Mink & Mable

A couple weeks ago, we made a new friend, Shaedra, who lives outside of town. She has the best home! A small, modest house on a couple acres. And just for fun, they have chickens, a goose, and recently purchased a mom & baby goat. We loved feeding and petting the goats, and getting some fresh milk of course. We even saw the baby nurse from the mom! It's so cool to see these things in nature. Anyway, the baby is actually the equivalent of a toddler, so we called it the "bubba goat." Rychen P. had a blast...

Check this out. The kid, Mable, can climb trees! (and she trots around just like a toddler, and when she falls and gets hurt she runs to her mama to nurse!)

So today we had a date with Shaedra to pick peaches - Yum!! Fresh, ripe peaches are soooo different from store-bought. Rychen P. was so excited that he caried his basket around all morning until it was time to go, and wouldn't stop saying, "I want go pick peaches!" But once we got there, apparently it was a mistake to tell him that we'd visit the goats afterward because he wasn't excited about peaches anymore, and he wouldn't let me pick either! He just kept saying, "I want go see mama goat and bubba goat!" so over and over, finally we left (with 32 lbs. of peaches--that will last a few days) to go to Shaedra's house. I looooove it there! We definitely must buy a house with land. And get pets that are useful, not just licking machines. (Yes, Fenway, that's you.)

Vrroom Vroom! Pigeon at the wheel!

One day Rychen P. starts saying, "I want fries." -- What?? Fries?? I was confused (and terrified) until we realized he was saying I want to drive. Phew.

So he plays in the car. It's the best discovery yet! We park in the garage, turn the light on and close the garage door. Roll down the windows, turn everything off, plop toddler in the driver's seat, leave the house door open so we can hear him, and FREE TIME!! We're talking like an hour here. Perfect!

Except lately he wants to drive every time we go anywhere. That gets old fast... The other day he and I went to eat out (to wait out traffic coming back from Portland) and afterward, he wanted to drive. Okay, no big deal, we have all the time in the world... So I told him he could drive "for five minutes while I take a picture of the temple." (We were a couple miles away, but you can see the spires through the trees--so beautiful!) Anyway after a few minutes, I came back and said time to go. He said, "No mommy, Go take more pictures of the temple." Ha! That is a huge sentence for him. I was so impressed that I let him drive longer!

p.s. If you don't recognize my title reference, it's from the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" Which is so hilarious to hear Rychen P. read. (He has memorized several books and says the lines in such a funny voice!)

Playground

We play at either a school playground or park almost every day. Rychen Parker has "playground shoes," and one day we went to put them on, and he said, "No! I want park shoes!" So I got his other shoes and henceforth these have been called his park shoes. Pretty soon he'll need store shoes, library shoes, travel shoes, who knows what else. He definitely is a Jones! :)

Jock in training

Besides basketball, which Rychen Parker has been playing for more than a year, he has recently gotten interested in baseball and tennis. We took him to the park once to play baseball, and he told me, "No, want play tennis." - Whoa! Where did that come from? We don't talk about tennis very much, and he's only seen us play a couple times. Oh well, so we called Grandma and got a junior size racket for him to dink around with. Rychen got serious and started teaching him "drop and hit."

Here's Emily, Madison and her friend Katie.

Now here's Rychen P. playing Tee Ball in the living room. We have a great video of him hitting a "home-run" and running to the "bases" and sliding. It's so hilarous! I don't know how to post it, but I could e-mail it to you if you ask. In the meantime, check out these awesome action shots...

I got this Tee-ball set for him at Wal-mart. He's been wanting one--actually, we had been using a make-shift tee ball thing out of a pipe and a toy for support! So I was glad to see this at Wal-mart, but then Rychen P. wouldn't let me buy it! He tells me to put it back on the shelf, and then he cried all through the store as I went to pay for it. Weird kid, he did want it, but he has some weird OCD quirk about taking things off the shelf (he's done it before). Like at church, he throws a fit everytime we sing because we pick up the hymn book, and he wants it left in the holder. OCD!!

Roadkill Cantaloupe

Yesterday and today, Rychen P. kept asking for cantaloupe. Then I started having cravings for watermelon! So we called Dad (who had to car) and asked him to please buy us one of each and bring them home to us... These cravings were so bad that we even compromised on some standards, i.e. paying a high price for melon. Oh well.

So we cut the watermelon first and sat down on our front porch to eat it, at Rychen Parker's request. Meanwhile, he was holding his little cantaloupe like a special ball. And then...

The cantoloupe slips!

Let me remind you what our front yard looks like.

We watched, captivated, as the cantaloupe dropped down each step, (with each landing, we'd wait to see if it was going to stay...) rolled down the pathway, hit a rock (stay? no), rolled the other direction, down more stairs, down the hill, and finally into the STREET! Our little cantaloupe survived the fall! But, wait! Just then--before it even had a chance to roll back into the yard, a truck drives by and - SMACK! - Slices it into 3 peices.

I just cracked up laughing. Rychen P . was dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, more cars drove by, and 3 peices turned into seven or eight...

My first thought was, "Darn it, and it was an expensive cantaloupe!" But you know what? I may not like paying that much for melon, but I'll pay a few bucks for a good laugh any day!

Pitchin' Skills!

A while ago, we noticed that Rychen P. would voluntarily belly flop on the ground with his arms reached out. Rychen noticed that the action resembles a slide in baseball, and that this behavior began after watching baseball on TV with Daddo. So we think that's what he's trying to do! It's so funny.

Then after going to a baseball game in person, Rychen Parker's game of catch evolved a bit. Now when he throws the ball, he winds up first, lifts up his front leg, and then runs a few steps! It's an exact procedure, and he does it every single time! I took a video of him and was just cracking up in the background. Here's a photo...

First Tithing

Rychen Parker had his birthday recently and received some birthday money, so we thought it would be an excellent time to have FHE on tithing and ask if he'd like to pay 10% of his birthday money to Jesus (I didn't want to just do it for him, it had to be his choice). So we told him how paying tithing helps to build more churches and temples, pass the sacrament, buy things for nursery, etc. and showed him how we fill out the form and put it in the "special envelope for Jesus." Then I asked if he'd like to put his 70 cents in, and he did it willingly. It was a great learning time for him. So on Sunday I will make sure he gets to give his special envelope to the bishop.

Our Little Garden

First, let me remind you of Rychen's and my experience thus far in gardening:

One tomato plant and a basket of flowers.

No comments on the beached whale, please.

So, while some of you may shrug, this is a big deal for us. Here's what our garden looks like today:

Here we have: 2 zucchini, 2 tomato, 2 bell pepper, several lettuces, cilantro, parsley, onions, and radishes. So far, the fruits of our labors are... oh, right, still waiting.

Let me be honest with you. I am absolutely disappointed. Do you know how much WORK it takes to just to plant a garden? (especially a container garden with a very specific homemade potting mix) And you have to water it every day! And then, of course, WAIT. It takes like 2 months to see any fruit for your efforts. Then you pick the lettuce, eat it for dinner, and BAM 2 months of effort, Gone. Even a fruiting plant, you plant that seed and nourish it with care... DAILY for MONTHS... hoping to get rewarded for your efforts. But frankly, you may not (I think last year we got five cherry tomatos).

Recently, Rychen's grandparents gave us a bag of spinach and lettuce. It was like handing me a golden ring! Because now I KNOW what it took to produce these priceless leaves. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not about to go giving mine away! No sharing these gems. So you may look, but don't touch.

Here's an interesting phenomenon. Our lettuce is growing into a thick stem... anybody know about that? Tell me honestly, does this look remotely like a head of lettuce you'd find at the grocery store?

Alright, I'll end on a positive note. A few months ago, I started with lettuce. I paid $20 for lettuce starts (after which, realizing that $20 buys a lot of lettuce at the grocery store. What the heck am I doing?) and instead of growing them to a full head, I picked off individual leaves and sometimes cut the whole thing off, and let it grow all over again. Not a bad idea. Here's my beautiful homegrown spring mix (with the stumps in the background...wait another month for my next meal) and yes that is a FLOWER! My bok choi when straight to seed. I paid $4 for that flower, don't laugh.

Moss Transplant

I've gotten my official initiation into the Association of Home-maker Landscaping. My first thought, People actually do this? I thought yards just come with houses. I thought "gardening" referred to tomato plants. Apparently, you gotta put your plants in! Not just the select trees you want, but the shrubs, flowers, even the teeny MOSS that grows between stepping stones! And you have to pick at it, prune it, "dig about it," and who knows what else (because I've only been a member of this elite organization for 24 hours)! This equals a lot of time and expense. I guess that's what a hobby is. I am not 100% sure I want to have this hobby, but I think I'll give it a half-hearted attempt for now.

This all came up while visiting Rychen's grandma, who is notorious for spending hours every day in her yard. And you ought to see her yard, it's glorious. Anyway, she needed to pick out some "Corsican mint moss" that had proliferated farther than her intents and purposes. First of all, what the heck is Corsican mint moss? Do you realize there are 3-word NAMES for that little stuff between ROCKS? So she had me rub my hand on it and smell it. It smells delicious! I'll have some of that on my next sundae. So we dig it up, or peel it off the ground, whatever the correct gardening verb is. And she sends me home with a flat full of moss.

Guess what I did with it? Look closely, these aren't just rocks.

I swear, I always thought that stuff was just part of the rock or something. So I don't blame you if you have to look a few times. But please do! You must appreciate this. It takes hard work and effort to get your rocks correctly mossed. Never take moss for granted again!

The Necessary Buzz-cut

Today we wrestled Rychen Parker for a haircut. First, let me explain that he still has cradle cap on his scalp from when he was 6 months old! Apparently it doesn't come off itself--we have to scrape it! I did some of it back then, and those parts are normal now but there are still a lot of dead skin patches. So - Grrr - I have to do it again. Except it is harder now that he wiggles and gets irritated easily. I tried combing against the grain while in the bath tub, which sort-of worked. If he's conscoius, he'll only let me touch him a couple times before swatting my hand away. So, I tried to pick it off in his sleep, but his hair was in the way. Hence, the necessary buzz cut.

So I put him on the bathroom counter, telling him he gets to play in the sink, which he loves. He fought the whole time we tried to cut his hair. Yes, we. It takes two mature humans to do any sort of task with one small one (and the small one often wins). He wouldn't let me buzz it--insisted that Dad do it. Well Dad didn't know what he was doing. -Grrr- 15 minutes later, we have a somewhat-evenly-buzzed head, exposing acres and acres of dried up scalp, and hair ALL OVER the bathroom. (Do I sound like a drama queen? I am, sorry. At least I confess.)

Here's the "Before" Shot:

And during...

(and trust me, you don't want to see the "After.")

After buzzing his hair, I was able to easily comb against the dead skin and remove much of it without getting a bunch of flakes stuck in long hairs. At least now he looks OK although there is still a lot of patch-work to be scraped up. Yuck!!

Independence Day

(this was also Rychen's birthday, but no pictures of that, sorry!)

We had a looooooooooong day to celebrate the 4th. Started with a church breakfast & flag raising, before which we rehearsed the musical number with Rychen's family. Then drove down

to Monmouth for the annual parade ("it's tradition") - my favorite part of which was the group of old men that drive little cars - and let it be noted that Rychen P. sat through it all and enjoyed it very much! Then straight to Rychen's grandparents' home, who have a family gathering every year for the 4th. We swam and visited, and managed to get back home for a nap before heading off to the Volcanoes Baseball game. Here, let it be noted that I enjoy baseball games quite a bit! Rychen P's favorite part was wandering around and watching kids throw pitches at a booth.

Here we are at the game. Notice Rychen P's birthday money. We're horrible parents--had to borrow his $5 bill to pay for parking, but he didn't mind--he got TWO $1 bills in change! He held onto them the entire time. Even looking at toys for sale, and after me explaining that he could trade in his "monies" for a toy or to throw baseballs, he decided he'd rather keep them.

...and here we are waiting for it to get dark enough (remember our lattitude, guys)

...Finally! Past bedtime, but we got a great show. Rychen P. was pretty tired but he cuddled against Dad and watched, frozen. He didn't show much enthusiasm, maybe too shocked by the noise, but afterward he did talk about the fireworks he saw. I know this picture stinks, but I have to document the fact that we saw fireworks. It's been probably a decade for both Rychen and me. But now we are parents, woohoo!

Birthday Madness!

Rychen Parker had his second birthday last Sunday. We didn't break the Sabbath, but we did bend it a little. After being disappointed with a "basketball party" earlier in the week (the Portland Blazer's draft party) we decided to throw the little dude his own b-ball party. Plus, Rychen felt the need to live vicariously since he never had one of his own--so Mr. Tightwad spends twenty bucks at a party store. So we decked the place out with banners and stuff, even got little basketball candles! Here we are in our basketball hats...

And the delicious strawberry torte...

Here's Aunt Emily helping to open presents...

Also I set the table up with momentos from Rychen's birth & past year. There are three shirts we saved after passing on the rest of his grown-out clothes: a "Little Guy" shirt from Mom that matches a "Big Guy" shirt of Rychen's; "I watch ESPN with my Daddy" timeless shirt that every younger sibling will wear; and a little BYU shirt. The momentos include remnants of the first haircut, birth photo, 1st year calender, baby book, and a little "book" Rychen and I wrote one night for FHE while I was pregnant! It explains the plan of salvation to our newcomer.

Catching up!

Back to the blog! I went astray for a while but decided to resurrect our family's little blog. Here is a little bit of what we've been doing recently.

We started June with a move up the road to West Salem, just a half hour away from our old place. We're renting a cute older duplex....

with a park-like yard, shady deck with lots of room to lay out, attached garage (woohoo!) and lots of closet space. Take special note of our two big oak "Pollyanna" trees. See the overhang over the porch? Rychen P. looks out the window on top of it and calls it the "little roof."

One of the great things we do now is garden. We have containers all along our deck: 2 tomatos, 2 bell peppers, herbs, radishes, 2 zucchinis, and withering wheatgrass (yuck). I salute all the gardeners out there--certainly wasn't as easy as I thought. I got the super idea to make my own organic compost by blending up kitchen rejects and wild greens, to recycle nutrients. Then we mix this "smoothie" with peat moss and vermiculite. Here is a video of Rychen P. doing this blending process all by himself... (once I figure out how to post videos)

And here we are planting our starts. Yes, my 2 year old helps with every step of the process. Maybe that's why now, 3 weeks later, we have only a few measly sprouts to show for it. GRRR. (Try gardening with a toddler)

And here's some pictures of strawberry picking. All you desert dwellers would be so jealous! If you feel like blueberries, go pay your $3.99 for a measly pint at the supermarket. But just so you know, I paid $4 for a gallon just the other day, picked 'em myself. This farm we went to had it all--raspberries, marion, boysen, kotata, and blueberries. I didn't like the boysenberries very much so we're just going back for the good old blues. And unlimited wild blackberries the entire month of August :)