walking in faith and how progress comes with those. Thank you, Jesus, that we do not walk alone, but that even the power to take one step forward is given to us by you, through your sweet grace. Amen.

My ABC Bible Verses

2011-11-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a little treasure that we have recently been enjoying. I heard about this from one of my sisters-in-law. There is a verse for each letter and with that a small explanation of what it means, followed by a story that illustrates the verse in use. All the stories involve Missy or Bill, a sister and brother, who are learning what it means to follow the Lord with their lives. At the end of the story there is a couple of questions you could ask your kid. Then you are supposed to repeat the verse a few times and there is a suggested prayer topic.

After I read the first one to my older boys, to be honest, I thought they were going to think it was... uninteresting. Thankfully, they are not as cynical as me, who initially viewed it as kind of cheesy, though I didn't hint at this at all, waiting to see how they responded on their own. To my surprise, Luca loved it and asked to read more. I actually had to cut him off. He was even into repeating verses. We have memorized verses on our own, usually around meal time, but I didn't know that they actually liked to do that. Luca said, "This book is awesome." And when we prayed one night after reading it, he thanked God for "more verses". What?! Luca always, always surprises me. I couldn't even make this stuff up because I had no idea that kids would respond in these ways. Luca is exceptional in his love for learning and sensitive heart, though. Though I am not fooled into thinking that he doesn't say things to please me occasionally too.

Now, we have finished it, though, and the excitement has diminished. It went by too fast since I read at least two a day/night, usually more. I have started using these verses to put on our dining room wall for the boys to memorize though. They know A-D solid and seem to enjoy getting praise for it (duh). I know that just memorizing a verse will not transform their heart to repentance and trust in Jesus, but I do hope that by giving them scripture to "hide in their hearts", I am giving them a gift for the future and weapons to use when they engage in spiritual battle. So, whether your kids embrace this with the same enthusiasm or not, this is well worth the purchase; I highly recommend it.

The Scorch Trials

2011-11-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

So, I read the first of this series called Maze Runner and, surprisingly liked it. It was packed full of adventure and had a Lord of the Flies-type feel to it. I checked-out the second in the trilogy called The Scorch Trials and have to say, I just was not as interested in it. In fact, I kind of put it to the side and found that I never felt like picking it up again. Then it was due at the library and I didn't care that I had to turn it in unfinished. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was. The story actually was a little disturbing and kept being more complex without developing the characters or relationships. It was kind of like the show Lost, where you think you'll figure it out the more you get into it, but then you actually end up with more questions. However, in Lost (which Joe and I have yet to finish actually!), characters' story lines were developed. And the questioning was more intriguing than annoying. Not to sound like a complete snoot, but I didn't feel connected to the characters in this series. Plus, I got tired of the gruesome, thriller sci-fi stuff. Sorry, James Dashner, I wouldn't recommend this.

aPAULed

2011-11-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

The other night, Joe and I asked his brother, Tommy, if he wanted to watch the movie Paul, with us. I had put it on hold at the library who knows how long ago and had picked it up, thinking, "Oh yeah, this might be funny." After all, I enjoy the two main actors, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, from their past works:

Shaun of the Dead

and Hot Fuzz.

And Run, Fat Boy, Run wasn't too bad either.

Unfortunately, Paul, was possibly one of the most annoying and crass movies I have ever seen. I really don't watch a lot of "main stream" movies, unless you consider BBC dramas main stream (if you do, let's talk!), but I was really appalled (ha, ha) by the moronic and narrow-minded portrayal of Americans and Christians. The only characters that had any subtlety to them were the main characters, the British guys of course. If the other characters weren't swearing every other word, they were saying stupid, religious-bumper-sticker remarks, or were hicks in camouflage. Even Jason Bateman's character, a FBI agent, was over the top and unoriginal. This is Michael Bluth we're talking about! Not to mention, I was supposed to believe the "hero", Paul (the alien) was ultra-hip, super-intelligent and on and on... really, I couldn't take it. Also, between the all the cheap dialogue and outlandish "acting", they tried to throw in actual dramatic scenes... with an alien. Really, I should have just stopped watching it, but I felt obligated to finish it since we invited someone to watch it. Don't even think about wasting time on this movie to see if what I am saying is true. However, if you're looking for a decent laugh, maybe check out the other movies I mentioned. Though, now I'm pretty annoyed with those guys since they wrote the screenplay to Paul. What a disappointment... and I wasn't even expecting much.

Triple Ninja Power- Attack!

2011-11-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know how we're all the sudden in November! I barely recall most of October and, no, not because I was drunk... because I wasn't. Those days are long gone, thank you very much. Seriously though, within the blink of an eye, Halloween was upon us and, of course, my plans were much bigger than my ability or time allowance. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was on board with my plan to unleash three dangerous, stealthy, sometimes disinterested, ninjas into the unsuspecting world.

Guess who was into it the most. Honestly, Luca has been wearing this a ton. I had him take it off for meals for obvious reasons. Then, at lunch he slipped getting on his chair and sort of fell down. I asked him if he was alright and he said while kind of chuckling, "Yeah, because ninjas aren't afraid of anything."

Seriously, little guys, make an effort.

Now Tizzy is getting it.

Don't be fooled, Leo's weapons are his hands. Or, his deafening scream. Or, his adorableness. Yeah, he pulls you in with a cute face and shy act, stuns you with his loud, eardrum-shaking scream and then knocks you out with tiny fists of fury. Hiyah! Take that!

Don't even think about breaking into our house, yo. These guys are just waiting for the opportunity to ATTACK! (Add fighting sound effects here.)

2011-03-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

Read this autobiography of a Japanese-American born in Seattle around 1920. It's a terrific insight into Japanese-American families of that time, a interesting and affectionate history of Seattle and a eye-opening account of what happened to Japanese families living in America after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It touches on the difficulty and beauty of blending a culture of family that is different from the culture of the majority in which one lives. Personally, it helped give me more insight and remember different things that were tucked away about my own upbringing and some of the special things that made my mom unique, being a Japanese woman in America. It's an easy and enjoyable read.

9-months-old

2011-02-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Leo will be nine-months-old tomorrow. I feel like all the sudden, he is growing up fast. Most of that is because in the last two weeks he has started crawling forward (he had backward down many moons ago), I cut his hair and he has another tooth coming in. Oddly, the third tooth is not one of the front ones, but is off to the side a space. Huh?

Oh, and he just started trying to pull himself up in the last couple of days. (Kind of has an Elvis lip going on in this picture.)

Oh, and he's trying to teach himself the guitar on my hand-mirror. (Maybe to add to his Elvis act?)

Unfortunately, little guy is pretty sick right now, as you can see. He is a trooper, though, still trying to practice and perfect milestones despite a painful, hacking cough.

I love this baby! He is so sweet, quick to smile (except sometimes after he just woke up- wonder where he got that from.), he is good with other people, sleeps pretty well (he's still a baby folks) and has brought more love and joy in my life than I thought possible. My pregnancy with him was difficult, filled with a lot of illness, but God poured his grace on us and he is a healthy, big, beautiful boy. I am so thankful for the blessing of Leo.

Did you see that?

2011-02-19T12:26:00.001-08:00

Hold on, let me get my glasses.

big brother

2011-02-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today, while coloring before dinner:

Luca: Tizzy, yours looks beautiful... but mine looks beautifuler.

i heart Luca

2011-02-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air, people. The other day we did several valentines to send out (none of which I took pictures of), so I think hearts have been on Luca's mind. For one of our crafts today, Luca traced our heart cookie cutter and to my surprised this was how he colored it in. He is getting more and more creative. Then I said he should cut it out and we'll put it on a colored piece of paper. After choosing a fitting pink sheet, he then asked me to draw more hearts around it, all of which he decorated uniquely. The tiny one on the left has a rainbow in it. Sigh. My sweetheart.

getting out

2011-02-01T21:14:00.001-08:00

Last week, I began taking the boys on more walks. I used to do this all the time when I had just two, but after having Leo, there was this transition period where I was either too tired (having to push two and carry one) or too concerned (letting little guys walk around traffic while pushing a stroller and/or carrying a baby). Now, however, Luca is pretty good at walking long distances. I feel like he was early on, then got tired of it, now is interested and willing again.

The other day I left the stroller in the car, which Joe had taken to work, and thought I'd see if Tizzy can walk on his own for a while. I was just going to go around the block because it was not looking promising, but we actually made it all the way to the playground. He was pretty tired coming home, but made it despite his icicle fingers hurting. Note to self: gloves!

Leo can't wait to be able to keep up with his brothers.

I have really started enjoying these post-nap, pre-dinner walks with my boys. Luca always finds a stick to hit and touch stuff with while he walks. He still gets tired going up hills, but really has impressed me. He just keeps going, though he may pause to inform me "this is hard", but he doesn't whine and it doesn't effect his decision to go on a walk the next day (or he doesn't remember).

We usually walk to the library, but have started branching out to a playground and, tonight, Gasworks. I hope to document these walks to remember how awesome (and adorable) my boys are, as well as, remind myself of this terrific city in which God has placed me.

As you can probably tell, I had a bit of fun with these pictures on picnik.

I am so thankful that I am healthy enough to do this with my wonderful boys.

2010-12-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Paul David Tripp is a terrific teacher who speaks in a natural way that is easy to understand, rather than to attempt to make himself sound smart. I am pulled in by everything he writes and convicted to search my heart. His book, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, is full of the simple yet heavy truths of the Bible, but in portions that are not overwhelming, even if read at bedtime. I highly recommend this book.

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

and blamelesss in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

Creat in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it,

you will not be pleased with burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;

build up the walls of Jerusalem;

then will you delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 51

Snow-way!?

2010-12-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

I know, it's old news, but despite how inconvenient it can get, I will always get excited about the first snow fall.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we gathered at Joe's parents' place to do a little pre-Thanksgiving-funk, of sorts. Then, to our surprise and joy, it started snowing!

Leo's first snow. Looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Joe's attempt at taking a picture of all of us. I love how Tiz is getting a kick out of silly Luca.

Being snowed-in means walking to Essential Bakery for some essential lunch.

Some of us opted not to walk, but sit all cozy in the stroller looking adorable.

You wouldn't believe the amount of fleece I'm encased in.

Before going inside, we had to have a snowball fight.

And make snow angels. I love Luca, he reminds me that I like to have fun too. Thank you Luca for reminding me the joys of snow.

The snow delayed our trip to my sister's in Oregon by a day, but it's okay because we got there and had snow-much fun! It even snowed more while we were there, which led to populating her yard with snowmen. I may or may not post those pictures one day.

Six-Second Kiss

2010-11-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

So, just in case you were wondering, marriage takes work. I, having only been married 9 years, have been through a decent amount of challenges with my dear husband, but still have ample room for growing, learning and generally improving on my wifing. One way of growing in this area, is to seek wisdom from those who are further down the road. It's humbling to actually listen to someone and apply their knowledge and experience to your life. I will be honest and say that it is not a strength of mine; I often think I know a great deal of what I know very little of. So for me, genuine listening is un-natural and takes practice, but the Bible says it's wise. Listen to advice and accept instruction so that you may gain wisdom in the future. Proverbs 19:20

My friend linked to this article called Misional Mothering on her blog and it was a nice encouragement to me. So, I looked up what else Mrs. Jani Ortland, who has raised four children and been married 39 years, has to say. That's when I found this article called The Six-Second Kiss. In case you don't check it out (though it is very short), she writes about how her and her husband send each other off with a six-second kiss everyday. What can I say? The woman has 30 years working it out with her husband on me, so there must be something to this. And, it's hard to argue, right? I mean, if you aren't interested in trying it, what does that say about the current state of your marriage? Okay, I admit, when my husband was at his old job where he left at 3am or 4am, I may have not been as enthusiastic about it, but looking back, I always wanted him to say good-bye because it was a bit lonely waking up without him. Now, with a new job and a different schedule, I will be trying this out tomorrow. (I hope the habit lasts longer than my running program did!)

2010-11-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

Tizzy has been obsessed with this soundtrack for at least a week now. I checked this movie out a few months ago from the library. We got the soundtrack from the library a couple of weeks ago and Tizzy likes to listen to it all day long. He'll pop up from playing with toys or reading books to turn it on. I really liked it at first, but now it kind of haunts me. I think I'm hearing it even when it's not playing. Joe and I went on a date last week and I thought the song that was beginning to play in the Starbucks was going to be one of the songs from the soundtrack. (By the way, don't judge. Nobody had eggnog stuff except Starbucks. I actually got an eggnog chai tea latte which I thought was better than Joe's eggnog latte.)

All that to say, I still want to get the movie!

fighting is winning

2010-11-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, while I was in the midst of a tough day, switching the laundry for the upteenth time and just kind of down with myself because it seemed that I was really struggling to stop sinning, I thought, "Why does it always feel like a fight?" I had asked my sons' forgiveness several times for raising my voice in anger, my home was constantly messy, my heart was struggling not to blame my circumstances for everything and it just seemed that I kept telling Jesus in frustration, "I don't know, God, I just need your help!" I couldn't even think of what to say, but the Holy Spirit interceded for me and gave me a wonderful thought. Fighting is winning. If I wasn't even trying, then I would be losing. Yes, I have had to repent of sin several times within an hour, but I repented.

I think some of my struggle has to do with, perhaps, not recognizing that I was believing in lies. Why am I so surprised at my sin? The Bible never says, "There will be a day while you live on earth that you no longer struggle with sin and everything is easy." Never. That's a lie. It says things like, "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I want to do- this I keep doing", said by Paul, who wrote how many books of the New Testament? And then Jesus says hard things like, "If anyone should come after me, let him deny himself and take up his his cross daily and follow me." Or in James, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trial of various kinds..."

Thankfully, we know that in those trials, whatever they may be (even something as "little" as a bad day filled with tantrums [by parent or child] and chores), we can talk to God about it. David shows us this by courageously asking, "Why Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" God responds to us through the words of Jesus, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." We can run to him and cry to him because he is our Father who created our inmost being, he knit us together while we were still in our mothers' womb. He loves us because God is love. He proves it with his enduring patience since the beginning of time.

So, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice! When we are weak, we really are strong... in Christ. It has been shown to me over and over again, especially in the past year- when I depend on my strength, I crumble and there is little, if any, hope. But when I lean on the unequal strength of my loving Father, my circumstances can be exactly the same, but there is HOPE. And with that comes peace that surpasses all understanding. What a joy and gift to have a God who knows me completely and still loves me. Who can empathize with me because he has been tempted to sin in every way as I have, though he never sinned. He has suffered. He has bled. He has poured himself out for my sake! Thank you Jesus, for dying on the cross, suffering the punishment for my sin, suffering separation from the Father, and rising from the grave to conquer satan, sin and death, so that I can be truly free by trusting in you. You are the one true God, the Author and Perfecter of my faith.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Can you say, "Tiz is awesome?"

2010-11-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

So, it has taken a while for my second-born boy to start talking (in the same language as me), but when he really started saying words a couple of months ago, he hit the ground running. It was about the time where Joe said, "Maybe we should take him to see someone", of course, that Tizzy decided to start speaking his mind... so to speak. I first started noticing that he was singing along with songs a lot more and ending on the same syllable. Then, I made a special effort to sing a lot with him all day, like adding singing to our "Bible time", which he seemed to really enjoy. It seems like soon after that he was attempting to say more words and with all of our celebrating each time he said a new one (even Luca was pointing it out), he really has taken off. It seems like each day he is attempting to say new words, it's not super articulate, but that is improving too. And for the past couple of weeks he has been putting more words together. It has never been a question of if he can hear or if he understands, he has always shown that he fully understands what's going on, he just hasn't always been able to say what he thinks about it... in so many words. We're so excited to get to hear what Tizzy thinks more.

He also enjoys "reading" more.

Bert and Ernie are very attentive when Tizzy reads to them.

miles of smiles... and other expressions from Leo.

2010-11-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Leo, Leo, Leo. He is the kind of baby that makes you want to have a baby in your life. Leo is a really good sleeper, though he is not without his off days. (We all have 'em.) He is big for his age (like his brothers were) and, as you can see below, cute as a button. He will just start laughing if you laugh with him, as Tiz is constantly doing to get him to laugh. He appreciates all the love from his brothers, although it can be a little abrupt and rough (my eyes are pointing to Luca) and he smiles whenever he sees his daddy. In fact, Joe was the one who pointed out that Leo is very smiley. He said, "Out of all of them (the boys), I have been able to spend the least amount of time with Leo, but he always smiles when I see him." My dad also pointed out that he is quick to smile. Joe also thinks that he is the "7th Costello", which is my maiden name and, in case you don't get it, there are six kids in my family. Meaning, he looks a lot like my side of the family. I guess he does more so than his brothers, but it's hard for me to tell at this point. It would make sense since he is the most adorable baby in the whole world!!! (wink, wink) Leo is a pretty good cuddlebug, but is now of the age where he does like to see what's going on. We finally got him into a crib a couple of weeks ago since his wingspan reached outside of his cradle. Poor guy, that is a bit long to have him in that thing! He also has been sharing a room with his brothers for at least a couple of months and is doing very well. Some of my favorite time with him, believe it or not, is when I change him. He smiles and laughs and I actually get to give him some attention. What a joy and a blessing he is to me. I am in awe that God would entrust such a treasure to us.

We love you Leo!

Turtle.

Trademark .

Dimple laugh.

Well look at that.

Brotherly love.

Thanks for trying, Tiz, but it's bedtime. Waaahh!

Cheeks.

I'm not a big fan of this carrier thing.

Concerned face.

Are these the eyes you're talking about? And the lashes? And the button nose and little lips? And... and... and...

more croc talk

2010-11-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Now I'm thinking this book we checked out had an effect on him.

what a croc!

2010-11-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over a month ago Luca got really into crocodiles. I had got a DVD from the library entitled The Dragon Chronicles, a PBS documentary about reptiles with the grand finale being the Komodo Dragon, of course. He was diggin' the Komodo dragons, but there was a bonus feature about Giant Crocodiles that was surprisingly intriguing. After watching the DVD, crocodiles were slyly swimming around in his thoughts. He wanted to make a tail out of a blanket and attach it with a belt, like this:

ta da! What a vicious crocodile, right? Well, it got me thinking, "Oh, we should look up crocodile costumes and see if we can make it for Halloween." (Remind me never to do this again!) So, google... tappity tap... crocodile costumes, enter. Voila! It appears another mom has attempted this for her (much older) son and came up with something fairly decent. She had a long narrow box though, which I learned was key.

Here's my attempt with a diaper box. This wasn't supposed to be the actual costume, I literally cut this right after looking at the picture on the site I saw.

I had to make one for Tizzy too. He got the mega-box-o-wipes box. He wore it for about 3 seconds.

Luca, however, wore it for a while. Even for "outside time". (You can tell from the sunshine this was quite a while ago.)

That little duct tape strap is supposed to help keep it from toppling over. The belt, obviously, is to hold his tail on.

I bet you never saw a crocodile ride a tricycle before!

And, now we know how long this croc-box-head lasts.

So, my plan was to hunt for a long narrow box (with all my spare time) and figure out some kind of green pants/suit and tail thing. (As you can see, I worked-out all the details.) It so happens, that my brother was at a thrift store and found a crocodile body section of a costume that would fit Luca. Okay, cool, now I just have to figure out the head.

Then, about a week ago, after all the crocodile costume talk, Luca says, "Mom, I don't want to be a crocodile. Maybe later."

Me: You're going to be a crocodile. (Though I was thinking, maybe it would be best if I could convince him to be something else since I don't know how I'm going to come up with a crocodile head. Hmmmm?)

Fast forward to Saturday night, we get together with family for dinner and my brother doesn't bring the body half, but it's not like that really matters because I still have not found an appropriate box and turned it into a crocodile head. Before going to bed, Joe and I decide we'll use the fireman jacket and hat that Grandma gave us, with a hose, his red boots and, of course, an eyeliner mustache. What fireman wouldn't have a thick mustache?

We get home from church, eat lunch, try to get Tiz to nap and get some rest in before we hit the boulevard. When talk of trick-o-treating comes up, Luca says, "I don't want to do trick or treating." What?! It's candy kid! So, we (Joe, Luca and I) talk and Joe and Idecide we are not about to force our kid into a costume to get candy since we really don't care that much anywho. Tizzy doesn't know what's going, nor does Leo, so that's it, we're staying home. Luca says, "No, I do want to go trick or treating." Okay, he just realized what he was going to miss out on. Let's do this. We, get our game face on and start getting everything together. By the time he flip-flopped again, Joe cut him off. The end result being that this year, we did not go trick or treating but stayed home and ate the rest of the Halloween cookies we made. It is a hard lesson Luca learned, but we don't do that changing-the-mind game in this family.

The end.

ferry to Friday Harbor

2010-11-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

September is a busy month in our family since Joe, Luca and I all have birthdays in September. It was filled with birthday dinners, birthday desserts and a big birthday outing. Instead of having a big party for, uh, any of our birthdays, we went on a family trip to Friday Harbor at the end of the month. Growing up in La Conner, I used to ride the ferry to the islands quite often to compete against them in various sports, but haven't been to any of the islands since then, which is now quite a while ago. I also thought Luca would really enjoy the ferry ride. Oh, and I found out while planning this that Joe had never been to the San Juans! You think you know someone...

Anyway, we got stuck in construction traffic on our way there and missed our first-choice-ferry and, therefore, were in the car for about 3 hours total (just so you know, babies kind of get sick of the car after about 1.5.... especially when they are hungry), but we didn't let it get us down.

It helped that the weather was beeeeeautiful.

Oh, and this helped to. Fish and chips with clam chowder. I believe doctors in Britain prescribe this to patients. I don't know who voted them "best", but I agree!

They have that quirky, Anacortes sense of humor too.

Which we went right along with.

Over and over... and over again. I'll spare you the many variations we have of these. (Leo's shoulders are HUGE!)

Ahh, young love. Well, not so young anymore, but still love.

Did I mention the weather was perfect. Look at the beautiful work of an amazing Creator. Not the ferry people, the water and all that!

It gets a little windy on the water. Cool bangs, huh? Poor Leo had to work to get a breath.

Just to remind you what the inside of a ferry looks like these days... exactly the same as they did ten years ago. Look at Joe's smile, it's totally fake. Just kidding, but he was suffering from some serious back pain after tweaking his jacked-up back lifting Tiz at the ferry terminal. What a trooper.

So, yeah, we didn't take one picture while we were actually at Friday Harbor! We did some walking and mainly checked-out a couple of toy stores before they closed. We let the boys pick something each. Luca chose a pull-back "monster" school bus that can do wheelies (of course) and Tizzy chose a red pull-back tractor. We never really let them just pick out a toy and get it, so I think they thought it was pretty cool.

We also got a little dinner and it just so happens there is a little (very literally) ice cream shop right at the dock to the ferry. How convenient! We got a bowl (along with 90% of the other passengers) to finish things off.

Here is the only picture we got of the actual island.

truth-teller

2010-09-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago or so, we had an incident where Luca said that Tizzy did something that we think he didn't do. We weren't really sure he lied, but we're pretty sure, so Joe had a good talk with him about telling the truth. I overheard some scripture and a prayer. Afterward Joe and I talked about how he has figured out there are other answers than the truth. He has tasted the fruit.

Fast-forward to yesterday. During nap time I heard some commotion, but by the time I went to check both boys were back in their beds. I asked if they had gotten up and Luca immediately said, "Not me!" I took this for the truth since it is usually Tizzy getting up and decided to just let them be since they were currently laying in beds. Later Luca said he needed to use the potty, so I patrolled him to the bathroom, making sure he didn't get distracted. When I turned to leave he said, "Mommy, I'm sorry, I got out of bed. I'm a truth-teller; I tell the truth."

I said, "Okay buddy. Thanks for telling me. So, why did you get out of bed?" Pause.

Then came the icing on the cake. Slowly rolling out of his mouth, "Toooo... tell you I love you?" Said more as a question than a statement.

I can tell this concept of telling the truth is going to take a while to learn.

Luca these days

2010-08-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

First off, Luca is an artist. He's creative, thoughtful and... eager. He asks me everyday to do a craft. Then after we've done one, he'll ask again later to do another. Here is a sampling of some of his recent work.

Luca, Daddy, Tizzy and a worm.

Watzit, Daddy, Tizzy and Luca. Watizit is Joe's old dog that he's begun telling Luca about and Luca has decided he really likes Watzit. He said the other night that he wants Watzit to sleep with him.

Fishies.

Look at that! He even did the apples in the tree all by himself.

Who needs a brush? I think he looked over at how much fun Tiz was having smearing it around with his hands and decided to try it out. But, as I mentioned, Luca is thoughtful about his work these days and doesn't just blend everything together as he used to.

I love watching Luca grow in this area. I am trying to encourage it as much as possible. Good job Luca! You are a wonderful, creative artist.

new hat

2010-08-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Aunt Janet. Leo's new hat is soft and adorable. Very fitting.

the couch

2010-08-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Any given day, this is what our couch might look like. Can you tell I have boys?

a tasty anniversary

2010-08-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our ninth anniversary this year, we called on the folks to babysit all three little tykes and hit the town for the evening. We went to dinner at Djan's on 45th. We both love Thai food and Djan's did not disappoint.

Joe got the Spicy Ocean. (Note: very spicy, even for Joe, which is saying something. I guess when "Spicy" is in the title, it's already starting on a whole different spicy scale. Probably get 3 stars lower than what you normally get.)

I got the Phad Thai with Tempura Shrimp. (Note: the shrimp were not tempura, but were breaded more like tonkatsu. Still, very good and probably the best phad thai I've ever had. Great flavor, not too dry, plentiful size- thumbs up.)

I have a wonderful husband who thinks of me and wanted to make this a memorable occasion, so prior to our date, he decided we should each pick nine pictures over the span of our marriage and develop them, then put them in an album to talk about at dinner. It was a terrific idea... and it wasn't mine! Anyway, it was interesting to dwindle down our picks and see what spoke to us at this time in our lives.

After dinner, we got something warm to drink at Diablo coffee shop in Queen Anne. It totally reminded us of a place that should be in Humboldt.

The guy in the background of this picture is cracking me up. He must've sensed I was a blogger.

This was our best attempt at a self-taken picture of us with the Seattle skyline in the back. This is at Kerry Park, where the view is pretty fantastic.

We headed back to Wallingford for a cold treat- tiramisu gelato at Fainting Goat.

I am constantly thankful for Joe. Our nine years together have been amazing, difficult and sometimes amazingly difficult, but through it all, he has shown me love to the utmost. It's almost silly how he compliments me and says sweet things when he gets home, as I'm making dinner, as he's falling asleep... but I'm glad. He is a wonderful father, a man always attempting to grow closer to Christ Jesus. I am thankful for the man God has given me to lead our family. God is good.

Tizzy is 2!

2010-08-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have had this post "pending" for quite a while now. Tizzy turned two-years-old on June 12th. I decided I would do something low-key, which ended up having over 25 adults and children over for a bbq! We all learned some lessons with that day. For instance: anything with people in the double digits is not "low-key"; it's hard to prep for a party with a three-week-old baby; it's hard to combine being a host, taking care of a newborn and getting any decent pictures of your birthday boy; even if your birthday boy does superbly for his party, it still may be overload (read: he may wake every hour screaming during the night, all night); if you take the sibling of the birthday boy to get a present, don't do it on the day of the birthday (it's sad to start the day with tears), and on and on. Life lessons. Let's just say we have an intimate family trip planned for Luca's birthday.

Since I didn't get any decent pictures of Tiz on his actual birthday, I just decided to grab some other ones.

Tiz looooves his brother and wants to go wherever he goes. He's still a little afraid when they get rough or run around a lot and on occasion he will quickly run to my legs while I'm doing dishes or something only to have Luca blaze through soon after. Luca's not really chasing him, just running around, but I guess Tiz isn't going to take any chances. Luca looks after his little brother very well and will say things like, "Are you alright buddy?" when he trips or something. He's modeling big-brotherhood wonderfully and Tizzy has become more and more aware of Leo, attending to him when he cries and stopping to give him a kiss when he walks by. He is Luca's shadow and does whatever Luca does for the most part, so I am thankful Luca is sensitive to others.

Tizzy also adores his daddy and although he is not asking me about him throughout the day constantly anymore ("Mama, Go?" That's what he still calls Joe. Although, he will say dada when he's not really paying attention), he still runs to the door when Joe comes home.

Have I mentioned that Tiz is a soccer prodigy? Well, he is. He has been drop kicking for a few months now. He can do one touches, but main plants the ball, slowly backs up, building anticipation (really, he'll back up until he runs into something or you say "Ready, set, go!"). He used to do this thing where he put the ball on his head and let it roll down the front and then kick it. He can kind of dribble. We're working on his left foot. Most importantly, Joe has taught him and Luca the art of celebrating a goal. So, that's what he's really into now. He'll do something random inside like throw his sandal or shoe in the shoe bucket and turn and run yelling "Gooooooaaaaallllll!"

My little Tizzy. I love you so much. You bring fun and laughter to everything and you're so affectionate. We can't wait to see what the next year brings for you.

Bright Star

2010-07-13T14:51:00.001-07:00

I want to understand poetry, I really do, however it is as much as a foreign language to me. It sounds interesting, pretty even, but I haven't got a clue what's being said. I may not know a good poem when I read one, but I do know a good movie when I see one. Bright Star is based on the true romance between John Keats and Fanny Braun. At first I'm thinking this is going to be kind of like a Jane Austen movie/book, but then I remembered it's supposed to be reflecting more of a reality of that time, so I wasn't as shocked at all the hand-holding that went on. I don't know how much material (letters, journals, etc.) they had to go on, but the growth of the relationship was more like you were getting a peak here and there, like there were a few holes that you just had to piece together yourself, but not in a bad or confusing way. The acting was terrific. It has some amazing shots and great use of a steady camera. The soundtrack is a steady heartbeat throughout. And, of course, not least is the beautiful foreign language of Keats, used in different ways.

In the movie, Fanny asks him to tell her something of the "craft of poetry". He says, "if it does not come as naturally as leaves to a tree" then don't bother, or something to that effect. He further says how poems are like jumping into a lake. You don't just jump in to swim to shore. You jump in to be in the lake, swim in the lake and feel the water around you. Basically, poetry isn't something to plow through, but to bask in.

Still... I struggle. I would love to be someone who could truthfully say, "Keats is my favorite. I love reading Keats", without, of course, sounding like a phony who you want to punch in the face. I actually checked out a collection of Keats poems, but it did not win against the forces that pull me to sleep at bedtime. Since that's my main reading time these days, I don't think I'll be translating Keats anytime soon. For now, I guess I'll just stick to movies about poets. If any of you two who read this has any poem/poet suggestions though, I'm still going to try.

Thumbs up for Bright Star.

Nocturnes

2010-07-11T21:32:00.001-07:00

What I love about short stories is that they allow the reader to be more imaginative and creative than they would have expected. With a short story, you can find yourself creating the history and future of the characters, and you're left thinking you're actually a pretty good author. Kazuo Ishiguro put together five short stories that are easy going down. This was the perfect bedtime book and NOT because it put me to sleep (because it didn't). It was entertaining, fairly light, but with moments of heartache and most of all I wanted to pick it up the following night. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to be the voice of musicians or music lovers from all walks of life and different countries. What I'm most excited about is I found another author I like who has a decent amount of books under his belt. So look out library, I have some holds to make! (And now I have officially written the dorkiest thing ever.)

The Maze Runner

2010-07-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another one that's hard to put down. Think of it as a good opportunity to practice self-control. The Hunger Games was pre-baby Leo, so I didn't have a constant reminder that I will regret staying up until 2am reading. Post-baby Leo, it's much easier to tell myself to go to bed no matter what I am reading. However, the fact that I could put this book down doesn't mean it was slow by any means. James Dashner has created a puzzling world that keeps you on your toes, but I'm not here to summarize the plot, so just go read it already!

third time's a charm

2010-07-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

After a surprisingly loooong labor, our third son, Leo, was born on May 20th at 9am in our home.

Joe was happy he did not have to catch this kid by himself this time, as he should be since it took much longer than Tiz (which means much more screaming and general birthing-freaking-outedness.)

The general consensus is he is "cute".

For Luca, it was love at first sight. He held Leo for much longer than you would expect a 3-year-old boy to want to hold a baby. Tiz wasn't really interested, but since has progressed to copying his older brother by giving kisses and laughing when Leo starts to cry.

It wasn't easy by any means, but it was all worth it of course. Leo is our third baby blessing from God and we are so thankful. He has been growing steadily for the past... what is today? Several weeks. Let's say 7 weeks? Something like that anyway.

This is from this morning.

He's been working on some smiles for over a week now.

He's up to around 12.5 lbs.

He has two brothers that love him.

Sometimes, they "love" him too much, if you get my drift.

But I understand, it's hard to resist that cuteness.

cooked oatmeal scones

2010-05-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

My boys have always been down with hot cereal for breakfast. It used to be that they would eat as much as I made, no matter how much I made. Now, however, they vary. Some days they'll only want one bowl and others they'll still pack away three. So, I tend to make a lot, with the hope that they will fill up on this wholesome goodness and occasionally am left with oatmeal/creamy farina that I end up throwing away. I had saved it on several occasions thinking I could use it in some way, but would only use it if I made hot cereal the next day and combined it. Okay, way too many details, moving along.

Needless to say, I was very happy to find a recipe that used cooked oatmeal AND tasted good. Someone figured it out! These scones are surprisingly soft and fluffy. They are more of a cross between a biscuit and homemade, out-of-the-oven bread, than your typical scone that is some what dry and crumbly. Even if you don't have leftover oatmeal issues like I do, I would suggest cooking up a cup just to make this recipe. As an added bonus, they use whole wheat flour and it actually adds to the flavor. I wish I would've thought to take a picture of them before we chowed them all. Oh well, maybe next time. Without further ado, EAT THIS!

Cooked Oatmeal Scones

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup cooked oatmeal
2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (or a bit more)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt the butter and honey together, and mix them into the cool, cooked oatmeal.
2. Mix in the milk, half at a time.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. You may wish to adjust the salt depending on how much was used in cooking the oatmeal- I am assuming not very much, if any.
5. Mix the flour into the oatmeal.
6. If the mixture seems too moist, add a little more flour.
7. (This will depend on how moist your cooked oatmeal was. When enough flour has been stirred in, the dough will form a rough ball.) Roll out to 1" thick and cut in wedges, or scoop it out with an ice cream scoop and flatten it to 1" with dampened hands.
8. Bake on a greased and floured sheet at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Found From recipezaar.com- by Jenny Sanders

my Japanese maple

2010-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to document my Mother's Day present. Hopefully, I'll look back several years from now and say, "Wow, it was so small compared to the beautiful, well-maintained tree it is now!", instead of, "Oh, I remember that gift. It's a shame it didn't make it."

bird city

2010-05-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you thought I was weird when I talked about the possibility of birds invading our under-deck area. Well, they don't call me bird-brain for nuthin'.

May 9th- before.

May 11th- after. That's right, those busy little birds were hard at work for a couple of days there and managed to complete another 1.75 nests. I saw a couple of bird fights go down during those days and think that must be the reason they abandoned this prime real estate. Or, maybe they saw me documenting it and new it wouldn't last long. Of course I wouldn't have done anything to harm them, but, to be fair, I would've had Joe do something about it.

Bye, bye birdies.

a happy mother's day

2010-05-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

Joe really made it a special Mother's Day this year. Not only did he wake up through the night with our sick boys (which is not really a "special occasion" thing since he always gets up when the boys wake during the night- yes, I know I have an amazing husband), but he also got up early with them so I could sleep in and he made breakfast. Since I couldn't sit up well in bed, I opted for breakfast at the table, but he and the boys did bring orange juice and a couple of gifts to me while I was still in bed. The gifts were gardening gloves and small gardening clippers because one day (mark my words) I will start gardening. Right now, I'm just slowly accumulating tools since I found it to be quite difficult to do weeding with my bare hands. Oh, and it's a bit hard to bend with a huge belly.

Need I say more? (Go ahead and laugh, I did too.)

When I sat down at the table Joe put a pan of cinnamon rolls in front of me. Brilliant! They were Cinnabon's from a tube, but they were delicious and as I ate each soft, gooey bite I wondered, "Will I ever make these from scratch again?" What would be the point?

Since the boys were sick, Joe said he would stay home with them and I could go to church. It was weird to get to church so early. I mean, I was there 15minutes early, but that's not how it happens on a regular basis for some reason. We are going through the gospel of Luke and it was a thoughtful sermon about John the Baptizer and how he was able to do great things because of the Holy Spirit, not his own power. So, as parents we need to not focus so much on what our kids are doing wrong or what they need to change, but whether or not they have the Holy Spirit. We can only do so much anyway and they will need to be able to turn from sin on their own. Also, as Christians, whatever we try to do by our own power is worthless and the only way we can really change is by relying on Jesus. It made me think, "Am I just relying on my own strength to change?" Most of the time, I think I am. Yikes, no wonder my plans for change don't really work out!

When I got home, Joe had moved furniture in place that we had got from my brother the day before. He asked what I wanted to do for the day and I said, relax and go for a walk (it was beautiful outside). So, after lunch and naps we headed to Gasworks, which is only a few blocks away. It was packed with people seeking to soak up the elusive Seattle sun.

Gasworks is known as one of the most unique parks in the country. Probably because it's the site of an old "gasification plant" and who would think to turn it into a park? Well, I'm glad they did. It has some of the best views of Seattle.

I loved having relaxing, fun family time together.

Now that I look at it, that hat seems a bit small for Tiz. Anyway, thankfully he brought his little wooden hammer (that actually goes to a puzzle), because there were some big machines that needed fixin', or at least hittin'.

We let Luca get behind the camera and with a bit of help ("Do you see our faces?") he took some pretty good shots.

Look at this adorable couple he was able to capture.

I thought this one was hilarious. We don't have a full-length mirror, so whenever I catch a glimpse of my figure I'm shocked. I couldn't get over how ridiculous my belly looks. This shirt kind of accentuates the largeness, but still!

Now I'm just showing off my cute son. Nice shot Joe.

When we were done at the park, we decided to head over to PCC to grab some food and eat at their outdoor tables. It worked out nicely, though I must say it was the most walking I have done in a while and so it was a bit of a work out for me. More specifically, for my weak hips and thighs.

At home, we enjoyed a cold cup of juice (or watery juice in the boys' case) in the shade of the deck above us.

Tizzy loves doing "cheers" and Luca obliged for 5 or so times before this happened.

While looking under the deck, I decided to document the work that the birds are doing there.

I discovered the nest last week, but since then it looks like they are at work. It's hard to see but there are strings of long grass hanging from that diagonal beam. Joe wondered if they are stocking up on supplies. I am not sure how far I will let this go before I sweep some of the stuff down. I'll leave the nest, but if little bird condos start going up, expect Hurricane Gigi to wipe 'em out.

And on that morbid note, I will wrap up this up. Thank you Joe for a perfect Mother's Day and for being a wonderful husband and father. And, thank you God for Joe.

Now what am I going to do for Father's Day? It's a competition, you know.

oh brother!

2010-04-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

More and more Luca and Tiziano are playing together. It gives me joy to see them interact kindly with each other. I pray this continues through their lives and that the next little guy gets in on it too. Really, the news of having another boy is more exciting the more I see these two guys do things like this-

Just before bed these two got it in their heads to have a bit of a race. Luca with a truck that Joe's dad made Joe when he was a boy. "Big Joe" is painted on it, but Luca calls it "Big Bud", which Joe says is a shout out to his Humboldt roots. As you can see, Tiz chose Mater, who has buttons on the top that make him talk when you push them. Mater can get a little old, but I wasn't about to interrupt the racing. Tiz says, "ahhhhh, GO!" and they both take off, but Tiz stops after 2 feet and goes back to the beginning so Luca just does a bunch of donuts in the middle of the floor.

This particular morning Luca found Joe's safety vest from work and thought it was awesome. We set up some of their Hot Wheels town stuff that were from my dad (who fondly remembers playing with cars a ton when he was a boy), and these guys had a pretty good time.

Joe's parents gave us their shelf/headboard thing and now the boys love hanging out on our bed and turning on the radio of our ancient alarm clock. I think it makes them happy that they can push buttons and control what we listen to.

Then, of course, we dance to the music.

A little time outside in the brisk Spring weather. A favorite past-time is putting dead leaves through this fence. Well, I tell them to only pick the dead ones, but that poor ivy has been abused a bit. I don't get the appeal to this, but they can run back and forth doing this for a while.

When we got inside, it was time to warm up. Tiz cracked me up by forcing his older brother to snuggle with him. He just wants to do what Luca does and Luca loves to snuggle up in this "soft blanket".

You like this right?

C'mon, you like it!

I couldn't stop taking pictures... as you can see. I love these boys, though I get frustrated and tired and annoyed. I am so thankful that God not only has endless patience with me and forgives the times when I speak unlovingly to my kids, but He also blesses me with moments like these. Amazing little moments that I am honored to witness. I love you Luca and Tizzy!

The Hunger Games

2010-04-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Through a Goodreads friend, I checked this book out, not really knowing at all what it was about. I usually like to know little to nothing about books I'm going to read, which has it's up and down sides. When I brought this one back from the library, Joe read the back and said, "This sounds like something I would read, not really your thing." Or something to that effect. Maybe that is true. Maybe if I had read the back I would've decided not to check it out, but the facts are: this book is awesome and you should read it!

Told from the perspective of a teenage girl, this story begins in a barren, desperate setting, but you soon learn that we are well into the future. The alternate world that Collins has created is captivating and extreme. As many great stories, this one has many layers. It's about family, oppression, survival and, of course, love. I read the first one in a couple of days since I lost my head and stayed up until 2am one night. Not something I would suggest when you have two little boys who wake up around 6am. For the second book, I decided to take it slow and made myself remember that I can always read more the next day, so it only took maybe 4 days to read. And I am not a fast reader people- meaning, these books are hard to put down. Now, I am trying to patiently wait for the third and final book called Mockingjay, due to hit stores in August.... AUGUST!?!?!?!

fun in a box

2010-04-06T15:57:00.003-07:00

Tiz is in this ultra-cute stage as you can see.

I'm so glad I have a camera to document this cuteness.

It's almost too much, isn't it?

one warm day

2010-04-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago or so we had a really warm day that put all the weathermen (and weatherwomen) in a frenzy because it broke record. It seems like a distant memory since we have had Winter-like weather starting in April, but thankfully I got the camera out to capture it, so we don't have to wonder if that really did happen.

Water-loving Luca enjoying his first sprinkler experience in our own yard. He really wanted Tizzy to join him, but Tiz decided to admire from the dryness of the stairway. Maybe Tiz will build up the courage by this summer.

Luca getting creative with the possibilities of what to do in a sprinkler.

Tizzy's trademark "cheeeeese" face.

Of course Luca had to dry-off when he got inside. It's funny to think that we used this towel for his first bath when he was a new-born. He screamed the whole time for that bath and now he LOVES baths, showers, anything with water. A lot changes in 3+ years.

[Can you tell I'm excited to have a working camera again?]

baby belly

2010-04-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Luca, my budding photographer, apparently wanted to document my belly growth... and nothing more, including my face.

It's okay, I won't take it personally kid.

Christ is Risen!

2010-04-05T19:55:00.001-07:00

It has been a difficult, challenging, frustrating, heart-warming, convicting..... past month, but I rejoice in the truth of the gospel, that God allowed his son to be brutally murdered to pay for my (and your) sins. Then, because he is the God-man, Jesus rose from the grave three days later, conquering death so that we too may die and rise with him, if we believe.

I don't think I have the energy to go through all the details about what has made this past month a hard one (which is probably for the best), but there are a few things I do want to remember. Obviously, the car accident and all that has followed it, was/is difficult. We are continually attempting to put things we cannot control with this (and the things we can) in God's hands and not be anxious. He has been faithful and patient with us during this process.

I would say, however, that for me, the car stuff has taken a back burner to being sick for nearly a month now. I started getting a cold at the same time the boys did in early March, but then my cold turned into something else. We thought it was the flu, followed by possible allergies, but it was actually a sinus infection. Ugh! I had one of these last year and it was brutal, but not as brutal as having one when seven months pregnant. Joe had to take off some work and I've been doing a lot of "couch parenting" and I have to continually just give it all to God, though I'm still kind of angry about it, when I really think about it. I thought I had learned a few things about my pride when I got meningitis, but I have SO much more to learn. The good that has come out of this is: that I am being worked on and learning that I need to trust my husband more, that he really loves me and cares for me, that I still compare myself to other people and care too much about what they think (or what I think they think) and there is more... and there will always be more.

My hope for Easter a month ago was to have a big party at our place inviting family, friends, co-workers and neighbors, but we soon realized that wouldn't happen. Instead, we had a very restful and still very fun time with our little family and with Joe's parents. We went to church in the morning, followed by treats at Flying Apron bakery and then visiting and dinner with Joe's parents after that.

The boys got chocolate shortbread bunny cookies, but ended up mainly wanting that thin line of frosting.

Not to say that they didn't enjoy the cookie part too.

Joe with a mug of joe, or something like that. He had a giant Russian teacake and loved every crumb.

Since my sense of smell is nearly non-existent, my sense of taste is pretty affected and so I asked for something with a lot of flavor. I was told that this pumpkin bread bar was a favorite. It was quite good considering I'm sure I missed out on at least 50% of the experience.

I did a quick photo shoot outside the bakery. I love these little guys!

Preparing for the traditional Egg Roll at Joe's parents'. Joe's mom played this on Easter growing up and has done it with her family every year. We even did it last year when Joe and I hosted Easter. There is a technique, but usually those under 2 (Tizzy!) use a baseball throw or something that pretty much guarantees that that egg will not roll next time.

Grandma showing Luca rolling technique. Luca got in a few side arm throws before he got it by the end.

Joe demonstrating a proper rolling technique with a facial expression that makes it look pretty challenging.

Me demonstrating a large, pregnant woman's rolling technique with a facial expression of "crouching like this was a mistake".

The night finished with this lovely dessert made by yours truly. My whole idea with strawberry shortcake is "more is better". I thought I could handle this after a very light lunch and not going hog wild at dinner, but I couldn't even finish! I believe that is a first. I would have if I could taste it more and if there was any room left in my huge belly. There's always next time.

what can brown do for you?

2010-03-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, Joe and Luca, who were the only one's in the car, are fine. They hit a UPS truck that went through a yield sign Friday morning just before we were supposed to leave on our first family vacation. Joe will be getting his back looked at, but as you can see, it could've been worse. Not really how we were thinking our weekend would go.

Crunch.

And that's the way the Jetta crumbles.

(Thanks for the title Geno.)

quick update

2010-03-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't had the energy to really write anything, but I know I have some friends who would like to see some pictures. Since we just got a new camera, I can actually put some on here that are current and not blurry.

Luca obliging. As you can see from the marks on his face, he was using markers earlier in the day.

Tiz usually does a classic cheesy smile, but I think this is pretty cute too.

We moved to a new place at the first of February and are thankful for the extra room and big, safe yard our kids get to play in nearly every day. In case you had any doubt, my boys are very much BOYS.

Tizzy's picks

2009-12-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here are two books that Tiziano asks to read or "reads" on his own almost daily.

"I need a friend". Lenny starts this book off with a revelation from the heart. His sweet journey to friendship is light and heart-warming. Joe and I both think the last page doesn't flow well, but maybe that's because it was first written in German.

I know, Tiz is so trendy. It's like the movie comes out and suddenly everyone is a fan. Seriously though, I was always a little confused by this book as a kid. Max is a punk and I would never yell at my mom. But the world of the Wild Things is wonderful and now having read it a bzillion times, I appreciate the flow of the words. Tiziano's favorite part seems to be the "wild rumpus", of course. Some friends got him this book for his birthday and it has been a favorite of his for the past few weeks. Before that, he was loving another birthday book from the same friends. Even after having read this book over and over and over, the flip open parts that are on every other page hiding and animal have managed to stay on. Animal books are great for Tiz's age because you can do signs with them or make the animal noises. He still likes this one, but it's not asked for nightly anymore.

I smell cinnamon rolls

2009-12-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I got a hunch that something was up. Because of some familiar physical symptoms, I took a pregnancy test, and here we are expecting our third baby! This time, I really wanted to surprise Joe and tell him creatively, but it's hard because I also want to just spill it. With Luca, Joe was waiting outside the door and then proceeded to have me take two more tests over two more days to make sure. With Tiz, I believe we were driving home from somewhere. Probably not the best idea I've ever had, since it's usually a shock to hear news like that, and therefore not very safe when behind the steering wheel.

So, I called upon the help of the internet. It was pretty lame, to say the least. I found the same list of 10 ideas posted on several different sites. Slackers. One of the "creative" ideas was to bake some cinnamon rolls and when you're husband conveniently asks, "What's in the oven (as if he couldn't tell by the smell or by going and looking because he has an insane sweet tooth)?", you say, "There's a bun in the oven!" Zing. Except that there would be a pan of cinnamon rolls. So, really that's if you're going to have a dozen babies or something. One site did another take on this and said put a roll in the oven and somehow get your husband to check on it so when he opens it you say the same cheesy line. I guess I could go easy on these people, at least they're trying. Sorry if you have done this idea.... it's really cute, really.

I didn't actually think of much better, but I wasn't about to yell "there's a bun in the oven", so I wrote up a fake blog post and asked Joe to edit it for me. He ended up skipping to the end instead of reading through all of my witty, intelligent build-up (that I know you all enjoy). When he was finished he was surprised and then said, "Are you really going to post that?" At this point, I had not told anyone. Wouldn't that be fun way for family to find out?

I imagine I could have done better if I had cared to wait another day or two or minute for that matter, but I didn't. Better luck next time?

the help

2009-11-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

I read this book months ago and it was one that I couldn't put down. I'm a kind of fascinated with African American/Black history and how it's portrayed in novels, especially set in the South. I have read a few Faulkner books that were fascinating, though not always easy to read, but were set during the time of slavery. This book is unique to me. It is set in the 60's and is from the perspective of three women, one white and the other two are black. It shows a relationship I have never heard of or encountered in other reading or cinema in quite the same way- that is, the relationship between "the help" and the family that pays them. These black women were hired at terrible wages to do the most precious work, raise children and keep a home. Most were treated poorly, some weren't. The heartbreaking issue to me was how attached these children inevitably became to their caretakers, and how parents responded to that closeness with bitterness and disgust; as well as, how those children who loved these women could still grow up to despise or pity the race of those women. It is complex relationship told with heart and courage. I especially enjoyed the pieces of real history (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march, the development of the zip code) that put this novel in context and added to the reality of it, despite it not being real.

I give the help a thumbs up.

costumes are fun, but candy is funner

2009-11-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

This year Joe was able to join us as we politely took candy from the businesses around our neighborhood. I wasn't sure how it would go down, since we skipped nap time, but Luca did wonderfully and Tiz... well, he got his nap in.

Joe, a dragon and a monkey ready to get candy. As you can see, this dragon costume is a few sizes too big for Luca, but Joe's mom had it and he really wanted to be a dragon. Some may also call him a dinosaur, but they would be wrong. We borrowed this monkey costume from a friend, which was nice because it kept him warm too.

Almost everyone who saw Tiz said, "Looks like someone is trick-or-treated out." What they didn't know is he fell asleep by the time we got down the block and was not awake for even our first hit. Which, by the way, was Theo Chocolates.

Thank you Luca for getting so much candy for mommy and daddy and not really eating any yourself. Of course, that wasn't your choice.

Before we took off, my camera started wiggin' out. I believe that's the technical term for it. Does this mean the beginning of the end for the ol' Canon? I hope not. Hang in there little guy, just a few more years until we can afford another camera.

B is for birthday

2009-11-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know we are starting November and Luca's birthday was only two days after mine, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. So, let me take some time to celebrate my three-year-old. For starters, Luca is awesome. Lately, he'll "read" a whole book to himself out loud. Really, he has just memorized the book from when I've read it to him, but it's fun to hear all the same. He loves to wrestle with his daddy and is learning how to wrestle with Tiz (it's a bit different, as you can imagine). He also loves to play with his cousins and visit Grandma and Papa. Luca has a great sense of humor that is developing more and more. I can tell when he is saying something purposely wrong (like the words to a song) to see if I catch it and when I look over he is grinning. When Tizzy is crying, Luca will get him a toy. Luca is still learning how to respond to other kids when they push him or hit him, but his mommy is learning how to respond to this too. Another thing Luca is learning is how to talk politely the first time. For instance, when he wants my attention: "Mom, look at this! Mommy! Mommy!....pause.... Excuse me mommy, will you look at this?"

It is a great blessing to be Luca's mom.

At first, this photo shoot wasn't looking very promising.

It quickly took a turn for the better. This birthday crown is a card from Grandma Becky. Luca liked enough for me to snap a few pictures, then it was off. Oh well, it's his party, he can wear what he wants too.

The chocolate whip cream didn't turn out as dark as I hoped, but it was yummy. Luca liked this digger more than the huge digger we got him for his gift that you can take apart with a toy screwdriver. No biggie, it was only four times as much as this cake topper!

A real good party will involve whip cream and cake being shoveled by a digger. Obviously.

28-years-young

2009-09-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

That's right people, I'm all growns up!

What do you say about twenty-eight? It's not sooo bad. More and more often I can start a statement with, "About ten years ago...", which is weird because I'm not talking about my childhood when I say that.

Here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to embrace this year. So what if thirty is hiding behind the door waiting to jump out at me? I'm TWENTY-EIGHT! Say it loud and proud, or write it in caps if you must, but cry on my pillow, no sir-ey. Sure this seems like a time where I would say, "And what have you accomplished, Gigi?" and begin a series of punches from past should-of's. Well, not this time people! I am choosing to not dwell on what I haven't done, or what I need to get started on if I'm going to "get anywhere in life". You know what? Where I'm at is fine.

So take that imaginary taunting individual.

Here are some pictures from my birthday walk.

Luca reading about the dinosaurs... again. Nice after-nap-hair dude.

I could've taken pictures here all day. I like the distorted, fish-eye reflection.

Last day of summer and fall is already creeping through the leaves.

Tiz is not amused. Probably because he's stuck in the stroller because I'm not confident enough that I can prevent both him and Luca from ending up in the canal if they are both given the freedom to roam around.

The canal.

Good job walking the whole time kid.

A blurry picture of my new hair cut, for all my girlfriends out there who care about such things. (You know I always do.) I don't think I look a day over 27.5, but I flatter myself.

It should be noted that despite the fact that Joe had to work all day and didn't get home until 10pm, he still woke up early enough to make me hashbrowns and bacon before he left. He knows exactly what I like. I managed to fit that bacon into my lunch too, which kind of made me want a salad for dinner, but since we are lacking produce at the moment, I had to settle for pasta. Other treats he got me for my special day: a pack of three organic mint lip balms(I'm a sucker for lip balm yet I lose it all the time), dark chocolate (which shows how I've changed because about ten years ago, I would've said milk chocolate was my favorite), and beef jerky (because I love me some beef jerky, but never buy it). All in all, a good day.

Now on to Luca's birthday tomorrow!

i love my mom

2009-09-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

I usually don't really acknowledge the day that my mom died (September 4th). I don't know, for some reason the date doesn't really matter to me, though it is close to my birthday. [Warning reminiscing: Talk about an awkward 12th birthday, by the way. Not only was I in seventh grade, the height of awkwardness some may argue, but I decided, for some reason (probably peer pressure) to have a boy/girl party. It was lame... until the boys left. Why is it impossible to talk comfortably to the opposite gender at that age?] I did think of her yesterday though, and for some reason feel like writing about her a bit now.

This is my mom looking dope. You can't make your hair exactly like that, you're born with hair like that. Ask my little brother, Alan, who obtained all that curl and kink and then some.

I don't even know what to write. My details of my mom's life and life with my mom in it are all a bit hazy, with holes here and there. In fact, when I get to talking with my older siblings about her or my dad, I usually learn something new, which I love and cling to a bit because I have so few memories left. Sadly, I think I repressed my feelings of grief for so long and tried not to think about the pain of losing her that I didn't really let myself remember her.

My mom and dad in the bleachers watching one of our zillion sporting events.

You know what, I love my dad too. I've been kind of hard on my dad in the past. Maybe not to his face, but in my heart. Forgive me, Dad.

CHEESE! Yes, that cheese-ball is me. I'm doing the classic, smile-so-big-you-can't-even-open-your-eyes thing. Sorry to my brothers whose permission I did not get to post this, but they look pretty cute, don't they?

Now this is my mom, surrounded by kids. Usually it was my little brothers. I love that we're all smiling. We love our mom.

I recently was at a barbecue and it came up that my mom had died when I was younger. This isn't too abnormal because people ask about your family and what not and I've learned it's best to be honest and not hide the fact that she is dead (also known as lie about it) because it only makes it more awkward for everyone when I end up having to mention it. Anyway, back to the barbecue, what was different about this conversation was the woman asked me very politely with sincerity, something to the effect of, "So what was that like for you?" or "How did that effect you?" Hmmm... this is not the typical follow-up. I appreciated the thoughtfulness though and tried to give a thoughtful answer. I talked about how my family really didn't talk about it much and it wasn't until after I got married that I realized I needed to pursue healing in that part of my life. How I realized that grief was not something I go through then it's over, but that it can come and go in cycles. That it was okay to let go of that pit of pain even though it felt like I was losing a part of myself. That just because I didn't feel that pain constantly didn't mean that I didn't love my mom. That just because I had forgotten things about her, like the sound of her voice and the soothing comfort of her touch, I didn't have to carry guilt and anger over it. And that by confronting my deeper thoughts and emotions, despite it being extremely difficult, has allowed me to have deeper, more meaningful relationships with other people.

Okay, I didn't say all that, but I did say some of it. Mainly, I said, and want to say, that it is only because of Jesus Christ working in my heart that I am able to talk about my mom without crying and enjoy remembering her, rather than focus on the heartache. It is because of Him pursuing me, that I have peace and am not sinking in the miry pit of hopelessness and despair. He accomplished a great work in me and, despite my fighting, continues to pursue my heart, knowing that when I am able to give it entirely to him I will be truly free and be able to live the life that is true life. "As for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

talkin' 'bout a heat wave

2009-08-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

I meant to finish this post a month or so ago. I'm only posting it now because there are some rad pictures of the boys and after talking with a good friend last night, I want my long-distance friends and family to see the boys a bit more. You may know or remember that we had a heat wave (or three or four) this summer. One was particularly hot and the weathermen (and weather-women) were nearly giggling with excitement because precious records were broken. It was the best present God could give them because it also meant more air time.

Here is how we keep cool in the city.

We started with a bucket of water and some splashing.

Daddy and Uncle Steve did some pretty sweet chalk dinosaurs, but they lose when it gets this hot. Little bit of information for you, chalk may seem harmless when it's dry. Sure, you can just pat if off, right? Right. But get that stuff wet and you got yourself some pink sharks.

The next day we moved on to a larger bucket. Luca wanted to imitate a Japanese bathtub, which made it hard to share the water. How can I blame him though, I would've done the same thing but "Mommy can't go in. Mommy is too big. Only little guys."

So, I let this "little guy" try it out.

Then we called in a favor with Grandma and spent a few hours at her friends' house on the lake. I believe I spent 10minutes out of the water. (What would I tell you now, Gigi-at-the-lake? Don't forget to put the sunscreen on your back too!!! I should have taken a picture of the contrast that was burnt back/regular back because it was wicked bad, but that's a little too much information. Just imagine something really, really dark next to something pretty much white. Shocking, isn't it?)

Luca probably spent 5minutes out of the water. Good thing that sunscreen stuck.

Don't worry you worry-warts, we had the shade over him. We just moved it for the photo. And no, he wasn't in there all day... it was like... I don't know, not that long, okay?

My brother bought this container because all the little pools were sold out. Yeah, all the fans and all the anythings that keep you cool were sold out in most of western Washington. This worked out well though we thought. The boys sure liked it. Thanks Uncle Steve.

And that's how you survive a record-setting heat wave in the concrete jungle.

photo shoot

2009-07-09T17:14:00.001-07:00

Joe has a client whose wife is starting her own photography business. She offered to take our pictures for use in her portfolio and as a gift to us, we get some on a disc. Here are a few that she sent as a sneak peek.

I wasn't quite sure how this would go over with the boys (mainly it was for pictures of them) but they did pretty well. We went to a couple different places, ending at Golden Gardens, which was nice so they could play around for a while. Thankfully, Erin is very patient, quick at getting a shot and flexible if it's not working out. She took some great shots and I can't wait to see the rest.

If you are interested in some awesome pictures of your family, a new baby, a mom-to-be, I'd be happy to pass on Erin's information.

Thanks Erin!

no butter? no problem!

2009-07-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

We like to bake cookies at our house. Once the thought of a fresh-baked cookie pops into our head, it's hard to shake. So, we got the itch the other night, but we didn't have enough butter. That's when allrecipes.com comes into the picture. Joe was actually in charge of this mission and he found this recipe that uses vegetable oil instead of butter. These cookies are so delicious I think we should have a stock of them on hand constantly, but that would go against the whole cutting-back-on-sweets plan that I'm playing around with. They come out of the oven a bit crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. As they cool they become quite crunchy, perfect for milk dunking... and I don't even drink milk.

Without further ado...

Crackle Top Molasses Cookies

Ingredients

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour (we used whole wheat and Joe attributes that to them being so awesome)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large bowl, mix oil and 1 cup of sugar. Add egg, beat well. Stir in molasses, flour, baking soda and spices. If necessary, add more flour to make a firm dough.
Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll in 1/3 cup sugar. Place 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until tops crack. Remove from baking sheet and cool on rack. (Or, wait until just barely cool enough to eat without burning your mouth and get your grub on.)

Just to make sure we give credit where credit is due, we would like to thank Laurie for submitting this recipe. Thanks!

daddy day

2009-06-23T23:49:00.001-07:00

Joe is a wonderful father. I'm not just saying that because there is a chance (though slight) that he may read this. Really, I mean it. Before we had kids, he never struck me as a guy who really loved hanging out with kids or babies, but the moment Luca was born you could see right to his heart. He was just as cuddly and awed as I was and more responsible too. He is patient and thoughtful and fun. Lately, he has found a new way to get a work-out: wrestling with Luca the Destructor. It's no joke either because Luca is determined and any time Joe even pauses he will ask, "You wanna go again?" With Tiz, he is very matter-of-fact, like having a second baby is no big deal. Maybe that's because nothing will top the moment Tiz was born as far as their interaction goes. I guess everything after delivering him is kind of smooth sailing.

So, in honor of this wonderful father, we went out to RoRo BBQ where we had pulled pork and bbq chicken sandwiches, cornbread, baked beans and mac 'n cheese. We continued our celebration with food by making a special dessert that evening, chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Or chococoocreamwiches.

The verdict is...

Daddy approves.

Luca kind of liked it too.

Yeah, it was ok, I guess.

Or it was awesome. Joe said it was everything he hoped it would be. Well, that's it, Daddy Day just found it's dessert.

Tiz iz one!

2009-06-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

So, it was just one year ago that our blond baby quickly landed in his father's hands. This was such a momentous occasion that we had to celebrate it twice. On his actual birthday (June 12th), Papa and Grandma Montgomery visited with awesome bbq lunch from Caveman and then we all headed out for a trip to Gasworks to open presents.

Tizzy actually liked all the gifts he got, but the one that he seemed to especially enjoy was the balloon-on-a-stick... of course.

Thanks for the food, gifts and fun Grandma and Papa, we had a great time.

What better way to end the first birthday but with baby's first hair-cut? Well, I'm sure you can think of better ways, but this is the one we decided on. Mainly, Joe couldn't take the "wings" flapping behind Tiz's ears anymore. I was reminded how hard it is to cut babies' hair. They really don't get it. What's more, they are both annoyed and intrigued by it and therefore take turns hitting at the scissors and turning their head to see what exactly is going on around their little ears.

For the second day of celebrating, we invited friends and family to join us at the Ballard Locks, where we kicked around some new birthday soccer balls, blew bubbles and ate Rhubarb-Strawberry Crunch.

New-haircut-Tiz eating his first dessert. Open wiiiide.

Even blurry, he is adorable, c'mon! Tiz got quite comfortable with the spoon. In fact, I realized this was his first time eating with a utensil and he did pretty well if I do say so... and I do. It probably helped that what he was eating was sweet berry goodness.

There's the birthday boy!

Truly, we are humbled that God should, by his grace and loving-kindness, bless us with the joy of parenting Tiziano. It is humbling to accept such a gift. Thank you Jesus.

beach days

2009-06-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

So, it's been insanely hot in Seattle, as some of you may know. Actually, most of western Washington and Oregon too, I hear. I say "insanely" because we usually don't get heat waves like this so early in the summer. Weird to think that we had snow not too long ago.

I have to say, I am loving the sun though. I mean, I don't enjoy sweating constantly while exerting minimal energy, but it has lead us to new family outings that we have really enjoyed. Saturday, we took our first family-of-four beach trip. I forgot the camera, so it is only mentally documented. It wasn't too eventful though because Tiz was sick and ended up taking a nap under a towel and it wasn't super hot that day, so there was little interaction with the water. Luca found his second home though, and we agreed we should live there as much as possible while it's warm so Tuesday I went there with the boys while Joe was at work. Because we only have one car and due to Joe's schedule, I had to go after 3pm, which, you may know is the hotter part of the day.

Tizzy trying some of the local cuisine. It's a little crunchy.

In my haste to get out the door, I left Luca's extra pair of shorts on the couch. So, not only is he sporting some denim shorts, but he is also wearing a cloth diaper which he proceeded to soak while playing in the water. I didn't mind as long as he didn't mind carrying the extra five pounds.

By the end of our time there he was soaked from head to toe. This kid loves the water and his little brother is following in his soggy footsteps.

We also managed to squeeze in a visit on Wednesday morning with Joe and half of Seattle.

This time we settled by this area that had a spring-like thing. I don't know what is was. I told Joe he should taste the water and see if it's as salty as the bay water, but he thought my method had too many compromising variables. Chicken.

Luca had a great time at this little area with our recyclables/beach toys. Even when other kids that were a little pushy and somewhat annoying started taking over digging for a mysterious "huge clam", he was entertained more than anything.

Joe said Tiz worked really hard to get his legs crossed like this.

Thoughts on the Application of 1 Corinthians 7:3–5 by John Piper

2009-05-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I came across this article Sexual Intimacy and the Rights Over a Spouse's Body in Marriage on John Piper's website and thought it was helpful insight to verses that I have never felt completely comfortable with. Sex can be an awkward topic, especial in Christian circles, so I am thankful for the pastors that bring it into the light.

Because I know that I can easily avoid reading links people post, I'll give you the conclusion here:

The practical application of 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 is not resolved by logic or taking turns or male dominance or female submission. It is resolved in the mystery of love that discovers even here, when our physical pleasure is more prominent than anywhere else, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). There is a holy and humble and self-sacrificing competition to make the other maximally glad. The logical stalemate is broken by the miracle of grace: With God all things are possible.

Thanks Pastor John.

Death is Not Dying: A Faith That Saves

2009-05-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that's why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.

"Baring a miracle, it is not likely that I will be here in 6 to 18 weeks. Or 42 to 106 days. Sounds like a long time when you're waiting for Christmas or for something on back-order, but when it's the time that you have to cuddle with your kids or spend time with your husband, it's terribly, terribly short."

Check this out! (http://deathisnotdying.com)

Sobering, powerful, humbling, sad and hope-giving. Thank you Rachel Barkey. Thank you Jesus.

three questions

2009-05-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

I went to West Seattle's campus today for church because The People's Market (the band Joe plays bass in) was playing there. I had the pleasure of hearing Pastor Adam Sinet for the second time and was wonderfully and painfully challenged as he went through Psalm 34.

He asked us to ask ourselves these three questions:

What/who do you magnify in your life?

In what/who does your hope lie?

How do you taste and see that the Lord is good?

to be continued...

"butterfly tortilla"

2009-05-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

Luca likes to "help" me pretty much every time I'm making any food in the kitchen. I can't say it's the cleanest or most efficient way to make a meal, but it does make it kind of special.

Tortillas have become his specialty. He even made a "butterfly tortilla". I know, he's so talented.

urban "sand"box

2009-05-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for this idea. My sister-in-law, Rebecca, gave this as a gift to Luca on his second birthday. It's a great idea when you need something new to do, don't have a yard, don't want to drive to a park and/or want to be outside. All you have to do is get a box of cornmeal, a large plastic tub, some bowls and spoons and a few choice vehicles and you have "fun in a box".

Even though it looks messy, it's an easy clean-up. Just sweep.

"Thing One and Thing Two." Good times.

Thanks Aunt Rebecca! (Yum.)

Luca has mad skillz

2009-05-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Luca doesn't do crazy, fearless things, but he is into climbing and went to the top of this tall (for kids) climbing wall all by himself... in sandals.

Unfortunately, the only way down was a couple tall slides (which he has not been into for a while), a sliding pole or back down the wall, a fact that I didn't recognize until he made it to the top.

I guess they figured anyone who could climb this wall could get down one of those three ways. In a way "they" were right because he ended up coming back down the wall, slowly, with me halfway up the wall with Tiz on my back. Not entirely safe for anyone involved, but I was still impressed with him climbing all the way up in sandals.

spaghetti never looked so good

2009-04-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

Of course I'm going to like spaghetti, my name is Tiziano. C'mon!

Good idea with the bib.

For all you folks far from us, here is a little Tizzy update. He's awesome and cool and eating food, kind of. He has six teeth that have poked through and can crawl wicked fast. He loves baths and swings. He attempts to play with his big brother and if he can't do what he's doing he's interested in watching. His pastimes are constantly reminding me I need to sweep by picking food off the kitchen floor, pulling up on the back of my jeans while I'm in the kitchen, usually "asking" to be held, and your basic baby exploration. Any time the door opens, he racing for it like he's busting out of jail. He's pretty social and makes friends/fans almost everywhere we go. He's still blonde, as you can see, and his eyes are pools of ever-changing color. He claps, he snuggles and he gives air high-fives.

I told you he is awesome.

Three Philosophies of Life

2009-04-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered, What's the deal with Ecclesiastes? Me too. Peter Kreeft does a wonderful job teaching with great depth without making you feel lost or bored. He's honest, forthright and even funny at times. Some points he makes about Ecclesiastes are: it is the question and the rest of the Bible is the answer, it is modern, it is all monologue, not dialogue- but inspired monologue. I would say read Ecclesiastes then read the first section of this book, then read Ecclesiastes again. I appreciated the rest of the book too and believe they should all be read together, because any one part without the other is taking away from the whole meaning of life that Kreeft is getting at. I read this book a little too quickly; I look forward to reading it again and taking notes.

Bus Trip to Pike Place

2009-03-21T20:27:00.001-07:00

Joe was going to be busy on Saturday afternoon, but his "busy" was cancelled and so we did a spur of the moment bus trip downtown. We decided to keep it simple and relatively short since we were going during the boys' regular nap time, so we just hung out at Pike Place. As it turned out, it went swimmingly. I thought I'd share. Hopefully this will entice all of you out-of-towners to have a visit.

Waiting for the bus.

It's fun to travel when you're not tied down in car seat.

Your mouth wants this.

I couldn't get a picture of their baked treats, which is what we got, because of all the annoying people who have no respect for my blog entries. That, and the fact that my camera's flash is broken, so it is picky about taking pictures in low lighting. Just trust me when I say, they look awesome.

Say, "cheese".

Produce looks better at Pike Place.

And, yes, we did get one of those sweet mangoes(apparently you can go with or without the e when you make it plural, fyi). The guy selling them told us how he met Drew Carey earlier in that week because was in town for the Sounders FC game, since he's one of the co-owners. I wasn't shocked because I knew all that before since Joe is "in the know" when it comes to all the goings on of Sounders FC. However, I first thought he said Jim Carrey, so I said he was full of it. When I worked at Market Spice, my co-worker used to make up all kinds of stories about who he had met at the Market. He said Martha Stewart had been there and loved such and such tea, or he saw Dave Matthews and talked to him about living in Seattle. Actually, I think he did see Dave Matthews because I had heard elsewhere that he decided to play for free at that grassy patch they call a park that overlooks the freeway at the end of the Market. I don't know if he talked to him or not. He was a very convincing guy though and could sell anything in that store. He was most proud of the wall-o-hot-sauce, which he was responsible for supplying. It was an interesting place to work. Have I written about it yet? Well, it definitely has lost some charm since my day, but, it lost me... so that's probably it.

On Second Thought

2009-03-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

I think this is going to be Luca's new hat. I've been meaning to make one for him anyway and it is too big for Tiz.

Still soon-to-be-finished.

Almost done

2009-03-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is Tizzy's soon-t0-be finished new hat.

No, this is not all I have been doing for the last six months.

Victory Will Be Mine!

2009-03-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Adventures in Potty Training: First Tinkle in the Potty! (No, I don't actually use the word "tinkle", but it's funnier that way.)

That's right, I pumped the kid full of water and read stories to him. He started to get up, saying something about being all done, but the potty was empty and I know his tummy was full of water, so I thought outside the box. I decided to put him on the potty seat in front of the TV. Hey, don't judge me. Everyone has their techniques and I am just dying for my son to care about going in the potty. Anywho, it worked. He went and Joe and I did hugs and high-fives and joyful shouts to let him know how awesome it is to go in the potty. He also got a small molasses cookie and was allowed to watch monster trucks on youtube. These are his rewards. I like to also refer to them as encouragement, inspiration, incentive. So, yeah, we've cleaned up #2 off the carpet three times today, but on the bright side. He went in the potty. Word up.

Let the Games Begin

2009-03-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is day two in Adventures in Potty Training. Luca has brought his A game: acting oblivious to wet pants and avoiding the potty seat like the plague. You can't break me that easy though. Yesterday, I changed wet pants and/or training undies at least six times. It wasn't until after dinner that Luca was even interested in sitting on his potty seat... no matter how many rewards/bribes I offered. So, how was today? About the same. However, I put Tiz on the potty seat a couple of times, not necessarily to play the jealousy card, but to show that it's really no big deal. I don't think it really affected Luca at all, but he did sit on the potty and drink water a few hours earlier while I read books to him. He was antsy and wanting to get off, but all I could think about was all that water he drank, so he is now sitting on the potty seat in the living room watching the end of Curious George. I am waiting for the pee to come. Odd, I never imagined writing that sentence, or having that thought for that matter. Anyway, I'm hoping that if he pees in/on the seat he'll see that it's ok and be more likely to do it again while it's in the bathroom. Here's to hoping.

done the puyallup

2008-09-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

I gots impropa English flying all over this one, so watch out!

Tiz may or may not be flashing gang signs. Holla.

You wish your boyz were this cute. Ok, maybe I'm taking the 'tude a bit far. Seriously though, pretty sweet right?

Cows are big. I'm always surprised at how big they are when you get up close. One thing is fo sho, they don't smell any prettier.

Sweet ride.

I seemed to be the only one who was into this idea. Oh well.

Safety first.

tiz iz cool

2008-08-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a little look at Tiz over the past month. He is a pretty easy baby. He is not stingy with his smiles these days and will just gaze at you and melt your heart. He loves being entertained by his brother especially at bath time where he is shown an array of boats and cars. My sister says he looks like a surfer because his skin is on the dark side for a baby with such light hair. He is a good sleeper and eats well too. Thank you God. We just love our little (or not-so-little) Tiz.

July 29th

August 3rd

August 15th

seven years

2008-08-09T13:08:00.001-07:00

Joe and I have been married seven years now. We did a semi-celebration the day before our actual anniversary (August 4th) by running around Seattle with our boys. It was fun, but a bit tiring. A great anniversary gift to us was the arrival of my brother, Steve. It was a good thing we didn't plan anything for the actual day because Joe came down with a nasty flu bug. It sounded pretty similar to what Luca and I had about a month ago... if you know what I mean. Gross.

Anyway, we keep asking each other if it feels that long. Truthfully, yes. One thing I have learned about marriage is I have to keep working at it, everyday. I have to choose to speak kindly, show patience, give attention, support and affection. I fail all the time, but I have a very forgiving husband who chooses to love me despite my failures. He is truly a terrific example of how Christ loves his church. He puts aside himself many times over for me, most of the time with little thanks. Looking back, each year has had it's obstacles, but getting through them together with Christ as our example and our first love has made us closer. Thankfully, we still laugh a lot together and have lame jokes, old quotes and high fives.

Thank you Joe for supporting, loving and being committed to me and seeking and following Christ for seven years.

some of this week's entertainment

2008-07-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Rentals

Feist

Weezer

inked

2008-07-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we're hard like that. We snagged these from a couple of boxes of Botan Rice Candy. I wanted to make sure none of the kids messed with Luca in the child care at church the next day. When we picked him up they didn't report anyone attempting to bully him. Coincidence? Well, there is also the chance that they could read this kanji because his is supposed to say "friends".

long days need laughs

2008-07-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

Who needs a laugh today. I do! I do!

Shout out to Jim and Krista for the hook-up.

long lost post re-visited

2008-07-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

So, back in May I meant to write about a visit we had with Joe's family that came up from California, but it was a good time that I don't want to forget so I'm going to post them anyway... so there.

Joe's cousin Krista, her hubster Jim and sweetie pie Ben. They are awesome and lucky for them they live in Cali or we'd be hounding them to hang out all the time.

Luca signing cow and a cow.

Play ball!

A strange man trying to lure my son with his remote control car. He knows Luca's weakness.

Joe and Luca looking at a walrus at Point Defiance Zoo. Honestly, they are one of the most unattractive animals, aren't they?

Still pregers with Tiz.

Tweetle-sweet and Tweetle-cute.

t-ball, goats and tire horses

2008-07-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

We spent some time with my brother and his family a couple of weeks ago. Luca and Irene get along pretty well most of the time. Here is one of those times:

For the Fourth of July, we proved we were the parents of young children by showing no interest in fireworks except for that people were lighting them way past bedtime, in my opinion. Instead, we went to a family friendly farm where people take part in what my brother calls "Migrant Worker Fantasy Camp". We did not share in the fantasy and so checked out the other options available to us like swings, goats and big plastic tunnels to run down and yell in.

The tunnel where Luca created his first echo.

A horse tire swing or swinging tire horse. Need I say more?

And he still has all of his fingers.

Behind me is some contraption they use to help goats overcome their fear of heights. Seriously, you are supposed to put food in a certain place to watch a starving goat climb the rickety tower of death, or something morbid like that. Farms are brutal.

Tiz is in the house

2008-06-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Any who read this probably already know some of the excitement surrounding the birth of our second son, but here is the tale once more with pictures. (Don't worry, they are G-rated for your viewing ease.)

The short of it is that he was delivered in the downstairs bathroom, not as planned, and my sweet husband got home half an hour before the birth in which he delivered his own little boy. I mean, I delivered him, but Joe was there to make sure he landed safely.

Here is the long version.
The "plan" was: I would deliver a bit closer to my due date (June 20th), since I was late with Luca I wasn't thinking I would be over a week early with this little guy. I was going to deliver in the serene and peaceful setting of my midwife's birthing center just feet away from Lake Tapps. My midwife was going to be there and my husband was going to be there holding my hand through hours and hours of labor (considering I was in labor for over 30 hours with Luca). Before all this was to occur, we were going to have decided on a name.

This is how it went down: On June 12th, I felt some stronger Braxton Hick's contractions, or so I thought, in the afternoon while we were grocery shopping. We went out to lunch with Joe's mom and grandma where I felt a couple more of these stronger contractions, not thinking much of it. We came home and I took a short nap with Luca (good thing I got a bit of rest). After waking, Joe left for the Sounders game that he was scheduled to work at and his mom, Nancy, and I took Luca to the mall to get his first good haircut. The contractions continued and became slightly more frequent, but they weren't anything to write home about. It wasn't until we were on our way home that Nancy and I decided I was in labor. To me, this only meant that I still had several hours before anything too exciting happened. We got home about 5pm. After a little while, I called my midwife, also named Nancy, but didn't realize it was after office hours. So, instead of paging her, I just left a message that she probably ended up laughing at the next morning. I called Joe and we decided he would call in an hour to see how things were. I did a little emailing and took a hot shower while Joe's mom played with Luca and gave him a bath. After talking to Joe again, he said he would leave at 7pm, getting him home by 7:30pm. Around 7:15pm things began to pick up quickly and I called him to make sure he was on his way. By the time he got home I was going through what they call transition, a.k.a. the mean and ugly contractions that make you feel a bit crazy, where you scream things like, "I don't want to do this!" as if you actually have a say in the matter and where you may, just may, hit your husband's shoulder in anger or painger. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have realized that this was transition and that I was probably going to deliver soon, but, if it isn't already clear, I was definitely not thinking clearly. I started feeling tingling in my hands and feet, which happened with Luca. I don't know why that happens to me. It could be something with my circulation, but anyway, it made us decide to go into the bathroom to run my hands under the water. This is where it gets fun. Let's see if I can do this without being too graphic for all those faint-of-heart. Ok, so it's not that gross, but I'll just cut to the quick. Basically, I had a contraction strong enough to bring the baby down and break my water. I felt his head crowning and told Joe, who then told his mom to call 911. Another contraction came and the baby's head came out. Joe tried to listen to the 911 peeps while holding the head of the baby and helping me lay on the floor of the tiny bathroom. Then, I had another contraction and the baby was out, in Joe's hands. He got a towel to wrap him in and held him there until the paramedics came.

Luca was fascinated being so close to an ambulance. He loves all vehicles, but rescue vehicles are extra cool because they are big and can be loud.

They came after about 5 minutes or so and clamped and cut the cord, took blood pressure and all that stuff, wrapped me and the baby in warm blankets and waited until my midwife, who was on her way, came for her to deliver the placenta.

My midwife got there a few minutes after them and signed off on me so that I didn't have to go to the hospital, which is the protocol for that situation, and took care of everything else.

She left around 10:30pm and all the phone calls that were going to be made that night were over. Around 11pm everyone was heading to bed like usual, but this time my baby was sharing my bed on the outside of me. Weird. Cool. Blessed.

Little Luca did great while all this commotion was going on. I did hear him cry once after I had been pretty loud, but he recovered and was there to see "baby" in daddy's hands.

Our new family. I look more tired here than after I gave birth, but who can sleep after something like that? Plus, in case you didn't know, babies are hard work.

Another thing that didn't go as planned was that we had yet to decide on his name. Who knows if we would have come to a decision before he was born given another week since we obviously had months and months to decide, but we managed to name him the next day.

Here he is, the man of the hour, Tiziano John.

Looking back, it was an ideal labor and birth. Painful? Yes. Shocking? Yes. But, all in all, it went very well and for that I am so thankful.

sondre lerche

2008-06-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

... will be playing at Bumbershoot this year, which we hope to go to for at least one of the three days. I don't know why they used such a horrible picture of him. You would think he sounds very depressing from this depiction, but he actually makes some very pretty music. They should have gone with one of these:

He's also on the "Dan in Real Life" soundtrack. We just watched that a few days ago. I give it a thumbs up.

reunited and it feels so good

2008-06-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we finally got to visit with some of my family. I am very excited to be able to see them more often. After visiting with my dad, we met up with my brother Geno, his wife Sydney and their two girls, Irene and Stevie. I think Luca gets along with Irene more than any other kid I've seen him around. She's very sweet to him and they will just look at each other and giggle for no reason.

After a massive dinner at Red Robin (endless fries I've missed you!), we walked about a mile across this insanely huge parking lot to go to what my brother calls "the poor man's zoo"- Petco.

I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get much cuter than this. Of course, I suggested Geno and Joe hold hands to compare cuteness, but they thought I was joking for some reason.

My newest niece, Stevie. Adorable.

one last look

2008-06-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is our last visit to the boardwalk in Eureka before we moved. There actually are some things about the city of Eureka that I will miss. Weird.

edjamacated

2008-05-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

My husband is a graduate... again. Joe finished his degree in Kinesiology (with an emphasis in Athletic Training), as well as all his requirements to become a certified athletic trainer. It was a little different this time around with him being married, having a kid, working and then having his wife get pregnant again, but he did a terrific job juggling everything. I'm so thankful for his hard work at not just being an A student, but a loving and thoughtful father and husband. (Ahhh schucks! I know, I know.) Anyway, join me in congratulating the graduate.

This is right after he finished the very important certification test that we had to drive to Sacramento for him to take. Smiling is good, right? It took two weeks for us to find out that he passed. Of course, I knew it all along.

While Joe was taking his test, Luca and I went to Howe Park, or at least a park on Howe St. It is very nice and I would recommend stopping there for a walk or picnic lunch if you ever intend to visit The Governator. Luca enjoyed watching the ducks, the pet dogs and the landscaping crew.

On our way home, we took a break in Lucern to cool off and get out of the car. Luca loved walking in the lake and even went for an unexpected dip. I guess it's time to get this kid in some swimming lessons.

radiohead, rainbows and everything in between... sort of

2008-05-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, where have I been? Well, we were off the grid for a while without internet. I didn't want The Man to find me, so we were laying low, but now I'm pretty sure we're in the clear, so I'm resurfacing.

I'm just making up a bunch of jibberish to say that we didn't have internet for a few months, so what's a girl to do? I don't know what all the other girls out there would do, but this one (if I'm still even able to call myself that now that I'm of a certain age) is gonna do some mad recappin' yo. Photo-style. Word.

Check these projects.

My handsome husband modelling his long awaited knit hat. I started it months ago and only finished it a few weeks ago. It's a bummer if I take too long of a break from a project because it takes a long time for me to get back into it. However, I believe I started this one pre Influenza 2008. Stinkin' viruses and their stinkin' vomiting inducing, body weakening, runny nose giving effects.

This is supposed to be the Radiohead icon that is crying. I tried to find a good picture to show, but I didn't try that hard and it's not super close to what I wanted anyway. I think I'm going to try to do more projects with this since you can be more artistic, but it's limiting. I used one of those yarn needles and just kind of winged it.

This was the first time I knit anything with a stripe. It's not fancy, but I like how it turned out and the green looks good with Luca's eyes... but what doesn't.

This is a close-up of the fabric I used for a baby blanket. The gender of the baby is unknown, so I went for bright colors.

I quickly sewed this for a friend and realized I have a bit to learn about making blankets, but it's not that bad. I added this embroidery for a personal touch. It was much easier to embroider writing on this fabric because it has lines there to keep it straight.

I made this hat for the same recipient of the blanket above. I was very happy with how it turned out. It reminds me of the '80s when almost all kids clothing had some rainbow on it somewhere. I used the same rainbow yarn as in the blanket below.

I did it. I actually did it! I finished this blanket for the Victory Camp and sent it on time and everything! That is an accomplishment in my book. It's the first crocheted blanket I've completed and the first striped thing I've ever crocheted so I hope the kid that gets it doesn't look too closely.

That's about it for this post. I may or may not get into all the dramatic and not so dramatic events that have taken place since I was last "on the grid" next time. Until then, get the word out, tell your friends, "Gigi's back!" Or, "Gigi's in the house!" Or however you want to say it.

dos hijos

2008-02-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

Pretty much any of you who read this already got the memo, but for all my adoring fans, I thought I'd spill the beans and let you know that Luca will soon be tie for most adorable, squeezable, want-to-kissable boy in the world with his yet-to-arrive younger brother. That's right, we're having another boy!

I'm pretty pumped, though I will once again have to walk by all the darling little girlie clothes out there. I would probably have to do that even if he was a she since we have nada mula for that kind of thing. I mean, we can clothe our children, but you know, not extravagantly.

Names- I have friends that name their kids in utero just for fun. Some of them end up keeping the nickname after the he/she is born. I've thought about this, but nothing really comes to mind. One friend refers to the boy in her belly as "Flipper". I'm assuming that this is due to the way he feels when he moves around . I have friends in Japan who not-so-seriously (though I can't really tell) call their unborn child "Jump". I mentioned that we could call our son "Kick" or "Punch" so it would be a sound like a series of video game commands when we get together. Of course, if I really chose either of those names I would spell them with an exclamation mark at the end. Kick! Montgomery. Not too shabby. I have another friend who is determined that Rockefeller is the way to go. As classy as it is, I just can't picture me using that name. "Rocky, behave." No, that's not going to happen. Sorry. We do have a few names up our sleeves, but that may be the one thing we don't tell the whole world. (Since the whole world reads this.) We'll see. Neither Joe or I are incredible secret keepers. I mean, when it's not a big deal. You can trust me friends! Seriously though, one time Joe ended up telling me my big birthday present (a nice digital camera) because it was late and he had to get me some smaller things to cover it up. "Let me guess, she cried and you caved?" Yes, that is exactly what happened. In fact, when we were engaged, he told me exactly how long it would be before my ring was done. I know he was telling me because he was excited, but what do you think I did? Yes, I checked-off each day until it arrived and then I skipped my classes because I couldn't think straight and tried not to freak out even though I felt the ring box in his coat when we went out that night. Ahhh, good times. How did I get to writing about this?

Ok, so, yeah, a boy. Awesome.

happy fun times with Luca

2008-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

I cannot think of what it was I was actually going to write about, but I have the time to write right now and I just downloaded pictures on to the computer, so this is what ya get.

I put Luca in this shirt that was ready to be a rag so he could draw with markers. Then, for some reason, he did not want to take it off. In fact, I made a dinner for a friend who had just had a baby and he showed up looking sharp in "the rag shirt". Thankfully, while we were there, he was distracted enough to take it off without a fuss. I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal if I took it off him earlier, but I thought it was funny. And what's the point of having kids if not to be entertained?

Speaking of entertaining...

... is it so wrong to set up these cute scenarios? I love this picture because it reminds me of the past. Who didn't where their coat like this at least once when they were a kid?

I actually did not set this one up, this is what Luca does when Joe gets the guitar out. Well, he did anyway, now he is a little more interested in the actual guitar. (I don't know why he's not wearing pants.)

I need to make Luca a new knit hat, but in the until then we have been putting Joe's knit hats on him. He actually doesn't mind that much even if it's huge. This one makes me think of those furry Russian hats.

This is one of Luca's favorite books right now. It's called There Is a Bird On Your Head. It is from the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. This one is pretty humorous and doesn't get old until you've read it about 100 times, which is pretty good compared to a lot of kid books.

Another one of Luca's favorite books right now is The Jesus Storybook Bible. He doesn't quite make it through a complete story yet, but he loves flipping through it and looking at all the pictures. I'm not just mentioning this so it sounds like I'm an awesome Christian parent who is so spiritually encouraging that her child seeks to read scripture on his own. No, I'm mentioning this because it's a terrific children's Bible, in case any of you are looking for one. Each story shows a connection to Jesus. It has also been helpful to me as I have a hard time remembering that the Old Testament still connects to Jesus. As Pastor Mark says, "Jesus is the hero." I love that because we seem to think that Abraham was a the hero or Noah or Joseph or Daniel, Peter or Paul, but it is always Jesus, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but for our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Lastly, here is Joe trying to tame a dinosaur so Luca can have a bit of fun. Luca seems unimpressed.

dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum

2008-01-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

Oscar asked if Luca really does air drum, so I decided to get a clip of it to show off. This is pre-hair cut... or should I say, hair massacre? Four tries and I still ended up giving him jagged bangs! I didn't realize how long it was until I watched this video, which is a few weeks old now at least. I think his 'do resembles the guy who was the lead singer of the Oneders on That Thing You Do. Oh, and that little thing on his shirt, yes, it's a Minnie Mouse sticker. Do not judge. I was given some a long time ago and decided to let Luca work on his fine motor skills by picking them of and placing them on everything in sight. It's actually fun for me to see one around, though they're almost all out of the picture now. It's like a little reminder that I have a little boy around... not that I need one. I mean, I feed him and everything. He's well taken care of...

I should go.

religion saves +nine other misconceptions

2008-01-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what is Biblical when it comes to birth control? Have a hard time mixing humor and God's word? Check out the new series being preached at Mars Hill Church.

The Rebel's Guide to Joy was the series that they just finished. Pastor Mark goes through Philippians and uses scripture to smack you upside the head. Well, sometimes it feels like that and sometimes it's a gentle tap on the shoulder and a polite clearing of the throat. Either way, I learned something and had some amount of conviction with each sermon. Now, if I could turn all that conviction into repentance.

Next, I would recommend Pastor Matt Chandler from The Village Church in Texas. He is like a Christian Dane Cook. Well, not really, but his voice is an uncanny match. I think I've mentioned him before, but I've been listening to him every week and am thankful for how God uses him to help me understand the Word better.

finishing-up 2007 in 2008

2008-01-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of a Christmas re-cap through pictures. Unfortunately, I have yet to get my flash replaced, so some are a bit blurry.

Luca looking money. If you can't tell, he's trying to give you a little gun pointer. Oh the things we do to our kids for our entertainment. He actually does where these sunglasses when it is bright out. He's smart like that.

Excited to get a tree this year, we went our two days after Thanksgiving to get this one that you can't really see in this picture. (It's a tree, use your imagination.) It was small but that made it perfect to sit on our coffee table where it was harder for little hands to get to ornaments. (Harder, not impossible. It's amazing how clever Luca is when he's figuring out how to get to things he is not supposed to touch.) You may also notice the stockings on the wall. I will be adding one more to the bunch next Christmas!

Cookie Day! We decided to carry on Joe's family tradition with friends this year. It was nice to get together with friends to do holiday "stuff". As you can see, Luca is great at "helping". It takes a patient dad to include his son in these type of things. Thankfully, Joe is wonderfully patient.

Here are some of the felt bags I made for to hold gifts. They may not look like much, but let me tell you that they took me a while to do. I like doing this stuff, but it becomes much harder when little hands are so interested in what you're doing. Needless to say, we sent them at the latest possible time. The 1up mushroom bag was for Joe's younger brother, Tommy. For some reason a traditional holiday symbol didn't fit with him... or maybe this is his holiday symbol in my mind.

Here is our tree after generous, loving family sent their plethora of gifts.

My brothers, Steve and Alan, were here for Christmas! What a terrific gift to spend some time with them. It was a good time and I know Joe enjoyed having Alan as a video game accomplice, beating record hours of video game playing. Well, at least he played more than he has in long time. Family, school and work tend to cut into this play time.

Luca ended the year relaxing on his bear rug. My brother's picked it out for him and he has never snuggled with anything so much.

Right on! Jesus and John

2008-01-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

John and I go way back. My first memories of him are from the third grade, the year I moved to La Conner, when he pushed me out of the way so he could push my friend on the swings. He has since claimed he cannot remember doing this and thus it did not happen, but I know better. Well, the hurt that that may have caused me was quickly erased when the following year he turned his attentions to li'l ol' me. And, in my attempts to show attention back, I would kick him in the shins at recess. What says, "I like you" better than a kick in the shins? Well, don't start feeling too sorry for him, he stole my shin-kicking shoe on my birthday and as I was hopping around the playground trying to get my shoe back, the "duty" (Mrs. Hupy) for some reason thought that this was wall-worthy. So, yes, I had to go to the wall and stare at it for who knows how long. Not exactly the birthday present I was dreaming about. I did, however, get some hot-pink hair ties that had deflated neon balloons attached to them and wore it with my tri-colored neon shirt that had a fake plastic pocket with a plastic fish in dyed blue water. Most likely, I was also wearing my reversible jacket that was bright blue windbreaker material on one side and some kind of obnoxious, colorful Aztec-wannabe print sweater on the other side. I'm sure the true beauty of this outfit is hard to capture in the mind's eye, but take my word for it, it was HOT! Sometimes I think I remember the oddest things of my childhood and this is a perfect example of one of those times.

Back to John, after a few years of looking at each other and quickly looking away and never talking, we decided to be friends in the seventh grade so we could talk to each other. It was a great move. John has always been able to uplift me and has also been someone who could make me laugh, even (or especially) when his dad told me not to "encourage him". However, nothing has brought me more joy in my friendship with John than seeing him begin to live for Jesus. He has become an example to me in how he seeks Jesus, which he writes about on his new blog. That's right, this was all leading up to plugging my friend's blog. Well, why not? He has deep passion and brutal honesty that is refreshing and whether you love Christ or just think he's "a nice guy", you should give it a looksie. Of course, you have to sift through some movie and TV quotes that you may or may not recognize, but it's still definitely worth checking out. Plus, he knows beats I've never heard of and has listened to and compiled some music that will surely tickle your ears. Does that make it sound lame? I mean it to sound intriguing. Sorry John.

ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-01-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to make some changes in my life recently. Mainly one big one. Call it a resolution, call it a goal, but what it comes down to is I want to continually be growing closer to Christ. To do this I learned I can't just write it down. I can't just want it or just talk about it, but there comes a point where I must realize that I actually have to put forth the effort and spend the time. So, after reading some things on girl talk about resolutions (Keeping One Resolution and Keeping Right Resolutions, helpful for both girls and boys... or women and men), I sat down and wrote out exactly how I am going to spend more time reading my Bible and praying to my Savior. It has not been long, about four or five days, but things have been going pretty well. I think God is blessing my efforts, despite how little they really are. (He's also blessing us with Luca sleeping through the night. Amen and hallelujah!!) I am trying to remember that it won't all come at once. After a week of being consistently in the Word, I will not be all-knowing, or even very wise. Asking forgiveness and repenting of my sins once in a while will not make me the most humble, loving person ever. I will continue to sin and I will continue to need Jesus everyday. But, hopefully, if I remain obedient, if I strive for discipline in my life, I will at least know more about God and be able to see a bit of the tremendous, unfathomable love he has for me... for us. Just maybe, I will look back in a few years or fifty and see that I have learned how to serve better, that I am able to occasionally put others and mainly Jesus ahead of myself, that I have changed. Having a long-term vision is hard for me, but if I don't seek that change that takes daily effort to get to, then I will just give up after a week of seeing no results, or worse, of feeling no different.

I was reading BJ's blog and saw three links on the side, one reading Matt Chandler. The other two names were Mark Driscoll and John Piper, so I figured this guy has something to offer. He definitely does. He is the lead pastor of The Village Church (no, it is not a secluded community hidden in a private forest created to escape the modern world and all of it's sinfulness). So, I've been listening to his sermons. Today I listened to one that I highly recommend called Asking How. It is very fitting for me right now. I hope you check it out. I can't seem to compliment him without sounding completely inadequate, so I just will simply say that each time I listen to him, I learn something and seek to be more sincere in my faith.

radiohead live

2008-01-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Check out this video of yours and my favorite band. It's Radiohead as you rarely get to see them unless you're a fly on the wall of their studio. Luca likes to air drum along with them, but who doesn't?

turn the tape off... is back on

2007-12-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

That's right, my husband is trying to get back into his blogging. I'm happy about it because he's smart and funny and writes well (unlike that run-on sentence). He's in a time consuming program at school that was adding around 40hrs. a week to his schedule of work and classes, but now he is done hanging out with sweaty football players and his schedule is a bit lighter. Anyway, you should check him out and show him some love. I mean, check out his blog and comment. (Don't go hitting on my husband!) Hopefully we'll here more from him during the winter break. [Hey Oscar, maybe that's why Christmas is in December: to give a much needed break to all the students so they can get some energy to finish off the year... especially after what has felt like a very long semester!]

and another thing

2007-12-05T07:26:00.001-08:00

Well, word around the street is that I'm joining the masses in producing more masses. If you deciphered that cryptic sentence correctly, you now know the big news: we're going to have another baby! It's perfect timing too because I wasn't sure what I would get Joe for his graduation. It'll be a little late (I'm due in June, he graduates in May), but I'm almost 100% positive no one else will be getting him the same gift. That is, assuming people give gifts for someone's second graduation.

I tried to find a picture that showed some kind of celebration with a cigar since all the pregnancy ones were a bit too much for my taste. (I mean, just because you're pregnant, doesn't mean your any less naked when you don't have any clothes on. I know, I know, it's beautiful, but it's odd when... whenever.) So, this is what I came up with. It's from a page that claims "The Best Lawyer Joke of the Year". I don't known if it's true, but it is pretty funny. And as a bonus, on that page the monkey moves his little pointer gun up and down. Ahh technology: what would we do without it?

So, this little growing baby, is the main reason I've not been doing much these days. I've been pretty tired and sick. Not as sick as some people I know, mainly just a general nausea for most of the day. I've really stopped doing any type of craft. Well, I am working on knitting a baby blanket that will likely not be done until right before the baby comes, if I really work at it. I should have used a thicker yarn. Anyway, I just wanted to finally mention the "other thing" I'm thankful for, our second child. Even if it seems that women everywhere have babies all the time, I know it's nothing short of a miracle because there are also women everywhere losing babies. This could cause a flood of worry and doubt in me, but I always remember that part in Matthew where Jesus talks about not worrying because Our Father has it under control. It ends with, "therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Also, I read this cool verse in Ephesians (I think), "Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." That one has been sticking with me. It's easy for me to try and use they way I feel physically as an excuse for having less restraint on my attitude and tongue, but that verse says "WHATEVER happens". There is no, "except sickness" or "unless you're tired". So yeah, go Bible!

And on that note, I'm done.

Thanksgiving

2007-12-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it was a while ago, but I have the pictures on my computer now, so...

I love my husband. I'm thankful that he is brave enough to pursue a career even if that means hard times and a lot of work. I am thankful for the way he loves me unconditionally and always says sweet things to me. He is a true example of how Christ loves the church and he is a solid rock for our family. I am thankful that he loves me enough to not let me walk away from things or shut people or situations out. I am thankful he is my best friend, a terrific person to watch movies with, a video game buddy, a talented musician and songwriter, a funny, witty speaker (though I tend not to admit it most of the time), a wonderful God-fearing father, someone who always speaks the truth, a loyal heart and a man continually trying to grow in maturity with the Lord.

My son Luca, a blessing as you can see. He's a joy to have in my life. I am thankful that he has been so healthy all his life; even when we've been sick, Luca has only spent one day "under the weather" and has had a runny nose maybe twice. I am thankful for his sense of humor. I am thankful for how he is with people and how he gives me opportunities to talk with more people. I am thankful for how he has started cuddling with us, giving hugs (with a little patting on the back) and kisses... without even asking sometimes. I am thankful that God has allowed me to be to be his mom and that He has given me His Word to help me along the way.

I am thankful for God's provision for us. Even though this has been a very hard time financially and schedule-wise for us, God has blessed us and provided through the generosity of others, as well as other mysterious ways of his. I am thankful to have a loving Father to go to, even though I am not a very attentive daughter most of the time. Most of all, I am thankful for the gospel that changes lives, that gives true life, the gospel of Jesus Christ- who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him a name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

the ugly pumpkin, Christmas excitement and going deeper for Thanksgiving

2007-11-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Celebrate Thanksgiving by reading The Ugly Pumpkin. It's pretty dang sweet. Of course, if you live around here, you will have to buy it because I still have it checked out. I thought about this book for those of you (Oscar) who are fans of Thanksgiving and have become jaded toward Christmas.

I am not one of these people. I love Christmas. Yes, I know that it is not Jesus' real birthday, but if you find that day out, I will celebrate then too. I love the music, well, most of it. I love the lights. The treats and hot chocolate and bundling up to go outside. I love the tree. I love the anticipation. I love the stockings. I love the smells: pumpkin and apple pie, Evergreens, cinnamon and hot cider. I love wrapping gifts nicely (when I have the time). I know I have occasionally become stressed out with the gift buying/giving part of it, but that is a work in progress. This year will be different, and I'm not just saying that. Seeing the state of our finances, it is literally impossible to go nuts on buying gifts, so I will have to look to making things more than usual. I love giving gifts, but still work to give gifts with the right heart and accept gifts with the right heart. Hmm, I think I'm a bit excited for Christmas.

First things first though, here comes Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? Let's not be general about this either. I know, you want to mention family and friends first. Ok, at least I do, but I want to go deeper. Give more details. Tell God specifically what I'm thankful for. Yes, I'm thankful for my husband, but specifically I am thankful for the way he says sweet things when he's half asleep like, "You're my one and only" or "You're the love of my life" and who knows if he's really conscious. I used to think that this didn't mean that much since he wasn't really awake, but then I thought, no it means more because when I slightly wake-up, I'm not really thinking loving or lovely thoughts. I'm thinking about my crazy dream that had characters from The Office in it or food. Yes, I'm thankful for my son, but specifically I'm thankful that he's healthy. I'm thankful for his character (and believe me, he IS a character). Yes I'm thankful for my friends, but specifically I'm thankful for Kate and her love of the Word and how she brings that into our conversations. I'm thankful for how I can go to Becky and say whatever I want and the thought of judgment never crosses my mind. How she celebrates with me and grieves with me. Her support and love for a child that's not hers is inspiring and encouraging and a true example of God's love. I'm thankful for my family, but specifically I am thankful for the work that God is doing in my family to grow closer together even though we are physically getting further apart. I am thankful for the time I had to get to know my brother, Geno, more this summer and just be able to visit with him. I am thankful for the new baby that he and Sydney will have in January. I am thankful for the way my brother, Steve, calls to talk about the little things, as well as the big things. So, this Thanksgiving, lets go deeper. I know, there are still good odds that I will eat and fall asleep watching football. But maybe instead of only taking time to catch my breath while I eat, I can find the time to talk about what I am specifically thankful for.

East of Eden

2007-11-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

This book was recommended to me by a couple of people and I am thankful I listened. The more of Steinbeck's books I read, the more I think he was some kind of genius. I don't really like giving away the story of the book but I will say that it has some intensely painful parts, some beautiful joyful parts and a lot of hard truths. The story of Cain and Abel is sewn throughout the main relationships. Jealousy, desperate longing for love and favoritism are addressed time and again. It shows the importance and influence the role of a father has in one's life whether that father chooses to recognize it or not. How the love and acknowledgment of a father can build a child up or drive one crazy. Like many of Steinbecks books, it also involves a lot of history. History of the West, of the land and people. One thing that struck me was how honest some of the characters spoke to each other. This probably stuck out to me because I have a hard time speaking so openly honest. Steinbeck has a gift of creating characters down to the last detail. The history, life and thoughts he gives each character is intriguing. Part of me did wonder how he could create a character that seemed to be pure evil, who could do unimaginable things, but one thing that evil does is contrast itself with good, making some of the mildly good people and moments more meaningful.
If you are looking for a book to read, I DO recommend East of Eden. It's pretty long, but since it's good, that just makes it better. Good, long books are hard to find.