January 2008

1/25/2008 - Just Like George

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:35:20 GMT

Every morning Carson and Spencer watch PBS while eating their breakfast. Yesterday's episode of Curious George was about George making himself into a robot. Well most of yesterday Carson begged to make a robot costume for himself. I kept telling him "maybe later this afternoon" hoping he'd forget. Well he didn't, so while Spencer napped Carson designed his costume by himself and I helped with the harder parts. Of course when Spencer woke up he wanted one as well, so we did it all over again! They were actually really cute together and I made sure each of them had a "help" button on their robot so they were bound by robot law to help set the table and clean up our HUGE mess. I have to say it worked like a charm! Who says TV is bad for your kid? Yesterday it actually encouraged mine to be imaginative and curious, just like George.

1/25/2008 - Mommies are so brave

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:34:31 GMT

So you may be asking yourself "what in the world is that a picture of?" Well I'm glad you asked; let me tell you a story. Earlier this week the boys and I were enjoying a cup of hot chocolate after a rousing game of squirt gun fight in the backyard. What can I say it is winter time (a little more than 20 degrees out) but the sun was ACTUALLY shining! Anyway not the point of the story but as we are sipping our hot chocolate I heard a loud "thunk" or maybe it was a "thwack" anyway I went to see what it was. And this is what I saw on the living room window, bird feathers. When I looked down I saw a hurt bird flapping around on the ground. Carson wanted to know what happened so I told a safe mommy lie "oh it was just a book that fell over" and then turned Blue’s Clues on for distraction purposes. I called Nick at work and asked what I should about the injured bird dying on the porch. He's suggestion was to get his work gloves and a shovel and take it into the forest. Hello, it was still flopping everywhere! His next suggestion was to ring its neck first. Can't you just picture me breaking a dying bird’s neck?! Well I knew I had to summon all my courage and take care of it before the boys saw it. Well by the time I found the gloves and shovel the bird had already arrived at the big bird bath in the sky. Which made it easier to scoop up its still body and toss it into the forest next to our house, while only slightly shaking. The conclusions I have drawn from this experience are:

1. My windows are so clean they are a danger to wildlife.

2. Birds in WA are not used to blindingly sunny days during the winter.

3. Mommy's are so brave!

1/19/2008 - Carson Ski Video

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:33:04 GMT

Here is a video clip of Carson learning to ski.

1/18/2008 - Snow Much Fun

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:30:02 GMT

This year instead of traveling during the holidays we thought it would be fun to go on a family vacation, something we rarely do. It seems like every time we travel it is for a wedding or family reunion or something like that. So we decided to take the boys on a skiing/sledding/snowball fight trip to Crystal Mountain (a resort here in WA near Mt. Rainer). We stayed at a cabin near the resort for 3 nights and enjoyed our days playing in the snow. Now I don't ski myself (I'm more of a sunshine warm weather girl) but Nick was on a ski team growing up in Utah and worked at resort during his high school years as an instructor and lift operator. So needless to say this is his element. Nick took Carson with him 2 of the days to the resort and taught him to ski. According to Nick Carson did a pretty good job, according to Carson he considers himself "an excellent skier". In fact Carson had no problem telling people so in the lodge and the hot tub as well as handing out ski advice. Really where does the confidence come from? Now Spencer and I took it a little bit slower and enjoyed snuggling and watching videos in the cabin, drinking hot chocolate and sledding together. We got really lucky and had beautiful weather the majority of our stay. Our only mishap was that we lost power for about 15 hours one afternoon/evening. Is it just me or do power outages seem to follow our family? So was it worth it? Well as we were pulling away from the cabins ready to head home I turned around and saw Carson crying in his seat. He said he was sad to leave because he had so much fun skiing with Dad. So the answer is YES it was worth it.

1/17/2008 - How I Spend My Days

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:28:41 GMT

It seems that most days the majority of time is spent stepping on, picking up, or aiding in the search of objects of miniscule proportions. I am tempted to take the vacuum to all of them one night while the boys are sleeping. I hear Barbie accessories and Polly Pocket are just as bad.

1/9/2008 - Ohh. . . it was good!

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:27:47 GMT

I just finished reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" written by Khaled Hosseini who also wrote Kite Runner which I really liked as well. The review of the book is below, I won't even attempt to summarize it for you. I could not put the book down and read it in less than 24 hours. (Thanks, Disney for watching my kids for me!) All the news stories of a war torn Afghanistan are made real through the characters of this book. Although it can be a brutal and uncomfortable read at times it is riveting to be exposed to a whole other world, religion and culture. I was reminded of the strength of the human spirit, the power to love and that my "tough days" are nothing in comparison to others. Along the same lines is "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali that I read for a book club earlier this year which was very eye opening for me as well. Anyone got anymore good book suggestions?

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Afghan-American novelist Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1/2/2008 - Is that really me?

Kati Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:25:35 GMT

Apparently my approval rating is dropping among the four year olds in our house. . .

Portrait of Carson and Mom, October 2007

Portrait of Mom, December 2007