Our poor fish(es)

First we got Ken, a red male beta fish. We thought it would be cool. I've had beta fish before, one even lasted a couple of years. Ken only lived a few months. Over Christmas weekend, Ken was left in an unheated room (cough, Alan, cough) and died when his water was too cold. Luke was sad until we told him we could get a new one.

Enter Abooka. That's what Luke named her. She was a blue female beta. She, sadly, also only lasted a few months. About a week ago, Luke woke me up holding the fish in this shot glass. He was trying to change her water (or so he says). After a long talk about "not touching the fish", I thought he had learned his lesson.

Until yesterday, when Luke came into my room saying:

"I think Abooka is dead"

Me: "Why?"

Luke: "She's not moving"

Me: "Did you touch her?"

Luke: "No, I think daddy fed her too much"

Me: "Your shirt is wet, are you sure you didn't touch her?"

Luke: "I didn't do anything."

At which point I went to check things out in the kitchen (where the fish bowl is). What a scene, water everywhere and a lifeless fish who had obviously been squished. Next Luke was sent to timeout.... hence the picture above. Boy does he look guilty. Don't be fooled, he's not upset that the fish is dead, he kept asking for a new one.

I don't think he meant to kill it. He doesn't quite understand how fragile something so small is and he doesn't understand the permanence of death. I guess what I'm most upset about is that he lied about it. I've read that it's a natural reaction for kids but I don't like it.

Anywho, no more fish for now.

Dance Party

My Boy likes to dance....



We were at a restaurant (in our own section) when the music took over his little body.

Luke will be 4 in July and is starting preschool in the Fall. PRESCHOOL!! sigh... wish I could stop him from growing up. But, he is going to love school. He's super social and outgoing. He makes friends easily and is ready to learn about everything. I'm always amazed at how quickly he picks things up. This morning he told me that Flamingos are pink because of the algae they eat. Did you know that? I didn't. I had to look it up to see if it was true.

Lately....

I've been kind of bad about blogging lately. Here's a round-up of what we've up to the last few months (in no particular order):

It snowed...

a lot.

We spent lots of time indoors. Thank goodness for our membership to the children's museum. Here is Luke checking out some x-rays of animals in the "vet room"

Alan and Luke skipping rocks. I love this picture.

I attempted to teach Luke Tic-Tac-Toe.... he likes the X's

We went to the Burke Museum. Luke is a bit obsessive about dinosaurs of late. So We took him to see the dinosaur fossils.

Mastodon

Found shells and crabs with Marie and Russel.

Ate yummy donuts

We went to the Seattle Aquarium. Luke brought is magnify glass to investigate everything.

I rode a whale.

Due Date

This is a ultrasound of a baby measuring 6.5 weeks. I never got a copy of mine (I wish I had). It is what I remember on the screen. A tiny little baby.

I've been dreading March 22. It's a month away but it's staring at me. I did request the day off from work so at least I won't have to deal with that but I know I will be sad. I want to do something (other than wallow in my own self pity) to remember her. I don't know that I ever mentioned this but I started calling the baby a girl. Just a gut feeling. I've been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo but I don't know.

But I did read something the other day that was comforting. In this study, and others like it, it was found that the baby's cells can pass into the mother, navigate through her body and implant in various organs. Since the fetus is full of stem cells one of the theories is that they repair and strength the mom to ensure the baby will survive. Who knows if my baby made it this far but I chose to believe that she is still with me, making me stronger.

Christmas pictures

These are a little late (and out of order). All my siblings are now in one state so it was nice and rowdy. Jordan is sporting his new "zombie killing" shirt in the above picture.

Luke with his new Fire Truck

Opening his stocking

This is where the kids slept. Under a blue sheet... they were pretending to be underwater.

Naomi woke them up with silly string.

The red paper crate paper was to make sure they didn't sneak out early (we made sure they went pee before we locked them in).

Perhaps my favorite gift from Alan: matching t-shirts of a cat with laser eyes

Baby Bradley crawling all over the place.

Cheese!

Travel Bug is getting me

This time of year, after the holidays but before spring, is the hardest time to live up here. It's cold and rainy and gray all of the time. It's this time of year I start dreaming of warm, sunny places. Alan and I are going to Vegas at the end of the month for our 7 year wedding anniversary (10 years dating) and it can't get here soon enough. It'll be our first trip without Luke. As much as I love him and love spending time with him, I'm so excited to have a few days of adult only conversations and meals were I don't have to tell anyone to sit down. For a few days I won't have to cook, do dishes, clean or put anyone into "time out" (well, maybe Alan if he gets out of line).

We will be staying at the Flamingo since it's super cheap and centrally located on the strip. I also like that it has the campy old school Vegas vibe. We plan to eat, sleep, and drink when ever we feel like it. We probably won't gamble much, as cheap as I am, I have no dreams of striking it big. Food will include french pastries, In-n-out burger, .99 cent buffets, and at least one romantic dinner at a fancy place (Eiffel Tower?). I'm also looking forward to the Amazing people watching to be had. My favorite game is "hooker or sorority girl?". Maybe we'll even have Elvis renew our vows.

VEGAS BABY!!!

Santa

A couple of weeks ago we went to see Santa up in the space needle. He has a space ship sled. The picture turned out a little blue, Alan accidentally had a special filter on the camera. Luke wore his special bow tie from his Grandpa Stetson. Luke loves ties and bow ties and will sometimes attach them to his t-shirts.

He was a little timid about Santa and asked if we were going to leave him with Santa. Apparently we've given him abandonment issues with Santa. But after he watched some other kids he decided he could talk to him by himself too. He asked him for some Legos. A reasonable request. I'm not looking forward to the day that becomes a cell phone or ipad.

While this experience was positive, I think Luke is still a little afraid of Santa. Yesterday we was getting into something and I told him to behave because Santa was magic and could watch him. That stopped him dead in his tracks. He went to the window and looked out for 15 minutes then returned to me to say "I don't think he's magic". But I could tell he wasn't quite sure.

A note about the needle: it's fun, pretty view, but expensive. $18 per adult, Luke was free. I had a buy one get one free coupon for us. If you go into the restaurant (which rotates you ride up is free). They take a picture of you before you go up and put in the background later.

My handsome boys. I think Alan needs a matching bow tie.

View from the top. Of coarse it was foggy.