Beware of the Silence

So I am sure that every mom has had this experience. "Wow (thinking to myself), I can't believe that Sofia is playing so quietly in her room still." Reality: Sofia was taking every single book off of her shelf, every toy out of it's place, and every article of clothing she owns out of her drawers. No matter how many times this happens, we forget about it, and the next day we think the same thing. "I am so glad that Sofia is playing in the other room so I can chill out for a minute." Reality: Sofia is dumping lotion from my room and rubbing it all over her clothes. Somewhere in our hearts we just want to believe that they are playing angelically (which does happen occasionally), but if we really thought more logically, we would know that with a toddler: Unusually long Silence=Trouble. I am not very good at math, but that is pretty much a no fail equation.

My cutie patooties and randomness

Here are pictures of the kiddos. I have to tell you, maybe I am biased, but I just know that my little kiddos are destined for greatness. Doesn't every parent hope that for their kids, but I swear I can already imagine what great human beings they will be. Hopefully having me as a parent won't get in the way of that :)
Gabe is getting old enough now that he is starting to think Sofia is as funny as the rest of us. As you can see from the pictures of her, she sometimes likes to pretend that she is also a baby. It is amazing how you can already tell how much those two love each other. Ah... siblings. Not that any of them will ever read this. I'm not sure what my siblings have against blogs, but I will give $5 to my first sibling to respond to this post (it won't happen).

Oh, I know some people wondered why I didn't put Romney on my poll, but for some reason I am just assuming that Mcain has a better chance of winning. He obviously just won Florida.. so anywho.. so why is no one picking Clinton? I feel so confused to where all of her votes around the country are coming from, because the only person I have talked to that would plan on voting for her is my sister Kris. I don't personally have anything against her, but I think that she is divisive, and we need someone who can bring the country together. I have heard that many people think that she is "B"otchy, but I am wondering if they would think that if she acted the same way as a man. I am the lone voter for Edwards, but Obama would be my second choice.
(Okay, I know that I usually mix a lot of unrelated topics in blogs.. but even I realize that this one is all spastic... sorry).

The Scoop

Okay, so I am posting again without pictures. Sorry... we had to send my camera away to get fixed. What a pain it is to not have my camera... I will have to have Chris take pictures so I can post some (wouldn't it make sense for him to be the one to take pictures anyways?). Until my camera is fixed, I figured that I would post something for my loyal blogging friends (all 4 of you :)so that you don't give up on me.... so here you go.. my random thoughts for the day.
*Gabe is starting to laugh a little, and it is so precious I tell you.. it could even melt the heart of the mean lady at the library I bet.
*Sofia feels like it is her purpose in life right now to declare when people are either funny or happy. All day long she yells to let me know that Gabe is happy, and if you are even slightly silly around her, she will compliment you and let you know that you are funny (don't we all feel good when someone thinks that we are funny?).
*Some guy said he was going to make an offer on our place, and he didn't. Oh the joyous emotional roller coaster of selling a house. We are in no hurry to sell, so I am being compelled to be patient (it doesn't come naturally for me).
*Today school was canceled with not even 2 inches of snow. Gotta love these wimpy fair weathered people. It was nice having Chris home today.
*Why do pantyhose exist? I mean really. I can understand why tights exist (especially for little girls.. they are so cute) to keep us warm I suppose, but pantyhose.. seriously why? For any of you who are pantyhose wearers, I would like to understand why pantyhose are important to you. Are women trying to look a little tanner? Did your mom's train you to wear them, and you never could break the habit? Please enlighten me, because they are so uncomfortable and unnecessary in my life.
*Belly dancing is not my thing. Don't get me wrong, I am having a good enough time, and I will finish the class off for sure, but I will not be enrolling again. I was imagining doing a lot of booty shaking, which sounded fun enough to me, but instead I stare in the mirror with a confused pooping face as I try to tell my mind to tell my stomach to do a belly roll.
*I need to finish up this post, because since Chris and I have been married, we have kind of had an unspoken rule that goes like this: When Chris watches sports, he has to give me a massage. Seriously.. it is a win win. I get to spend time with Chris and get a massage, and he is happy that he gets to watch sports when he feels like it. Adios my friends.

Juno

Okay, I have one more rambling for the day. Has everyone seen Juno? If not... you must go and see it so I can see what you all think about it. I laughed. I cried. I kept wanting to have conversations with Tonya after every dialog (which was probably annoying), because it was so well written. Despite what people think about what happens in the movie.. I think that the movie fulfilled a mission.... it makes you think and think and think afterwards. Ellen Page was an amazing actress.. I am predicting an Oscar. Anywho.. if anyone is bored this weekend, go and see Juno!

Perspective!!!

Today was an interesting day. I had to wake up super early with the kids to drop off the van to get the sliding doors fixed. We were planning on catching a shuttle home, so after dropping the keys off, we headed to the waiting room where there was only one other man waiting at the time. Within minutes, everyone and their dog who owns a Honda in Corvallis showed up, and they too all needed shuttles. Since I was the second person in line for the shuttle, I assumed I would have no problems, but I was wrong. After 1/2 hour, and me dealing with 2 tiny kids in a busy waiting room, the first shuttle arrived. As I began to gather my carseats and to gather all of our stuff, I realized that I wasn't going to make the shuttle.. and do you know why? Because everyone waiting decided that they would give no regards to the struggling mom with two little kids (who by the way has been waiting way longer than you all), and they all rushed to the shuttle to make sure they had a spot so that they could go about their busy days. I could not believe that I had been left behind. I waited for another half hour for the next shuttle to come. This story may sound a little drama queenish, but there is a good part too. There was one man who was also waiting for the shuttle who was so sweet in helping me. He helped hold Gabe while I helped Sofia get a drink, and he attempted to help me get onto the first shuttle, and he too was probably shocked that the waiting mom with two little kids was being left. He stayed to help me get onto the next shuttle, and he even requested that the driver take me home first even though he lived closer. For those of you live in Corvallis, it was farmer Dennison who sells produce at the co op and farmer's market.. so make sure you buy his produce.
Okay.. before I ramble on even more, let me cut to the moral of the story. Was it really that horrific that people rudely cut to get on the shuttle and that I had to wait longer? No, to be quite honest. The kids were being fine, but the thing that bugs me is the principle of what happened. Are we all so caught up in our own lives, talking on our cell phones and thinking about our dinner plans, and what we need to do at work.. that we overlook the young mom with 2 kids... or the old lady who needs our help.. or whatever the different scenario may be? This situation really reminded me that despite how easy it is to get caught up in my own life and needs, I really need to make a conscious effort to make sure that I stop and take time to see what's going on around me. Those people who cut in front of me are probably all very nice and respectable people, but they didn't take time to notice.. except for my friend farmer Dennison (is it just me or are farmers just the nicest people.. please refer to my farmer davis post for more evidence).

Lesson Learned for the Day

Don't eat a turkey dinner before going to belly dancing class!

Genius I tell You

So my sister gave me a pizza idea for kids that is pure genius. Here is the gist of it, but I am not much of a recipe follower so change it up as you would like.
Whole Wheat Pitas
Tomato Sauce
Frozen Spinach
Mushrooms or any other pizza toppings you like
Cheese
The fabulous thing about using pitas is that you stuff the inside with spinach so the kids don't even notice it, and then you top it as you would any other pizza. I know it is important that kids consciously learn to eat vegetables, but it doesn't hurt to sneak them in however you can as well. This is a yummy lunch for kids and adults.

Christmas Part I

I thought that I would post some random pictures from our Christmas in Klamath. I will post more later, because I guess Chris' dad has a lot of the pictures. Christmas in Klamath was great. We were able to do Gabe's baby blessing the Sunday before Christmas, which was a cool way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We were able to spend a lot of time with family on both sides, and it was so so nice for Sofia to play with lot's of her cousins. Spending time with family is so nice, but it all eventually got tiring with a sick baby and kids who go to bed late and don't take naps because of all of the partying going on. Oh, I also have to mention that the makeup Sofia received as a gift was "accidentally" left behind. I am definitely not ready for that.. not even for pretend.

Belly Dancing

I promise that I will write my Christmas update soon with pictures, but I am having some technical difficulties with my camera right now.... but in the meanwhile, I thought that I would blog about my first night of belly dancing. Did you all know that there are different types of belly dancing? I am apparently going to be learning the tribal style as opposed to the cabaret style (which is more glittery and flirtatious). It is hard to take yourself seriously when you are trying to belly dance for the first time. It helped make the situation a little less awkward, because it was such an interesting mix of women taking the class. There was myself and my friend Marianne, two high school girls, 3 teachers, an OSU professor etc. Let's just say that I was working out muscles that I didn't even know existed. There were a couple of moves that the teacher was trying to get us to do with our stomachs that my brain just could not figure out how to do. I would think think think so hard to try to make my stomach do the funky things the teachers' was, but it just wasn't happening. I just looked like a bloated pig pushing my stomach out. Despite my lack of natural talent in this area, I had fun anyways. I get so in the routine of regular life.. so I thought it was time to push myself out of my comfort zone to try something I usually wouldn't.. and what better thing to do that for a mother of two young children than belly dancing. More to come soon my friends.

Wanna Buy Our House?

Hey everyone,
It has been so so long since I have posted, but I have either been out of town or super busy. Part of the reason I have been so busy is because we decided to sell our house (For Sale By Owner). Does anyone want to buy our house??? If not, I thought I would at least spread word so if anyone knows of anyone looking for a house in Corvallis.. send them our way. For those of you who don't know, our house is a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath townhouse in Northwest Corvallis. We have done tons of updating.. so for $183,900 I am not sure someone could find a nicer place for the size in Corvallis. I will post pictures of our Christmas within the next couple of days!!!