Eventually everyday will be a Lindgren birthday.

Happy Birthday Kim! I cannot begin to tell you what my friendship with Kim means to me. She is so generous and kind and always willing to listen to me complain. I have missed her so much while we have been in Washington but we have been able to keep the phone lines burning. I met Kim at a time in her life when she was ending a long time relationship. I felt bad for her hurt but selfishly I look back at that time as the beginning of our bond. She came to California with us for my Dads 50th birthday party. She drove with me back to California to take Siobhan and Oscar home once (over Tahoe, in the snow and two babies with RSV!). I am grateful that I have been able to be there to see her get married to a great guy and start her family. When Hans was born, Kim was there the moment he was out. She watched him for me on Mondays when I worked and provided a great peace of mind for me. She has treated Siobhan and Oscar no different than my other kids and has made me feel like a sister. I love you Kim and I hope you have a great day today. I am so excited to see you next week and celebrate the boys first birthday! Thank you so much for being such a good friend.

The Face of Thirteen

Today my first born baby is thirteen years old. Siobhan made us wait, she was two weeks late. I will never forget that day, one of my happiest. Siobhan Louise Sheppard Roche, a perfect baby girl. Siobhan has always been a happy person. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. We used to visit the nursing home that my step mom worked at. There was one particular resident, Betty, that crocheted hats and clothes for about a million babies. This was for Siobhan and I loved it. She looked like a doll and I now realize I should have enjoyed seeing her in dresses then. Siobhan was walking by 10 months old and by her first birthday was completing full sentences. She has not stopped talking since then. Wow, was her first and favorite word. Her chupa was a constant companion. She would only remove it to take a bite of food or talk, keeping it in her hand and close by. Great Grandma loved to buy her a variety and she would choose based on the picture on it.

She is a lucky girl that she had so much time with her great grandparents. They loved her and she has lots of special memories of them. She was completely spoiled, and yes she did like Barney. This is another favorite of Siobhan. It captures her completely for me. She is a tough, take charge girl. In this photo she has a large bruise on her lip. She fell off a chair and hit her chin on the table, putting her two bottom teeth through her upper lip. I was beside myself and the only sensible thing I did was grab a popsicle for her. I threw her in the car and headed for my Moms, bawling the whole way. There was so much blood. Siobhan sat in the back and said, "Don't worry mama, it will be okay."

There is no doubt in my mind that Siobhan is going to have a fun, adventurous life. I am so happy to have a front row seat for the show. I know that as a mom and daughter there are going to be some tough times ahead as she gets more and more independent, but I could not imagine a better girl to be mine. I love you Siobhan, with all of my heart, I will be thinking of you all day and cannot wait until you come home tomorrow. I hope you have a fun day with your dadoo. Lots of kisses Bonnie!

Today, in conjunction with Bonbons birthday, the list will be a mix. Here are some options, choose what you like or make it a mix. 5 things you would tell your 13 year old self now, advise on being 13 for Siobhan, or share a Siobhan story!

#1. Lose the bows.

#2. When your mom tells you that your eye make up looks trashy, heed her advice. Also, it's okay to still call your mom, Mama.

#3. Have to post a Disneyland comment. When Siobhan was about 4, we went to Disneyland with Scott and Brittney and Siobhan fell asleep while we were in line for Peter Pan. She woke up while we were on the ride and the look on her face was pure magic. I will never forget that look. She drifted back to sleep as we were nearing the end and thought she had been there in a dream. I'll let Luisa post the other good Siobhan/Disneyland story.

#4. Siobhan was in a commercial for the Surfrider Foundation and the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History.

#5. Siobhan wore a bathing suit for what seems like 3 years. Her favorite was a Little Mermaid number Grandpa Pat bought her that had a tulle sparkly skirt. She wore it to meet Little Mermaid at Disneyland.

pre- birthday

I have been preparing for my birthday girls post tomorrow and just cannot narrow down all these pictures. So, I decided I am going to post a couple days of Siobhan, she kind of demands that sort of attention. So, I will warn you now, the next couple of posts will be picture heavy. It's not everyday that your oldest becomes a teenager. Siobhan is about one of the funnest kids ever. She has a definite flair for drama. Being the oldest, she is the loudest and bossiest of the bunch. She also is the most protective and she and Oscar have a relationship like no other brother and sister I know.
She adores her father. And he adores her in return. They are so alike, and at least once a day I feel like I am watching Pat, instead of Siobhan, act like a complete loon. He will do just about anything for her.

To Patricks dismay, she has had this effect on other boys in her life also. In preschool, she always had a crowd of boys around. When she decided to play house, all she had to do was walk out to the playground and yell, "Who wants to be Dad?" and at least 2 or 3 boys would come running.
Perhaps one of the funnest to watch is Grandpa Fish. Nicoe and Siobhan have him at their beck and call. Not to say that Grandpa Pat isn't right up there.
Tonight these kids will be heading to the boardwalk and I am jealous! Siobhan said today that she has never been on a ride with just Oscar, but this picture proves otherwise.
These last two are purely just to drive Siobhan crazy. So, now I can save the rest of my photos and gear up for tomorrow. It's gonna be a big day.
I promise, no embarrassing ones after this.

Boring Monday

Should a grown ass woman be spending so much time looking at music videos on YouTube? Probably not, but I was so happy that while I was looking for Shane Macgowan videos, I found one where Johnny Depp was playing with him! Yeah, that's right, I'll be 35 next week.

Also, I get a lot of questions about Pats beard like,"What's with the beard?" Now, I have an answer. I guess he loves The Pogues even more than I do.

I have been selected....

Ah, Saturday posting. Pete is working so I have a little free time here. There is much to be done but instead I am looking through old pictures. Olive managed to catch sight of this one and is adamant that her hair be that long again....today. I also wish I had that hair. It was also mentioned this past weekend how odd it is that someone who has to have everything pink and cute will gladly wear her brothers chonies. As a matter of fact, both my girls do this. I do have some great news! I have been selected to have Seven for a looong weekend in August! The competition was great but I really feel that I am the best candidate. Plus, he gets along really well with Todd.
I know that this will be a little difficult for Luisa and George. He is their baby, although I will do my best to convince him otherwise. Luisa also mentioned the fact that sometimes when the kids are with me or my mom they come home with new words or phrases that George finds odd. I think we all know that by odd he means "white". So, during the interview process I declined to mention that I sometimes listen to Justin Timberlake when no one is around. Besides, we are a pretty hip family, and some of my kids are a darker shade of brown than some of the Williams(yes, you Silas.) Then again, he may go home looking like this.....

Cute, huh?

What was I doing?

I can't believe it's already Wednesday. A week from today I will have an official teenager. So much to do before the kids get home. I had big,big plans for their rooms and have not abandoned all hope yet. I feel that Washington state itself is trying to help me by making it cold again. Enough so that it's time to take the Ugg boots back out from the back of the closet. I am positive I will find a hundred reasons not to go upstairs. This is a problem for me. I can barely complete what I start. I have always had this problem and it is frustrating. I'll come up with an idea, start it and then move on to another. The original idea will take another few months to complete and in the meantime, I have started 10 others. At my last doctors appointment my doctor brought up the idea of this link between depression and ADD. I find that to be completely possible, but I like how I operate. I have a pretty fun life. I have millions of ideas. Sometimes, when I do say them out loud, I know that Pete is thinking it will never happen, but sometimes it comes through. Here is something I recently completed. I bought the 1980's Empire Strikes Back sheet about a year ago. I finally cut into it a few weeks ago, and yesterday? A completed project. A take along place mat, for camping.

Carries your silverware and a napkin and rolls up nice and neat. I love novelties.
So, with that wrapped up, I can move ahead to something else. Or, I can start something new. There a million things I would like to try and I promised myself I would learn something completely new this year. So, without further ado, my list of 5 things I would like to learn. (Did we do this already?)

#1. German. Pete has been talking up our anticipated 10 year anniversary trip to Germany. I would like to learn to speak the language. I would love to take the classes at Rick Steves travel in Edmonds.

#2. Crochet. I would like to learn this for one reason. I want to make one of those super bright granny square throws.

#3. I would like to play violin in a mariachi band.

#4. I would like to learn both Mexican Folklorico dancing and clogging or square dance. Pete will love this and I will win if I somehow get him on board to dance with me.

#5. Stained glass.

Hope to see you at some classes!

Olympic

We're still in Sequim. Yesterday we had a nice day. My mom and I hit the Lavender Fest and had some really great steamer clams and oysters. Oh yeah, and garlic fries and my mom made eclairs. When Pete and John returned from crabbing we went to Port Williams and hung out at the beach for awhile. We had some really great halibut for dinner that Johns friend had caught and I kicked Sculleys ass at a game of Scat. Today we went to Olympic National Park, specifically, Hurricane Ridge. What a great day! It is amazing there. The kids loved it and the weather was perfect. I so want to be a National Park Ranger when I grow up. For real.
This was a piece of the view. The Straits of Juan de Fuca and across the way, Canada. It's hard to get a good picture of a great view. Hans really enjoyed the day. He was a ball of energy and after a hilly hike up he was ready to go the distance and head up to the very top, something I was not. And yes, I do let him wear Lt. Dangle shorts. He is one skinny,leggy kid.
Luckily, Grandpa was up for it and took Hans up. Alas, they were the winners today and were rewarded for all their hard work by sighting a bear cub. I was so tempted to make the trek back, just for a cub picture, but then I remembered there were left over eclairs at home. Hope you all are having a sweet weekend as well. Now, time to redeem myself at some Scrabble....

The pits.

The night before last I bought Hans some new Mr.Sketch markers. Somehow, Pete noticed that Hans had drawn himself some armpit hair. It was an added bonus that it smelled like licorice. He was super embarrassed that we found out but I managed to sneak a picture in. Olive, not to be outdone drew herself some as well. She was not shy about sharing.
It will be nice for him to have Oscar back. He can only play "date" with Olive so many times. "Date" involves watching her as she makes eyes at you and eats a meal she makes in her play kitchen. The "date" does not eat, just watches and admires her. Then you dance, she must be able to put her hands on your shoulders and it must be slow dancing. Then you go home. You must watch as she changes into different dress up outfits and respond when she asks if she is cute. I honestly do not know where this comes from. After she asked Hans to play hot tub today though I am beginning to suspect that Pete watches Blind Date when I am out of the house.
The kids both refuse to sleep upstairs without the older kids so they have been sleeping mostly with us. I try to start them in the living room. About a year ago we started the "pillow bed". Oscar loves this and it is usually a weekend staple. We pile all the cushions from the couches and load up the blankets and they crash.I have refined that to be a little more comfortable and have two crib mattresses that they sleep on. Hans is such a little guy that he still sleeps in a toddler bed, thus had a mattress. I bought Olive one last week at DI and had to give her the "no smoking in bed" lecture. This is working a little better and I have actually not fallen off the bed two nights in a row!
I also want to add that this is my 300th post! I have thoroughly enjoyed this space of mine. It has been really fun to look back at the start of this and see how much we have done and how much the kids have grown and matured. And the list! I have so much fun reading that every week. Tomorrow, we are heading to the Lavender Festival to gather some new material for post 301! Pete is going crabbing with John, so wish him luck! I want some crab for dinner this weekend!

Even Steven

I just have to have a picture. Not a whole lot is going on around here. We have mostly been cleaning out the house and getting ready for Siobhan and Oscar to get back home. Hans and Olive have mostly had fun together but recently started playing with imaginary cousins. We went to the park yesterday and when an argument came up Hans said "Come on Silas, we'll play over here." to which Olive replied " Yeah Georgie, we don't need the boys." So, I think it will be a good thing when they have their brother and sister back. We are also getting ready for our Utah trip. There will be a baby blessing, the Runnells boys first birthdays, and camping with the entire Lindgren crew. We usually rent a car, but have decided to instead put the money into fixing up our car and driving that instead. Luckily, we received our IRS stimulus check on Monday. Pete had already planned out what we would be doing with it. That is why we work so well together. He is very rational and puts a great deal of thought and consideration in making sure we are well taken care of. I would have bought shoes. Lots of them, and maybe some purses. I love the idea of what you can do when given extra money. That is most of the fun. I am the same way in where to live. I can imagine how idyllic life would be in certain houses or places. I don't imagine the practical or realistic. I recently discovered how incredibly inexpensive Ogden is. And the houses! I love this one(definitely haunted). This one has a butler pantry! This one is 5 bedrooms! I have never been to Ogden, this is where practical Pete is my guide. He has been there and knows me well enough to advise me that I would probably not be happy there. But, it's still fun to think about. Plus all these houses are in on historic 25th street. I did make sure that there is a coffee shop, that's all I really need, right? How great would it be to have half the house payment? Anyway, I have had fun thinking about what I would do with that IRS money if we didn't have anything else we had to do. What about you? What would you do? Here are some of my first thoughts.

#1. Disneyland. How many times will this show up on a list?

#2. These boots.

#3. Yards and yards of fabric from here.

#4. A laptop. Completely unnecessary, but I could blog on the go. Especially since I would also spend a lot of the money on more road trips.

#5. The grain mill attachment to my Kitchenaid. I love to bake our own bread and bet it would taste great with freshly ground flour. Kim just got one and said it's messy, but worth it.

Can't wait to see what you would do. No need to be practical, this is just for fun. Now, off to spend it on the car......

Petes Jewels

I bought Pete a dremel tool for his birthday. He used to make a great deal of jewelry but never had quite the right equipment. So, luckily my Dad was in town to help me choose what to get, as he is a jeweler as well. Tonight was the maiden voyage and he whipped up this ring as a "getting to know the equipment" project. I like it and hope to have one of my own soon. I may have to get the engraving bit for him next, I can imagine all kinds of things, I love a blank canvas. Thank you for all the nice comments on our fairy house. I often feel like I fall short in my parenting and all the kind words were a great boost in confidence. I thought I would share a few of the fairy treats that have been left behind. A table with some button plates, a quickly put together hat, a penny and a pressed flower marble. My favorite though was two mornings ago. We had a late night and I slept in a little. Hans was up and heading to the door before I knew it and I grabbed for something out of my jewelry box. I had a barbell from when I had my tongue pierced and I kind of tossed it in thinking he was going to be bummed. It landed just before he knelt down and after a quick scan of the premises he noticed it and shrieked " They are exercising!" Even better, he and Olive took turns lifting weights with it. So, I dodged a bullet on that one. They have also left interesting rocks and different leaves which the kids have also enjoyed. So, thank you again, I really do appreciate it.

Fairies

We have this great tree in our backyard that was completely bare when we moved in. I was so excited in the spring when it bloomed and cascaded down, I love it. The kids like it because they can hide in it. This was a year ago and it has come back even thicker and longer. So, Hans and I built a fairy house under it, a perfect place for them to live. Hans is way into our fairies. He built them a great house, with signs and beds of moss. He left them some water and one night left a piece of chocolate. He scratched his name in it so that they would know it was from him, thus safe to eat.

Every night, they come and sleep and leave a little treasure. They also leave behind a great deal of "fairy dust". Hans has left them pictures and left out crayons and paper for them to draw back. I am so glad that he is so into this. He spends a lot of time coming up with ways to improve the fairies house and has a little collection of all the things they leave behind.
Olive has been semi interested in the fairies. Right now she is mostly into Barbies and things that are "really cute". All clothes must be cute or "darling". As in "does this make me look totally darling?"
So I made her this dress. Originally the sushi fabric was "not darling!", but when the dress was done she was thrilled. I was going to have the straps button in the back but she is anti- button.
Then came the posing. "One more, one more." I have a feeling that she and Jocelyn may be having a "pose off" at Grandmas next month.
And one more, because if I didn't post one more of just her than I would never hear the end of it today.

The Name Game

It' s been nice having all this time with Pete lately. Yesterday we went to Flaming Geyser since it was so nice out. He is trying to catch a steelhead. Talking with John usually gets him excited to get fishing, not that he isn't usually. So far, nothing. The kids and I hung out at the smaller river area and they had a great time exploring.

They have been playing pretty well together lately. The hardest thing is getting them away from the TV. We called to cancel the cable but it turns out you pay more when you do that, we have the package deal. So they gave us our introductory rate for a year and we still have cable. So, I just unplug it. We made a fairy home last night under our tree and Hans is in heaven. He spent most of the evening keeping watch, even though I told them they come while we sleep. He woke me up once in the middle of the night to let me know that he saw some gold speckles outside. Maybe light bugs, maybe fairies. When he woke this morning he made a mad dash outside and was beyond excited that one of the fairies left behind a hat in their bed of moss. Also, there was fairy dust everywhere. So today we have a lot of fairy house renovating to do. He wants them to be happy and keep coming back.

We were going to go gold panning today but you have to have a permit. They are in the mail and soon we will be prospecting. It really is fun. So, we are keeping busy, Olive didn't even make it into bed last night.
Onto the list. I don't know for sure who anonymous was but let's go with the suggestion. Baby names are fun, so many to choose from. When I was pregnant with Siobhan, my mom liked Scarlett. Hans was originally going to be Max because Pete wasn't keen on having a Johannes the third at first. I wanted to name Olive, Astrid, like the Pippi Longstockings author, Astrid Lindgren, but Pete flat out refused on that one. Sharon was telling me about a friend of hers that just changed her name because she was bored of hers. I can't imagine that. I think I would be so hurt if my kids changed theirs. I put so much thought and time into them. Siobhan dislikes how butchered her name gets due to the Gaelic spelling. But it is so beautiful and so representative of her heritage. She has my Moms middle name, Louise and also has Sheppard thrown in there for good measure. Oscar was just a name that I loved and when he was born I just knew it was right. His middle name is Valenzuela, for my grandfathers middle name. My grandfathers first was Melquiades, another mouthful. Hans is a given. Olive is named for Pete's grandma . I toyed with another Matilda and calling her Millie, like my grandma. But I just loved Olive, it suits her nicely. Her middle name is Jane, like mine. I am named for my two grandmas. Matilda, my maternal and Jane, my paternal grandma. Her actual name was Martha Jane, but she always went by Jane. Lucky for me, because Matilda Martha is not really cool. So, onto my five.

#1. Abraham. I have had several dreams recently about a baby named Abraham that my grandma is caring for. I never had thought of that name before but I really like it. I think my sister Alex had mentioned that as a candidate for a future baby of hers. That would be great, although I like how close Lindgren and Lincoln sound.

#2. Paloma. This was another top choice for Olive. I don't think it would have fit her at all but I love the name. I mostly wanted it due to this song by Lola Beltran. My moms all time favorite. I love this song, it gives me chills every time I hear it.

#3. Hank. Pre- King of the Hill I entertained this name as a choice for my second baby. I actually was going to name him, William Henry Renee, like my uncle and call him Hank.

#4. Socorro. I like this name a lot. I also like the name Soledad. My thinking was that I use the name Socorro, which derives it's meaning by the Catholics from Our Lady of Perpetual Assistance, and I would always have a helper. My grandmother asked me not to use Soledad.

#5. Achilles. My grandma had a brother with this name. He was my great grandmothers oldest baby. He was born in Mexico and my great grandmothers husband was traveling with his band to a wedding when they were ambushed and murdered by Indians. One of the men rolled into a ditch and afterwards brought back a watch to my great grandma from her husband and relayed the news. I was obsessed with this story for awhile, it was so dramatic. My great grandmother boarded a train and traveled to Arizona with her baby. My grandmother said that on the train she could hear her husbands ghost calling her nickname, Kuka. I have often played this story in my head, it's like a movie. Anyway, Achilles just seemed like a heroic name and I liked it. Oddly enough he went by his nickname, Ben. Maybe my mom can explain how Achilles gets to Ben?

One more thing. This is kind of fun when you are bored. Now, let's see some names!

Invasion of the Baby Snatcher

My Dad and Sharon were here last week, staying at my Moms. I gave them a day or so to hang out before I made my way up there. I brought 4 Williams with me for a total of 6 kids and Luisa and the remaining 3 made it up the next day. It's a lot of work. But, it is also a lot of fun and I enjoyed my mini vacation. The kids have so much fun with Grandma and she makes them all feel so special.

In my book, the older ones are the hardest. Too many moods. It's tough being a teenager. It is difficult for me to understand that they are still kids, especially when they are pretty close to being taller than my husband. And they wear bigger shoes. The little ones have so much fun together. They all have some pretty good skills on the skateboard. Hans came home and is wanting to practise so he can blend in next time we are together.
I had a great time with my Dad and Sharon. When my Grandpa passed away, I just wanted to be with my Dad. It has been a strange, detached experience without a service and so far away. The first thing, upon seeing Dad was how much he looked like Grandpa. I mean, a lot. Maybe it was the no mustache. But then we got pastries in Poulsbo(great town) and when he ate it? Oh my, just like Grandpa.
I think we all did pretty good. No major drama. Dad and I had a great time with Todd. I think he may need a Toddy of his own. So, now they are at Alex's' and I hope they have a great time and a safe trip home.
Now, onto my baby. This is Seven. Isn't he getting big? He has two bottom teeth now. I have asked Luisa if I can have him, even for a month. She is thinking on it, but I am taking him no matter. He loves me and I love him. He is such a happy baby, always smiling and cooing. I was surprised this weekend when Pete said that I wanted a baby, but it wasn't going to happen. I thought I had kept my baby lust pretty well hidden. Apparently not. I know that eventually it will hopefully subside. And really I am not up to the work. So, I really need Seven, Luisa. Call me.

Today Pete has a half day and another day off tomorrow. I am enjoying some nice weather, hanging our clothes on the line and playing in the wading pool. Any ideas for tomorrows list?