Seattle trip

This weekend we took a quick trip over to Seattle. Sarah, Corey and their kids came down from Forks and met up with us for a couple of nights. Friday we went downtown and took the kids to the Aquarium. Ezra and Katelyn loved it!



Does anyone else think that fish on the bottom right looks dead?



Katelyn the octopus.



Seals



We got to watch the divers feed the fish, which was pretty cool. The best part is that because all the fish and the fish "food" are behind glass, so you don't have to smell the horrible fishy smell that comes with sea creatures. Just one of the reasons I don't like fish.



Katelyn actually touched the the starfish. She is braver than I am. I didn't want to touch them, but I didn't make a big deal out of it because I didn't want her to be scared. I was proud of her.



aw, cuties! Poor Alaina has had an awful cold. She is super congested and has a horrible cough. But she was a pretty good sport.



It is so much fun to watch the excitement and wonder in the kids' faces.



Lunch at Red Robin on the Pier. Yum!



Corey and Ezra



Silly Ezra



Sarah and Miss Audrey

After lunch and our underwater adventures we headed over to the REI flagship store. Justin and Corey were especially excited about this. I have never been in an REI that was so big! For anyone who watched the Bachelor with "Jason", I am pretty sure this is where he took one of the gals on a date. Anyway, they had a really cool play area for the kids, and it was nice to let them play and get out some of their energy.

We had also planned on visiting Pike's Place Market, but because of the weather and mostly because Alaina (and Katelyn) have been fighting colds, AND because we had had enough of downtown Seattle, we decided to scratch that idea. Next time. It was such a fun time.

LOVE/HATE

I hate when I am having bad dreams and I wake up really sweaty.
I love when my husband gets up with the baby and I get to sleep in til 10 o'clock. (this was NOT the case yesterday and I was pretty grumpy)
I love when my oldest child takes a nap.
I hate when she wets the bed....MY BED! She has only wet the bed 3 times since she has been 100% diaper free and unfortunately two of those times have been in our bed. And we don't exactly have a plastic sheet covering our mattress. What was really kind of sweet was when she got up from her nap (I was gone), she went out and told Justin that her pants were wet because she was sweaty. Poor girl.
I love having a clean house!
I love when my items on eBay sell.
I hate when my kids are sick, but...



I love all the snuggles I get out of it. I kept Katelyn home on Sunday because she was pretty nasty-snot everywhere, coughing, etc. When you're sick, isn't the best thing to do to just lay on the couch and watch movies and have mom bring you food. She loved camping out on our little 70's hide-a-bed, and now wants it permanently left out for movie watching.

I love having good neighbors.

I love taking naps...I'd really like to take one right now.

smile

A nice friend let me borrow her double jogging stroller for an extended amount of time (probably til I find one of my own for a good price). It was so sunny and beautiful out today and I was feeling like a big lump so I decided I needed to take my sweet girls out to get some fresh air. First I had to bundle everyone up (it's windy down here), get them in the car and go pick up the stroller. Then, it needed the tires pumped up, so we had to drive back home (it was only like a 2 min round trip) to get the pump. I left the girls in the car with it running so I could pump up the tires real "quick". I don't remember it being so complicated before. I was planning on taking us all to the mall because I wanted to return a pair of shoes. Scratch that idea. I had a bit of a struggle trying to collapse the stroller back down, so I figured we could just walk around the neighborhood, or even better-JOG! We set off. This was Alaina's first time in a stroller. She wasn't quite sold on the idea just yet. I tried to jog, but made it about half a block and realized that I should have snuck in and gone to the bathroom one last time before heading out. 32 years old, two kids and my bladder is shot! No go. But that's ok. We had a nice little walk. I would have gone longer, but Alaina's protests were steadily increasing. I'm so thankful for nice friends. I wish I would have taken a picture. I thought the girls looked so cute. Next time.

finally

I finished "The Magician's Nephew". Only took me a month! Onto the next...

Jogging Stroller

I really, really need to get a double jogger. Do any of you have one that you can recommend?

how did I get here?

I have realized over the years, maybe the last 6 or 7 years, that I have become sort of cynical. I'm not sure if that is really the most accurate word to describe it though. Whatever it is, I am disturbed by it. Let me see if I can share some examples:

Lets take finding a spouse, for example. When I was younger-18, 19 years old or so- I am pretty sure that I believed in finding "the one". I totally thought my "first love" was "the one", but obviously, he wasn't. Not that he couldn't have been, but it just didn't work out that way. I didn't get married until just two months before I turned 27. I dated some really great guys and some ok guys and one real scumbag. Justin ended up being "the one" and I am so lucky to have him. Now that I have two daughters, I think to myself...I will NOT be ok if they get married before they are at least 25. I mean, how could someone younger be ready for such a serious thing as marriage? Then the other part of my brain thinks, maybe they should get married when they are younger and before they get all crusty and too independent like me. Maybe they would be more doting than I am and that could be a good thing. Poor Justin-I can be just a little bit sassy at times. I can become very defiant if I feel like I am being told what to do or if I feel like I am being controlled in any way. Hmmm. That doesn't sound good. Don't get the wrong idea- Justin is not that way at all. I mean, he can suggest that maybe I should go to bed instead of staying up too late- and I will almost turn into a 2 year old in protest. Don't tell me what to do! Anyway, so I don't believe in soul mates or anything like that. I believe there are probably several people in the world that each of us could have a successful marriage with. Does that make sense. I believe in finding "a one" rather than "the one" although when you do find him, he really is "the one"...so what do I know?

I just think it's crazy to see these young "kids" hardly date at all and then suddenly get engaged after dating someone for a very short time. I think, oh my gosh! Do they even know who they are? What do they like? What do they dislike? Do they even know??? Maybe this is where I lack faith.

A while ago I wrote about how I was feeling frustrated with a lot of things in life. I think some of that frustration is because before I got married, I felt like I had really gotten to know myself pretty well (probably not as well as I thought). And now. Now, I feel like I am trying to figure myself out all over again...as a wife and especially as a mother. Trying to figure out what I think and how I feel about certain things in life. I don't like not knowing. I want to feel certain. But I guess life is all about learning and growing. Maybe the problem is that I am too impatient. Shocker! I want it all figured out right now, dangit! (sigh) Oh well.

Well, I guess those are my very scattered and rambling thoughts for the morning.

good news!

I made it out of Costco (alone with two kids) practically unscathed.

Opinions Please

The other night we had friends over for dinner. She is a teacher and I asked her this question: "Is it absolutely necessary to put your children in preschool?" I appreciated what she had to say, but thought I would put the same question out there to see what more people have to say about it. I really want to know what you think, so don't hold back. Make your comment as long as you want, or you can email me - deanne.l.peterson@gmail.com

I will be honest and tell you that one of the reasons I keep wavering is because I don't know how much it is going to cost. I think Katelyn would probably enjoy it after she got to know people.

What about Joy School? I know there are some people at church doing it and maybe I could get in on that.

Please, what are your thoughts?

A Mighty Fortress

These are the coolest blocks. They are foam, so that means no one gets hurt if a block accidentally goes flying. They had these at the girls' doctors office and we asked where they got them. Costco. 20 bucks. Katelyn and I made this "castle" tonight.



Guess our foundation wasn't "built upon a rock", eh?

Lovers' Weekend

To start the weekend off, we went with our friends Kim and Jeff Wiberg to the totally rad 80's stake dance. I haven't been to a dance in a while. At least this time when the slow songs came on I didn't have to feel awkward and wonder if I was going to dance with anyone or have to try and avoid certain "special" people...if you know what I mean. Kim is a great dancer - at least I think so. Me on the other hand, not so much. Plus, I have a lot more bouncin' around than I used to. Dang!



After the dance, we drove up to the top of a hill behind some orchards and checked out a really great make-out spot that our Bishop told us about. You can see all the lights of the tri-cities. Okay, okay. He did tell us about it, but not the part about making out. Really fun night AND! It was our 3rd date in a row. If you don't go on dates with your spouse. Do it! I can tell the difference it is making in our relationship. Thank you to our home teachers for extending the "challenge" to us.



Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner as well as my mom and Dale who were visiting from Spokane for the weekend. I made a pork roast that I thought turned out really tasty. We also had a yummy salad, roasted potatoes, focaccia bread, sauteed mushrooms, and a rotisserie chicken (when the roast was done cooking it looked quite a bit smaller than what it started out, so I had Justin pick up a chicken just in case).



Afterward, we fired up the new backyard fire pit and made some s'mores. I totally love this thing that we won. I have a feeling we are going to get a lot of use out of it.



Goofy Katelyn. She is so goofy. I think it's genetic. And yes, it comes from my side of the family.



Happy Valentine's Day! Katelyn and I worked on Valentine's for ALL (17) of her cousins as well as her (6) grandparents and mailed them out. We also made some valentine treats and a few more cards for a handful of her friends that live here. I forgot to take pictures of our creations, but it was fun and she loved giving her friends their treats.



So Justin and I were laughing this weekend. We agreed that it is a good thing that neither of our love languages are "Gifts". Because this is what he got me: A "spork" for camping (the cool part is that it's PINK!), and this tent broom and dust pan. He also bought a movie "for us". Well, two movies actually- "The Burbs" and "Money Pit" . Some wives would be really upset to get a spork for Valentine's Day, but not me. I actually don't care if he gets me a gift at all really. A card is fine. He gave me a card and bought be some pretty roses. He outdid me this year, because all I got him was a card...unless he wants to count the dishwasher we just ordered. HA! Like I said...not our love language. AT All! I love my guy more and more every year!