technical difficulties with the blog. again.

so, i can't get any pictures to upload. anybody else having that problem? it isn't my computer, i think it's a blog problem. we had a great visit with my dad last weekend, and we've been working really hard on the house, one of these days i'll have to take some pictures of the house. so in absence of pictures a few news bites:

• i have stitches for the first time in my life! in my mouth, not fun. as far as surgery goes, even minor outpatient surgery, it really wasn't that bad. he cut open a flap in the roof of my mouth, attached a chain to the delinquent adult tooth, and sewed it back up, and now the orthodontist can pull on the chain that's attached to my braces, and in another 18 mos, i should no longer look like a hillbilly.
• we are no longer carolina panthers fans. seeing as how their games are never on tv here, we can't talk about it with anybody here, and, let's face it, they suck, patrick has exercised leadership in this area and decided we are kansas city chiefs fans. maybe next year we'll go to a game!
• hannah is night time potty trained! we just took off the pull ups, and she hasn't had a single accident. we're quite shocked. i had her bed made with two layers of plastic sheets, i wouldn't let her drink hours before bed, we woke up her in the middle of the night, everything. but apparently she's got it under control. literally. yeah hannah!
• charlie is not walking. i thought that would have made a good news piece if he were though :-).
• I am starting up an hourly childcare business, in hopes of getting some investment capital for the preschool i want to do in the fall. Hannah and I are both enjoying the unstructured approach we have now (fyi, she's now working on counting 10-20, and recognizing those numbers as well. i'm so proud of her!) however, i think i would also really enjoy teaching another 4 or 5 kids, as well. i'm already planning out activities, and researching how i watn to stock my centers: music in one corner, art in another, reading, science, etc. I want to have an ant farm, and get them involved in my garden. i want it to be very hands on, as they learn. now that charlie's party is over, i need something to keep me up at night! i do want to host a christmas drop in for our neighbourhood, though. . . :-)
• patrick's good, working so hard at the house. soon i'll itemize everything he's done. it's amazing!

if anyone has thoughts on my blog problems, let me know!

flashback to August

although these are 2 mos old, i still wanted to share the pictures. (they were on my mom's camera, and i couldn't get them until she came). the kids and i drove up to my mom's, then patrick surprised us for the last few days! it's approx 18 hrs, and the first 15 hrs of scenery look exactly the same: farmland. it was cold again this year, but warmed up enough at the very end to get in the water. charlie loved it, he wasn't scared at all.


patrick had great success fishing this year. one of the kinds he caught is extremely difficult to filet, so bob was giving him a tutorial. there's my girl, right in the thick of fish guts.


we had a bonfire, which they do in that tub thing to lessen the risk of forest fires. hannah had her first ever smore. it was worth it just to hear her say "marshmallow." if i remember correctly, i ate 3, and felt sick for days!

this picture makes me think of a story my mom (and nana) tells me all the time, i guess she thinks i forget :-). we've had the floating dock for as long as i can remember. when i was 5, we were having a fire at night like this one, and somebody realized they hadn't seen me in awhile. a little bit of yelling later, i yelled back from out in the water. apparently, i just headed out to the dock by myself, not thinking i should ask or tell anyone. but hey, we were good swimmers!

building a sandcastle with bob. hannah is still at the stage where she likes to build something for the express purpose of jumping on it right after. it can be frustrating for the adults.

my mom has taken up kayaking for exercise, and patrick tried it out.

it looks sooooo different from when i was growing up. but still recognizable. that thing at the very back of the property that looks like a fence is the solar panels for electricity. that's a newish addition, it used to just be the generator.

hannah did really well in the water, even though it was cold. she still won't be in by herself, without someone holding her. trying to tread water and hold a 3 yr old, even if she's wearing a lifejacket, is harder than it seems!

charlie, just watching the show

i have no idea what is up with my face, so focus on my calvin klein model here.

heading home after our picnic across the lake.

sorry about the squinting, it's the wind and sun. charlie, in my lap, fell asleep nearly immediately. just like nearly every other baby, i think. tired out from playing, and the hum of the boat, works every time.

early(ish) morning serenity

but not for long, with this impish grin around

ah, siblings. (i get nostalgic seeing charlie before his haircut :-(

so as you can imagine, there is quite a bit of wildlife in the area. unfortunately, the bears are halfway domesticated and come every day to eat at the dump. it's somewhat of a tourist attraction. not only is it sad, i can't imagine what it does for their health. but anyways, hannah got to see bears. i do have to mention, though, that we did actually see a real bear in the wild, the morning we started our drive home.

entertaining the kids inside, seeing as how it was about 50 degrees outside.

while i huddled up inside making charlie's bday invitations, hannah "helped" out with various projects. hopefully nothing involving power tools.

it was a wonderful visit with grandma and grandpa bob!