Hamilton Trip

The short version of the trip: We went to Hamilton last week to help family clean out my Grandma's house ( I mostly went to see my brother Josh :)

Mom taking a break with Eliza

Alisha and her hot "dusting" apron :)

Mom asked Josh to put all the family letters in the coat closet and this is what it added up to!!
Going through the letters (Alisha, Steve, Kaleb, Braydan, and Kimberly)

This isn't even a fraction of all the glasses, but it's where I started to put them

More kitchen stuff




Alisha taking a break while Kaleb messes up all her hard organizing work
Aunt Ginger in Grandpa's closet going through MORE papers
Dining room mess. Mostly all pictures

Just a start of Grandma's stuffed animals
Her vase collection. I gathered them up there until I couldn't fit anymore on the mantel.
Mom buried in stuff
Alisha starting on the linen closet



Josh and Eliza taking a break

The long version (feel free to skip this, I just wanted to remember it all since it was my last time there)

We made it back from Hamilton Sunday night okay(barely!) The last hour we sang songs until we laughed so hard we were crying. I think 11 hours in the car will do that to you. Kaleb was really good thanks to the DVD player (we owe you Bettilyons!) but after he woke up at about 4:30--when we had to stop for gas---and he realized he was still stuck in the car, he'd had it. He wanted out!! Poor guy. This trip was hard for me, not only because of the drive, but everything!! Knowing it was the last time at Grandma's house, having to go through all her stuff, being seriously overwhelmed by all the STUFF, not sleeping cause the beds are squishy and with kids in the same room, being a clean freak and hating all the dust and cobwebs and being dirty . . . . BUTTTT it was all worth it! I FINALLY got to see Josh. He is so big!! He has huge shoulders and is so tall. He was the craziest worker out of all of us put together. He never stopped going (except to eat a root beer float of course). First he and Braydan cleared out the front porch, hauling the couch, fridge, old tv, and other big stuff to the dump. Then they cleaned out the whole barn in a few hours!! I wish I had pictures of all this (I'll have to get them off your camera Mom), but they made a huge bonfire in the field after they filled the two dumpsters we rented the first day. We were planning on those big dumpsters lasting a few more days, but then we had to get creative. They FILLED both car trunks with magazines and took them to the recycle place (we discovered more magazines later!!!) Then they tackled the basement. Alisha and I filled about 6 big black garbage bags with just clothes. We had a contest to see who could find the best outfit. I think she won with the stripped silk jump suit. Grandma saved every glass mayo or pickle or whatever jar so Josh and Braydan had fun smashing up about 250 glass jars to take to the dump. I counted and Grandma had 12 sizable closets in her house (not counting the 4 little closets inside the other closets) full of stuff. That was another thing Josh did: pull everything out from the eves. We just kept filling and filling garbage bags.

I write all this not to be disrespectful to Grandma, but to paint a picture of how much work there was to do! Steve and Ginger got there Saturday and then Toni and the kids and they worked hard too! When I got home, I got a garbage bag and started putting stuff I never use in it and loading my trunk ;) Lesson learned. I think I was in between Josh and Alisha. He threw EVERYTHING away. Alisha would throw something away and then add something to her pile :)

I really wasn't that great of help myself cause I would start on a project and then have to feed Eliza or find Kaleb or make food (mom designated me the cook for the trip) It was difficult cooking too cause I would need a bowl and would have to go find it in the garage sale pile. A lot of people came by and wanted strange things. A neighbor wanted a rotting dresser in the barn and the old washer and dryer. Someone else wanted all her wood. Another friend cried when Mom gave her an old pastry cuter.

We had lots of plans to hike Blodgett canyon, go down to the river, pizza hut, but none of it happened. We didn't even play games. Sad huh? It seemed like we barely stopped to eat and everyone worked till late. I felt bad leaving Mom Sunday, but kind of grateful to get home to a clean, organized place :) I love all my memories of visiting Grandma's house and it was nice to go back one last time, to be with family, and to help out a little. I especially loved how Kaleb finally said "grandma" and would ask for her (and take naps with her :)

Counting

Kaleb loves to count! He counts the stairs when he comes down every morning, he counts when he watches me cook (like cracking 3 eggs or measuring ingredients), he counts his animals and cars, and when we play hide and seek he likes counting instead of hiding. When he reads books, he holds up his pointer finger for me to hold and help him count. I finally caught him in the act of counting letters on the stove.

We've heard him go up to 20, but he only managed 14 I think in the video. Plus he forgot some others :) His counting rubbed off on me I think cause I started singing the Fiest, 1234 song a lot. Kaleb liked it of course and asked me to sing it AGAIN, AGAIN!! I got tired of butchering the lyrics so I looked it up and found a more suitable version. It's pretty sweet! It might even help you count to 4! He also learned all his colors a while back and knows most of his shapes. (Rectangle is hard to say!). The alphabet, on the other hand, is another story. No interest yet.

Leavenworth Climbing Trip

Braydan trying to figure out how to tie a knot ;)

This last weekend Braydan went on his first of many pre-Mt.Reiner climbing/camping trips. I gave him a hard time about leaving me up until the last second he left, but he went anyway. Darn :) I hate being in my house all alone at night! Kaleb's a pretty tough guy, but not the biggest protector if ya know what I mean.

Buddy Wes

I'm glad they came back alive. I'm not a huge fan of trad-climbing, but he promises it's easy routes (for now!). (Trad climbing is when they place nuts and cam things in the rock for protection).

Braydan's Tiny Truck

At least he brought me back fancy German chocolate from Leavenworth. Smart move dear.

Missing Hat

LOST

AND FOUND

I knew it would show up somewhere . . . . .

just didn't think it would be there. I really want to know what goes on in his head sometimes.

Best Use of a Sleeve:

Birthday Week

Well, it's been kinda a busy week with something every night it seemed. Monday night Braydan went to the Wingdome for a guy's night. He ate 20+ wings and was in some serious pain the next day :) Serves him right for ditching FHE right? jk. I didn't really want him to go, but he deserved a break I guess. He does a lot for me. Tuesday night we both went to YW/YM. I haven't been since having Eliza, but it wasn't so bad taking 2 kids as I thought it would be. Braydan had his first league soccer game in Snohomish that night too and was in some serious pain the next day from that also :) Wednesday night the Relief Society progressive birthday dinner started at my house for appetizers so I was kinda stressed about having my house all clean and stuff. It turned out really fun. Thursday was my birthday. 25! Braydan did much better than last year (see this post if you don't remember :) He heard me talking about needing new makeup a while back so he actually went and picked me out makeup!!! Mascara, foundation (the color was a little dark!) eye shadow, lipstick, and another thing we both haven't figured out what it is. I had a good laugh about it, but it was very sweet of him. I got to hang out with some friends, get a pedicure (my first ever) and we went out to dinner later that night. It was a good day. Thank you friends and family for all the calls and niceness :) Friday night we played my new Monopoly game with some friends. It was kinda weird sticking a credit card in, but I liked not having piles of money to sort through. I can understand the problem with America's debt problem now. I never new how much money I had with the credit card so I kept spending :) Saturday morning I made Braydan take Kaleb to the Children's Museum ( I just needed a morning to myself!) I was still doubting whether he was old enough to enjoy it, but he loved it. Braydan said his feet never stopped moving the whole time and he screamed bloody murder when they left. We bought the family pass and counted it as Kaleb's b-day present since we never got him anything (we're mean parents). That night we celebrated Pi Day with some friends, as in the 3.14 pi. Yes, it's an actual holiday. We thought it would be fun to dress up like nerds and eat pie. We had to take a nerd test and Braydan got 2nd place (big surprise, ha ha). We also took a Star Trek quiz and played Robo Ralley. Fun nerd stuff. I'll have to do a picture of Braydan later cause his hair was pretty awesome. Anyways, that was our week. In between all that we tried to get outside a lot cause it was so nice! One of my friends gave me her double stroller (the limo kind) and I seriously feel like a big train rolling down the sidewalk, but it's nice to have. Well, hope you all had a good week too. Adios. (picture for grandma :)

2 Months

Eliza had her 2 month checkup last week and weighed 11 pounds. She didn't like her shots, but Kaleb thought it was pretty entertaining and even got a sucker out of it. I'm having a REALLY hard time with all the cute dresses and girl stuff. I just want to buy it ALL. Why do they have to make everything so cute? Every Sunday I'm almost late for church cause I spend forever playing dress-up with poor Eliza.

New Things

Wild, amazing, shocking new things are happening at the DuRee household. No, not really. (just thought I'd try and suck you in) But here's a few minor, boring things:

1. New Sleep Saviors. Eliza slept through the night last night! I know, can you believe it? I still feel lucky if Kaleb will sleep through the night. I put her to bed at 10 last night and she didn't wake up till 6! I love my chubby girl.

2. New Timeout Tactics. It's been really nice weather lately so when Kaleb gets in trouble, I send him in the backyard instead of timeout in his highchair. I know it sounds mean, but otherwise he won't go play outside unless I go with him. Like today he threw all his food off his tray so I swiftly pulled him out and set him outside. I told him I needed to clean up his mess and he was in timeout outside. He looked at me funny, stood by the door with a sad face for about a minute and then ran off to his dump truck and dirt. 3. New Healthy Habits. I discovered this cookbook a few weeks ago and really like it. I grew up with my Mom always sneaking zucchini in spaghetti, applesauce in cake, whole wheat in everything, etc. So when I opened this book and it had a recipe for brownies with spinach in it, I thought COOL! Braydan hasn't been too excited about my creations, but I think they're all right and Kaleb is clueless about all the extra veggies he's eating. I don't know if I can put a recipe on here for copyright reasons and stuff, but this morning I made scrambled eggs with cauliflower puree in them. Mmmm. Kaleb gobbled them up totally clueless of my conniving ways. It's not so much that he doesn't eat veggies. He's actually really good for a toddler. But that he can get more in. Here's my rainbow of purees. Big pain, but worth it.

4. New T.V. Temptation. I checked out Gilmore Girls from the library and got hooked. I'm on the 5th season now and don't like this one as much, but still so good. They are funny and witty and are nice to watch while I'm sitting nursing.

5. New Chillin' Chair. Kaleb loves to walk by and turn Eliza's swing on, climb on her activity toy thing, rock her carseat (violently, with her in it) and steal her chair.

6. New Police Pajamas. (There's a picture for you Mom of your present to him :) Did you catch the police man slippers too? It's always freezing in our house in the morning, so I found Kaleb's old hat and dressed her up. Do they look alike?