Funny Story

So, today I take Chase out for some last minute Christmas shopping. Well, ok, not EXACTLY last minute - I will do THAT shopping Tuesday or Wednesday. Anyway, we are out, and we see a pair of sunglasses we should grab for Daddy's present. On the way to the car, I coach Christmas Present Protocol: "What do you say if Daddy asks what we bought?" "I'm not telling. It's a secret." Ok. Upon our arrival at home, I mention to Shawn that we bought his gift. Chase pipes up, "Yeah. We got you sunglasses, but we won't tell, because it's a secret." I guess we're not at the I-won't-be-sharing-the-details-of-your-Christmas-present phase of development.

Birthday Cooties

Why would a 32 year-old spend her birthday eating pizza and cake, and playing Cootie? When her party planner is a four year-old. The other day, when I mentioned my upcoming birthday, Chase announced, "I have never been to YOUR birthday party!" So today he planned my "party." Pizza, a birthday cake complete with my name on it in wonderful Wal-Mart sugar-disgusting frosting (an EXCELLENT gift from my friends Laurel, Christie, and Jamie), and a rousing game of Cootie. The version we have was my father's - manufactured in 1949. My kids had never played with this set, and it was fun to think of my dad rolling the same dice with four year-old hands. I bet he never imagined that someday his grandkids would play with one of his beloved games. I am guessing he cheated too! Happy birthday to me!

Howdy, Pilgrim!

(that was in a John Wayne voice, in case you hadn't realized)Don't you just love this picture? The hat from pre-school had me laughing. So did the talk of "pioneers" that accompanied it. I do believe this is the first of many, "Jeez mom, do you REALLY need to take a picture?" moments! And the following is a shout-out for Sarah-naka:Just know there are two more desserts in my freezer... Happy Thanksgiving!

A Message From Chase About Halloween

Halloween has come and gone. The fall is FLYING by. Of course, it all begins with a pumpkin (or four)... Here you can see the painstaking pumpkin selection process. It involves a great deal of running amuk through the patch and periodically stopping to inspect pumpkins by smacking them harshly. After you have chosen pumpkins, it then is necessary to carve your pumpkins. Mommy prefers to remove shirts before sticky, then hardened pumpkin gut boogers crust onto clothing permanently. Better just to throw you in the tub afterwards. Don't worry about actually doing any of the work yourself. It's much more fun to hide the tools from Mommy and Daddy, or pretend to eat them and watch grown-ups freak out! Do make sure to take a "back seat driver" approach to the carving process by constantly reminding Mommy and Daddy how to carve, in what shapes to carve, and when the pumpkin is finished (or not). When the jack-o-lanterns make it to the porch, keep Mom and Dad posted regarding when to light and when to extinguish. They are not annoyed by this at all - especially when it is time to get ready for bed. We're too cute to be in trouble anyway. Also, be sure to mention trick-or-treating every day from now until Halloween. Mom and Dad might forget to take you, after all. Before the big day INSIST on a bulky costume that is way too big. That way it can cause trouble walking around and frustrate the whole bunch you are spending your evening with. Just kidding. No one is ever frustrated by me. We're too cute, remember? When you are out on the big night, use a large container. Mine was way too small, and limited me to only enough candy to last my family a few days. Lesson learned for next year. Although if you take a sibling, this may double your load. Particularly when he figures out what's going on and trick-or-treats like a normal kid, instead of trying to enter every house where the door opens. When your parents coax you back into the house, scarf down a Kid Cuisine so you can mow down on some candy - then insist on three pieces at least. This leaves a little room in your stomach to beg for pieces from the bowl meant for other trick-or-treaters. It helps if you insist on being in charge of the candy bowl. And when you are in charge, take your duties seriously. Remind children to take "ONE PIECE OF CANDY!" and be sure to say, "THANK YOU FOR TRICK-OR-TREATING AT OUR HOUSE! COME AGAAAAAAAIN!" Don't worry - this doesn't scare little kids at all. When the candy runs out, use brother's - save yours at all costs. When it's bed time, be sure to stand watch at your bedroom window for out-of-luck kids who attempt to ring the doorbell. Lastly, let Mommy and Daddy go out while you stay home with Grandma. They may need a drink after the day they have had. I know I'm hard work, but I am totally worth it - but if you ask me, the jury is still out on my little brother. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! - Love, Chase

More Fun With Pillows

Wait for the, "He cracks me nuts!" ending!

I Don't Care Who You Who You Are...

...Pillows are fun. Also, we are doing some new weird camera flash smile.

Names Have Been Changed...

...to protect the not-so-innocent.

• (Mrs. March is on duty at afternoon recess. Two 7 year-old girls approach.)
• Sally: Mrs. March, Joe hit meeeeee.
• Mrs. March: Tell Joe to come talk to me.
• (Joe approaches with scowl and head down.)
• Mrs. March: Did you hit Sally?
• Joe: (mumble) Yes.
• Mrs. March: Why did you hit Sally?
• (enormous pause with Joe wearing a "thinking look.")
• Mrs. March: Why did you hit Sally?
• Joe: ummmm... She had a plan to hit me.

I have a plan to give my recess duty to my student teacher...

Too Cool For School

I survived my first day of teaching a 1-2 blend. Just 171.5 days to go!

The March Family Takes Flight!

When Shawn and I do something, we don't do it halfway. We don't take our children on wussie one hour flights to Disneyland for a weekend. Noooooo. We pack our children for a two-week travel extravagana that involves six flights and covers 6000 miles roundtrip. We planned a trip to Minneapolis and Boston. Although flying was not enjoyable, seeing beloved friends and family made it entirely worthwhile and memorable.First, we visited Auntie Monica and Uncle Scott. We spent a day at Mall of America, Cascade Bay Water Park, and the Minnesota Zoo. Auntie Monica and Uncle Scott were excellent activity directors/children spoilers. As can be seen from this picture, Hayden loves his auntie so much, he fell asleep. Chase was glued to her side for three days. The zoo was probably the favorite. Chase loved this bear that swam and played right in front of him. Then it was off to Boston, to see my beloved Nakas. Over the ten years we have been out of school, we have changed considerably. We have aquired husbands, purchased homes, and had children. I have to bring on the sap and say that our friendships remain as important and special to me as they were in the dorms of BU. Sniff, sniff. OK. Apparently not that special, because I didn't take a picture of a SINGLE adult without a child in the shot. Here are some fun pictures of offspring.This is Emma about to eat in a highchair. Emma also took us to the New England Aquarium. I loved all her "wowwwws!" Connor and Chase are sharing a moment. Connor's mommy and daddy were very good sports, and didn't kick us to the curb when our child was throwing up in their home. Emma was so good at sharing toys! This may be my favorite picture of the trip! We had an excellent day (kiddie)poolside. Chase was having fun here with Abby and Sarah.

Thank you to everyone who put up with us invading their homes. All four of us had an AWESOME time. Any of you are welcome to make the journey here...and "get this party started!"

SOS!!!

My beloved Dyson is in the shop for repairs. Yes, that's correct. The almighty, lifetime guaranteed, never loses suction, vacuum to beat all other vacuums is BROKEN. No suck, which REALLY sucks. In the mean time, my OCD is really taking a hit. I didn't realize what an important relationship I had with the DC-17 Animal. The whole, "Don't know what you got 'till it's gone," phenomenon, you see (yes, cue the old butt-rock ballad). Anyway, this has impacted me so deeply that I feel the need to blog about it. If you need to find me, I'll be impatiently waiting out my 7 to 10 business days and picking graham cracker crumbs from the area rug by hand. Heaven forbid anyone eat those on the hardwood floor. Happy vacuuming to the rest of you.

Fun In The Trailer

We went camping last week, and the picture here is super dark. That's because it's time for bed, but instead Hayden is playing a little game called, "throw the block and watch Chase retrieve it." As you can hear, it is very entertaining.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I bet you never thought that thing in your tummy would someday be able to post a picture of you on computer screens accessable to anyone in the world at the push of a button. Happy birthday!

The Best Dad Ever

Happy Father's Day to the greatest man I know (he also makes a comfy napping spot). Love, your adoring wife

What The Big Boys Do

We brush our teeth.We play in the sand. We make a mess of ourselves with sand. We enjoy blue frosting on our SECOND birthday cake (but do NOT enjoy the beer you see in the background). We graduate from the preschool three year-old class in Hawaiian outfits. We do lots of other things too, but usually Mommy is too busy trying to stop us to grab the camera and take a picture.

How I Spent My Mother's Day Weekend...

Can you say, Batchelorette party in Portland? Hilarious. I highly reccomend Darcell's for all your party fun. The performers are... well, not ladies. In fact, this is on the program: "THAT's no lady!" It was SOOOO worth the $15. And yes, we wore matching shirts. Keep your opinions to yourself.Cella and I wore matching jeans too. Here's the proof. Total strangers will take pictures of any girl in a matching shirt who asks. See that guy in the middle? That's him as Bette Midler. I'm not kidding. Sorry, I was unable to rotate the image, but dude. That gem is Darcell himself. He does pre-show interviews. Laugh riot. In the end, two happy brides-to-be. Congrats, Jenny and Alisha!

Another Naka Turns 31!

I hope this happened with birthday cake today! Love ya, Sarahnaka!

Big Brother Top Five

First of all, if you think I'm nerdy because I'm making a blog post dedicated to Big Brother 9, you should do yourself a little Google search. There are blogs DEDICATED to this program. I am a very small fish in a highly obsessed pool - although I can and will check such sites daily. Anyhoo, here are the remaining five in the order of who I would like to see voted off. 1. Natalie. Ew. I know I should love her because she's from my hometown, but it's hard to love someone who calls herself a "bikini barista." Also, her voice is more than annoying, and I can't stand people who strategize according to what The Lord told them. I seriously don't think God watches Big Brother (although I pray I have cable access in Heaven). 2. Sheila. Appealing to the older BB9 fan base (yes, I will use Big Brother abbreviations, because I am super cool), she refers to other houseguests as "kids." She thinks she's smarter than all of them, which automatically makes her dumber than all of them... 3. Ryan. Eh. I can take him or leave him. He started the game with his girlfriend (Jen: yuck), and he's played a much better game without her. He has a strong alliance with Natalie, which makes me queasy. 4. Adam. Even though he's tight with Ryan and Natalie, and I can't understand what he's saying 9/10 of the time due to the fact he speaks JockFromJersey-ese, I find him highly entertaining. I am operating under the assumption that he is smarter than he looks. 5. Sharon. She's the last person left from the alliance I was pulling for. She has played a smart, and not too decietful game. Plus she doesn't always want to run around the house in her swimsuit, and generally acts like a normal human being. I'm pulling for her, but I think her time is probably up soon... So there it is. I'm a BB addict.

Swimming With the Fishes

Ah, Spring Break is over. For much of the week, the March Family remained in hiding. On Friday we decided we had better do something before our time was up, so we took a day trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It had been a while since I'd been there (about the time "Free Willy" was on display). The boys loved it. They especially got a hoot out of the giant tank tunnels you walked through. I apologize for the poor quality photos. You see, I forgot the camera, and we were stuck with the over-priced disposable purchased from the gift shop. I am pretty ticked too, because I know the old Sony could have produced some quality. Anyway, my favorite part of the place is still the touch pool. They have plenty of benign sea creatures that don't mind thousands of grubbies invading the habitat for eight hours daily. Hayden would have jumped right in if he could have, while Chase wouldn't touch anything but the rocks. Chase's favorite by far was the shark tank. He is still going on about it, and the STINGRAYS! He found "Sharkie" in the gift shop. Shawn can tell you, Nakas, he found it on his own. I didn't influence him in anyway - except for the name! "Sharkie" has been up to all sorts of shenanigans at home - mostly biting people's noses and attacking unsuspecting little brothers. He also enjoys eating crayons, but I digress. And now it's back to the grind. Ten more weeks, and I'll be graduated! Shawn will have the summer off, and perhaps we'll return to the aquarium and visit the sharks... next time I will remember our camera!

Happy Easter!

For some reason (probably me), I am having trouble posting this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4CgxFNCOrs

Happy Birthday, Abby-Naka!

This is a few birthdays ago, Abby! I was going to crop out the crappy apartment background, but long live 1343 Comm. Ave. This one I threw in just for fun. Someone should have showed us what we would look like 10 years from that day. WE WERE SO NOT FAT! I'm not sure I should speak to you anymore though. A good friend would have told me to say no to orange hair. So happy 31, Abigail! I miss and love you much!

Brotherly Love

Lately, the boys have taken to playing with each other. Not near each other, or interacting with the purpose of provoking the other, which has been the routine for at least six months. The other day, Hayden saw Chase break out the crayons, and crawled up to join him. Chase responded by SHARING the crayons, and presenting a drawing lesson (he IS half teacher, after all). In this peaceful moment, before crayons were used to draw on the air vents and had to be forcibly removed, I had to take a picture.I love the upper lip jut Chase puts on everytime he draws. Deep concentration.

Happy 65th Birthday, Dad!

Gary, circa 1963.

Score One For Gershurd!

Nicely played, Amy! And your timing is perfect: today is his birthday!

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

A week with no new Bret episode is like a week with no sunshine. Sigh. Return, piece of television that sticks to the bottom of your shoe like irritating gum pieces! And does anyone else remember this hook-, I mean, LADY, Meghan, from Beauty and the Geek?! I can't stop watching this show. It seems the worse the VH1 reality television, the more I am riveted (stay tuned for posts about Celebrity Rehab). I: don't need nothin'/but a good time/and it don't get better than this! Or perhaps it does indeed get better than this, and I just can't find it... Regardless, if you wish to be dumber after a television experience, this might do the trick. Bret! Come back! I'll be swaying a lighter as I hold vigil!