big brother teaches little sister the art of pumpkin carving

Happy happy Halloween, friends. 

a few things

Today, Alaina is 19 months old.

She's taken a turn over the past couple of weeks. She's a little less sensitive and a little more fun. She cries less and laughs more. She's turning into a bit of a tornado. She loves to explore and touch and grab everything, and she likes to run away from me. She thinks it's a blast for me to chase her, but it drives me insane. Help me! 

We took the kids to Seattle over the weekend. We showed them the aquarium and the zoo.

I conducted a sociological experiment and concluded something fascinating about parents. As I watched my kids react to all the fishes and animals with hoots and aws and jumps and roars, I looked up with a giant smile to see if anyone else noticed how perfectly darling and precious my children were. Instead, what I found were a bunch of parents doting over their own kids and then looking up to see if anyone else was watching their perfectly darling and precious children.

It was refreshing to see the love parents can give to their perfectly darling and precious children...

Graham got a hair cut last week. Gulp. I'm still crying over how short it is. Apparently, he hopped into the barber's chair and said, "I want it just like my dad's."

Hmm. He certainly looks a bit more like his dad with such a short cut, but nobody can deny it when I say that he is my baby.

That's all for now. Goodbye and have a very good week.

falling in love again with Eastern Washington

A little over eight years ago, 007 and I got hitched and moved across the country to Florida. I learned to love the beaches and sunsine, but deep down, I missed the crisp seasons of Spokane. Then, we moved to Oklahoma. I loved the plains and the friends I made, but I still really missed the mountains and trees and family in Washington. When we moved to Italy, I got homesick at first, but eventually it faded and I forgot to miss Eastern Washington. I got caught up with Michelangelo and cobblestones and cafe and forgot about my love for the American countryside.

I forgot how much I enjoy a good 'ole American fair.

Or freezing cold lakes in the summertime.

Or Grandma's patio and Grandma's company.

I forgot about Highway 2 and Lake Chelan and endless fields of wheat.

I forgot about farms and good friends and pony rides.

I forgot how good it feels to be around family, to never feel lonely, to sit around a fire and shoot the breeze, to see my children playing with the children of my best friends.

I think it's a good thing I forgot these things so that I could fully embrace Italy and traveling in Europe. I'm so glad I got to live in Italy. I'd go back to Naples tomorrow if someone gave us a ticket and a job.   I still can't talk or think about it too much without crying. Italy, I'll never forget.

Ever.

Even while I sit here and let myself fall in love again with Eastern Washington.