Asgard

Sliding Down the Slide is for Wimps

2010-04-18T07:46:00.003-10:00

So, does anyone know how to set a broken bone? Clearly I'll need to learn this skill and have it ready to use at any given moment...

Adventures in Aquaponics Construction

2010-03-16T16:05:00.003-10:00

Okay, just a few pics right now to (hopefully) get the basic idea across. Most importantly, here are our big helpers.

This is a foam "raft" which floats on the water that is in the troughs. Holes are drilled for the net pots which will have our plants in them. We did a little map ahead of time so we made sure to give more space for larger plants like tomato and less space for things like leek. The roots will hang down below the raft, into the water. The drilling process was really icky sounding, like nails on a chalkboard.

Here we have the fish tank in the back, a little pump house (for both air and water pumps), the 2 troughs which are 4'x8' each and some partial plumbing.
Putting in the food grade liner on a rainy day.
So the water goes from the fish tank into trough #1 and travels into trough #2 where it is pulled out by the pump and then back up into the fish tank. All the stuff the fish make feeds the plants and the plants keep the water "clean" for the fish.
We're also working on making a little solar heater since our water gets down to 50 degrees and our fish will prefer warmer water. We'll be putting an insulated cover on the fish tank and insulation around the fish tank as well.

More pics to come!

Word World

2010-02-13T08:29:00.002-10:00

Vili is saying a ton of words these days and I realized I better write them down now. I'm not going to write down his pronunciation. Some of the words would be recognizable to anyone listening and others are only decipherable to his family, but he's using them all in context.

mama

papa

odin

puppy

outside

eat

cheese

apple

tangerine

read

please

thank you

sorry

uh huh (as in yes)

uh uh (no)

uh oh

owie

head

ear

eye

shoes

meow

woof woof

bath

open

all done

water

cup

sleep

help

ball

juice

door

car

truck

airplane

uncle

tutu (his grandma)

pappy (grandpa)

That's all I can think of at the moment but it seems there are new ones every day. He just said "purple" after Odin told him that the chalk he was holding was purple, but he doesn't use any colors regularly yet.

For all his verbal skills, he doesn't seem to understand english when we are telling him to stop doing some undesirable thing. hmmm, strange.

Destroyers

2010-02-05T16:03:00.002-10:00

We pulled 3 fat, happy caterpillars off my calendula plants today and had pulled one off a couple weeks ago.

Apparently the calendula plant, which is supposed to repel many pests, attracts these green monsters like boys to bugs.
I hate them! They're eating my plants, are very difficult to find on the plant, and now they're all living in jars in my kitchen!

Transforming the Fabric

2010-02-01T21:08:00.004-10:00

So how do you get this

From this?
The piles of fleece turn into piles of diaper shaped cut-outs (this is only a pile of one layer of each of the 24 I made). I cut out 2 large and 2 small in each print, then sewed on my tags, cut out 2 large and 2 small of each print again, pinned 2 layers together, sewed right sides together, sewed elastic at the legs and back of the waist, turned right side out, topstitched, and added snaps (NOT an easy task when we're talking about using the snap press 20 times on each cover!).
But look how lovely they are!
They're selling pretty well at Moonsprout in Hilo, and not at all in my etsy shop. :-p Oh well.

The Super Short Version

2010-02-01T20:48:00.002-10:00

Am I going to start blogging again? I don't know.

Am I going to make an effort to do so? Yes, sometimes. But I'm not going to be worried if it is or is not getting done. I'll just share some photos when I feel like I have the time.

So, since its been a couple of MONTHS since my last post... here are a couple of pics from Christmas:

We only bought non-Chinese made toys for Odin and Vili this year. Some of it we were able to find locally and some of it we ordered online. Also did some hand made stuff for them which was fun.

The boys' Auntie Bethe sent some fun dress up stuff which Odin loves, Vili hates and Dax is modeling here for us.
Odin requested a mohawk a while ago and we bought him gel for Christmas.
Learning about fire in the back yard; see Vili blowing on it?
And we've had many a good laugh in the last couple of months. Hopefully I can make time to write a little bit more about specific fun times since I always enjoy reading about other people and their fun times.

Cozy Chameleon

2009-11-19T19:35:00.003-10:00

I've haven't been writing much lately - very short emails, no blogs...

So since I'm out of practice and can't think of much to say, I'll just show you what I've been working on in my few spare moments.

Fleece diaper covers!

Cozy Chameleon - always changing
I made this and another one for Vili and made one to try and sell on etsy.
Even though it was priced really low, it didn't sell. However, it did catch the attention of my friend who owns an eco-friendly baby store in Hilo who wants locally made products. She ordered 24 covers from me in 6 different prints! :) So I got to order a bunch of fleece, a few new colors of snaps, the rubber stamp and cotton twill tape to make my tags. FUN! And made some profit too of course.

So I've been cutting the fabric which can only be done during Vili's naps. Then got all the tags sewn on to the right side of each outer layer, and am now in the process of cutting the inner layer. Whew.

Actual sewing is MUCH quicker than the cutting process and if I get another large order I will definitely be buying a good rotary cutter and a solid plastic version of my patterns to speed that step as well as eliminate the tracing of the pattern.

I hope they do really well and sell quickly, I'd love to keep making them and Vili only needs so many!

Good Night, Good Knight

2009-11-02T07:58:00.004-10:00

There is a little book called "Good Night, Good Knight" which we were recently given and I adore it. It's a very cute little story about some sleepy dragons and a very good knight.

And here is Odin, the dragon slayer, on halloween. We were given the plastic helmet, sword and shield and Dax added the spikes and the chain. Odin chose the green paint and Dax fixed it all up for him.

Timbra made me this awesome skirt, thanks Tim!!! Love it. And then I bought some leopard print fleece and made everything else that is leopard print except for Vili's diaper cover. It was very fun to do and I love how the ears turned out.

My mom was up at our house watching the boys so we could go to a wedding that afternoon. Then we rushed home, ate quickly, and my mom came out trick or treating with us. We got rained on a little but it was fun.

Odin turns 4!

2009-11-02T07:56:00.003-10:00

We had a pirate party for Odin and a friend of ours a few days before his actual birthday. It was a fun afternoon of playing and sugar.

We really limit Odin's sugar because he is so affected by it but he did pretty well with one ring pop and a bite or two of a cupcake.
Wow.

We got Odin a skateboard for his birthday that included all the pads. It broke the "no made-in-China" rule but for a first skateboard that he may end up not liking at all, I couldn't bring myself to spend triple the price of this one.

Practicing on some soft ground first.

And I made him his request for a birthday treat, not cake but a gingerbread man! Happy birthday big boy!

One Year Old Boy

2009-09-24T16:32:00.002-10:00

Vili had his one year checkup the other day and weighed exactly 20 lbs.

Also at one year of age: he's walking, obviously, and has been for a couple of months now. He does pretty well going up and down a small step. He practices this at home, walking onto and off of a pillow over and over again.

He had NO TEETH his whole first year until a day or two after his party. Didn't want the cake to cause any decay I guess.

He signs for eat, more, susu (to nurse), Odin, Papa, up, outside, sleep, and mei tai.

He says Papa, Mama (which sounds like baba), up, uh oh, ow, outside (sounds like ow ai and he says it as he signs), and ball.
He loves to play with Odin, sing songs, go outside, and be very silly. He's recently learned how to blow bubbles with his spit, awesome.

Oh, do I have a blog?

2009-09-21T12:33:00.002-10:00

Sorry, I've been lazy about posting. I've been caught up in a book series and also aware that my only reader has a newborn so she doesn't really care if I blog or not. Anyway, there are 4 posts after this one that I did today to catch up on some of these past weeks. Enjoy!

Birthday Party!

2009-09-21T12:12:00.002-10:00

Happy Birthday Vili!!

Vili turned 1 on 9-9-09 and had his little party at the park on 9-19.
Trying to catch some bubbles
Vili's first cake
Um, not impressed.
Juice is very good though
Presents! He got very cool paints, brushes and sidewalk chalk from my parents, an egg shaker from Lila, some great books and a stuffed kitty from Malcolm and Amelie, some clothing, balls and wood vehicles from Gramma and Grampa G, some clothes from Aunty Bethe, Uncle Pat and Nina, and a few money gifts. We bought him a great set of used wood blocks a while ago.
At moments like these, I don't know why I married him.

This is from his actual birthday, 9-9-09

Fun With Stickers

2009-09-21T12:06:00.002-10:00

Odin has a little quiet time in his room each day. It helps us both to get a break from each other while he looks at books or plays with quiet toys. Sometimes he finds things that we haven't seen in a while and I'm always ready for some kind of surprise when I open the door to let him out.

These are some nice labels that Gramma worked hard on that were intended for the boys' books. (Oops). One side is "This book belongs to Odin" and the other side is "This book belongs to Vili".

It made me think of a mummy but I think it was some kind of armor.

Produce!

2009-09-21T12:02:00.001-10:00

The first zucchini from the garden that Dax has been working so hard on.

Not the first carrot, but one of many cute little carrots we've harvested so far.

Wounded Warrior

2009-09-21T11:54:00.002-10:00

Vili got himself a good near-eye injury the other night. It was a little swollen, a little deep, a little purplish and only bled a little bit. Not bad at all for his first pretty hard hit. He slipped on something and hit his face on a metal corner under a table we have in the living room. Some tears, some cleaning and some snuggling and he was all better.

Keeping Things Spicy

2009-09-03T20:03:00.002-10:00

Odin will sometimes take an interest in cooking, sort of. He's really into sampling all my spices. I have to keep the cayenne and a couple others out of reach so they don't end up in his nose or eyes.

When Odin was younger (I have no idea when, this was pre-blog) I once came into the kitchen to find a pile of salt on the floor. So I'm very thankful that he's figured out how to sample rather than dump.

This plate is a mixture of allspice, rosemary, peppercorns, parsley, oregano, salt and dill. Maybe some paprika in there as well. He'll add all of this to one cup of tea if I let him. He likes to eat the spices with a little 1/4 tsp. measuring spoon.

He may look like his dad, but his tastes are similar to mine. Mmmm, dill.

When Is Laughter A Bad Thing?

2009-08-28T21:00:00.003-10:00

As a mama of 2 boys, I've learned to listen for certain things when the boys are in one room and I am in another. Generally this happens when they're in the living room and I'm attempting to make dinner. This usually lasts 7 minutes and then I can sometimes put Vili in the exer-saucer. If he's not happy there I put him in the mei tai and Odin can run around in the back yard which is right out the kitchen door. Anyway, the things I have to listen for when they are in another room are crying or silence. Both are usually bad. Laughter is good. Right?

Today Vili was in the exer-saucer and Odin was running around outside. I was washing dishes but took a break to run to the bathroom and spent maybe 2 minutes in the office. Meanwhile I am hearing laughter from the kitchen. So I go in to finish up and find Vili covered in dirt and Odin running toward the house with 2 (more) handfuls of dirt.

So now I have to listen for laughter as well and remind myself that sometimes what is funny to 2 little boys isn't quite as funny to their mama.

A Walk With Boys

2009-08-24T07:00:00.003-10:00

Vili is out walking with us these days instead of being carried in the mei tai. The mei tai always comes with us too so I can put him up in it when I am tired of removing rocks from his mouth. He does pretty well walking with us when he's carrying something. If he's already got something in his hands, he's less likely to stop and pick up every rock he sees. Yes, I let him carry this eye-poking stick for a little bit before taking it away. If it's not a rock in the mouth, it's a stick in the eye.

Odin is an interesting combination of very tough and very cautious. So this was his first time trying the scooter without my hands on the handle bars with his.
Vili is a daredevil and was ready to ride the scooter WITH his sharp stick.
What stroll around the neighborhood would be safe without bringing your sword...
And then letting the baby carry it for a while.

Mr. Mischief Indeed

2009-08-15T07:53:00.002-10:00

We were given this T shirt in a bag of hand me downs from some friends recently and I'm totally loving it. It's almost too small for him, so he'll just have to wear it daily until he outgrows it. We have saved hundreds of dollars in clothes that we would have had to buy just from these friends passing down their son's clothes to Odin. I really can't remember the last time I bought him clothing... I think it was underwear. Anyway, it is such a blessing.

Last July we drove to town to watch fireworks on the 4th (I was still pregnant with Vili). Our normal spot is a parking lot that is up on a good hill and has a good view but is also far enough away that the noise isn't so loud (so certain a certain small person won't be scared to watch fireworks). There is an office building in the parking lot so at night there are some dark hallways. Right around this time Dax had mentioned goulies to Odin for some, unknown, reason. So upon seeing the dark hallway and watching some knuckleheads throw some little fire crackers down it, Odin asked if there were goobies in the hallway. And from then on, goulies have been called goobies. And Odin's got a goobie on his toe!
He's also been trying very hard to fly.

Bringing Home Some Bacon... From Home

2009-08-12T13:21:00.003-10:00

I just got a pad and a liner up in my etsy store and one more of Dax's rings up in his. I've also had several pearl and bead stringing jobs (through our shop) that I've been working on at home recently, allowing me to contribute monetarily a little bit. That has been nice since I know my work at home with the boys as well as daily cooking and not-so-daily cleaning is invaluable, but since no one is actually paying me to hang shirts and wash diapers, it doesn't help to pay the bills. So maybe these things, when I do have time, will help out a little.

And if not, I really enjoy the sewing so it's good no matter what.

July, briefly

2009-07-31T21:37:00.004-10:00

It has been annoying, to say the least, to not have a place to upload my photos this month. We haven't solved the problem and I still don't have access to any of my photos that are on our external drive. Not freaking out... we'll get them off of there somehow... right??

Anyway, I just don't have it in me right now to do an entry with many photos for each event or funny thing that happened this month. So here is a very brief version of our July...

Vili started walking.

We found another chameleon, this one was strolling around in our garden.
We celebrated the 4th of July.
We ate a few watermelons.
My younger brother Jay had his birthday.
Odin was given a cool pirate costume.
We said goodbye to our good friend Dustin who moved to the mainland.
And somewhere in there Odin got a fat lip. I don't remember how.

A Boy and His Furry Friends

2009-07-30T15:44:00.002-10:00

Odin loves Sam the cat. Sam loves Odin too, but not enough to come inside.

Odin loves Kaiser the dog. Kaiser... well, he loved Odin during the thunderstorm we had a week or so ago. But later that same day Odin got a time out for kicking Kaiser. They're still working on their relationship.

Secret Sewing Project

2009-07-30T15:14:00.002-10:00

I've been making time to sew and I've really been enjoying it. Here are some of the fruits of my labor.

Cloth panty liners!
This project started when I ran across cloth pads for sale at some point in time, and then ran across a pattern for them at another time. I decided to sew my own and tried a few patterns and found 2 I really liked, and then modified those a little and that is what I'm sewing now. I was going to use safety pins to fasten the wings even though I have always wanted a snap press (for various other projects). Well some good friends of ours (don't know if they want to be publicly outed) decided to GIVE me a gift of money that we could use however we needed it. Dax was supportive of the press idea since the cloth pads plus one other project will be sellable now that they have snaps!

I've given away panty liners and pads to a few friends and am eagerly awaiting some product reviews before I start selling on etsy. It has been very fun for me so far and I have a fair stash of my own started now too since I'm happy with any that have odd stitching.

I'll post an update when I have some listed for sale and will also post a picture of the pad. :-)

Photos Coming Soon

2009-07-30T09:15:00.002-10:00

I uploaded nearly 500 photos and videos to the computer today so I've got a lot to look through. I'll try to make time to post about things we've been doing this past month when I have the time. For now, here is the little walker.

Firsts

2009-07-29T13:53:00.003-10:00

A few days ago, I made my first sale on etsy. I was super excited and then realized that I shouldn't be too happy until I actually received a payment. Yesterday I received that payment and was, once again, very happy that I made a little sale. There is a link to my little shop and a link to Dax's little shop on the right side of this blog. We each only have one item for sale at this time, but I hope to add more things very soon.

Today was another first... Vili's first walk around the neighborhood with Odin and I. He is willing to hold my hand some of the time so we walked for a while like that. Some of the time he wanted to walk on his own and that was fine too. I brought the mei tai along thinking he'd get tired at some point. Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't, but he was more interested in eating leaves than walking, so up in the mei tai he went.

It's been a long time since I've walked with a little guy and I've never walked with someone quite this little. I enjoy a nice slow stroll, examining various logs, rocks, and leaves we encounter. But Odin is on to much quicker adventures so he was a tiny bit bored I think. A good time was had by all and Odin is very happy that his little brother is walking like a big boy.

A Little Update

2009-07-08T12:35:00.002-10:00

Still no photos to show but hopefully soon. It is strange to have so many photos on my camera that have not been uploaded to the computer at all. That will be quite a project whenever it happens.

My current project, since I'm not spending any time at all sharing photos, has been sewing. Quite a bit. I have sewn a couple of things for myself and several things to give away to a few friends. And soon, these secret things will also be for sale! I am giving them away to a few friends in the hope that I'll get a product review from them, as well as potential buyers! So I'll post about that when things are all done and ready to be shown. :-) You've definitely got to have pictures because the secret things are much more fun to see than read about.

In other news, Vili is recovering from some kind of virus which gave him a pretty high fever for a little over 24 hours. He's still very fussy and needs to catch up on sleep, but he's doing much better.

Odin has also gone to work with Dax even though I stayed home (this is a first) twice this week! They've been having fun together and Vili really needed the quiet around here so he could sleep lots during his fever.

Not much else to report since I'll want to tell about the 4th of July with photos, so I'll post about that when I can.

Toddlers

2009-06-29T09:32:00.003-10:00

I guess I officially have 2 toddlers now. Vili started walking yesterday!

He took one step on his own in the morning and then was taking about 3 steps at a time all evening long. He'd stand, take 3 steps, and fall forward or back on to his bottom. I did catch it on video but with the computer issues I can't upload it. :(

He's quite pleased with himself and enjoys the applause from the rest of us.

If I hold his hands to help him walk he practically runs.

Oh, and just so I don't seem too braggy, he also bonked himself in the head repeatedly with a golf ball and kept smiling at the sound it was making.

Fun times and bumps and bruises, here we come!

Computer Issues

2009-06-27T20:46:00.002-10:00

Something is wrong with our computer. Or with the external hard drive (where all my music and photos are). Possibly with both.

I'm not stressing out about it. I'm trying not to think about it and just know that my pictures are all there and we'll be able to get to them somehow.

Since all my photos are on the external drive, and unaccessible, I'm not uploading any new ones. So until we make an effort to find out what is wrong and fix it, there will be no pictures of the little guys to look at. But I'll post a bunch when we're up and running again.

In the meantime, maybe I'll post about food I'm cooking or books I'm reading ... we'll see.

Made these today. yummmm.

Modifications I made:

Used all butter, no shortening or margarine.

Used flax meal and water in place of the eggs.

Used natural peanut butter, not one with sugar added.

Used rolled oats instead of quick cooking oats.

Okay and yes, I added chocolate chips too.

Bed Head

2009-06-19T21:41:00.003-10:00

For some magical reason Odin, Vili and I all got to take a nap today. All of us. Even me! Vili got such a nice long one, he woke up looking like this.

I don't know if I've ever had to comb his hair before.

Speaking of the bed...

A couple of days ago I was attempting to put Vili down for a nap but he was having none of it and was having much more fun crawling around the bed and near the edge and over me and back to the edge. So when he slowly crept up to the edge at one point I decided to just let him go over because it's very low to the ground and I thought it would be a good way to teach him that it's not fun to fall off. I knew he wouldn't get hurt because he was going so slowly and I had hoped he would just learn to stay away from the edge.
Nope, now he thinks this is just the way to get out of bed.

On a side note, who are those kids in that black and white picture on the fridge there behind Vili??

Oops

2009-06-18T19:05:00.004-10:00

So I didn't realize that if I start posting something a week ago and the video won't upload and then I take a new video and finally upload the new video to the old post tonight and post it tonight, it shows up in the blog based on the date I started the post. So, there is a new post, called "Up Up & Away", a few posts down from this one... with a video. Now I know.

Chameleons and the Zip Line

2009-06-15T15:16:00.003-10:00

On Fridays, if we stay home, we (I) drag out the stroller and head down to the playground to hang out with some other parents and kids for the weekly playgroup. During the summer it is much warmer up here and we notice a drastic increase in these cold blooded residents.

Unfortunately, we know they are back in town when we start to see several dead ones on the road. But on our Friday walks we almost always see at least one that is still alive. I know I've already posted about the chameleons, but this one was too pretty not to post. He was very large and, of course, didn't want to hang out on the stroller. Vili tried to grab this one and Odin was pretty afraid of it.
On Sunday we worshiped at a friend's house (my favorite place to worship, so much more enjoyable than in a large building, all facing forward). We ate afterwards and then realized some of the kids (and adults) were making use of the zip line at the house. Actually, the first person down was the owner of the house and he didn't realize that a couple of cars were parked in the path of the zip line. He surely has a nasty bruise today because he bumped one car and then smashed into the side of the next one hard enough to dent it pretty good and break a window! But once the cars were moved, it was safe.

I showed Odin that some of the bigger kids were going but figured he wouldn't be into it. He is super cautious. But he said he wanted to go. So I jumped at the chance to encourage him to do something that was a little out of his normal comfort zone and strapped him on my back in the mei tai, climbed the ladder and down we went!

It got going pretty fast near the end and it was a little hard on my hands, since I was carrying a 25 lb backpack. But it was very fun and he wanted to go again. We ran out of time to do that, but at least it was a good experience for him. You can see in the window of the house, some older girls were cheering for him while we were up on the platform.

9 Months Old!

2009-06-15T14:43:00.002-10:00

Vili turned 9 months on the 9th! We just had his 9 month checkup today and he weighed in at 17lbs 10oz. and measured 27" tall... so little! Other 9 month info:

No teeth

Signs for: nursing, more (as in more food).

Imitates our sounds: Uh Oh, buh buh buh (this is also for nursing, even though we call it "susu"),

Crawling, bear crawling and cruising all over the place.

Standing on his own for brief periods.

LOVES the water. Ocean, pool, bath, puddles, anything deep enough to splash in!

Hates the car at night.

Loves Odin but lets us know when he's not happy with what Odin is doing at the moment.

Wants to do everything big brother is doing and more (he will reach out to touch a chameleon even though Odin won't touch them at all).

And he's perfecting the use of his eyebrows as you can see here.

This cute little face is accompanied by an "Oh" sound.
Standing! Yes, he's wearing a halloween shirt and lime green pants. And?

Odin at 9 months was 28" and 20 lbs 13 oz. He was also not crawling at all (I can see in my photos at this time our house was not child-proofed at all!) and already had 4 teeth!

A Little Visit

2009-06-08T06:49:00.003-10:00

We enjoyed a quick visit last Monday from our good buddies from Kona, Aunty Christyn (and her mom!) and Uncle Caleb. Dax dressed Vili in his best hat for the occasion.

We brought some lunch and sat in the park to eat and hang out until they had to go back to Kona. It was a great visit.

Odin misses Uncle Caleb since we don't see them nearly enough now that they live on the other side of the island. Uncle Caleb misses Odin too, so he uses Odin's own fists to punch him in the head a little bit.
Aunty Christyn was there too, I promise. I even have pictures to prove it. But she'll be happier if I don't show them to anyone. They're good pictures, she just doesn't like having her picture taken.

Vili did his best with this apple. He had a great time after I took a few bites and he was able to suck on the inside. A little fruit vampire.

Up Up & Away

2009-06-05T13:58:00.005-10:00

All of a sudden last week Vili decided to practice standing on his own. Does this mean walking is in the near future? I can't remember how soon Odin walked after standing, but they are such different little guys so it doesn't really matter. Odin didn't even take his first very tentative steps until he was 1. Vili is only 9 months old!! Help!

If I upload a video of him walking sometime soon, listen carefully and I'm sure you'll hear me crying in the background.

I'm A Chameleon, You're A Chameleon.

2009-05-29T12:53:00.003-10:00

After our trip to the park today, I think we'll all be chameleons for a while. On the way to the park we met one female:

She wasn't the largest we've seen. A couple of weeks ago we found a very large male and I didn't have my camera. This is the same female:

Odin wouldn't touch her. He's very cautious and it takes him a LONG time to feel comfortable enough to touch things like worms, skinks or bugs.
On the way back we found this small male (only one photo of him came out halfway decent):
And then this small female very close to our house:
She wasn't very happy with us. But I think if she knew where she was headed, directly for the yard with many chickens, she would have appreciated our picking her up and relocating her. Odin touched this one, yay!

It was treacherous, picking up chameleons, maneuvering the wide stroller, watching for cars on our one lane road, and getting pictures (all while not getting run over), but it was worth it. Odin has had 2 pretend chameleons in a bucket since we've been home and he himself has been a chameleon ever since we spotted the first one. Chameleons are naked, in case you were wondering. If you have a picture of a chameleon wearing undies, please send it to me right away so I can get my chameleon to wear undies again.

No Offense

2009-05-22T09:33:00.002-10:00

We have officially entered the potty talk phase. I thought we were already there but now it is a daily thing and, when the mood strikes, it is difficult to get any answer out of him that isn't related somehow to a butt.

What should we make for dinner?

poop.

What would you like for breakfast?

turd.

What do you want to do now?

fart.

Oh my, this joke is getting old fast.

Odin is generally the first one awake and Vili will usually sleep long enough for me to stumble out of bed and make coffee. The other morning both boys woke up at the same time and Odin looks at Vili and says "Good morning poop!" Great, so it's the first thing on his mind now!!

We also get to hear many delightful things like "I'm going to poop/fart on your head" or "You are a poop."

So, if my son calls you or your family member a poop-related name next time we see you, please don't take offense and don't take it personally. We're all just a bunch of stinky fart butts around here.

Ever Heard of a Peacock Salamander?

2009-05-16T08:30:00.002-10:00

This is what it looks like, in case you were wondering. As you can see, the peacock salamander has lovely coloring and a fabulous imagination.

This particular salamander can use his finely honed imagination to transform into many different things: a cat, dog, girl, army guy, whale, bird, or any other person or animal that he encounters. He also has special vision that allows him to see things that many of us can't see. Invisible spiders on the wall, kittens on the couch, various tiny animals that fit into the palm of his hand, and even some friends that visit us through his imagination.

I love this land of pretend! What fun!!

Mother's Day, Part 1 and 2

2009-05-11T15:57:00.003-10:00

Happy mother's day to all you mothers who are reading!!! Hope yours was very special.

Part 1:

On Sunday we stayed home and cleaned around here a little. Then lit the charcoal in the grill at around 11 or so. My mom and brother came up and we ate burgers (on homemade buns) and miso chicken, yum. My brother brought me a very special treat that I had requested... Veganaise. Like mayo with no eggs. I can't eat eggs (this was not always the case), so I can't eat mayo. That means no tuna sandwiches, no potato salad, no creamy salad dressings. I've gotten used to it and I was never a huge mayo eater anyway. But I really wanted some veganaise for my burger. It was so good. Dax and I both agree it is much better than regular mayo. We had tuna (albacore) sandwiches today. Oh man, so good.

Anyway, Sunday was great and relaxing and we all just hung out and had a very nice time with great weather. Did I take any pictures? Of course not. Why? I have NO idea!!

Part 2:

Monday is Dax's normal day off and his last day of the weekend. So for my mother's day gift he took both boys in the stroller down to the little playground. I decided I wanted to sew while they were gone so on Sunday I got all my fabric, thread, bobbins, etc. ready so that as soon as they left I'd be sitting down to the machine and getting to work. I've had projects on my list of stuff to sew since I was pregnant with Vili.

They had a good trip, Vili did fine and even fell asleep in the stroller on the way back. I should have checked the clock but I didn't so I don't know exactly how much time I had but this is what I got done while they were gone:

-separate dough into rolls and let rise 10 minutes

-cut fabric and start sewing large drawstring wet bag (a bag made of PUL that will go inside the diaper bag and is used for wet/dirty cloth diapers).

-put rolls into oven and set timer.

-encounter problem with large wet bag, set aside.

-take call from a lady who knows a mom who needs some breastfeeding support, and who is also willing to let me use her basement for a regular meeting place (for a breastfeeding support group) in about a month. I'm very excited about this.

-during phone call, cut flannel and start sewing soaker with flannel and an old towel. also take rolls out of the oven.

-sew small wet bag.

-sew a few flannel wipes (this is an experiment to see if using a zig zag stitch on the edges will be as effective as a serged edge, since I don't have a serger.)

-figure out problem with large wet bag, fix problem, finish large wet bag

-convert large nylon bag to small, usable nylon bag.

-sew one pair of nursing pads

-sew a few more flannel wipes

I'm ecstatic about all the stuff I got finished and crossed off my list. I have a really hard time starting sewing projects if I think I won't have time to finish, like during one of Vili's 7 minute naps. But I am going to make an effort to get better about having the stuff ready to go and try to work on things a little at a time. I really enjoy it and now that we officially have a sewing/art/craft/misc room and I can basically leave a project right in the machine and safely close the door, I have no excuse not to do this.

What a fabulous gift of time for myself!

Adventures With Spiderman

2009-05-07T09:06:00.002-10:00

Last Monday we all walked down to our little playground and enjoyed great, cool weather with no rain and no vog. When we first arrived there was one little boy and 4 annoying teenagers. They were just sitting in the play structure, blocking the way for Odin. It seemed like one of them was related to the little boy. Odin is enamored with all older kids so he wanted to hang out with them and they were just ignoring him. When they finally left, Odin and the little boy got to hang out and seemed to have a great time.

At one point the boy was telling Odin that he was Dr. Octavius and that Odin was Sandman. Odin has no idea who these people are but he kept refusing to be Sandman. Knowing that he didn't know these characters, I suggested he be Spiderman. This went over pretty well for a while and Odin was shooting imaginary spiderweb at the other boy, who would fall down and then get up again. It was great fun.

Then the other boy started telling Odin he was Sandman again, even showing him how to change into Sandman by sticking his hand in some sand. Odin still didn't want to be Sandman and at one point said "I'm not SADman, I'm Happyman!"

Are You Hungry?

2009-05-05T09:50:00.002-10:00

These people are.

Please pray about this and considering helping someone today. If not them, then maybe someone right in your town.

An Upgrade

2009-05-04T15:49:00.002-10:00

This is probably Odin's favorite toy. It was given to us well over a year ago and has been dearly loved ever since. At one point the internal thing that was supposed to blow bubbles started making horrid noises so Dax opened it up, removed the broken part, and closed it back up again. So it didn't make quite the same sound, but at least it was pushable.

The other day Odin gathered up a bunch of weedeater string and did a little modification on the front end here.

Uh oh, something isn't quite right here. Maybe it's low on gas.
Still not working...
He had to seek the aid of a professional.
And he's very pleased with the results. The string is wedged in tightly and even touches one of the wheels so it makes a cool sound when he pushes it.

Beach Day

2009-05-04T15:31:00.002-10:00

We got some good sun today (with some clouds too, of course) and got our errands done quickly so we could make it to the beach. We packed a little cooler and then a few snacks that don't need a cooler. Add on a diaper bag, beach bag and Dax's diving bag and the back of our car looks like we're taking a vacation rather than a day trip.

Vili's favorite new thing to chew on is this sunscreen tube. We used it at the park the other day and he held it for me each time I set it down to apply lotion to someone's face or shoulders.

He's also discovered that sand is not only tastier than grass, but if you're quick about it, mom can't really get it out of your mouth like she can with the grass. This is yet another thing that the boys do not have in common... when Odin was this age he wouldn't touch the sand (or grass) with his feet. At the beach he'd sit on my lap the entire time and would not have a single grain of sand stuck to him when we left. Vili was splashing in the water until he was shivering and was crawling all over the towels in an attempt to eat sand all day. Fun!
Odin was not up for swimming today. That made my job much easier since Dax was out snorkeling most of the time and I was trying to limit the amount of sand that Vili ate.
He sat comfortably like this for a few seconds and then was back to crawling all over. He was so utterly worn out by this fun day that he was literally falling asleep on my arm as I was loading stuff into the car. I'm pretty sure the older boys are taking a nap right now and Vili is asleep again too. I think we should do this more often!

Gingerbread Man

2009-04-30T10:29:00.002-10:00

My original plan was to make gingerbread. Then I looked at the recipe and realized it needed a whole cup of molasses which I didn't have. I did have some, but not a whole cup. When I told Odin I was making gingerbread he was very excited and knew that we couldn't open up the oven door or the gingerbread man would jump out. Hmm, so I decided to make gingerbread cookies instead. I don't have a cutter, and the dough is way too sticky anyway, so I just shaped a little man.

Odin was very pleased, especially because he got to eat a cookie for breakfast.
Legs first, so he won't run away.

A Special Kids' Place

2009-04-28T20:47:00.001-10:00

Odin asks to go to a "special kids' place" nearly every day. Sometimes it works out that we're planning to go to a playground or somewhere fun, and sometimes it doesn't. He always wants to ride those rides in the mall that go up and down or have a little "video game" inside that really isn't a game at all. So we took him to that for his special place the other day. I let him climb on the whopping 3 available rides before choosing which 2 he'd put quarters into. The helicopter was clearly everyone's favorite because it no longer had a steering wheel or a seatbelt. He played in that one for a while (see Dax in the back with Vili in the mei tai?).

And then spent his money on the 2 other rides (a boat and a spaceship) that had the non-games on the screen inside. You put in the 2 quarters, the ride rocks back and forth and the boat/spaceship on the tv screen goes thru a little maze for 50 seconds and then it stops. Talk about anticlimactic. Poor Odin was grateful but obviously looking for something that lasted a little longer. I'm thinking he'll be happy with the little neighborhood playground next time.

Growing

2009-04-27T06:08:00.002-10:00

We got all of our seedlings into the ground last week. When I say "we" I mean Dax, of course, since Odin spends most of his time picking out little rocks that he claims are bits of metal and I am carrying Vili. He would be happy to crawl around in the wet grass but I think he'd be eating way too much grass for someone with no teeth.

Here is a nasturtium, we have red ones too. They are supposed to keep away some kind of pest, I can't remember which one.

Odin checking out the new little plants that he's not supposed to step on. It is a lot different than just being able to run around in and dig anywhere in the dirt square. Not sure why they neglected to put the rubber boots on today, but he's all earth child apparently. Not so groovy when he comes back inside.
Some of our seedlings. Lettuce (you can see 2 whole little plants were eaten by something), onions, beets and radishes. We also had pots with the flowers, garlic and spinach.
And into the ground they go.
Okay, Odin, walk RIGHT HERE in papa's footprints... after he'd stepped on numerous little plants.
So they're all in. Some are doing well and some are not. Sadly, I think we've lost the spinach. But we'll see how it goes. We're just getting SO MUCH rain but we had to set them free from their little pots and give them a chance in the big yard.

Just One Question

2009-04-25T17:34:00.001-10:00

Could he BE any cuter?

I don't think so.

Cloth Napkins

2009-04-23T11:03:00.003-10:00

I've used cloth diapers on the babies since Odin was about 2 months old. We used them part time with Odin, based on how much water we had to do laundry. No rain meant using disposables. Lately we've had non-stop rain, so Vili has been in cloth full time for months. They are much more enjoyable to use, for me and for baby, than disposables.

So I'm not sure why we never got into cloth napkins since they could easily be thrown in with a regular load of laundry. But on the last trip to Costco, with paper towels on the list, Dax called me and exclaimed, "paper towels are $17.00!". So we decided not to get them and I began shopping for cloth napkins. What I found were mostly fancy, dinner table type, napkins which can be pretty pricey and you normally get about 4 or 8 to a set. But what we wanted to do was replace paper towels. And we don't even have a dinner table.

Then I found these from this seller on etsy.com.

They are one layer of flannel, serged around the edges, and are about 8x10". I picked out some solid colors, some prints and some fun prints for the boys. So if you know your fabric, you know that one side has a print and the other side is mostly white with some of the print showing through. I was expecting this. What I wasn't expecting was the solid colors to be bright on both sides. So they are very nice. So far we are loving them and find that they are very easy to take with us so we don't even need to use a napkin if we (meaning Dax and Odin) grab some fast food. If you're in the market for something fancier than flannel, the same seller on etsy makes some dinner type with designer cotton too. Fun!

A Little Cruising

2009-04-23T07:35:00.003-10:00

I still can't believe he's already doing this and am hoping it was a one time thing, not to be repeated until about 10 months old. Right.

Anyway the climax of the video is about midway through and then it's not too exciting after that, I just kept on recording.

Enjoy!

Dancing

2009-04-23T07:10:00.002-10:00

Having a Laugh

2009-04-21T09:30:00.002-10:00

Easter Pictures

2009-04-20T12:52:00.002-10:00

Odin got to do a little egg hunt with the kids after our worship service on Sunday. I wasn't about to go out and buy him an easter basket so yes, he is using an easter bucket! They are all waiting up against the wall and soon someone will start counting... when he gets to your age, go! So the younger kids got a one second head start. Yeah, that helped.

Here you can see most of the "hidden" eggs. I love this shirt. We got it as a hand me down recently and you'll probably see a lot of it because I make him wear it a lot.
Hmm, I bent down to pick up 3 and now they're all gone. Those big kids sure are fast.
Here's one hiding in this pipe.
I'm done, let's eat this candy!
He got a whopping 4 eggs. But some of those fast big kids shared and filled his little bucket up. Very sweet.

Some Random Pictures

2009-04-16T12:04:00.002-10:00

Vili has been charging lately when I start taking pictures of him. So he'll be doing something, I get the camera and get one quick shot of it, and then he starts heading straight for me in full attack mode.

He also attacks anyone who is lying on the floor.
Two boys in a tent in the living room. AKA rainy day sanity.
And Vili is really up and moving these days. He's quick.

Fire Rescue Station Outing

2009-04-16T09:32:00.002-10:00

Odin, Vili and I got together with a bunch of other moms and kids and got to take a tour of the Fire Rescue Station in Hilo. We got to see where the firemen sleep, where they eat, their large and small truck, their boat, and helicopter. They even let the kids climb into the big truck.

It has really big tires.
One of the firemen showed us how they slide down a rope.
Odin got to sit on the back of the big truck.
And the helicopter. This also has a rescue basket on the other side that is used for getting people out of the ocean.
It was a very fun thing to do on a very rainy day. We're hoping to get together with this group for other playgroups, but so far they haven't had any more.

6 Months Flew By

2009-03-19T11:49:00.003-10:00

The actual date of Vili turning 6 months old (the 9th) slipped away from me. He did have a little checkup that day and is just over 16lbs. What a little guy. He's still enjoying lots of time on his tummy and is determined to start crawling very soon. Odin hated tummy time so much, I don't think he was crawling until around 9 months or so. I couldn't find any pictures of him crawling earlier than that. Plus he was huge so I'm sure it took some extra time to build up the strength needed to lift his hefty self off the ground.

Vili is still gagging on anything but breastmilk so no solids for him yet. I'm thinking he'll just be one of those guys who will eat when he can do it himself, thank you very much.

He still loves Odin to death even though he's had a few minor bumps from Odin's head or hand or whatever flailing part comes his way.

Vili is also getting much louder and is making a lot of noises that sound like he's mimicking big brother. He's super fascinated with the dog. He's a grabber and puller so if the dog gets close enough for Vili to get a good hold on him, it'll be the last time the dog comes near him on purpose.

His hair is definitely reddish. Odin's was as well (and isn't any more) but I don't think Odin's was red for this long. Of course Vili has MUCH less hair than Odin so there's no telling what will happen with it.

Here is the 6 month old cutie pie in this photo taken by Odin!

And here is Odin at 6 months. Look at that hair!

The Red Eye Reduction Light

2009-03-18T17:44:00.003-10:00

I prefer not to use the flash on my camera, but inside our house is really dark. So there are many times that I just have to use the flash. And with that is the red eye reduction light (or whatever the technical term is). And this is what can happen when you shine a little red light at Vili.

Sometimes this happens.
Or this.
Or even this, my personal favorite.

Forward Motion

2009-03-18T17:17:00.002-10:00

And my life is now over.

Soup Through A Straw

2009-03-14T12:30:00.003-10:00

Did you know you could drink soup with a straw? Of course you did.

Did you also know that you can use the straw to clean up any soup spillage?
At this point I'm thinking, well I don't know if you can actually fit the veggies through the straw, but I'm glad he's trying so he'll find out on his own.
Ah, I see, the green bean was not meant to go up the straw and be eaten, it was meant to be a straw extender. Very good.

Vili's First Sign

2009-03-10T13:14:00.002-10:00

Okay, so I realize it's not the actual ASL sign for milk, but when Odin started signing years ago, this is how he did the sign. It was very cute so we decided to teach Vili the "wrong" way to sign it. And here it is. :-)

Trying New Things

2009-02-26T13:03:00.003-10:00

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions regarding food and pickiness just based on this one experience. And I'm not going to compare my precious little boy to my precious bigger little boy. But this is the face we got with the first taste of something other than breastmilk.

And then this face. And then a little bit of gagging. So I'm thinking maybe he doesn't like peas. Or he was expecting something else. Or he just wasn't ready yet. Whatever the case, we'll stick to the exclusively breastmilk diet for a little longer. I think Vili, and his gag reflex, will be happy with that decision.

Park Day

2009-02-24T12:32:00.002-10:00

We finally got a park up here. There have been many fundraisers etc. to get this thing built as well as volunteers to get the site ready, put it all together, and donate tools and food on work days. We have a great little community here and, until now, the nearest playground was over 20 miles away.

The equipment was finished in August but then they put in the nice squishy stuff on the ground just this last weekend and opened it up.
There are nice wood benches, a kid-sized picnic table, and a covered area with another picnic table.
Odin had a great time and we enjoyed it because it was nice and cool. The playgrounds in town are always pretty hot.
Now I just have to find myself a good used double stroller so we can get down there more often than just the weekends.

Yard Service

2009-02-23T18:29:00.003-10:00

Yes, more child labor. But we made sure they were safe, insisting that Lila keep her rubber slippers on and Odin keep his crocs on. It was all great fun until they got to a little stump they couldn't go over and then they abandoned the lawnmower to go play with a bunch of sticks.

Googley Eyes

2009-02-23T18:23:00.002-10:00

We found these beauties in some stuff we were going through a while back and just had to clean them up and give them to Odin. Aren't you glad we did?

Child Labor

2009-02-19T12:03:00.003-10:00

What can I say, he loves all noisy tools. At first he is very cautious with them and won't touch them at all but loves it when we use them (he begs Dax to mow the grass every weekend). And then he'll work up the bravery to touch it while it is running. And now he's bugging me the whole time I'm vacuuming because he wants to vacuum. We have to take turns since a lot gets left behind and we can't vacuum as long as he would like or the circuit breaker will flip the switch on us. Fun times.

He's also an expert on power tools. A few months ago a friend was here at the house and Dax was using some kind of power tool in the back of the house. Our friend and Odin were talking about what Dax was doing and what he was using based on what we could hear. Maybe a drill? "Nope" says Odin, "It's an impact driver."

To Odin's future wife: Sorry, you will spending a small fortune on tools. But at least your grass will always but cut.

I love my boys!! They're just too adorable.

Fabulous Soft EGG-FREE Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-02-12T12:31:00.003-10:00

They're so good. I can't eat eggs and I really have missed regular old chocolate chip cookies. Shortbread are tasty, but there is nothing like a soft chocolate chip cookie. And let me tell you, if you need to make them without eggs, now you can.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 T flax meal (ground flax seed)

3 T water

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350

2. cream butter, vanilla and sugar

3. in a small bowl, mix flax meal and water. pour this into the creamed butter and beat well.

4. in a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt.

5. add flour etc. to the butter etc. and mix well.

6. mix in choc. chips.

7. bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

This is really just a regular cookie recipe that I modified using the flax/water instead of the egg. So I'm thinking this could work for any cookie that doesn't call for several eggs. Hmmm....

Bragging

2009-02-07T10:07:00.002-10:00

Odin, like any toddler, has his moments of crazy toddlerness (like that word?). For the most part, though, he is a very good listener. Here comes my bragging story about him.

The other night we were at some friends' house for a going away party and Odin was playing with 2 siblings, the boy is a year older than Odin and the girl is maybe 6 months younger than Odin. They were all sitting on the floor playing with some toys and I noticed that the girl was eating right out of a bag of cookies. Her mom noticed also right around this time and said something like "what are you eating? cookies??" and calmly went over to take the bag a few moments later. But when Odin heard the word cookie he said "mama, can I have a cookie?". I said no and he didn't flip out, sweet. Gotta love it when they don't flip out in front of other people. But the boy really wanted him to have one so he said no to me saying no and got a cookie and gave it to Odin. Odin looked at it and said "no. no.". To a cookie!! I was amazed and very proud.

And look at this sweetness. Already homeschooling his brother.
More bragging: Vili is sitting up. For short periods with much tipping over, but he's working on it.
What handsome boys!!!
What a big boy already!

Where Our Garden Will Grow

2009-02-07T09:46:00.003-10:00

Dax and Odin started digging up the ground where we will soon plant spinach and carrots. We may eventually move on to other edible things, but will start with those 2. We'll also be working on a solution to the slugs and other pests, trying to avoid chemicals.

We have lovely worms. This is actually a bit of a worm. A few of them were casualties of the shovel and Odin put them all in a pile and was very excited about them.
And some very good earth, although a bit on the sticky side. Our shoes will never be the same.
And hopefully you never get tired of seeing Odin outside in undies and rain boots. If we actually walk around the neighborhood I do put pants on him.

Rocking and Rolling

2009-01-28T10:05:00.003-10:00

We listen to Pandora online radio when we are at home, which tends to be most of the time for me and the little boys. I love this site because you can make a whole station based on one song you like or based on an artist you like. Then Pandora will play songs that sound similar to that song or that artist. It is fabulous. You can also choose to listen to a genre station if you don't want to limit the sound to one artist. One of our genre stations is called Seattle/Grunge. It was originally added by me for my enjoyment. But Vili also enjoys it and the songs frequently put him right to sleep. :) He will be in the mei tai (my beloved baby carrier) and I'll be walking around trying to get him to take a much needed nap. It often takes only 1 or 2 songs once I turn on the Seattle station for his little eyes to be shut tight. They can't be those sleepy Jar of Flies songs either. He needs some serious rock music to lull him to sleep land.

He is rolling around all over the place. I can't put him down very often, for fear he'll be trampled by toddlers, but when I do put him down where it is safe we have to make sure there are no small toys or bits of dog food around.

Yesterday we were outside planting some seeds and Vili was on a blanket in the grass. Not too long into the dirt shoveling and he had choked a tiny bit and then swallowed his first piece of grass. Then he went back for another handful. So I pried that from his chubby fingers and tried to interest him in a toy so I could finish the planting. Sorry, no pictures of the planting since my hands were all dirty.

Groovy Girl and Brisk Boy

2009-01-24T14:41:00.003-10:00

We got some good sun the other day and got the kids out of the house. Penina danced throughout our walk (she must have had a song stuck in her head) and Odin seemed particularly speedy. Bethe theorized later that Nina was dancing so she could watch her shadow do some sweet moves. Here are a few of them.

And here are some blurry shots of the swift one.

This is my favorite.

Kicking some grass.

What Is Up With These Ears?

2009-01-21T20:35:00.003-10:00

Where does he get these? They're not mine. Odin has mine... large. Dax has very small ears, but they don't bend out at the top like these little Ewok ears here. He does pull on them while nursing. So is he responsible for his own goofy ears? I think that's what we're telling ourselves at this point.

Funny Faces and Wintery Weather

2009-01-20T09:04:00.002-10:00

This is the face he gave me after trying to blow bubbles right into my camera lens.

These are the Gilbert boys eyebrows.
Sticker mouth. A little weird, yes. This boy like to put stickers or tape over his mouth and eyes.
Oh my goodness, it's just too big to fit in his mouth.

We have had a very chilly few days up here at the house. We are around 3500 ft. elevation here and it was 41 degrees out this morning at 7am with the sun already up. Now I know that doesn't compare to the icy temperatures of Utah or the Ukraine, but in our little house with no insulation and no heating whatsoever, we feel the chill inside. And historically it is colder in February. Yikes.

4 Months Old!

2009-01-15T10:13:00.002-10:00

All went well at the 4 month checkup for Vili. The shots were horrible, of course, but we didn't have any plans for the rest of the day so we just came home.

Vili weighs 13lbs 14oz.

Compared to Odin at 4 months, who weighed 15lbs 15oz!!
Wow, I guess people weren't kidding when they'd ask how old he was and then respond with "whoa, big boy!".

Vili is 23" tall
Compared with Odin who was 25" at 4 months.
And they couldn't look more different than each other!! They also behave very differently. Although I don't have any pictures proving it in this post, Vili is much more smiley than Odin was. If you wanted a smile from Odin you really had to work for it. Vili gives them out to anyone who comes up to the house, but if we're in a new place he's a bit more serious. He's very physical and is rolling a lot more than I remember Odin rolling. Odin always hated tummy time and Vili likes it a lot. Vili talks quite a bit and he really hates the car. He's trying his hardest to sit up like the big kids but we still have a while before he'll be doing that without planting his face in the rug.

Finally, A Haircut

2009-01-14T12:05:00.003-10:00

The haircut involved a lot of screaming, crying, and attempted bribery and I disapproved of the whole thing. The bribes (oreos and various other treats) mean nothing to the kid who apparently feels pain with each hair that is severed. Nor does the logical reasoning (his long hair has been the cause for much complaining lately that it is itchy). When Dax was "done" with the buzzer, he sent him out to me to finish up some long places with scissors, thinking he just didn't like the buzzer. Wrong. He cried just as much with the scissors, and now I've got a sharp tool near his head. Fun.

After it was all done, and he got his oreo, he was totally loving his hair. For some reason, Odin has always called this short haircut "basketball hair". I don't know. So for days after the hair cutting ordeal, he kept telling everyone that he had basketball hair. Plus the itchiness is gone. So I guess we just have to make him do it more often. He loves it short, and we do too. But man, what an ordeal. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah, and he's been loving the spinach, carrot apple juice we've been making everyday. Here is his carrot mustache.

Snow in Hawaii

2009-01-01T07:37:00.004-10:00

We do actually have snow on our mountains right now, but no pictures to prove it. We made this snowball for Odin last week some time when we defrosted our big freezer. So it was really more of an ice ball and got many good throws out of it.

Christmas Pictures!

2008-12-29T14:37:00.003-10:00

This was actually the night before Christmas.
Little Christmas monkeys.

Some cool cars and a very fun rug with streets on it. Also some shameless advertising by the store we bought it from.

The knife that came with these plastic cuttable fruits & veggies was maybe his favorite thing. My favorite thing are these Grinch pjs.
These are the bilibos. Also a big hit and fun for grownups, too.

One for everyone.
The family pic.

Pig Latin, Sort Of.

2008-12-05T11:26:00.003-10:00

We don't let Odin use the word 'stupid' anymore since he kept calling us stupid. So we just encourage other words whenever we hear the "s word". Occasionally though, he really just does feel the need to use the word. One example is when he tripped the other day while we were out walking. He generally doesn't cry when hurt unless it's really bad. But he does get a little mad and embarrassed. So he trips, and then comes to me for a hug/place to hide his face in shame and he quietly tells me "this ground is really stupid". So we stomped on it for a minute before moving on.

Yesterday his fork wasn't working the way he wanted it to and he announces "this is a fupid stork!" I thought that was pretty clever of him. I won't be so thankful for his cleverness when he calls me fupid next week.

A Trip to the Beach

2008-12-02T09:41:00.004-10:00

Her papa taught her to look for money.

Look! It's coral!
This is Odin's first time being really in the ocean and being happy about it. He was in a few times as a baby. As he got older he made it clear that he was pretty afraid of it and I didn't force him to be in there. He has been in a few times clinging to me and asking me to get out of the water. But for some reason, today was the day. It was great and he had lots of fun.

A Trip to the Zoo

2008-12-02T09:11:00.002-10:00

The cousins, ready to see the animals.

My boys.
Little V.
Climbing monkey.
He is standing in the runoff from the roof and getting soaked.

You didn't expect to see pictures of animals from our zoo trip did you?

Turkey Day

2008-12-02T09:04:00.003-10:00

We had a nice mellow late lunch with the family who are here. So we missed Bruce and Becky but they'll be joining us for Christmas. Hope you had a lovely day!

In the back: Lila (my niece) and Jay (my brother), my Mom, Dax, Odin, Pat

In the front: my Dad, Me and V, Bethe (Dax's sister) and Penina (my niece)

An Interesting Nighttime Phenomenon

2008-12-02T08:51:00.002-10:00

Well it is interesting to me at least. Odin has been using the potty during the daytime for quite some time now and uses only undies when in the car or out and about and for naps as well. So for a while we'd put a disposable diaper on for nights and he would be able to go many nights in a row keeping the diaper dry. Every once in a while, of course, there was a wet diaper. So I switched him to cloth diapers when we ran out of the disposables (thinking they would just get reused since he was staying dry) and suddenly the diapers were wet EVERY morning. Weird. We thought maybe it was because he's had a little cold lately or something like that. But it is really difficult to use cloth diapers for nighttime only and we don't have enough water right now to be using cloth on Vili and washing the batch every other day. But you can't just let the wet diapers sit for over a week until you have enough to do a small load either. Anyway, so we bought some disposables last night... DRY again this morning! For the first time in a couple of weeks. How strange is that?! I would have thought the cloth would have encouraged dryness since you can feel that it is wet.

11 Week Old Boys

2008-11-25T14:42:00.003-10:00

Just for fun. I like to look back and see what Odin looked like at the age Vili is. So here they are at 11 weeks. Vili is sporting some very cool pants from my dear friend Timbra. LOVE them!

Sleepy Baby

2008-11-24T08:08:00.002-10:00

Vili loves sleeping in the mei tai which is nice because he can sleep anywhere we go. And at his 2 month checkup he weighed 12 lbs. which is like nothing in the mei tai.

And a wonderful family from the Church gave us this amazing, miracle working invention yesterday. He loves it and will sleep in it and is generally happy (or at least not sad) while swinging away in the kitchen. We curse the many weeks we spent without it. Dax finds it so amazing that he thinks this will allow us to have more kids. But I don't think the swing will carry the fetus and give birth to it so I don't see the drastic change here.

Playing, Walking, Bathing

2008-11-22T13:36:00.002-10:00

We're still working on sharing. Actually things are getting much better but we still have to watch and remind. Odin is able to play pretty rough with his other cousin, Lila, but we have to keep reminding him that Penina is smaller than him. He'll try to get past her in the hallway and basically mow her down.

I did a little bit of reading yesterday and found the idea of letting him pick out one super special thing that is only his and he doesn't have to share, but everything else we share. So he did and I also put away a lot of the toys so we only have books and stuffed animals out. And things seemed a little bit better yesterday and today. Phew, maybe there is hope yet.

Playing in the back yard (with a nice view of the compost bin).
Walking with Bethe. Odin is wearing some kind of torso armor there over his PJs. Anyone need ideas for Christmas gifts for him? Paper and tape, thank you very much.
See, he's not always trying to take something from her or push her over.

Celebrating 30!

2008-11-15T20:26:00.004-10:00

I turned 30 on Saturday and invited family up to our house so everyone could hold my baby and play with my toddler for me all day so I could relax and hang out and play "Rock Band"! It was rad.

Odin and Lila having some of my yummy vegan carrot cake. Only a couple minutes later Odin came to me looking very ill and had to spend a little time on the toilet. But he ended up just needing some water and all was well.

Wow. They found all the hidden toys in Odin's closet (I rotate toys so we don't have the same stuff out all the time) and they got EVERY single toy out. Odin was "scanning" each lincoln log with stud finder and buying them. Cutie.
A little bit of rockin' but not too busy to carry the little one in the mei tai.
My cake, yummy.
Odin gave Penina a little flower.
I am a fabulous drummer. It is such a super fun game but nearly impossible with kids if you don't want some toddler sized head injuries to deal with afterwards. My mom and my 2 sisters in law (Amy and Bethe) were all essential to making this happen with success and no injuries!
Odin is pretty good too.
And he's a diaper head. He put this on himself.

Kolohe Cousins

2008-11-15T11:47:00.008-10:00

They're not great, but I finally got some pictures of the cousins. We are still constantly reminding Odin to share, not push, take turns, use his words, be nice, and chill out while playing with Penina. This is really his first experience with a toddler who is younger than him and his behavior has been less than ideal. So with all the redirecting and discipline as well as nursing the littlest cousin and feeding Odin, myself, and cooking an occasional dinner as well, I haven't been much of a photographer. Odin has been skipping naps as well. It's just too much fun with all the extra people here so he skipped 5 days and then finally had one yesterday. It's awful. For me mostly. But it certainly doesn't help his behavior at all.

Here is the little kolohe (rascal) mowing the lawn after uncle Pat did it with the big mower.

Here they are drumming and singing together. The drum is much louder with tools than it is with hands.

And Odin doing a solo performance for her.

Can't forget this little one whose eyes are just starting to turn blue like his brother's.

Playing With Brother

2008-11-06T19:10:00.006-10:00

Despite the hitting incident, both boys do really seem to like each other. Odin gets a lot of smiles from Vili and Odin always wants me to bring Vili to somehow participate in whatever he's doing. This chair was an airplane today so the boys were doing a lot of flying around while I was taking pictures from the ocean.

Are you as annoyed with my dark pictures as I am? I am getting a new camera for my birthday which is coming very soon, so hopefully they'll start looking much better soon! My current camera is about 7 or 8 years old! We can't believe it has lasted this long. But it's certainly not the camera it used to be.

A Shark Attack

2008-11-06T08:57:00.002-10:00

Well it finally happened. The first negative physical contact on little brother.

We were at the shop with Dax (which is quickly becoming my least favorite place in the world to have a crying baby and a toddler who will only nap in a dark room) and I set Vili down on a mat so I could change his diaper. I walked less than 10 feet away to get the diaper and wipes and Vili started crying suddenly. I turned around and saw Odin standing near him holding a fairly large (maybe the length of Odin's arm) plastic shark.

"What did you do?"

"I hit Vili."

Of course I rushed over and picked up Vili and there was no harm done and he stopped crying very quickly.

"Where did you hit him?"

"On his head."

Aaaahhhhh! Great.

Well at least he didn't manage to get an eye. I never leave them alone together anyway, but now we'll have to be extra super careful or else he will lose an eye one of these days. And I know there will be many more shark attacks in the years to come, but hopefully I can protect him until he can swing a shark of his own.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T09:32:00.005-10:00

boo!

Here is the little Stormtrooper. No, I didn't make him trick or treat in his socks, or in those slippers. We went on a quick (4 house) trick or treating walk on our street as soon as Dax got home and before it started raining too hard. Then we went to a friends' house for a potluck/party. We stayed out too late but it was fun and Odin got to watch "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and eat a little candy. Dax and I didn't dress up. It is the first time I can remember not dressing up. I had every intention of making myself a witch hat to go with my black clothes, but it didn't get finished and I knew it wouldn't hold up in the rain. It was really cold so Vili got to wear his little bear outfit again.

I was amazed at how many short skirts on little girls were out there, although I kind of expected it. So I am thankful that we should have several years ahead of us without little girlfriends dressing like that. Yikes. But I think Dax and I made a commitment to always make the boys' costumes rather than go out and buy the pre-packaged garbage. There was so much more character in the homemade costumes than we saw than in the plasticky-fabric store bought ones. And just look at the quality of this cardstock outfit with inside-out PJs underneath. Don't forget the spray painted squirt gun. You just can't buy craftsmanship like that!

Painting With Odin

2008-10-29T14:43:00.004-10:00

I walk away for 10 seconds...

He has a thing for the Joker. No, he has not seen the movie. But he has seen the preview to the movie. Any time he gets ahold of my chapstick (and, apparently, paint) it is applied all over his mouth and cheek area (like the Joker's makeup). He has also done this with jelly. He has also decided to grow his hair out like the Joker. That is why he's been looking especially raggamuffiny lately.

Ooh, yes. This is looking really good.

His specialty is making everything black.

Smile!

2008-10-29T14:36:00.004-10:00

Finally, some smiles that were captured on the camera! And why are we smiling? Maybe because we got a decent amount of sleep last night. Or maybe because we just got big brother down for a nap. Could it be because it's such a beautiful sunny day out? Perhaps it is because my mama is just so darn lovely. Yes, I think that's it.

Enjoy! The smiles are almost as sweet as the sleep we got last night!

Celebrating 3 Years, A Little Early

2008-10-26T15:33:00.007-10:00

We celebrated Odin's 3rd birthday on Saturday since it is just easier than getting everyone together on a Wednesday. We just did a very small family BBQ at my brother's house since I didn't really have the energy or time to plan for more than 2 toddlers. It was a wise choice since there is just no napping on one's birthday.

We figured that 3 was a good age for his first tattoo, or 4, so we let him get a little ink. He is also wearing a little bit of cousin Lila's jewelry.

The picture uploader thing once again denied certain photos so I can't show you the little yellow truck from Vili, the cool bug book and phonics thing from Grandpa and Grandma G, or the great lego set from Tutu and Pappy. But here is the Bob the Builder bag from our good friends Mike, Timbra and Alani. With several little goodies inside. He would have stopped right there and applied all of the enclosed stickers for the next hour if I hadn't given him a few and hid the rest. Dax put the little tool belt on him and he wore that for the rest of the day, along with a little vest that came in the backpack we got for him.

This was the grand finale gift, from "cool uncle Jay". Don't worry though, later in the day Odin reminded Jay that he was "doodoo" just like everyone else. This truck actually required a screw driver to get it out of the package!

Odin and cousin Lila having fun with the new truck. It's noisy. And Lila's birthday is coming up so we'll have to find something equally noisy for her to get back at uncle Jay. Yep, her shirt reads "got spam?". She got that from cool auntie Heather.

Odin requested that his piece of cake have a grape on it, so there ya go.

The New Favorite Subject

2008-10-26T15:23:00.003-10:00

Poop.

Who knew the word could be not only hilarious, but the answer to any question. Toddlers, that's who.

me: what kind of shoes do you want to wear today?

odin: poop.

me: well, i don't know what kind of shoes those are, so what other kind do you want to wear?

odin: doodoo.

and on another day...

me: what do you want on your toast?

odin: toot.

me: what's toot? (hoping maybe it was code for peanut butter)

odin: something stinky.

We're taking the "ignore it and it will go away" approach with this new glamorous phase. And hoping it doesn't take too long.

The Rules According To Vili (subject to change at any given moment)

2008-10-15T18:49:00.002-10:00

If any of these rules are broken or not followed precisely, or in the correct order, or if I am too warm or too cold or if the stars are not aligned correctly, I will cry.

1. Mama should hold me at all times.

2. If Papa is home, he may need to hold me instead.

3. Holding me at all times does not ensure that I will not cry, but crying will be less likely if I am held

4. When trying to calm my crying, you may try

-Nursing

-Walking around the house (the kitchen is my favorite)

-The football hold

-Holding me while you bounce on the yoga ball

-Nursing while bouncing on the yoga ball

-Nursing while walking

-Nursing in the rocking chair

-Going outside

*please note: if one of these methods is not working, please try again in 48 seconds and it may work this time.

5. Please don't use the computer for anything, or go in the office at all. I hate it.

6. Sleep may happen at any time and has nothing to do with when the sun is up or when other people are sleeping or may want to be sleeping.

7. If you want to eat while sitting down, you better do it now while I'm sleeping.

8. More rules may be added or changed at any time and without notice.

Hawaiian Brown Bear

2008-10-13T10:06:00.002-10:00

a.k.a. "Cozy Bear"

Hey, it was 50 degrees this morning! (Okay, so it was 50 outside and 58 inside, but still pretty stinking cold!) Don't worry, we'll take him out of it as soon as we defrost a little.

1 Month Old Vili

2008-10-10T18:36:00.005-10:00

Vili is one month old. My mom-friends who secretly hated me when Odin was new and relatively quiet and "easy" will be pleased to know that Vili is very different from his brother. He cries a heck of a lot while he is awake. Sometimes nursing works, but there are many times when the ONLY thing that works to calm him is Dax. Yep, he loves Dax. This is great except that Dax doesn't stay home with us on a daily basis since he brings home the bacon. And he can't stay up with us into the wee hours (though he does help out until very late at night) since he has to wake up and be sort of on time to work. And sometimes, when nothing in the universe is quite right, even Dax-magic doesn't calm him and he just has to cry and cry and cry while I'm carrying him around in several different positions, trying to nurse, checking his diaper, and pacing around until he finally falls asleep.

He looks like this while he sleeps.

When he's awake, he usually looks like this.

But sometimes he looks like this which is fabulous.

Brothers For One Month

2008-10-08T13:21:00.002-10:00

Once again the blog is refusing to upload a couple of my pictures, so this one will have to do. If you look closely in Odin's hand you'll see a sharp little pine needle. In one picture that I couldn't upload, Odin was using the pine needle to "work on" Vili which means poking him in the arm. Better toughen up that skin now Vili because Odin is ready to play!!

Jedi Training

2008-10-08T12:55:00.006-10:00

A Jedi must have a good quality Lightsaber.

A Jedi must train in underpants.

A Jedi must devote time to studies.

And not be afraid to sing.

(Little known fact...)

A Jedi must have a love and respect (bordering on obsession) for lawn mowers.

One Thing That I Love

2008-10-02T18:46:00.003-10:00

About Dax:

(His birthday was the 1st by the way)

He is generally a very happy person and smiles at people all the time.

About Odin:

He loves the song "hush little baby" and now I love it too because he thinks that mama is going to buy him a MONKEY BIRD!

About Vili:

(and all newborns, really)

His little bitty arms barely reach the top of his head, how cute is that?!

A Few Pictures From This Week

2008-09-28T11:43:00.003-10:00

Well I hope you're ready for another chubby Gilbert baby. This one is gaining weight and working on filling out those cheeks just like his brother did.

We are all getting used to having the new little one around. Odin is generally very sweet but sometimes has to be reminded about being gentle. For the most part, his behavior toward Dax and I has been more negative than we would like, but we are working on it and hope that as we all adjust to the new family member (and how often mama has to hold him) things will get easier for us all.

Hey, they're not tights, they're called leg armor!

Vili's First 10 Days

2008-09-19T09:36:00.005-10:00

Our little guy is growing and changing every day and is really starting to look like his own little person (not just a baby who looks a lot like Odin did). We've enjoyed being at home and resting and just all getting used to each other.

On day 5 Vili and I had symptoms of a stomach bug with Vili throwing up that night (this was maybe the most traumatizing thing I've seen in a VERY long time). Thankfully it was only once and then a few nights of gas or similar issues for him that kept us awake for a couple hours at a time. We did a lot of walking, back patting, nursing, and then when he would FINALLY pass whatever was bugging him, back to sleep.

Last night he didn't seem to have those issues so hopefully we're past it.

Yesterday Odin, Vili, Christyn and I decided to take a trip to town. I wanted to see what it would be like to try to get a few things done while I had extra help but to see what I could do on my own. Ha. For now I won't be leaving the house unless I have extra help. Of course it took us forever just to get out of the house so we ended up in town much past Odin's nap time. We got to town and dropped off something with Dax and then went over to get some food for us. I neglected to make Odin use the potty when we got there so of course he had to go as soon as we were mid-sandwich. So Christyn ran him over to the nearest toilet while I sat there wondering what I would have done without her.

Then on to the store where I intended to buy a stainless steel soup pot. We were actually successful in doing so and without much difficulty. The challenge was in taking Odin to use the potty, with Vili in the sling, and using the potty myself without dropping the baby out of the sling in the process. Once again successful.

Christyn left this morning so we're on our own today. So far so good and I'm even doing this!

Odin is doing great with little Vili and, although we never leave them alone together because Odin is a very fast and bouncy and HUGE little boy, he is very gentle and gives his little brother many pats on the head and kisses and often asks "how's Vili doing?". It is very sweet.

That's all I've got time for at the moment. A poopy diaper and preparing an early lunch are next on the agenda (with a good hand washing in between).

Oh Yeah, and I Had a Baby

2008-09-16T09:28:00.003-10:00

On September 9th at 1:55am, Vili Mattaniah was born at home with his papa, his big brother, his tutu, and our midwife all there to help his mama. I had days of prelabor which were manageable but became frustrating at the end. That all started on Thursday the 4th with very mild contractions for 8 hours straight. Also some other signs that I won't go into detail about here that my body was in labor and not just practicing. On Friday I continued to have the same signs but with the mild contractions only lasting for an hour or two, stopping, and starting up again, and stopping again. Saturday was more of the same thing. Sunday everything stopped and I had maybe 4 contractions the whole day. But then Sunday night my water broke so we figured things would pick up. Nope. Monday the contractions started again and a little stronger this time so that was encouraging. On Monday night there were some good strong ones for an hour or two and then nothing for a long time. Aaaahhhhhh!!! So Dax suggested that we pretend nothing was going on and cook some dinner and just relax. So we did, and baked an apple crisp. We put Odin to bed as usual and my contractions started up really strong at around 9pm. 5 intense hours later Vili was born. My mom woke Odin up just in time, only a few minutes before Vili was born.

It was a totally different birth experience than Odin's and was more painful but much quicker. I am also healing a lot quicker this time but I'm sure that also has to do with taking my rest a lot more seriously this time around.

Dax just went back to work today and I have my great friend Christyn here all week (what a huge blessing!!) to help with Odin and Vili and whatever else I need help with around here while I'm adjusting to life as a mom of 2 boys!

Okay, so finally an update. Hope you're happy Timbra! ;-p