Feeding the ducks -- and a happy birthday!

Friday was my birthday I decided that it would be fun to take the boys to the lake by the library to feed the ducks and then pop over to check out some new books. We ended up having a great time and it felt great to be outdoors even though this winter refuses to end (since when is it still cold by my birthday?! Oh right -- since we moved away from San Diego).


Don't we have a pretty park by our library?

Off to do some exploring

Hunting for acorns in their favorite spot

Anyway, it ended up being a very nice, calm, low-key day which is exactly what I had been hoping for. After our outing, Jake came home from work and we went out for pizza at Round Table (my very favorite, except the crust was too doughy this time -- et tu, Round Table?). Then we came back for presents, cake and ice cream.

Speaking of presents, I am typing this on my new cute li'l netbook Jake got for me. I LOVE it! It is perfect for my computer needs, the perfect size, and I don't have to fight for computer time anymore!

My sister-in-law Erin created this cherished work of art she and Adam sent me (she paired it with an awesome frame, but I just couldn't get a good shot of it)

My parents sent me some fun in a box!

And take a look at this gorgeous bouquet that arrived at my doorstep. It is from Jake's parents and his brother Alec. It brought me quite a bit of cheer!

I love you, my Daniel

You're such a fun guy!

Fuzzy Brain

Lucas is now 10 weeks old and the lack of sleep from having a new baby caught up with me and ran me over long ago, leaving my brain feeling chronically fuzzy. I had kind of forgotten that this has not always been my normal state of being, but recently a few situations have reminded me that things have not always been way:

The other day Joshua asked me how a satellite works and I had nowhere near the energy or brainpower to come up with an answer for him. Ditto for a question Daniel asked me about rainbows. According to all those parenting books and magazines I used to read I am supposed to take each question seriously and if I don't know the answer I am supposed to take them to a museum so we can figure it out together. Suffice it to say I didn't have the energy to schlep all three kids (well, two kids and an infant, really, which is a whole different ballgame) to a museum that day. Bad mom.

I am currently reading The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East and am having the darndest time keeping all of the unfamiliar sounding names straight. I recently finished Three Cups of Tea and ran into the same problem there. My brain does not seem capable of differentiating very well between the unfamiliar names let alone what event each name is attached to. Fortunately it is a very interesting read and I continue to muddle my way through it.

I was talking with another mom at Daniel's preschool the other day and for the life of me could not remember the words "scapegoat" or "opaque" when called for during the conversation (don't ask). It was pretty depressing.

Anyway, here is a recent picture of the little guy who is making my brain so fuzzy as of late. Good thing he makes my heart pretty fuzzy too :)

Joshua's 6th Birthday Party

Joshua's birthday party was today and an awesome time was had by all. We had it at Out of This World Pizza! We decided to do it there mainly for the "wow" factor for the kids, but also because it is a very easy birthday party to put on for parents with a new baby. All we had to do was some initial planning and then show up with balloons -- Out of This World staff took care of all the rest.

It was pretty funny because we figured that the kids would play most of the time and we'd have to round all 14 of 'em up when it was time for pizza, then cake and ice cream and then presents. What ended up happening was when the pizza was ready, they announced over the loudspeaker, "Joshua's party, your pizza is ready!" Somehow, all these kids that were scattered throughout the huge crowded play area came rushing to the table in a single throng, ready for their pizza! When it was time for cake, Jake went to pick it up from the front counter and, encouraged by the success of the pizza announcement, asked if they would announce that it was cake time for Joshua's party. Sure enough, it was as if the pied piper had made the announcement and almost all 14 kids appeared out of the woodwork (Daniel was on the lam most of the time, playing too hard to be bothered with food). And since we all know that the 3rd time's a charm, he had them do it once again for the ice cream. No matter what the kids were doing or where they were, they heard that announcement and came rushing back. It was pretty cute and it made things pretty easy for us!

I think I can safely say that everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy who told me repeatedly that this was the "best birthday party ever!" We are really grateful for the friends we've made here in Oregon -- there's lots of neat people here and we're so glad they could help us celebrate our special guy!

Sunrise over Mt. Hood

We have been so busy we haven't been able to post much here, and the time change sure didn't help. However, it has given me the opportunity forced me to get going early enough to see the sunrise the last two mornings: