I scream...

..at the sight of spiders and roaches. This has caused Patrick to be scared of them as well (I know, my fault). Chuck normally takes care of spraying for bugs, and he only does the outside of the house due to the chemicals. However, since we have moved into a house that was completely remodeled from top to bottom because of some very disgusting people (we later found out), we have had the bug people come and spray inside. This has caused quite a few dead spiders and dying supersize roaches. So, this morning, I was making breakfast and Nicholas tried to hand me something. I thought it was a dead spider which made me freak out enough. I took his hand and shook it and the spider dropped out and ran away! He had picked up a live spider. I know this is par for the course for toddlers, but it still made me squemish.

We had a pretty good week last week with Chuck out of town. He was called back to his old job to help out with the major golf tourney they have each year. Just when we thought he had escaped it...anyways, we joined him at my parent's house on Friday and had a great weekend seeing my family and visiting our old church family. I am glad we can still keep in touch with them. They are still a blessing to us even if they are far away. Mel & Jack came through for a short visit on Monday on their way back from a cruise. We are fortunate to have great families on both sides.

Patrick is catching up in school here and now we are faced with the dilema of holding him back or letting him go on to 2nd grade. The schools are tougher here and we thought at one point that it was going to be an easy choice to hold him back, but now he is really excelling, so what do we do? All of you teachers out there, what do you think? He will be 7 in July, so to go into first grade again in the fall would not be a big deal.

And, to wrap up this post, I must express my dissapointment with the Mavs. They have let us down in the playoffs, yet again.

I love you, most...

Dear Chuck,
I want you to know how proud I am of you. From before you even made Sous Chef in Boston, I have always heard rave reviews from your subordinates. I have always felt so proud of you! You continue to give your all, while setting a Christian example in the process, which is very evident in the way your employees and managers respond to you. We are so blessed as a family to know that you are always ready to accept the call for help and set a good example when called upon. We have missed you dearly this week, but we have been satisfied in knowing that you are continuing to live up to your dynamic potential by helping your previous position while in need. We love you and appreciate you for all you do.
Love,
M. P. & N.

"Oh, he's one of those kids..."

...my neighbor said to me after I told her of Nicholas' latest antics. Friday, he rolled into the pond, while running to meet a very friendly black and white cat that visits from a neighboring house. Today, he pooped in the bath (again). I don't think I blogged about the time I caught him starting to put the poop in his mouth. It's not like he was 7 or 8 months old. He was 19 months old. But Saturday, oh dear Saturday, put him at the top of the list for a future glue eating, crayon up the nose little boy. We had some really yummy BBQ take out that night. I left Nicholas alone for 3 minutes while I cleaned up the kitchen. Patrick had left to play with a friend. At some point, I had given Nicholas a piece of chocolate. After cleaning up, I sat down to try and catch some of the basketball game when I noticed a very bad smell. Luna, our cat, was right next to me, but it wasn't her. Then I saw it. I saw what looked like finger painting on the coffee table. I saw the back of Nicholas' diaper overflowing. "Please, let it be chocolate" I said, as I bent down to smell. Well, it wasn't chocolate. I would like a new coffee table now and a new den, for that matter. Even after I had him and the coffee table cleaned up, I found it hard to look at either the same. He's a very different little boy from our first. Silly of me to ever compare them because they are definitely no where near alike. Here are some "before" shots of Nicholas eating ribs. Don't you love the foot on the table? He is always pushing us and he thinks it is hilarious. It's hard not to laugh with him when he gets that twinkle in his eyes....

Events

When my parents were in town a couple of weeks ago, Patrick participated in a fishing derby. He didn't catch anything, but it did revive his love for fishing. We havn't had time to get the boat out on our nearby lake yet (actually, I think it still needs some more work since the last time it was out and Russ and Chuck broke down). We were lucky to find storage for $200 a year! That is such a great deal. I am so happy not to be looking at the boat in our backyard anymore. We also went to and arts festival last weekend when Chuck was off that we enjoyed. Patrick had his school program last night. The theme was bugs. It was actually his second school program of the year as they did one at his old school right before we moved. It was very cute. Chuck his been getting home between 6-7 all week, so we are thankful for that.

I Miss...

I asked Chuck last night if he missed our church life. He said he has been to busy with work to even think about it. I agree with that. He left this morning at 6am and it is 10:40pm and he is still there. When they get the rest of their management team in place, his schedule should ease up a bit, but honestly, we knew with this promotion he was going to be working a lot. His next promotion to Executive Chef (the gold pot at the end of the rainbow as I think of it) will allow better hours and Sunday/Mondays off again. This is a transitional phase that will not always be easy for us as a family, but the end rewards in a year or two should be quite grand. Anyways, I am missing my family...dropping by for no reason...just to have a cup of coffee or to find someone to go to Costco with me and the kids. I am missing my church family. The new church we have found is a lot like our old, but they meet in small groups a lot instead of Sunday night or Wed. night services. The small groups cannot be joined until you place membership and until I meet people in our age group and get a feel for these small groups, I am not ready to place membership. There isn't Wednesday night church either, and I depended on that so much for my kids and for myself. Chuck never could attend due to his schedule, but it always meant so much to me. I miss teaching cradle roll on Wednesday nights. I originally put myself in the position because no one else seemed willing, but in the end it changed me and blessed me so much. Chuck will be visiting for the first time this weekend (he finally has a weekend off...yea!). We will see what he thinks and go from there. I miss Patrick's school and teachers, too. The new school is very institution like and has such a different feel. He is struggling as well, as they are doing more of a second grade curriculum and it has been a bit stressful for him. It breaks my heart sometimes to think of the church family and school we left behind. I know things will get better, but for tonight, I am kind of blue.

Easter

Mel and Jack came down for Easter and we had a really great weekend. We went to our possible new church. My parents have been down this last week and they enjoyed it as well. It is a lot like our old church...very uplifting. I was relieved to have found it (actually, my mom found it searching online).

Look! There is Nicholas walking out of a picture frame again. He is missing his mule, I mean, mommy.

Our neighbors had a huge Easter egg hunt. We love our new neighbors. They have a wonderful extended family and lots of pets. Patrick has finally got a hamster and two bunnies via visiting next door.

Nicholas was napping during the hunt, so his nice brother set up an egg hunt for him in the backyard using his own eggs and helped him along. He is such a little parent to him sometimes. It is really sweet!

" Would you like to try the asparagus?"

"And this is how I really feel about you sometimes when I think no one is looking. "

Creepy

I installed stat counter on my blog recently because of an anonymous comment that was very positive, but yet anonymous. It turned out it was my husband! I had told him that since we moved, I felt like no one was ever checking my blog anymore and that he better start checking it and leaving comments. So he did the next day, thinking I would get the joke of his comment, but I didn't and ended up installing stat counter. Anyways, on stat counter I noticed some links related to google searches that my blog popped up on. I googled the particular phrases and the first was for "de*bstipation" and my blog came up 2nd. The other was for "c*nfessions of a bored housewife" and my blog came up fourth. Whoever clicked on my blog didn't stay there but a few seconds, however, it freaks me out that my blog would come up that quickly on a google search. I realize that my blog will not peak that much interest for random people, but it still bothers me. Bloggers out there...try entering titles to some of your posts and see how quickly your blog comes up.

Oregon = Heartfelt Beauty

I have been up and down the coast of CA and I do not know what all of the hoopla is about. In my mind, Oregon captures my heart. This is where we stayed...right on the beach. The waves are awesome but you do have to be careful of the tides.

Breakfast in Depot Bay (apparently the smallest ship port in America, we learned). This was an awesome gourmet eatery that my parents often frequent. Wouldn't you know that our oldest child ordered the most expensive item on the menu... Crab Cakes Florentine over Poached Eggs with a Tarragon Cream Sauce and Chai Tea to drink. He lapped up every bit of it!

Newport Aquarium...very educational to the aquatic life along the OR coast. We've been to a lot of aquariums and this would definitely make my top 5.

A replica of an ancient shark's mouth.

Richard, Brandi, Reagan, Chloe & Baby MaCrae. He was so good during the whole trip. Actually Nicholas was, too. They both did great on the 4 hour flights. Even the flight attendants commented, but maybe they always say that.

OK, here is our family shot from our "We've moved" cards. No, that was not the gulf on those cards, but let's just pretend it was.

Look at that crying Nicholas...he is always trying to escape a picture unless he is glued to me. I have renamed myself the "mule".

OK, sorry Lynley, I copied you on this one, but it was a great idea. I love my children's feet as you will see in the next few frames. I need this girl to take some real shots before they get too big.

And here is the real reason we came to Oregon, to eat seafood! Just kidding! To see my dad's side of the family. His sister Cherie and my uncle Bob, daughter Amanda and husband Andrew and most of all... my grandmother Valentine (or as Patrick called her - Grandma Heart) who just turned 91 on V-Day. I hope we can all get out there again soon. We had such a great visit!