Shower Paint!

What do you do when you're not feeling well and you have a toddler who needs a fun activity? Shower paint! I got this great idea from my friend Korin to use shaving cream and food coloring for a messy fun time. Luckily we had some white foam shaving cream that Mike doesn't like, and used that.
Jake loved it.



And he even discovered the fun of body paint!
When he was finished, I simply hopped in the shower with him and we took a shower and cleaned everything up. So easy!

Just Because

Recycling Artwork

This past weekend we went to birthday parties for 3 different kids. It was a very social and enjoyable weekend! Of course, before that I went shopping for presents and thought a lot about the wrapping of the presents. I used leftover wrapping paper. Then instead of ribbons and a card, I decided to take some of Jake's old artwork that was on pretty thick paper and use it for the present.
(Okay, so Jake had had a little help with this one... but I also used another one that was clearly only Jake's handiwork.) I took this one...
... and transformed it into this. It looked really cool on the present.

Brushing the Dragons Away...

Jake isn't always thrilled to have his teeth brushed every night, but it has to be done. Recently, my MDC mamas gave me the idea to "look for dragons inside his mouth and brush them away." So we started doing this a few nights ago and Jake was totally intrigued. Now he takes the initiative, saying "dragons!" and "brush teeth!" and is totally willing to allow us to brush the dragons away.

I'll look inside his mouth, and when I see a dragon I'll growl, however, Jake really doesn't like that! He puts his hand over my mouth to make me stop growling. So I just declare I see a dragon and brush away.

Who knew that brushing teeth on an unwilling child could be made so much easier by looking for dragons?

Marquam Trail Hike

No pictures, but on Monday the three of us hiked up the Marquam trail. It started at the bottom of Sam Jackson Pkwy and went uphill for 1.7 miles to the top of Council Crest, which has fabulous views of the city and surrounding mountains (we saw Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams). Then 1.7 miles downhill. It was very cool to see this trail in the heart of Portland, but the up/down thing wasn't the most fun and since you can drive to Council Crest, there is an easier way to take in all the views.

The park at the top of Council Crest was wonderful, and I think when it gets warmer we will go up there for picnics. There are huge trees where you can go underneath the branches and play around the base of the tree. Jake loved that.

We had a goal to go on at least 2 nature walks/hikes per month and we did it for February! Although they are so much fun there is no reason not to go more often if we have the chance.

Trains and Cars and a Successful Outfit Picture!

These pictures were taken earlier on Valentine's Day, while Jake was still very much awake and happy and not ready to throw himself on the floor at the sight of a camera.

He got some Valentine's gifts from a special family member (thanks, Aunt Dotty!) He was THRILLED to find that Thomas the Train is finally in his hands.
He also got this very wonderful wooden car, which he immediately dubbed "cool car."
And then back to Thomas the Train. He immediately wanted to take Thomas home to play with Gordon, Lady, Salty, Bill & Ben, and Duck.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The three of us enjoyed our day. We had pancakes for breakfast, as it was Saturday. I attempted to make a few heart-shaped pancakes, but they came out all lopsided so I quickly went back to circles. For next year I'm going to have to find a heart-shaped pancake thing. Then we went to Gramma and Papa's house just to say hi and played there for awhile. Then to our favorite restaurant, Blossoming Lotus, for a wonderful lunch together. So good! And we shared vanilla vegan soft-serve ice cream.
Then onto Powell's bookstore to use some of our gift certificates. We got a few Curious George books and a Clifford the Big Red Dog for Jake. We also got some maps of hiking trails in Forest Park, here in Portland, and another guidebook for day hikes around Portland. We wanted more books but Powell's was more crowded than I had ever seen, and Jake was heading towards a nap-deprived tantrum, so we left.

Aunt Amy had sent Jake this really cute outfit for Valentine's Day, but when I attempted to get a picture, Jake immediately threw himself on the floor and wouldn't look up, so this is the best I have right now.

It's the bath toys -- who can resist?

Lately, Jake likes to say/sign: "I'm STINKY! *pinching his nostrils* Need a bath!"

And he is not stinky -- he has said this immediately upon waking up and also after having a shower/bath earlier that day.

Funny boy.

Animals in the Bed!

Last night Jake insisted that Daddy snuggle with many of his stuffed animals. There were 7 in all!

Valentine Tree

So after getting yesterday's bad energy out, today Jake and I focused on Valentine's day. We went to the art store and got supplies. I decided it was time to re-decorate my mantle (which I do about 5-6 times a year). All of these items came from inside or outside my house, and I had purchased these cute felt hearts on a string which I then hung on the "tree." I wanted something that was reusable every year.

A Vacation Lost

I'm writing about this because I still feel so incredulous that this happened. Back in October I purchased tickets for the 3 of us to fly to Austin, Texas to visit friends. We were all so excited about this, and we were going to fly out today for a long weekend. I've never been to Austin, and was really curious as to what it is like.

But then in January Mike went to Alaska at the last minute, and there was no way he could do that AND take more time off from his job for the Texas trip in such a short span of time, so we decided we'd have to postpone the Texas trip. Big mistake. I called United Airlines, and tried to work with the agent to change our tickets to a month or so later. I was informed that there was a $150 change fee per ticket for this. What the heck!?! United was basically asking us to pay $450 in addition to the $650 we already paid for the tickets simply to change them to another weekend, with the exact same departure and arrival times. Uhh... no. We simply do not have $450 laying around to spend. And canceling the ticket? United gets to keep $150 per ticket as a service fee! And then if we want to use the remaining $67 per ticket, then we have to still pay $150 change fee, effectively slapping an additional $83 onto the price of whatever new ticket we buy. Is this twisted logic, or what? Whatever happened to paying the very reasonable price of $50 to change a ticket??

So thanks, United, for robbing us of a vacation and $650 hard-earned dollars. You suck. Flying the friendly skies? I think not.

Calvin and Hobbes

Mike has loved reading Calvin and Hobbes comics for quite some time, and has a nice collection of the books. Once in a while he will get one out to read, and Jake loves listening. He is also starting to love looking at the comics themselves, especially the ones that are more pictorial.
This one is his favorite right now.

Ack! He Drew on the Wall!

I know it's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but Jake was napping and I was filing a bunch of stuff for work when I just happened to glance at the wall nearby and noticed that my son had decided to add some artwork to the wall. ACK! When did that happen!??

Looks like I get the pleasure of working with some bon ami and a rag tonight...

Tryon Creek State Park

Mike and I had sat down and made some goals for our family for 2009. One of them is to go on nature walks/hikes at least twice a month. Today we visited Tryon Creek State Park, which is less than a 10 minute drive from our home. I cannot believe we've never gone before. It is beautiful.
We had to get across this broken bridge. It wasn't easy for me, with a 30 pound kid on my back!


I love the fern top on this tree.



Jake was pretty tired, probably from partying too much the night before. He enjoyed running around but wanted to be held most of the way.
We're looking forward to returning often and seeing the change of seasons!

Party On!

Last night the 3 of us went to a party for a friend who turned 40. (Oh my gosh, do I really have friends who are 40!?) It was a large party in someone's home, and all the kids were invited. These are people that we see and have parties with 2-3 times a year.

What was fun about it is that Jake was totally comfortable playing with these kids and being on his own, so this was the FIRST party ever since he was born that Mike and I did not have to take turns keeping a continuous eye on him. We would check on him once in a while, but more often, Jake would check on us! It was so cute. He had a great time and happily played until we left the party close to 10:30pm. Then we put his pajamas on and he fell asleep in the car on the way home. So much fun for all of us.