from the mouths of babes

With the addition of a third child seat to our minivan, Hannah and Sam have been banished to the back bench seat. The reason being two-fold: Josh's seat has to be easily accessible from the side door, but if one of the child seats was next to Josh, battle lines would be drawn for a daily fight. Second, with both of the talking children in the far back, Sarah and I might enjoy conversation with fewer interruptions (in theory, at least).

This has led to Hannah and Sam conversing more directly with each other in the car. This morning as we drove to church, I heard them begin to discuss the merits and flaws of a certain coloring book that had been placed in the church bag. Hannah succinctly expressed her opinion of said coloring book.

"I hate that book."

Sam, remembering a recent scolding, shot back with:

"Hannah, don't say 'hate'!"

Realizing his lack of power over his sister, he found the need to cite a higher authority. I expected a 'Daddy said' or even better 'Mommy said,' but no, he went straight for the ace of spades:

"Or Jesus will kill you."

Sam had recently become obsessed with Jesus. This is a good thing, I think. At a recent family gathering, aunts and grandparents asked him repeatedly to rattle off his list of Jesus facts, some learned, some invented. Giggles would always follow Sam's new bits of doctrine. That was cute, but I felt the need to intervene now:

"Sam, that's not true, Jesus will not kill you."

And realizing the need for clarity:

"or Hannah"

But still wanting the previous lesson to stick:

"But saying 'hate' is still bad, just not quite that bad."

Hopefully the threat of a punishment other than death will be sufficient to shape behavior.

Edit: For more Gospel According to Sam, visit Julia's blog (Richard's sister)

underwear is fun to wear

Sam got new underwear, so everyone had to try them on, of course. We have pictures of certain grandparents wearing "funny hats" too, but we felt that the pictures were too incriminating for the web. These people are, after all, still gainfully employed at present. By some parental magic these pictures may make their way into high school year books....

60 Percent

Josh went in for his two month checkup last Friday and there was the usual drama: anxiety, shots, then tears from both mom and baby. Little boy went from an impressive 9 1/2 lbs at birth to a mind-boggling 14 1/2 lbs. That's a 60% increase in just two months! I didn't even grow that much the whole 9 months I was pregnant! No wonder all the kid wants to do is eat and lay around. Okay, that's basically all he can do, but still...



I think he's got to be big just to survive all of the lovin' he gets from his big sister and brother.

Millenium Odyssey

Last weekend my hunk of a husband fixed the hyperdrive on the van. That is to say, he put rainex on the windshield. So now I'm looking forward to rainy days, because when I get going fast enough it looks like this:



Thank you, Han Richard.

Caution: You are about to look at a lot of pictures

We just (okay, not just)

revise

We recently, as in two weeks ago, got back from a glorious vacation in the state of Washington where this babe (Richard's sister Julia):



Married this hunk of a man (her now husband Sloan Rehder):



The wedding was wonderful; cupcakes and candy, archways and flowers, family and friends. But that is not what I got on the computer to share today.

The Olympic Peninsula is the most beautiful place on earth. I had a hunch I would like it there, and so convinced Richard that we needed to go early and look around. I'm glad we did, because we were able to play in the beach at Port Angeles, and don't let Sam fool you, that water was cold.



We drove through Forks on the way to the rain forest, but didn't see any vampires. (It was rather sunny out.) The Hoh Rain forest was the most vibrant place I have ever been. It was crowded with life, and absolutely beautiful. We walked through a mixture of old and new growth, where moss clung to trees and ferns covered the ground...



saw an immense spruce tree...



pause by the Hoh River...



and climb up some really big roots.



We went to Hurricane Ridge, and we were so far up we could see a (very far away) glacier in one direction and all the way to the Puget sound in another. The mountains are beautiful...



and Hannah reminded me of, well, me on the trail...



and saw plenty of deer, who were apparently very accustomed to having people around.



Lake Cresent, with its sparkling blue water...



was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I absolutely cannot adequately describe how perfect it was. Josh liked being held by Dad, but did NOT like the cold water...



Last we went to Rialto Beach, which was no Florida beach. It was misty, even at noon, and had huge driftwood logs, smooth rocks instead of sand, and haystack islands...



The waves were gargantuan (most were bigger than Richard. He had just gotten pummeled here) and loud and cold cold COLD...



But Sam had a blast.



When can we go back?!!!

Harry Potter and the...

Most of you know my husband, and many of you think of him as the mild mannered, soft spoken man he appears to be in public. This is not so. Not at all. When Richard comes home from work, our dull, rather mundane routine sparkles with new witticisms, which he will repeat until he gets a genuine laugh.

So to celebrate the release of the new Harry Potter movie, here's some of our favorites: (these are best read quickly out loud, between fits of giggles. Maybe you should drink some milk, so it can spew out your nose..)

Harry Potter and the Horse Header's Phone (Sorcerer's Stone)
Harry Potter and the Stranger at Recess (Chamber of Secrets)
Harry Potter and the Whsitlin' Turd of Pakistan (Prisoner of Askaban)
Harry Potter and the Goblins on Fire (Goblet of Fire)
Harry Potter and the Odor of the Beatnik (Order of the Phoenix)
Harry Potter and the Bloody Half of a Prince (Half-Blooded Prince)
Harry Potter and the Lefty Waldos (Deathly Hallows)

I actually habitually refer to book four as the Goblins on Fire, some of these jokes have been going on for so long.

Has it really been three weeks?!

Richard has rewritten the lyrics to Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz to describe the color and consistency of Josh's poo and so has taken to wandering through the house humming:
You're givin' me (givin' me)
nothing but cottage cheese (cottage cheese)
mixed all up with broccoli (broccoli)
served up in your paaaaaaaants...