Kids

I was going to upload photos, but it will have to wait. Some big things going on for Mary Lu though. She is talking up a storm and now makes animal sounds. Pig was first a few days ago, but yesterday she started mooing and meowing. She really likes to moo and oink. She is walking faster and farther. Tonight she would go really fast across the kitchen and then fall and laugh and laugh. She is getting her, what are they, eye teeth? wisdom teeth? I don't know, the two pointy ones in just in time for halloween and it's very cute. Juan started his Canadian preschool today on the Inkameep Indian reservation. He's currently going to two preschools. I'm sure it's all very ridiculous, but I guess I can admit that I'm a little ridiculous. At any rate, he has an Okanogan language lesson once a week at this school which is pretty cool--just colors and numbers and such. He is really into Leafy and she is a pretty great dog. She's still learning the fine line between playing with the kids and chewing on the kids, but I'm hopeful that we'll get there eventually. Mary Lu gets her revenge by torturing Leafy when she's asleep. I'm not kidding. ML sees Leafy sleeping across the room, heads straight for her and pulls and prods at her mercilessly.

For a San Diego Afternoon

Today I am whole-heartedly missing San Diego. I just looked at a friend's blog and I recognized the slide she was taking her daughter down and I am flooded with memories of Juan and I at Balboa Park, at the zoo, Seaworld. . .Trolley Barn. Those years that it was just Juan and I and our adventures together. It feels a little like another life, and I miss it so much. It feels like those were OUR places and we left them behind. It is an overwhelming feeling at this moment. I suppose we just need to find our places here still, and it is harder here. It will take more work and more creative thinking. Surely our golden days weren't left behind in the tunnel at Trolley Barn, or with the Ankylosaur sorting blocks at the Natural History Museum, in the sand at Fanuel Park. Thank goodness for Mary Lu as she heads into this wonderful second year of adventure and discovery, she will help to propel us along toward new discoveries. Still, when I think of those SD places so dear to Juan and I, I imagine a part of us there--me in my earliest mothering and a two year old Juan full of wonder and curiosity.

Veranda Beach

Finally started choosing paint colors today. After a week of agonizing over a color palate, I decided to copy someone else. There is this 1960s-ish, madras and bermudas type, dirty dancing-esque, grab your sister and run down the street to meet the Good Humor Man resort going in down on the lake. It's basically like I died and went to retro-heaven. They are so beautiful, check them out at www.verandabeach.com.

Southern Cali

Friends in San Diego and around, we are thinking of you tonight and hoping that you and yours are safe.

Soccer etc.

Just a couple photos of Juan and Mary Lu. Here is Juan at soccer practice and Mary Lu also at soccer practice, and Juan and I making an apple pie crust. Good grief, my bangs. Mary Lu cut a new tooth today on top.

More house photos

Here are the living room, the hall to downstairs , the kids' room, and our bedroom.

Our House

Here are a few photos of the house. We love it here! I'm not sure what will come across in the photos, but we've got a fairly big lot so we plan to put in a terraced garden and 3 or 4 fruit trees next Spring. Our yard goes down a hill you can't see in these photos. Our winter project is to begin painting the upstairs and make built-in bookshelves in the living room. This is the sun room, kitchen, and view from kitchen, through dining room, to the living room.

Moved

Well, we are in and, as of tonight, the kids are back in their shared room. Mary Lu is spending her first night (well, you know, first few hours) in her crib after a month or so in our bed. Juan is so relieved to have her back in his room. He has been so lonely alone in his room that he would often end up in our room snuggling with Mary Lu before we even went to bed. We are happy to be in and very tired, of course. Will try our best to get photos up tomorrow. It is getting cold, cold, cold here. I am so used to running outside without a jacket at night in SD that I am constantly shocked when I do that here. It's just too cold! That's all for tonight. Love, Jessica

Apples!

We will definitely miss our little orchard when we move.

Autumn

Everything is red, orange, and yellow here. It's pretty sublime I must say. We're busy prepping to move again on Tuesday. I wanted to get a little in about the kids before I checked out for a few days.

In the past week and a half, Mary Lu has started walking, clapping, and pointing, and she really gets a kick out of all of it. She loves music and dancing, and dances at any opportunity. Books are her favorite thing (aside from Juan). In a funny aside, she really thinks they should be sung to her. This is because the first book she really became interested in was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" which Juan and I would sing to her. Now she just thinks that's the norm and she dances along. She talks in spurts. A month or so ago she was talking up a storm, now there is a hiatus of sorts. Outside is her favorite place to be. Aside from names of family members, "bird" was her first word. She's started to point at things in books and name them.

Lately I think Juan will leave paleontology behind (undoubtedly because his mother can't spell it) in pursuit of the performing arts. Many nights after dinner he gets out John's guitar and plays music and sings songs--from Nada Surf to Laurie Berkner, often songs he makes up as he goes. A good half of his conversation during the day is reenactment from movies he's recently seen. He uses props and mumbles stage directions to himself.

There's more to tell, but I can't remember. I love reading your comments, if you visit, please leave a note--it's nice to know you're out there.

Love,
Jessica

Life in a Box

Gabrielle asked if these photos were of the new place. No, this is still the rental. We will be moving within the week though--that means, sometime in the near future, there will be no more boxes in our daily living. I can't wait to post photos of the new place. There is some controversy brewing between John and I as to whether or not wood walls should be painted (not wood paneling, these are very pretty, oldish, wood walls--there are just a lot of them. Anyway, once I post photos, I'm hoping for some feedback.


Smashed apples do not replace eggs in baking.

Mary Lu has to go to the doctor tomorrow to be dewormed. And here I was thinking a live bug was the grossest thing she would put in her mouth.

Juan's imaginary cows in his barn had calves today.

Oh! Has anyone seen a child's ride-on tractor that is not motorized?

Identity

Today Juan had school photos taken and I was standing in the check-in area at preschool, quickly trying to fill out my form (given to me before today and with plenty of time for me to have done this at home), forgot the checkbook, luckily I had some cash, didn't have an envelope, couldn't figure out the packages, kept looking over the shoulder of another mom to review the packages until finally she flipped my form over to show me that I, too, had the packages listed on my paper. . .all of this made us late to run our errand in Omak (40 miles away) and 15 minutes plus late to pick Juan UP from preschool 2 1/2 hours later. Of course I couldn't call ahead and let them know because I didn't ever enter the preschool phone number in my cell. All of this left me wondering if this is the mother I am. Am I the flaky mom at school? Maybe so.

After two days with a puppy, we have decided it is not, in fact, the time to get a kitten as we had planned. In fact, we may opt for a nice adult cat in a few months. Our house simply cannot hold anyone else who is not in control of their bowels. Also, the puppy needs to sleep ON someone. John had to hang a foot over the bed last night so she could be quiet and cuddle with it. Juan will not let her sleep with him, his words tonight: "I love her SOOO much. Now take her OUT." So she follows me around and whines until I sit long enough for her to fall asleep on my feet.

I'm making brownies with Mary Lu's boiled and smashed apples from today. Not for health reasons, but because I don't have an egg.

Mary Lu is a walker now, just shy of her 10 month mark. She falls a lot, but is very determined.

Greeting from Oroville!

Let's get this baby up and running already! I've been waiting for weeks for brilliance to strike, but I may wait for that forever. So, I'll get some recent photos up here and send her on her way. Let's see. . .it's getting colder, we can see snow on the most distant mountains. John has seen both a grown bear (while he was hiking) and a cub (from his vehicle). We have brown bears here and a couple of Grizzlies apparently roam a few miles to the East. There's some action being taken to support Grizzly repopulation here. Everyone here seems to hunt--Juan's preschool teacher hunts. Discourse with John has led me to open my mind some to the notion. Wait, let me clarify--not to MY hunting, good grief, or to John's hunting (he's not interested), but to the possibility that hunting is not entirely, or always, a reprehensible act. True that hunters are closer to the food they eat--from start to finish. A very different sort of reality than buying some ground beef in the supermarket for sure. I wouldn't argue that all hunters give the sort of thought to taking a life that I think is due, that they all understand the gravity. At the same time, I'm sure I wouldn't argue that for all grocery shoppers. I pose this all for discussion. On the same note, it's common here to buy a cow (is this called a side of beef?) from a local farmer, who will slaughter it and prepare it for you. This lasts about half a year I think--you can also prepare it yourself. Also, you can pick out a live pig at the fair to have slaughtered for you. It's all got me thinking. Moving on.

My playgroup is slow to start, but I'm hopeful--I'll keep at it. I came home the first week so exasperated. Wondering WHERE everyone was--I mean, I just kept wondering what these people could possibly be DOING instead of coming to playgroup? It seems there is a SLOWER PACE here, something that, once I was able to name it, I have been somewhat better prepared for it. . .somewhat. The town just North of us in Canada (Osoyoos) is sort of resort-y (Canada's Florida sort of) so there are some good goings-on there. Juan is signed up for a bunch of stuff at their Community Center (Soccer, Art, that kind of stuff) and Mary Lu for open playtimes twice a week. Then Juan's got a fossil dig later in the month, and skiing and ice-skating soon. Blah, blah.

A couple highlights from our first month in Oroville and then I'll post the photos and be on my way for tonight: Juan had an unfortunate mullet experience at the barber (you predicted it, Anoushka), we had a little frog in bed with us one night, these crazy burr-type thorny plant things called "goat heads" keep popping my jogging stroller tires (even the Bob can't withstand them) so three times now I've strolled home on flats, Juan and Mary Lu both rode bareback, Oroville is like the fountain of youth for Border who will disappear for 1/2 hour and then come back wet or with some other mysterious and mischievious air about her, we went fishing and Juan kept trying to "catch" the dead fish head on the side of the lake, Mary Lu has her first suitor, a 4 year old (John's supervisor's son) who was smitten with her at first sight and just can't get enough of her.

That's all for tonight. Much love from Oroville.