Store Finally Opened

The store is finally open! All is going well. Thank you to everyone that came to the free pizza party before we opened, we hope you had a good time! Alex had a fun time on grand opening day, he ran the autosaucer and other creations as you can see here. He wanted to go with Kurt and I on that day, and it was special to have him there lighting up the store and the employees. Again a belated and sincere thank you to everyone that helped us during this process in whatever capacity you did, and thank you Ken and Karen for the flowers, they were perfect!

To Placentas!

It was a warmish day and we needed to plant the cedar tree we had used for the holidays in the yard. Owen helped plant his placenta that we had been saving underneath the tree. It was a special day remembering his birth and the life we shared between each other for a short nine months all going back into the earth to help this special tree grow tall and for a long time in our yard. Owen is very adept with a shovel and most at home, I think, playing in the dirt. We were also excited because we knew there was a possibility that there might be a new soul joining our family, and we can hardly wait a few weeks to find out for sure. Since I have a sickness that I can't shake (immune system down) and everyone is unusually cuddly with me, including our 110 pound dog :) I think we might be right, but we'll have to wait and see and let you all know soon! Since we aren't telling anyone until we are sure, I'm using this as my little outlet and hence will wait to share the blog with family/friends/at large, when everyone knows!

Going, Going, Gone

After a couple of weeks of the loosest tooth I have ever seen...Emma lost her first tooth today! I still feel that I am missing on this milestone of my children. When owen is of tooth loosing age I am going to keep him strapped to my side. Alex has lost all of his teeth either while I was at the grocery, with a grandparent, or at a friends house. Emma decided to pull this one out in the car with daddy while I had run into the library quickly to return something! So I missed the event, but certainly not the afterglow. I can still remember the feel of sticking my tongue through one of my missing teeth when I was little , how it tasted, how I couldn't resist feeling the spot where my tooth had been. What I don't remember as vividly is the new tooth growing....We notice and concretely feel loss/change, it is often sudden but rarely do we notice and celebrate the slower way that growth from a loss or change weaves it's way in our lives. I am going to find something that has changed in our lives, something that maybe a year ago or a month ago or a decade ago was a sadness and celebrate what it is for us today.

Powder We Call Snow

We had a splash of snow today. Alex and Emma made these miniature snowpeople. We put them in the freezer for keeping so chances are they will still be here if you ever want to see them.They went outdoors several times all suited up. Sledding on our beach boogie boards on the hills in the yard and in the neighbor's yard with some other kids. Snow is fun, but I am not sure how you folks with lots of it all winter handle it! I suppose you would get used to the 'suiting up' and feet of snow would just 'feel like home'...Stay warm whether you have feet of snow of powder like us...

Happy 6th Birthday Emma!

Emma is six today! This is the invitation that emma created for her and owen's jumping party, she made it on tux paint on the computer. Here is the dragon cake that emma wanted to have on her birthday. It just had to have four heads.... May you always know what you need and want, Emma, and be able to ask for it! We love you and have enjoyed every year that you have blessed our lives since that lucky day of the month, the 13th! We remember how calm and still you were when you were born and how you watched each of us in the room intently, especially Alex as he moved around you. You are always keeping your eyes out for all of us. I wish that I could post on here the movie of you with your candles. Daddy (full of surprises) had put candles on Emma's cake that didn't blow out, she just giggled and giggled and finally *talked* her cake into not re-lighting! Happy Birthday sweet girl, love mom, dad, alex & owen

Owen & Sparks

Owen has taken a particular interest in Sparks, one of Emma's rats. He wants sparks to be with him when he is watching t.v. or a movie, playing on the computer. This is his favorite shirt to hold Sparks in, as Sparks can crawl in the front pocket and the hood. What gives me chills is he also likes to put Sparks inside his shirt and let her crawl all up and down his arms and torso, really keen on the touch sensation. I am quiet certain my skin couldn't handle that! I am glad that Owen and Sparks enjoy it. He talks to Sparks in the softest, gentlest voice...

Happy 3rd Birthday Owen!

Happy, happy, birthday to my sweet boy! It is hard to believe that Owen is three. It seems like just yesterday that his shine entered our lives. I hope he enjoyed his birthday celebration and from his reactions, we think he did. We went to an indoor jump place here with friends and jumped for a couple of hours with friends. Owen and Emma wanted to share their birthday celebrations, as they were born days apart. Here is the cake that owen wanted, "a Lego cake". I wish that I could attach all the movies of him flipping! and the preciseness of him blowing out his candles and handing out cupcakes. The world is a better place with you Owen, we love you and wish you Happy Birthday! love, mom, dad, emma & alex

2008!

Happy New Year to All! We went to a neighborhood "Last Sunset of the Year Party" last night. It was a beautiful sunset and the kids enjoyed the fireworks on the houses' back deck. I learned the other day that fireworks or the pop they make might have originated from the sound bamboo makes when it burns as the air within one of the stalks is released. We will have to cut a piece of my parent's bamboo and experiment in a bonfire when it gets warmer. The highlight of the evening (as it has been every year) was running and playing in the maze of tunnels underneath the deck and also playing in the loft at that house that is filled with dollhouses and dollhouse accessories of all sorts. Even though the majority of our nights are spent as night owls and it is rare that we are asleep at midnight....We actually all fell asleep before the stroke of midnight! We slept our way into the new year! We enjoyed having Aunt Libby and Uncle Ben here for New Year, and doing sparklers in the backyard with them. Libby and Ben prepared a new years days feast at our house of blackeyed peas and collard greens that was delicious. Hoping you all have a gentle entrance into your new year with a full tummy.