My Kid Can Out Gross Your Kid!

Ok, the short story below is truly gross and if nose picking and eatting is the grossest thing you can imagine (Erin, this means you :)) you had better not read below but it is so gross it seems worth mentioning and a good reminder that what ever comes next just couldn't be that bad.

So last night I see Padon heading toward our computer which sits in a alcove and I called him away thinking, oooo I need to put the chair back to block the opening so he can't go back there and play. As he crawled away from the computer, under the dining room table, I rounded the table toward the chairs to see that the cat had coughed up a juicey hairball right in the opening to the alcove and there was a lovely smear through it. I jerked around calling Padon and walked real fast up to him and picked him up looking at his knees and stomach - ummmm no hairball residue. I turned over his hands and "UH!" it was on his hands which reflexively made me look at his face which had a nice smear of hairball juice across his mouth and cheeks! Trying not to scream in revultion and suprised at my body's ignorance in not gagging to death I rushed him down to his bathroom where I stripped him down and washed him up to his elbows and from crown to shoulders with as much soap as I could contain on his washcloth. The whole time he was totally oblivious, licking the soap off the washcloth, and was happily kissing himself in the bathroom mirror. I got him changed into a fresh pair of pajamas, which made me feel he was a little more sterile, and plopped him down in front of his Fisher Price movie so I could clean up the cat hair ball vomit without interruption.

Yeah.......try to beat that one...

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Happy 232nd Birthday America!

This year Walter went on a road trip to Gold Beach, Oregon, which is just about to the California border, to attend SCA's Antir West War. With limited seats available in our friends van and no real good reason to why Padon and I should go other than to see what their was to see at Antir West War Padon and I stayed behind and Walter left bright and early Thursday morning. Walter's Dad, Leo, watched Padon all day on Thursday while I took the ferry from Bainbridge Is. to Seattle and then the bus to work and then back. This gave us the great opportunity to visit with Leo and to have a fabulous steak dinner with the neighbors who gooed and loved all over Padon who was in an especially fabulous mood.

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On Friday we took the ferry back to Seattle and I was excited to take Padon up to the passenger section of the ferry, not knowing if Walter had already done that with him or not. He was such a ham and the minute I pulled out the camera he was all smiles. We sat by the window, ate a little lunch, and then stepped outside.

It was super windy but Padon still held onto the fence and looked around.

Before it became too windy I asked a nice gentleman to take a picture of us with Seattle in the background.

Once we got to Seattle we made our way down to Federal Way to see my parents for their annual 4th of July bash. Overall the day was full of memorable moments. Padon got down that if he threw Roadie's ball for her she would go get it. Sad for her Padon throwing the ball meant it only went 6 inches. She was sooooo good about him touching her ball though and was full of patient angst. She was so good the whole weekend.

I was looking forward to a hot weekend so we could swim in the lake but while it didn't rain during the fireworks it really wasn't swimming weather. Everyone had a blast on the water trampoline anyway and everyone found themselves on it at least once.

Erin, Evan, Eliot, and Ivor came and brought with them a bag full of fireworks which Eliot couldn't wait to light. It was awesome because they were all the perfect kind of firework to slowly introduce Padon to.

Eliot and Ivor were too cute in setting down their fireworks and watching them as Evan lit them.

They even shared their sparklers with Padon who wasn't quite sure what to make of them, other than he really wanted to taste one, and his face didn't change much from the way it looks below the whole time.
We had hamburgers and hotdogs and Ivor was so cute to share his soda with Padon.Later I caught Padon, having crawled across the grass to discover a pile of fabulous treasure, a pile of plastic watering cans, squirt guns, bubbles and plates. I just couldn't capture on camera how cute he was and he was totally oblivious that anyone was watching him as he was really engrossed in a red watering can and bottle of bubbles.In all we were gone from home for 4 days and while it made for a tiring weekend it was as if we had gone on our own trip. Padon had a really good time hanging out with his Grandpa Leo and then again hanging out with his Grandpa and Grandma Devine, and Aunts and Uncles. It's hard to believe that another 4th has passed by. Next year he will be able to do so much more and with the help of Eliot's fireworks Padon has already started to become conditioned for fireworks and isn't as scared as he was in the beginning. Maybe next year we will get our own small bag of fireworks. We'll see.

OMG! I'm Finally Finished!!!!

In September of last year Walter and I said goodbye to our good friends Tim and Amy as they moved back east to Rhode Is. As a parting gift we said we would make them leather boots like the ones that I had made for Walter. Note the boot in the picture below: We gave them pictures of what we thought their boots might look like when we were done and in the end only Amy's is really like the image. After shopping for affordable yet quality leather both boots ended up being red. That still worked for both Tim and Amy's SCA persona's and devices. I really wanted something that would compliment their garb and armour and I think I achieved it.

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With a promise that we would have the boots ready by the beginning of the new season (March) I started in January and reality set in and they were finished end of June. Amy's boots were designed to compliment her dresses and armour. Amy has an amazing leather breastplate (?) made up of leather leaves all dyed in different natural colors. It is really amazing and it really seemed appropriate to design something that followed that theme.

Tim's boots were designed to compliment his device:

I did leave out the castle which the longer I look at this the more I regret it because the perfectionist in me is still debating. In either case the swan wraps itself around the boot and the buttons have suns on them while the black is carried through as trim.

Both sets of boots were sewn by hand with a sewing awl. Because of this the cobbler, that I have put the rubber soles on my boots, estimated the value of the boots at $1,500 each! I really enjoy using the awl but would enjoy sewing boots more if I had a leather sewing machine I think.

I am very happy with the way they came out and I have one more pair of boots to make before I can make one for myself. Maybe something can come of this some day. It is really fun to think of ideas for future boots because really the sky is the limit in possibilites.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To whoop-ass on the baby, that's why!Who would have thought this happy looking baby had, had a run in with a rooster? Check out the blood on his t-shirt :(. It was really one of those moments as a parent where you could just about die with the horror and guilt of what just happened but to Walter's credit it really wasn't anyone's fault. Definitely won't happen again, though.
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Padon met up with Webster (chicken on the left below) when Walter turned his back for a moment to throw the ball for the dog. At the time Padon and Webster were on opposite ends of the fire pit (shallow hole in the ground about 12 ft across) and in the time that Walter turned his back Webster had walked his way around the same side that Padon decided he wanted to crawl. Webster doesn't like to be near anything that isn't another chicken and even then he doesn't always like that. Once he spotted Padon coming into his territory he ran up and gave him a couple chicken punches in the face. Yeah the face (OMG!). Padon came away with a cut at the top of his forehead, on the left hand side of his face, and the right hand side of his neck. Walter handled the situation with as much calm as he could muster and Padon took the whole thing very well considering there was blood everywhere from the cut on his forehead.
Yes, Webster is still alive. Neither of us really knows why. He really has been a pain in the backside (literally) yet we still keep him around. Oh, well. Check off another one for a parental blunder that makes up family stories around the Thanksgiving table.

Potholes Camping Trip

What fun! My whole family went on a camping trip to the Potholes Resevoir Camp ground just south of Moses Lake here in Washington. Amazingly we found we could pack the SCA Pavilion and all of its poles (with the exception of the rain fly pole) in the Ford Focus as well as two tables, the 5 gallon water cooler, food cooler, clothing bags, camping chairs, baby pack-n-play, air mattress, dish chest, ground tarp, and blankets and we still could install the carseat properly! We were almost an advertisement for what a Ford Focus can do for you on a long trip.
With all of our stuff togther we had a lot of places to sit and hang out.We even packed Padon's chair which he fits in perfectly. When he sits in it, with his feet flat on the ground, his legs bend at 90 degree angles giving him a very comfortable seat which just makes his little chair look so cute and tiny.
Sarah unveiled her tatoos to my parents who were suprised and a tad shocked (my Dad more than anyone else) but they took it well and I think they are too cute. Sarah loves them and that is what matters.
I finally got to roast smores! Three times I have tried to do smores at SCA events and either I end up going to bed too early or it is inappropriate to bring them out because the kids are still up and they are not aloud to have any. It really seems like you have to roast smores camping especially with family because that was what we always did before. I just strongly had this feeling like, how could we not?! and I wasn't the only one because I believe Sarah and Jane also brought the makings for smores. The only bummer to the weekend was that I was fighting a chest cold that was creeping up into my head and it was making me ache and feel so tired. I took the opportunity to take a nap too when Padon fell asleep (so adorable) on my lap. Both Saturday and Sunday Padon woke up three hours earlier then normal because it was so bright in the tent and he was facinated with the sounds going on outside. Walter was awesome Saturday morning and took care of Padon so I could sleep in and try to regain some energy to fight my cold. On Saturday afternoon I was dying to take Padon out Kayaking so I put him in his swimming suit and put on the life jacket that Sarah had gotten for him.
It really was the right size but with no neck if you sat Padon down the edges would push into Padon's face and this made the whole Kayaking experience start off on a bad foot. He did a good a good job of holding himself together but,

after trying it out with him facing forward it seemed better to face him backwards so he could see me.That did help a lot but he kept holding onto the ring in which we were sitting and because his hands were on the side of the boat I accidentally rolled the paddle over his fingers three times. I was trying really hard to keep the paddle out in front of him but it was making me sit akwardly and try as I might I still hit him in the head twice and dripped water on him twice. The second dripping of water was the icing on the cake and he started to cry inconsolably. It was such a bummer because he had been enjoying the water and watching things glide by. Luckily my parents were near to shore and they could pick him up.
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At least we got the chance to go kayaking with my sisters. My sister Sarah had also gone out with my nephew Greg and while Greg was about as unahppy as Padon with his life jacket he did a lot better and silently lounged in front of Sarah. Jane was awesome and took a chance on loosing her new and fabulous camera by balancing it on her kayak and took the awesome group shot below.
My Mom and sister Jane brought their dutch oven's and made amazing meals that I would never think to have while camping, even car camping. We had lasagna, chocolate cake, peach cobbler, cinnimon pull apart, and an awesome casserole.

Padon and Greg got along even better and I think they are starting to remember each other. It seemed to me that they were more relaxed this time in each other's proximity and played together without a whole lot of eye poking, scratching, and slapping. Padon's Sponge Bob Square Pants bandaid was an attraction to Greg but why wouldn't it be? It was bright blue with bright yellow squares on it.

I got this great picture of Padon sleeping that so reminded me of camping with him last year when he was itty-bitty. Just too cute.

It was a really good time even though we lived under the protection of bug spray. I wouldn't mind if this became an annual event. I think that people maybe concerned about gas prices but I'm of the mind to make it work. I'd like to believe there is always a way to do anything you would really like to do.

Empty Nest

So all of our lovely ducks are gone. This really has been quite heart breaking for us. We purchased 5 ducklings last spring and raised them in a brooder and were pleasantly surprised to find that ducks are amazing pets not to mention their eggs are larger and better for you than chicken eggs. Even more amazing they loved playing with Roadie, chased her and her ball, and were quite affectionate to Walter and followed him where ever he went.

Sadly early last fall we lost one of the Blue Swedes (male) in the night to a racoon when the ducks were accidentally left out of their coop and it made us realize how vulnerable our little buddies were.

Over the year they weathered really well in the cold winter and very late spring but in May we lost the Rowan (Malard looking male) to another racoon when it seemed he didn't get put away with the others. This was a shock because he was a big chaser of Roadie and endless fun to watch. Two weeks later something got the male Pekin in the coop and with our hearts really broken at his passing we began to be really fearful for our last two ducks but at a loss of what to do with them in the mean time. We couldn't figure out how the racoon had gotten the Pekin. Two nights later Walter came home very late to hear a big bang in the coop. He went running with rifle in hand to find that a racoon was in the coop and that it had come in through the roof. It attempted to make a wild escape but with a few shots Walter had killed the animal that had been part of, if not a main reason for, the torment our chickens and ducks over the past year (we went from 12 chickens to 3 in one week). The satisfaction was short lived because Walter soon found that our last two ducks, the girls, were really bad off. The Blue Swedish was in such bad shape we "took care of her" right away and tried to have high hopes for the female Pekin. The vet however took one look at her and sadly said that she would need to be put down.

It seemed so quiet without them and for a couple weeks I would find myself looking for them when I came home to see where they were waddling today. Walter and I both agree that we won't get any more chickens or ducks until we build a new chicken coop. The one we have is too old and really needs to be reinforced. Luckly the chickens have been very self sufficent and have been roosting high in our outbuilding away from predators. Who knows when we will get to a new coop but I hope it can be a project next summer because it really just doesn't seem like home without them.