Earthquake!!!!

No, we didn't have an Earthquake!  However, this area is 'overdue' for a 'big' one...  As a mom, this is a scary prospect.  The strong need to protect my littles is on over drive!  No, I'm not a survivalist with a plan to take to the mountains or a bunker in fear of (insert disaster, war, civil unrest, your choice)  but I am a mama and a planner! 

Yesterday, I learned what to do in the event of an earthquake, how to prepare your home and family.  What to do is simple: Drop (to the ground), Cover (get under a sturdy table, ideally), and Hold (on for dear life and to the table).  Check.  Next , the house, this one will be a future project...hopefully soon, since it's a safety thing.  Here's what we are going to do: 

• Earthquake Retrofit our house, since it was built before 1985.  For us, this will involve: securing the house to the foundation with sill plate bolts and/or foundation plates, ensuring the first floor joists are braced and connected to the rest of the understructure, and hopefully not needed to reinforce our foundation.
• Water heater strapped to house- check.  Flexible pipes connecting gas and water to utilities- check.
• Secure furniture like shelves and dressers to walls.
• Secure wall hangings so they can't fall off
• Secure any other fall hazards around house
• Add door closures to cabinets
• Make sure nothing hazardous can spill if toppled in garage.
• Label utility shut-off’s

To prepare the family, we are going to assemble an Earthquake Emergency Kit.  For the most part, it's our camping gear, first aid kit and some other basics we'll add so that everything is accessible.  You can find a Red Cross list online for recommended Emergency Kit supplies.  I don't have a lot in the way of canned goods, because we try not to eat processed foods...so I may be overly cautious a buy some, use it for canned food drives every year, and repeat the cycle.  Rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it...right!?!  

 

Not related to an Earthquake, but while we are assembling such things, we'll put together a car emergency kit too!  I recall being on an 'adventure' aka lost with Brett and Evan when he was a baby, trying to get back to our hotel room driving around Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We weren't actually lost, but the 'road' turned out to be impassable and we nearly got stuck.  We were in the middle of no where in a Jeep wrangler (soft top) with my baby, no food, no blankets, getting dark...I'm thinking bears, mountain lions, cold, hungry baby... I was NOT happy.  I did remain calm, but after that....never again will we take a 'short cut' attempt like that again.  While we wouldn't have had a emergency car kit given we were in a rental...I did learn to always bring more than enough food if nothing else and to just say no to dotted dirt roads around National Parks close to dark. 

Also to prep the family, we are gently talking to the tots about it.  Evan is super sensitive, so we have to be tactful in our approach.  One thing I had to provide for his school was an emergency kit for him.  So he's good there, and fortunately, if he's at school, he's close enough, that I can walk to pick him up.  Brett on the other hand, I'm terrified about him being in a skyscraper downtown...it is a new building built with earthquakes in mind, but still... :-/  His office does have earthquake kits on each floor.  Good job! 

Other little things, but important, we have a meeting plan (house), alternative meeting plan (Lori's house), out of area contact to coordinate with (my mom), and downloaded a Red Cross App- evidently good for communication in the event of a disaster.  I also have a printed out list of emergency numbers, other contact numbers, locations of police, fire station, hospitals, pictures of the family, and a list of what to do afterwards (beyond change your pants). 

As Bob the Builder says, "Safety First!"

The resident mama (me) says, "Must protect my babies!!!"

Instagram

Playing at REI!  Oliver couldn't get out, but was happy in the canoe!  There's a giant treehouse for the kids to play on next to this too!  Yeah REI!

Anyone else use Instagram?  I'm pretty decent about posting pics using Instagram and love seeing friend's pics who I know use it!  If you use it and I don't follow you, let me know, so I can find you!  My Instagram name is farmhousefixer, if you'd like to follow us.  Oliver is starting to walk- hopefully I can catch some steps!  I'll post those on Instagram as soon as I can!

This past week has been a little rough...Oliver caught a pretty bad upper respiratory virus- mucus galore, cough, rash...  I was pretty sure it was just a virus, but took him to the doctor just in case because of the rash...  He's getting better now, but his sleep is still a bit of a mess....most nights he's up every 2 hours... ugh...  Today did not start well... rough night, then Oliver was finally sleeping and Cooper turned on the light to look for his lovies and screamed when we tried to escort him out of the room... then everyone was up for the day...  I had to return a uhaul trailer we rented, so we had an early run out as well... this turned into a good thing though!  We made our first trip to the giant Whole Foods...there was hardly anyone there since it was 7:30 in the morning, the people that worked there were awesome, friendly and chatty!  We looked at all the fun fresh produce and talked about the different types of grains in the bins.  The kids got to eat some fruit as we shopped.  It turned into a little field trip about food for the boys!  :-)  And at the end, I treated myself to some coffee :-)  with caffeine :-)  The boys spent some quality time after we got home playing in the dirt while Oliver napped (which is now ending...I hear him...).

Time to head to the library for story time!  

Hope everyone is doing well!

Transplanted mom of 3 littles seeking friends

Here we are, transplanted from the east coast all the way to Seattle!  What a change!  We are settling in, things are going well.  We've found the grocery stores, gotten new driver's licenses, found parks, etc.

I feel like part of my job here is finding us local friends.  I thought this was going to be super easy!  Back in Maryland we have an amazing network of awesome friends.  Not just casual friends, but real friends, ones that you are super comfortable with, ones that you help out and they help you, ones that you can just drop in and chat, without schedule a playdate a week in advance, ones that you get along with and just click.  Can you tell I miss you guys???  Leaving our friends is one of the most difficult things with this move.  It's been a major change in our daily lives- not being around you all.  For those that don't know, we'd see our Maryland friends a few times a week.  More often, once we knew we'd be leaving- trying to get as much time with them as we could before we left.  The boys really miss their friends too.

Examples:

"I miss Lily, she's my friend.  I really like her animals too." - Evan with tears in his eyes...

"I want to go to Don and John David's house..... " (pleading, whining voice)- Cooper

It's enough to break your heart...  And I could give examples referencing all of our little friends too :-)

My eastern Maryland friends, I miss you guys too!  We didn't get to see you all as often, but wow, how did we get so lucky to have such good friends!  These are the friends we could plan weekend adventures with- winter sledding and cabin trip, skiing/snowboarding, beach...

Making friends here I believe is going to be an experience...  Right now it feels like I'm dating....  Seriously...  Here's an example...you're at the park...you spot another mom with 2 kids remotely the same age as your's... next step...come up with a way to strike up a conversation... sometimes they pretty much shut you down, ugh, really...how rude! Other times, the conversation continues...yes!  Maybe you talk about things to do...maybe you get a way to work in maybe meeting up at the library or tot gym...afterwards, you excitedly tell your husband- currently the only other adult to talk to...I met someone!  There was one day I emailed Brett, "I met someone!  We even exchanged numbers!"  After most encounters, you find yourself questioning....I don't think I said anything dumb!  We might meet up?  Did she like us?  Will our kids play well?  I wonder if we have anything in common?  And I swear I'm not an insecure person...

I like meeting new people!  So generally I think it's fun to talk to and meet people.  It just feels awful when people totally disregard you.  Who does that?  It would be so awesome if I just had one of our friends, just one person. I'm a better mom, better wife and life is just better when you have friends.  The kids need friends too!  They are getting exposure to other kids often, but I want them to be able to develop friendships.  I have to remind myself it takes time.  Part of me wonders if it's possible to find great friends here.  Before you jump to say of "course it is"...  It's more challenging now to make friends- I've got a lot of variables.  When you just have one little, it's pretty easy to meet and get to know other moms with their first baby too. You instantly have that it's my first baby everything is knew thing in common.  You are similar schedules and have less variables.  I have Oliver napping two times a day and the big boys napping in between that, plus preschool three days a week.  That doesn't leave a lot of 'free' time.  (There are loads of meet ups, PEPs groups, MOMS groups, MOPS, etc- but again, they all meet during naps...)  And those first time moms looking for friends too, well they don't seem to be particularly interested in getting together with a mom with multiple kids...I think they are scared to have their little ones around bigger tots?  I'm not entirely sure.  Most of the preschool moms seem to be busy and settled in their routine.  These moms are all super nice though!  There's hope, I'm not giving up, it's just not going to happen as easily as it has in the past.  I'm spoiled, what can I say?  I love you guys!!!

Oh, we do have a playdate set up for this week and we are meeting some people at the library for story time!  We'll see how it goes! :-)

Preschool Fun!

Evan started preschool the week after we arrived in Seattle.  He was very eager, so we didn't waste time!  Most every place I contacted had no openings at all!  Fortunately, we lucked into one opening in the afternoon class at Discovery Park Nature Preschool!  Woo hoo!  Evan was so excited about starting!  It's been about a month now and his enthusiasm hasn't waned!  For that Brett and I are so happy!  The preschool is super close to our house- if it weren't for naps, we'd walk.  Naps are actually the biggest challenge- I have to wake Cooper and Oliver up to go pick up Evan.  No one likes waking a sleeping baby...  Though Cooper is actually the most difficult and begs to sleep a 'couple more hours' then fights me the whole way most days.  We do have some easier days though and I'll take those!

At the end of each week, we get a little letter about everything they did over the course of the week.  This is great considering when I ask him what he did on the way home...he says, "Ah, I don't remember..."  So for your entertainment, I'm going to include one of the letters!  It's a bit long...but here you go!


Monday we made letter “K” kingfishers. We even had stuffed specimens to look at closely. We also enjoyed wearing our masks from last week, playing in the Sensory Bin, building with the marbles, being doctors and dressing up. At circle we sang our calendar songs and had a closer look at the kingfisher specimens. We got to look at a male and a female (she has a bit of red on her chest). It was a beautiful day so after lunch we got on some gear and headed to the Owl Logs. We went over the Funny Face Troll Bridge, continuing up the trail to the Wishing Tree and connecting to the Loop Trail. Then we took a little trail that brought us to a road and then to the one by one trail through Bunny Land. We crossed the South Parking Lot, went up the stairs and arrived at the Owl Logs. Here we looked for bunnies, climbed on the logs, explored with magnifying glasses. We returned to school going through Bunny Land, passed the Wishing Tree and down the trail to the water fountain. When we returned to school our grownups were waiting for us.

Wednesday we made bubble print moon craters. We had a bowl of soap, paint and water; we used a straw to blow bubbles and then put a piece of paper over the bubbles to pop them. It left what looks like moon craters on the paper. We had lots of fun blowing many bubbles. We also had fun playing in the Sensory Bin, having a picnic, playing in the kitchen and doing puzzles. When going to the
Apple Room we saw the Ant Class eating outside; we took a vote to do the same. At circle we sang our calendar songs and read On the Moon. Some of us shared what we’d like to do when we grow up*. We had our lunch outside and when we finished we played in the Goofy Grass or drew with chalk. For our hike we went passed the Friendship Trees and then followed the Loop Trail. Along the trail we noticed little Stinging Nettles and buds on Indian Plum. We stopped to play at the Castle Trees. Here we were guards or knights at the castle. We also did some climbing and repair of the castle along with just running around exploring. We returned to school going passed the Wishing Tree and down the trail to the water fountain. When we returned Samuel’s sister and mom were there for his Sharing Can. The clues were 1) it’s rectangular with numbers 2)it’s flat and 3)it’s for a game. It was several of his Pokeman cards. Elliot’s mom and sister also joined us for Elliot’s birthday celebration (he turns 5 on Thursday). Elliot gave us all a yummy treat and we sang Happy Birthday to him. Thanks Larsen Family!

*WHAT WE WANT TO DO WHEN WE GROWUP

Jordan: a fairy
Sydney: an artist
Samuel: a race car driver, soldier and policeman
Annika: a policeman
Elliot: a farmer
Evan: an engineer of a grain factory
William: a race car driver, soldier and policeman
Lizzy: a fairy
Liam: a construction worker
Ella: a scientist, builder and an astronaut
Neelu: not sure quite yet
Kabbo: underwater explorer, scientist, spaceman, forest explorer

Friday we made our own projects. We had paper, dot markers, glues, glitter glue, stickers, pompoms, markers. We also had fun with dressing up and having a restaurant. Some of us enjoyed playing with the gears and making castles and foods in the Sensory Bin. Once again on our way to the Apple Room we saw the Ant Class eating outside, so once again we took a vote and eating outside won. At circle we sang our calendar songs and tried something new with the months of the year song. We stood up and when we sang our birthday month we sat down. We did a good job of listening for our birthday month and sitting down. Linnaea also read Owl Babies. When we finished lunch we once again played in the Goofy Grass (lots of racing) and did some chalk drawing. Our hike led us up the trail by the water fountain and a left turn before the Resting Log. We then looped around the southeast corner of the park. There was even a part where we split and some followed Linnaea and some followed Erika. We ended near a tree fort. Some kids were building on it and we asked if we could join.  Everyone was involved in gathering branches and sticks for the fort/rocket ship. When we returned to school we walked by our Salmonberries and through the Secret Garden. We had enough time for two stories, On the Moon and Penguin and Pumpkin, and our Good bye song.

Evan, excited, and moderately cooperating.

Oliver's opinion.

Let's go!

Cooper has to pack his lunch everyday too!

Halloween Catch Up!

Today started at about 4 am... I gave in and fed Oliver, hoping, praying he'd go back to sleep.  He did, but then Cooper got up, then Evan then waking Oliver back up.  So we were all up by about 5...  I'll just give you one more glimpse into the not so pretty day.... in the 5 minutes that I dared to take a shower, Oliver tried to join me, nearly succeeding, Cooper redistributed the kinetic sand in a 6ft radius of the kitchen counter top and ate the butter off of the butter dish...  

Just a survive kind of day...

As a follow up, post nap, the day was much better and much more enjoyable for all...

Moving on to catch up mode...how about Halloween!  This Halloween we headed up to Westminster to trick or treat with our friends!  It was wonderful, and we were happy to see our friends!  I unfortunately got sick that day, so I wasn't up for taking pictures that night, but here's some from our Halloween photo shoot!

In case it's not clear, Evan was a penguin, Cooper was a spider and Oliver was an owl!  All totally no-sew costumes, since the sewing machine was packed and in storage.  Evan and Cooper chose what they wanted to be... I tried to get them to something coordinating, but to no avail.  It's all good, they loved and embraced their choices.  Oliver's owl hat was knitted by Katie!  Thanks Katie!!!  He's still sporting the adorable owl hat this winter!

Back up and running!

Let's re-phrase that title to: Back up and crawling.  I think that will be more appropriate.  I'm not going to list my excuses, it is what it is.  Moving forward, I've changed the name and address of the blog, as we no longer live in our beloved Farmhouse...  It'll take me a bit of time to get everything else re-adjusted too, but I'll get there.  I'm just hoping I don't loose anything.  I know my Pinterest account and Instagram account were both linked to my blog...now that I've changed a few things, I think I know how/why.  Hopefully it all magically changes together :-/ 

We have lots to catch up on- you know minor details like having a new baby and moving across the country!  Ha!  We're moving at a pretty slow preschooler-toddler- and baby in tow type of pace here, so catching up shouldn't be too difficult. 

I'll leave you with one picture to enjoy...  ( I hear someone waking from their morning nap...)

I know, I said no excuses...

Lots of Love to all!  We miss you all!!!