Three and a Half More Shopping Days...

...until my BIRTHDAY! On Saturday I turn 34!!! Which means my little adopted sister Abby turns 6 and my Auntie M turns...well, let's just say I was born on her 17th birthday! :) My present from Rich is a nice HAIRCUT, etc at Root 66 tomorrow. I'll post before and after pictures.

I gotta go tend to my poor injured Heidi. She took several falls at the park today, the last of which was a header off a 2-1/2-foot planter, which banged up her angel face! Porecita--such tough age, learning to walk and climb and judge distances! Plus, I gotta play Go Fish with Addie, too! So more later...

Unnatural Disaster

On Thursday 9/15, the city was repairing a gas line and they blew up this house. It belonged to a woman in our church—she is Addie’s Sunbeam teacher and her oldest son is Rich’s best friend from childhood. Her youngest son is 19 and he was napping on the living room floor when the house blew up. The blast woke him up and he had to just crawl toward the light he saw through the tunnel of debris that fell on him when the roof caved in. He was treated for lots of second degree burns all over his body. It's a miracle he got out! Here's another miracle--there was debris for blocks, but on Friday when Diane went down to look around, she found her wedding ring (she is a widow). So we are grateful that Brad is alive and hopefully he will heal with no scars and they will get a nice settlement and a new house.

All of this happened during playgroup last Thursday and I happened to be hosting. We heard the sirens while the kids were playing in the back yard, and then a few minutes later the phone started to ring. Wow. So there were like 5 other moms here at my house and we started talking about this and how you could possibly be prepared for a disaster like this. I mean, we've got CDs of our scanned documents, photos, and home movies in a safe deposit box, but what if the bank burns down, too? We've got the food and water storage, first aid kits, camping gear, warm clothing, emergency transporatation and energy sources--those are great for flood, tornado, truckers' strike, war, etc.--but in an accident like this one, it's all ashes. I mean, Brad didn't even have SHOES! They only had the clothes on thier backs. It makes you (a) really think about your own life and preparedness and (b) really want to help and fix things for your unfortunate neighbors (although this may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to them-- who knows?)

More Park Pix

The girls are at such great ages right now--"delightful" is the word. Of course, there is opposition in all things, so the bad is pretty bad, too, but, oh, they are so much fun and so cute (most of the time).

More Flower Pix

These pictures make me think of that song by the Primitives, "Through the Flowers." I don't know what kind of flower they are, but they are everywhere. These are taken on a median in a roundabout at the park.

New Blog

I just started a new blog for my missionary brother, Michael. You can check it by clicking here or it will be permanently linked over to your right in my links list. Enjoy! :)

Sweet Adeline: 3 Years, 9 Months & 26 Days Old

Yesterday the girls had check ups and Addie weighs 42 pounds and is 42 inches tall. He little self-made hair do is growng out nicely and her cute cowlick shows again. She sings beautifully, has cute dimples, and can write 3 of the 4 letters in her name. We had fun playing at Sacajawea park today--a perfect fall day!

Happy Heidi: 1 Year, 5 Months, & 1 Day Old

Heidi weighed in at 28- 1/2 pounds and is 33 inches tall. Isn't that kind of an uber-toddler? She's a snuggly cutie pie! She also had fun at the park, although she always climbs too high and runs too fast for mom (and she ate the flower we were going to give to Grandma!) Favorite new phrase Heidi can say: "I Gonna Gitchoo!"

PS: (3 hours later) I just looked up ht & wt averages and Heidi's not so huge afterall-- 18m=32" ht and 25 lb wt. For a four-year-old, the average is 41 1/2" ht and 39 lb wt. Hmmm. They just look older than they are...or maybe all the kids around here are mini's.

Stare Decisis

I am insanely busy with no time to blog, but I just wanted to say I have been listening to the confirmation hearings while I work, and I just started reading Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s "The Common Law," and I am (a) totally in love with our judicial system--er, on paper, anyway, and (b) totally in awe of Justice Roberts' dizzying command of the law. Would that I were so articulate--on ANY subject! No matter what your political stance, you must admit there's one brilliant legal mind. I was simply riveted to NPR coverage today. Wow. I've gotta finish my book so I can try to keep up!

PS: Click for the Word of the Day

Hilarious Heidi

Look at the angelic little mug! She's sweet, but don't be deceived--she was waking up Addie!
Yesterday we finally mostly-cleaned out the baby room (where Heidi will be sleeping until she learns to go to bed with out screeching) and Heidi found Addie's old pumpkin costume hat. She also found some Craisins in an old church activity bag, so she put on her hat, grabbed some snacks, and got on her horse (which we stole from a garage sale at the ranch). Giddyup, Heidi Punkinhead!
Happy Trails!

"But I'm Not Tired..."

Today was one of our first cold, fall-ish days, so after some yard work, we 3 girls had lunch and snuggled up for quiet time. Addie didn't want to go on her bed to read, because she wasn't tired. So much for that. There she is , 90 minutes later, snuggled up in her room!

Guess What We Did Today!?!

What a difference an hour and fifty minutes makes! Yay for grass!