Please leave my son's pants on.

Seriously.  If you're baby sitting my son, and you put him down for a nap, please leave his pants on.  Poor Becky, our nanny, put him down in a diaper and tee shirt today.  When he woke up, he managed to pull off the diaper and pee all over his bed.  Just leave the kid's pants on, okay?

Sorry Miss Becky. :)

Just so ya' know...

So My Friend Rachel, (see button below left) just reached 65 followers on her blog, (yeah she's bragging, but if ya'll click on MY follow button maybe I'll break the 25 mark) she's doing a fun giveaway of super cute, TOTALLY "Annie Kiehl-esque" stuff.  Since I want to win, (duh) I'm following all the giveaway rules, NOT cheating and NOT kissing her fanny. 

If you become one of my followers, who knows?  Maybe I'll do a wine giveaway. 

Got your attention now, didn't I?

Rounding out September 2010

Yes, his future is bright.  What I wasn't fast enough to capture was the huge straw hat with a sunflower attached to it which he was wearing mere seconds before I grabbed the camera.  When you're cool, you're just cool.  Period.

Charlotte lost another tooth, though not the one we expected to come out next.  I don't think she expected it either, but that's what you get when you put your stuffed dog's "leash" in your mouth and your sister grabs the dog to take it away from you. Ooops.  "What did we tell you about putting things in your mouth!!!???"

The girls graciously helped Brett begin work on the raking up the #$*+#&=<#*&^% 50 million leaves that fall every year from our 2 ginormous maples in the backyard.  They raked the leaves and filled up the 2 yard waste bins in no time.  Brett said this allowed him to mend part of our dilapidated fence, and he never even touched a leaf.  And the real surprising thing is no one ever asked for monetary compensation for their efforts. They just had a great time working together and helping out their dad. 

What was I doing while they were slaving away in the yard?   

                                                           Mind your own business.                                                              

Kiehl Quote of the Day

Jane's future blog?

Jane's been practicing her writing in one of those preschool activities books where you can trace letters, etc.  She was so proud of herself when she copied the word astronaut.  Brett said, "Jane you're getting pretty good at writing your letters.  Next thing you know, you'll have your own blog!"

To which she replied, "DAD!  I'M ONLY FOUR!!!!"

Okay.  So maybe when you're six.

Kiehl Quote of the Day

So Sam was asking anatomy questions while on the changing table.   As we walked downstairs he was holding Big Bird and asked,
Sam:  "Big Bird's penis?"
Mom:  "I don't know?  Maybe it's hiding underneath all those feathers."
Mom to herself:  "Poor Big Bird."

Mommy-isms

I'm really going to miss listening to Sam snoring

on the baby monitor and giggling with Brett about it.

Do they make monitors that kids can take to college with them?

Kiehl Quote of the Day

So after talking our ear off in the car tonight with 1001 questions, Charlotte quickly paused, thought a minute mili-second and said, "Oh, now I'm going to switch to another series of questions."

Yes.  We laughed out loud.

Jane's First Day of School

Got pink?

Jane had her first day in Miss Debra and Miss Nicky's 4's class.  This year she's attending Mon.-Thurs., and she was SO excited to get her backpack on this morning and go to school.  When I picked her up she gave me a huge hug and said, "Mom!  This was the BEST DAY EVER!!!!"  She already had a job - weather person (see below).  This is her 2nd year at Sunset Christian Preschool at our church, UPPC.  Jane loved seeing her friends from last year as well as making new friends.  She's such a cheerful girl and I'll miss her when she gets on the bus next year and heads off to kindergarten.  Way to go Janey!!

Jane posing in front of the weather chart.

Who doesn't LOVE this face?

Washington vs. Syracuse

Go Huskies!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPSC U-8 Rockets

Charlotte never stopped running when the
ball was in play.

That's Tori on the left.  She was on our team last year.
Let's just say, we really miss her.

The UPSC Rockets began regular season games Saturday under the guidance of 2nd year coach, Mary Pubols. The team is made up of fantastic girls who are nothing if not polite on the field, in fact, almost too polite. As their parents, we're very proud of their manners, however, we keep encouraging them to "Get in there and TAKE the BALL!!!"

Tori, Charlotte, Claire & Janie

Charlotte was full of hustle on the field.  She ran and ran.  It was fun to watch her play with and against some dear friends.  We look forward to the rest of the season, especially if the weather is as nice as it was on Saturday.  (I'm not holding my breath.)

Great throw by Charlotte.  We're proud of you, girl!!

Cousin-cousins!!

My friend Rachel has coined the term "Cousin-cousins" to define the relationship between her kids and her millions of cousins' kids. I'm adopting it. Thanks Rach.

My favorite cousin Greg and his darling wife Brooke were up here from Portland visiting my aunt and uncle this weekend.

This is Jane with fellow 4-year-old, Sadie.

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Darling Sadie!!!
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the 2-year-olds, born exactly a week apart. 

Given & Sam

 

And last, but never least, Charlotte, "almost 8".  She just loved exploring Great Aunt Margi and Great Uncle Jay's beautiful backyard with all of it's "nature trails".

Our Sabbath Day Yard Project

Doyle & Brett

So the title is a bit of a joke because we had lined up this project with my dad's help for Sunday, but prior to getting to work, we attended church and our friend Aaron preached on the importance of honoring the Sabbath in an effort to restore our souls in this busy world we live in. He did say it's okay to work as long as it isn't burdensome and makes you happy (as in a hobby, maybe?). This project wasn't too burdensome, and it did make us really happy to have the work done. We've been wanting to pull out this hedge for some time. It's literally dying from the inside out, and we wanted to do something a bit different with the whole area which is right off our front porch and in our front living room window.

Doyle - project manager extraordinaire

My dad and Brett had things pretty well rigged up to pull 5-6 parts of the hedge out, and also yanked 5 rose bushes that were gnarly looking things. I'm excited to redesign and plant this area for my "Garden Fairies" (Brett's mom and Aunt Pat) to see this and start planning out the landscaping. Thanks ladies...I'll write the check. :)

Sorry I forgot a "before" picture, but here's the after.

Let the Garden Fairies begin!!!

We did a lot of other yard clean up and the trailer was OVERFLOWING.  (And yes, I said "we". I was out there getting dirty too.)  Thanks to Grandma for hanging with the kids and to Grandpa for his yard help and for taking all the yard waste to the dump.  You're both the BEST!

And Aaron, we're totally "Sabbathing" today. 

Is it okay to use as a verb?

Chambers Bay

I shot this on Friday when Brett and I had dinner at Chambers Bay Golf Course. Although the sun was setting as we finished up, it did NOT look like this. I doctored up the photo on Picasa and liked it this way. It looks a bit mysterious and ethereal. It's amazing what you can do with a photo you think turned out poorly. But with a little simple editing you can get the result you wanted, or create something even more interesting.

Charlie and Sam

Are these not two of the CUTEST human beings you've EVER seen?

Their moms agree with you.

Apple Pie - yum!

Cell phone photo.  Just sayin'.

Jane & I just made an apple pie with apples from our tree in the orchard across the street from our house.  It's baking right now, and our house smells SOOOOOOO good!!  I used Jane's little thumb to make the decorative edge around the pie.
Good thing we had Dad pick up some vanilla ice cream this morning!

Kiehl Quote of the Day

So this time, it's me!! Well, actually, it's a funny bumper sticker I saw today that made me laugh OUTLOUD!! It was on a totally P.O.S., old-model BMW, that was dark gray and hadn't had a waxing-job in decades. 

The bumper sticker read:             

                     DRIVE IT LIKE

                     YOU STOLE IT

I was right, huh?  Funny.

I will totally adopt this mantra as I cruise around UP in my Honday Odyssey.