Politics anyone?

Being as this is the last day of June and I have posted one gazillion times this month I thought I'd stick one more in.  Anyone want to talk politics?  Let's all be nice to each other but I'd really love to hear what other people think about the upcoming presidential election.  If you have something to say and think you can say it nicely, and be nice to others, let's have a discussion.  I'll start.

I am not excited about either candidate.  It's always difficult to see their true stance on issues through all the politics of well, politics, but from my research neither one represents ME.  (Obviously, that is what they most want, is to please Sara Jones.)  I have always voted Republican but struggle with that as well.  I find that Republican candidates are much more closely aligned with my moral concerns and ideas about governmental influence but find that I am favoring some Democratic stances on issues this year concerning the war, universal health care, and the environment.  But I don't care for Obama.  And McCain is a ridiculously liberal conservative so he doesn't do it for me either.  What do you think?

Old Stomping Grounds

Greg and I took the kids and spent the evening wandering around the Whitworth campus. It was a beautiful day and we all had a wonderful time. Frozen yogurt from our favorite little restaurant didn't hurt either. Here are some pictures we took on Greg's phone (hence the poor quality) of the science lab where Greg and I met. Look where we are now! By the end of the night Aubrey was saying, "When I get big, I want to go to Whitworth." That's our girl, a pirate in the making.

Fun with photo booth

Waiting for Greg to get home last night we went a little crazy playing with photo booth. All of the pictures are current, except for the first one. That one is of Aubrey and Nathan when Nathan was about 7 months old. I think Dane looks a lot like Nathan did.








p.s. Dane does not have a binky in his mouth all the time. These pictures just happened to be taken right before nap time. Honestly.

Camping

I have been putting this post off so that I could include pictures but being as we are having difficulties getting the pictures from the camera to the computer, I figured I'd write now, show pictures later.

So, I had thought about this blog long before we even left for camping. I envisioned stories of hellish nights, spending the days chasing kids and keeping them safe from water/fire/mosquitoes/vehicles/strange dogs, etc., and all of us coming down with some awful disease. I mean come on, when you are tent camping with an almost four year old, two year old, five month old and all sleeping in the same tent for four days and three nights it's fraught with nightmarish possibilities.

But it went well!

Truly. I can't even think of anything to exaggerate into an issue. Two of the three nights were great sleeping and the middle one was good enough. The kids had a ball. Greg and I even relaxed! Greg's family is big enough that our campsites consumed an entire loop so the kids had free reign. A kiddie pool in the middle of the loop, bikes to be rode, t-balls to play with (Nathan's new favorite two, thanks Noah), s'mores to be eaten, fun new "Cars" sleeping bags to sleep in, cool food like juice boxes and Double Stuffed Oreos and hot dogs, tons of cousins to play with, lake water to splash in, and extra adult hands to spread the kiddie work around. Heck, I'd go again!

Hopefully I'll get our camera figured out tonight so that I can post some pictures. I took over 200 so there should be something cute to see!

Oh, and a p.s. here. We bought a Bumbo Seat for Dane to use on the trip since he isn't sitting yet and we knew we'd need a place to put him. FYI, five month olds are fully capable of launching themselves out of the dumb thing. He would arch his back and scream and I kept telling Greg, "I think he can get himself out of there." Greg was unconvinced but Dane proved him wrong when he threw himself out of it, over the side, onto the grass. Bye bye Bumbo seat. I'm looking into getting the tray for it so that he can use it a bit longer. He is such a fidget britches! Learn how to sit kiddo!

Lianna's bridal shower pictures

Please disregard the order of these pictures. I always forget that what I upload first will be shown last. They're all cute anyways!

Lianna with her good friends Kacie and Reghan. Reghan is one of the bridesmaids.

The traditional sisters picture. Look at KayLynn's tummy!
Sexy Hannah and our cousin Ali.
Mom and Bridal Shower Queen Lianna
Shirley, Lianna, and Mom
Shirley's friend Sandy, Lianna, and Shirley
Lianna's college friend Kacie
KayLynn, our cousin Sheena, and Ali
Sweet Lianna
This one's for you Matt!
Our PG-13 game. The object is to get the broom handle into the toilet paper roll hole.
Look how good we are!

In case you can't see, her shirt says "Mrs. Sackmann".

Nathan's 2nd Birthday Pictures

The grandma's making their homemade pizzas
An overhead view of the birthday carnage
Our two year old Nathan with his basketball cake. He got both candles on the first try!
The beloved puppy bubble blower from Aunt Lianna and Uncle Matt
Funny kid. He got a "Cars" sleeping bag and promptly went upstairs for his binky and blankies and proceeded to try and open his presents from that reclined position.
My cute Mom and Dad
Birthday KayLynn who turned 26 on June 10 with David, Lianna, and Aubrey. She was a good sport about sharing the spotlight with her nephew.
Cutie pie Dane with Aunt Julie and Uncle Jason. Their baby is due in just a few short weeks!
Nathan loved that party favor.
A birthday kiss.
The perfect birthday breakfast: pancakes, a lot of syrup, and bacon.

Prayers of a two year old boy

Tonight at bedtime I was saying prayers with the kids and Nathan was repeating everything I was saying.  I asked him if he'd like to pray.  

"Yes."

"Okay, go ahead"

Long pause...

"Nathan?"

"GOD!!!!"

"What about God?"

"God have poopy diaper."

"Oh, Nathan, can you think of something else to say?"

"Ohtay.  Stinky tooties."

The secret

A question has been raised as to how I can have time for not only a t.v. show but reading books as well being as the cumulative age of my children is currently 6 years and 2 months. The answer is simple. I do not sleep and I love TIVO. Not only does Dane keep me up at all hours of the night but I'm rarely asleep before 11:00 p.m. That's not to say that I'm not always exhausted. It's just that in the evening I am so jealous of those few precious hours when the kids are all sleeping and I can do WHATEVER I WANT that I choose to stay up and do just that. Plus, reading is my favorite thing to do and I can't give it up. TIVO provides the avenue by which I watch my program whenever I have a moment. Plus, when you can fast forward through commercials and reality t.v. nonsense the show is half as long. That is why the next time you see me I may have wrinkles and bags under my eyes but I will be well read and learning interpretative dance.

"So you think you dance?"

Anyone else addicted to that show?  I am a newbie, this is my first season watching it, but both Greg and I are hooked.  If you are also a fan, let's chat.

p.s. Stay tuned for pictures from Nathan's 2nd birthday party and Lianna's bridal shower that's this weekend.  Hannah has big plans for a very indecent game so it should be a blast.

Yes, they had our permission

Amendment

In regards to the earlier post  I want to say, now that I have cooled off, that nine times out of ten my kids really are good at the store.  Seriously.  They obey and don't whine for treats and act like semi respectable people.  I never hesitate to go out with them and all that has changed with the three of them is logistics.  Apparently the exorcism I did this morning on the kids didn't work like it typically does though and their (meaning Nathan's) heathen sides was revealed.  

Chelsie, don't worry too much.  Most of the time three kids is fine, just a lot of work.  Other people survive it and I suspect I will too.  

Uncivilized Beasts

Signs that the day is going to kick your *@@....

1. After the shower you take to revive your body after a night of no sleep, you put on a "clean" sweatshirt only to find that it has baby puke on the sleeve and back. And you decide to wear it anyways.

2. Your two year old wakes up at 5:45 and is having hysterically tired fits by 6:15 a.m. When asked if he needs to go back to bed he screams, "NO, I JUST WOKE UP!!"

3. The above mentioned two year old gets dressed after you literally drag him thrashing from under a wine stand, which he knocks over and breaks some of the contents in the process. The demon possession continues as mom, the goddess of all horrible things, has the audacity to require that he wear a shirt since we are headed to the store. Mom decides that she doesn't have the strength to go to the store and puts rotten child to bed. He is asleep in under two minutes.

1 hours elapses....

4. Rotten two year old wakes up, crabby as ever. However, the grocery store calls because once again, evil mom woman needs to pick up selfish things like ice cream and candies to decorate rotten two year old's birthday cake with, which happens to be tomorrow. Of all the dastardly deeds.

5. Baby Dane, who is always so mellow, decides to wail like a banchee at the grocery store as soon as entering. He decides he is squished. He decides he is being ignored. He decides that he hates his car seat. Mom frantically searches for binky in purse, finds none, and without hesitation opens a new package right there in the store and shoves on in his mouth. (NOTE: I did pay for them and no, I don't care that the package says to boil them first and to never ever use it as a baby sitter or a way to just shut a baby up.)

6. 31/2 year old and rotten two year old are bribed to the ceiling. They are each holding a fruit roll up that will be theirs IF AND ONLY IF THEY CAN KEEP THEIR HANDS TO THEMSELVES AND NATHAN I SAW THAT AND SO HELP ME AUBREY IF YOU PINCH HIS HAND ONE MORE TIME, DO YOU THINK THIS CONSTITUTES GOOD BEHAVIOR, YOU DREADFUL LITTLE INGRATES??????

7. After running into most of Liberty Lake at the store while I wear puke covered clothing and look like an ancient old witch, we go to pay. Once again, mom exercises her idiocy by turning her eyes away from "older" kids to pay only to hear Aubrey scream because Nathan (rotten two year old) has bitten her shoulder and drawn blood. With true delight in mom's heart, she takes rotten two year olds fruit roll up from him, hands it the cashier to take back, and proceeds to open Aubrey's and allow her to eat it in front of him. His anguished cries only make her heart swell with happiness all the more.

8. Saga continues at home, including two more time outs for rotten two year old, much self-righteous indignation from Aubrey and a half whimper of pain whenever Nathan looks at her (to her credit, that bite had to have hurt like hell, and yes I said hell and yes it felt good) a starving suckling baby, mountains of groceries to unload and a house that looks condemned. Oh, and I just had to interrupt typing this post because rotten two year old pooped his pants in bed after his mom forgot to change him into a diaper instead of his big boy underwear for his nap.

I QUIT!

Weekend in Yakima

We spent the weekend in Yakima for Greg's cousin Danny's wedding. He met his new wife, Ila, on line. (They are both deaf.) She is from Delhi, India, and arrived in the U.S. just three days before their wedding. Danny flew to India last fall and spent several weeks with her and her family but that is the only time they have met in person. Danny seemed so happy and Ila seemed happy but VERY overwhelmed. The only person from her family there was her mom. I think she's in for a big adjustment period, they are going to be living in White Swan, WA and she's from huge city India. Yikes. Anyways, I also included a picture of pregnant KayLynn and a few more of the family and kids from the weekend. Cheers!


KayLynn, six months pregnant.
Danny and his new wife Ila. Isn't she gorgeous??
My happy baby.
Aubrey and Nathan, driving tractor at a wedding reception.
A rare good picture of my whole family.