tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61762024716538895602024-03-13T10:09:22.343-07:00Planet SilasAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.comBlogger526125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-41007415230922280822012-06-06T20:43:00.000-07:002012-06-06T20:43:44.386-07:00And...he's done!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Silas' last day of preschool was on Monday. I won't lie: It made me a bit sad. Drew, on the other hand, was elated, and Silas only cared about the fact that he'll be going to camp there later this summer. In his mind, it's not really over till camp ends. I asked him how all of his classmates felt about it being the last day. Were they sad, did they hug, that sort of thing.<br />
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"I laughed when the girls cried," he responded.<br />
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"That's a habit you should rid yourself of before you're a teenager," I told him. "Would you laugh if "A" (the girl he has a crush on) was crying?<br />
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"No, I'd NEVER do that!" he declared most adamantly. Well, that's something, at least.<br />
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The first four pictures are from the sing-along last week. Videos are on Facebook, if you care to see them.<br />
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He wrote out his whole name on his crown, which, due to our bleeding-heart- hippie-hyphenated family name, ended up overlapping and somewhat illegible. But it is a grand crown, none-the-less.<br />
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Silas' friend "I" is a riot. You have to see the videos for the full effect, but this kid has a future on stage.<br />
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Fast-forward to Monday. Silas asked Drew to take pictures of his classroom. So, these are for you, Silas!<br />
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Here he is, looking sadder than he was willing to admit. Circle area:<br />
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Loft and the imaginative play area:<br />
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Art and exploration tables:<br />
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The volcano his class built:<br />
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Next stop...Kindergarten/!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-50522653577670557312012-05-26T20:33:00.003-07:002012-05-26T20:33:51.252-07:00Smoke Farm Excursion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mother's Day was spent at <a href="http://smokefarm.org/">Smoke Farm</a>, Northeast of Arlington, in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.<br />
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A hike through tree tree stands and large open fields led to...<br />
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...the Stillaguamish River. Boys and sticks:<br />
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I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day :) Smoke Farm was awesome. We are hoping to return and camp up there in August for their lo-fi art festival.<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-29965724930365231842012-05-13T09:45:00.001-07:002012-05-13T09:45:15.891-07:00Mother's Day Tea Party 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pictures from this year's Mother's Day Tea at Silas' school: </div>
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The table was set by the children (and the food prepared by them as well. Silas made me a place-mat that said "Silas' Mom." There's also a sheet in which Silas answered questions about his mom.<br />
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This is the Muppet's Tour Van that Silas created for his classmates. Underneath is a sheet the teacher's made in which all of the children tall about what they would do and see while traveling on the tour bus.<br />
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Silas and one of his friends. Beautiful kids:<br />
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They made a path through the garden outside of school and explored.</div>
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We are getting out of town for Mother's Day today so that I won't be tempted to spend the day doing yard work. </div>
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Happy Mother's Day!</div>
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<br /></div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-84962264108378041542012-04-19T16:53:00.002-07:002012-04-19T16:53:19.818-07:00Today's Preschool Science lesson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the conversation I had with Silas upon his return from preschool today:<br />
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Silas: Mom, I need sodium bicarbonate.<br />
Me: What now?<br />
Silas: Sodium bicarbonate.<br />
Me: Us lay-people usually call it "baking soda."<br />
Silas: Get me sodium bicarbonate. I need it.<br />
Me:...<br />
Silas: Please!<br />
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Silas then goes and gets the volcano he and his dad made together last year.<br />
Me: What else do you need to make it explode?<br />
Silas: Vinegar.<br />
I get him vinegar to accompany the baking soda.<br />
Silas: Also water.<br />
He goes and gets some water, then proceeds to experiment pouring/scooping different quantities of each substance into the volcano.<br />
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Silas: I'm making Crater Lake (in Oregon).<br />
Me: Does adding water make it more or less bubbly?<br />
Silas: Less.<br />
Me: What makes it more bubbly?<br />
Silas: Vinegar added to sodium bicarbonate.<br />
Me: Okay!<br />
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I guess his teacher was right when she said we should encourage him in science. Maybe we'll work on <a href="http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/eng/play.html">DNA sequencing</a> next.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-77272220289619932962012-04-11T20:13:00.001-07:002012-04-11T20:14:06.995-07:00Easter Generosity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Easter Bunny came this year and, as per tradition, hid eggs around the house. Welcome spring, everybody!<br />
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Easter 2012 shall forever more be remembered as the day we managed to find and fix not one, but two bad leaks in our water line, and, thanks to the generosity of the PUD technician, did not have to hire a plumber, spending only $5 for a replacement part. In fact, we've felt very grateful lately for the kindness of strangers, as well as for the generosity of neighbors. We are feeling the love!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-6739921947833195962012-03-20T20:40:00.001-07:002012-03-20T20:45:26.184-07:00One Whole Hand!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8oUc4vqpwl_Tbw-QRMuR73hUtmYzmUJLwq7HMUwQdvgcSQWaTivhbMpnQYFBC2TyDA_EsVnoOueabt141JSxuTXX_P7Vge546bxqBGxJA3_qZxEJLKvMY5ue0pYGk-uj_bmlq2w9dWY/s1600/1b1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8oUc4vqpwl_Tbw-QRMuR73hUtmYzmUJLwq7HMUwQdvgcSQWaTivhbMpnQYFBC2TyDA_EsVnoOueabt141JSxuTXX_P7Vge546bxqBGxJA3_qZxEJLKvMY5ue0pYGk-uj_bmlq2w9dWY/s400/1b1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Would you like to see how Silas celebrated his 5th birthday on the 16th? Yes? Well, then, read on.<br />
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I took off of work so that we could have a family day. <br />
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Ready to head out for a birthday breakfast:<br />
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We let him open a present at the cafe.<br />
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Several weeks ago, he came to me with the request that I make him a Wicked Witch of the West for Christmas. Apparently, he'd forgotten that his birthday was coming up and that birthdays were a gift-getting opportunity on par with Christmas. Needless to say, he was quite surprised when he pulled her out of the gift bag.<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">We took him to see The Lorax in the afternoon (and he's been running around yelling "I speak for the trees" ever since), and then came home to prepare for company. A small gathering of friends and nieghbors, who helped us celebrate.</span> Ever the proper host, Silas made sure our guests were well entertained.</div>
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Silas insisted on playing his new guitar (thanks Kevin and Bethany!) and singing the Happy Birthday song to himself. G accompanying him on bongos.<br />
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Silas would like you to know the following about this image: "I am playing the Wizard of Oz. G is Dorothy and she is coming to ask me to get her back to Kansas."<br />
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More music...<br />
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That about wraps up the big day. I did take some pictures from his school celebration, so expect those posted sometime before his 6th birthday.<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-40328029518189414212012-01-30T19:35:00.000-08:002012-01-30T19:36:16.921-08:00Trains,French Villas, and Japanese Gardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in December, we took Silas to see the model train display at <a href="http://www.bloedelreserve.org/">The Blodel Reserve</a>. Not surprisingly, he really really loved it.<br />
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He even got to talk to the conductor and help fix a problem with one of the trains.<br />
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The houses were incredible pieces of handicraft in and of themselves, though they couldn't hold a candle to the trains, in Silas' eyes.<br />
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We walked back from the train exhibit at the big house via the Japanese Garden. <br />
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Drew explained to Silas how they rake the Zen garden.<br />
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Blodel is always beautiful, year round.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-65483832073617819212012-01-18T22:46:00.000-08:002012-01-18T22:46:28.105-08:00Snowy days 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Don't you love snow days? In the Pacific Northwest, land of mild rainy winters, snow is a rarity, and snow that accumulates rather than melting when it hits the ground is usually a once a winter event, if it happens at all. So when it snows this much, no one goes anywhere. The schools, the county, everything just shuts down. I, for one, love it. Those of you from the snowier realms may scoff at us as we hunker down and cancel school for the amount of snow you see above. In Wisconsin, this would be an average snowfall and life would continue as usual. But this isn't Wisconsin, and trust me, all it takes is one winter in the Pacific Northwest to change your tune. There are three factors at work, the way I see it:<br />
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1. Snow happens so rarely, there aren't enough plows to handle clearing all of the roads. The bulk of the snowfall happened early this morning, and our road still hasn't been plowed, despite the fact that we live a block away from an elementary school (the school driveway hasn't been touched either). For the most part, we all just wait for the snow to melt. Some roads do get plowed, and some do get sanded/salted, but back roads, most neighborhoods? Forget about it.<br />
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2. We have hills. Lots and lots of hills. I took my main route home from work last winter up Lincoln hill on a snowy day, and I thought I was going to die. There were cars spun out into ditches all around me. I remember lots of ice in Wisconsin, and sliding on said ice, but I didn't have to face elevation gains and dips anywhere near the magnitude we have here. It makes winter driving about 10 times as dangerous (and then imagine those icy hilly roads without salt or snow plows).<br />
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3. Drivers are snow-challenged. When you live someplace with the chance of snow 8 months out of the year, you learn how to drive in it. When you live someplace with snow maybe once a year, eh, not so much. I'm even afraid I've lost my winter driving edge, having now lived here for 8 + years. <br />
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So there you have it. We were all home today, and it looks like there won't be work or school for us tomorrow either. You will get no complaints from me. Silas is happy. We took him sledding today and he was scared and thrilled simultaneously.<br />
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Something even rarer than snow, icicles:<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-68944269784998458412011-12-27T14:07:00.000-08:002011-12-27T14:07:29.791-08:00Christmas 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I think it's safe to say that Silas was more excited for this Christmas than every before. He's at that golden age when the sweet anticipation of Santa's arrival is at it's purest.<br />
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Silas left out the obligatory plate of cookies, which was soon joined by a steaming cup of coffee (gotta keep Santa awake while he assembles that puppet theater).<br />
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Surprisingly, the first thing Silas noticed was not the ginormous quilt-wrapped present behind him, but the shop vac Santa graciously bestowed upon his mom and dad (thanks Santa! You are so practical).<br />
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The coveted orange. He asked for one every year. Not like we don't eat oranges pretty much every day this time of year, but I guess there's just something special about the ones Santa grows up in the North Pole. Santa also fills our stockings with nuts. He is very traditional in that way :)<br />
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Santa also hides things in the tree each year for Silas to find. How fun is that?<br />
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Finding the treasures in his stocking next to the warm glow of the pellet stove.<br />
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Hooray for puppets and puppet theaters!<br />
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This kid is a performer at heart. Our goal with this year's gift giving was to acknowledge and nurture this side of him. We have already seen a number of shows and can't wait for what this creative kid comes up with next. Thank you to everyone who contributed to Silas' puppet Christmas. You may just be witnessing the emergence of the next Jim Henson.<br />
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We spent both Christmas eve and Christmas afternoon with Patrick. Patrick and Silas even hung out for a while so that Drew and I could go to a Christmas day Yoga class (thanks Patrick!).<br />
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Later that day, at Patrick's, Grandma and Papa got to watch Silas open their gifts.<br />
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Happy New Year to all and to all a good 2012!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-80972145460458729362011-12-23T22:41:00.000-08:002011-12-23T22:41:34.765-08:00Xmas card rejects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are a couple of pics that didn't make the holiday card cut, but for various reasons, were funny enough to post. The top picture is the one we almost chose.<br />
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Silas really wanted Olive to be included, but it turns out Olive doesn't care about posing for pictures. I like this shot of the three of us, if not for the 4-eyed mutant cat.<br />
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Mustaches are in vogue. But the candy cane stache didn't quite work the way he wanted it to. Guess I wasn't a fan of it either.<br />
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We were all pretty sick during this photo shoot, Silas especially. I think we limited the photo shoot to 5 minutes and then went with whatever came out the best. So, this was the Christmas 2011 family photo, such as it is.<br />
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Happy Christmas to you all!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-76450755414183465592011-12-22T20:11:00.000-08:002011-12-22T20:11:58.033-08:00Letter to Santa, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">This Monday, we mailed off Silas' letter to Santa. Poulsbo has a special mailbox set up just for letters designated for the North Pole.</span></div>
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"Yep, that's how they get there" he said as he dropped his letter in. It must have gotten there fast, because we already got Santa's reply in Wednesday's mail.<br />
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The letter: Silas insisted on addressing it to both Santa and Mrs. Claus. "That's how you know you'll get what you want" he told me, "if you let Mrs. Claus know. She'll tell Santa to get on it."<br />
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Transcription:<br />
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Dear Santa and Mrs. Claus,<br />
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Merry Christmas!<br />
I want a puppet theater and some Backyardigans costumes. <br />
I have snowflakes on my windows. My mommy and me made them. I have three Santa statues on the piano. <br />
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I would like an orange in my stocking. Penguin, my stuffed animal, wants a Spider-man mask and an orange in his stocking that he can look at and study, because he's never seen and orange before. That will be his lucky day.<br />
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My friend Orangutan wants a guitar that he can share with me. Also an orange.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
<br />
SilasAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-79674217422203118422011-12-21T09:26:00.000-08:002011-12-21T09:26:35.719-08:00Deck the halls with balls of jelly!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You gotta love how kids re-write lyrics...<br />
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Our cozy home is in fact all decked out for the holidays. This year's tree:<br />
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24 felted trees, three Santas, and one gingerbread house atop the piano:<br />
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My 2011 Christmas decoration additions: knitted lights and strategically placed mistletoe:<br />
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Another view of the piano. A crochet's knight guards the gingerbread house. Each day in December leading up to Christmas, Silas finds a different handmade puppet (including the knight) under that day's tree. Only three more trees to go!<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-35770605971440356332011-12-19T22:39:00.000-08:002011-12-19T22:39:55.366-08:00Community Christmas Performance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Silas got to participate in a small community Christmas performance on the 10th. .<br />
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In the morning, the kids made snowflakes and paper chains to decorate the old school house, which is now the community center.<br />
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Rehearsal:<br />
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Performance time: Patrick came to watch!<br />
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Jingle Bells:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CoMnovdbnrs" width="420"></iframe><br />
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Who's that?<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yrDHcGSdkBs?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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I thought for sure he would think this Santa was totally bogus, but nope. All he cared about was that Santa had a present with his name on it. And, it was a Wizard of Oz pop-up book, no less. How did Santa know that we'd gone to see the <a href="http://www.kcmt.org/">Kitsap Children's Musical Theater</a> performance of Wizard of Oz that very afternoon! Wow!<br />
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<i>Dorothy meets Glinda the Good and the Munchkins. </i> </div>
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Silas, fresh from the critical acclaim he received as "boy who brings Christmas cards to girl sitting in chair" in the community Christmas performance tells us that he does want to be in a KCMT production once he's old enough. And when they do Wizard of Oz again, he's going to be the Tin Woodman. I can see it :)Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-30706481753892428262011-12-13T22:13:00.000-08:002011-12-13T22:13:49.273-08:00Santa...or just Some Guy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You may recall from <a href="http://pinkorblueorblueorpink.blogspot.com/2010/12/crossing-santa-off-of-list.html">last year's Santa disaster </a>that Silas has been more than a little hesitant to get anywhere near the big guy.</div>
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Clearly, as is evidenced by these pictures, he's over it. Not only did he sit on Santa's lap, but he talked his ear off as well.</div>
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These pictures were taken at Silas' preschool holiday party last Friday. The kids were beyond excited to see Santa show up, and I think Silas got caught up enough in the moment that he let go of his fears. While we were in line, he kept saying things like "Is that a real Santa or just some guy? I think it's just some guy. If he was Santa, why wouldn't he just send his elves to do this?" He kept going on about it until I finally said "Oh, just go with it Silas." On the way home, I asked what his take was on this Santa. Real, or not real. "Not real," he replied. "I knew because of his hat. That's not the real Santa's hat."<br />
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By the next morning, however, he was singing a different tune: "He's one of the real Santa's." Apparently, and quite logically, Silas has decided there are many.<br />
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Looks like he might be a Santa-in-training himself!<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-37372878763711978602011-12-06T19:52:00.001-08:002011-12-06T20:03:32.490-08:00PDX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The weekend after Thanksgiving, we headed to Portland. The main reason for our trip was to check out the art show Drew had a piece in at <a href="http://www.23sandy.com/objectpoems/catalog.html">23 Sandy Gallery</a>.<br />
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Silas interacted with the art...<br />
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...and became art.<br />
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A trip to Portland would not be complete without visiting <a href="http://www.bobsredmill.com/visitors-center.html">Bob's Red Mill </a>(awesome awesome awesome). We saw Bob himself, sitting outside by this water wheel.<br />
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And we ended our trip at <a href="http://www.powells.com/">Powell's Books</a>. In my family, one does not go to Portland without going to Powell's. It simply isn't done.<br />
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Long day, lots of driving, but the kiddo held up well, and I'm glad we went.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-23019014489042750092011-11-26T08:39:00.001-08:002011-11-26T08:47:33.432-08:00Thanksgiving 2011<br />
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Some pics from Thanksgiving...We had Thanksgiving brunch with Sarah and friends.<br />
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Plenty of music-making opportunities there...<br />
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Back at home, briefly, Silas and I pose in front of his great-grandmother's piano, the newest addition to our household, and one for which we are very thankful (thanks Grandma G, for shipping it all the way out to us!).<br />
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Silas made this "control panel" with Sarah and he was most insistent on showing it off:</div>
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We then headed over to Seattle for Thanksgiving dinner. Long day, filled with friends and food. :)</div>
<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-2183168409951525712011-11-23T18:43:00.001-08:002011-11-23T18:47:13.955-08:00Silas' List of Thankfulness 2011Here's Silas' list for this year. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!<br />
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I am thankful for:<br />
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--How this day was, how good it was<br />
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--Seeing Patrick<br />
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--Playing with Jack at school<br />
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--That I love mom and that mom loves me<br />
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--Reading Geronimo Stilton books at bedtime<br />
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--Having tea with dad<br />
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--Playing transfer center with dad<br />
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--Going to school<br />
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--Satsuma Mandarins<br />
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--Having the very last of the chocolate<br />
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--Cuddling with Mom<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-70921172852579498202011-11-11T17:59:00.001-08:002011-11-11T18:09:40.785-08:00Auction owls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, you can probably tell by the un-carved state of the pumpkins that these pics are a couple of weeks old. Halloween stalled things for a bit, but I still wanted to share a few images from Silas' auction owl photo shoot. I made 3 owl hats like this one for his preschool's silent auction, which was last weekend.</div>
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Apparently, the owl likes to listen to some tunes:</div>
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Me and my owlet :)</div>
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I have promised to crochet Silas his own owl hat, since this one now belongs to the highest bidder...Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-86521553645620876962011-11-02T18:43:00.000-07:002011-11-02T18:44:30.077-07:00Halloween 2011!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For those of you who haven't yet seen this picture on FB, here it is again: Silas as a wolf in sheep's clothing. I think this might be my favorite of his Halloween costumes, to date. I made the hooded vest and ears from the Bainbridge sheep's wool. It's knit with spun yarn as well as with un-spun batting. I also knit the wolf-paw gloves, but credit for the mask goes to Drew who cut all of the pieces, and my friend Barb, who sewed it together for us. Thanks Barb!<br />
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We began our Halloween with a video chat with Grandma and Papa. That afternoon, I dropped Silas off at school and got to see all of the adorableness that is a preschool costume party.<br />
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Comparing outfits:<br />
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Circle time, in which each child got to tell everyone about their costume:<br />
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He might not be a lion, a tiger, or bear (oh my), but I do think you might want to keep your distance, Dorothy!<br />
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After school, we headed to the Island, met up with Drew, saw some friends, and participated in the obligatory trick-or-treat madness. Then it was back to the house to pass out candy for neighborhood nighttime trick-or-treat. I took Silas to a few houses of people we know, but really, we were pretty tired by then. Time for this wolf to start counting sheep :)<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-45152536562041644842011-10-30T18:00:00.000-07:002011-10-30T18:00:44.012-07:00Jack-o-lanterns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Happy Halloween, everyone! </b></span></div>
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Lots of pictures will follow, after the day's events...</div>Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-44460003114666856422011-10-25T18:44:00.000-07:002011-10-25T18:44:40.136-07:00Back to the pumpkin patch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On a beautiful fall day last week, Silas' class went to the pumpkin patch (you can see last year's trip <a href="http://pinkorblueorblueorpink.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-post.html">here</a>).<br />
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Drew went along and dutifully took pictures for me.<br />
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These next two pictures melt my heart:<br />
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Silas and his best bud, J. These two are thick as thieves this year.<br />
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With the pumpkin patch trip behind us, we are gearing up for Halloween. The costume is done. Now all we need to do is to carve the pumpkins.<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-61890743627572500552011-10-18T19:44:00.000-07:002011-10-18T19:44:56.673-07:00Grandparent reinforcement, stage 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(A little behind with this, but here goes.) Grandma G came to stay with us the 2nd week that Drew was gone. She took Silas up to school and even got to work in his classroom one day.<br />
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Look, they're even color coordinated!<br />
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Playing outside of the school house...<br />
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We are very grateful to both sets of grandparents for traveling 2000 miles in order to help us get through those two weeks. Thank you!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-45831753027656870062011-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:002011-10-09T16:17:30.947-07:00He's home!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We picked Drew up from his retreat on Friday. It was a long two weeks for all of us and we're so glad to have him home!<br />
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I didn't intend this blog post as a Halloween spoiler, but Silas REALLY wanted to wear the part of his costume that I'd finished so that he could show his dad. And that's all I'll say about it...for now :)Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-7066318298176624602011-10-01T17:00:00.000-07:002011-10-01T17:00:55.324-07:00Grandparent reinforcement, stage 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As some of you know, Drew is away for two weeks for yoga teacher training. The grandparents on both sides have stepped in to assist while he's away. My parents came for the first week.<br />
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He has no idea how funny he is:</div>
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We went to the harvest fair. Silas sort of disliked the big slide this year, and was a bit afraid of the hay jump. But ride a horse? There was no way he was going to miss out on that!<br />
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We go to the harvest fest every year, and it was wonderful to have Grandma and Papa along this time.<br />
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Grandma made Silas a Lego bass. Fun!<br />
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Their visit was all too brief. Silas and I have been spending the past three days on our own. I worked in Si's classroom on Thursday, and we hung out at the cafe with Patrick (a typical Drew activity) on Friday. Today we went to the farmers' market, an activity that Silas and I engage in almost every Saturday. <br />
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Tomorrow, Grandma G arrives! Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6176202471653889560.post-38186729951038464322011-09-28T06:57:00.000-07:002011-09-28T06:57:35.885-07:00Half birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few weeks ago, we celebrated Silas' half birthday with a few friends. I made him a crown as part of an ever-expanding costume collection.<br />
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He entertained friends:<br />
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And enjoyed the yummy cake from Monica's Waterfront Bakery:<br />
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Showing off his crown the next day:<br />
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I can't believe my boy is half way to 5 already!<br />
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<br />Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01167601437746068705noreply@blogger.com0