200th Post

In honor of our 200th post, here is an adorable video of Paul. This is my first successful iMovie project that includes music and I feel like a cool mom. Enjoy!

The Project

Okay, okay. I haven't posted in a really long time. I have an excuse, really. Our backyard has become a construction zone. We decided that it was about time for a major overhaul in the landscaping. The lady who lived here before us had a very green thumb and really liked gardening. Us? Not so much. It had become quite overgrown and the jagged landscaping rocks were simply stitches waiting to happen, not to mention the fountain that never worked and was a drowning hazard. We are still a few days away from being finished, but here are the before and during shots.

Did I mention that the sprinkler system died last year?

High maintenance yard.

Mid-project and lookin' good!

The waterfall/fountain isn't completely gone yet, but it will be! In fact, that's where the play structure is going to stand. :-)

Okay, thanks for paying attention to my silly news about our yard. And now what you really visit the blog for...the boys. This video was shot last week on Wednesday, but we have been a little busy lately.

Aaahh. Quiet.

Luke just left the house with Oma for three days up north at her place. Paul is asleep. My house is sooooooo quiet. It's nice and a little unnatural. I am going to quickly post some pictures from the last week and then get a bit of sleep myself. Erik and I are headed out tomorrow morning for a "free" trip to Eugene while Paul stays with Dave and Lynne. It would be good to be rested for our time alone together.

Happy Babies hanging out together. This precious little girl is practically Paul's sister. Her mom has been watching Paul once a week since he was four months old. We had the privilege of watching her for a few hours on Monday. What a delight!

Baby Paul checking out Aunt Nikki's gift. These alphabet cards have really cool animals on them. U if Urial. Google it.

My mom cut my bangs this morning and I like sitting here with this little person in my mouth.

Brothers in the chair together this morning. Couldn't be sweeter.

Happy Birthday to Paul!

Today is Paul's first birthday. Thus far he has celebrated by hearing the birthday song from his family, opening a present from Big Paul (see Gingerbread and Visitors), taking a nice, long morning nap, and skipping his afternoon nap entirely. He enjoyed the birthday song again accompanied by a cupcake and a candle after dinner. That was a little more mysterious, but he clapped and enjoyed it. After dinner he opened his family presents. Oma got him a great truck that includes two circus animals. He was pretty jazzed. Luke got him a new book that has touch and feel farm animals along with peek-a-boo holes. Mommy and Daddy got him a touch and feel farm animal puzzle. It was all very touchy feely. :-) Paul is almost completely over his illness. Last night was the worst. Paul didn't go to sleep until 11 pm. But tonight is going much better. He has just finished crying it out...happy birthday, buddy. I know. It sounds heartless, but this guy has arrived at the point in life where our presence in his room does nothing to soothe him. He just gets ticked that we aren't picking him up. So, we have to leave him alone on his birthday to cry himself to sleep. Good thing they can't remember this stuff when they are teenagers.

Here are just a few of the cute pictures from today and a video.

Paul and his bear in the chair.

Big Paul (and his mom) are keeping Baby Paul well clothed and on the right side of the Air Force/Navy rivalry.

In the video, it seriously looks like Paul is about to grab the candle, but he was actually still pretty far from it. Daddy was watching from the side and was in control the whole time. As for the cupcake, Paul really didn't want to eat it! Maybe on Saturday at his party he will try the whole cake thing.

Jericho and Grape Ape

You may be wondering what those two nouns have in common. In Bangsundland, anything can be connected based on the activities of the children. Today, Luke and Erik spent time building the walls of Jericho in the playroom, thus the first reference. Meanwhile, poor Paul was sick and spent most of the day drinking grape Pedialyte. His shirt began to evidence this fact after a few rounds. I immediately began calling him Grape Ape, while Erik preferred The Purple People Eater. Despite having a fever and other non-desirable symptoms, Paul continued to be sweet and adorable.

So proud and happy!

The Walls of Jericho - a modern rendering. I believe that is Joshua in the helicopter.

GRAPE APE!!

The Best Fountain Ever

Yesterday afternoon we headed downtown to the best fountain ever. Jamison Square has this fountain that flows in and out like the tide. The last time we went, Paul hadn't been born and Luke wasn't so sure he liked the fountain. Things have changed. Luke LOVED the fountain, and Paul had a pretty good time too. In the pictures Paul isn't smiling because it was 5pm and I had forgotten that he had yet to eat snack. I remedied that situation while Grandma followed Luke around and took fun shots. Paul was much happier after his snack, but it was nearly time to go and the camera didn't capture any of his Jamison Square Fountain smiles. Next time. :-)

Where's the food?

"Here comes the water!!"

The tide is coming in...

Wading through "high tide"

Paul snacks, Luke snacks, Mommy smiles. The best fountain ever!

Happy Birthday, Oma!

Today is Oma's birthday and we celebrated by taking her to our classes at the community center. Today we had Messy Art and Jump and Shout. Between classes we have a half hour for snack and chit chat. Luke is quite good at both. Here are the great shots we took. We love you, Oma!

Luke paints!

It's an elephant. (Luke is painting the trunk right now). Seriously. He did the whole thing himself and then told me what it was. I can see it. Maybe it's because I'm the mom...I bet the grandparents can see it! :-)

Happy at snack time.

Stretching out. You can see that I take this very seriously. :-)

Eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!

Happy Fourth of July

We had a crazy Independence Day. Our first event was a kid-parade and picnic with some good friends in their neighborhood. We actually arrived after the kid parade, but that was okay. I'm not sure Luke would have participated anyway. But the main attraction was the fire truck! Every year, provided they aren't inundated with calls, Engine #9 arrives at 11am to the delight of all. They spray one fire hose onto the street for folks to run under and allow kids to use the other to try to knock over a traffic cone. So cool! Luke LOVES fire engines, but this was a huge piece of machinery making a fair amount of noise. It took him quite awhile to warm up to it, and he never did manage to try the hose for himself, but a great time was had by all. There was also a fabulous potluck. Yummy.

Luke and Daddy checking out Engine #9 together.

Oma and Paul enjoying the show.

Later in the afternoon, Oma and I made a trip to the ER together. She was experiencing some pretty severe abdominal pain and I just wanted to get it checked out. My sister, the nurse, (who will be reading this) will be proud of me. Mom was released with a clean bill of health and some Vicadin. She actually felt much better after just resting in the ER for awhile. She will see her doctor when she heads home. I was just thrilled to rule out all the scary stuff it could have been! She was a real trooper.

After that we headed back to our friends' house and enjoyed dinner and a few early fireworks. This was Luke's first experience with anything like this and I was surprised by his reaction. He thought it was very cool. Part of this might have been the five other children there who were intensely jazzed. He jumped right on board that train. We were headed home by 7:30 pm, but the whole way there Luke recounted to Oma how he was going to have fireworks again sometime. It all starts here.

Ready for the show!

Watching the show. It should be noted that "The Show" consisted of about five Ground Blooms and one of the chickens that shoots sparks. Luke and Paul were both VERY impressed. We figured we would start small and work our way up.

Speaking of which, it is almost 9:30 pm here and things are starting to get loud out there. It's time for the earplugs and my pillow. I'm such a party girl! Happy 4th, Everyone!

Happy Birthday for Me!

Today was my thirty-third birthday and it was fabulous. It began with delicious coffee, a yummy scone and a wonderful birthday card featuring original art by Luke. I also got a pilates mat, something which I have been longing for and needing. These were followed by Messy Art and Jump and Shout, Luke's extremely fun classes at the community center. For lunch, my good friend Becky brought Dino Buddies for our kids and minestrone soup for the moms. We were even able to scrapbook for a couple hours while all four children slept. (!) Becky then agreed to babysit last minute for good friends so that they could keep our dinner date after having a babysitter cancel last minute. Beck - you rock!

This evening Dave and Lynne took the boys while Erik and I headed on a very fun double-date with friends from church. We dined at the swanky Sel Gris, enjoying venison, lamb, and other fancy food prepared in fancy French ways. The head chef, Daniel Mondok, has actually competed on and won Iron Chef three times. The food was awesome. The company was fabulous and here are the pictures to prove it!

Hey, hey, the gang's all here. And the gang is lookin' good!

My entree. Lamb Three Ways. Beautifully plated. And super yummy.

The Birthday Girl and her Dashing Date. :-)

A quick reflection on my thirty-second year...because I only have thirty minutes left of my birthday. It has been a great year. Highlights for me include but are not limited to:

• Paul's birth - July 16, 2007 - we saw God's provision in ways we never imagined as Paul was born cesarean with no complications and a perfect bill of health
• September-May - my first year as a Bible Study Fellowship Discussion Leader. Wow! How much can God stretch me and teach me in one year?!? It was awesome and I can't wait for next year.
• Can't remember which month - we started serving on a worship team again for the first time since moving to Portland two years ago. It's good to use what God gave us to serve and glorify Him.
• June 2008 - I finished my thesis.
• December-June - I lost 33 pounds. I look and feel better now than on my wedding day. That's incredible to me.
  

It has been a good year. I am blessed. God has grown me this year in ways I did not anticipate. I can hardly wait to see what year thirty-three brings!