Favorite Quotes of Late

The boys have been doing some preschool work at home since September and it has come to be known as "school". The other day, I said, "You guys need to do your school work now." Owen responded with a big sigh and "I need Christmas break." I didn't think I'd hear that for at least a few years! :) We must hang around the youth group too much.

Logan especially loves to hold Annika. He really does a pretty good job with her most of the time. He has learned that if she cries I will take her from him and he doesn't like it when this happens. The last time he held her, she let out a loud, short cry and Logan said, "Wow, Kiki's cooing really loud." Unfortunately for Logan, I can tell her coos from her cries:) Good try though.

Annika Grace Meadows

We met Annika Grace "Kiki" Meadows face-to-face on Thursday, October 13th. She weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long. We were all very excited to meet her. She is a very sweet little baby and as her brothers say, "She just eats and sleeps!" We all love her very much!

Monkey News

Several weeks ago, Owen woke up with a big grin on his face. He told me that every night, in the middle of the night, he drives his race car to "Monkey News" at the Capital Theater in Yakima. Only "Owens" are aloud and there are hundreds of monkeys there. Every morning since, the first thing he tells us when he wakes up is what he learned at Monkey News. Sunday, he told me that they had church at Monkey News. He said, "But it wasn't like our church. The monkeys...well...they don't preach. (He seemed very happy about this part...no offense, Jacob! Ha, ha!) They let you play and then give you a snack and a coloring sheet and if you don't finish your coloring sheet Mighty Gorilla hits you on the bottom with a ruler." Oh dear! He assured me that his real Sunday School teacher doesn't hit him on the bottom with a ruler if he doesn't finish his coloring sheet. I think we've been reading a little too much Little House on the Prairie! I do love that child's imagination though.

Logan's Theology

Yesterday, I was in the back room when I overheard the boys having the following conversation:
Logan-"You have to put it away, Owen."
Owen-"No, Logan."
Logan-"Owen, the Bible says, `You get it out...you put it away.'"
I'm not really sure where that verse is found, but it sounds good to me:)

Fall Fun with Grandma

Jacob's mom visited us last fall and joined in on all the fall fun.


Jacob, Owen, Grandma, and Logan made buckeye necklaces from the buckeyes she brought out from Ohio.


Raking leaves with Grandma (later to be jumped in, but for some reason, all my jumping photos were blurry:) )


Carmel apples with Grandma


Bobbing for apples. I think Jacob was the only successful bobber. The boys just kept taking bites out of the apples in the water:)


Where's Logan? I found him like this under his bunkbed one day.


Trick or Treat


Enjoying hot chocolate by the fire.

We really enjoyed our time with Grandma and look forward to her return this July!

Fall Fun at Bill's Berry Farm

Last spring we found a great family farm in the valley. In the fall, they have a festival with lots of activities for kids, a pumpkin patch, hay rides, apple picking, and apple cider pressing. I think we did it all and had a great time.


Logan and Owen having fun at the festival.


Logan helping Owen put his pumpkin into the wheelbarrow.


Logan declaring, "I can do it myself!"


Owen in Sheila the Sheep on the "farm train" (pulled by a 4-wheeler)


Logan in Clara the Cow


Picking apples


Owen and Logan with their pumpkins.


Scooping out the guts


The finished jack-o'lanterns. This year, the boys drew the faces and we carved them out.

Aunt Mandi and Camping

Last October, Mandi visited us. We were close friends in Savoonga where she was a teacher. We left for WA and she went to Teller, AK (a remote village outside of Nome). We felt pretty special to have her travel so far to visit us and it was great visiting and walking with her again.


She helped us harvest some of our late crop. The garden is looking much better this year. Last year, as you can see, we randomly through a few tomato plants and other plants here and there and called it a garden. It was a start.


After Mandi left, we went on our last camping trip of the season. It was a bit chilly at night, but still a lot of fun. Logan took this picture of Jacob, Owen and me.


Owen took this photo of Jacob, Logan, and me.


Logan and Jacob popping popcorn over the fire.

Perspective

I was doing a little "woe to me" this morning as I said, "I have to clean and weed and plant and...ah, so much to do." Logan said, "And Logan has to have fun, fun, fun!" Ahhh, the work of a child:) I will say, they have actually become quite helpful lately, but as they remind me, even this work is fun. "I LIKE washing dishes mama." "Can I put the laundry in the washer?" "I will dig up all this weeds with my big shovel!" I think I need to adopt some of their enthusiasm for my daily work!:)

Flying Kites with Grandpa (and more)

Okay, so maybe I've just forgotten how to rotate photos...I'll work on that. We bought the boys kites last fall and they took the first flight with Grandpa.


Looking good!


There's a reason Jacob's on the roof. Woops!


This is a bad photo of the boys painting their piggy banks, but it really demonstates their different personalities. Logan, very meticulously, painted his pig pink just like the one on the box. Owen went more for the modern art pig! This is so true of their artistic styles even 10 months later. Thankfully, we've finally convinced Logan that Owen's style is not "wrong", it's just different:)


I looked outside one day to find Logan literally digging Owen out of the mud. I'm so glad that this spot has since grown grass:)

Logan and Owen's 4th Birthday

I think the last photos I really shared (before yesterdays)were from July! That means I missed the boys' 4th Birthday. Let me share before they turn 5 this August! (Sorry, I forgot to rotate the first two.)


The boys wanted to make a "Monkey Foo Foo" (their favorite made-up friend) pinata. This is Logan painting it.


Turned out pretty good for our first pinata:)


My sister and fam came to help us celebrate. This is a random photo of Jacob, Owen, Logan, Todd, and Caleb on their way to recycling.


The cousins enjoying icecream in the log cabin.


My Dad was so very thoughtful to make the boys marshmallow shooters. I'm not sure if Owen or Grandpa is having more fun! (*Note: After finding way too many sticky marshmallows all over the house, we've changed them to pom pom shooters!) Thanks Dad!


And the party begins! I was relieved to see this picture enlarged. Our boys refused to wear blindfolds, of course, so I thought it was pretty bad at the party when Owen, w/o a blindfold, pinned Monkey Foo Foo's tail on his head! Now I see that his eyes are tightly closed! :)


Toss the water balloons. You can notice the variety of ages at our Bickleton party:) The boys invited ages 3 thru high school and families. It was good fun. We also had a treasure hunt and ??? That may have been it? A BBQ for sure:)


I love this picture of Logan with his cake:)


Owen with his cake.


And you can see that this was indeed our first pinata...but, with a little (or a lot) of duct tape and string we got him back on the pole so the kids could beat him to pieces!

Busy Times

The last few weeks have been very good and busy for us! Last weekend, we traveled to Seattle and met up with some friends from Savoonga and a friend from Seattle who we hadn't seen for too long. It was sooo good to reconnect. We also squeezed in some treasured time with my grandma and cousins.

We were surprised with a beautiful day, so we spent much of it at Carkeek(sp?) Park. Granted the day was sunny, but the beach was still WINDY and a bit chilly. The boys insisted on wading in the water:)


Owen, Levi, and Logan (It was so fun to see these 3 together again) Martha and Evelyn are in the background and she really generally looks more friendly than this...I think she was trying to get the hair and sand out of her face:)


Keith with the boys on the "teeter totter". They had so very much fun for such a long time. Jacob traded places with Keith later and the fun continued for quite awhile...until...suddenly, the log began to roll and off fell Jacob, Logan, and Owen from an impressive height. Jacob was bloody on the arm and side. Owen had a bit of a bloody cheek and sand up the nose and in the mouth. Logan later said, "I was just crying for Owen." Mmmhmm:)


And Owen and Logan finally reunite with Auntie Alison! We forgot to take a decent photo, so at the end of our fun-filled evening, I refused to haul the boys back out of their booster seat for a photo...so Alison hopped in between. Bless her!

We returned to Bickleton and were thrown into graduation week! A small town graduation is very different from any other. With only 5 graduates, everything is quite personal. Since Jacob leads the youth group at church, we've developed a relationship with a lot of the kids and always try to attend the school functions (it also provides entertainment in the small town!) During the Award's Banquet, they showed a couple of slide shows. I, of course, had not heard most of the songs that accompanied the slides. During one song, I said to Jacob, "What is a fricka?" Jacob shook his head and told me I should really get out of Bickleton more often, "Africa...like the continent," he said. That leads us into the next story to help explain my absent-mindedness (although another friend tells me this is just my normal state and I really probably have to agree.)

During the reception after baccelaureate, I was told that one of my friends looked at me and commented, "Looks like Kami's been eating a little too much cake lately." Another woman at her table looked at her in shock that she would make such an offensive comment. "She's pregnant...didn't you know?" said my friend. I've discovered this week that several people didn't actually know. Woops...guess word doesn't travel as well as I thought in a small town. As my neighbor explained, "Oh it travels fast...but only within certain groups." I'm learning this. So, in case you're not a part of the right group and haven't heard...I'm pregnant, indeed:) We're super excited and due October 17th.

Well, I'm trying to kill time while I upload pictures and they're still uploading. Guess it's been awhile since I've done much with pictures. Hopefully, you'll see some soon!

Owen, Logan, and me on my birthday.

The photos are uploaded and I discovered two things. I haven't taken many pictures lately and I missed out on sharing many things via this blog through photos that I just viewed. I think I'm going to have to begin a year in review to catch up:) Stay tuned!

Favorite Sayings

I've been thinking of writing on the blog again for awhile and I suppose I just need to start somewhere! With two 4-year olds, everyday seems to be filled with funny stories:) First, I must share with you the most favorite sayings as of late. Owen is often heard saying, in a very matter-of-fact manner, "I want to do what I want to do." Don't we all? And Logan is frequently heard saying, "I'm as cold as an iceberg in the middle of the Bering Sea!" (although, as spring teases us, I hear this less and less!)

So, yesterday, after much pleading, we purchased the boys squirt guns. They held their new prizes in eager anticipation throughout our LOOONG shopping trip through Fred Meyer. When we finally checked out, the boys ripped off the packaging and began pumping the squirt guns. How was I to know that they apparently put a bit of water in them to test them out or something before placing them on the shelves until Owen sprayed 2 innocent checkers in a drive by as I pushed the cart out the door! "I am sooo sorry." is all I could offer as the shocked women wiped their faces. Woops! You live and learn. Good to know the squirt guns work well!

What Do I Hear?

In the middle of the night, last night, I was awakened to Logan screaming for me. When I reached him, he said, "I hear something, Mama." I listened and said, "It's just the wind." "No," he said. I listened again, "Oh...you just hear your brother snoring." "No...I think it is a funny little mouse that doesn't know how to squeak properly." Well, I'm glad we figured that out at 2:30 in the morning:)

Winter is not over afterall in Bickleton! Today, I actually put on my Savoonga gear to meet the elements that Logan and Owen were so insistent upon playing in! They are good arctic boys. It seems to be letting up a bit, but I think I shoveled a good 6 inches just from a couple hours this morning. So we're back to enjoying sledding, snowmen and hot chocolate by the woodstove.

Pretend Play

The boys continue to live in a made up world much of the day. This morning I walked into their bedroom to find all of their stuffed animals and more gathered together. They told me they were having a "church meeting". As Logan put Mr. Potato Head together to attend, he said, "But they're not having communion today, Owen because he is wearing his mustache over his teeth." :)

Logan...on Bickleton

Several months ago, I drove up to a hill above Bickleton and commented on how small the town really is! I asked the boys if they liked living here and Logan said he'd rather live some place bigger...like Yakima...where there are other kids to play with:( It was kind of a sad revelation of how they were adjusting to our new location. They have since found a few other kids to play with (granted they are a few years older, but they're kids none the less) and they get their play fix once a week when we drive down for "preschool"/Bible Study.

On the way back from Yakima today, as we climbed up the hill to Bickleton, Logan said, "I like living in Bickleton. You know why? Because we are higher than everyone else." Hmmm. Well, at least now he's content:)