from Jennifer- the Dean family

We have lots of snow.  The biggest challenge was getting out of the driveway/Stevens Road onto the main road- I didn’t make it the first try- did the second- just praying that another car wasn’t coming.  We had a late start today.  Yeah!   I got to play with my nieces last night- they are SOOO cute!  They were both rolling around- until the got to a wall- then Samia would wail until I replaced here near toys.  Piper just smiled and played happily the entire night.  Samia seemed to want more individual attention and to be held at first- she liked the sound of smashed paper against my body.  I forgot how neat babies are- Samia tugged hard on my hair while I gave her a bottle- and then just grinned…Anyway- thanks Mel and Greyson- I love the chance to watch them.  Never hesitate to call- it is a pleasure. 

We are celebrating Emma’s fifth birthday on Sunday at noon.  All who can make it – are welcome to join us.  The roads are clear until the last mile or so.  Hopefully it will melt off soon.

I’m kind of swamped at work- so I’ll post the next chance I get.  All is warm and cozy at the Dean’s household. 

Power woes

We had about a half inch of freezing rain last night before the power went out around 7pm. Since that is baby bedtime it was alright. We even managed to have all of our flashlights fully charged. The problems didn't come until this morning when I used the last of the water to fill a small dish for baby sponge baths. That is the bad part about a well. No electricity, no water. I always complain that the woodstove takes up a large part of my small living room, but I was sure glad it was there for heat. And it made for warm bathwater for the babies. Our phone was also out so we decided to head into town this morning to get some breakfast and stock up on some drinking water. I even managed to talk Greyson into a quick look through IKEA. When we got back home the power, water and phone were all back on. I still have to go get a shower and should do that soon since more freezing rain and snow is on its way. I might even fill the tub with water for toilet flushing.

I am making pea mush for the babies tonight. Hopefully that will go over better than the egg yolks I tried yesterday. That made Piper actually have a full body shiver she was so disgusted. Samia is doing pretty well for teething. I just can't believe my little baby is old enough to have teeth.

Must go shower....
-Mel

Winter weather

We have about a half inch of freezing rain outside that is supposed to turn to snow at any moment. I like the snow so I eagerly await. And I just brought another load of wood into the house so I will be toasty. Greyson and I went out on date night last night without the girls. We had two friends over to watch the girls for us. Apparently they are into the "strager danger" phase because Samia screemed with fear whenever they got near her. So after 20 minutes of trying to settle her down we decided to just leave and hoped our absense would help the situation. Apparently it did as she calmed right down and they both went to sleep without even crying. We had a nice dinner and yes, talked about our girls and the things we forgot to tell the sitter, like which crib belongs to which girl. Typical first time parents, we know.

Our chickens finally started laying, so we now have 3 eggs a day. I think the babies will start getting some egg yolks soon. We have been making all of their baby food so far and that has worked out pretty well. Not too much effort if we make a big batch and freeze it for later. Samia is teething now. We see two tiny teeth coming in on the bottom. She is a bit fussy and drooling but hopefully since the teeth are through she will start feeling better soon. Piper has been just an angel lately.

Now it is raining. It will get a nice wet base to make a sheet of ice for the snow to lay on.....

Mel

Overdue update

For some reason I have been out of the blogging mood. I think the holidays zapped it out of me somehow. But I may be getting beyond that finally. So what's new in my house??

Well, I am fine. Work is starting to rev up for the big spring field work season. So we are buried in putting out proposals and bids for upcoming jobs,and getting organized for jobs we know are coming up. I am trying to figure out what I want to try to do given the breastfeeding/pumping issues and just not wanting to be away from home much.

We turned off the cable a couple of weeks ago after many months of contemplation. Is is a comforting feeling to me to just come home and zone out to a mindless show. But then I felt like I was wasting away at the same time. And then the babies would turn and stare the moment it would go on so we decided enough was enough and had it disconnected. So what have I been doing with all my free time? Well, I have started exercising again. Lifting weights and going to play basketball at the little Skamania grade school just down the road. Right now just a couple families come but it is fun to shoot around. Unfortunately Greyson and I have to take turns going since the girls go to bed so early. I have also been playing some games with Greyson, practicing the guitar again and watching some movies we borrowed from a friend. So I still get a bit of TV action but only after the babies are asleep.

Baby Front- All's good. Once in a while I come home and Greyson is ready to run out of the house screaming but mostly he loves being home with them. I really love my time with them in the mornings before work, I just wish they would sleep in a tad longer. But they are such sweet, happy babies most of the time. Samia now knows how to move across the room using a slow log roll to get to some item of interest. The other night she managed to wrap the video game controller cord around her body three times. Piper can roll both ways but doesn't realize that she can actually get somewhere yet. They are starting to love their "solid" foods, if you can call applesauce and mushed sweet potatoes "solid". Samia's new noise is to make a coughing sound about 10 times in a row. She thinks it is really funny, especially if you do it back to her. Piper prefers action and will give you a giggle if you lift her high in the air, dip her body backwards or have her fly in to get her sister. I think Piper is starting to look less like a boy now that the hair is getting longer. Ada has been very good with the girls and doesn't seem frightened or bothered by them at all... yet. We will see once they start crawling. The girls have started to "pet" the cats, which mostly involves grabbing fir and wiskers, but the siamese still seem to put up with it as long as they are getting some kind of attention.

I almost forgot.. Greyson has been on this incredible cleaning freakout! I love it. The house is sooooooo clean. I just try not to mess anything up when I am home. He even made the dreaded Costco trip last week.

I need to go to bed. But I will be making a better blogging effort from now on.
-Mel

Holiday lights

Follow up of Larry's question;
One of the outside storage units has an electrical outlet. It's actually for the outside TV etc. We were at a full hook-up rv park which supplys water, cable, tank dumping and electicity. If we were "dry camping" we would be running it off our generator.Wish you could see this motorhome.
If you get a change take a look at Fleetwood.com and check out the 2008 Bounders. They are so amazing, they are such fun, except gas is out of sight. But we are not letting that stop us. ( who knows what the future brings).You'll have to ask Mom about Bernies gifts.

Christmas 2007

I'm not sure how well this will show up. But Phil, Chris, and Murphy had Christmas in Buelton, Ca. It's close to Solvang the Danish town that has a lot of holiday spirit. Grandma and Bernie came up and had Christmas Eve dinner with us and then came back the next morning for Chrismas breakfast. They stayed in the Anderson's Hotel which is famous for it's split pea soup. But, I guess it is a pretty old place which wasn't the nicest.

Wanted to show you how we decorated the " rig" with lights outside and a small tree inside. It was very fun, and we needed to change the tradition since Michelle went back to spend the holiday with Steph and her family.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas... Love Chris

Snow!

I looked at the weather station and it said we might have snow mixed with the rain in the Dean's neck of the wood's. That would be a pleasant surprise. I really like snow. My mother sent me my favorite childhood book about snow - it now sits in my hutch for all to look at in awe and delight as I did many years past.

The kids are really getting antsy...and kind of starting to pick fights in their boredom. Again, I'm so glad I'm working at night and sleeping in the day. I miss out on most of this. I did get a kink in my back trying to hold and turn a heavy woman last night. Took some aleve and iced it and am feeling pretty good. I have two training nights left and then I'm on my own. They lock me in at 11:00 and I open the doors at 4:40a.m. Our cook got sick this morning so the supervisor and I had to make breakfast. We managed to serve up oatmeal, ham, pancakes and fresh fruit. I told Sylvia, the supervisor, that this sucess was bad for our careers because they might think we're available to do that again and we both prefer working at our regular jobs.

Haven't heard much from anyone??

See you all soon.
Love,
Traci

Oh Christmas Tree!