I've never seen this much snow in Seattle

And I've been here for the better part of 16 years.

At least Zoya and Banelli had a good time!

WHEW!

If only he really WAS a Socialist...

Here's to hoping the great damage done in the last 8 years is not so great that it can't be UNDONE in the coming 4 (8?)...

I GREW AN EGGPLANT (!!!)

Our Soccer Star

Zoya is playing soccer this fall, and what a great player she is! She has clearly inherited her dad’s athleticism on the field. She gravitates toward defense and ends up saving all the goals when she’s in the game, although last week she scored 3. We’re trying to get her to be more competitive (do you think that’s a bad thing when she’s only 5?) and to be more aggressive when going for the ball. When I told her before the last game that she should kick the ball instead of waiting for her teammates to kick it, she replied that she didn’t want to kick it because her teammate would cry if she didn’t get to kick it, and Zoya didn’t want her friend to feel bad. Competitive and sweet, too – what more could you ask for in a little soccer player?

Picture time

Go Little Ducks!

Inspecting the Turf

"Strategizing"

A Boy and his Dog

Dylan had a sleepover with a friend a few weeks back, and they hauled the mattresses out to sleep on the floor. This is the scene we awoke to the following morning:

Note the percentage of the bed that Dylan occupies compared to that which Cooper has taken over.

Death to Drosophila

While I appreciate the contributions of the common fruit fly to the world of science, their never-ending presence in my kitchen is a different matter entirely. As much as I dislike the little !@#$s silently hovering over my fresh summer fruit, I have resisted using any kind of chemical to kill them because a) said chemical would occupy the same space as our food, and b) I have small children in the house and I’d prefer not to introduce potential carcinogens or other nasties that may cause them neuroses or reproductive harm. So this is my solution (I can’t take credit for the idea, but I can’t remember which website had the instructions):

Jam jar + APPLE CIDER vinegar + funnel-shaped paper + tape = certain death, without undesirable side effects (for the peeps in the house, anyway)

(husband watched as I stuck the camera lens down the jar to capture the essence of drowned fruit fly, and immediately proclaimed that I had way, WAY too much time on my hands:))

If you try this in YOUR kitchen, here are a couple of hints:
1. Make sure the hole in the bottom of the paper funnel is not too big (I usually keep it at about 1cm or slightly less). Otherwise the flies can find their way back out. Don’t forget to tape the seam in the funnel too – they are sneaky buggers and find all the little cracks.

2. The tape must cover any and all gaps between the mouth of the jar and the paper.

3. You have to remove the fruit (I just throw mine in the fridge) at the same time you put the traps out. I should probably just keep my fruit there in the first place, and I probably wouldn’t invite the flies in, but then I can’t eat it when I want to because it’s too cold and my teeth are very sensitive!

That concludes this episode of Useless Tidbits with Wendy.

Scenes from the Garden

We get so much joy from wandering through our garden(s) and harvesting the goods! I thought I would share some of our enjoyment.

Summer Update

On the trail at Twin Falls

Summer has been fun and fairly busy so far (I offer that as an excuse for not posting for so long). Husband is teaching 4 classes on 2 campuses, the kids have been busy with sleepovers and swimming lessons, and I've been gardening and cooking. A friend and her 4-yr-old daughter have moved in with us for a few months, so we've all been adjusting to a bigger household (not to be confused with a bigger HOUSE, which, considering there are 6 of us now, would be really nice!).

Dylan has been busy hangin' out with his friends. He spent 2 days with friend (and neighbor)Adam in Shelton, WA , where he had a great time paddling boats on the Sound, eating fresh veggies from the garden, making prehistoric racecars out of a clay deposit found on the property, and serving as a delicious meal for all the mosquitoes in the area (fresh meat!). Seriously, this kid could have been a connect-the-dots activity, he had so many bites on him (and he claims to have used repellant).

Zoya has learned to ride a bike without training wheels! She is so determined once she sets her mind on something - I love that trait in her (she's just like her dad), although it is a bit frustrating when the thing she sets her mind on is something like, oh, say SHAVING HER HEAD! (that's why her hair was cut this short a year ago)

We are making an effort to go hiking every weekend, and so far have been on a couple of really lovely trips. The kids (especially the older one) complain and grumble the whole way, but we both feel it's important to expose them to nature so that hopefully, when they're grown, they will appreciate and enjoy the soul-cleansing power that it offers. I am grateful to my parents for taking us on hiking and camping trips as a kid, and hopefully our kids will feel the same way. Eventually.

The kids at a friend's wedding in May

Zoya on her bike

Upper falls at Twin Falls

Twin Falls trail

Being goofy

Bridal Veil Falls (nice face Zoya)

Bridal Veil Falls

Dyl is OOHHH SO HAPPY TO GO HIKING!

The Fruits (Vegetables, actually) of my Labour

The spinach:

The Radish:

Oh Bother...

I've given up on keeping this thing (the blog) private. In hindsight, I'm feeling a little sheepish that perhaps I overreacted to the offensive comment (though it still makes me angry). What it really boils down to, though, is that I have to sign in every time I log on to my blog, which I do every few days because that's how I access everyone else's blogs. So I've thought about it and I think that my laziness is going to trump security. And while that does sound kind of bad, I've convinced myself that it's probably not nearly as dangerous as I'd made it up to be. That being said, I'm still going to keep comment moderation on, in the event that any more "anonymous" peeps feel the need to vent their perversions in my space.

11-year-old boy jokes

There have been a lot lately, but this one made me laugh till I cried:

Dylan: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Dylan: "Flush Yurp"
Me: Flush Yurp........who?!!!!!

(say it out loud and giggle with me!)

A New Addition to Our Family

(you thought it was gonna be a baby, huh?!)

We finally relented (actually, it was husband who was the limiting factor) and decided to get a dog. Meet Cooper, our new 4-legged 2-yr-old. As you can tell from the pictures, he suffers severe neglect here - nobody in our house likes him (u-huh.) He is the sweetest, smartest little boy ! He's got excellent manners both inside and outside of the house, and he's very obedient. I'm hoping he'll be an example in this way for the people kids in the house:).

Gardening Triumphant!

We dug up half of our front yard this spring and put in a HUGE vegetable garden. Because it's in the front yard and we're on a corner lot, it's been quite the neighborhood attraction. I have secretly been feeling a little pressure to make things grow because my failure to do so would be witnessed by everyone who walks by or pauses at the stop sign at the intersection. Thankfully, earlier in the week I woke up to see my sweet lettuce and spinach plants peeking their little heads out from underneath the compost and Zoo Doo. I'm now officially a successful gardener, at least in my own head! Here they are in all their glory (the garden actually extends way beyond the picture in an L-shape. It's HUGE!):The lettuceMy uneven rows

"Your Retarded!" (and other petty foibles)

I have a confession to make: I'm a little bit of a grammar snob. Well, more like a word usage snob (admittedly, my use of punctuation is far from perfect). Not that I don't make my share of mistakes, because I most certainly do (there will probably be one or two in this very post). There are a few that tend to make me crazy when I see them, though, and they all involve the misuse of homophones. For example, "there" is different from "their," which is different from "they're." There is also "your" and "you're" (please note title of post - that's on a T-shirt!). And of course, "two" vs. "too" vs. "to." I don't think it's a big deal to commit these errors in your own personal writing. After all, most of us don't employ an editor who's paid a hefty sum to look over our shoulders and make corrections. I do find it inexcusable, however, when they pop up in widely circulated publications like newspapers, or on signs.

Enter Jeff Deck and his Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL). Finally, someone has made it his purpose in life "to stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language." Check out his blog to see how your fair city fared (or is it "fare city faired?" ;)), and find out how English is misused throughout the States.

Where did I go wrong?

Zoya, the daughter of a biology student and an anatomy and physiology teacher, asked the other night, "Mommy, when will our kitty lay her eggs?" And last summer when she fell on a stick and hurt her personal parts, she ran inside holding herself, screaming, "My Nuts! My Nuts!" Guess we'll have to have that talk a little earlier than I thought.

Chahar Shanbeh Suri

This is the first year we have participated in celebrating Iranian New Year, or NoRouz (or Nowrooz or NoRooz or Nowruz, take your pick). One of the celebrations, called Chahar Shanbeh Suri, occurs on the last Tuesday evening of the year, and is kind of the kick-off for the 13 days of NoRooz celebration that follow. Chahar Shanbeh Suri is a cleansing/purification ritual that is based on Zoroastrian tradition, and involves jumping over fire to rid yourself of illness and misfortunes experienced in the previous year. Every year a friend of ours hosts this event at Alki Beach, and Iranians from all over the region come to participate. Like I said, this is the first year we've participated, and I'm ashamed that we haven't done it before now. It was so much fun - the kids are already counting down the days until next year's ceremony. So here are pictures of our first fire-jumping:

The kids helping Ali set up

The fires

Saying "SO LONG" to illness and misfortune

I couldn't resist this last picture - it doesn't have anything to do with NoRooz, but it's the sunset over Alki. I LOVE the Pacific NW!

NoRooz Mobarak! (Happy New Year) Sad Saal be in Saal-ha! (Wishing you 100 more Happy New Years)

Our Damn Cat

She's nothing if not persistent. She's allowed inside, but only on her pillow (husband's allergic). Whenever we're in the house and she's not, she becomes very demanding and makes it crystal clear that she's being excluded. If you turn up the volume on the video, you can hear her whining. If we don't respond, she climbs the window (see pictures). Please notice the awning and roof to her custom-made, lovingly crafted personal cat home in the background. Zoya and I spent the better part of a Saturday making that for her, and all she uses it for is as a springboard to climb the window, and nothing else;[.

I think I'll go wash my grimy windows. They really don't look this nasty in person (or maybe I'm just used to them).

Identity Crisis

Over the weekend I went from this (I'm the one on the right - ha ha!)...

...to this...

...before finally settling on this...

Here is the opinion poll from home: Zoya and I LOVE it, husband likes the red better, but thinks he can grow to accept this one, and Dylan, who has never been able to adjust immediately to ANY kind of change, HATES it! Who knew that something as trivial as hair could elicit such varied and passionate responses?!