Mommy thinks i'm adorable

Wow...

I thought this picture turned out beautifully. Indy is a great model, but still, it isn't often that i can get one of those shots that looks nearly professional.

Coming later: pics with Santa.

ho ho ho

we have our tree up...

our shopping half complete...

today, we go see SANTA!

(again)

It's that time of year. The tree looks beautiful, but will it survive three weeks? I didn't put popcorn or candy canes on it, so at least the dog isn't trying to eat it. He eats EVERYTHING. Indy doesn't even have nightmares anymore... he says that the dog ate all the monsters and aliens. We are searching high and low for the perfect gifts for our friends and loved ones. i got the PERFECT gift for my girl Arica... when we bought it i couldn't stop laughing. Not often does a gift tickle me this way. So, I am well pleased with hers.... now if i could get everyone else's just right, too.

they say it aint over til its over BUT

OMG...

it still isnt over...

3 minutes to go...

the score?

65-31!!!

WOOT DUCKS!

Duck - Duck- Duck - Duck - Goose!

DUCK ... DUCKDUCK... DUCK... PLACE KICKER!

Duck got to go to a Duck home game! Ducks won!

Civil War is coming!

Indy, being only 3, doesn't understand that Civil War is a football game... he thinks its "Army" WAR...

If the Duck's can beat the Beav's in the civil war, they will stop the Beavers from being the #1 team in the Pac-10 and CRUSH their Rose Bowl hopes. GO DUCKS!

QUACK ATTACK

Shooting at the range!

We don't even let this kid cut his own meat and yet, here he is with a .38

Go Figure.

life continues along:

So, i cant seem to get the camera-computer link thingy right today... so all the sweet pictures i took of the dog, the kid, the house and the leaves will have to wait. in the mean time... i have homework out the wazu, housework that needs done before the heath inspector condemns us, a doc to visit a dentist to fear and well all manner of stuff to attend to.

so much to do, so little time to do it!

So, lots going on for us. Firstly, that small accident i had while playing ball in the park with Duck before i moved... the results of the mri came back today: I have three tendons detached, and since the muscles are not working properly, and i didn't stay off my knee and rest like i was supposed to, i did further damage to my leg, chiefly the fracture of my lower left thigh bone. I go into the orthopedist on the 28th for the next step in my healing plan. I am hoping to avoid arthroscopic surgery, but if the worst happens, so be it.

On the subject of my health... Wednesday the 29th i go back to the dentist for the removal of two upper right teeth (back near the molars numbers 2 and 4) eventually the dentist will remove most, if not all of my top teeth and provide me with either a full or partial plate. The pattern of decay is consistent with radiation therapy side effects, lest anyone think i am just bad at hygiene.

I am full of drugs atm... trazadone for sleep, percocet for pain, vicadin for pain, and cylndamiacin (an antibiotic required before oral surgery... i am allergic to pennicillin)

Ducks health: Brother Duck is allergic to bee stings. SO am I. SO is his dad. So is just about everyone on his dads side of the family. How do we know for sure? His arm, from the tips of his fingers to the elbow is swollen to like 4 times normal size! He will be ok, but they gave him an inhaler and some other stuff and said, holy crap, SEVERE reaction.

On to pleasanter topics... we finalized the adoption of our dog. Bosco is now one of us...

He keeps Indy safe and warm at night!

yet more happening! Our new daughter (well, in some ways we are just so proud of her we could burst into song... like she did tonight at her concert)

We are dealing with some of her issues and trying to make her placement in our home work out for all of us.

And... so of you may know, others may not... I returned as a full time online student at our local community college... current grade: one A and 3 solid Bs.

theres more, but it will have to wait.

there is a season...

I have a legitimate reason for not blogging lately. I swear, I do.

There have been many changes going on for us, and life has gotten so busy. So here it is, the REASON for not blogging in a while: WE MOVED! we got so very lucky, we have the best landlords and a lease/option chance to buy our own home! The house is three doors down and across the street from my mom. So, Indy gets to grow up with grandpa and Tooti so close! I admit, we have been here a week and a day, but with packing the old place and unpacking the new one, getting Ana (We have guardianship of Anastasjia, now) in school, and settled with buses, it's been a busy time.

We also got Indy a dog. His name is Bosco, and we all LOVE him. He gets along with all the people and pets that come in and out of our home (well he doesn't get along with Barbossa, but then, who does). We figure we can gradually continue to introduce the two of them and hopefully one day they can be buddies.

So, anyways, i will share more pictures of our house and our dog and as always Indy and the rest of our "motley crue" later... thanks for your patience!

i'm a horrible blogger... i admit it:

I used to be so good about daily or near daily pictures and commentary on our lives. Lately, i don't know why, but i just haven't been able to get into it. I have some great new pictures, but i just don't get them posted. I have some interesting thoughts, but don't get them put down. I never could keep a diary for thee same reason; fits and starts, ya know?
anyways, here's a picture:This picture of Indiana, his daddy, and our current "foster" child, Anastasia was taken at Historic Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Amish Paradise:

My mom drove her pretty car out to Uncle Warren's place where Warren took Indy for a pony cart ride! Spoiled kid.

life flight (reach) helicopter:

This year's safety fair, held lat Saturday, had a BIG BIG attraction... Sure, we still had the fire truck and the police cars, and a K9 cop demonstration and the rescue boats, but this year we had a LIFE FLIGHT HELICOPTER!The crew was ready for Indiana, a helmet waiting just for him...Let's look a little closer at this helmet, just to show you what i mean by "ready": See... it's got his name right on the helmet!

Indy even got to take his turn in the co-pilots seat!

Honestly, it was just awesome! we enjoyed all the events and demonstrations, we learned a few new things... like how to make watermelon salsa! We watched firefighters climb a ladder truck, we watched the county k9 unit run through his commands, we enjoyed a massage from the local YMCA, and laughed our butts off as Oncle Nate put on the "drunk goggles" and tried to run the obstacle course.

On a different note...

Last night we had our neighborhood watch formation meeting... i have lots to do as leader of the new neighborhood, but its all worth it. We have a wonderful neighborhood. Most of the hard work has been done in the last few years, getting the drugs and alcohol out of our park and making it a safe place for our children to play, and all of us who live here have been getting to know one another.

off the course:

Although the pictures frame of reference may not be immediately obvious, it is my favorite amongst the pictures taken at the golf course today. Indy was looking through the "slice net" that protects innocent viewers from Oncle Nate's golf swing:

He's just a beautiful baby.

a good time was had by all:

We had a GREAT time bowling!

We received a coupon in the snail mail good for a free game at the local AMF bowling alley (up to ten bowlers, shoe rental not included). So, we loaded up into two cars with seven people and off we went! It was awesome, we danced under the black lights, and rolled balls down two lanes for nearly two hours! Anastasia took this video for us... and although normally it wouldn't see the light of day, since i am in it... bowling a big fat gutter ball, it is just so fun of Indy and his daddy that i had to share it. (Anastasia is a wonderful teen-aged neighbor girl of ours... Nate, his girl Volinda, as well as our fun neighbor Tina rounded out of group of rowdy bowlers.)

Tomorrow: the new Italian place in town!

its time for ten things about ME again!

Yes, that's right... the perpetually self absorbed mother of fabulous sons has decided once again to tell the world (ok the whole world doesnt read this mommie blog, but they should) some facts about herself:

1) I am 34 years old and it took me a damned long time to like myself, but now i do. I am not real concerned about people who dont.

2) I am returning to the world of higher education this fall, after a 13 year sabattical. I intend pursing my RN degree so that i can continue to care for my mother in law as her medical conditions deteriorate.

3) I do not currently have a valid drivers liscence. I didn't miss it until we bought the new PT Cruiser. now i think its time for me to drive again.

4) I am a slacker. There is always so very much for me to do, and often i dont get it done, just because... but thats ok, as i age, the memories of time on the porch with friends and family will be better than the memories of laundry washed and folded.

5) I am currently married to a southern redneck who can backyard barbeque like nobody's business. (i have been married a couple of other times as well, but they couldnt grill like chris can)

6) I go through periods of "obsession". I find a song i like and listen to it over and over, i find a place i like to eat and go no where else for days, i find an author i like and compulsively read all of their work.

7) Contrary to popular opinion, i am not an idiot. i have found the center for my focus and dont pay a lot of attnetion to things outside my mein. it works for me.

8) I currently reside in Oregon. I was born in this very town actually, although i have not lived here my whole life. i did get out, i just chose to return.

9) i cant think of very much else interesting about myself... but i can think of a millino things about my children... go figure.

10) i spent almost an hour trying to come up with 10 things about myself... and had to cheat on two of them, so i think i will now go think about myself for a while. oh wait...

Swing Baby!

It's all about Big Bad Voodoo Daddy tonight!

Riding Double:

Indy took his best girlfriend out for a gallop on the neighbors wooden horse. The two rode double up and down the sidewalk for ages, chasing butterflies and kittens and other children.
All the laughter and shouts of glee reminded me of my fortune that i am able to stay home with him, and not miss these moments.

Sometimes we grumble about not having that second income. It's hard to see our friends with extra cash to play golf or see a movie or buy a new CD; i feel bad that i cant afford to take my kids out to lunch or shopping at the mall, but really... it's worth it. There's always a picnic of homemade sammies (sandwiches) at the park across the street, and it's nearly free to walk to the lake a few blocks away and feed them old bread (there is a bread outlet near here that will sell a grocery bag full of "animal feed" bread for a dollar!). Ice tea is inexpensive to make and wonderful to sip on the porch.

So, we aren't living in a big house, with an even bigger mortgage. So, we aren't driving matching Expeditions. So, we spend less time in restaurants than our contemporaries... less time on the golf course than our friends. We have Indy, riding double with his girlfriend on a borrowed stick horse. I feel bad for my friends... i am sipping tea on my porch watching my baby play and grow and learn and share and THRIVE, they are at work.

Parkrose Paint Party '08:

We had a heck of a volunteer crew come out and help College Pro Painters!

We had a great time. There was a whole herd of us painting, talking, trimming, eating, babysitting and just getting together in a wonderful community effort to make our homes look beautiful. Even Indy got to do the painting bit...Honestly, it warms my heart to see our neighbors come out and help one another. Today it was suggested that we might do a small community vegetable garden next year. we have our first neighborhood watch meeting to start our group next month. and we have our community safety fair coming up, too! Great Things are happening in our neighborhood!

Oh, and I am being put forward as a resident/candidate to sit on our board of directors for our partnership housing community. Wow.

Keeping the boy(s) busy:

Well, Duck says (and i quote), "I DON'T DO WORK!"

Indy, on the other hand, had a great time painting. Our neighborhood partnership had lots of volunteers to paint the buildings in our community. We all received t-shirts, and a nice lunch was provided. Tomorrow the paint crew (and of course all of us neighbor-hood volunteers) will be finishing the trim on my neighbors home and beginning on our house! Hopefully i will have more and better pictures to share then.

WOW!

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture:

Duck, Indy, and Desiree... aren't they adorable! (i didn't take the picture, no. and for those not in the know: that pretty girl sitting next to my sons is Duck's girl.... i kept asking for a picture of them to share and he came through for me)

may you live in interesting times:

So, as i mentioned before, we all who live here were given notices that there were to be no fireworks in our community due to extreme fire danger. The neighborhood parents didn't listen and let their children play with fireworks anyway. Through their negligence and lack of supervision of their children, we had a small fire.
The children (not Indy obviously since he is only three and supervised to the nines) lit a firework that got away from them, scorching the back fence and fire-ing a small patch of running from the back fence clear to the back road. the fire department came out to put out the remaining flames and hot spot or two... Random passersby helped put out the fire on the road side, and neighbors with pitchers of water from their homes put out most of the fire on our side of the fence. It would have been easier to extinguish if our exterior faucets worked, but the property managers deactivated the faucets to keep residents from washing cars and having swimming pools or watering the back yards.

no one was hurt, and the culprit(s) were not formally apprehended, although all the children in the neighborhood are talking about who did it. The day following the fire, after the police, fire fighters and apartment managers had come and gone, all who were involved in talking to the police (again except us) had their cars vandalized, presumably by the fire-starter(s). I assume we were left unmolested because most of the children in the area adore Indy, accept me, and fear Chris's wrath.

Let's Catch Up:

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condolences to a friend's family:

my explanation, quickly, of why i haven't recently blogged: the printer isn't hooked up to our pc at the moment... that's where the camera card reader is. thus, i cant access the pictures with the pc meaning i cant put up any new pics of Indy and Duck up here... and we all know the real reason ya'll come here isn't to hear me ramble, its for the pictures!

today i decided i would ramble a little and show an old picture of a friend.
I met David years ago. His cousin John was dragging him around somewhere, or maybe it was the going away party, or maybe later it was a bar. the "when" is lost in the mists. David was a nice man, with a big heart, who life didn't play fair with.
i heard this morning that he left us last night.
I will miss his occasional rides past my home: he would ride his bicycle around town, and if we were out on the porch he would pull up and chat. we had him over for a few bbq's last summer and he was even at the block party for labor day weekend '07 (that's when this picture was taken). We always waved when we saw him walking his sister's dog. We weren't close friends, but i feel the nice guy lost, just the same.
To his family and loved ones, I'm sorry for your loss.

posting

i havent posted lately... but i will, eventually i promise.

Avery Park, Corvallis:

We journeyed to the neighboring town to visit Avery Park . Avery is a 75-acre park on the Marys River which features a wonderful rose garden (with over 1200 plants), a beautiful rhododendron garden, a sweet 1922 mikado locomotive (rigged out to play on), unique playground equipment, trails to walk and bike, several covered picnic areas and ball fields, even a very large dinosaur bones sculpture! We had a wonderful family afternoon! Here are some of my favorite shots:

future hearthrob?

Those sensitive eyes and the "pouting" mouth, nearly a cupids bow; the silky soft hair, with its little "spike-y do"; the arches in those eyebrows, the strengthening chin. He's a mighty handsome three year old.

Yep, pretty soon the neighbors will be locking up their daughters.

things that make you go "awwwww":

Everyone likes to tease Indy.

Poor kid is going to have a complex, he he.

Anyways, Indy and Tooti have a running bit going in which Indy shouts "blow-y flower" and Tooti shouts "Dandy-Lion"! The two of them can go back and forth with this bit for AGES.

so. here he is blowing on whatever it is:

It really doesnt get a lot cuter than this.

keeping busy:

It's a good idea to keep your children busy; out of trouble! Make sure they have plenty of activities and learning games to keep them occupied. When that fails, make them wash the truck!Actually, our buddy Terry wanted to wash his truck before heading over to the thriving metropolis of Baker City,Oregon and he thought that Indy might want to give him a hand! We are having a bit of unseasonably warm weather, so we had a great time... Indy turned the house on Terry, so i enjoyed the visit.

today, Indy and his girlfriend played in the park on Indy's portable teeter totter... it appears that both of my sons have good looking girl-friends...

now if Duck would just share a picture of him with his girlfriend with me...

All in all... another nice walk through our little slice of the world.

There are wonderful flowers to see and smell on our walk to the lake; irises, daffodils, daisys, tulips, lots of flowers i cant identify, but my mother can...even some early roses!when we get to the lake there are critters to be fed! We enjoy feeding the geese... This time they acted like they hadn't been fed in a very long time! There were seven or eight geese all together when they accosted Indy, taking bread out of his hands and off the bench behind him, bumping and shoving him to get what they wanted. Finally they settled down into a more orderly group (including this little set of three in the photograph)...
When a six block walk includes: our green park, a beautiful blooming tree (or 5), more flowers than we can count, children on bicycles, a beautiful house that i would give anything to own (which is for sale but we just could never afford), teen aged girls sitting on porches talking on the phone, a nice pit stop at Grandpa and Grandma Leys' house, one house even has railroad ties for Indy to balance on as we walk along... and we end up at the lake where the path goes all the way around and we can feed the ducks, geese, sea-gulls, and various other birds. there are benches to be sat upon, and tables to eat at... there is a small dock for the paddle boats and the pre-k fishermen....

well...Albany isn't as bad a town as i make it out to be.