Saedi

"SIDEWALK" chalk

Posted on June 6, 2010 by wadmanclan

I needed to do a little yard work this weekend, to make it look like we do actually live here. I have mostly been working inside the house (unpacking and keeping up with dishes and laundry) since we have moved in. Nate has kept the lawn mowed, but we haven’t really done much else and the flower beds and shrubs are starting to show it. I brought the kids outside to play while I was working, so when I was done mowing the front I got out the sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with while I weeded the front flower beds.

It ended up being a lot more work than I thought so we were out there a while (good thing I sprayed everyone down with sun-screen when we went out). The kids got bored with the chalk before I was done with the work so they started to get creative with their drawing surfaces. (It may be called sidewalk chalk, but that’s not where they like to color with it.)

Nels started coloring on the front stoop,

Nels and Solvei colored their clothes and faces,

Solvei got her rear-end especially well,

and then they both colored on the house and the front door!

GOOD THING CHALK WASHES OFF!

After I got all the front work done and the chalk put away, I had to dump everyone into the bath before I could make lunch.

We ended up spending most of the day outside. After everyone got bathed and had lunch, I put the kids down for a nap and went back outside to mow the backyard and start weeding the iris beds in the back. I got quite a bit done before everyone woke up so when they did I brought them all back outside while I did a little more before dinner.

While we were out there we found a ladybug with no spots. Saedi said that made it zero years old.

 

Saedi and Gavin played on the big toy and Solvei and Nels were content to watch in their stroller for a little while.

When they got impatient, we went inside. Very long day but it was a nice one, now I’m just sore and tired.

Categories: chalk, Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei, yardwork | 1 Comment

Doctors visit

Posted on June 2, 2010 by wadmanclan

Solvei, and then Nels, both came down with a nasty something over the weekend (it does always seem to be that this happens at the beginning of a weekend or holiday). They weren’t emergency worthy so I watched them over the weekend, but decided that I would get an urgent care appointment for this morning since they were still fairly miserable. For the last three weeks or so Saedi has had a cough, no other symptoms, just a cough that at times could be a bit nasty. Since it wasn’t really getting better I thought I’d take her into the doctor as well since we were already going.

Solvei and Nels were examined and determined to have a viral something-or-other. Saedi got to have a chest x-ray.  After it was read and she was given a breathing treatment,

the doctor said she has a touch of Asthma that was probably aggravated by allergies or a cold. I’ve thought about having her tested before when she was wheezing after running around playing outside, we just hadn’t made the appointment yet. Sent home with an inhaler, she will be doing better in a few days time. Now we just have to hope that Solvei and Nels will be feeling better by then too.

Categories: Nels, Saedi, sick, Solvei | Leave a comment

Saedi is EIGHT today!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by wadmanclan

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

I tried to talk her into turning six again instead and she could stay young forever, but she wasn’t going for it. She insisted she had to get older, not younger.

We had planned on taking the kids to the zoo for Saedi’s birthday. About a week before, we checked the weather and it was supposed to be the only nice day in a 10 day stretch. Funny thing about the weather, it changes the closer you get to the day. The night before was predicting rain throughout the day, so we talked about going to the movies instead.

This morning we decided to ask Saedi what she wanted to do, go to the movies or walk around the zoo in the rain. She picked the zoo. We went armed with raincoats and umbrellas but it actually ended up being a fairly nice day, the rain clouds broke up before we got to Seattle so it was just cold.

The first animal we came across was the peacock that wanders around the zoo. It was showing off for a small crowd, so Saedi and Gavin climbed on a nearby rock to get a better look. The zoo handler that was with it said it was waiting for someone to feed it popcorn. When it didn’t get any food it turned around, shook it’s feathers and screeched at the crowd. This scared the wits out of Gavin. He turned to cower away but couldn’t find me or Nate so he went toward Saedi instead.

 We saw lots of animals, and had a very good time.

Saedi had also picked to go to Applebee’s for her birthday dinner, but we went there for lunch before the zoo instead. After the zoo we picked up the birthday cake and some chinese, went home and ate and then had cake and presents.

Most of my birthdays growing up I got a picture of me talking to grandma and grandpa on the phone, this year I got one of Saedi doing the same thing.

This was what she got.

This was her “big” gift from mommy and daddy this year. She is a growing geek after all.

Categories: birthdays, Saedi, zoo | Leave a comment

It’s So Nice…

Posted on May 23, 2010 by wadmanclan

…….when they all get along.

If only it happened more often than it does.

Categories: Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Slug Bug

Posted on May 22, 2010 by wadmanclan

Nate and I were talking about the new Volkswagen commercial the other day and Saedi overheard. She asked what “slug bug” meant so we explained it to her. Yesterday morning she asked if we could play “slug bug” on the way to and from school. Sure, why not; we ended up playing it all day. We only play “slug bug” with –

these:                                   and these:

and we still found seventeen yesterday!

Just to see if we could find more, we played again today. If you played slug bug all day one day, how many do you think you would find?

Today we found FORTY-ONE!

Categories: playing, Saedi | Leave a comment

Entertainment in the Car

Posted on May 18, 2010 by wadmanclan

These days, because Saedi is staying in her old school until the end of the school year, we spend an average of 3 hours in the car on week days. It gets really boring. The kids have come up with some games that they play to keep themselves entertained. The other day Gavin found the safety manual for his car seat, pretended that it was a story book and was reading (making up) stories that were in it. All the kids took turns telling a story, even Solvei and Nels (as best they could). The stories from Saedi and Gavin were all pretty similar, there was a princess/queen named Saedi, and knight named Gavin, and princess named Solvei, and a prince named Nels.  A few of the stories also included a MEAN, but kind-of-good Witch. If the kids said that Daddy was not in the stories because he was not in the car, what character does that make me?

I haven’t decided if I should be proud (of the creativity), or offended.

Categories: Gavin, Saedi | Leave a comment

Mother’s Day & Mountain Hunting part 2

Posted on May 10, 2010 by wadmanclan

First thing the kids told me this morning was “Happy Mother’s Day!” as they each gave me the silly band they had picked out for me to wear today.

Nate was working so I thought we’d go back to the beach to try and find that mountain since it was another nice day. Before we left I even checked the webcams I could find with Rainier in them to see if it was still hiding – from the Seattle webcam it looked clear and the Rainier Park webcams showed blue skies.

When we got to the beach:

You can see it better today but the top is still covered! The Seattle webcam was still clear, it was just where we were. Grrrrr!

But the kids were still glad to be there. It was A LOT more crowded today! Not very surprising though because it was a nice holiday in a place that is often wet, so ALL the people in the area tend to come to the water when it’s warm.

After we came home the kids wanted me to open my Mother’s Day gifts.

Saedi made hers at school. It came wrapped in tissue paper with a tag that said “do not open until mother’s day”

She made a card:

and a picture frame:

There was also an extra picture her teacher sent home with it.

Gavin made me a book:

Cover with a picture of me and him
{3 little “pictures”} MOM IS =) {a “leaf clover”} MOM I LOV U
I LOV U MOM {a sun}
Lft Pg: MOM I LOV U I LOV U,  Rght Pg: I ZOOPR (super) LOOV U I LOV U I LOV U I LOV U

Not bad for trying to spell everything himself.

Both Saedi and Gavin picked me flowers while we were at the beach too, so I pressed them and will put them into a frame.

I love my kids! And I know they love me.

Categories: beach, Gavin, Mother's Day, Mt Rainier, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

We’re Going on a Hunt, We’re Going on a Hunt…

Posted on May 9, 2010 by wadmanclan

We’re Looking for a Mountain, We’re Going on a Hunt!

I got the idea of getting pictures of Mt Rainier from a few different places, so it’s the same mountain that doesn’t really look the same, and putting them in a collage frame to show-off/remember the views from living here. Today was supposed to be completely clear skies, so this morning we went mountain hunting.

One place I want a picture from is Pt Defiance Beach, so I loaded the kids, and the jogging stroller, into the car and headed to the beach. The skies were beautifully blue, water nice, not too many people…..a great day for going to the beach.

This beach is not really sand (parts of it are) but mostly small rocks which makes it my favorite kind of beach because you don’t end up with sand in everything when climbing back into the car.

(I love finding lady bugs at the beach!)

The kids really like this kind of beach too because they can throw rocks into the water.

I LOVE this one!
When we first got there Solvei and Nels were afraid to take any steps because the ground was so uneven and “mushy” so they just stood still unless I would hold their hand while they walked. Solvei stopped right at the tide line (where the sand/rock kind of steps down) and tried to take steps by herself. She fell forehead first into the sand and couldn’t get up! I jumped over and picked her up and she had a mouth full of sand, blech! She tried to wipe it out but her hands were also covered in sand. I had to wipe out her mouth and try and get her to spit (which didn’t really do anything), I’m sure she swallowed some. She was so sad and hilarious at the same time, I couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t mind pretty quickly though.
It was a very nice day and the kids had a really good time.
Oh, and that mountain? We found it…….hiding behind clouds.
We made the most of the afternoon and I showed the kids some of my other favorite places in that part of town. We had lunch at the Antique Sandwich Company. I have been wanting to go there since we moved back here, but it’s never been a good time to go with Nate and I was not about to take the kids there by myself when Solvei and Nels were smaller. Lunch was just as good as I wanted it to be so I’m glad we went today.
The kids were being very good while we waited for food.
You can kind of see Solvei’s  sand scraped face in this one.
After lunch we drove the “5-Mile Drive” at Pt Defiance (which was beautiful) before we went home.
Even without the mountain, the trip was worth it!
Categories: beach, Gavin, Mt Rainier, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Arg, we’re done me Matey!

Posted on May 1, 2010 by wadmanclan

We are all moved out. We finished the rest of the cleaning today and loaded the last of the stuff from the garage into the car just before I picked up Saedi from the bus. Since we were done and it was still a while before we had to go to the new house, we just hung around so the kids could play with the neighborhood friends before it was not our neighborhood anymore.

Saedi’s friend Jacob brought out his pirate stuff to play with today.

Categories: moving, playing, Saedi | Leave a comment

Fast Food

Posted on April 23, 2010 by wadmanclan

We’ve been eating mostly fast food during the move. Not just because the kitchen was either still set up at the other house, or packed at the new house, but mostly, because of the move, I have not had time to go grocery shopping or time to make meals. It’s amazing how quickly fast food gets really old. You can only have the same thing so many times. I was really glad to find there is a Carl’s Jr by the new house, because it is one place we hadn’t seen since we moved to Washington (and so have not eaten at yet during the move).

We don’t normally do very much fast food, so this is the first time I have ever ordered anything for Solvei and Nels that I could just give them packages and let them feed themselves.

I think the big kids are tired of fast food too.
Categories: eating, Gavin, moving, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

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