Flying Honeybuckets

Ok, I don't like driving in the city. I don't like driving on the freeway.

I learned to drive in a large city and on I-5, but I was a teenager then and didn't live in a small city (used to less traffic), and didn't have 6 children to worry about (my need for overly-careful-driving).

But, the children go to school in the middle of Seattle.

And, they're performing in a dance event on Saturday at Seattle Center.

Which means that I drove to Seattle Center today to practice driving.

This practice drive was important so that I can get the children where they need to be, when they need to be.

So, after picking the children up from school, we drove around Seattle.

FOR OVER AN HOUR, LOST.

I'll be driving there again tomorrow, to practice yet more...

After we finally found ourselves near the Center again, we stopped for McFlurries.

In the drivethrough lane, we saw a crane placing a Honeybucket (port-a-potty) somewhere up high on the building in the center of the picture below.

We thought it was amusing to see a flying potty. Somehow it relaxed my stress of driving around Seattle all day.

HOME!!!

After many appointments where we were told the baby's blood counts weren't high enough, Tuesday was the big day. The counts got high enough for us to visit home for a couple days!!

So, Tuesday night we arrived here.

Within 30 minutes, we were eating dinner and the baby almost had a high enough temperature to go straight back to Seattle. But, it didn't go so high and we were able to stick around for a while...phew.

Thursday morning, I had the children bring me books from downstairs. We don't read them anymore, and so they collect a LOT of dust and spiders.

The above pile was at least a foot tall in the middle, and didn't even include half the books that were downstairs. It was so nice to clear some out.
It was so nice to eat off our own plates and real silverware (that isn't so thin it bends when you take a bite). We're bringing some dishes and silverware back with us tomorrow, for Seattle use. I figure if we have to rinse dishes so well at the house we're in over there, it won't be much more hassle to use our own dishes and just keep them in our own cupboard.

The children loved playing outside in the backyard. I loved not having to go out with them or worry about them being outside without an adult.

They created a secret "kid's club," which was basically a made-up living space behind a tree. They even hung a tarp to keep it secret. ;)

Lilly and Maggie also were "sweeping and cleaning" a small corner of the backyard.

Our apple blossoms. It's Apple Blossom time in the Wenatchee Valley.

My pretty salmon flowers.

Today, we went to the Apple Blossom Youth Parade.

Next week is the big parade, but Kelly was in this one, so we went.

Great traditions.

The pictuer above is this year's apple blossom queen.

The Grand Marshal this year was Walt, the mascot for the Wenatchee Wild hockey team.

The two (actually 4) wheeled Batmobile.

The tooth fairy's assistant

Our firefighting friends

The cage many parents wished they had for their children

Kelly

She went to her friend's house this morning at 7:00AM to get ready.

Alyssa's mom, Cami, did their hair.

Kelly had fun because Cami used so much hairspray.

My little-looking house.

The Seattle house I'm staying in is only 8 years old.

My house was built in 1921.

So, each of the last 3 times we've been able to visit home, I've been busy cleaning up and updating more than what we did a few years ago when we bought the house.

This time was paint.

Here's our new fireplace wall. I loved the color. It's Glidden "homemade butterscotch."

Everytime I told the children that, they thought the paint was homemade by me somehow.

I bought new curtains that aren't see-through. The previous ones were, but I loved them.

These new ones are plain, but elegant, in my opinion.

They're actually a darker goldish color.

My piano that I miss so much. The wall behind it and the rest of the dining and front rooms, plus the hallway, I painted in the antique white color.

This picture doesn't show it well, but the color is like a light yellow. Gorgeous!!

It was so nice to see so many friends at the parade today, at the grocery store, at our home, at the school, at church, and everywhere else!! I love my not-too-small small town!

forgotten cookies...

Actually, not cookies. But, this blog is our family history, so even though it's boring for a lot of you, we make it into a book to look at later on, so I have to include the stories that you may find boring but we find anecdotal...

Driving around town today, it kept appearing that the city cut down trees everywhere. By the downtown, in the neighborhood, at the stores, etc. Later in the day, I realized that there weren't any gaping fresh tree stumps. Finally, I figured out that trees were not cut, the buildings in a smaller town are just not as tall and close together as they are in Seattle. Being able to see space between and above a building does not mean a tree was cut down, nor does being able to see the mountains in the background!

Home!!

We got to go home for a couple days!!

The baby and I've been fighting more cold/cough illness for a while, so we haven't gone anywhere or done anything super exciting for a while.

So, this post'll update ya'll on what we have been up to.

The Seattle school had a BBQ for families put on by a special guild.

Maggie's picture, above, was on display.



Josh did his reading for last week, so he got to pick a prize from the reading prizes.
He picked this cool Mariners hat.
We'll be going to a Mariners game soon.

Andy took Daniel and Kelly on a walk Sunday evening.
When they arrived back home, Daniel stated that he wants to have a garden.
So, he went to the big garden area behind our garage and started clearing out a space.
The lettuce above is a volunteer that grew after last fall. The picture isn't too great, but it's cool!!

Daniel's cleared space
He's going to grow tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, peas, carrots, flowers, and he should be in bed by now.

Here's part of my tulip/rose garden by our driveway.

Kelly's ready for the youth parade in Wenatchee on Saturday.

BEFORE

AFTER

Daniel is 15 tomorrow!

Tonight, he looked like a Smurf with the blue hat and blue clothes.

He thinks he's deprived though, because I won't pay for cable and so does "not know what a Smurf is (hear the dripping sarcasm)."

I reminded him that there's bound to be a Smurf episode somewhere online, and it shouldn't be difficult for a smart youtube guy like himself.
He didn't have a comeback for that.

Can you believe my baby is going to college full-time in the fall?!

I feel so old.

fun in the sun

Andy got to come visit yesterday and today!

After dinner last night, we went on our walk to Bryant Park again.

This time it was sunny!

Josh had his new spy gear/dart gun (nerf-like darts) and Andy and I bought the children an air-blast rocket.

So, at the park, the children took aim at each other and no one got hurt. They were all over the park, climbing the tree, and on the merry-go-round.

Today was still sunny outside, so we went to Magnuson Beach's Kite Hill.

The fish kite is mine. The other two we bought for the children to share.

We'll be getting another one though, so they can all do the kites at the same time.

Some of the pretty flowers on the ground.

I was having fun playing with the baby.

And, the grass was so comfy to just lay down on and gaze at the kites, water, and sky.

I needed a nap...

so I took one. But, more on the nap later.

Josh was playing in the hand soap and thought it was fun to need to shave.

We discovered a few weeks ago that Maggie loves salad dressing more than we originally thought. She especially loves the Fred Meyer brand Zesty Italian dressing. Even when salads are served with dinner and those salads are already saturated with dressing, she runs to our fridge and gets the Zesty Italian to add.

After adding about 1/4 cup each time, she eats her salad then uses the straw to suck up the rest of the dressing on the plate. DISGUSTING!




We've been going on evening walks for a few weeks now.
It's great to see the neighborhood, the incredible older homes (gorgeous!), the parks, and we all need the exercise.
Maggie's day for choosing things, pushing elevator buttons, and deciding which direction to walk is Monday, Lilly-Tuesday, and Josh-Wednesday.
Today, Maggie had her mind made up before we even left, that we were going to walk to Bryant Park. It has a really cool climbing tree (picture at bottom of post). Tonight, there were lots of dogs and a playful puppy there too.


Josh thrives on structure and when I say that we'll walk for 30 minutes or so, he gets worried and repeatedly reminds me the time is almost up if we're too far from the house when the clock (on his cell phone) ticks down.
Lilly just likes to be in charge of where we're walking.
Maggie typically has her eyes on the ground while she meanders along, searching for petals or flowers that have fallen to the ground. She collects those flowers, stuffs them in the cup holders of the stroller, then forgets about them until the next walk.
Last week though, Maggie picked up some particularly fragrant flowers (in a good way scent-wise) and she wanted to make a concoction.
So, that's what she did while I did laundry that night.

Here they are, all laid out.

Starting to squeeze and mash them up.

Smelling the sweet smells.

Sunday, we had a clinic appointment for the baby, so while we waited, the children played with Tinkertoys.

The swingset and teeter totter that they all worked on.

Josh's creation

Maggie's creation

Lilly's microphone and guitar

Maggie's creation tonight

This week, we discovered that the baby likes to pull tissues out of the Kleenex box one-by one. :) Nothing harmful in that, and I can't wait to post that picture post-adoption.

The baby loves our evening walks.

Last night, the baby needed to go in to the Emergency Department. Nothing long-term serious. But, having to go there, I woke up the children (such bloodshot eyes), and they all stayed up until midnight or so, then fell back asleep in the ER room we had.

At 1:30, it was time to go back to the house so I had to wake them up again. Again with the bloodshot eyes.

I've been sleep-deprived more than normal the last couple of weeks because of the IV antibiotics that I have to administer every 8 hours. That doesn't sound bad, but when you think about it, each administration takes about an hour from start to finish, so I never get a full night's sleep unbroken.

So, after being up until 1:45 last night, and having to wake up for the 6AM dose, then taking Lilly to the dentist at 8AM, we all came back to the house and slept.

The children slept for 3 hours, and the baby and I slept for 4 hours. That felt so good.