I'm So Thankful - Pt. 18, 19

Nov 18th
I'm thankful for a few moments alone. One of the things I miss from my single days is the opportunity to be alone. I like my space.


Nov 19th
I'm thankful for my home. It feels good to be in my home. I like the way it's decorated, even if I always have ideas for projects (much to Brian's dismay). And, we have quite a bit of space, which is especially good during the holidays. Most holiday dinners happen at our house and I like that. I like being the hub, especially since my family is so great about helping clean up. Today, I'm very thankful for my home.

I'm So Thankful - Pt. 16, 17

Nov 16th 
I'm thankful for my home.

Nov 17th 
I'm not a baker. However, I've discovered many ways to help me cheat the system. The box of cookies where you just add eggs? My family loves 'em. The following is my latest Baking For Dummies recipe that I scored from my super cool sister-in-law (she's a lot like me so we really get along). I'm thankful for easy baking.

Lemonade Party Cake
1 box Betty Crocker Lemon Cake (plus eggs, water & veg. oil that mix calls for)
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 can lemon frosting

• 1Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Make cake as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool 15 minutes.
• 2Mix lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar. Pierce top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle lemonade mixture evenly over top of cake. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
• 3Spread frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Store covered in refrigerator.

I'm So Thankful - Pt 13, 14, 15

Nov 13th
I'm thankful for my car. I like a good roadtrip now and then. I like the freedom of going wherever I want, when I want. In fact, I kinda want to go on another mini roadtrip all of the sudden.

Happy Jack getting ready to eat some grub!

Nov 14th 
I am so thankful for good health insurance and quality health care. Jack had tubes put in his ears and it was a rough day for the two of us, but it's over now and Jack should be healthier & happier camper. My favorite moment of the day was watching my little, two-year-old boy in just a toddler hospital gown & diaper as he carried his pig through the hospital halls.

Nov 15th 
Today I was able to visit with my Grandma King. I haven't seen her in over a year, but this week she moved in with mom. I feel pretty blessed to have her living close. Today, I'm thankful for my grandmas.

I'm So Thankful - Pt. 9-12

November 9th
I love getting lost in a good book. Over the past year I've enjoyed the following: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the Stephanie Plum series, Elizabeth George's Edge of Nowhere, Jack Reacher series, and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series.

November 10th
I'm thankful for fellowship over football games & the chance to just chill (Go K-State!)

November 11th
I'm thankful that today Brian gets the recognition he deserves (and for his free pancakes, too).

The underside of a starfish

November 12th

I'm thankful to live in the PNW. Even though it poured rain yesterday, it's crisp & clear today. As I sit in my friend's home, I look our one set of windows and see the Puget Sound. Then, I look out the other window and see the Olympic Mountains. I even love the pungent smell of seaweed.

I'm So Thankful - Pt. 5, 6, 7

Nov 5^th

Sometimes it’s the little things in life so today I’m thankful for bubbles.

Nov 6^th

As so many think about the future of our country, I find myself thinking of those who have gone before me. I’m thankful for the following women and their impact on my life.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Susan B. Anthony & other women suffragates

Madame Marie Curie

Rosa Parks

Billie Jean King

Mother Teresa

Auntie loves you, Lu!

Nov 7th

It's Lucy's 1st birthday today and I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for that baby girl. I was on the phone with Kirby the moment she figured out she was pregnant, and I can tell you there was some cussing tears hesitancy towards the notion of becoming a parent. 

Yet, my sister has become an amazing mother. She conscientious, self-less, patient. In turn, Lucy is becoming a pretty fun little girl. And, she is all girl - complete with shrill, happy squeals.

I'm So Thankful - Pt. 4

Nov 4th

I'm thankful for my church.

Yesterday I participated in UPPC’s Community Serve Day. Most of the options to serve were out in the community. However, I was on a bit of a time crunch and decided to volunteer for work around the church facilities. I was reminded of how good it feels to serve (plus, it was fun to demolish some old shelving), and what great people I’ve met through my church.

Also, our church has an excellent nursery. Jack runs in on Sunday morning excited to play with his friends. He also gets to go play two mornings a week, and it’s such a relief to know he is in capable hands. And, I appreciate a couple hours to myself. 

I'm So Thankful - Pt. 1, 2 & 3

Several friends of mine are creating a List of Thanksgiving. It's just one item a day from Nov 1st to Nov 22nd (Thanksgiving Day) to help give a little perspective as we move into the holy-day season. It sounded like a good idea so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Here's mine, thus far:

Jack & Grandma Brenda

Nov 1st

I'm grateful for a small moment this evening. While running through Target, Jack was caught off kilter and almost ran into another couple. Without any parental instigation (because I've actually never told him to say this), Jack said, "'scuze me!" 

I'm thankful for two reasons. First, it was another example of how freakin' adorable my kid is. I know I'm slightly biased but pretty sure he is the best little man ever. Also, it made me feel like I'm doing alright with the whole parent-thing when my smart little guy sees & mimics polite behavior.

Nov 2nd

I'm thankful that my son gets excited to eat homemade applesauce. I'm thankful because it's a fairly healthy treat, especially compared to the garbage we were doling out two days ago.

Also, I've never been much of a homemaker, but since Jack I've found myself doing more homemaker-like projects. Gardening. Baking bread. Making dried fruit from apples & pears that I picked. I'm even planning a birthday party with some homemade decor (coming soon to a blog near you!). All that to say, I'm thankful for the ways I've grown being a mom.

I promise not all of these are going to be about Jack.

The Seahawks' Russel Wilson & Brian
Brian looks po'd about the last loss.

Nov 3rd

I'm thankful for my husband's job. For those of you who don't know me well, I'm not an army lover (unless it's the end of the month, as Brian likes to say). Brian works ridiculously long hours. He leaves home long before any sane person would be rousting (5:30AM), and he's lucky to be home by 6:30PM. As a commander, Brian must respond to calls and texts at all hours of the day & night. Sometimes this means late-night, last-minute treks to the base (usually because idiot soldier was arrested).

But I need to remind myself to be thankful. Brian is supposed to be deploying with his brigade this month. But last minute, the colonel asked Brian to be the rear commander, which means he is in charge of the soldiers who are unable to deploy. And like in the Bible, the ones left behind tend to be the screw ups. (Okay, so that's not how Jesus would have put it. Nor are all the soldiers trouble, but give a girl some creative license).

Anyway... back to being thankful for Brian's well-paying, pain-in-the-neck job. He may have to work a bit over the holidays, but at least he's not in a foreign country with kevlar strapped to his body. Brian will have quite a few late nights over the next month, but at least he'll be around for Jack's birthday.

Trick or Treat

At two-years-old, Jack doesn't understand Halloween. He's not allowed candy, but he did like his striped pajamas tights. I couldn't convince him to say "trick-or-treat" or "Happy Halloween," but he did say, "thank you." So, I think we did pretty well for our first year.

Coloring at the church's HarvestFest

Jack O'lantern

Add caption

Hurry up, Mama!

Jack is Twenty-Three Months!

Daddy & Jack play hide and seek.
Thanks for the great photos, SuLee!

Our life is currently all about trains. When Jack wakes up in the morning, the first thing he says is, "choo choo train?" Needless to say the adults in the house can often be found humming Thomas the Train's theme song.

We also like to watch Sesame & Super Why, which the adults in the house like a little better since it helps with learning the alphabet and letter recognition. Another thing Jack loves (that maybe our neighbors did not) was when Mama wrote the ABC's in big letters across our front sidewalk. We'd never have guessed that it wasn't going to rain for 81 days, but that gave us lots of time to practice finding our letters.

Jack's Sidewalk Alphabet

It's amazing to see how quickly Jack is learning. He says 2-3 word sentences - my favorite being his sweet, "please, mama?"

Below is a video from when cousin, Lucy, came to spend the night.

Grandparents: Jack needs warm footie pajamas in 24M or 2T, educational toys (leapfrog?), or play kitchen supplies.

Jack is Twenty-Two Months!

Jack likes eating a whole apple all by himself... And, I do mean the whole thing. Where's the core, Buddy?

Jack loves Super Why & Sesame. Yes, we let him watch TV. Don't judge me. I don't know how else to get a break so I can make dinner!

Jack loves trains and airplanes. He will enthusiastically announce their arrival whenever he sees or hears one nearby.

Jack loves to be outside, especially if it means playing in the water or throwing dirt in the air. Going fast. Or, climbing something dangerous.

Son, I love how stubborn independent you are. I love that you get so excited when you see letters of the alphabet, and how quickly you're picking up the ABC's. I love that even though you are all boy, you still stop to give your Mama some loves.

Garden Medley

I've discovered a Furber Family Favorite, totally by accident! We have lots of zucchini and cherry tomatoes from the garden right now so I decided to use both for dinner the other night. If you're garden is overflowing with these two, check out this recipe!

Sliced Zucchini
Chopped cherry tomatoes
Capers
Olive Oil
Feta Cheese
Crushed Garlic
Salt, Pepper, Oregano

In greased baking dish, layer your zucchini. Sprinkle top with remaining ingredients. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Easy peasy!

Beach Babes

West Coast Sea Glass needed some new pictures of our cool jewelry, which makes for a wonderful excuse to head to the beach in the middle of a workday. Jack happily tagged along with beach bucket & trowel in tow. When it came time to head home, Jack could barely walk his pants were so sodden with beach water, but I'm pretty sure he still thought it was worth it. And, the old folks from a nearby retirement center got a kick out of the toddler running around in a thermal and sandals.

Jack didn't love the loud trains but clinging to Mama helps.

We brought a bucket of toys to add to our fun.

Who needs toys when you can just sit in the freezing Sound?

Why did I just say that?

Kirby, The H.S. Years
Isn't she adorable?!

Does anybody else ever say really stupid stuff? Maybe it's because I'm a little too honest... The joke in my family is that I'm the honest daughter and Kirby is the strong daughter. For whatever reason, my Mom had it backwards for awhile. She would ask Kirby, "Does this outfit look OK?" Instead of lying, Kirby started telling Mom to go ask me

(Tangent: Kirby on the other hand is the PNW equivalent of an Amazon woman. By that I don't mean that she likes internet shopping, though that is also true. When she was on a mission trip in high school, she carried two, full five-gallon buckets uphill for most of a day. Another time, while hiking through Peru, Kirby got some blisters but didn't want to complain. When she finally showed her guide, he essentially had to do surgery on the side of the road because her blisters were super infected. She's a tough cookie.).

Sometimes I say really stupid stuff and I wonder if I came with a filter. One of these days, I'm really going to get myself in trouble.

Sisters, Ivy & Winnie

For example, there was a day when a bunch of teenage girls were at my house to hang out with Kylie. I noticed one of them had a tag still attached to her hat, and before I finished thinking out pops, "is that a black thing?" Now, lucky for me two things happened. First, Ivy just laughed because she knows me well enough to know that my question stemmed from honest curiosity rather than a prejudice. And secondly, Ivy agreed that it was a African-American trend.

Jack saw our neighbor's daughter outside and so he went toddling next door. While we were there, Jack makes a beeline for her brick stairs, which of course have loose bricks. I didn't really want Jack to play on them because he was still working on just walking smoothly so I made a comment about how he's making me look bad because he always has some bruise on his face. After an awkward silence, I remembered. "Oh, my neighbor works for CPS...."

Jack & Charlie, Fall '11.

More recently, I attempted to get in trouble with my son's doctor. Jack was getting a prescription for another ear infection, and Dr. Overstreet shared that honey can actually sooth sore throats better than conventional medicine sold in the drugstores. With a totally dry face, I told her that I just like to give him a spoon of whiskey instead because it puts him right to sleep. After another super awkward pause, I said that I was kidding and luckily she believed me.

Feel free to share your embarrassing moments to help me feel a little better about myself!

Jack is Twenty-One Months Old!

My Dear Sweet Son,

You're talking non-stop and it's fun to have conversations with you. You love pointing out colors and shapes that you see. I'm amazed how quickly you learn, and yet not thrilled with all of your mimicry. I've had to ask several people to watch their language as you are a little too quick to repeat anything you hear.

Daddy & I have done all we can to prevent ear infections, but your little body seems prone to them so it looks like we will have a meeting with an ear specialist to discuss tubes. I feel badly that you have to go through this, but I'm sure that your doctor is tired of your paranoid mom scheduling appointments to check your ears.

You love to sing songs, especially songs with hand motions. You love planes & trains. It's scary how fearless you are, but I enjoy seeing you love life.

Because digging in just a diaper is so much fun.

Someone wasn't very patient with the photo op process.

Enjoying treats from Hello Cupcake.

A Day At the Beach

Jack & I went to Sequim the other day. Since we were staying across the street from the beach AND having great weather, we decided to go play by the water. Jack thought he was pretty big stuff hanging out with the older kids.

Ashley, Jack, Emma & Blaise

And, he sure kept his friends busy. Jack really wanted in the water, but I had several helpers who kept Jack from getting wet.

Blaise carries Jack away from the water's edge.

Blaise & Jack

Playing in the sand.

Leaving Las Vegas!

In July, Kylie flew to Vegas for orientation at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. After her first week, she already had a job at UNLV's bookstore and was excited to meet her roommate. So far, I think she's liking college life.

Brian drove Kylie's car down to Vegas and swung by Montana to grab Therin on his way. Then, Mama and Jack flew down on a plane. Jack loves planes, and he loves getting to see "Brother" and "Sister" in one spot.

Therin, Jack & Kylie

When people hear we're going to Vegas, I know that they immediately picture The Strip. We actually go to visit family and play in Grandma Mary's pool. However, this time Brian treated me to a night at the Luxor (so now I can say that I've slept in a pyramid). We caught an early show, and like the party animals we are, were in bed by 11:30pm.

We stayed at Brian's brother's house so we could play with cousins as much as possible. It was fun to meet our newest little cousin. Heath is sweet & smiley. And, really limber. The kid is always chewing on his toes! I'm positive that I've never been that flexible...

Our new cousin, Heath.

Hayden is a sweetie and a wild man.

Jack & Hayden at the water park that Uncle Dave built.
Well, maybe he just helped find funding for the project.

Jack with his namesake, Uncle David

It was great to see the fam and nice to get some warmer weather, but we fly home this afternoon. Although, we're sad to say goodbye, it will be nice to climb into our own beds tonight.

Jack is Twenty Months!

Well, Jack, I've always thought you were brilliant, but the doctor confirmed it this month. Apparently, most children learn their colors around 3 or 4. But you, my wonderful child, are learning colors like crazy. It's so cute to hear you say, "yellow", and you clearly love blue as you constantly point it out.

Speaking of color, you love to color. I have to be careful, less you color all over yourself or the walls or the table or books...

You're a feisty little thing. You completely know what's naughty and will often hide behind your hands when you know you're due a swat for disobeying. In fact, you've been known to swat your own bottom for walking off the driveway and into the road.

Proof of your little brother abilities to annoy...

My Niece is the Cutest!

Lucy strikes a pose.

I had an unexpected visit from my niece today... Oh, and her mom came along, too. Anyway, back to Lucy. She is so cute! A total flirt. Plus, she really loves her big cousin, even when he won't share his snacks and steals her toys. She just stares at him with her beautiful, big smile and big, blue eyes. I can't wait for another visit from this cutie-pie!

Zoomazing!

Jack took his first trip to the zoo today... His family might have been more excited than Jack. We kept pointing out all the different animals. And, while he did say "hi" as soon as he saw the elephant, he mostly kept pretty quiet.

Kylie dipped out early to attend a Mission Trip Reunion BBQ. Apparently, the zoo isn't quite the same when you're 18yo.

Jack really loved the aquarium. Unfortunately, he was so excited that he just ran around like a wild-man so quickly that Mama didn't get great pictures.

The playground was pretty cool.

Jack's next favorite part was the sprinklers at the playground. Can ya tell?

Overall, it was a great day at Point Defiance!