IT IS ALMOST WEDDING TIME!!

One day away. We are one day away from the wedding. Angie is getting married tomorrow. It is here. Things are moving along nicely. Ben is mowing, Kristi is edging, Angie is entertaining parents, Dad is at the office trying to figure out a problem with his email, Emilee is in the barn with all the kids, the kids are playing the Wii, No doubt Owen is running wild, Eric is hanging crown molding in the barn, Greg is happily working, and I am about to go pressure wash the driveway and the basketball court.

The wedding tent has been delivered, it sits on the front porch awaiting assembly. The tables and chairs have been delivered. The blue coleman water dispensers have been delivered. The place that delivered the water dispensers have been informed we are having a wedding and not going camping. The carpet cleaning company didn't come, they left a message yesterday to confirm some information. They didn't have our address. I found a new place to come tonight. The garbage company came to pick up the dumpster but couldn't do it since it was full. Kristi did a little yelling and a little ranting, they will be back this afternoon to dump and pick up. The rain clouds are rolling in as expected. We are almost ready.

Owen just told Emilee that he has a sweater for Noni's wedding and that he loves Noni's wedding. I love Noni's wedding too.

This is HORRIBLE....

I will never be the same. I was getting ready to leave yesterday and I picked up a jacket off the floor to wear. I came upstairs and took out a bowl for my cereal. I walked over to the cupboard and took out my cereal. Owen informed me that he wanted some cereal with me. I went back to the cupboard and took out another bowl. As I brought my hand out of the cupboard I noticed a small tickle on my hand. I glanced down and to my horror, found this: (I am not ruining my blog by putting the picture directly here, so click on the link). BEWARE!!

It may not have been exactly this spider, but it was this big and it was sitting on my HAND!! My sweet clean hand which I keep washing like a crazy person to try to stop thinking about this horrible experience.

I screamed, flicked the spider off my hand, threw the bowl I was holding in the air and came close to having a heart attack. My dad sat here showing his utter confusion as to what just happened. I pointed to the horrible beast sitting on the floor by his feet and told him best I could that the thing on the floor was on MY HAND!! All the possibilities of how he got there are horrible. 1. He was on my jacket and crawled down my arm while I was walking around the house. 2. He was in the bowl that I was about to give my child or 3. He was sitting on my cereal box. All three options send me into hysterics.

My dad took my industrial size cereal box from Costco and held it out over the counter and while saying "Sorry Charlie", he dropped the box on the monster. He died. I was glad. I threw my cereal box away.

I will never be the same.

Week in Review

We are enjoying the last of our summer days. As much as I can't wait for a schedule and some order to my life, I am glad that Owen can enjoy the craziness and just be a kid.

My niece Alysa is in town for 2 weeks before Emilee gets here for the wedding. She and Owen are still trying to get used to each other. She seems to love to get him in trouble. She said tonight, "look Jennifer, Owen is throwing that again". "Owen, please don't throw things". "I am not". "Jennifer, he will throw that again, I know he will, just watch". Owen couldn't decide what to do. Teasing Alysa is at the top of his list.

A moment of being friends and getting along (I think they were too tired to do anything else)

Emilee would be so proud of Alysa in her bike helmet. The doctor asked Owen yesterday at his visit if he wears his bike helmet. Owen sat there for a minute thinking then said, "sometimes". Not Alysa. All the time.

Even in her pajamas.

We decided to try out Lake Goodwin and go swim. We get very few really warm days and this was going to be one of those days. We figured we would try it out. It was GREAT!

Owen may not always wear his bike helmet, but he is no stranger to his life jacket! If you replace one life saving device with another, can it still count?
Naturally, another rock throwing picture

Ben came with us, he and I aren't much for swimming, we sat under our shade.

Owen is drying out - in our shade
After the lake we headed to the park for a birthday party. The kids had fun with the pinata.



Grandpa is eating O's elbow

Owen is in love with this book, he has a ridiculous fake laugh and during his favorite part he starts laughing and throws his head back saying he can't stop laughing.

Owen had his well child check up yesterday. They gave him this little bear gown to wear. As he put it on, tears welled up in his eyes and he asked every so nicely if he could please have his clothes back. Oh!! It is so much harder to take them to the doctor when they can actually realize what is happening and feel afraid. He was so brave and did everything the doctor asked him to do. He is nice and healthy - 85%tile for height and 90%tile for weight.

We had to call his dad to distract from the bear suit.

Then it was off to the zoo. I have 100 pictures of animals from the zoo, courtesy of Alysa. Mostly animal butts. She did take this lovely picture of a squirrel.

And then the rain came down! When we were leaving the house in the morning I thought to myself, I should get a jacket. Then I thought to myself, I doubt we will go to the zoo, probably too rainy. Following the doctor's appointment it was nice and sunny and by a majority vote, we went to the zoo. I was terribly unprepared for the rain and while the children had hoods and sweatshirts, I was soaked to the skin. (At least it wasn't the other way around I suppose, I have had those days as well).

Here is my sweet sister Felix patiently drying my shirt.

While I was wearing my yoga mat.

And we close out another week.

Making Up Stories

We were sitting at dinner last night and Owen starting twisting and pulling my hair (in an affectionate way, although he twists it so tight you would never know it was a nice gesture). I told Angie that he does that all night while we sleep. I said to Owen, "tell Noni what I tell you about twisting my hair in the night". He said with such certainty, "mommy says, if you do that again, she will, she will, she will PUT ME IN THE OVEN".

No I do not. I have never said that in my life. I actually tell him if he keeps doing that he is going to have to sleep in his bed rather than mine. I am now curious as to whether he will ever sleep in his own bed. Apparently he equates sleeping there to being put in the oven.

Back to My Life

The final book is done, I can resume my normal life. Let's see, an update from last week....

I started out the week with my ever favorite visit to the fertility doctor. This was a follow-up appointment from the one I had the previous Friday. The appointment is the standard procedure, an ultrasound to measure the size of the follicles to induce ovulation. So I figured out the "right" days to minimize the appointments I would need. When I went on Friday, I was shocked to see I would have to come back Monday. When I went in on Monday, I was more shocked to see I would have to go back on Wednesday. Perhaps I need to remind the slow growing follicles that they are costing me $75.00 each time I go in. I certainly did not appreciate 3 visits this time around. So $340.00 later (costs of the shot and follow-up shots added to the ultrasound costs), it seems all is well... however, what wasn't part of the fertility plan was the horrible sore throat feeling that arrived Thursday morning. This feeling was oddly familiar. This could not be. Just because I said I was happy I had strep didn't mean I wanted it AGAIN. By Thursday night I could hardly talk. A trip Friday morning to the doctor, and yes, it was back. So now, $340.00 and a new round of antibiotics later, it seems I will be back to the doctor next month.

I think I have been nervous to have a baby partly due to Owen. He has just started asking me if we can go buy a baby at the store. He said, "I would take care of the baby, I would show the baby the kitchen and stuff like that, I would play with the baby in my room and stuff like that, I would share my lawnmowers and stuff like that". This is definitely reassuring as I am sure this is a factor in my non-pregnancy. Maybe we are making progress.

We had Owen's birthday celebration with his friends and family last week. We had a wonderful time and he LOVED having his friends here to play with him. We rode the lawnmower (big and little), looked for frogs, fed the fish, played with toys, decorated and of course ate cupcakes, picked apples (awfully small sour apples), and did what they all love best..... ate Cheetos!

On his actual birthday, Tuesday, a string of events led us to the single A baseball game in Everett. Greg's work was a sponsor for the game and they needed someone to throw out the ball. Owen was so excited to pitch. He is a natural and made his dad proud. Owen was ready to stay out on the mound and finish the game, Greg had to direct him off the field.

After the game we came back to the house, opened more presents and ate more cupcakes. And since Owen has no expectations, I certainly can say his birthday celebrations exceeded all of mine and we had a great time.

He is definitely 3...tonight he said to Greg..."daddy watch, daddy watch". Greg said, "I will, I just have to tell mommy one thing", Owen said, "daddy watch, daddy watch", Greg kept telling me his story driving Owen to say what any 3 year-old may say, "CHILD!watch". That left me in a fit of hysterics and Greg looking bewildered and asking Owen repeatedly, "did you just say Child?". Greg and I kept laughing wondering, as we often do throughout the day, where that new saying came from.

I am glad he is 3, I have enjoyed more than any words can express, the first 3 years of his life and I look forward to what each day brings. I love his sweet spirit and everything he is. Happy Birthday my little O!

Curse the Book

Curse the fourth and final book in the Twilight Series for taking up all my time!

I couldn't let the weekend end without a picture of Owen in his birthday scrubs from Grandma Lori. He is giving me the biggest smile EVER!

I have things to write about..... however! the vampires are calling to me and I must read. Even if it is 12:33 am.

Baseball and Dancing

Greg had a baseball game on Sunday that I finally agreed to go to (it was 45 minutes away rather than 1.5 hours). It was a nice day outside and we had a lot of fun. Owen watched about as much as he can stand, about 30 seconds, and spent the rest of the time dancing, eating crackers, throwing the baseball and practicing his slide.

In case you can't tell from these pictures, the game is very serious.




Greg always shows Owen his dirty pants following a game and tells him that he slid and got his pants dirty just for him. Owen started running and sliding. He informed me that he got his pants dirty just for me. How sweet he is to think of me. Here they are showing off their dirty pants.

Luckily I brought Owen to the game with me as this very serious game takes a very serious long time. We weren't short on entertainment. Here is Owen entertaining the crowd with my favorite dance.

Picking Apples

Two Things

Two things Owen adores.

1. Throwing rocks in the water.





2. Walking around while eating cheetos.

This was a good day.