colors

Jack currently loves colors. Everything is a "green tree" or a "black beetle" or a "red apple" or an "orange chair" or a "blue candy". You get the picture.

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this morning after a bath, jack was running around diaper-less (not unusual at our house).

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From his bed room I hear "Ew, gross, sick"

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"What's wrong Jack??"

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"I green pooped on a floor, mom!!"

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At least he knew what color it was...

I spy with my little eye...

...Five tiny fingers that SHOULD be sleeping soundly in a CRIB.

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Which means that this little monster has figured out how to climb out of the crib...blast you Jack, I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out until you were at least 5. I have so enjoyed being able to cage you for a couple of hours a day, especially because you share a room with Baby B.

We did have a false alarm about a year ago but since the attempt ended with a scary fall, he hasn't been brave enough to try again until now.

I let him sit and wiggle his little fingers until I heard faint cries of "help, help".

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Let's just hope the kid doesn't figure out how to open doors or we will be in a whole world of trouble.

Sherbet Anyone?

It's stifling here in Washington.

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With the humidity, 90 degrees feels like 150 degrees. No joke.

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There aren't many days like this, days where it's almost unbearable to be anywhere that doesn't blast cold air. It's especially miserable if you don't have AC, like us. (most homes here don't have AC because it just isn't practical, you really don't need it that often). brutal. I actually made a trip to Costco today JUST so I could sit inside the giant walk-in fridge. I pretended to be looking for the perfect flat of berries, but I was really just taking in the cold hair and trying to build up a cold-air reserve for later. It didn't work, but it was worth a try.

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At 9:30 tonight we decided to bust out ice-cream cones...yeah that's right, aren't we a bunch of CRAZY people.

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Even at 9:30 Bianca just couldn't keep up with that melting sherbet.

Excuse me, is there anything on my face?

Go ahead girl, lick those fingers to your little heart's content. There's plenty to go around...

Pardon the drooping neckline, I think we can ALL relate to things drooping a bit by the end of the day...

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It looks like tomorrow will be another scorcher. I better go stock up on the ice cream!

A day at the beach...

Because we have:
- a two year old who's obsessed with all things ocean related
- a one year old that loves to play in the mud
- a dad year who needed a break

...and a mom wanting to keep EVERYONE happy with one activity (I'm sneaky that way)

We decided there was no better daycation destination than the beach!

That look on Jack's face pretty much sums up how he felt about it...I'm pretty sure those little clenched fists were literally shaking with excitement.


We went to Cannon Beach in Oregon. The weather was perfect, and the scenery breathtaking.

two buddies...Jack wouldn't go out there unless daddy was right by his side. (luckily the water was ice cold, so we didn't have to worry about him going more than ankle deep)

Bianca could be found playing in the mud. All day long. I swear I'm STILL wiping sand out of those rolls!

The day ended with:

- a sobbing two year old not wanting to leave the beach because he loved it

- a tuckered out, sandy-beyond-belief one year old

- a satisfied dad

...and a mom patting herself on the back for making EVERYONE happy.

talk about kissable

There's something about those blue eyes and chubby cheeks that we just can't get enough of...

mixing things up at the Springer house...

We have had a lot of changes around here over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share...

-Scott quit his night job delivering pizza. Though I will totally miss the delish freebie pizza, poor Scotty man was getting WAY too burnt out.

- I landed a SWEET job. My brother-in-law Danny works for a small programming company...long story short, they are all much too busy and important to do all the mundane contract work and formatting required for their job, so they offered to pay me 15 bucks an hour to do it from home. Oh, and they gave me a brand new laptop just to make my life a little easier.

I love you CodeSmart Inc...thank you for making all my wildest stay-at-home-mom dreams come true.

- Scott will be starting GRAD SCHOOL in two weeks!! He got his official acceptance today. We have been looking into lots of options and finally decided to take the "online" approach. I know it sounds hokey, like one of things you see on a cheap commercial...but this is totally legit. Scott will be getting his Masters in Accounting through the University of Phoenix. He will still work full time and do school at night. this will work out perfectly because the kids go to bed SUPER early and I just like to work anyway. Heaven forbid I actually get to spend time with my hubby.

Things should start to get a little crazy around here...stay tuned for more insanity!

And then I become one of those white-trash parents...

Growing up we had a white suburban. This wasn't your usual white car...it had smatterings of rust throughout the entire thing that made it look like an object of target practice for a regime of machine guns. I was embarrassed beyond beyond belief to be seen in that thing. It became almost a joke in my family. I recall a specific time when my dad was in charge of some sort of car pool. I was waiting in the rust speckled vehicle when to my dismay, my dad walked out wearing his billy-bob teeth and a cowboy hat. "Perfect" I thought..."this is social suicide". I think I actually shed a few tears as we pulled out of the driveway, and my dad had a huge, rotten grin on his face. "We are SO white-trash" was the last thought I had as we left the drive way.

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Am I proud of my snobbery and immaturity? Of course not, but a teenager can't help but be stupid...it's their nature.

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I promised myself that I would never be the kind of parent that embarrasses their kid (and I have to say, I am pretty sure my parents kept that BEAST of a car around just to teach me a lesson in humility). And I also promised myself I would never be one of those people that others look at and think "man, that is a white-trash family".

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Then one day, it happened.

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Jack's jammies all of the sudden were too small. Like, so small that he walked around like a little stick figure because he couldn't bend his legs. I was determined however, to get just a few more days out of them. He awoke sobbing one night and my mom said "Jill, look at his poor jammies, no wonder the kid is crying."

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So what does a mother do? go buy new PJ's at 11:00 at night?

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Nope.

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You just do the white-trashy thing and cut the feet off.

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We all laughed and laughed at jack's expense, the little guy was so sad to be the brunt of a joke.

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And so it begins...I have dipped my feet into the waters of white-trash and being THAT embarrasing parent.

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Heaven help my children.

*****please note that although Ithought we couldn't be more white-trash as a teenager, we really weren't. My mom is s very classy lady, and my dad is really one of the most kind, considerate men alive. They were just having a little fun with their ungrateful daughter!!

Waterfront Property...

Directly in front of my parents house is a massive retention basin. It provides an awesome sledding hill in the winter, and a great ice blocking shoot in the summer. Kids love to roll down the hill, and teenagers (my little brother included) can often be found slack-lining across from one end to the other.
When it rains something spectacular happens, especially in the eyes of a two year old. The Basin fills up with water and becomes a smallish lake...perfect for "Papa" to take his grandson out in the little blue canoe to look for whales and sharks.





And of course the kid in me couldn't miss out on the chance to look for deep sea animals...I swear we saw a sting ray in there!



Uncle Paul, also not wanting to to disappoint the child within took a much more adventurous approach. "Push me down from the top of the hill, Dad!" were the words that came out of his mouth. Of course, my dad quickly obliged. We all laughed hysterically when he ended up soaking wet when the front half of that little boat submerged from the hard push down the hill.

And here is Baby B. far past bed time, those blue eyes were piercing in the rain.

***Yes, Bianca has boy pajamas on. Jacks pajamas in fact. I packed light for the trip...I mean REALLY light. Oh, and I promise she doesn't have crazy hair all the time. She was moments away from bed, and the later in the day it gets, the less I fight those tangly curls!

The perils of a sour apple

Remember when I mentioned Bianca will eat anything?

I wasn't exaggerating.

At all.

And if it's not harmful, I don't stop her.

She picked an extremely unripe apple today and proceeded too eat the entire thing,

but not with out a few priceless faces...

Sorry about the ragamuffin look. I don't know what to do about that mane of curly hair...nap time is brutal for those brown locks.

Travel Tips?

I am leaving for Utah in LESS than 48 hours.

I will be flying by myself with a loud two year old and a clingy one year old. Both of whom have attention spans of your average, umm, umm, toddlers.

To protect my sanity and the sanity of those next to me on the plane, I need some heavy ideas.

Anyone?...

you know you live in the middle of the forest...

When the kind of visitor you get at your back door is this.

This little guy shows up everyday around lunch time and puts his paws on our back door...I think he must have found a few un-eaten fruit snacks or a half eaten cookie, and now he comes looking for the same snacks every day.

You can imagine the pure delight of a two year old to see a wild animal only inches away. Jack will sit on the ground and watch the "coontz" shuffle around for food, and is ecstatic when the little animal puts his paws on the window next to Jack's face.

See you tomorrow our ring tail friend,,,I'm just hoping our encounters with you only occur when there is a huge glass door between us!

Only in Washington...

...Would you be playing on a playground at a beautiful park...



Then walk a few steps and have a little adventure in the jungle...



Then walk a few more steps and be at the beach...



And then walk a few more steps and be in the water...

Man, this place is cool.