Conan is 4!

We had a party on Saturday with lots of friends and family.  I can hardly believe it's been four years already!




 The party featured balloons, party hats & favors, a cake decorated with toy cars and a monster truck (Conan picked the design himself), a game of pin the tail on the donkey, temporary tattoos for everyone, face painting (which turned into finger painting because we forgot the paintbrushes - not that the kids seemed to care), photos with a fun circus-themed cutout (painted by my talented cousin Heather), punch with dinosaur ice cubes, and of course, presents!

 We held the party at the Fairhaven Park Pavillion, which is a multi-use public building right by the playground. Unfortunately, it was a very cold, stormy day with too much wind and rain for playing outside. The kids had lots of fun running around inside, bopping each other in the heads with balloons and generally having a grand time playing together.

 All in all, it was a fun smorgasboard of awesome stuff. Theme parties are for babies, right?  No-one can deny that Conan is a big boy now!

Two Good Stories

Driving in the car with Conan, I motioned another driver to go ahead and pull out in front of me. "Go ahead, you're clear" I said aloud.
"What?" asked Conan. "Who are you talking to, Mama?"
"Oh, that car wanted to pull out in front of us. I was telling him it was OK to go."
"He can hear you?"
"No, he can't, but sometimes I talk out loud to the other cars anyway."
"Oh."
He thought about this for a few moments, then piped up again.
"Well, Papa usually says 'DAMMIT' when people pull out in front of him."

******

We were discussing bears one evening at dinner.  I told Conan the story of how a bear had once broken into our car when his Papa and I were camping at Yosemite, before he was born.  He wanted to know what happened to the bear.
"Well, the park rangers scared it away," I said.
"Oh.  Couldn't warriors have scared the bear away?" he asked.
"Yeah, I suppose warriors could have.  But the rangers were there, so they took care of it."
"Warriors could do it. Uncle Eric could have done it!"
"Uh, yeah, well, I suppose he could have..."
"You should have called Uncle Eric!" he insisted.
"I'm not sure..." I started.
"Because! Uncle Eric is a warrior!" He was getting really excited now.  I was baffled.
Papa stepped in. "Lawyer.  You mean lawyer.  Uncle Eric is a lawyer."
But Conan wasn't convinced. Arms folded across his chest and a stubborn look on his face, he stood firm.
"No! That is not a word! Uncle Eric is a warrior!"

Tiberius & Livia

We just adopted two new kitties. They are an "adult" mom (10 mo.) and her son (3 mo.), both grey tabbies. This is the little boy, who Cary named Tiberius. He's got green eyes and is friendly, active and playful. He's also cute as can be.

His mother is less rambunctious, and has beautiful orange eyes. We were all calling her "Tiberius' Mommy" so I went to the internet to find out what the real Emperor Tiberius' mother's name was. Livia is a pretty name and seems to suit her.

We have them confined to the office for now, so they can get used to the house, and us, gradually. Sanford is spending a lot of time sniffing around the door, and Livia is sniffing back. Both are very curious about who is on the other side of the door, but there hasn't been any hissing or yoweling, so that is encouraging.

Tiberius is extremely playful and curious; while I've been typing this post he's knocked some things off the windowsill, tried to climb the china cabinet, and fiercely play-attacked his mother. He and Conan both enjoy couch fishing as well.

It feels good to have more cats in the house again. It's going to be an adventure to have young cats again, and I especially look forward to watching Conan bond and play with them. Stay tuned for lots more pictures, that's for sure!

Santa

We met up with Santa, unexpectedly, at the toy store this evening. We had gone to get presents for a few of Conan's preschool friends who have invited him to birthday parties in the coming weeks. The store was nearly empty, so even though we didn't want to get pictures Santa invited Conan to come sit in his sleigh and talk to him. When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, Conan immediately answered "Flowers." Santa looked a bit surprised and asked "What kind?" Conan firmly said "Daisies." That's my boy! You can bet there'll be a pot of daisies (or mums, or something like that) under our tree Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving 2012

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year.  Conan was very excited to have ALL his grandmas and grandpas and GG and cousin Chloe and Uncle Jon and Uncle Brian and Abby and Nikki come over for a party.

 

A few years back I got a dinosaur muffin pan.  Turns out, dinosaur ice cubes for the punch bowl are even better than dinosaur shaped muffins.  They were a hit with all ages. I may never make muffins in it again!

 

Mom and GG had come over and helped with two days of cooking, and everyone else brought dishes to contribute as well. We had a great feast.

The menu included:
Turkey (salted and roasted in a traditional style - delicious)
Stuffing (with bacon and turkey drippings)
Grandpa Dave's vegetarian stuffing
Turkey gravy
Brian's Vegetarian gravy
Cranberry sauce (with lemon, rosemary and pears)
Oven-fried Red Snapper
Butternut Squash with browned butter & thyme
Parsnips with Pears, Apples, rosemary & Maple syrup
Mom's Homemade Rolls
GG's Apple Sauce
Abby's Roasted Sweet Potatoes (or are they Yams?)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Anita's Macaroni salad
Nikki's Potato salad

 

And that's not even counting the 6 pies we had for dessert.  It was truly a feast.  Everyone had a great time, it was a great group of people to be thankful with.

 

After dinner and dessert, the kids changed into their PJs for a 'jama party and stick dragon rides.

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!

E-mail from Conan

Conan has been saying all morning that he needs to do his e-mail. So here it is: gfdtyuhjnnnnnnnnnn uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuu lk coNAN BEAR SHARK COMPUTER TIGERASDFGTREWQZXCVB HYUJKMOPQ

Ah, Blog - I've missed you

I just haven't had much of anything to say, lately. And I suppose I still don't. But here are some pictures of Conan with Moira & Kiah from last weekend anyhow, because I just feel like posting something.

It's not like there hasn't been a lot going on. There has - and that's the thing, there just hasn't been time to sit down and write. I'm writing and rewriting in my head while I drive to and from work, but somehow I haven't make the time to actually sit down and type. I hope to remedy that soon!

School pictures 2012

Well, Preschool pictures, anyhow. Just look at this handsome big boy:

 

 

 

We've got prints to give away, let me know if you'd like one. Grandparents don't have to say anything, you're getting copies automatically. :)

Can't blog, must can

If you've been wondering why I haven't been writing much on the blog, it's because I've been busy indulging my canning habit. Jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, pears and peaches are filling my pantry shelves to the point where we're starting to worry about the weight. Too much delicousness can get heavy.

 

 

 

 

Cousins

This past weekend we went to Plain for a going-away party for Chloe and Nadege. They will be moving to France at the end of this week. I'm really glad we got to spend a little time with them before they go. Conan loved getting to play with his cousins Chloe and Odessa and holding baby Marco.

RIP Sprout

Sprout was a great kitty. We will miss him so much. He was the cuddliest, sweetest little snuggle buddy anyone could ask for.

We're stunned; we didn't realize he was as sick as he apparently was. He had seemed a bit less energetic than usual, but nothing that seemed to warrant a trip to the vet. He wasn't exceptionally old, around 12 I think. This afternoon we found him deceased on the porch, looking like he just laid down for a nap and then passed on.
We buried him at the edge of the woods, in a beautiful and peaceful spot where the wild blackberries grow thickly. Not much more we can do at this point but mourn.

Mt Baker Berry Picking

This past week I took a day off work and went up to Mt. Baker with Mom, GG, Uncle Fred and Debbie to pick berries. It was a gorgeous day for it. The berries were small, and somewhat patchy, so we didn't get the volume we were hoping for, but they are so tasty it hardly matters.

 

 

 

The star attraction on these high-alpine berry expeditions are the wild, low-bush wild blueberries that mingle with the heather to form a 6-8" high ground cover in the meadows. These mountain slopes also feature an array of huckleberries, standard (not low bush) blueberries, salmonberrries, and even a few thimbleberries tucked into sheltered creek beds. All of these are tasty, but none compare with the low-bush blueberries.

 

In case you've ever wondered the difference between Huckleberries and Blueberries, the simplest way to tell is the position of the berries on the plant. Huckleberries (bottom) hold their berries up proudly, above the leaves. Blueberries (top) hide demurely below their leaves. The leaves are also somewhat different; Huckleberry leaves are pointed at the end while blueberries are rounded. Blueberries are also usually blue-er, and huckleberries are generally more purple-black, but color is not always a reliable indicator of which is which.

Labor Day Weekend in Plain

Whew, we've been busy! Here's to trying to catch up to our summer on the blog. Labor Day weekend we went to Plain to visit my parents. We had a lovely time.

 

The first thing we did was "hike" along the irrigation ditch to watch Poppy bale hay at the Old Pobst Place, which is the farm my Great Grandpa Otho Pobst originally homesteaded on. It's been subdivided and there are some new houses up there. A nice couple from Alaska live in the original house and are farming the attached hayfields and keeping their horses in the barn. It's nice to see the place looking so well cared-for.

 

Mom and I watched from a convenient haybale.

 

Poppy rigged a little seat especially for Conan to ride on the tractor with him. It's pretty neat to think that he participated in farming the land that was once his great-great grandfather's.

 

Fishing was another big attraction. Conan has been working on casting this summer and was really excited to show Poppy how far he could cast.

 

Poppy restrung his reel and tied on a real lure (with an actual hook) and then he was really off to the races.

 

Cary, Poppy and Conan took the boat up to Fish Lake for some guy fishing & bonding. Cary caught his first two fish ever. I'm told the other one was much, MUCH bigger.

 

So big, in fact, they completely forgot to take any pictures of it.

 

Another highlight of the trip was finding a large toad in the garden. Both Conan and Chloe got to hold it. The toad took his new fan club in stride, but was glad to go back to his quiet life in the cucumber vines after a few minutes in the spotlight.

 

It was a great visit - hopefully we'll get back over again before too much longer.

Sequim Bay 2012 Campout