Double finger jeopardy and learning a strong work ethic

What hurts worse than smashing your finger in the toy box?



Smashing it again in the door.


I'm still not sure how she managed this. Allison was blessed with the unique ability to injure and be injured in ways the rest of us could only imagine. This is the same kid who got bit by another kid at daycare and developed osteomyelitis in her leg. What's next?


It starts at an early age:

When asked if she wanted to go for a walk; "No mom! I workin'! "

Time or Money... that is the question

We hit up the "Just Between Friends" consignment sale today. I always like going to these sales to find clothes for the girls, and sometimes I luck out and find some really nice stuff. Charlie had the day off and went with us and it was a good thing, too. The line to check out was over an hour long, I kid you not. Why I actually waited that long, I'm not for sure. Charlie took the girls outside to play, then eventually took them to McDonald's b/c they were starving. By the time they got back from eating, I was still in line. I did come out with some cute stuff, but I'm still deciding if it was worth the wait. Had Charlie not been there for A.O.C. control, I definately would not have stood in line, no deal is that good.

Jumping Beans

Tonight at dinner:

Charlie: "Allie, can you eat some of your greenbeans?"

Allie: "They won't hop on my fork" (looking very disappointed).

Weary Travelers

We had a big weekend with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. They are returning from an Alaskan cruise (I say are b/c they are flying home today) and they had about a four day lay-over in Washington, so they made their way over to see us. Last Friday they were supposed to arrive in Vancouver, BC early that morning then take a shuttle into Seattle, then rent a car and drive over to Spokane. That whole trip should have taken about 7 maybe 8 hours at the most. Well, if you've ever seen the movie Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, their trip made a pretty good recreation of it. To make a very long story short, they all made it to our house about 18 hours later arriving about 2 a.m.; meanwhile Lisa and Kemmel had no clothes b/c the ship had lost them. Needless to say, they were exhausted when they got to our house. The rest of weekend was a lot of fun and we got to spend some good time together. Here are some pictures:



Grandma and Papa with their girls


Lisa and Kemmel

(they did end up locating their luggage although they won't actually get till sometime this week; in the meantime, though, they had a good excuse to buy new clothes)











Grand Coulee Dam


On Saturday, we had a picnic at the lake in Couer d'Alene





The girls had to check out the water (it wasn't by any means warm)


Car and boat show in Couer d'Alene

Grandma's coming, gotta clean the house!

Not that we just clean when Grandma comes...


If only they would always be so eager to help clean. Allie was really excited when I told her in a few years she and Claire could clean the whole house! I have a feeling the enthusiasm will die out before then.

Today

I really have nothing to report, which sometimes I guess is a good thing. We are anxiously awaiting this weekend b/c we have family coming to see us. My mom and dad and my sister and brother-in-law are supposed to be here Friday and will stay through the weekend with us. Currently they are sailing away on an Alaskan cruise (must be rough) and they will stop by here on their way back home. The last time we saw Lisa and Kemmel (sister & brother-in-law) was last July when I was pregnant with Olivia, so she will get to meet them for the first time. They are medical missionaries in Guatamala (Elmo's mama as Allie used to call it) so we don't get to see them very often. And of course, papa and grandma are always a hit, especially when we're 1700 miles from home.

One other note of good news, Charlie passed his most recent Board Exam (yea!).

Just for your reading enjoyment, I thought I would leave you with a few events that happened on this day in history:

1683- Leeuwenhoek reports existance of bacteria
1862- Battle of Antietam, bloodiest day of Civil War
1900- Commonwealth of Australia proclaimed
1920- NFL organized in Canton, OH; 12 teams paid $100 each to join the Amer. Prof. Football Assoc.
1940- Hitler begins invasion of England
1963- "Fugitive" premiers on ABC
1972- "M.A.S.H. premiers on NBC

Changing of the clothes...

I finally broke down and started on one of my most dreaded jobs... sorting clothes. Since the weather's been getting cooler I've had to rummage through boxes finding long-sleeves and jeans for the girls. So I finally decided to just get the whole thing done and sort through all the Fall and Winter stuff and get it put away. But of course I can't put away all the summer stuff b/c this week we're supposed to have "unseasonably warm" temperatures in the 90's. So here's a visual of the fun...


Nope... that's not all of it


I guess she thought everything went in a drawer...


Allison's idea of sharing:

Allie: "Mom, I'm wearing Claire's shirt. Yeah, God likes it when we share."

Me: "Did you ask Claire if you could wear her shirt?"

Allie: "Claire, can I wear your shirt?"

Claire: "No."

Allie: (she continues her reasoning since apparently Claire didn't understand the question) "God likes it when we share, Claire. I'm just sharing, Mom."

Me: I try to clarify what sharing really is


Other shots...


You gotta brush, brush, brush... even if it's with someone else's toothbrush


Thanks for the 'do, dad! Real Nice!

Weekend Fun

Charlie got this whole weekend off (amazing!) so we took advantage of our time and tried to go see something new. We ended up going to Riverside State Park and did a little hiking, picnicing, and even played in the water. The weather is beautiful today so it made for a really nice day! This park stretches the west side of Spokane; it is huge and there are tons of areas to explore. We went across the swinging bridge and hiked a little ways back into the woods. Then we stopped and had a picnic lunch, then ended out our time down by the river so the girls could play. A fun day!


Heading out across the bridge











Hiking














Don't fall in...





Having a fine time....


Not having a fine time... Note the wet jeans after she fell in the water :)

Tough Morning

Olivia went in for her one-year check-up this morning. I will say that this was one of the most traumatic check-ups we've been through (at least for Olivia it was). We went and saw Dr. Danley, who is a good friend of ours here. (She and her husband both did their residencies at St. Anthony's in OKC; she's also the director of the fellowship program Charlie is doing.) Dr. Danley was pleased with everything and confirmed that we have a healthy girl on our hands, weighing in at 22.3 lbs and 2 ft 4 in. in height (Claire better watch her back). Thankfully there were no other significant findings. She did, however, undergo the firing squad of nurses who shot her with five shots. Olivia did not appreciate their efforts in the least. I can't really blame her though, one of the nurses was obviously a little new, and I think she got a little nervous b/c one of the injections didn't go in just right which made it hurt worse. I know from personal experience that giving shots can be a little rough on your nerves sometimes, but I just hate it when it happens to my kid. Just look at that face:


Note the red-splotches from crying all the way home. I should mention it was also her naptime so all drama was multiplied about 2x. Once she found her duck, things were much better.


Poor baby! A couple of the shots were real zingers! The other leg had matching bandaids.

It's not all about public service... what about the singing?

As Allie and I were watching part of the Presidential Forum tonight, she asks me (after about 10 or 15 minutes), in complete seriousness, "Mom, when is this guy gonna sing?"

The Usual Suspects

Crime Scene:
* Parents' bathroom sink
* Significant amount of freshly cut dark brown hair




Articles #1 and #2 Black hair-cutting shears; submitted as
possible weapons.
They were found very near to crime scene.
Weapons were clean and placed neatly in toothbrush holder (not their usual place)




Victim (who did not report assult)
Also named Prime Suspect


Person of Interest (looks guilty but probably not)


Additional note: officials could not find any major damage to victim's hair...yet

On to bigger things

I'm bottle-free, Baby!

Mobius

Since they actually looked nice today, I thought I would take a picture of them.


This is the "Bahamian Hut," Allie's first question: "Mom, where's the television?"


The kitchen of the "Bahamian Hut"


Playing at the firestation


Claire was pretty put-out that the coat was too big.


Playing in the gravel and water- a big hit with these two!


Block-tasting


On the Broadway stage... some little boy came up and put some tap shoes on, but Allison quickly set him straight that tap dancing is for girls!


The girls and I ventured out into downtown Spokane today. Spokane has a really neat downtown with a large riverside park and a big fancy shopping mall. In the mall, they have a place called Mobius. It is a cross between a children's museum and science spectrum but it is aimed at young kids. They have lots of hands-on stuff for the kids to play with. So I finally braced myself and decided to take the girls. Taking them to busy places like malls always kind of frightens me just because I know how they are when they have their "moments." And when three of them have a "moment" at the same time (which is usually the case), I usually want to dig myself a hole and crawl in (not taking them with me). So anyway... since today is Friday, I thought it would be something special for us to do. The girls absolutely loved it and they were so good! We stayed about two and a half hours and it was one of the best activities we've done. It was even baby friendly and there weren't many people there, so they got to roam all over, even Olivia.