I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

I let Finn splash in the puddles today. It definitely wasn't my original intention. I was hoping to just walk around outside with him. We had worn out the inside of the house & were looking for something new to keep us busy. But he went straight for the puddles & as soon as he made his first splash, he was hooked!

So we went back inside to get his rain boots - these were Kenton's when he was little. I guess Nokia is a Finnish company & they made rain boots in the '80's, not cell phones. Go figure! :)

Finding treasures!
(Finn's new green coat match his green eyes perfectly!)

Rocks are fun to throw in the puddles!

this morning we woke up to...

SNOW!

Finley didn't know what to think of all that snow! Nearly 3 inches, but it was still coming down hard! We had over-slept for church (whoops!), but Kenton attempted to make it there anyway. He made it out the driveway, but decided it wasn't the wisest thing to do. The road was covered with inches of snow! So we bundled up & got ready to play!

Our street in the background, covered in snow. You can just barely see Kenton's tire tracks, where he stopped & backed right up. :)

Quite a different experience at the playground than we had last week.

Our little house with so much snow! So pretty.

Tackling Daddy.
We went out to play a second time when Mummi & Pappa Henry came over.

Finn was getting pretty cold & tired at this point.

Some of the snow flakes were really big!

After Finn's nap, we walked to Golden Garden ponds (very near our house). This was our third time playing outside today! It had stopped snowing & we were able to stay pretty dry. We brought our sled & found some fun hills.

Blue sky peaking through the clouds.

Yay for snow! We were so excited to get so much. We always consider ourselves lucky if we get to see any snow in Eugene. So today was a wonderful treat! And Finley loves the snow. He calls it "no"...at least, I think he's trying to say snow. He could just be telling me no. :\

number 70

This is my 70th post on my blog. Crazy. Here is a random group of photos from the last 2 days:

The Coffee Cake muffins that almost made me cry.

They ended up being delicious! The best tasting thing in a long time, according to Kenton. :) Pretty amazing, considering how badly I thought I had messed them up...

I made them for a foot pampering (Arbonne) party I hosted this morning. Lots of people were able to make it & we had a nice time. I can't wait to try out my new "stuff."

Trying on Dad's shoe. :)

So proud of himself for being able to walk with such a giant shoe on one foot!

Making a fort with Daddy. Finn was interested in the flashlight!
(Blurry shot, but you can see Kenton's face just past Finn's left shoulder.)

Edited: Kenton asked me to post the actual recipe on my blog so that we would have record of it forever...in case Martha ever decides to remove it from her site. :) So here's the recipe:

Jumbo Coffee Cake Muffins

• FOR STREUSEL
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• FOR MUFFINS
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Prepare streusel: In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prepare muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two jumbo 6-cup muffin pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture just until combined.
4. Divide half the batter among muffin cups; top with half the streusel. Cover with remaining batter; top with remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

ear infection

So sad. I knew he wasn't feeling well when he let me hold him for an hour. He's never that mellow. We have a very busy boy who rarely stops moving. But he was all cuddles. He wasn't sad as long as I was holding him & he was holding my cell phone (while it played music).


I did manage to get a few giggles out of him though. Bonks on Mama's head are always funny! Finn is feeling much better today. He still has a cough, which hopefully won't disturb his sleep tonight. It's pretty heart breaking to hear him coughing in bed & to not be able to do anything about it.

Finn's new word of the day: hippo ("ippo") :)

sunny winter day

We have a really great park on our street, but we haven't played there since Finn learned how to walk. So we were excited to have a dry, sunny, COLD day off to go explore the park together. Finn was so excited about each part of the play ground. He was grinning like crazy & kept laughing a goofy giggle. It was great! It was very chilly & he was bundled enough to enjoy himself. Daddy's hands were a little frozen though.

Walking across the bridge, all by himself.

Crawling back & forth through the tunnel, between Mama & Dada.

Finn was pretty amazed that Daddy climbed to the top of the climbing wall.

So silly!

Peek-a-boo!

On the see-saw with Mama & Dada.

Other kids came to play while we were there & they had a little dog. He was really interested in watching the big kids play & had fun trying to catch up to the dog. He is so sweet & social. He said hi to everyone & tried to talk. He really likes people & has such a playful personality with everyone. He went right up to one of the older girls & started pointing at things & "talking" about them. Such an outgoing boy - I hope he stays that way. :)

We had another fun evening with Stu & Jacque. We made nachos & taught them 2 new games - Settlers of Catan & Vegas Showdown. Jacque beat us all so bad on Vegas Showdown! Nice job, Jacque! It was fun to have friends over. Finn was a little fussy. He's getting a couple of teeth & fighting off a cough. Sad. But he loves having friends over & enjoyed showing them his toys & books. A good Martin Luther King Jr Day overall. :)

giving hugs

I think Finn might have his first crush! He was all about giving Macey hugs last night while we were at the Green's house (our good friends from church) for games. :) Sometimes she smiled & hugged back...sometimes she frowned & pushed Finn away. He was being kind of forward & lingering in the hug position for a little too long. We need to work on that, I guess. But he was very unhappy whenever I would try & take him away to give her space.


He wanted to be right next to her or, better yet, laying in her lap. It was super cute & we were all getting a kick out of seeing them hug.


After we separated Finn & Macey, he decided to show some love to Ethan (Macey's twin brother). :) I don't think Ethan knew what to think of Finn's hugs. But we all enjoyed seeing them interact in such a sweet way.


After all the kids were asleep (Finn slept in a pack-n-play in Jon & Amy's room), the grown-ups (Jon, Amy, Sandy, Kenton & I) played a crazy game called Roborally. It's only the 2nd time we've played it & we've owned it for a couple of years. It's super complicated but definitely kept us laughing.

You each program your own robot with 5 command cards before the round starts & then go through with those movements step by step. The fun comes in when you hit a conveyor belt that turns you in a direction you weren't anticipating & end up completely off course for the remainder of your turn. There are also lasers that hurt you & cogs that spin you in place. Lot of fun. 3 1/2 hours later, Jon won the game. Whew! I think we all had a good time. :)

My robot, Zoom Bot, next to Amy's robot on the right, Spin Bot. I'm stuck on a conveyor belt & Amy's stuck spinning on a cog - she is a spin bot after all. ;)

enjoying the sun

My mellow boy, after his nap. Sometimes he wakes up happy & sometimes he wakes up sad. This day he was in between, but was fine with me setting him down to look at his books. I was excited to see the sun shining through the windows.

I try to take advantage of the sunny days, even though it's still pretty cold. On clear (not rainy) days, Finn & I walk to meet Kenton when he rides the bus home from work. Yesterday, I let Finn walk on his own. We don't get to play outside very often due to wet, Oregon weather, so he hasn't had very many chances to "run free." (Of course, we stopped to watch cars go by while I held on tight to my 14 month old.) :) It was a nice walk filled with excitement over birds, rocks, kitties & leaves. The sunset was pretty too. And Daddy got a kick out of seeing a tiny kid walking next to his Mama as we got closer & closer. It helps that our street is the longest, straightest street ever! (Right, Aaron?) We could see Daddy pretty far down the street.

My hair is doing something dorky, but Finn is cute!

Mama's wearing a hat!

Happy (blurry) boy!

Our Christmas lights are still up. We'll work on that someday...really!

more mosaic fun

1. Coming down for you, 2. Juvisy-sur-Orge, 3. Kokeshi Doll, 4. 8/366, 5. Untitled, 6. Things around the house, 7. "The Best Gift In Your Life", 8. Just because I need to mix things up a bit, 9. Fresh Eggs Yay, 10. fresh, 11. mad hatter, 12. Jan 12 - Saturday's breakfast, 13. matchbox4, 14. Jane Austin, on the bobbin, 15. 2008-01-03, 16. Saturday tulips.



I hear my little boy coughing in the other room. Sad. He's teething. I hope that's all it is. He's tired...sounds like he'll go back to sleep. Which is my cue to follow suit. Just wanted to post another mosaic of pleasing photos from my favorite time-trap, Flickr.

bapple

No matter how many times I tell Finn that this is an orange, he says "bapple." When I try to get him to say "orange" he comes up with a long string of gibberish that sound a bit like "oyloyloylo." Someday he'll learn to say orange...but I don't want to forget how convinced he is now that it's really a "bapple." :)

Au revoir Uncle Brian!

We will miss you!

Uncle Brian is moving back to Alaska. Can't stay away from the 20 below weather...or something. :) So Pappa Kevin is driving up the Alaska highway with him, in the middle of January. Please send prayers their way as they start their drive tomorrow morning.

We had dinner & dessert at Kenton's grandparents' house with the family before saying good bye.

Fun with Nana Lee (Finn's great-grandmother)

Checking out the digital picture frame.

What a world Finn is growing up into. He already knows how to turn things on with remote controls, how to open the disc drive on our computer, how to turn the volume up on our receiver...and he will only learn more from here.

games with friends

On Saturday evening, Stu & Jacque (Katrina's co-worker) came over for dinner & to play games. Jacque & I made "homemade" pizzas (on Boboli crusts) while the guys played Halo. :) But after dinner we all played Carcassonne. We joked that we lost our other Carcassonne-playing friends to the Peace Corps (thanks a lot, Carolyn & Jesse :) ) but that it was fun to play again. We also bought this game for Kenton's grandparents for Christmas, so we need to play with them soon, too! Stu & Jacque are good sports to play with us nerds & we had a lot of fun. In between games, Jacque & I made chocolate chip cookies while the guys played more Halo. :)

This is our what our 2nd game looked like at the end. Do you get it? ;)

We've enjoyed spending time with Stu & Jacque. Kenton & Stu both enjoy a lot of the same games...& Jacque & I both really love the color green! :) We have other things in common, but that definitely was one of the first things that we noticed about each other. Ironically, neither one of us is wearing our signature color in these photos. What is wrong with us?! (I actually got mistaken for a Target employee earlier that day due to my red-ish shirt.) :P

In other news, welcome baby Rooke! My friend from high school, Angela, & her husband Ryan welcomed their sweet baby boy into the world very early, Friday morning. Check out their blog for pictures of their son. Congratulations Ryan & Angela! We can't wait to meet Rooke! Finn's ready to play! :)

in honor of the big move

Tonight, we went to Abby's Pizza for the anniversary of my parents' big move from California to Oregon 32 years ago (I think). When they reached their destination (Winston, Oregon), they ate at Abby's & we gather there at least once a year in honor of that move. Anyway, in all then years that we've gathered at Abby's, I don't think we've ever had a balloon sculptor visit out table. The kids were definitely excited & they enjoyed their balloon creations. Tyler's was a sword, Sadie's was a pink kitty & Cohen's was a blue dog.

Our balloon sculptor, making Ronan's motorcycle!
(Taken simultaneously with my mom's camera flash.)

Finn LOVED his lion!

So cool.

Griffin's was a teddy bear.

After we ate dinner, the kids & dads played in the little arcade.
I had fun taking pictures with the different lighting that came from each game. :)

Sadie tried & tried to get this ball out of one of those "claw" machines. Aaron even gave it a shot. In the end, a nice lady who knew the trick gave this one to Sadie. It made her night.