Dragon Steps

An Amidala orginal. This one, she insists, is for Wakelee.


Yes, my darling daughter can write her name. Thank goodness for short monikers.

Liqiud Sunshine

Ami has been begging me for weeks to go to the pink park and play with her friend Wakelee. So when the weatherman predicted nice weather mid-week, I made plans with Lynell. It was supposed to be sunny Wednesday and Thursday. I figured we'd go Thurs. so the park would have a day to dry out. Turned out the sun only made an appearance Wed. and we were rained out. I managed to meet half her demands anyway. Both my kids were happy to run around the house with Wakelee, read with Kendall, and feed baby Stevie.

May the 4th be with you

Dear Ping,

It was so nice to receive a letter in the mail from you yesterday. Happy National Star Wars Day! In honor of this special day, I allowed my kids to play with my coveted Burger King toys. Ami was thrilled to discover she was named after one of the characters and keeps calling her "Queen Ami".

Husband even wore his Yoda shirt to work at his new car parts warehouse job. In the four days he's worked there, he's already mastered "picking" and they're moving him into shipping and receiving. Hopefully this well mean an earlier shift and slightly higher pay. A few months ago, I started working evenings at Burgerville. I don't mind it except that Ami cries every time I leave.

My beloved step mom lost her battle with cancer in March. I cannot put into words how difficult this has been for me and Ami. I could try but would just start to cry. This is why I haven't blogged for so long. I felt like I couldn't without addressing the subject but don't want to open that wound. Amidala still asks a lot of questions. I told her that when a person dies, their spirit leaves their body and goes to heaven to live with God and Jesus. Norma will always be watching over her and we pray every night that she will have good dreams about Grammy so she can see her again.


To make the situation even more heart wrenching, my father was diagnosed with oral cancer and had to have surgery to remove a tumor on his jaw. His lymph nodes on his right side were also removed as a precaution. This procedure took place only two days before Norma died. I spent a lot of time talking to relatives and driving back and forth between the hospice and hospital. I was grateful for my mediocre job at this point because it was such a welcome distraction from the random bouts of sobbing that would overcome me. In the 7 weeks since my dad's surgery, he has recovered well and is exploring alternatives means of dealing with any leftover cancer cells as opposed to radiation. He does a little bible study with Moo every week and she genuinely looks forward to it.

Calvin's language skills have grown so much that he is commonly mistaken for Ami on the phone. He is very dexterous, loves to help in the kitchen, and very sneaky about climbing into bed with Husband without disturbing him. Just like Ami about me leaving, he cries when his daddy goes to work. My tinyman tried to potty train himself. He loved the novelty of going in the potty but not the responsibility of being consistent. So after about the fifth or sixth time of cleaning poo out of the rug, I put him back in diapers. He still goes pee in the toilet (even standing like daddy) several times a day but I'll wait to put him in his choo-choo undies again this summer.

The very wet winter and spring has been hard on the kids (and I'm sure for our downstairs neighbors) but the sun has been around the last couple of days so I created a little outdoor playspace for them on our covered deck.

I can't believe you're eighteen already! I've always thought that if I could live my life over, I'd go back to the day you were born because I'd never want to inadvertently do anything that would've prevented your creation. I miss you like crazy and hope you can make it out here this summer. Don't forget to do the unicorn sketches so your work can be forever be immortalized on my shoulder. I love you so, so much.

-Brina

Blanket of white

Finally, a real snow day!


One of the (very few) good things about living in an apartment complex is instant playmates. Just add snow.

Daddy Daycare

Y'know how sometimes couples argue about whether the husband is capable of handling the kids all day? Issue resolved.


But cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and bill paying? I still dominate.

Sweetheart Dance

Husband and I had our first complete night off together since our children were born. We've been fortunate to have gone out to dinner on our anniversaries and there were those days my sils (graciously) took my children when I was ill in the hospital, but never have we been healthy and alone overnight since Ami's birth. We dropped off our kids at Grandma and Grandpa Davis' and then headed over to a group wedding anniversary dinner party with my stepmom's family, who also happen to reside in Castle Rock. Awesome food, lovely family, and a fun gift exchange. It was nice to sit on Husband's lap in the crowded living room and have relaxed conversation with other adults. A little after 8pm (when we would normally collapse on the couch, exhausted), we left for the Sweetheart Dance at the stake center only about a mile from our apartment. We were giddy the entire drive down. Husband has always wanted to teach me to dance and we were both really looking forward to it. I even bought a new dress that day so I would feel extra cute and confident (I'm a horrible dancer so I needed all the help I could get to be comfortable). We had a blast! Husband was so sweet with me as I awkwardly tried to learn the steps. I forgot how much he makes me laugh. I hope we make nights out sans children a regular thing.

Slush Day!

Ami was very excited when she woke up to find it snowing. After breakfast, we rushed outside for a snow walk, because here in the PNW you have to get to it before it melts.



Husband helped them make slush balls to throw and even a little slush man.


Very wet but they enjoyed tromping through it all the same.


The weather outside is frightful so let's just stay in and lounge all day.