Big Screen

Eva is apparently a baseball fan.

Or she’s a moth and was attracted to the light emanating from a thousand TV screens.

Either way, she now loves Target.

I’m 2!

Eva had a birthday.  It was fitting that it was her 2nd birthday because she was a terrible grump all day!  She took her responsibility to begin the terrible 2’s very seriously.  From the moment she woke up it was tantrums and whining.  ALL DAY LONG.  By midafternoon I was ready to sell her off. 

Thankfully she cheered up for presents and cake.  However, the joy was short lived when she freaked out at bedtime.  Sigh.  Welcome to life with a 2-year-old.

I made her what was supposed to be a delicious yellow cake from scratch.  It was disappointing.  The recipe called for cake flour but I didn’t have any so I figured it wouldn’t matter if I used all-purpose flour.  Turns out it mattered.  The cake was very dense.  It was moist and the frosting was delicious but it was more of a concrete slab than a cake.  (I have now added cake flour to my shopping list.)  Good thing Eva is only 2.  She wasn’t deterred by the density.

She had a lot of presents to open.  A book from her friend Allie. 

An umbrella from Ma and Pa.

Another book from Grandma Maas.  Perfect for our avid reader.

A trike, also from Ma and Pa.  She loves it.

And a dress and sweater from Grandma and Grandpa Hardy.  I love this dress.  I want her to wear it everyday.

Eva awoke this morning and instantly ran for her trike.  A successful present.

It’s crazy how quickly she has grown.  I can vividly remember her birth and I shake my head at the reality that it’s been 2 years already.  Eva has completely changed and blessed our lives in ways we didn’t know were possible.  We love being parents.  It was definitely worth the wait.

Happy birthday, Eva!

Unbe-weev-able

Guess who’s going to turn 2 on Monday.

Eva.  Not the dog. 

Playing With the Folks

We had a fantastic weekend with my parents.  I am so thankful they made the trip to come see my race.  I hate driving long distances so I recognize it as a sacrifice for them to travel all the way to our house.  They brought us a carload of gifts with them, including Reed’s Dairy chocolate milk and egg nog.  I’ve devoured nearly an entire half gallon of egg nog by myself.  It’s divine.

Mom and Dad only stayed for two days but I wished they would stay forever. (I even tried bribing them with See’s chocolates but they didn’t fall for it.)

We have had sunny weather for the past few months and the day before they arrived, it started raining.  They called me a filthy liar when I said that the sun really does come out in Western Oregon.  Thankfully it only rained the first day.  We had nice weather on Saturday for my race and the pumpkin patch.

Here’s a rundown of our activities:

We went to the Mission Mill museum which used to be a woolen mill.  It was really interesting and made me grateful that I was born in the modern world.  Can you imagine not having a shower and electricity?  What terrible way to live.  We tried to keep Eva in the stroller in the museum but she has this crazy idea that she should be allowed to run like a maniac wherever we go.  Unfortunately, we discovered our stroller has a wonky wheel so it was a battle to keep the thing moving and Eva content at the same time.  Thank goodness for the Sesame Street app.  

 

We also rode up the Willamette River on a steamboat.  It was raining quite hard while we were on the boat so we ended up having to mostly stay inside.  Except for Eva; she didn’t seem to mind the rain.  Mykey is a good sport for hanging around outside in the rain with her.  I’m not that nice.  I’m very delicate and can’t be standing around in nasty weather.

We then had a great time at Heiser’s pumpkin patch.  There was a petting zoo, train and fire engine rides, pumpkin-shooting cannons, a hayride and delicious fried food.  I particularly enjoyed the fried Oreos but Myke was partial to the fried apple slices.  They were both  mighty tasty.  My buddy Michael is working in Portland for a couple months so he drove down to join us.  It was a fun afternoon.

We also did some shopping and watched a movie while enjoying delicious ice cream bars.  (I’m beginning to see a pattern as to why I’ve gained 10 pounds.)  The visit was over too quickly and now I will anxiously await our reunion at Thanksgiving…a reunion with more egg nog, that is. 

Runaway Pumpkin

Well, I didn’t die during the half marathon.  It was touch-and-go there for a while but I pulled through.  I’m a little disappointed in my performance but glad that it’s over.  I had hoped to finish in 2:10:00 but came in at 2:21:13.  Some of the delay was that it was really humid and I was very thirsty during the entire race.  Consequently, I had to stop at every aid station and drink 2 or 3 cups of water, which added time.  I also started out too fast and ran out of juice sooner than I had planned.  It was the result of adrenaline and nerves.  (And a nimble running buddy.)  I also shouldn’t have had Mexican food and popcorn for dinner.  My stomach was bloated like a balloon. 

The other problem was that every mile was marked with a big sign.  It psyched me out to be slowly ticking down the distance.  I prefer to only check in every few miles so I feel like I’m actually making progress.  By the time I hit the 10 mile sign, I felt like there was no way I could finish.  I had a hard time mentally overcoming the idea of still having 3 miles left and feeling miserable.  I suffered for those last miles and really slowed down.  But, I finished and I didn’t pee my pants so I count that as a success.

I spent Sunday thinking I should run another half marathon because I know I can do better.  I even found a race in January I was going to register for.  Thankfully, Michael talked some sense into me and I’m no longer itching to do another race.  It also helped that I could barely walk by Sunday night.  It was a blatant reminder that running that far is a terrible idea.  I’ll stick with 10k’s for now.

Here we are leaving for the race.  I look like I have tons of energy.

And here I am finishing the race.  I look like my energy has gone elsewhere.

Feeling better after a couple bottles of water:

 

I was very happy to have the people I love waiting at the finish line.  My parents were also there but I don’t have any pictures of them.  It was great to come around the corner to the finish line and see them cheering me on.

 

I’m glad I did it but I don’t want to do it again.

Eva

It is so much fun to watch Eva’s personality come out.  I am happy that she is staying true to her heritage by leaning towards the “weirdo” spectrum.  Here are some of her recent quirks.

Wearing other people’s shoes. 

 

Sleeping in bizarre locations.

Putting things on her head and exclaiming, “hat!”

 

 

 

 

 

Trying on shades.

Eating disgusting things like pancake batter.  (And raisins.)

 

 

 

 

 

Refusing to share.

Being happy in the morning.

 

She’s definitely our favorite little girl!

Driver’s Seat

Eva has been protesting being in the cart at the grocery store lately.  She screams if I buckle her in the seat, but then climbs out if I let her ride in the basket.  Truly an irritating phase.  I’ll admit I’ve shopped while she has one leg hanging over the side of the basket – it’s called “survival.”

I had an epiphany the other day that has solved my problem entirely.  She’s big enough for the car-cart.  Duh!

She was extremely pleased to drive around the store.  I was extremely pleased that she wasn’t screaming or climbing out.

Of course, the people I kept ramming into weren’t pleased.  Or the employees who will have to restock all the crackers I knocked off the end cap.  It’s definitely not a precise machine and is a bit sloppy around the curves.

A small price to pay for peace.

Near-Death

The other night I was in the laundry room attending to my housewife duties.  I was reaching for a hanger when an enormous spider lunged at me from inside the sink.  He was the size of an Oompa-Loompa and as hairy as Bigfoot, with dark eyes that radiated evilness.  The disgusting creature was trying to scurry up the sides of the sink so he could consume me for dinner.  I screamed in terror for Michael and he came rushing down the stairs like the noble and obedient husband that he is.  He looked panicked and asked what was wrong.  I responded that there was a hairy beast in the sink and he was trying to kill me.

Michael immediately chastised me for making it sound like I was in the midst of a real emergency.  He said I had terrified him and he thought I had broken a limb or stabbed my eye out with a hanger.  He was irritated that I was screaming for him because of a spider.

First of all, it was the biggest spider in the history of spiders.  Secondly, I could see in his evil eyes that he was going to swallow me in one bite.  And third, IT WAS A REAL EMERGENCY.

Michael washed the humongous fiend down the sink and then put the plunger over the drain to satisfy my concern that he would climb out again in the middle of the night, be extra ticked off, and come after me in a rage.  Then Michael chastised me again for overreacting.  (No such thing when it involves spiders.)

The rest of the evening Michael had guilt that he didn’t smash the spider, but let it die a slow death by drowning.  He felt like he had caused the poor thing undeserved misery and it was inhumane.  I do not agree.  That jerk got what he deserved.  We really should have tied him up and dragged him behind our horse like any other outlaw.  I’m all for corporal punishment.  He was lucky we let him drown peacefully. 

I really hate spiders.

Kite Festival

We went to the coast on Saturday for the Lincoln City kite festival.  We had a great time.  It was a beautiful day with just the right amount of wind for the kites.  We didn’t know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised.  It was a very laid-back event and you could just mill around as you pleased.

There were giant kites anchored in the sand that were floating high in the sky that Eva loved.  They were pretty impressive.  There was a kite-making station for the kids and in the afternoon, they paraded around the kites they had made.  It was really cute as they marched through the sand holding their little kites.  

The best part was the kite-flying demonstrations.  They had teams that were flying kites in routines set to music.  It was synchronized kite-flying and it was crazy.  There were 4 people standing in a line doing tricks with the kites and they never became tangled or crashed.  Each kite had probably 4 strings.  It was hard to tell exactly but each person had two reels.  (I don’t know if that’s what they’re called but you know what I mean; the handles, the string holders, the thingy-whoppers.)  It’s something to see.  Apparently it’s a real sport because the teams were from all over.  There was even one team from Canada.  Pretty cool, eh?

Michael has been working a lot lately so it was nice to be out of the house doing something fun together.  Eva loved it and immediately wanted to get into the ocean when we arrived.  She wasn’t deterred by the freezing cold water and was wet up to her waist in no time. We had a wonderful time enjoying the sunshine and the kites.

What a fine way to spend a Saturday.

Return on Investment

Finally my daughter picks up some slack.

I officially resign from my housekeeping position.