i hope you never experience this, but if you do...

How did I spend my Christmas night?

Well, when a stick of Christmas chocolate Avon lip balm went through the washer and dryer in a load of whites, including a brand new cute Wesley outfit, I cried. A rewash did nothing.

The solution? Take every item of wet clothing, one by one, spray the baked-in chapstick stain with Zout (or any other grease stain removal agent), and scrub each and every stained spot with your fingernails until each and everyone one comes out. And they will. It just takes forever.

I decided I could live with the stains on the socks. Sigh.

There's your post-Christmas tip! But like I said... I hope it never happens to you.

merry christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours.

video update

Hey Grandmas (and friends), here is some of the latest and greatest raw footage of the hilarious toddler we know and love, Wesley.

Please enjoy his affinity for our cat, Gabby... and note her facial expressions (if you can say cats have facial expressions):

Please enjoy our most exciting animal sound to date (although his newest verbal expressions are quacks):

Please enjoy him showing how he feels about my Christmas present:

Please enjoy his laughter as he slides his turtle around the kitchen (note at the end, how he picks up his turtle and chucks it. That's something we're working on... "No Wesley, we don't throw our heavy, more-expensive, chunky plastic toys."):

And last but not least, please enjoy business as usual in the Gottula home; we love to stomp our feet, make sure our choo choo train music is going (at all times), and throw our plastic balls all over the place:



I just love that boy!

a time to serve

This Christmas season has been a fun one so far. I've got my list all ready for my loved ones (stockings and presents and surprises, oh my!), and the Christmas cards are (mostly) out and the packages to the family members are all out.

But something else that I've really been enjoying is service opportunities. I want to serve more. In fact, I've already started working on my 2010 resolutions and in it I included a goal to do at least 6 organized or thought-out service projects during the year. I really want to get outside of myself and help others.

This Christmas has had lots of opportunities to help.

Shane's work group at Boeing sponsored a family through an organization called Housing Hope. They learned the family consisted of a single mom with an 8-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy. The girl liked Barbies and the boy liked hockey. Shane was in charge of spending between $50 and $100 on the boy! He found a hockey net with sticks and pucks, and he sent me on a mission up to the Everett Silvertips (local WHL team) store to buy some hockey stuff. I even had the grand idea to get discounted hockey tickets, and we were thisclose to getting them -- the manager offered them to me at a great price! -- but we needed to pick a date for a game night and Shane didn't feel comfortable doing that. In the end we got the boy a Silvertips T-shirt and jigsaw puzzle, a generic hockey calendar, and a hockey poster of a Washington Capitals player who I guess is good but I've never heard of before.

Then, to top it all off, Shane got the job of delivering all the stuff to Housing Hope.....which meant it made more sense for me to do it! Yesterday, I delivered a bunch of Barbie and hockey stuff and gift card for mom. Housing Hope then wraps it all and delivers it to the family. It felt so good.

In a similar vein, the Young Women at Church did a really cool service activity for the Forgotten Children's Fund. They have a ton of toys and books and coats and everything in this big warehouse space. We showed up and are assigned a family, then we went "shopping" for the family and wrapped and bagged all the presents. Our family was a single mom, a mentally handicapped young adult, and two young children. The young women got to hand-pick three big toys, hats and scarves and coats, stocking stuffers, and books for the children, plus presents for the young adult and Mom. There were reams of beautiful shiny wrapping paper to wrap it in, then we packaged it all up in sacks that looked like Santa bags! It was a neat experience. I'm so impressed this stuff goes on around the holidays.

For Christmas in the Gottula home we're getting a number of wild and crazy gifts, like an office chair and a vacuum. In turn, we needed to get rid of our old (well-loved) office chair and vacuum. Shane has strong opinions and hated them both vehemently, but I have strong opinions against blanketly throwing stuff away.

So, I posted them on Craigslist -- for free.

In an hour, I had 8 people respond about the chair.

In an hour and a half, I had 13 people respond about the vacuum.

A few of the chair people were non-committal, and I finally gave it away to a UW student named Kirk from Seattle. The vacuum went to the first guy who emailed me, Larry, who said he lived with a few mentally handicapped people and they didn't have a vacuum currently. Wow. Just that made me feel like maybe I too was really helping someone this Christmas.

To ice the cake, I got this email from Kirk, the office chair guy:

Angela,

My wife and I ended up coming over at about 8:30 pm and picked up the chair last night. I wanted to thank you so much for letting us have the chair for free. My wife and I were talking about how much of a hassle that it would be to give something like that away when it would be much easier just to throw it in the trash. Thanks again for being such a good person and helping out a poor college student.

Kirk

Omigosh, isn't that the nicest thing EVER??? I couldn't make this stuff up; his email just blew my mind. It just goes to show that Shane's trash is definitely someone else's treasure. I suppose I could have charged money for this stuff, and maybe gotten a taker or two, but you know I didn't need to and I just I wanted to get rid of it. I wanted someone to have it who would use it. Maybe in a couple weeks Kirk will decide the chair is awful (like Shane had decided), but maybe not. We were poor college students when we got it, and now we passed it on to him.

Anyway, I think service is important and I want to be better about it in my life. I've made it a goal for myself. I hope you feel served this Christmas, because we all need people to do nice things for us every once in awhile.

big day for boeing

I often forget that the title of this blog is "From the Seattle Gottulas," and there are three of us -- myself, Wesley, and the Shanester. This post is for him.

Yesterday was a BIG DAY. Many of you know that the Shanester works for Boeing, and the goal, since 7-8-07, has been to get the dang 787 airplane off the ground. There have been delays delays and more delays, schedule slides, order cancellations, and more, making most if not all Boeing employees crazy. But yesterday, history was made! (At least we like to think of it that way.)

The 787 took off. And Shane got to be there to see it.




He said it really was one of the coolest experiences ever. He and a bunch of people from his office trekked down to the airstrips near their offices at Paine Field. They were told it would take 2 hours to navigate all of the way-finding and stake a spot, but it only took 45 minutes. And then the 10 am takeoff was delayed 30 minutes or so.... so Shaner was waiting outside in the cold and wet for a couple hours yesterday. (His shoes were still wet this morning.)

But, he reports it was well worth it. He said the 787 was taxiing for a bit and getting ready for takeoff, and what he noticed most was how quiet it is. Interesting! There were two "chase planes" which stay with the aircraft during flight, and those two little planes had already taken off and were circling above. The 787 taxied out of view, and then Shane noticed the chase planes circling again overhead and getting into position where they'd fly straight along the jetway and be on either side of the 787. Shane knew this was it.

Sure enough, as the chase planes approached, he heard the 787 taking off, barrelling down the runway -- even though again, it was relatively quiet. It took off right in front of him, and one of the chase planes ROARED directly overhead. He said that is another reason he knew the 787 was pretty quiet -- because those dang chase planes were so loud. It absolutely shook him when they passed by.

I knew it was happening at home and tried to watch it online, but technology hates me so that didn't work. Every time I heard something outside I ran to the balcony to check it out... twice it was a helicopter (news crews everywhere), and once it was a bi-plane! Weird, huh!?

Anyway, very very cool day. I can only imagine it's rewarding for Shane, since this is something has has put his blood, sweat, and tears into. Shane didn't design that plane exactly, but the 787 is the line he works on every day. He does the "livery," and if you know what that means I'm ridiculously impressed. It's the paint schemes. He is coordinating all sorts of things for the various paint schemes on the hundreds of 787s that have been sold to airlines. Since he has hundreds to design, and they're only on like the 10th or something, I happily call that job security!

We always said if the plane took off successfully we'd sell our condo and buy a house! So maybe. We'll see what happens. Test flights on this one plane will go on for the next 9 months or so, then I guess they'll be ready to deliver planes to the airlines.

Congrats, Boeing! What a big day!

toddler gastronomy

We've had crazy success with a few fun foods for the toddler, so I thought I'd share the wealth of knowledge.

Banana Cakes

I had a friend tell me this one. Whip up a small batch of pancake batter and slice a banana. Coat the banana slices in the batter and cook on the stovetop. Serve! Wesley can't quite handle the whole slice, so I cut them in half after they are cooked. They are a huge hit. A fun breakfast -- fruit and pancake in one!

Freeze-Dried Anything

Our little dude loves freeze-dried fruits. At first I got a teeny bag of something at Trader Joe's, and he inhaled them. I realized I needed a better option.

That's right, I bought a case (six) of freeze-dried fruits in #10 cans from BePrepared.com for emergencies. And the emergency is snacktime. We've currently opened the peaches and strawberries. Um, yum! Huge hit with the little guy. They are still pretty expensive ($20+ per can), but I am pretty sure that the math works out and they are a better deal than the teeny bags from Trader Joe's.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

I like fall/winter squash, but you have to do amazing things to it to make it to-die-for fabulous. The leftover for this meal were fought over! So it's a sure winner. I found the recipe in Parents Magazine, which I love. It's called Butternut Squash Casserole in the magazine:

Ingredients

• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 lb. whole wheat elbows
• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. flour
• 1-1/2 c milk
• 1-3/4 c white cheddar cheese
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss squash and oil and salt and spread out on a tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender; set aside.

2. Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than package directions; drain and mix in bowl with squash. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat and mix in flour.

3. Slowly whisk in milk. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1-1/2 cups cheese; stir until melted. Stir cheese sauce into pasta and squash.

4. Spoon into 6 greased, individual ramekins (I did it all in one huge casserole bowl, so that's OK too). Sprinkle on remaining cheese; bake 10 minutes. Serves 6.

Seriously. Huge hit.

That's all for now. Just a fun post on food. Yum!

utah adventures

Warning! Most thrilling travelogue ahead!!

We got back from Utah on Monday. Whew, what a whirlwind trip. Our tired bodies (and chapped lips) were happy to get back safe and sound to Washington. A recap of our adventures (with lots of shout-outs!):

Friday

Our flight went well. We flew Southwest, which was a first. If you know airlines, you know that Southwest has a "first come, first served" seat policy, as in, get on the plane and find a seat and sit in it, quick! The flight was completely full and Wesley had to sit on our laps. We kinda sat near a business guy who wanted the aisle, and he didn't seem overly cautious to let us in. Wesley was a good little flyer.

He's in this phase now where it likes motion. When we're driving (or in the plane or on a shuttle this weekend, as it were), or if he's in his stroller, we better be moving or he lets everyone know he doesn't like being static. It's interesting. Shane thinks we're raising an impatient kid. I don't know if he understands the concept of patience yet.

So anyway, as long as we were moving, Wesley was good. We had lots of toys, books, snacks, etc., to keep him occupied. It went well!

We landed and got our bags with no worries and got our rental car with no hassle. Let me just say I LOVE how Salt Lake International is laid out re: the rental cars. They are RIGHT THERE! No awful shuttle to wait for that takes you 10 miles away, where you stand in line waiting for a car and you have no idea where you are. The Salt Lake rental cars are right across the street in a big garage. So nice.

We put my new fancy phone to good use and used GPS to meet my brother Brad and his wife Leslie at the Gateway Mall. We got lost at first since I put in the wrong address. We realized this when we were basically at the University of Utah in the foothills of Salt Lake and not at an outdoor mall. Yikes. I put in the correct address, and voila, we made it alive.

Brad needed to go to store, but he also wanted to show me my name carved in stone. That's right kids, here I am, in the glorious Gateway Mall in Salt Lake:

Woot woot! That's right kids, the name is Angela Twining. And why is my name is stone? I was one of the kabillions of volunteers for the 2002 Olympics. I had a ton of fun, and one day Brad was wandering around the Gateway and saw my name. He took a low-resolution picture of it on his camera phone, so it was nice to see it for myself.

As were walking around the mall, I was running my mouth about something and who walked past us? L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. Brad, Leslie, and Shane all saw him and recognized him. I completely missed it. They said who it was and I turned back and saw the back of his hat. It was a debonair kind of hat with a little red flower in it. How cute old-man is that? Anyway, our brush with fame.

We also ran into another kid I new growing up in Maryland, Jacob Long. Very cool to run into people I know in a city I haven't been to in years!

It was really cold. So we left.

We drove to Provo and checked into our hotel. We rested and then took Brad and Leslie out for dinner at Los Hermanos. My goal was to eat all Utah-ish food all weekend, reminiscing of the past.

Saturday

Our adventures Saturday were such fun. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures!

In the morning, Leslie met us and one of my old co-workers, Megan, and her little boy Quinn, on BYU campus. I desperately wanted to walk around and see what had changed. Wowsers. We met at the ginormous and gorgeous new alumni building. Brad even told me later that if you go sit in one of the cushy chairs in the alumni building, some sweet old patron lady walks up to you and asks if you're an alumni, since only alumni are allowed to sit in the cushy chairs. Yeah baby.

(stock photo I swiped from the Internet)

There was this huge hill from Helaman Halls -- freshman dorms -- up to campus. I walked that sucker every single day when I was a freshman (and sophomore, since my apartment was just past Helaman Halls). Well, the new alumni building is on top of the pathway. They graded it to level the building and put the path in a tunnel. Crazy how some stuff now only exists in memories.

Anyway, moving on, we checked out the new communications building (Megan and I both majored in communications), which moved our department out of the Fine Arts building. A lot of the other stuff was the same. They are constructing a new broadcast building, which is very cool, and they finished in the last several years this monstrosity of an athletics building that is on top of the soccer fields where I used to play. And they knocked down Deseret Towers, the dorms my brother Kurt lived in. (Nothing's there, there just knocked them down. Weird.)

We let Wesley and Quinn run around the quad, then Wesley had to go up and down the stairs in the library atrium. It was really cool being back.

That afternoon we got Sconecutter for lunch. YUM! And then I met my old roommate Krysti (who is back at BYU getting her PhD!) at the BYU Creamery for some ice cream while Wesley got a nap. My buddy Krysti rocks. She is even coming up to Washington around Christmas and we're going to hang out again!

At some point around here, Wesley lost his hat and mittens. So sad! Aunt Leslie and Uncle Brad came to the rescue by driving back to the scene of the crime, looking for them, coming up empty, then buying some new ones. Thanks again guys. My little man needs a warm noggin!

Saturday evening was -- of course! -- a football game Shane just had to watch. Texas vs. Nebraska, a big rivalry, plus we're huge Nebraska fans. Brad and Leslie came over to our hotel to watch. We had pizza and salad.

Leslie and I took Wesley on a football break and went across the street to the Provo Tabernacle, where one of the stakes in Provo was performing a live nativity. It was nice. The best part was all the farm animals they had on the Tabernacle's lawn. Wesley about mauled an unsuspecting black sheep. It was really fun. Why did I not take any pictures?

Sunday

The next morning we headed to Clearfield, which is north of Salt Lake, to visit Shane's sister Bonnie and her husband Manny and their new teeny baby Evan. Again, no pictures. I'm lame!

We bought some groceries and we did a brunch and a dinner for them. It was fun! We let Wesley nap in Evan's crib and we talked about baby stuff: baby sleep, baby poo, baby schedules, baby milestones, baby cries. And I promised Bonnie I'd go through all my old Wesley clothes and send her a nice package in the next couple weeks of some stuff she could use.

That evening, thanks to Aunt Leslie, we had tickets to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional! How cool is that!! When I realized I'd be in Utah the first Sunday in December, the day the devotional is every year, I started doing some searching to see if we could get tickets. I asked my Church at home (sometimes we get some), I asked Leslie to ask around, we checked Craigslist, etc. Leslie had a friend who had 6, but he was using them all. So, we gave up.... until a couple days later when the friend called and said his plans fell through! He now had 5 extra tickets! We took 4 of them. Bonnie, me, Leslie, and Brad all went. We left the babies home with the dads!

There are three sections in the Church's conference center: ground level, terrace, and balcony. Our seats were for the terrace, but when one of our party was there saving seats, someone came up to him and upgraded him to the ground floor!! We were in row S -- and row A was the very front! What great seats. I've only ever sat in the balcony before.

Yup, those two teeny little people you see sitting in front of the gold-lighted trees are President Eyring and President Monson. Awesome!!! President Uchdorf was hidden from my view behind the podium.

It was a great devotional. President Uchdorf talked about not letting other things keeps us so busy at Christmas that we lose sight of the reason we are celebrating; President Eyring encouraged us to tell and retell Christmas stories, because in doing so we speak of Christ and service and love; President Monson encouraged us to look for opportunities to serve, at this time of year and always. He always tells such good stories that make me want to be better.

The story he told this year was of a packed airport, full of delayed flights, in the early '70s. A business class traveler had a confirmed ticket on a flight home, but a weary soldier in uniform pleaded with the gate agent to get him on the flight. He said his battalion was getting ready to go to Vietnam, and he didn't want to miss what very well might be his last Christmas at home. The agent couldn't accommodate him.... but the business class traveler gave up his seat. Wow. What a story of selflessness.

When we got back to Bonnie's house, Wesley was a crying mess. He was cranky. We left for our hotel soon after that. We stayed in a super cushy nice hotel near the airport! It was definitely for businessmen. It was AWESOME! And I pricelined it for $20 cheaper per night than the hotel we stayed at in Provo! Crazy! And it was worlds nicer.

Monday

We decided Wesley needed to sleep in, but I got up early to go on an adventure of my own.

My company is the structural engineer on a huge project in downtown Salt Lake. I told my boss I'd do her a favor and go takes some pictures of the construction. My goal was to get up high, if I could, and get an aerial shot. Well, that is 100% impossible since the project is SO HUGE. But I did have the audacity to go up the highest high-rise nearby, knock on the glass doors of the KeyBank executive offices (26th floor), and ask if I could snap a picture out a window. Hehe. I felt kind of silly, but people in Utah are super nice! They let me do it!

It was really cool to just walk around the site. It was cold and the weather wasn't too clear, but I got to see this cool project under construction. Our company has a guy there on site, handling construction administration stuff, who was going to meet me and give me a narrative of sorts, but because of the weather he didn't come in that morning. Oh well! It was still cool to check it out.

Our flight was later that day, and it was mostly empty so we were able to bring on Wesley's car seat and strap him in. That was nice. He fussed a bit (mom wasn't smart for booking a flight during nap time), but overall he did well. He's a good little traveler.

We had so much fun visiting with our friends and family, but it is good to be home. The static electricity in my hair is waning and my chapped lips are feeling much better. Utah was such a part of my life for 5+ years, it feels funny to just be a tourist at this point.

It was a great visit. Go Cougars!

csi: provo

I'm planning an exciting trip to Utah soon, and interestingly, many school memories have been coming back because of some things in the news lately. These two news items are simply 100% unbelieveable. Wow.

I.

In Utah County, there is a recreational destination called Nutty Putty Cave. It's a spelunking "resort." I went once with another guy the summer I was dating Shane (hehe!). He had gone a zillion times and loved it. I had lots of friends who went all the time. Exploring the Nutty Putties is a very popular activity in Provo with BYU students.

Imagine my shock to read about John Jones, who went exploring in an unmapped area of the caves and became STUCK. If you know spelunking, you wear a light on your head and you go up and down and in and out of little caverns. You get very dirty and make some tight squeezes. Some of the Nutty Putty pathways are indeed pretty tight. Personally, I was nervous about going, but the guy I went with was so confident and promised to help me the whole time. He was cute; we sorta dated :-) Anyway, you have to pull yourself through lots of narrow passageways and such.

So, this guy last week got stuck, upside down, and needed professional help to get him out. He became unstuck, but the rigging system or whatever the rescue workers were using to help him slipped, and he became restuck. And they couldn't get him out. He died.

It gets worse.

His body will remain in the cave since it isn't safe for workers to get him out. Shane was incredulous! This guy went exploring in a part of the cave that is so dangerous they can't even retrieve his body for his wife and child to hold a proper burial for him. Wow.

And, to top it all off, of course, the Nutty Putty caves will be closed permanently. I know a lot of people who will be very upset about this. I can't believe it! The articles were saying closing the cave was out of respect to the family (who will never receive their loved one's body) and since the caves were, obviously, a tad dangerous.

II.

I am on an email list that usually includes articles relating to BYU stuff. I clicked on an article about the slaying of a BYU professor, since those articles are usually interesting. I started reading it, and instead realized that the name sounded familiar...

When Shane and I dated, of course we were inseparable and I sometimes went to his classes with him. He had one professor who was a real nutcase. The guy liked to go off on tangents, and when you've been teaching for so long (as he had), you can really do whatever you want. He was a mechanical engineering professor, and in the particular class I attended, he was explaining the process to figure out what kind of reinforcement a picnic table had to have to keep from tipping over when a large person sat on one side. Seriously! He even drew pictures. He had a reputation for being a good but humorous professor.

His name and his photo popped up on the screen. I asked Shane if he remembered Professor Mortensen, and Shane looked at the screen without reading the headline and said, "yeah, that's him. What happened?"

"Shane, he was murdered."

Someone broke into his home, tied up him, his son, and daughter-in-law, and slit his throat, but left the other two people alive. It's all so unbelievable, like I'm in an alternate universe. The police haven't made an arrests, although they have some suspects. They don't really know motive, either. A neighbor has said that it was well known that Professor Mortensen had a large collection of guns and special weapons, as well as a bunker out back for his family in case of a catastrophe, so maybe the intruders were interested in his weapons stash.

Shane and I are just speechless. I guess these things happen all the time, but rarely does it happen so close to home. He was a good professor who will be remembered fondly.

The deaths of John Jones and Kay Mortensen have certainly touched my life. I just can't believe it! It really makes you think about how you never know when the end will be. So take care and love your families. Wow.

18 months

My sweet son is 18 months old today.

Can you believe the time has flown? Our itty bitty 6-lb-12-oz baby is now a whopping 23 lbs 4 oz and more energy than we can handle!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the last couple months:

(at Lake Goodwin with some friends from our childbirthing class)

(a literary master)

(what a killer smile)

(sitting, chewing a teething ring, and looking like a real little boy)

(investigating the fridge)

Here are some updates:

• His weight is in the 17% percentile, his height (32.5 in.) is 57%, and his head (18.5 in) is 28%.

• Shane's new nickname for him is Taz or Tasmanian Devil. He tends to wreck havoc through our living room -- daily -- and he loves to spout gibberish and he shakes his head like a looney toon. We just love him!
  
  
• He is a great sleeper, taking 3+-hour naps and sleeping 12+ hours a night. He is into sleeping in waaaaay late (think 10 am), then skipping his nap. I appreciate the sleeping in... but the skipping of the nap is tough. He goes to bed well but usually plays for awhile until he actually falls asleep. It got to the point where he beat on the wall too much (after throwing all his stuffed animals out of the crib) that we moved his crib into the middle of the room.
  
  
• He's a good eater, but sometimes very picky. He has to be in the mood to eat, and when he is, the kid can pack it away. His newest obsession is freeze-dried fruit. Hey, it's healthy. We have three meals and two snacks every day. Other favorites are raisins, cinnamon apples, yogurt, graham crackers, and of course, cheerios. We've just introduced mozzarella cheese sticks, pomegranate seeds, and peanut butter (acceptable in granola bars, so/so on English muffins).
  
  
• He remains a handsome socialite. We still make friends everywhere we go.
  
  
• He has all 16 teeth, and has for a few months now, but he still drools like he's teething and sticks everything in his mouth.
  
  
• He loves walking (and running), and tends to dart into traffic. WHOA. I'm working hard on promoting rational thinking ("Wesley, no! The street is for cars and trucks and buses and bicycles, not Wesleys!") but it usually goes in one toddler ear and out the other.
  
  
• His favorite toys are his wooden blocks, his wooden mallet, his trucks, and his links. He totes them around the house like they are his "lovey" toys. Once we let him go to bed with a couple blocks, but he dropped one on the floor and wailed for 10 minutes. That was the last time a block went to bed :-)
  
  
• He hasn't said many words, but he does a few animal noises ("ooh ooh ahh ahh" of a monkey and "wowr" of a lion/tiger) and "hi da-dee." He is good at mimicking our sounds, but we're not sure he has his own real words yet. We're actually going to a speech therapist who teaches us things to promote speech.
  
  
• He is officially OFF the pacifier (woo hoo!).
  
  
• He's had a sinus infection for the last couple weeks and he figured out (I didn't show him!) to use his sleeve to wipe his nose. Oh geez. He hated getting his nose wiped at first, but he does tolerate it much more now. Thank goodness for ultra-lotion and Vicks tissues.
  
  
• He loves loves loves Gabby the cat. He loves to lay down and rub his head all over her. He will sometimes jump on her and ride her like a pony. I can't believe it! She tolerates A LOT. Good kitty. (I have some funny videos I'll have to post.)
  
  
• We've been working on baby signing, but it still hasn't happened. Lately, I'll do the sign more (putting my two hands together with my fingers pointed and meeting each other) and will ask him, "more? more?" Instead of HIM doing the sign... he'll reach out his hands, grab my hands, and push my hands together. It's crazy! He refuses to do it himself.
  
  
• Sunday is his first day in the nursery at Church. If you had asked me a couple months ago how I thought he would do, I would say, "fine! He won't even care and he'll wander off and have fun." But as of a couple weeks ago, I change my story. Once I left him with the young women at Church to go to the bathroom and he had a complete meltdown. He's very pro-Mom at the moment.
  
  
• He LOVES to free reign, and doesn't like sitting for too long... so the more we can get that energy out, the better. We enjoy going to toddler storytime (a step up from baby storytime), plus there are some baby gyms in the area we need to check out. When all else fails, we get on our coats and hats and mittens and just toddle outside. Awesome.

I could talk all day! I'm a boasting momma. Shane and I so many times are falling asleep at night and just laughing together at the hilarious things Wesley did that day. He is such a blessing to our lives. We are thrilled to be his parents and watch him grow.

cellular thought process

I'm super excited that I got my awesome new phone. I did a lot of research and looked into this quite a bit, so I thought I'd outline my thought process in case any of you guys are thinking of making an upgrade.

When this all started, all I knew is that I wanted a phone that connected to the Internet. I wanted to be able to read my friends' blogs and check up on Facebook when Shane was on the computer and I had some time to kill. If I had shut off the computer for the night and realized I had forgotten to send an email, wouldn't it be awesome if I could send a quick message from my cell phone?

Our current phone plan is a joke. We pay $30 a month and have 250 daytime minutes, 1,000 night/weekend minutes, no texting, no way to get our photos off the phone, nada. We even pay roaming charges. How archaic! The plan is for Shane to take the phone I use now as his "emergency phone." Fair enough!

In looking for my upgrade, my first few steps of research were the following:

• I posted a thing on Facebook asking all my friends what they had. How much were their monthly bills? What kind of phones did they have? I had lots of friends suggest checking out Costco/Sam's Club or overstock.com for plans and phones, and I had friends up the ying-yang urge me to cease all research immediately and just go get an iPhone.
  
  
• I went to the mall and made the rounds to all the cell phone stores. I played with some phones and got a salesguy at each one to sweet-talk me. I asked questions about plans, phones, connections, perks.
  
  
• I assessed my needs. What was it I wanted? For me, the key was a low monthly bill. I didn't want to pay too much a month. If that meant spending more up front for a phone or an activation fee, that was OK with me. But I wanted my bill to be low (or lower). I didn't necessarily need to be trendy. For me, an iPhone was trendy, and I wasn't going to get one just for that. I was going to get one if it made the most sense for me. I wanted the Internet, texting, and phone calls (duh). Some of the plans included, or could include, GPS. THAT was also intriguing.
  

So, now some technical stuff. Did you realize that cell phones that have data plans (aka connect to the Internet) are tied into an operating system just like computers are? Blackberrys (Blackberries?) and Palm Pilots are on a Windows-based (Microsoft) operating system. iPhones, obviously, use an Apple-run operating system. There is a new type of phone, what are called Android phones, that run on an Android operating system, developed by Google. The "word on the street" is that these Android phones are the iPhones' biggest competitors.


AT&T has a monopoly on iPhones and the Apple operating system (and they therefore offer no Android phones), but the other major cell phone networks each have their own Android phones, i.e., Google didn't sign an exclusive deal with anyone. The new Droid Eris is on Verizon. T-Mobile has a bunch of them; I have a couple friends with HTC G2 phones, and T-Mobile also offers the HTC MyTouch and the Motorola Cliq. All are Android phones. Sprint only has one or two, including the Samsung Moment, which was just released November 1.

My one friend with a HTC G2 really got me thinking about an Android phone. Her husband has an iPhone and she had witnessed first-hand how the two compare. She said a lot of the applications he would download on the iPhone's "marketplace" generally cost money, but she could get comparable ones in the Android "marketplace" for free. She said her G2 phone ran circles around the iPhone in productivity. She could "multi-task" in ways her hub couldn't. She loved loved loved her Android phone.

Google, huh? I have Gmail. I love Google and all the stuff they are doing. I really started to consider this Android thing... it was trendy, but not too trendy; it was hip and now; it was connected to the Internet; it was a phone I could definitely see myself with.

After doing my research, I developed this spreadsheet:

• Sprint. I found a deal on overstock.com that was a data plan, "Everything Data 450," that came with a free Blackberry phone. The plan includes unlimited mobile to mobile minutes (ANY mobile phone on ANY network!), 450 daytime minutes to other lines, unlimited night/weekend minutes, unlimited texting, unlimited Internet access, and unlimited GPS. I took a print-out of the plan to a Sprint kiosk at the mall and the salesguy there said he'd match "any plan" I could find, and he'd give me a Blackberry for free. He suggested a Blackberry for me. The plan would be $69.99/month with a free phone.
  
  
• T-Mobile. T-Mobile started a new thing lately where their monthly plans are at rock bottom prices and are not under contract, but in exchange, you pay full price for your phone -- no free phones, no cheap phones with mail-in rebates, etc. The Talk+Text+Web plan I wanted included 500 daytime minutes, free T-mobile to T-Mobile minutes anytime, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited texting, and unlimited Internet access (including Google maps, but no GPS). The plan would be $59.99/month with a $400 Motorola Cliq or HTC MyTouch -- both Android phones.
  
  
• AT&T. The AT&T guy listened to me telling him what I wanted and immediately started hard-selling the iPhone. OK, I'll listen. Since we are currently on AT&T we would upgrade our plan to a "family plan." Me and Shane would share 700 anytime minutes (that would roll over) and unlimited night/weekend minutes, we'd share 200 text messages, and I'd have unlimited data (and no GPS -- it was extra). Plus, remember, a lot of the "applications" I'd download (including GPS) would 1) cost money to download, and 2) sometimes cost money for each month I used them, adding to my monthly plan. I was skeptical about that. This plan would be $105 per month, with a $199 16GB iPhone -- and remember, this would include Shane.
  
  
• AT&T x2. I looked into it some more and got a little mad the guy was forcing me into an iPhone. I had admired the Samsung Impression, a touch-screen phone with a flip out keyboard, and looked into it. It wasn't an Android phone, but it still could download applications and stuff, I think. I could get (as an individual) 450 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekend minutes, unlimited Internet, 200 text messages, AND GPS for a discount (when I bundled it with the data package -- something that wasn't included with the iPhone). This plan would be $65 per month, paying $80 for the phone.
  
  
• Verizon. These guys didn't make me any deals at all! They were the only place that didn't treat me like they desperately wanted my business. I guess their network is big enough, they don't need me (which is a shame, since all my family members are on Verizon). I asked the salesgal about the new Droid phone, and she basically flat-out said if I wasn't used to having a power phone (I wasn't) that it was probably "too much phone" for me. She encouraged me to get a Blackberry. The plan was outrageous -- 450 anytime minutes, free Verizon mobile to Verizon mobile minutes (which would be really nice for me), unlimited/night weekend minutes, 500 texting minutes (although texting to Verizon phone was free), and unlimited Internet access (no GPS) for $80! I could add GPS for another $10. And I'd still have to pay for a phone -- a $200 Droid (Android phone), an $80 Samsung Rogue (like the Impression, and not an Android phone), or a $100+ Blackberry.

For a long time, I seriously considered the T-Mobile plan. I was intrigued by the Android phone concept. I wanted a phone with a touch screen that had a flip-out Qwerty keyboard, I wanted to download apps, I wanted to upload music, I wanted Google maps (although I really wanted GPS). Shane was the one that stopped me; he said he really didn't feel comfortable with me driving with Google maps. He's right -- GPS was a much better option. So that took me back to Sprint or maybe AT&T.

But, if I wanted an Android phone, AT&T wouldn't work. I finally decided: you know, just because the salesguy at Sprint offered to give me a Blackberry for free and tried to sell me a Blackberry doesn't mean I have to have a Blackberry. What else could I get?

Then, I found the Samsung Moment. I'm not exactly sure how I found it, but I did. It's an Android phone. It has a touch screen and flip-out horizontal Qwerty keyboard. The plan includes GPS. It cost $180 bucks... but I could live with that, right?


Samsung's Web site is really cool. You can pick from a bunch of their phones and compare them side by side -- I checked out the Impression, Rogue, and Moment. It's so obvious that it's the coolest of all the phones. Just to get some more insight, I googled it to read reviews, and that's when I found it on amazon.com for $80! That one salesguy said he'd match any deal right?? I should bring him this deal!!

While all this was going on I talked to a friend who was on Sprint and she recommended a salesguy she really liked and trusted at a Sprint store nowhere near my house! But, I took her recommendation seriously and called the guy and talked to him about it. I said I wanted this phone, and I wanted him to match the Web price, and I wanted to buy it from him. I could tell he didn't want to match the Web price, but he wanted my business, so he'd offered me $50 off... anyway, he said they were out of stock, none of his "partner stores" had any, it was a "hot phone, flying off the shelves," he had to get one in for me, blah blah blah. OK. I let him string me along for awhile.

Then my birthday came. There was no phone, and I was sad. I took a trip to the mall with Wesley and found the Sprint kiosk I went to originally. I glanced past and on a whim asked the salesguy there if he had any Samsung Moments I could play with (since, up to this point, I'd not even touched one). He did. I said, "but you probably don't have any in stock right?" And he said, "no, of course we do. We have at least 10 of them." What!?! My heart skipped a beat. I asked him if he'd match the amazon.com price. Of course he wouldn't (it's a killer deal, but on amazon.com the phone was out of stock for 5-7 weeks!), but he'd offer me $30 off.

Well, it was like the stars aligned: He'd kinda give me a deal, it was a great plan, he had a phone in stock, he waived the activation fee, it was my birthday -- I went for it. For those following along at home, my grand totals: A $69.99/month plan, and I paid $150 for the phone.

In retrospect, I'm glad I did it. I talked with one of my friends later who has an iPhone and loves it, and we were comparing. See, she's a Mac girl and all her contacts were in her Mac and everything in her life is through her Mac -- so an iPhone makes sense for her. On the other hand, I have put blood, sweat, and tears into my Google mail groups and contacts -- so an Android phone makes sense for me. I'm way glad I did it.

I've barely had time to play with it -- I've been so busy! But I'm excited. We tried the GPS out of the other night (it was awesome!), and I've downloaded a couple fun apps from the Android market so far. Travis, my salesguy, was so impressed when I was telling him about all this research and stuff I did. He said so many people have no idea what's going on. I felt pretty good about that!

So, I feel awesome. I've sent my first text message, I set up my voicemail this morning, and interestingly enough, I've already gotten my first wrong number call -- from a collections agency looking for the last person to have my number, oddly someone also named Angela. Eerie.

Yay! If you need me, I'll be updating Facebook with my new phone.

how am i?

Yesterday was a busy day! It was my birthday. I am one year older and wiser, too. (Well, whatever, maybe.)

In my personal journal, I tend to outline how I am doing all the various aspects of my life. I like putting everything in categories since it makes me feel organized. Since I haven't written in my personal journal since, um, July or something (blame it on the blog!), I guess a birthday is a good time to blog about how I'm doing. Maybe I'll print it out and stick it in my journal:

• Family. I have a very supportive husband and a crazy adorable toddler. I love my son! I love being a momma. I love teaching (try to teach) him animal noises and body parts and letters. I love making him laugh and watching him experience things. I love the things we do as a family -- me and Shane and Wesley -- whether it's going to Sam's Club or the museum or even just on a walk. I love cooking dinner for my husband and hearing him say sweet things about how he appreciates me. That always means a lot. Our relationship isn't perfect -- who woulda thought it would be so hard for a communications major to communicate!? -- but we're working on it. We're being very patient, and that is what matters.

• Professional. My job is great! I work really hard and I love it. Working full time in October was fun, but I missed being home with Wesley. I'm back to part time now. There is always something to do so as many hours as I can squeeze in from home are appreciated. I just love that the little dude takes killer naps. (Usually.) I may even go in for a few days in December if I can con my mother-in-law to nannying for me! Yeah, I definitely feel appreciated at work.

• Spiritual. I'm doing my best to be a good person, to look for opportunities to serve and be better. I was really inspired during General Conference a couple weeks ago. Wow. It was great. I had written down three questions I really wanted answered, questions that pertained to my life, and they were all answered during the first two-hour session. There were three more sessions to go! I was greatly inspired. I've been reading my scriptures more regularly and praying more earnestly. It makes such a difference in how I feel about myself and my life. And I find that if I make time for the Lord, there is always time to get the other things done. It's amazing.

• Church Service. I love serving in the Young Women's organization. The girls are so sweet and it's been great getting to know them. I actually received a new calling in Church, and the powers-that-be said they would release me from Young Women's and let me focus solely on my new job. I said, "no! I'll do them both! Please don't!" Since there aren't a ton of people in our ward, they can use the manpower and said OK. I'm now the "multi-media specialist," which means I'm in charge of the Bishop's picture board (pics of all the members), the ward Newsletter, and the ward Web site. Easy cheesy! It should be a super fun calling.

• Physical. I'm trying hard to be more healthy! Lots of birthday treats don't help much, but whatever, birthdays are only once a year! I'm exercising regularly and eating better. I'm on a whole foods kick ever since reading In Defense of Food, which was fascinating. Maybe I'll blog more about that later. It's a struggle though; I've gotta work at this "physical" healthiness. Probably for my whole life. I'm loving the new blog and the support there; thanks friends.
  
  
• Relaxation. I don't really relax. I like scrapbooking and making cards and stuff. But for the most part I just fold the laundry while enjoying my silly TV shows, like Desperate Housewives and Dancing with the Stars and America's Next Top Model (go Nicole!!) and the Office and Saturday Night Live. We're silly in this house. I have been reading, which is awesome, and of course I'm excited to see the new Twilight movie this weekend. Me and some young women from Church (how did you guess?) are going on Saturday. It should be neck-bitingly awesome.

• Upcoming Events. In other upcoming events, I'm excited about our trip to Utah in a couple weeks. Shane's sister just had a baby and my sister-in-law is dying to see Wesley. It'll be fun to visit BYU campus and let him toddle around; I'm excited to see all the new buildings and how things have changed. Ahh, college days. My mom always says it's best to have a trip in the plans, since it gives you something to look forward to. That mom of mine is sharp! I'm also planning a trip to Maui in Hawaii for sometime this winter; we need a vacation badly. It was a busy 2009, so we're going. Feel free to pass on suggestions! At the moment, the plan is to take Wesley along!

• Big Purchases. Shane and I feel fortunate enough to be in a place to mildly "stimulate the economy," if you will, so we're trying to decide what big things to buy. We need a new vacuum, a new mattress, maybe even a new car. Definitely a new house. THAT would be nice. If/when the dang 787 flies, I think we'll try to sell our condo and move up in the world. At the moment we're staying in Seattle. I do love it here. I also got for my birthday -- drumroll!! -- a new fancy cell phone! Wowsers!! It's a Samsung Moment through Sprint; dude, it rocks. I feel so hip. It's an Android phone. And I have no idea how to use it yet. But I'm so excited I got it on my birthday!! I think I'll blog more about the phone later, too. I was afraid my birthday would be devoid of presents, but I had to take a trip to the mall and buy earrings and Bath and Body Works stuff and oh, a sweet cell phone.

I should also say it was an AWESOME birthday. My so-very-cool moms & babies playgroup friends planned a "surprise" party for me. There musta been 10 people there with their toddlers. We destroyed my friend Vicki's house. She invited me over for hot cocoa and playdough time for the babies and instead everyone was there! It was so fun. I felt so special. Shane bought me a cake and some flowers (and an iTunes gift card), and lots of family members and friends called with well wishes. The aforementioned awesome Young Women came over and sang on my doorstep with a huge cupcake. It was a wonderful day. Thanks to everyone, too, for all the Facebook comments and birthday cards. I just finished opening my cards and I haven't even read all the Facebook messages. I'm so blessed.

I guess that's enough about my life. When people say, "oh nothing is going on," I think, "whatever! Look at all the stuff going on in my life!" I feel busy and fulfilled. It's wonderful. I truly enjoy every experience. And I guess I've got another year of experiences ahead of me. Happy November 18 to you!

nightmare on highway 99

As some of you know, I have a birthday coming up. And this particular birthday marks a momentous occasion: my driver's license expired.

I decided to go in last week -- on a whim -- and take care of it. I did no strategic thinking. This was a mistake. I happened to go 1) during "lunch break" (I arrived at 11:28 am) and 2) the day after a national holiday (when the licensing office was closed). I came with a toddler and no books, no food (emergency cheerios kept in the diaper bag excluded), no toys, no plan, nothing. What was I thinking??

It was awful. Just awful. I arrived and got a number -- 114. For some reason, I looked at the "currently being served" number and saw 58, and in my mind it clicked that "oh, we're almost in the 100s," since I considered the numbers on a clock, and the hour resets at 60. For some reason, I thought after 59 came 100. When all of a sudden it was 60, then 61, then 62... I was like... "whoa... I'm going to be here a long time."

And I was. Two whole hours. Wesley was SUCH a good boy and entertained himself with -- true story -- my Safeway club card and a bottle of hand sanitizer that he just wanted to hold. I luckily had an umbrella stroller, which I actually left the house without but went back and got, thank HEAVENS, and I put him in the stroller and pushed him around the licensing office for two hours. We went in circles. At first I had him in my lap and I was reciting Dr. Seuss' ABCs (see last post). I think the people sitting near me were like, "oh geez. Why did the woman and the baby come sit near me?"

Although, we made lots of friends. I saw a girl reading a book I love, so we talked about that; I met a sweet-sixteen girl just getting her license for the first time, and her proud momma; I met a woman named Sharon Osbourne and I said, "oh that's a fun name!," and she said, "yeah, tell me about it." I met a lot of people with tattoos who took smoke breaks. It was a long day.

The lesson for everyone:

• If you're bringing a toddler, bring books, toys, and food.
• Or go alone. And bring a book.
• Plan to spend a long time.

I lived. Thank goodness.

literary masterpieces (in the eyes of a toddler)

Holy cow, this kid is so cute. These pics are from August, but they show what our post is on today:

Reading.

I love that I've instilled a love of books into my little toddler's heart. When it's time for bed and I say, "Wesley! Let's read some books!," he races over to the bookshelf and reaches up for whatever he can grab. (We try to keep them out of his reach, or else they're always on the floor.)

He "loves" books so much he rips pages, chews corners, and bends bindings. But, I'd rather they be considered a toy and part of his life than nothing at all. It touches my heart that he can find a spot and sit and look at books. He even rights them when they are upside down. He turns pages like he's devouring the words and stretching his imagination. One day, our boy will be a true reader.

For now, mom and dad are the readers. But we don't mind. I love how I grab a book and he automatically comes to me, turns himself around, and plops down on my lap. It is so sweet to cuddle up close to him and enter a magical world with a story.

I have a few favorites:

• Sheep in a Jeep: "Beep beep! Sheep in a Jeep on a hill that's steep!" The first words of this book should tell you how AWESOME it is. The whole book rhymes with "sheep." I love it.


• Sometimes I Pretend: This is a book I rescued out of my mom's attic. It actually belongs to my brother Kurt -- from 1985. I love that it's getting new life. "Sometimes when I have to get a shot from the doctor... I pretend I'm a robot and it doesn't even hurt." What a cute book.


• Goodnight Seattle: I found this baby on eBay. I wanted it badly. "Good morning Puget Sound! Good morning Seattle friends and families!" Then we visit all the sites of Seattle as the day goes on... finally the sun goes down, and we say "Good night, Pike Place Market. Glitter bright, city lights, have a good night. Thank you for sharing a wonderful day." It rocks.


• The Very Hungry Caterpillar: At first Wesley didn't like this classic. Then he discovered the holes in the pages. He loves to poke his little Wesley finger in there. Haha... anyway, when I'm feeding Wesley during the day and he seems to have a hollow leg or something and I have no idea where all that food is going, I sometimes start to say, "On Monday he ate through one apple, but he was still hungry... on Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry..." and on and on.

Here are some of Wesley's favorites:


I can't explain what it is, but there is just something about some particular books. He just LOVES them. He sits quietly and looks at all the pages and wants to read them over and over again. They mesmerize him.

• Dr. Seuss' ABCs: This book rocks. I have it memorized. Once on a long car ride to the TriCities it was dark and late and Wesley was getting fussy and tired, so I started reciting books from memory, and this one was the first. How cool is that? It totally calmed him down. I love that I know every word to this book. My favorite letter? "W, W, W... Willy Waterloo... washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo AND WESLEY!"


• Goodnight Moon: This book is baby crack or something. He has loved it for ages. The rhythm and the words and the images are just magic. The book is so smooth and if you read it just right, just quietly, it gets him ready for bed. I love it... and I love that he loves it.


• Who's on Board?: This book has "pull up" pages. It asks, "Who inside the Car 1?" and a little rhyme about the animal in Car 1, and then Wesley not-too-long-ago figured out how to lift up the pull tabs. And voila, a new favorite book. The author, Salina Moon, actually did another book we have which is also a sure-fire winner. So I'd say she's pretty talented.


• Kiss Good Night: Another book that I can't explain why he loves it. Sam the bear is getting ready for bed, and his mom does everything in the good-night routine, but he won't go to bed because he's waiting... waiting... waiting... until she kisses him goodnight. It's so cute. Aunt Leslie watched Wesley one night for us and she said she read this book to him 11 billion times. I totally believe her. Wesley loves it. And I always kiss him at the end!

As you can maybe tell, bedtime books are a BIG part of the routine. I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for good books that talk about getting settled for bed. We read 3 non-bed books and 2 bed books EVERY NIGHT. Plus sometimes we read other books which count as "scriptures," books that teach about the Book of Mormon or Bible.

In case you're wondering what's in Mom's bag on Sunday... it's all of these... and sometimes more...


We go through the "Articles of Faith" book page by page during the Sacrament. I'm glad it's a big book. We usually go through the Jesus books, too. The Cheerios book rocks; it has little spots on each page where I can put Cheerios and Wesley grabs them up to eat. My goal is to fill the spots on the page (a checkerboard, or wheels on a car, or buttons on teddy bears) before he can eat them. The other books are for him to play with while I try to pay attention and pray he doesn't start growling or chirping or pooping. (All of which have happened.)

Lastly, Wesley's ultimate favorite, the Dump Truck book (I don't think it actually has a title):


The story is about the busy dump truck that digs, carries, and dumps all day long. He LOVES THIS BOOK. He carries it around with him everywhere. He reads it all day. He has broken the binding twice. It is being held together with non-toxic craft glue and packing tape. I need to look online and find another copy of it, so when this one goes out, I'll have another!!

One last story. We have this book, "The Going to Bed Book," which is about all these animals on a boat getting ready for bed. At the end of the book, it reads, "the moon is high, the sea is deep, they rock and rock and rock to sleep." Every time I read that, I put my head next to Wesley's (he's on my lap) and we swap back and forth. The other night I was distracted and forgot to sway... and he started rocking back and forth on his own! How AMAZING IS THAT! This little guy loves stories and books. He listens. He knows the words as well as I do. I'm just so thankful we have this magical world that we share.

Ahh, reading. I very much support reading with children.

freedom isn't free

Today, I am thankful for veterans. That's all. I don't have anything motivational or inspirational to say, but I am glad they fought for my right to be free. We live in an amazing country, and I owe every right and privilege I have to any given soldier through the years who was willing to fight for me, for my way of life.

I think I'm going to call my Grandpa. He served in World War II. He doesn't like talking about it, and he doesn't have to, but I want to thank him.

I hope you thank a veteran today, too.

P.S. I never spell the world privilege right on the first try. It's just one of those words!

new effort

I remain 100% committed to this awesome family blog, but just wanted to let you know I started another blog today:

http://movinmommas.blogspot.com

It's a support group for mommas (or ANYBODY) looking to lose weight and feel great. A friend on Facebook posted that she was a foodaholic and needed a support group to help her overcome, and I said I did, too, and so we decided to band together. Everyone who wants to can be a contributor, so we can all post our struggles and fears and goals and triumphs. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe then I can gush less here and more there about my personal pity parties.

If you think I am crazy for trying to contribute to two blogs, my sister-in-law seriously has like 10 blogs -- personal, political, spiritual, with the majority of them being uber-Republican opinion forums. Which is what floats her boat! I figure if she can do 10, I can do 2! It just goes to show if you're interested in it, you'll make it work.

So. Maybe this means I should get to bed to get up and exercise tomorrow... to work off the chocolate cookies I baked tonight (what was I thinking??) (even if they did have pomegranate seeds in them, they still had two sticks of butter...) (but they were so yummy!)

cluck cluck

Here's a cute idea I saw to use up those leftover Halloween candy corns:


This is what we'll be gobbling up in our house today. Hope your Wednesday is just as tasty!

loved October

I have been LOVING fall. October was especially awesome. I have been thrillingly in the mood for Halloween ever since I discovered Wesley's most awesome Halloween costume for the year -- a toddling chicken. Just wait. Videos later. I've been in the mood for fall foods, and have made an assortment of delicious meals with apples and squash:

• caramel apples (my first attempt! not a total failure, but not perfect either)
• apple crisp
• chicken with fall vegetables
• my favorite acorn squash recipe with couscous, cranberries, green onions, and walnuts
• a fall salad with butternut squash "fries" and apples
• butternut squash soup
• Italian spaghetti squash with bell peppers

All I need to make it a pumpkin roll (one of my most favorite desserts, even though it isn't chocolate) and it'll be a perfect season!

In the realm of fall adventures, we also took Wesley to a pumpkin patch on Halloween. It was awesome! It was a smidge rainy and pretty muddy, so we wandered around and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We took a hayride (and were intrigued by the ginormous tractor), and we saw (and fed) some barnyard animals. Plus there were lots of pumpkins, many Wesley sized and some Mom or Dad sized. We brought home some fresh farm veggies (I think... they were selling mandarin oranges in their "produce stand," which made zero sense) and a little pumpkin. The best part was the pumpkin cannon! SO COOL. You load a teeny little pumpkin in there and blast it like a mile away. It was really fun. And loud.

Here are some pics:







Pumpkins as far as the eye can see!! I'd never been to a place like this before.


What happens when little Wesleys get tired? They refuse to keep walking, and instead plop down in the mud. So dads carry them.



This is how tall we are!

We also had plenty of Halloween adventures this year. Since his costume was to-die-for cute, I had to schedule as many Halloween parties as was humanely possible for me to show him off. We went to:

• Halloween Spooktacular at Church (where there was not one, but two other chickens, interestingly enough)
• Halloween Party for our Church playgroup
• Halloween trick-or-treat set up at my work
• Halloween Party for our childbirthing class friends
• Halloween video scavenger hunt with the Young Women at Church (where we had to find a stranger willing to let us wrap him in toilet paper like a mummy, we had to fine a gravestone with "Smith" on it, we had to all do the Thriller dance, etc. -- all captured on video)

So, the costume. Resourceful Grandma Gottula found it at a second-hand store last year -- with the tags still on it!! It's Old Navy, and she paid like half of what the tags said. Which is AWESOME. Thanks Grandma for the cute costume. Here's a dress rehearsal image:

I even did a costume for myself! Thanks to Facebook, I was able to post a plea for help and get a reply from a friend who let me borrow a tool belt. My awesome company gave us all hardhats a couple years ago, so the result was Angela the Builder! And her chicken...

At the Church Spooktacular, the Young Women (and I helped) were in charge of a cupcake walk. We had to go decorate in the afternoon then come back for the party. Well, I brought Wesley with me both times, and in the afternoon he picked up one of the cupcake walk "squares" from the floor -- a purple cat. He would not let go! He held on to that thing the entire time we were decorating the room. When we left and I put it down, he cried and cried. As soon as we took our places that night, he again grabbed that purple cat. Luckily, it wasn't integral to the game since people needed to be on pumpkins -- not cats -- to win cupcakes. Just so funny.

He got to be one tired little chicken... so this is what we got at about 7 pm:

You cans see the spiderweb square and you can KIND OF see the purple cat under his head, as a pillow. HAHAHAHA!

Anyway, I had to wait to post this until today since our last Halloween party was yesterday. Our childbirthing class friends put on a real celebration! There was cider and cornbread and chili and caramel apples and Halloween cupcakes. And, games for the little ones!

All seven of us were there, which was awesome. At least 3 of us were sick last year. So we have: Noah (fireman), Catie (white princess), Gabby (pink horse), Connor (lion), Sage (green fairy), Wesley (chicken), and Amia (witch).

These videos are totally goofy, but the Grandmas will appreciate them. All the toddlers could "pin the nose on the pumpkin." Six little guys participated... Wesley ate his nose and was the only one who didn't participate. Sigh.



And here's a short and sweet vid of my toddling chicken.... I LOVE HIM!




In conclusion, it's been a fun month. I'll eat some more pumpkin in November (and get ready for my birthday!) and then it's Christmas. Ahh.

Hope your Halloween was just as happy!

museum of flight

Compliments of SPEEA, Shaner's union at Boeing, Saturday was free admission to the Museum of Flight in south Seattle. We thought it would be super fun to take Wesley. Shane and I went a couple years ago, but it was even cooler this time. There was more stuff, plus, it was fun to see things through Wesley's eyes.

So, a photo essay of our Saturday:

There was a lot of checking out planes hanging from the ceiling...


And toddling through the exhibits...


And sometimes taking a break and blocking traffic (because we were tired)...


I especially liked the new exhibit on Amelia Earhart. It was super cool to read about this woman who did daring scientific things in a day and age when women were just supposed to be refined and pretty. She amazes me, and I was humbled to learn more about her story.

I also liked putting Wesley in a spacesuit...


And a cockpit...


And the kids' exploration area. Here, he is opening and closing drawers that show the kinds of things needed to make an airplane. Oh gee, he does that with the cabinets in the bathroom at home...



There also was this teeny plane the kids could jump in and control. Wesley was having fun with this rudder, but the big secret is that the kid in the cockpit was the one actually making it move...


Then he decided to climb the stairs -- but the kid in the cockpit wasn't ready to be done. Lucky for him, Wesley only really wanted to climb the stairs...


Then, we ventured over the T. Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge (brand spanking new and structurally engineered by my awesome company) to the Concorde exhibit -- which Shane and I didn't get to see last time we were here...


The Concorde was cool. It was SUPER CRAMPED up there since they put these huge plastic bubbles over the seats so you couldn't touch anything. I definitely felt like a wide load going through those aisles! I also didn't get a picture of it, but the plane had a very cool super pointed nose...

And! To my super surprise, they had an Air Force One!! They've had it since 1996 but I guess I missed that memo, and enjoyed the surprise nonetheless. It was an AF1 for Eisenhower, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, and for a short while, Nixon. VERY COOL; we had to wait in a line to get up in it, but I was glad we did (I realize I look like a big dork here, but I was excited!)...

We saw some super hot 1960s technology and one of the presidential meeting spaces, as well as bathrooms just as small as those on airplanes today (so I guess the prez doesn't get any special treatment in THAT area)...

But overall, the best part of the day was wandering around a cool airplane museum as a family...


What a fun Saturday!