summer fun

Here's what we spend our time doing when it heats up here. Luke loves his whale pool. I hope that these images aren't too offensive to Spencer.

owls and uncles

I was reading the blog this afternoon when Nat got home from work. I looked at Ashley and Caleb's last post and made the comment, "Ashley and Caleb are night owls. They posted after midnight last night." Luke got really upset and said, "No, no they are not night owls. They look a little bit like owls but they are just uncles."

Owls or uncles... you make the call.

Surprises, Pyros and a Little Praying Mantis

yesterday was Sandra's (my mom-in-law) surprise party. Caleb and i were in charge of getting her out of the house while eveyone got ready. she was completely oblivious even though i think i might have slipped something. she was shocked. this was her expression the whole night.



when it got dark, we all went out and lit fireworks for Pioneer Day.


tonight Caleb felt something on his leg and he looked down and saw a little praying mantis. it was tiny and white and was pretty friendly. those bugs kind of freak me out because they can turn their heads and everything. they're like little aliens. i wanted to keep it and raise it as my own, but deep down i knew i couldn't keep it. i let it go on our plant outside. i tried to take some pictures but they all turned out fuzzy. oh well.

good night everyone.

Q is for ice cube

I was reading an alphabet book with Luke for "night night" time, and when we got to the letter Q he said, "What does Q say?" He thought for a minute and answered, "Q says ice cube!"

sucking corn

Here are pictures of Luke "sucking" (shucking) the corn. He can do it all by himself. He asked me to take a picture of him doing it. You can tell he was in a picture taking mode from his open mouth smiles.

Mom's quilt

Hi everyone. Life has been a little hectic around here. I had been debating whether to leave my comfort zone and take a new job with IT. Ive applied for it so we'll see what happens. I still don't think Im made for the corporate world (understatement!). The new position is within my company just changing departments and its courtesy to tell your supervisors before you apply. So when I went to tell my supervisor that I was thinking of taking a new job I kind of started to cry! Because I really like the people I work with! my loyalty gets the best of me sometimes. oh well!

Regardless....I just wanted to brag about my mom...she finally finished the quilt she was making as a wedding gift for us. Its probably one of the most beautiful quilts Ive ever seen. Its all done by hand and just so intricate. The picture doesn't do it justice.....

Ash & Carrie~ I loved the pictures that you posted! Spencer~ I plan to check out the link soon.

Talk to you soon!

Traci

Mom's Classroom and Such

hey everyone. it's been a while since we've posted. i've been on to comment a lot and but i finally got a chance to download our pictures from the vacation. i also thought maybe everyone would be interested to see the progress of Mom's classroom. so this is going to be a ton of pictures. and don't worry...i'll email families pictures of their families. i'm feeling inspired this morning because my house is clean and i don't have to be at church until 11.



my favorite is the one of eveyone at the zoo. i also really like Luke and Caleb's matching shirts and smiles. i have plenty more where that came from if anyone has any requests. here are a few of Mom's classroom. she has been slowly transforming it. you can see Dad putting up blue butcher paper on the walls. i said that's the teachers version of painting. I love Mom's "stink eye" look. she should totally do that to her students.

bathing beauty

Look at our modest little bather!

bed hog

This is what people are warning you against when they tell you to never let your baby sleep with you.


I took these pictures after I came back to bed after my 3:30 a.m. bathroom trip. Previous to getting up to use the bathroom Luke had been sleeping with his head on my stomach (keep in mind that I am six and a half months pregnant) as he pushed me farther and farther towards the edge of the bed. The best part is the last picture-- Nat is sleeping on the crib mattress next to our bed while Luke occupies our entire queen size bed.

Greetings from CL!

Greetings From CL

Hi everyone! how I miss my Donaldsons. Oh so exciting! Im so honored that Carrie sent me an invitation. I check every day to see pictures of everyone. Emily will have to teach me how to use this...Ive never blogged before and she's so tech saavy!

All I have to talk about is Murphy and sometimes Jack so I'll do more reading and commenting than anything.

With that said, here are some pics of the little pooch. He's 9 wks and has some great sleeping positions (which is also the only time my digital camera can capture the little ball of energy!) we're enjoying him! We've had him a week now.

Goodnight

Baby Sophia

I thought that you all might like to see Marisha's little girl. Isn't she pretty?

Vacation blogging

I know that the pictures aren't in order but Nat just burned his hand making pancakes so I have to publish and help him out. Please email me all your vacation pictures and I will edit them and burn a cd for everyone of all the pictures.

I grew up on this guy!

Bob McGrath from Sesame Street had a show for kids this morning at a music store (the kind that sells pianos, guitars, etc. rather than the kind that sells CDs)in Madison. I found out about it because Bob was on a show on public radio yesterday, and Luke has been talking about it nonstop (I have to admit that I have been, too) for the past 24 hours. It was really important to Luke that we included both Bob AND Cookie Monster when we talked about it. For example,
Me: Luke, are we going to see Bob from Sesame Street tomorrow?
Luke: And Cookie Monster.
Or,
Carrie: Luke, you need to get dressed so we can go see Cookie.
Luke: And Bob.

While we waited in line, store employees played Sesame Street songs on a piano and bass, as this 20-something guy with long hair sang "Rubber Ducky" and "C is for Cookie." He had a pretty good Cookie Monster voice.

Cookie Monster greeted us as we came in. Luke was excited to see him (I think it was his favorite part of the whole thing), and he gave him a big hug. Then he really wanted to see Cookie again after we left the show, so I got to get a picture with him that time.


Then we sat on the floor with about 40 other kids and their parents in a cozy little studio. Bob came in and did a 20 minute show with interactive songs. It was really fun. There were some old favorites ("Sing, sing a song...", "If you're happy and you know it") and some others that I wasn't familiar with. Carrie and I kept saying to each other, "I grew up on this guy"--a line from an episode of The Greatest American Hero in which Ralph Hinckley takes his class to go see the guy who played the Lone Ranger at a mall appearance.

The Irish Con

My cousins let a confidence man bunk with them, and even invited him over to dinner at one of their family’s houses. It was interesting enough to make in the Valley paper. Hope you all like it. David Lewis and Brendan Rowland are my cousins.

Some details not in the article. My cousin Brendan had borrowed his brother's (who just left on his mission) $1000 Canon digital camera and several expensive lenses. I'd hate to have to explain that one to him. The guy had a flawless accent according to my family and several tatoos that apparently backed up his supposed flirtation with the IRA. Oh, and he took David's Laptop computer which was a replacement for his other laptop stolen 3 months ago.

Family Forum

So, on the way home from Aspen Grove today, Aaron and I heard Dianne Reams (I spell it like it sounds) talking about the issue between the media and the federal government. It made me think aout the press and it's role in the US. And THEN I started to think about how Spiderman and Superman storylines both have the media/press playing a big role. I think comics are interesting because they make definite political statements and it is almost like they can get away with saying what others can't (because very few take them seriously). So, I am interested to hear what you guys think tose two comic plotlines say about the role of the press-what they have in common, why they differ, etc. And I think it would be fun to have questions like this occasionally.
-Emily

One more for my baby and one more for the road...

Now, if that isn't a beautiful hunk of babyhood I don't know what is. See, it wasn't deficient milk that made the other two so scrawny...

This is the float. Can you spot the kids in the middle?

Super sleepy!

Funny story, I bought Jakob and Ian Superman PJs, and Eliza says "mommy, I feel left out when you buy superman pajamas for my brothers and not me." So this is a result of her ability to communicate her feelings.

We've been having fun here. Dad has a cabin for us at Aspen grove. The kids have groups that they are part of with face painting , swimming, crafts etc. It is like they are at summer camp, but we had to leave to come back here for the fourth of July parade, which Jakob and Eliza sang on a float. Our neighbor teaches singing. Thier float won the "crowd favorite" award as they sang "Zippidy Doo Dah" and "California Sun." Jakob sweated to death and Eliza took it very seriously. But I think they have been having a great time all-in-all.

Tarzan Returns

Luke is sporting the one-bare-shoulder look again tonight. But this time he has a good reason because he's wearing Carrie's T-shirt, which is a little roomy on him. Carrie said it makes her remember being a Donaldson and wearing Lee's T-shirts. Sorry, Emily, it's dark already so we can't send him out in the sun to get a Tarzan tan line.

We had a great night. Nathan and Rachel Fisher (my RA in V-Hall and Carrie's roommate from freshman and sophpomore years, respectively), their three kids, and Rachel's younger brother Joe stopped in Madison en route from New Hampshire to Idaho. We cooked out, and the kids played outside. It was really nice to see them and catch up. Their children are Sam, 4.5, Isaac, 2, and Grace, 4 months. Luke was more interested in Sam than Isaac; he always wants to play with the older kids. We're planning on swimming with them at their hotel tomorrow morning, since they're not driving too far tomorrow.

Happy Independence Day and happy birthday to my late Grandpa Zugie tomorrow!