Christmas (Reindeer) Gifts

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today- a care package from my cute and sweet sister and niece. It had a note that said "To get your holidays started" and came with a funny little reindeer that "poops" brown jelly beans. I laughed and felt loved.

You must understand that poop has been a touchy subject around our house lately, what with Jana's pooping-in-the-tub episodes, and Wyatt's resulting terror of anything to do with Number Two. So when I showed him the reindeer dropping his brown presents and then popped one in my mouth, he said "No Mommy! It's got poop on it! SPIT IT OUT!!"

It took a good 2 minutes to explain that this is pretend poop, in fact it's really candy. He eventually got over it...mostly. He played with that reindeer, making him poop and putting the jelly beans back in over and over. He was totally engrossed...but he never ate ONE SINGLE jelly bean. Here's a video of him enjoying the Reindeer Gifts.

Thanks again, Marianne and Kate! We love it!

Word Bites

I have a fairly short attention span lately. Is it exhaustion? Irritability? Lack of anything interesting to say? Hunger, perhaps? At any rate, my own thoughts have been popping into my head in sound bites- so here's a blog posting of Melody's word bites.
Bon Appetit.

Lee is wonderful. All around. Period.

I am me, and you know what that means.

Wyatt is in full-tilt 2 year-oldness. We are having a great time.

Jana has a penchant for pooping in the tub lately. That's gotta stop- although bless Sam's Club for selling gallons of bleach in a 3-pack.

The Honda Odyssey is officially sold. I had it for 9 days. *sigh* It looks to be replaced by a Chevy Tahoe. That outcome is TBA.

Before you question my Christmas background and accuse me of skipping Thanksgiving (as my honey often does), know this: I AM thankful- for Christmas. I even listened to Christmas music while putting up and taking down Halloween decorations. I love Christmas and everything about it. :)


Now picture bites.


Our first attempt to put Jana's hair up!




I was fairly proud of myself, since I can't even do my own hair.




"Can I have the cam-wah?"




Playing on the new swingset.
In jammies.
And winter boots two size too small.
See what I mean about 2 year-oldness?




We had a pretty good harvest this year.
Lee says, "Aw, shucks."





Thanks again, Grammy and Grandpa!





Can't have a posting without a Skeeter cameo!




She still has no teeth, but that doesn't slow her down one bit.



I came to check on Jana, and couldn't find her at first.




Eating raw corn on the cob. In the office. Good one, mommy.




I love these munchkins so much. SO much.




See Wyatt's black eye remains? It was from a (literal) run-in with Skeeter. If Skeeter's nose wasn't black already, that crash may have done it!




Sporting their Halloween jammies!

He loves to point to his chest and say "See the moon? Hi, moon!" He also says that to the sky at night.

I am having some inner turmoil over her hair. It needs to be cut, but how? Is there a way to fight those two side-by-side-but-turning-in-opposing-directions cowlicks on the crown of her head? (An aside from the doting mommy: Who cares? She is SO cute!)

If you saw the video, this is a better shot of the "cookies." Mmm-mmm!

That's my boy! A delicious plate of nachos right in front of him, and all he wants is a plain flour tortilla. Funny monkey.

My baby lion. We sure love when Monica takes pictures for us!

Even when he empties a bottle of Febreeze on the bathroom mirror and counter, I still love him with all my little black heart.

It was just ONE cookie, and it's not even halfway gone!

A proud moment: the Grandpa smile. Thanks for passing it on, Dad!

Having shared a little picture/word snack, I am now headed for a different snack. Love you all and hope you're well!

Love and a bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs with (SINFUL) whole milk,

M, L, W, J and S

Wyatt's Cookies

Pretty self-explanatory- what a funny Wyatt.

More pictures later, but I hear Wyatt and Jana laughing hysterically and the tub turning off and on...

Silly Halloweening

I just can't stop playing with these!

BEWARE: this is very silly.

Anderson Family Halloween Part II
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/kQp9f0rRvsTIg1UD


Here's Part I, slightly less silly.
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/gquf0b5LN0gjBlQi

SO ready for Fall!

I confess, I am a wallpaper addict. People who work with me regularly notice that I change the desktop wallpapers almost every single night I work. I came across this one earlier this week, and it has lasted on my home desktop for several days (a record for me!). I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes, and always appreciated that Calvin was eternally childlike, looking for adventure and a fun time , while also eternally childish- unable to see the reason to learn or change who he already is. I'm probably a lot more like that than I'm willing to admit!





This picture reminded me of my own childhood, though. The seasons didn't race by like they do now- instead it passed in just the right amount of time. I have so many wonderful memories of raking, jumping in leaf piles, decorating for Halloween, deciding on costumes, canning apricots and tomatoes, walking to school in the crisp morning air, driving up the canyon to see the leaves change- I love autumn and everything about it. But for some reason this picture struck me as a tiny reminder to be more in the moment- life happens every day, and if I'm not careful, I'll miss it. Years from now I want to look back on the special times I had with my little family and the Fall traditions we created, so that when they see a picture like this, they recall happy memories too!

Oh, and did I mention pumpkin chocolate chip cookies?

Really?

Honest truth, I had this conversation yesterday:





Mom: Wyatt, it's time for dinner!



Wyatt: Wanna do the dishes?



Mom: We're all done doing dishes, honey. Right now it's time to eat dinner.



Wyatt: Do the dishes?



Mom: Not right now. We can do dishes later, ok?


Wyatt (casting himself dramatically on the ground): DISHES! (starts to sob)



Mom: No tantrums, Wyatt. Do you need to go to time out?



Wyatt (jumping up and tearing down the hall at top speed): WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


*thump!* (on the floor again)




And from all the way down the hall I hear the occasional:

*whimper*

"I wanna do the dishes..."

*sniff*




I guess I better relish that argument, for it is surely the ONLY time in my life I will have it with my son!

I am NOT lazy!

It just seems that way because I've updated my blog two whole times this summer. To be quite honest, there are about 73 household chores waiting to be done (74 if you count "wash sticky fingerprints off doorknobs" but really, that isn't a priority). However, they will still be there tomorrow, and I would rather do this! Since this blog is more or less my family's journal, maybe putting a new blog post up does in fact count as something I should be doing with the time I have here on earth. Yeah, let's go with that.



Here's some tidbits and pictures:



* Wyatt can now efficiently unlock doors, deadbolts, open gates and car doors, turn the hoses and faucets on and off, and climb up onto counters, toilets, and the dryer. He'll proudly tell you "My name is Wyatt An-erson!" He LOVES to watch Cars, and spends as much time as he possibly can between the wading pool and the new swing set (thanks again, Grammy and Grandpa!) Sorry there's no swing set pictures yet, Wyatt thought the camera needed a bath in the wading pool. Miraculously, it dried out and still works!



* Jana is crawling like crazy, and loves to play peek-a-boo. She has such a funny laugh, it makes me laugh even more, which in turn makes her laugh harder. Wyatt usually joins in the laughing, because who doesn't love to laugh? She has no teeth yet, and I really don't mind putting it off since she'll eat whatever is in front of her anyway (including dog food and pieces of paper).



* Lee is busy working hard. He did great in the Rush Triathlon in August, and we are glad to have him around more now that he's not training for anything (at the moment!).



* I am me, and I am fine. :)






Monica took some more pictures for us, I love when she does that! Jana was being cute and smiley, until we all got hosed down when Wyatt turned on the sprinklers. Oops.



It's really hard to get him both holding still AND smiling at the same time, so often we just settle for one or the other. I still think he's pretty darn cute.




When a fly gets in the house Skeeter chases it down and eats it, and it is extremely funny to witness. There's one in the window, and he's patiently waiting until it comes out again. Lee calls him Beast of Prey.



While I was putting Jana down for her nap the other day, Wyatt vanished. Here's where I found him- up on the bathroom counter, getting ready to brush his teeth.




I didn't interfere, I just watched to see what he would do. He got out the toothbrush, got it wet, put a little toothpaste on, brushed, spit, and rinsed.




Then he had a drink of water...



...and finished by washing his hands. I am SO pleased that my 2 year-old does these kinds of things!



Normally the ground next to the deck looks like this. Occasionally a weed will grow up between the rocks and I pull it, and we spray for weeds every so often. One little plant sprouted up that didn't look like the other weeds, so we let it be. After only 6 weeks...




...it bloomed! Right in the middle of the rocks we had this volunteer sunflower pop up. It's HUGE (I put Skeeter in so you could see how big that sucka is).



Lee is excited to pull out the seeds so he can bake and eat them.



The garden is doing well this year too, I can't believe how tall the corn is.



Yahoo! Little pumpkins!



I think having a dog makes a family complete. Especially Skeeter.





We (well, I) am getting excited for fall to come soon, but we're loving that we can play outside sans jacket for a few more weeks. Hope you're all well and happy and enjoying the last bits of summer!

Summer Fun

We've been so busy with summer playing that I just realized I haven't posted anything for a month! So here's a photo documentary of our doings.


Lee's birthday cake- he celebrated 29 this year! Those are Reese's Pieces all over the cake. No I didn't make it and yes, I ate a LOT of it. Yum!



We got home from a walk and when I told Wyatt it was nap time, he climbed in Jana's bed instead. I'm glad they like each other!




We went to the zoo for an afternoon during Lee's family reunion. Wyatt likes his "puppy backpack" but insists on holding the tail himself, which pretty much defeats the purpose.




I thought the huge penguin would scare him, but he was fascinated. He even have the penguin a fist-bump when we left!



First official dress-ups!



Wyatt likes to try everything at least once. Including sparkly blue heels.



4th of July picnic. Wyatt had about half the watermelon by himself!



Mommy & Jana



Having thoroughly trashed the front room, they both laid down for a drink. I had to laugh, cute little monkeys.

He stole Jana's headband and tried it on too. Lately he prefers to have it around his neck like a bowtie, so it's slightly more masculine, right? :)

Hiking at Silver Falls, where we had the Pyper reunion. It was a blast, but I only took a few pictures (there were several nicer cameras and better photographers, so I am hoping to mooch their pictures instead).



Hiking through these forests, I found myself unconsciously watching for Edward. I wasn't at all disappointed to find Lee instead.




She is SO sweet. This is her authentic Hawaiian outfit from Uncle Brian and Aunt Heidi.



Turns out my kids like corn on the cob...



...Both of them!

He still is a snuggly little guy every once in a while, but he's getting busier and more independent every day. *sigh*

Daddy showing off his new wetsuit. He's decided to tackle the Rush Triathlon (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6 mile run) just for kicks. It's in 2 weeks, and I think he'll do great.

Wyatt likes to get in the wading pool fully clothed, ideally just moments after I have gotten him dressed for the day. At least he's having fun!

Hope you are all keeping busy with summer time playing and family get-togethers and barbecues and camping and all the fun that goes with it! I noticed a few tiny green pumpkins peeking out of the leaves today, fall is coming quickly. Guess we better focus on getting some more summer play in!

Lots of love and Popsicles,

Melody & Co.