Flying

One of Erik's fellow pilots got this nice shot of him the other evening while they were flying form. I often forget that Erik gets to see some pretty awesome things on a daily basis in such a majestic landscape. I can only presume that it beats looking at the majestic landscape of poopy diaper toddler butts all day, at least.

Cool.

Wooden 6-Pack Gifts

Erik Post!

This year for Christmas I decided to build wooden 6-pack holders for the guys in our family. The initial plan was to build just 3, but quickly the Christmas Spirit took over and that number quickly grew to 7 (6 gifts, 1 for me).

I found a plan online and made a couple small modifications to increase the durability and style.  These 6-pack holders are made of hickory with a poplar handle.  I ordered the hickory from an online company and the project started with 7 boards each measuring 5-6 inches wide, 4 feet long and 13/16 inches thick.

 

The most challenging part of this process was milling down the 1 inch thick boards to 1/4 inch thickness to make the side rails and the inserts.  It took a lot of time on the jointer and planner to make all the different pieces.

 

After milling, cutting and sanding, I was left with 7 bottoms, 14 sides, 28 side pieces, 21 inserts and 7 handles.  I felt like I was sanding for a week!  Before assembly I had names and wings laser engraved to personalize each 6-pack.  Thanks for "Sea Fog" Greunke in my squadron for the amazing job.

  

After a sample stain on my 6-pack I decided to finish the rest of the 6-packs with a couple coats of a simple tung oil finish to display the natural beauty of the hickory.

 

And here you have the final product.  I only have pictures of these 2 since the other 5 are in the mail and/or under Christmas trees as we speak.  I hope everyone enjoys these as much as I did making them.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Quotes

[Scene: Post dinner.]

 Landon: "My belly hurts. Make me toot, Mommy. Owww. Make my belly toot!"

Cookie Monster

Mom says if I sit in the cart all nice and quiet and look reeeeal cute, the lady in the bakery will give me a day old cookie. Works every time...

Winning!

Dr. Bob Visit at 3 Years

Having too much fun at the dentist office. Don't worry, little dude: once you get your first cavity filled, you'll feel differently about returning to that chair. Don't even get me started on the orthodontics that are surely in your future.

Great news, though! One of the missing bottom teeth is starting to surface this week! Ironically, Anders is getting the same tooth at the same time. 

Not yet, Landon. You open your mouth AFTER you lay down.

C'est La Vie

The scene this evening was a grumpy mom trying to feed a couple grumpy (read: picky) toddlers dinner. After getting them to successfully eat a filling dinner of three cantaloupe pieces and a handful of frozen peas, I went about disposing of the discarded quesadillas, sweet potatoes, black beans, chicken nuggets, pretzels and taco meat. If we could have a futuristic dumbwaiter teletransport system, I'm sure my boys alone could feed a third world country with their discards.

After dinner, they then turned on the whining and crying mode. Why? Who knows. The wind was blowing NE. Maybe that was it.

And at the height of my frustration as I went to execute my good ol' standby plan of walking into the master bedroom closet and screaming into a pillow to release the bad juju vibes, Edith Piaf's voice saunters over the speakers, indicating this is la vie en rose. And that, my friends, is what we call irony. I can always appreciate a nice dose of perfect timing. I still screamed into the pillow, but not without letting a little exasperated laugh escape my lips first.

Thanksgiving Recap 2013

How lucky were we that the majority of the Halvorson clan came our way for Thanksgiving this year?! For anyone who travels with toddlers, you realize this is the equivalent of presenting 12 bars of gold (one bar for each hour of travel, in case you were wondering how I calculated that). We had so much fun and it is outrageously heartwarming to see the boys get a chance to spend time with family. Landon picked right up ("Oh, hello.") and Anders... well, was Anders. The exception being snuggle time in Grandma's arms when sleepy and a peculiar obsession with Uncle Charlie. 

Here are some grainy iPhone pics!!!!

Charlie, Ingrid and Erik hike Oyster Dome.

From the top of Mt. Erie. Sunny days greeted our guests upon their arrival.

Landon forces everyone to wear his turkey hats. They debuted at fashion week in case you missed it.

The obsession with Uncle Charlie begins.

 

 

Obligatory trip to Deception Pass. Grandma was hanging out with a slumbering Anders in the car.

Aunt Schming getting some cuddle time on the trails!

Grandma comes prepared with gloves to help prep the turkey.

Preparing to carve "Theresa the Turkey."

The obsession continues.

Picking out our Christmas tree and trying to teach Landon how to wink and give a thumbs up. Almost.

Before the weather went to poop.

Throwing some rocks. You know how we roll.

The Christmas Card Chaos

After taking about 362 different shots across different weeks in different scenarios, it was becoming clear that the perfect photo for the perfect holiday card was eluding my grasp for yet another year. Of course I wanted an outdoor shot in the woods with their manly flannel shirts in the perfect light gray day that lends itself so well to photos. I was close - oh so close - and yet couldn't quite get a grin from both of them at the same time. 

Thankfully Erik coaxed me back into reality and suggested we get a photo of them in front of the Christmas tree. Inside. Room temperature. Confined space. "But we will have to use a flash!" I whined. And without really saying it, he inferred to get over it. And he was right. This time. 

Here are some outtakes. As for the final winner? Check your mailbox next week.

Loved it! But how did brother dart out of the frame so quickly? Plus A's invisible white hair is a little too invisible in this shot.

Anders just needs to turn the corners of his mouth up just a little bit more. And does anyone know if they sell Just for Men for baby hair? Just for Babies, perhaps?

Flash recoil.

Flash recoil. Again.

Brotherly Love

I think Anders has Landon riiiiight where he wants him.

Portraits Gone Awry

I tried to take Christmas card pictures this morning. Tried being the operative word there.

True.

Quotes

[Scene: Snuggle session on couch.]

Mom: "I love you so much. You're my sweetie pie."

Landon: "Mommy, you're my cookie."

~~~~~~~

Please consider this entry the inaugural post amongst the new category "Quotes." Now that Landon is starting to use some more pragmatic and spontaneous language, the jewels will start coming! I will post the sweet and the ridiculously absurd as they stand out.

My Mom Dressed Me

Nothing like some northwest gear with a hint of pajamas.

Goin' on an Owl Hunt

I was able to grab some pics with my actual camera camera when we were outside in the afternoon observing a beautiful (and kinda' creepy) owl in our backyard. Have you ever seen one rotate its head almost 360 degrees? That is what makes it super creepy. I think this is the same feathered friend that hoots loudly around 2am in the woods behind our house. I remember one night Erik turned to me in dazed slumber and asked if one of the boys was awake; I laughed and assured him that they were fine and - for future reference - our children do not "hoot" when requiring assistance. The poor lucky guy can't hear a baby screaming in the middle of the night but apparently a natural "hoot hoot" will rouse him from the zzz's. If that's not selective hearing, well then I don't know what is.

"I don't think I trust you, bird."

True.

Lazy Sunday

When there is nothing else to do you may as well just throw some rocks.

Happy Halloween 2013

...From our little puppy dog and big boy dragon!

Hi.

Landon's 3rd Birthday Party

Although Landon's third birthday is officially a week away, we scrambled last minute to organize a party to accommodate some changes in Erik's schedule. We are blessed with some great little friends in our awesome cul-de-sac. We play together everyday, but today was extra special because we got to eat pizza and cake on top of the usual antics.

Landon was so excited for his birthday this year and did not even cry once while the toddler choir sang the Happy Birthday song! He understood the concept of presents and has been playing with his gifts aaaaall day long. Thanks, everyone!

Patiently waiting for the cake!

This ball toy is always a hit. One of the loudest, annoying - and yet, enduring - toys in our household.

Opening cards and presents :)

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday TO you...

...Happy birthday, Dear Landon, happy birthday to you!"

The most quiet moment all day: when the kids are stuffing their faces with cake and ice cream.

Time to burn off some of that sugar outside on a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining for you, little man.

"Well if Landon has a new bike, I'll just go ahead and claim this one for myself moving forward."

Little brother was a little under the weather, but still tried to rally for a bit.

I should have known that would happen.

Seriously, this little guy did his best to celebrate. Someone needs to invent baby sudafed.