And the answer is....

The pollsters have it. Joe and I are expecting a....


Girl!!!!

Busy Kids

Our kids have been busy lately. Natalie started ballet the last week of August. I think her class is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s eight 2-4 year-olds prancing around in tutus, skipping, leaping, and practicing their curtseys. She LOVES it! Natalie has to show everyone that comes to our house her leotard, tights, and ballet slippers.


AJ started soccer last week. His babysitter is our friend, Shannon Justesen, whose son, Troy, is one of AJ’s best friends. Troy is pretty gung-ho soccer because his parents both played in high school, and he’s really good for a 5-year-old. I think AJ will do fine when he learns the rules. On Thursday, AJ’s team scored two goals, and the other team didn’t score. AJ scored a goal, and Troy scored one. Anyway, afterwards, Shannon’s husband, Ben, asked AJ what happened during the game, and AJ couldn’t stop talking about how he scored the goal. And he had to point out every time that, “You scored ZERO!” AJ’s kind of a sore winner or loser. He’s excited enough that he tries to wear his shin guards to bed.

Kid number three has been busy as well. He/she moves all over the place these days. I had my ultrasound on Tuesday this week. Baby seems very healthy; everything normal. I have more amniotic fluid now that I think I ever had with the first two. The medication is working really well, so I feel much better than I have. We do know if we’re having a boy or a girl, but I’m not telling until I get at least 5 votes on the poll on my blog. And if you’re one of the few people who already know, don’t spoil it. Maybe we’ll do a name poll next.


We adopted a few other children for the last week. Liz and Nathan took off to Hawaii (I know, we hate them too) for a week and left their five boys in various homes. We had Aaron and Andrew for the weekend and Jared and Zach for the week. I hope the boys had fun while they were here. I know our kids enjoyed having them. Poor Zach doesn’t start school until tomorrow, so he was bored out of his mind all week. We tried to keep him busy with chores, but he could only mow the lawn so many times . Instead, we had to get more creative. This picture is what we did one day for the girl he’s asking to Homecoming. We home-made the cards that are on each of the roses. Each one has a quality that he likes about this girl, and the folded card on the vase very politely asks if she’ll go to the dance with him. Then, we snuck it into her house and placed it on a bed of rose petals. It was great fun!

Kid Tag

1. What is something Mom always says to you?
Natalie: I don't know.
LeiAnn: Think about it.
Joe: Does she say, "You're a stinker" or "I love you"?
AJ: Uh..."Love you"

2. What makes Mom happy?
Natalie: Kisses
AJ: Um, I be nice

3. What makes Mom sad?
Natalie: No kisses
LeiAnn: You're right.
AJ: Uh, I hit someone.
LeiAnn: Yeah, that does make me sad.

4. How does Mom make you laugh?
Natalie: Tickles
AJ: You say, "alskjsdkj"
LeiAnn: I say what?
AJ: When you say, "What the heck; what'd you do?"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Natalie: When your mom would say, "Tickle, tickle" and I always want her to.
LeiAnn: What things did I like when I was a little girl?
Natalie: Uh, I don't know.
LeiAnn: Do you think I liked toys when I was little?
Natalie: Yeah
LeiAnn: What kind of toys?
Natalie: Princesses!!
AJ: She likes Barbies
Andrew (my nephew): That's the same as princesses.
AJ: No it's not!
Joe: Well, some Barbies are princesses, but some Barbies are not.

6. How old is your mom?
Natalie: I don't know.
LeiAnn: How old do you think?
Natalie: 28-9-10-12
LeiAnn: That's pretty close.
AJ: 29

7. How tall is your mom?
Natalie (sitting on my lap): That tall (with her hand on my head)
AJ: Stand up
(I stood up)
AJ: See, that tall (trying to put his hand on my head and not being able to reach)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Natalie: I have to type it myself
LeiAnn: Okay, you type it on your pretend keyboard and tell me out loud.
Natalie: I'll tell you when I'm done
LeiAnn: Should I ask AJ while we wait?
Natalie: Yeah
AJ: Uh...do everything
LeiAnn: What do you mean by everything?
AJ: She walks and everything she does
Joe: I think it's reading books. Mom really likes to read books.
LeiAnn: Natalie what do you think?
Natalie: You give me tickles!

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Natalie: They're driving with you at work, or go to the carnival. And you say, "Hey, where are my kids? They're gone! Everybody isn't here." And then you find them.
AJ: I don't know. They must be in your tummy?
LeiAnn: I'm not asking where the kids are. I'm asking you what I do when you're not here.
AJ: I don't know. Look for kids?

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Natalie: A kitty
AJ: They love you (all the people in the world)

11. What is your mom really good at?
Natalie: You get your books.
AJ: Uh, at kids
LeiAnn: You mean I'm really good at taking care of kids?
AJ: nods head

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Natalie: At not doing this computer
AJ: At not stronger than boys, like big boys

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Natalie: Bring books
AJ: Uh, I don't know.
LeiAnn: Do you think it has something to do with babies?
AJ: Yeah, you pick them up and give them to their daddies and put them to bed.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Natalie: PastaRoni
AJ: I don't know. Why don't you tell me?

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
AJ: I love you
LeiAnn: I love you, too.
Natalie: Um, give me kisses

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Natalie: Um, a leotard?
LeiAnn: If I was a person in one of your movies?
Natalie: Belle (from Beauty and the Beast)
AJ: Cinderella

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Natalie: Uh tickles
AJ: Play out

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Natalie: Read books
AJ: We get the same hair

19. How are you and your mom different?
Natalie: We have these (she put on her leotard and ballet skirt while we've been talking)
AJ: I got this shirt and these pants

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Natalie: Give me kisses and go to ballet, and now I have to go dance.
LeiAnn: Okay, go.

AJ: Uh, I don't know
LeiAnn: Do I tell you I love you?
AJ: Yeah
LeiAnn: What else do I do for you?
AJ: Not running around and hitting someone.

I'm tagging anyone with kids who hasn't done this yet. Or Andrea if she's really desperate enough to try this with Scott.

Peachy Keen

Dissatisfied with the quality of canned fruit, I've wanted to can my own peaches for some time. But I've let things like the price of fresh produce, not having a big enough kitchen, etc. deter me for years. Finally, this year, I didn't have those excuses. Joe let me buy about 40 pounds of peaches at a roadside stand (for a great price) on the way home from Packwood. The whole way home (and all the next day), Natalie made fun of the peaches because they have "bums". Joe and I worked together all day Labor Day to can all of them. I got 28 quart jars, a peach pie, and a peach cobbler for my efforts. And...my jars all sealed!! It's been 10 years, at least, since I canned peaches with my mom at home, so there was a lot of guesswork (and a few calls to my mom) involved.

Packwood, WA

About a month ago, Joe's parents decided to take a trip to Packwood for their annual flea market. Packwood is a tiny town (about the size of Monticello) located at the base of Mount Rainier that turns itself into a giant flea market every Labor Day weekend. Anyway, Joe's brothers and sisters all initially said they wanted to go, too. We decided that it would be fun to go camping with everyone.

We left late after work on Friday evening. We weren't sure exactly where Joe's parents were camped, but we figured we'd call when we got there. Before we left town, Joe's sister, Liz, called to tell us that their mom's phone wasn't working, so she gave us Joe's uncle's phone number. Anyway, we didn't get to Packwood (long story) until about midnight. And surprise, our cell phones were no good there either!! So all we knew is that Joe's parents (we were supposed to be sleeping in the motor home with them) were camped about 5 miles in a campground out of Packwood and that we were supposed to check in to get a tag for our car on the way in. There were two possible campgrounds, and we searched until 2 o'clock in the morning for them...and couldn't find them. So we drove into Packwood and borrowed some guy's cell phone to try to contact Joe's uncle. Yeah, it was the wrong number. I guarantee "Andrea" was not very happy about getting called in the middle of the night for a wrong number. So we found a nice forest service road, pulled into a natural nook between the trees and counted ourselves very grateful that we'd brought blankets and pillows and slept in our van!

We woke up fairly early due to the not-so-5 star accommodations and drove into Packwood. The flea market was just huge. I couldn't believe all of the people that were there and the variety of stuff. Crazy! Joe and I found quite a few treasures among the garbage, but we stuck to the budget we'd originally agreed to. Ask Joe about Guardianware dishes some time. He's become quite the connoisseur. It took us until that afternoon before we ran into Joe's parents and his aunt and uncle. None of Joe's siblings were able to come after all. We spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping and watching movies in the motor home (which was in a campground about 5 miles the OTHER way out of Packwood). It was cold (really cold), and the kids were tired after walking all morning.

The campground had a zipline built into a natural ravine. The kids had a great time on it once we convinced them that it really would be safe. I apologize for my miserable camerawoman skills. I had to zoom in and out to get a good view of the kids.

Natalie was so funny!


We came home the next day and stopped at all the scenic viewpoints on the way. It was one of the most beautiful drives I think I've ever taken, seriously. By the way, for those interested, Packwood and all of the surrounding area reminds me so much of Forks, where my favorite books are set. In fact, we actually drove through the Goat Rocks Wilderness area where the Cullens go hunting in the first book. Weird, huh? Here's some pictures of Packwood: Imagine 15,000 or so people squished into Monticello. They do this every year - insane!
This was our first scenic viewpoint on the way home. You can't see any of this from the highway because the trees are so dense. We learned that the cliffs in the distance were formed when a huge lava flow ran into a glacier and cooled enough to stop right there. AJ was so excited when we explained it to him. He was super cute telling Natalie all about it.
This is a picture of Mount Rainier, of course, covered by clouds.
This picture does no justice to this incredible waterfall. I promise it's a lot bigger than it looks.
Packwood was definitely worth the trip, if for nothing other than the drive. I'm not sure that it's something we'll make a habit of every year, but we'll definitely go back again