Jared Is Home!

Jared came home from Okinawa today! That's a picture of the three of us at the pick-up site. I guess it took him around 28 hours to get home with both the flying and the waiting around and bus travel. Einar recognized him and was giving him big smiles even though the little guy is sick (more on that in the next paragraph). It was so great to see him and be able to take him home with us. I made some pizza when we got home and then after the dishes were done I had to tuck in both of the guys around 7:30.

Einar has the 24 hour intestinal clean-out bug that he got from me. I had it on Saturday night and he came down with it yesterday around lunch time. Vomit and diahhrea but no aches and pains. It seems to go away in a day, but Einar threw up right before dinner again, so we are having another upstairs sleepover so that I can hear him and so we won't be around the carpeting downstairs. It worked pretty well last night. It's so quiet around here that I might just go to bed as well so I can play with the boys in the morning.

New Sofa!

Today was a red letter day not only because there is a new red sofa in our living room, but also since Elf Einar and I finished our Christmas Shopping! Whew, I think I'll put my feet up on the chaise and relax a bit with a Thomas the Tank Engine book and the little elf boy with the runny nose and new molars.

Jared comes home in 4 Days! I sure didn't get everything done on my "deployment to-do list," but the sofa was delivered before he arrived (just barely), his car just got its oil change, we can relax together as a family and not get tied-up in Christmas shopping, and even though we had to live apart as a family for the past six months I had a good time with Einar and didn't mope around the house. It will be great to have him home again! Ok, so maybe I'll cook him a few meals when he arrives, but won't it be nice to wake up to an aebleskiver or waffle breakfast on the weekend that I didn't have to make? He's already given me his grocery list of things that he is looking forward to eating and it includes buttermilk for those breakfasts, steak, potatoes, green beans and a couple of other Jared foods. He also gets to choose what we are serving for Christmas dinner.

I asked Einar if he remembers who Daddy is and he said "Yah!" and then ran out into the hallway to point at our wedding photos. Jared is also the only person that Einar has been willing to "talk" to on the phone this week. I'm using "talk" in quotations because he typically remains silent as he listens to the person on the other end of the phone call.

Jared and Friends visiting Peace Memorial in Okinawa

Picture compliments of Judith via Martha.

Birthday Preparations for Nathan

Einar's friend, Nathan, turned 2 on Thursday so we spent some time being crafty and made him a birthday card with markers and we also baked a cake together in honor of Nathan. Nathan never got to eat any of the cake, but that is beside the point, right? Einar was really getting into the artwork as you can see by his dripping blue beard. Thankfully they make washable markers now so it all washed off (except for the blue-tinted teeth). Then it was cake time and Einar helped stir the cake before it went into the oven. He also got to help eat it! I'm posting the recipe for the cake as well since it is so easy and delicious.

Wacky Cake

Oven to 350 F.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Sift together the above ingredients and put in an 8 x 8 pan (NOT
greased). Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients (the kids love doing
this part) and,
in one hole put: 1 tsp vanilla
in one hole put: 5 Tbsp oil (I use canola or olive, but NOT Extra
Virgin Olive Oil)
in one hole put: 3 Tbsp plain white vinegar

Over the top of everything, pour 1 cup warm water. Mix together
everything in the pan with a wire whisk or fork, and be sure to use a
spatula to go around all the corners and mix in all dry ingredients.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Can be iced in the
pan - this is a very moist cake, so be careful if you remove it from
the pan before icing, it could fall apart.

Happy Thanksgiving--San Clemente Style

Happy Turkey Day to One and All!

Last night Jared called from Okinawa (they are back at camp Hansen after venturing to the Phillipines and China) and we got to talk for awhile =). It was already Thanksgiving there and he had just eaten a late breakfast and was ready for a nap. It was great to hear his voice!

Paula is here for the holiday visiting from Seattle. We picked her up from LAX on Tuesday and she doesn't have to fly home until next Tuesday. We had a nice relaxing day today. Sleeping in, pumpkin waffles and bacon (even Einar ate bacon!), Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, picnic lunch at San Gorgonio park, nap for all three of us, cook the turkey, enjoy turkey-day food, relax some more. The turkey turned out well and I also made some sweet corn bread dressing, yams with marshmallows and a salad.

It was a nice treat to dress for summer and eat our meatloaf sandwiches in the sun. Although there isn't any real sense of seasons around here, I am enjoying the sunshine and not loosing mittens or having to wear rainboots all over the place. Dripping jackets aren't missed either.

Now it's time for some pumpkin pie and Thursday night tv with Paula. We might even hop in the hot tub too since it's all clean and warmed up again.

p.s. it's less than a month now till Jared comes home from his deployment!

Crazy about Trains

We have been living an obsessive live revolving around trains! We've been riding them, reading about them, constructing tracks in the living room, pushing them around the dining room table, looking for them as we drive around town, and if he hasn't already, I bet Einar is dreaming about them tonight. "Choo Choo!" is a commonly heard refrain in this house and the Thomas books have even been beating out the Bob the Builder books in the past few weeks.

Today we had the ultimate adventure when we went to Perris, Ca (Just over an hour east of San Clemente) and took part in the Day out With Thomas Festivities at the Orange Empire Train Museum. To begin with, it is November 19th and it was in the Nineties--it felt like summer! It was an outdoor train museum with lots of operating tracks. Thomas and his cars were on one track and there were several trolley busses giving people rides elsewhere. One of the first things we did before getting in the Thomas line for our scheduled ride was run into some really friendly EMTs who talked with the kids, gave them Thomas temorary tattoos and then let them sit in the ambulance. One of the guys even turned on the lights for the kids. Einar and I carpooled with the Cobb family and we had met up with a few other families from our MOMS Club. Then Einar found a little yellow trolley that he kept climbing into and just sitting in until I took him out.

The ride on Thomas was about 25 minutes long and just out and back on a fairly straight track. We also had lunch there--corn on the cob, Gyros and french fries. I have never seen more Thomas and Friends hats, t-shirts and pants EVER! And most of them looked well-worn and loved by the kids that were wearing them--unlike when you go to a concert and everyone is walking around in new concert t-shirts. After the ride, Einar was wiped, but still ready for anything. He did willingly sit in Nathan's stoller to be pushed around the rest of the time and crash in the car after a bit of a snack for the ride home.

A Day out with Thomas wasn't the only train adventure this week. On Thursday we went to Irvine Regional park where they operate a smaller scale train that we got to ride for about 10 minutes. That was a good ride with lots of scenery and a running commentary from the conductor about the history of the 109-year-old park.

Einar is getting very proficient and putting together his tracks in the living room and playing with his train. How does he figure all of this out?

p.s. I would have taken a few more pictures today, but as you can see from one of the pictures, my focus was wonky for awhile and I didn't get it took me some time to figure it out.

First Trip to the Dentist

This morning after we ran some local errands, Einar went to the dentist for the first time. We went to Dr. Lee here in San Clemente since he was recommended by our neighbors. For those of you who have never been to a Pediatric Dentist, you'd be amazed! His office is totally geared towards kids. Einar was captivated by the large magna-doodle in the waiting room and Curious George on the television.

When we went into the exam room, Dr. Lee (who was wearing a scrub jacket with Dolphins and fish on it) had Einar sit on my lap facing me and then we leaned him back so that his head was resting in the Dr.'s lap. I held his hands while his teeth got counted and checked. Einar did not like that and there is no way that I'll be pursuing a career in pediatric dentistry! I can't imagine using one of those really sharp instruments to look for cavities on a little, angry, screaming mouth. He obviously knew what he was doing and Einar got a well-deserved hug afterwards.

Then it was off to another chair for a cleaning. He did a bit better while his teeth got polished and flossed as he was trying to taste the paste. When it was all over, he got to pick a prize out of a special drawer and he chose the plastic heart bracelet that he is wearing proudly in his pictures. He was also given a t-shirt for having no cavities and a red balloon to match his outfit. If he wears his t-shirt to his next appointment then he gets two prizes from the drawer. It was all a bit draining, but over in less than 30 minutes and he walked out with a shiny smile on his face. Unfortunately he let go of the balloon as we were walking from the car into the house, so there were a few more tears before these pictures were taken.

PICTURES! PICTURES! PICTURES!

Hey everyone! It's picture time. I've been saving up the photos from our adventures this week. Disneyland, Squirrel feeding, Halloween, pumpkin' huntin' and hanging out with the grandparents.

Does anyone know how to get Daylight Savings time banished into the history books? Naps and bedtimes have been crazy this week. It doesn't help that Einar has sprouted in the past week, is walking around with both of his hands in his mouth due to teething, and has been biting people again. It's been a rough last couple of days. Tonight he was asleep by 6:30pm! It's time for me to hit the sack too in order to take advantage of some extra sleep. I think I'll need it!

Disneyland Adventure

Yesterday we ventured to the Magic Kingdom with Grandma and Grandpa Bjorklund. Here is a picture with us and Buzz Lightyear, one of Einar's favorite characters. He eventually warmed up to the big plastic guy and gave him a couple of high-fives. He can spot "Buzz" everywhere and points him out.

Where Have We Been?

We haven't been on any big vacations or sick, thankfully, just trying to keep each other out of trouble here in San Clemente. Einar's biting took a turn for the worse last weekend. Since I know that he has bitten only when he is tired, hungry and frustrated I've been trying to keep him out of those situations and provide him plenty of opportunities to be successful instead. We've been going home for lunch instead of playing with friends till the bitter end and playing with friends outside a bunch. We not only had a bite-free week, we also had a lot of fun.

Einar has been working on his coloring and often goes for his crayons while I'm preparing dinner or lunch. Instead of coloring books with his favorite characters, there are websites where you can find coloring sheets to print and color. He has been coloring Thomas the train, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, and Elmo.

Another activity that we've been doing after he wakes up from his naps is to walk down to the golf course to run around with the neighbor kids and all of the dogs that come out to play before dinner. One day after he woke up I couldn't get him into any pants, so while I was taking care of his dirty diaper, Einar came up to me with his elephant costume and readily put that on instead of pants. So I took the elephant to Trader Joe's to get some bananas and milk and then we went to the golf course to play. He was happy as a clam or should I say that he was happy as an elephant in pink tennis shoes. It was really funny to see an elephant try to walk a little "doggie."

On Friday we had a MOMS Club Halloween Party. What a great turn-out we had! All of the kids came in costumes, but we had to take them off after about 10 minutes because the weather was gorgeous and about 82 degrees--way too hot to be running around in head-to-toe fleece.

Einar is also prepared to be the new James Blond for Halloween. I got a couple of good action shots in his tuxedo, but it's a bit big to be walking around for trick-or-treating. He'll probably wear it to the party that we are having on base on Saturday for all of the kids from Jared's battalion.

It's been a challenge for me to get pictures of the little guy lately. Whenever I push the button he is either turning away and making a run for it, or looking down at the ground. I hope you enjoy the ones I got!