!!! BONUS POST !!!!

I know that I have already posted today, but I really am so excited. Almost a year ago I was at DI in Sugarhouse when I saw a lady pick up some cookware that I immediately recognized. I have wanted a Le Creuset pan for a really long time. This lady at DI got about 6 or 7 pieces. I was so jealous that I actually waited until she bought them and was out of the store, just in case she decided not to buy them and put them back. When she walked past me with her cart I saw one of the stickers was $3.00. Come on, $3.00!!! So, today I made a trip to the Washington DI. Look what I found!! Plus, it was only $2.00. I was so excited I had to share with someone. I also found this two weeks back. It's the type of thing ,like the Le Creuset, that I never expect to find and then there it is. It was $4.00 and when I brought it to the car Pete was probably thinking, " Oh good, more craft things." But then I told him how sought out they are and what luck it was to find one. The only thing missing was one screen and the flash bulbs were used. Anyway, I know this isn't really "post" material but I just had to share.

Viva la Raza

Yesterday I was talking to Luisa about the kids and school starting. Somehow we started talking about the kids race. Silas refuses to believe that Luisa is not black. For those not in the know, his dad is black. Luisa?, not so much. Elijah has decided to adopt the Luisa side and is going with Mexican. Being half Mexican myself, I say not a bad choice. The difficulty being that we don't really look it. When I have mentioned to people that my mother is Mexican I get one of two reactions. The first is " I can see it in your features. "( What???) or " Your dad must be really white." (Yes, yes he is.) Anyway, this all leads to my favorite answer to the question "What color are you?" When asked by her dad, Georgie answered, " Kind of like the cardboard box upstairs." I can't wait until Olive tells someone she is Mexican. School starts this week and Oscar has been doing math sheets out of his review book to be prepared. Hans has also been working on his workbooks. He says the pencil behind the ear makes him think smarter.

Oscar has also been working on some end of summer construction projects. I painted the boys bedroom yesterday because for some reason they were not digging the pale pink that they had. Oscar is making some sort of entry device so that you have to be part of the club to get into the toy room upstairs. I can't wait to see it finished.

Siobhan returns today so I better enjoy the getting along while I can. It's been nice to watch as the young ones play Legos or play a game together with no disdain from Siobhan. I miss her though and I am excited to see not only her, but the pictures she took as well.

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Pre-Teen Angst

We haven't seen a lot of Siobhan this summer. From what I remember this is still what she looks like. When we arrived in Utah last week Siobhan spent about 15 minutes at Grandmas before asking to go to her friends house. Due to some confusion between Pete and I she did get to go and she stayed until the night before we left. This morning she left, by plane, with a friend from school and her family to spend the rest of the week in Santa Cruz. I miss her, especially knowing I'm not 5 minutes away. I hope that she has fun though and gets to spend time with Patrick. With all the Siobhan goings on I have been thinking a lot of how I was at that age. There is a lot I think I choose to forget but there are a few things that have remained with me. My love for reading children's books is only matched by my love of reading really awesome teenage angst books. This past weekend in La Grande, Oregon I found these two treasures. I loved these books when I was in middle school. Girls of Canby Hall was more my speed than Sweet Valley High, although I did read those well into my 20's. There's a Bat in Bunk Five was one of many books I read and reread by Paula Danzinger.

Another thing that remains of my preteen self is being absolutely "boy crazy", as my mom often said. Of course I adore Pete but he is awfully nice at enduring my passing crushes on random celebrities. The list this year has included: Stephen Colbert, David Cross, Jason Schwartzman and a few others but currently the two from Flight of the Conchords are cracking me up. So if you don't follow any of my previous gratuitous links please check these out.....................

Hiphopapotamus vs. Rhymenocerous

Business Time

If Your Into It

Back in State of Washington

Well, we are back in state Washington, as Hans and Olive call it. It was another marathon car trip and I am so glad that the kids are such great travelers. This photo is on our way out of town. Hans yelled, " I see the Space Needle!" I have to start off with how great Kim and her boys looked. I have heard how big Kim had gotten for a month or so now so it was a shock to see her looking so good. Cooper and Chase are adorable and I am really grateful for the time I was able to spend with them. I miss Kim and it was nice to see her and I'm glad Pete was so spontaneous. They are so fun to hold!
We did a lot of Utah things. First on Oscars list was to eat at Millie's. We ate at Millies a great deal when we lived there. It is just a couple of blocks from our old house which is for sale .

Banbury Cross doughnuts was also on the list and visited twice. Hans was also able to have a sleepover finally. He had grown tired of Siobhan and Oscar having people over and this was his turn. He and Landon had a great time together. This is Hans telling him a story involving Grandpa Fish which led to a whole discussion on how many grandpas each boy has. " Yes, you both have Grandpas that fish." "Yes, you are both lucky. " "Yes your dad is bigger than Uncle Pete but they can both be in charge."
Olive did not have a sleepover but she did get to go to school with Grandma. She made a lot of friends and is now obsessed with going to school. If only Washington had a clothing optional preschool.
I was so happy that my sisters-in-law all came up everyday. I know it's a hassle sometimes to load everybody up and drive but the kids had so much fun together. Even Olive had fun despite this picture. I am glad that the cousins made them feel at home by taking off their clothes as well. I wish that Jocelyn and Nathan could have been there also.
I love to see Olive and Darwin together. We watched Darwin for awhile when Gretchen was working and he holds a special place in my heart. I was so happy that they sat together for this picture.

There are so many pictures that I should probably stop here for now. I wish we had taken some pictures when we saw Ryan and Trisha. That was a lot of fun also. Overall, we had such a great time. We have been so homesick for Utah and being there just made us want to stay. So ,we'll see how the downtown store pans out so that we can get back. I think that Hans would like that. After a week there, when we sat down for dinner at the hotel last night Hans made us wait until someone said a prayer.

Utah bound.

There have been a great deal of things we have come to enjoy in Washington. This store is one of them. It is a Russian/Ukrainian grocery that is two blocks from us. I was too intimidated to go in until this past weekend. It is really pretty great. The homemade breads and pastries are amazing. They have a whole aisle of bulk Russian candy that I recognized from the Mayors office. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of it around Halloween.

The other thing we are hooked on is the Canadian Broadcasting Channel. There is some great stuff. Our favorite is Just For Laughs Gags. Most of it is so dumb it's funny. They also play reruns of Arrested Development on the CBC. Good stuff, that.

As much as we are enjoying these things, Utah is calling to us. I was so sad that we weren't there to see all the new babies that have been born since we left. Pete, being the great guy he is decided last minute we will leave Sunday and spend the week there. I am thrilled and Pete is excited as well. I'm lucky these kids are such great travelers and that they love the KOA. So, two more days and we'll be back in the family truckster and on the road!

Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum.

Finally we weren't skunked. After 8 months of living here we finally caught some fish. Olive caught the first one but was totally unwilling to kiss it despite her fathers attempts. Also, she is not wearing a bathing suit, but her "trunks". That's what the boys wear, and no shirt. Hans caught a fish also. He was really excited. But not as excited as when he caught a shark with Grandpa Fish. Hans has some great stories about himself and Grandpa Fish. He really believes them which is the fun part. They have also caught a huge tuna fish and a catsalmon, a rare cross between a catfish and salmon. Apparently they are delicious.
Olive didn't want to kiss the fish but she did want to swim with them.
Oscar made his own fishing pole. Patrick bought him this awesome book when we were last visiting. It is right up Oscars alley and he has gleaned a great deal of information from it. The only thing with this pole is that he didn't use quite enough line and he only cast out a couple of feet. Next time he'll get it.
Pete and I also each caught a trout and we brought them home and had an awesome dinner. The boys ate every fish head and Oscar was particularly happy to eat the brains and eyes. Go figure.

Team Runnells doubles in size

The babies are here! Cooper was born 08/12 and Chase was born 08/13. I haven't yet been able to talk to Kim but Sharron says that everyone is doing well. I cannot think of two people more deserving to be parents and those two little boys are lucky. I am so sad that I'm not there to hold them and give them a kiss. So, tonight I'll be Utah homesick and tomorrow I'll be back. CONGRATULATIONS !! Kim and Troy,Cooper and Chase, We Love You !

Zoo,Dance,BibAlls and MORE!!

You may be wondering why I am up so late posting. I guess I should say late for us. Well, I am obsessed with these t shirt sheets I bought at a garage sale when I was with my mom in California. I bought them because mom said they were a good deal and it's nice to have extra sheets and I thought "Yeah, that is a good idea." When we got home I washed them and tried them on for size. I have not slept a night without them since. I also have not stopped talking about them. They are pure heaven. Olive has been in panties now for a week without an accident but last night was a party night for us and she forgot to go before bed. So tonight my bed lies naked waiting for the sheets to dry. I will not go to bed without these sheets. Here's some pictures from the zoo today..... I don't think this eagle looks real.....
Hans giving a monitor lizard an exam....
This is Olive dancing last night........
I saved the best for last. This weekend was the Good Old Days festival in Auburn. I have been waiting to see what it was going to be like. Let's just say that it was pretty Auburn. This booth about summed it up. I know this picture is not great but I didn't want to be too obvious. BibAlls, when a napkin ain't enough. You can see the huge bib there in purple. That's the basic version. They also have ruffles, tuxedos and various other motifs.
Here's what might happen if you don't buy a BibAll. Pretty scary stuff. I think you all know what's coming for Christmas.

Anyway, I want to add that my sister in law and one of my bestest good friends Kim is in the hospital having her twins. By tomorrow morning hopefully they will be here safe and sound. Please say a prayer for her and the babies.

Five minutes out of Hans' life.

Get really ticked off because you get caught eating straight from a jar of chocolate milk powder. Try to pull the camera right out of moms hands. When she is talking to your dad about how naughty you have been today pull a pretend gun. Remember that mom and dad are not cool with guns at all. Try and look remorseful. Get mad about the anti gun talk and go straight to punching. Get put on top of the refrigerator(never has been let go of, I promise).

No embarrasing things,

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and singing. I had such a great birthday. Alex made me a coconut cake with lemon curd. Two of my favorite things. She left the bowl of extra lemon curd which I ate as soon as she left. Hans and Olive are having a hard time waiting for their birthdays and Olive keeps saying her birthday will be in two minutes.
Pete started my Fiesta dish service with the two colors I like together, tangerine and shamrock.
The next day we took the Alex Seattle tour and saw the sights. The girls were impressed, can't you tell?
When we got home Oscar and Silas had a table and chairs set up which I mistook for a lemonade stand. It was a raffle. Winner gets to boss Oscar. I lost, twice.

Saying Something

Last night we played Conga. This is one of our new favorite games because it is easy for the kids to get also. Oscar is super competitive though and usually either cries or protests. Playing this game with Silas was extremely fun. He is about the goofiest kid around and has signed on for another few days with us.
I just liked this picture of Olive. I don't know if anybody has caught the post titles. After pickin' they just kept coming. I took it from The Folksmen album titles. This is one of Hans and Olives favorite movies and if Pete hears "Potatoes in the Paddy Wagon" one more time, he may lose it.

Today is my 34th birthday. My sister Luisa took me to lunch at my favorite bakery, Columbia City Bakery. Then we walked over to a really cute children's store where most of the stuff is handmade. She bought me this little gnome. I really like gnomes.
Since I am sharing presents I also wanted to show you what my mom bought me in Santa Cruz for my birthday. I really love it and since I don't have a lot of earrings this is perfect. Alex is coming today to make dinner and a cake and spend the weekend so I hope to get some really good pictures to share tomorrow.

Ramblin'

Yesterday we went to the zoo. The zoo we belong to also has an aquarium which the kids love. They currently have a big sea horse exhibit which Hans loves. Yesterday we passed the door we usually go through and found a whole new section! Sharks!!! I feel bad that I didn't know about this when Zak was here, he would have loved it. They also had a sun fish and several puffer fish. Some guy was next to us and trying to excite the kids said "Look,a puffer fish!" "Uh no," Oscar corrected him, "this one is actually a Japanese puffer, the regular is over in the corner." So take that, guy trying to be friendly. Do you notice the shirts? These boys have been having a lot of fun together this week and plan what they wear in the morning to match. Luisa, you won't notice if Silas doesn't come back will you? Olive has also grown on the idea of the boy club. With Kaya here we have 8 people at the dinner table. There is Pete and I at each end, Siobhan and Kaya on one side and then the little ones, all squished together on the other side.
This is ET. He is the only male walrus of the three at the zoo. He is HUGE. I just wanted to throw his picture in.