Ian the Writer & Illustrator

Ian and Anya use a lot of paper. There is a lot of drawing, story writing and paper airplanes that get made around here. I really try to be attentive when they show me their drawings, but apparently I'm on auto pilot and say *Good Job* repeatedly (anyways, that's what Ian's teacher told me during parent/teacher conference and everyone laughed at me the other day when Anya broke something and was showing it to me and I wasn't paying a bit of attention and said *Good Job*)
But sometimes, I come across a story or picture that really gives me a chuckle and I'm glad they showed it to me. This is Ian's *Grumpy* story.













I think it must be a recreation of another story he's read. I can't imagine he's ever been given underwear as a present and he's actually happy when he has to read books all day. Then again, he is grumpy when forced to eat dinner so maybe this is an original!
(the picture with all the swirly stuff says *I am Grumpy when there is smoke*.)

Being a Parent is Gross...

I never thought that the three sentences that I'd repeat the most would be gross. I thought they might be "I love you" or "Thank You" or something sweet and simple like that. When you become a parent you realize the three sentences you are going to say more than any other throughout your whole life are: *Did you wipe your butt?*, *Did you flush the toilet?* and *Did you wash your hands?*.
You'd think that if you poop every day of your life and your mom asks you that every single time, you'd start wiping, flushing and washing. I cannot tell you how many times I've gone into the bathroom and found that the mysterious random pooper has come back into my house, pooped and not flushed (and more than likely not wiped). The kids always looked mystified like *Did I poop? I can't remember if I did or not?* It's usually the kid who has that look on their face that is the culprit.
Well, yesterday there was no question as to what kid it was. I looked in the toilet and saw something weird floating on top of the other floaters. I kept looking at it *What IS that?* and then it registered. Aha! Anya's Dora ring that she'd just gotten this weekend while at the Fox/Cook House. I called her down to look:



At least I knew she had wiped!
I have another picture of me getting the ring out, but for your viewing enjoyment I have decided not to post those pictures. I can guarantee you that the devices used to get the ring out have been disposed of and that the ring soaked in a vat of bleach for a long time. Why did I go to great measures to get the ring out? Well, Anya really likes that ring and said *she wants to wear it every day of her life*. Besides that, the last time we had sewer problems, Zack was out of town and the culprit was one teeny tiny Clorox wipe. I can't risk another poop in the shower incident with Zack gone.
I told you, being a parent is gross.

Shall we go to the Laughing Tree?

The other day Anya told Zack, "Dad, you need to hold my bag. I'm too beautiful to hold my bag" Oh yes, she did.

It's time to take her to the Laughing Tree.

I'm not even sure how to explain the Laughing Tree. It's going to sound so weird and cruel that some of you may be disturbed. When we were young, while camping or possibly on a hike, we would take turns standing in front of a tree and it was free game for your family to tease you about whatever they wanted. Were you the one who had just lost your two front teeth and were worried that you looked goofy? Don't worry, you DO look goofy and all your brothers and sisters were going to tell you HOW goofy you looked. Were you growing out of your pants and wondering if they were a little too short? Wonder no more!

To be honest, I don't think any of us were cruel. It was more good natured teasing than being mean. And Mom and Dad made sure it stayed in the banter stage rather than the battering stage.

I've been looking through some old photos though and WOW, I found this picture and we did indeed have some ammo we could have used against each other. Look at this group of goofy looking kids:



And I've got to rustle up some photos of Mikey & Trin. They're missing from this pic, but Mikey was Roly Poly Barfing Baby and Trin was Orangutan Grouchy Baby so don't think they are exempt from the goofiness.

Want to come hang out at the Laughing Tree with us?

Happenings of the day...

Just a couple of quick pics...
Ian lost his 2nd tooth last night at bookstudy. Zack couldn't take the sight of the tooth hanging by a thread any longer and marched Ian upstairs and yanked the tooth out. Ian was quite excited that he can go back to eating burritos and sandwiches.



By the way, he's doing chores to earn money for a skateboard. He has cleaned the playroom, his bedroom, helped Anya clean her bedroom, raked leaves in the front yard, picked up the spiky things that fall off the tree in the front yard, folded a pile of socks & dusted the living room. And earned $4.50. Even I feel a little bad about that and think he might need to get a raise for the next couple of chores.

Anya has been getting a letter of the day. Today was *F*. She's been doing very well with her *school work*.



And we didn't realize that Mikey stars in the *Warning Examples for Our Day* drama video:

Right-O then.

I love it when Dad's accent sneaks back. Get him talking about soccer or plum pudding and you might hear it too. But there are some things I'm glad were left back in England. Take this photo, for instance:



Yep, that's a bobby pin in his hair...If only I could find his baby pictures, I know there's one of him in his lacy, ruffly white *christening* dress. I can just hear Nanna huffily saying *why are you laughing?... it's a lovely picture of Andrew*.

And several years down the road came another fashion choice that I'm glad has been put to rest...



and although I am happy the beard didn't stay...at least we know what Tristan would look like with a beard



(come on, that looks very much like Trin, doesn't it?)

I wish there were more pictures of the early days, but life gets busy and you have 7 kids, and I'll bet you start to forget to pull out the camera. But here are some of my favorites of him doing his favorites:







Oh and I hear that Dad's new CELL phone number might need to be posted soon. So I don't know what to say about that...Watch out cause Dad's going to be driving around with a Bluetooth chatting...OR...watch out cause Mom's going to be spending her lunch hour texting everyone.

How come no one wants to sit next to me?

Every night before dinner the kids have the same exact fight. As soon as I say *Ian, come set the table* they would fall over themselves to say *Mom, can I sit next to you? Can I, Can I, Can I, Can I?* Usually both of them at the same time, while pushing each other and trying to get as close to me as possible. At this moment in time, I'm usually hungry, hot and irritable and I wish no one was sitting next to me except Zack (and we tried that, but it creates more havoc when they sit next to each other...sooo, here we are). I used to say *Ian already asked*, or *Anya already asked* and that's because one of them would already have asked at breakfast or while going to school (seriously, it became that important of a fight). So finally about two nights ago, I got so sick of it that I took two pens and dotted the calendar. Ian is orange, Anya is blue. Done. Don't know who's sitting next to mom?...go check the calendar.
Poor Zack - *How come no one wants to sit next to me?*



So that's what's new in our house. Arranged seating at dinner. And I also was fortunate enough to catch this sweet moment, have enough time to run up the stairs and turn the camera on before the moment ended, cause Zack's never keen on reenacting:



That's Zack, tying one of Anya's dolls shoes! Cute moment. It was so cute because he had to lace the ballet strings up and around the ankle and tie it in a cute little bow while Anya supervised. Here's a sweet little picture of Anya, wearing her cute little *Little Sisters Rock* t-shirt (thanks Kiki).

Not So Photogenic, Eh?

My mom always has difficulties when the camera gets pulled out. I think when you come from a big family you always get tagged as something, and mom has been tagged as the one who can't take a good photo. It probably has something to do with your seven bratty kids looking at you and saying *come on, mom...smile. no, wait don't smile. okay.....just smile normal* That kind of microscopic attention would make anyone nervous. After extensive research I've found that I truly do believe she is photogenic.

For instance, most of her pictures show her as she truly is...spunky, beautiful and positive:



And she must have been photographed as a child over 10,000 times. Lots and lots of photos of mom as a child. And she is quite camera agreeable in them:



Admittedly there are some not so great photos...but I've come to determine that most of these *bad* photos can only be blamed on a poor style choice. For instance, curly hair...just not a style that's ever going to look great on mom...or any Asian woman really.

But we've got to stop teasing her...because I think she may be the most photogenic of us all...

Just a sunny day in San Francisco.

The other day Zack and I were walking around downtown Healdsburg and we overheard a tourist talking about how much fun he had in *San Fran*. *San Fran was the bomb* were his exact words and both Zack and I inwardly cringed. When you here someone say *San Fran* or *Frisco*, it just sounds wrong.

Say *the city* or *San Francisco*

It did make me think about the best day in the city that I've had in a long time. Most of you know that I'm really bad with directions and don't often venture to an unknown location by myself. And if I do, it's always with Mapquest directions plus many verbal reassurances and direction rundown from Zack (I had a hand drawn map to get to Marysville in the glove compartment of my car for many years - Thanks Dad). I just don't like not knowing where I'm going or where I'm going to park or how much the parking is going to be or what I'm going to eat when I get there. And if I don't do that much prep work, things happen like I get on a wrong bridge heading in the wrong direction with 3 quarters and 4 scrappy pennies I found underneath the drivers seat (yes that's happened) or I find myself driving the wrong way on a one way street...for a long time (yeah, that's happened too).

Back in May-ish of last year, Dave (Zack's Dad) was in the hospital following heart surgery at the Kaiser in *Frisco*. I decided to take the kids midweek by myself to visit him and then do something fun. I admit it, I researched somewhere to take them and everything seemed a little too daunting to do by myself. So I thought I'd take them to Golden Gate Park.

After our visit with Dave, which was very nice (the kids were fascinated with the bubbling drain machine attached to him. I was too, it looked like a fish tank, bubbled like a fish tank and had blue water in it...?) we headed off to the great unknown.

After a couple missed turns and a few turn arounds, I found my bearings (yes, Zack I do have some bearings) and got to GG Park. We parked at Stow Lake and just started wandering around. The lake had row boats and paddle boats which we've got to go back and do someday. Ian wanted to do the paddle boats SO bad and almost had me convinced....but that had disaster written all over it. We shared a hot dog and a bag of popcorn.

The kids were so excited when they saw all the turtles:




And the baby ducks were the highlight, especially when a nice woman gave us her bag of bread and we got to feed them. Although Anya threw a whole handful of bread ON the baby ducks while they were napping and got the mama duck all frazzled:



There was a lot to see just walking around the lake:



And then we made it to the Japanese Tea Gardens:





And then I saw this face and knew it was time to head back home:



What I learned on this trip:
Just let it go. I got lost a couple of times, but who cares...I found my way and nothing bad happened. It's okay to not know where you're going to eat...chances are, there WILL be food wherever we go. We spent less than $10 and had more fun than when we went to Disneyland.
Just kidding, that is such an exaggeration!!! But we DID have fun!

How old is your cat?

A lot of people think Ian looks like Jill:
I think so too, but it's also amazing how similar he looks to Bimmer (pronounced Bee-Mer)
And the similarities between Anya and her are quite uncanny:


Who is Bimmer? some of you may ask... Bimmer has been quite the presence in the Bode family. She has been around as Jill's favorite cat and housemate for an unconfirmed amount of years (depending on who you ask, it ranges from 17-21 years). Whatever the true number is, she's quite the old lady. So I thought I'd sit down with her and ask her a few questions.

So, Bimmer, you've been around quite a while. In fact, a lot longer than I have been in the family. What do you think contributes to the longevity of your kitten life?Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...Okay...Have you ever seen the Princess Bride?Umm, yeah...So you know how the Dread Pirate Robert isn't really the original Pirate?So are you telling me...?Yes. I am not the original Bimmer. In fact, I'm the fourth Bimmer. The original Bimmer has retired and is loving life off the coast of Mexico. Wow. So how many Bimmer's have I seen? Well, let's see...you've been around for almost 13 years...you never saw original Bimmer. You've seen the last 3 Bimmers.
Well, I must say that the physical resemblance is remarkable. Even the chewed up ear...Well, each of the employed Bimmers had to go through the torture of getting the ear bitten off. It's really part of the selection process...only the strong ones make it through the interview. I mean we have to make sure they can handle the job. It's not easy you know..Oh please tell more...Well, I mean there are the perks but - really - have you lived with Jill before?
Well, I can't imagine it can be THAT bad. But please tell us more...and don't be afraid to include details.Well, for the first three years I was SO tired I could barely do my job. She talks in her sleep all night long.
She did say that recently you've been getting up in the middle of the night and meowing strangely.Yeah, that's called screaming. Well, tell us more about the perks.Guaranteed good food & drinks. She's got strange hours, but that just means the hours are really flexible. The last Bimmer put that the little kids that came to visit were a PERK, but I've recently changed that to a CON on the job description.I can't imagine why.Your sarcasm is charming.

Let's talk about me now...

So yesterday's post was about Ian. In the spirit of *Let's talk about me, now* - today is Anya's turn.

When Ian was Anya's age, he was putting together 50 piece puzzles. He would often make his pretzel sticks spell words:



Anya is a different creature. She knows her letters and numbers. She just DOESN'T CARE. When we ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, it is always a Princess. We (and Ian always likes to actively participate in this debate) tell her that there really aren't that many jobs available with that title; does she mean she wants to be a Princess at Disneyland? That's a sure fire way to get her all agitated *NO, a real Princess!* Alrighty then.

What I love about Anya though is her ability to just *go with it*. She just goes along with whatever the plan is so pleasantly. It's so easy to get her to go along with a plan, and if the plan falls through - she just goes with it. I love that she rarely complains. But when she does WATCH OUT. Today she bit Ian and when I asked her why she said *cause he was annoying me* (I know what she means, sometimes I want to bite him too)

I wish I'd had my camera yesterday at Anstead's. They have a whole entire aisle dedicated to dry goods bins, you know: granola, dried beans, dried fruit, carob covered carrot sticks. I wish you could have seen her delight over the abundance! She just couldn't decide between the dried fruit trail mix, nut trail mix, or the carob covered pretzels. The pretzels won out, but I really only think it was because some of them were pink.

It never fails that when she sees me pull out my shoes for a walk that she wants to go too. Ian has been riding his bike and I'm able to walk and take him with me. This disturbs her greatly that she's left behind, so Sunday I took her to take pictures of flowers around the neighborhood. She thought it was the greatest...

Today was just another day...

Dinnertime typically is one of my least favorite parts of the day as it usually entails alot of *one more bite* *chew with your mouth CLOSED* *wipe your mouth* and the typical glass of milk being sponged up off the floor and the walls as it got catapulted 6 feet off the table by a spastic elbow.

Well, you all know my favorite little eater (Ian). He came home from school today looking pale and wan. Zack was convinced he was getting sick, but after an interrogative investigation we find that he looks so weak because he hasn't consumed anything since 7:30 this morning. Yes, that is correct - all day with no drink of water or food substance (I'm exaggerating, he did have a handful of goldfish and a sip of water at the drinking fountain....but STILL). And yes, I did send him to school with a lunch which, by the way, I don't really enjoy making at 7:00 in the morning only to learn that it gets tossed in the garbage can before the first bell rings.

Typically, I make dinner a little easier to handle for him. If it's stir fry, I'll pick around so he doesn't get an entire plate of vegetables. I've caught myself digging around a pot of stew to make sure his is primarily meat. I do all this to spare myself the vision of him at the dinner table gagging and grimacing.

Well, tonights dinner was a complete vegetable soup. My idea was to give them a grilled cheese sandwich with a small bowl of soup...but noooo, not tonight. Tonight he gets a full heaping bowl of soup with much chopped kale (which by the way, I caught Zack scooping out before serving him...he is a softie sometimes). So this is FULL ON vegetable soup with onions, carrots, celery, fennel, mushrooms, lentils, parsley, kale & green onions. It was gonna be a gagger.

He KNEW he better just sit tight and eat quietly. He ate several bites, then told me how much he loved the chicken. "the chicken is so good in the soup mom" Zack and I looked at each other like, "whaat" (there was NO chicken in the soup) but just let the comment pass. Ten or 12 more bites later, Ian stared at his spoon and said "wait, is that chicken really a mushroom?"

We laughed and laughed and laughed.

And then the gagging resumed.

By the way he turned 7 on Sunday, here's a pic of him in his Mexican outfit he wore for his fashion show and dance at school.

I'm Doooone!!!

What's the best thing you can hear when you're at that beautiful drowsy stage of a nap? The point where you know you don't have to get up for another 10 minutes; you've already fallen into a deep sleep and feel rested, yet glance at the clock and realize *yes! there still is more time!*

The best thing to hear at that moment is *I'M DOOOOONE*

Not just once. Nor at a normal decibel. It kinda starts out okay but then peaks at about the 3rd or 4th dip of the OOO. Yeah, you know how it sounds - *I'm DooOOOONE*

You know what that means? You've got to trudge up the stairs and wipe a poopy butt.

And that my friends, completely zaps the beautiful drowsy numb feeling you had 2 minutes ago while napping on the couch.