Top 10 Things I Love About Seaside

2005

10. The beach - it is the only time we really go to the beach and I love sitting there watching the waves.

9. Norma's Fish and Chips - hands down best fish and chips ever. You have to order the full meal, otherwise you leave wanting more.

8.  Swimming - okay, that isn't really true, but I know my boys will love to swim in a pool.

2006

7. 1$ Ice-Cream - even though you have to smile at the cheesy line the Candyman says with each scoop, it is good cheap, ice-cream.

6.  The Snacks - even though we are trying to eat more healthy this year, it is the one time I shop for chips and candy. We always end up with too much food and slightly sick stomachs, but it wouldn't be Seaside without nachos, Uncle Dan's and tubs of licorice!

5. No Men - sorry, honey, but this is girls (and kids) only.  I love that we take our kids on this crazy adventure, where we eat candy and ice cream, lay in our pajama's reading (okay not so much with the young ones now) and sit on the beach even in the pouring rain.  No man is there to say "So, what are we going to do now". This is it, this is all we do.

2007

4. Pizza! - I love the pizza restaurant we go to the 2nd night, loud, family friendly, and yummy pizza. Now, if only I don't lose Jack this year, it will all be good!

3.  Tilt-a-Whirl - for 7 years I have taken my niece and nephew on the tilt-a-whirl, it is our tradition. We started when we barely had enough weight to make it spin once, to being able to spin until we puked. Unfortunately, I can not do the tilt-a-whirl this year and it is devastating to me!

2. Salt-Water Taffy - this year I will have to get a bag just for the boys, I don't share well.

2008

1.  Sister Time - the whole reason we started in the first place. The one time we do something just us, some of our best stories are about what happened at Seaside.

Seaside, here we come!

"Stamp Out Hunger"

Tomorrow is the 17th annual "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive, supported by your local post office. Yesterday I had a blue plastic bag left in my mail box. I brought it in, but it somehow ended up laying in the middle of the floor all night. I knew where it was because I could hear the dog walking over it as I laid on the couch watching ANTM.  

I knew I had some cans in the cupboard I could put in there and be done. But then today I was reading the Seattle times and came across this article.  The Bible study I have been in has been going though the book of James, as is our Sunday school class. We talk alot about how to help others but can get caught up in the realities of life.  We tend to focus on all the obstacles in the way (time, kids, opportunity) of truly being able to have faith and deeds work together.

Now that I have become a Costco member I actually have a pantry stocked with dry goods.  Yes, they are for my family, and yes, I plan to use them, but do I have to have 12 cans of soup in my cupboard today? Not really, instead I went though and pulled out alot of the 'bulk' canned items I have saved up. I can go to Costco next week, the people who are standing in line for the food bank can not.  

I encourage you to fill your blue plastic bag with food and leave it outside tomorrow. The line for the food banks is growing, please, do what you can to help put food on the shelves for those in need.

Why Does it Always Rain on Me?

Well, it doesn't actually rain and that is the problem. For the past several weeks I have been slowly planting seeds both in my flower beds and now in my new vegetable beds, and transplanting flowers to different parts of the yard. Every sunny afternoon (and some chilly) we are outside weeding, planting, and getting our yard ready for summer. It has been very exciting to see the yard take shape this year.

Unfortunately, with all the planting and transplanting I have been doing I need rain. I hate to start watering this early in the year, especially when I know we will be watering alot during the summer months.  Each day I check the weather and hope for some rain.  This week it showed 2 days of rain. I was excited, not to be trapped inside, but to know my plants would get some much needed moisture. The rain did not come, some showers did, but the ground did not get a good soaking. Then we had 2 really nice days of sun. It was lovely but back to my water dilemma.

Last night I looked out at my recent transplanted flowers and realized they were not looking so good. All of the stems and leaves were on the ground looking very wilted. I knew I needed to get out and water them but I wasn't feeling so good.  I either have the swine flu or a sinus infection, it is hard to tell the difference. I rationalized my laziness by knowing it was going to rain today.  They only had to make it one more day.

I got up today all ready for rain. I knew we wouldn't play outside or take a walk. I had a very mellow inside day planned with the boys because it was going to rain. At 10:00 I asked my husband where the rain was. He checked his high-tech phone and told me it was at Greenlake, would be here soon. And he was right - not long after it did start to sprinkle. I was so happy. I kept checking the window, watching the rain, looking at the ground, not too long later it stopped. I went outside to check and the ground was barely wet. The area under the trees was still dry. It is early, I thought, and went back inside to wait for more rain.

Several hours and a nice nap later, I looked outside to see SUN! This was not expected and not necessarily a happy surprise. My oldest son was happy but I knew what this meant. I was going to have to break down and water my plants.  Outside I went, in my fat pants and slippers, and watered all the plants in my front yard and the new vegetable garden in my back. I even got to say "hello" to the neighbors on a walk, who were probably wondering why I was outside dressed like that and watering my plants on a 'rainy' day.

I finished up, came inside, and started dinner.  As I was cooking I realized it was getting darker and darker. I went to the window to see dark, gray, storm clouds, filling up the sky. My husband walked in from running an errand and just laughed. It's raining now, he said, and it was just starting to really rain. No sprinkles or showers here. Hard rain you can hear hitting the window and soaking all of my freshly watered plants.

"It's a Boy"*

*Disclaimer: That is just based on a feeling.

Prince Jack

I really don't know what we are having, but I was looking in the mirror at my stomach yesterday and I thought, "Hmm, that looks EXACTLY like my last two pregnancies". Low, and straight out, like a basketball. It isn't higher, or rounder. I had a sense of deja vu and thought, "This has to be a boy".  I also have had a highly scientific test performed on my (it involved human hair and a ring) and that also predicted a boy. I do realize that if I wanted to know it would have been very easy at either my 1st or 2nd ultrasound. But I don't, not really. My husband hates to know. He thinks it is the very best surprise and I do agree that my second child really did surprise me.  This time, I come and go about how I feel. Some days I really want to know and be done with it all, other days I know the moment of birth when my husband says: "It's a ***" will be one of those unforgettable moments.  But at this moment, I truly believe it is another boy.

My sister sent me this article today. I started reading it and realized this was everything I had been feeling (well up until the point where she does find out what she is having) but the stares, the questions, the comments, the absolute different behavior of boys. I read it with a smile, thinking, I knew exactly what she was talking about.  I love my boys, I love how much they love their mom, but their constant source of energy tends to leave me drained.  I am working on playtime with boys  - it tends to involve cars, trains, or forts.  That or running - not something I am doing well with right now.  But they are so sweet and they are what I know.

Today at work a friend was telling me all about an incident with his daughter and sand. I added it to my list of pros for having another boy - no serious sand in the diaper issues here. Although we have a new rule: No peeing in our front yard or the neighbors yard. We are working on this.  

I am really okay either way. I will be glad to be done with the question: Are you hoping for a girl?  But I still need a name, boy or girl, we still have no real names.

Prince Micah

"Four!"

That is what Micah says when asked how old he is today.  Math is not yet his strength!

"Good Morning" to the birthday boy

Dropping Jack off at preschool

Watching the trains with Daddy

Enjoying a Mighty O sprinkle doughnut all by himself

Really loving the sprinkles

Teriyaki Chicken for lunch, because this is the one day mom isn't supposed to make lunch

Not eating lunch, probably too full from the doughnut

Running at the park after nap time

Birthday ice cream at Tutta Bella - and we forgot the candle!

Opening his present - a race track for cars

Setting up the airplane

Success!

The Name Game

People have started asking if we have any names picked out for the baby.  Every time I wish I had a good answer, but  don't. I keep thinking it is too soon to think of names. But at my last doctors visit I scheduled all my appointments until my due date. There are not that many. Along with laying awake at night finally realizing I have no where to put the baby's clothes, I also realized we might need to work on the name.  

We always struggle with names, especially boy names, and  have quite the list going before we pick the right one. I have the lists saved for both of my boys. Ones that are filled with boy names and always one girl name.  

I still remember the moment we decided on Jack's name.  I was driving across the 520 bridge on my way to work and, as usual, obsessing about the baby's name. We knew what the girl name would be but had no real option yet for the boy. Since we found out on our trip to Italy that we were pregnant we really wanted an Italian middle name, I like family names, and Brandon wants out there names you can't shorten.  His most recent suggestion was: Oscar Domiano.  I liked Jack. I always had and when I knew my baby was due on the same day as my great-uncle Jack's birthday, it seemed perfect to me. About mid-bridge I thought "Jack Oscar", I loved it, I called Brandon, he loved it. It was such a good feeling. When I went into labor on my due date and the chances were good I would deliver that day, I so wanted a boy. When Brandon said "It's a boy!" it felt like I knew it all along. My grandma was at the hospital when Jack was born and my favorite picture is her holding Jack, who was born on her brother's birthday and carried on his name.

Micah was an even harder name.  Having one child, I really obsessed over what would sound good with 'Jack'.  Everything sounded like "Jack and Jill" boy or girl.  Once again we had a girl name all picked out but could not come up with a boy name.  This was made even harder because after choosing 'Jack', it became more popular.   I would hear it on the playground almost daily. Brandon really wanted a different name this time.  On our list we had: Paul, Saul, Drew, Owen. None felt right, but we didn't like any one better.  Again, I can remember the moment we chose the name 'Micah'. It was a hot Friday in April, I remember because I was sitting on my deck enjoying the sun and watching Jack play. I had picked up this baby name book at the library that was supposed to be really good in finding sibling names.  I went through the entire book and when I was done I had only flagged one name. I went inside and IM'd Brandon: "What do you think of Micah". He wrote back "I love it" and then "Micah Allen". Allen, after my dad. I loved it.  Two weeks later, our Micah was born and I remember saying to my sister, "Now I have an Allen, too!"

12 weeks to my due date and no names. Not even a girls name. I have one I love but it wasn't an "A-ha!" moment for Brandon, so I guess that is not the one. We have one boys name that Brandon likes and it is okay, but I don't love it, yet. I want that same feeling of: "Yes, that is it!" when we say it to each other and that has not happened yet.

So, next to me on the couch is "The Best Baby Name Book" and of course our favorite, "Don't Name Your Baby". I guess it is time I open one and start my list. This time, with a column for both boy and girl names.

"Give the Birthday Boy a Hug"

This is what I heard from my now 4 year old all day long. In between wanting to know where his party was, crying, telling everyone he was still 3, and taking a long nap, we did have some fun.

Waiting for Friend Jen to go to Top Pot doughnuts

Still waiting....

Walking through the SAM Sculpture Park with Daddy

Running through the park

Watching for trains

Lunch of hot dogs and mac and cheese

Using our brand new paint supplies - Thank you Friend Jen!

Dinner at Tutta Bella

Our birthday ice cream

The 'infamous' lemon cupcake (we did get carrot cake which he does NOT like)

Opening one present before bed - kites!

And of course, our new big-boy bed!