The World of Wyatt, Jubilee & Addie

She's got attitude...

2009-03-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

...and marker all over her face

Chumpy Bunzies

2009-02-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Jubilee is regressing back to infancy in her quest to never wear clothes of any kind ever. What I thought would be a fleeting two-year old phase has ended up with a knock-down drag out temper tantrum anytime I ask her to dress in anything more than a satin princess costume skirt. And if I tell her that we MUST wear clothes to leave the house, she insists that we just never leave the house again. Her complaint is that clothes are too tight, even if I am trying to dress her in her brother's size 5 shirts, and the other morning she made the ridiculous claim that it's not just her shirts and pants that are too tight, it's her SKIN that is too tight also. "My knuckles, my knuckles! They're too tight!, " she was screaming at me, as I stood there laughing and repeating, "Sorry honey, mommy can't fix that."

The fact that Jubilee is so comfortable going au natural is starting to work its way into her made-up songs, which she sings everyday. Usually her song of choice is "I LOVE MOMMY (or Daddy, or Wyatt, or Addie...insert of object of affection here) EVERYDAY." Caleb's favorite is Jubilee's song "I hate the sun everyday." But the other day her songs started taking a strange turn into "My Chumpy Bunzies" and at dinner time last night "Take it off, take it off! Beep! Beep! Beep!" Caleb and I quizzically looked at each other and wondered when our daughter had been secretly listening to Fergie and visiting strip clubs.

So in an effort to restore modesty to our home, Jubilee is being forced against her will into clothes every morning. If you want to enjoy peace and quiet, DO NOT come to my house at 8am in the morning.

Fun at the Beach and Aquarium

2009-02-21T21:21:00.001-08:00

Today we had a great time catching up with Uncle Jake and his daughter Reily, and Cliff and Liz Miller with their 10 month-old Isaac. While visiting Discovery Park we watched sailboats, kayaks, and seaplanes with the stunning backdrop of Mt. Ranier. Then we moved on to the Seattle Aquarium, where the big draw was to introduce Jubilee to her first real octopus. Once we found it though, she would have none of it's sucker-y tenticles, or even try to touch any fake version of an ocupus. She and Wyatt did have fun trying on octopus arms though, and posing as octopuses. The sea otters were a big hit with Jubilee, and Wyatt had the most fun feeding sea urchins. What a super day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-19T17:46:00.001-08:00

So many things this week have been giving us that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling. This afternoon we received our December Baboo Box, chock full of Christmas goodies from my Mom in California. Wyatt's favorite part was cutting open the box, Jubilee's was delving into the goodies (as evidenced in the photo entitled "chocolate pretzel bliss), and mine was setting up the latest addition to the Christmas village that sits atop our TV.

Addie did not have a favorite part. She just sat there looking worried as usual.

Along with presents, there has been snow, snow, and more snow this past 7 days, with more snow in the forecast on and off for the next week. And with such a White Christmas, there has been much sledding, snowball fighting, shoveling, cocoa and cookies at the neighbors, and watching White Christmas of course!

Jubilee Fairy

2008-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight Jubilee started running around the house with her arms flapping, exclaiming "I'm a fair-ee!" So I climbed up into the attic and found a pair of wings for her. I saw her eyes double in size when I unwrapped them. Here she is flying up in the air on my feet.

Once outfitted with wings, Jubilee took off with Caleb's walking stick, which she calls "bonker."

Halloween

2008-11-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween was made especially fun this year with the addition of salt clay-dough bats, painted black by wyatt...

...our indoor mantle pumpkin display (paint by jubilee, faces by wyatt)...
...and our outdoor pumpkin display. Caleb's is the pumpkin pie, mine is on the lower left, jubilee's is in the middle, and wyatt's are on the right.
I made the costumes again this year. Wyatt went as his alter-ego, a waste management guy. Jubilee went as her favorite animal, an 0ctopus. Accompanied by Caleb's mom, we did a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, then on to Cascade church's festivities, then a bit more trick-or-treating, and finally ended up at our friends' the Olsen's home till 10pm. The kids fell asleep that night in bed in 30 second flat.

Jubilee's Quote of the Week

2008-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

"I tasted it all gone!" (eating a random cherry tomato she found on Caleb's desk)

Happy and Sad

2008-09-24T22:54:00.001-07:00

Caleb's first taste of ink

2008-09-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday September 13 Caleb crossed over into the world of body modification with his first tattoo. The reason? A dislike of getting his gold, electricity-conducting wedding ring caught inside the sharp, electric edges of computer cases. Realizing that wearing no wedding ring was also something he did not like, he decided to make his ring as permanent as his vows.

Addie and Jubilee's first photo shoot

2008-09-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Addie's first smiles

2008-09-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

Pit-eee Pincess

2008-09-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

Lately Jubilee has clued in to the world of princesses, opening a whole new world of silky taffeta dresses, rhinestones, sequins, and other sparkly accessories. Today in fact, she was wearing a baby wipe on her head and calling it a "crown." Here she models a Cinderella skirt-dress while singing a soulful rendition of her own song "Adelaide Swinging"

Bedtime Last Night

2008-09-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last night after a productive evening of picking beans in our garden...

jumping through puddles...

and looking at a rainbow...

Liz and the kids retreated inside for bedtime (Caleb was at the movies with Uncle Gorman).
While Addie spent the evening tucked in her swing...Wyatt examined the new 6-year molar making its way into his mouth.

Eventually Wyatt and Jubilee took their books to Mom and Dad's room for story time...
and a photo shoot entitled "Scary Monster Under the Covers..."

The night ended with Wyatt learning to work Mom's camera while she hung Jubilee upside down. What a great evenning!

A Recent Trip to Yakima

2008-08-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

We made the trek over to the eastside recently to pay homage to the great-grandparents and to give them a chance to get to know Addie. Here is Granny and Grandma reed holding her for the first time.

It must be mentioned how comfortable the ride was inside our new van, courtesy of Granny and Pa Sam. Not only did they bequeath us this sweet ride, but also a bunch of great looking trucker-style hats to go with it! Here Wyatt models his.

More Addie Photos

2008-07-21T22:32:00.001-07:00

Adelaide Grace Reed

2008-07-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

Adelaide Grace Reed
Born July 18, 2008
at 3:37pm
8lbs 3oz
20 inches long

Sultan Shindig

2008-07-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Each year on a weekend in mid-July our great town of Sultan celebrates itself with an old-fashioned parade, fireworks (because really, we didn't get our fill on the 4th), and street fair. This year Wyatt was especially proud to join his friend Jacob in the kids bike parade while wearing his Davey Crockett costume. Jubilee looked stylish in her first pair of sunglasses. The kids loved watching the fire engines, home made floats, classic cars, tractors, and of course CANDY raining down from the sky!

At Lake Tye

2008-06-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

Jacob, Wyatt, and Jubilee enjoy a day at the park

Winter and Spring

2008-06-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of what we have been up to this past winter and spring.

December brought snow to our backyard, which Wyatt reveled in.

We spent Christmas visiting with the Reed and Buerer families. Here Jubilee models her Christmas dress (why YES, mom did make it!)

Wyatt has learned to draw figurative objects. Here he pledges allegience to his "ghost guy."
Jubilee, on the other hand, has learned to both brush her teeth AND paint the white carpet with big brother's "washable" orange paint, while mom thought she was getting a moment of solitude in the kitchen. She did this twice in one week.
More snow came in January, February, and even April. It has been a strange winter up here in the Pacific NW. Here's a view from our bedroom window.
Evidence that Jubilee loves snow...

...but hates sled rides.
We celebrated Easter at home with some egg dying and an indoor egg hunt, then headed to Yakima the next weekend for more egg hunting, or "egg-u" hunting as Jubilee would say.
Our circa 1992 fridge and oven met their demise in March, and were replaced by slicker versions. Here Jubilee and Wyatt enjoy copious amounts of cocoa and whipped cream by the glow of our new appliances.
This spring also brought one of the largest and most unexciting purchases in our family's history...a new roof. While we did not photo-document the process, it was a big and loud part of our lives for about 2 weeks.

But mostly our days and evenings were filled with a lot of moments like these:

...and we are all still ok

2007-11-19T22:27:00.000-08:00

Reed Family summary- Sept 1 through Nov 19

Jubilee's one-year old's birthday...Salsa Dancing...Wyatt's first day of school...Paperboys concert in Seattle...Caleb's bad cough...collapsed lung...chest tube and 3-day hospital stay...Liz's half marathon in Leavenworth...re-collapsed lung...chest tube, major surgery, and 8-day hospital stay...Liz loses keys at park...Liz turns 30...Liz gets locked out of home...Liz shows up to birthday dinner 24 hours late...Liz dents PT cruisers bumper doing a 360 on freeway off-ramp...Liz nearly loses mind...Liz finds out she's expecting...

...and we are all still ok

Wyatt's shots

2007-08-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

From time to time Wyatt either finds or asks for his mom's camera, resulting in a myriad of viewpoints of the pre-schooler's world.

We get a lot of this shot...

Jubilee can't quite figure out what is going on

Local haunt, the Reptile Zoo

Oddly Abstract...also known as Wyatt's shirt

The end of the trip...Get that out of my face big brother!

Highlights from the 4th of July and Wyatt's birthday

2007-08-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

Caleb instructs his son on the fine art of firing a marshmallow gun...

...and moments later Wyatt wastes no time aiming it at mom

Jubilee the All-American Baby

Ah, there's nothing like a good splash in the fact from Auntie Mel

Surprisingly Wyatt really does look at the cards

Wyatt shows dad his dino fossil dig kit...Caleb is impressed

A birthday art kit from Grandma Ruthie

Wyatt and his aunt Emily

The crowd gathers for the neighborhood fireworks (Jeff B., Wyatt, Caleb, Gary K. and his daughter Steph)

Wyatt insisted on protective headgear

Ghost sparkler

Just a sampling of the many, many, many fireworks we witnessed that night. The inhabitants of Sultan really do go all out.

Where have we been???

2007-07-29T20:55:00.001-07:00

Well folks, the mom of the house has been mighty lazy in updating this site. First there was the big move to our new house in Sultan (and no, not the house we described in a previous post). And then there was all the unpacking. And then there was just taking a deep breath for two months and just enjoying being in our new house and neighborhood (and yes, it ROCKS...which is pretty remarkable, because our old neighborhood rocked as well...so how blessed are we to end up with the world's greatest formers neighbors, and then the world's greatest new neighbors?!) So, to make a long story short, the other house we put a contingent offer on was lost to a higher bidder, leaving us feeling house-less and pretty alarmed, but God came through with a house that we think suits us even better. For starters it has a fun backyard and a pretty sizable front yard too, is located on a cul-de-sac- perfect for beginner bike riders like Wyatt- and has a very functional one-story floor plan. Mom does not miss vacuuming stairs at all. We've gone from 2 and a half bathrooms down to two full (also great for Mom's cleaning routine), but have added a jetted jacuzzi tub, french doors, some bay windows and a wood burning fireplace. Dad was quick to add a good gas grill and a fire pit for summer nights. It's nice to have such a cozy place for a home.

Lost in Relocation

2007-03-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, our little family is looking to move on up to the next level of home ownership...a HOUSE. We like our townhome with it's little yard and neighborhood park. And it can't be said enough that we love our neighbors. This neighborhood has blessed us with a great circle of friends. But with two kids (and hopefully more in the future) we find ourselves wanting more of a yard, garage, and just a tad bit more space. Ok, actually we want a LOT more space. In fact, when the house hunt began a month ago, we were really hoping to find a well priced 5 acre parcel of countryside to call our own. But after looking up to 45 minutes outside of Monroe (and that's 45 minutes on top of Caleb's 35 to 60 minute commute) in places that I am sure drugs are regularly manufactured up in the woods, we still could not find a good piece of property, that is, unless it contained a 30 year-old tear down mobile home. So instead we have found a 7 year-old nice, neat rambler in a safe neighborhood near Sultan. Sultan is the next town up Highway 2 heading towards Stevens Pass. Sultan consists of the following: two stoplights, a decent coffee house, several antique stores, a winery that produces mead (a meadery?), a library, a small no-name grocery store, a county dump, a few bars, and river that likes to overflow and wash out the town every so often. Fortuntely this house sits high above the river, and far far away from the dump and bars. There are in fact several brand new neighborhoods going in less than a mile away from our neighborhood. It seems that this is the next community for people to move to who can't afford 500K for their first house. I see it as Monroe of 10 years ago. We are quite excited to find a newer home, only 15 minutes further from Caleb's work, in a safe neighborhood. So, the offer in the house was put in about 2 weeks ago, accepted, and now contingent on the sale of our home. Until this happens, we are living in limbo. What have we learned thus far?

1. Literally throwing most of the contents of your home into your garage actually CAN make your home look much bigger. But you must accomplish this task in 48 hours while you have the stomach flu in order to fully appreciate this feat.
2. If you obsessively clean your house daily, your three year-old son will do the following in this order- act out to get your attention, start to run in circles in the livingroom, clean appliances with a costco-size pail of disinfectant wipes, tell you that "if you take out your scrapbooking stuff tonight Mommy, you BETTER put it all away before morning!"
3. If you cook a really smelly food for dinner (say with lots of garlic) and then you make a big mess (lets say by spilling split pea soup all over the stove), and then let two preschoolers play with water unattended in the bathroom after dinner, that will be the night that a realtor calls you from your driveway at 7pm asking to come in.
4. Nothing gives a bright, cheerful welcome in the middle of a drizzly northwestern day like planting flowers around the entrance to your home...lots and lots of flowers. Unless it were possible to hang a happy baby in one of those flower baskets above your front door. It could coo and squeal and smile at the poeple who come to visit. Sounds strange and maybe a bit abusive, but I think it would attract buyers. And Jubilee would do a good job and probably really enjoy it (seriously though folks, I'm not going to hang Jubilee up outside my door).

Here's a link to the page that features our townhouse. Don't recognize it as our home? That's because most of the junk it hiding in the garage!

And here's the link to the house we want to buy. It has a livingroom AND a little familyroom. Heaven!

Strangers in the night exchanging glances

2007-03-09T23:58:00.000-08:00

Ahh...young love. Grady Williams and Jubilee Reed steal a moment together.

February 28, 2007

2007-03-09T23:49:00.000-08:00

When your husband mistakenly leaves for work with all carseats...

...there is nothing better than a snowday...

...except a snowday that lands on GARBAGE DAY!

Valentines Day 2007

2007-03-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Nothing says love like heart-shaped sloppy joes!

Jubilee is a foodie!

2007-03-08T23:01:00.000-08:00

What better place than Granny's kitchen to venture out into the delicious world of food!

Her first pears- a velentines gift (since she couldn't have chocolate) from pal Grady Williams

Not so much a fan of broccoli
And now Jubilee has no issues swiping popsicles from her big brother

Say Cheese!

2007-03-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like when you make three children say CHEESE over and over and over...

Check it out!

2007-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Most of the best Reed family photos get posted here. But if you are looking for something a tad bit dare we say "artsy-fartsy," check out Liz's photo blog in the links section. Wyatt and Jubilee's mommy needed a place where she could express herself in something other than fingerpaints and noodles n' glue.

Christmas in Ronald

2007-01-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

And so the Christmas saga continues! After leaving Yakima on Christmas Eve, we headed for our "cabin," located in Ronald, just a few miles north of Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Hwy 90. Only rich Seattlites would call our digs a "cabin," because to me it seemed to resemble a very well-built new home. Let's just say I could comfortable move in to this cabin for life. Although they did go overboard with a plethora of whitetail deer accessories. Coincidentally, we did get a little dose of "roughing it" on our first night when we discovered there was no water running through the pipes. Though we searched for an hour to find some kind of shut on/off valve, it was cleverly disguised under the kitchen sink as a plastic white flat handle, and we had to told this by the owners (who I'm sure loved solving our crisis on Christmas Eve), but not before we boiled down newly fallen snow to make our spaghetti dinner. Ahh, snow pasta!

Speaking of deer accessories, yes, that's our beloved stocking tree. What better to serve as a place to hang our stockings than a unique standing lamp base made from replica antlers!

And needless to say, our children, particularly Wyatt, enjoyed his second day of stocking and present opening. Break out the pannetonni! Papa served up a great Christmas dinner, topped off by the boxed Italian dessert that we had wondered about for so many years. It was surprisingly buttery and yummy, especially with ice cream.Most of our time at the cabin was spent napping, reading, eating, sledding, and general frolicking in the snow.
Much to Wyatt's liking, we also watched a good deal of his hero, Davy Crockett. Here Wyatt and Papa catch some of the King of the Wild Frontier. In the foreground is a bowl full of plastic knights from Wyatt's stocking.

We did peel ourselves off the couches for a few outings. One afternoon we headed in to Ellensburg, specifically to enjoy breakfast at the Yellow Church Cafe. And later in the week Liz and Caleb enjoyed a night out at Mama Vallone's in Cle Elum, which served up tasty authentic Italian. If you ever pass though Cle Elum, we recommend it, along with the Cottage Cafe for a good greasy spoon breakfast, and the Pioneer Coffee Company for heavenly Mexican Mocha.

Here you see Jubilee enjoying the ride to Ellensburg.

And here are Liz's fabulous sisters, Geneva and Emily, who sacrificed a great deal of their winter vacation so that they could spend it...well, driving to places like Ellensburg.

Waiting for grub at the Yellow Church.

And when our time ran out at the cabin, we all traveled back to Monroe, where the Buerer's camped out on out small living room floor for two more nights. Here Geneva and Emily enjoy the last holiday cookie decorating of the season, making gingerbread "Vaders" a new tradition.

Thank you family for a great vacation!

Christmas in Yakima

2007-01-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas our little family was blessed with the opportunity of spending time with both our Yakima family and our California family. First comes the photos from our visit with Caleb's family on the east side of the mountains. We were with them the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before Christmas.

On Saturday the kids spent the afternoon at one of the happiest places on earth- PaSam and Granny's. While Wyatt and PaSam built a unique snowman...

...Granny just held and rocked Jubilee, which is her God-given right to do as much as she wants as a great-grandma.

Later that evening we went to Great-Grandma Rosetta's for a family party. Sadly, Rosetta's health has deteriorated and she had spent that weekend in the hospital. We dearly missed her.

Every time Wyatt opened a present that evening, he exclaimed, "Hey! It's a white box!" as if that were a gift in itself. You'll notice in the second photo here that Wyatt appears as a blur, which is a true representation of the way he looked as he opened presents over the next several days. Also in the second photo, to the right on the ground, is Liz's prized red Kitchen Aid toaster. Yes, that is really what Liz wanted for Christmas...a RED toaster. Yes, it makes her feel middle-aged to ask for a kitchen appliance for her big gift, but hey, she really wanted one.

Since we were going to be with the Buerers on Christmas day, we treated Christmas Eve as such with the Reeds, opening our stockings. Here's Wyatt (next to Meemaw's HUGE Christmas tree) anxiously awaiting the event. Note: if there is one thing to count on for Christmas, it's that Caleb's Mom will really take her Christmas tree seriously , and will find the biggest, most gorgeous, most back-breaking tree to fit in her high living room.

Wyatt's cousin Reilly joined us. Here she is looking like an angel in her too-cute dress...

...and here's our angel Jubilee, whom Granny could not keep her hands off of once again.

I especially like the way Reilly's feminine dress contrasts the huge plastic double-barreled shot gun that she is ogling. She was learning, along with Wyatt, how to properly use it I guess, one of two pretend firearms that Wyatt received , the other being a prized Davy Crockett "Old Betsy" rifle.
Liz thought Caleb deserved a "major award"- the replica leg lamp from "A Christmas Story" movie.

And finally, try as she might, Liz could not get a good picture of Jubilee in her Christmas clothes...
...though she did get this one from Wyatt through candy-bribery.

Shortly after, Liz's family arrived to caravan with us up to a cabin near Cle Elum. Tales of more adventures to come!

Fleefer babies

2007-01-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

Back when Wyatt was 2, we used to watch this show in CBC (Canadian Broadcast Channel) called, "Nanalan." On Nanalan a sesame-street-like puppet girl has daily adventures at her grandmas. Some of these adventures include her stuffed toy fleefer, a bright yellow bird. When I went to a craft show and saw some fleefer-like booties, I could NOT pass them up. Come on, how can a baby get by without fleefer slippers. And I just had to pick a pair up for Grady too! So here they are, me and Jemena's fleefer babies showing off their fleefer wear.

Pre-schooler Christmas Bliss!

2006-12-20T23:38:00.000-08:00

On Monday night our neighbors asked if we'd like to join them at Bellevue Square Mall for their nightly Christmas festivities. Now normally I'd run screaming from any mall the week before Christmas, but Erin said it was a treat for kids. Indeed, Snowflake Lane was a veritable Holiday paradise for Wyatt, somewhat like the sensation he would (presumably) get from eating 10 bags of skittles in a row. Come on, a hundred drummers dressed up as toy soldiers, creating "the longest drumline in Washington State"... snow made of bubbles falling from the sky! By the time we left my hearing had been damaged to the same degree as an indoor punk rock concert, but such a small price to pay to watch my son dance hand in hand with Eliot to some really intense carols.

New Homes

2006-12-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

There has been many, many new gingerbread constructions on our block of late. First, Wyatt and his Mom constructed a sturdy IKEA model. This was Liz's first time making cement frosting and the results were pleasing. For Wyatt, it was all about the candy. Not suprisingly, as the days wore on, more and more of that candy just accidentally fell off the house and into his mouth!

Two nights ago Liz, Erin, Leah, and Kathy-the-gingerbread-maven created their own homes at Erin's. Kathy (Garret's mom) is a baker by trade, and whoa, can she ever make a gingerbread house. She supplied the raw materials, and with pounds and pounds of candy, we made a new neighborhood. Liz especially liked the "ski chalet" that Kathy constructed for absent Kristy (who was packing for Hawaii, poor thing), and the colorful roof of Leah's cabin (Liz wanted to make it into jewelry...edible jewelry), and Erins fanciful church (with roof caving in...incidently, Erin is one of the most optimistic people in our lives. She appreciates her vertically-challenged roof as whimsical). Liz's church was almost doomed to implosion, but Kathy helped prop up the inside with a plastic container (not the can of Budweiser Liz had first tried out). Anyways, how lucky our family is (for Liz especially) to have this super cool group of gals to get creative and unwind with.

And finally, this morning, Liz and Wyatt took the remnant frosting and candy and constructed the BEST HOUSE OF ALL out of graham crackers and a box. Behold its artistry! Seriously, Liz likes this last house best of all!

The Tree

2006-12-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Snow still clung to the ground last Saturday as our family went looking for the tree. We've decided to make cutting down our own tree a tradition each year. It will be Liz's job to rally the troops and pick the farm, and Caleb and Wyatt will have final say on which tree makes it into our house. This year we went to St. Nick's, 14 miles away on a winding back road. Caleb and Liz would very much like to move out there someday. Following close behind were our neighbors Evan, Erin, Eliot, and Ivor. Finding the tree was a snap! Riding the tractor back to the coffee shack and pay area was a blast! Telling Wyatt there would be no second ride...whole different story. Both trees fit on top of the Griffiths Jetta. When we got it home and decorated it, voila, the star just about touches the celing. Perfect size! Another tradition was begun that night...decorating the tree in new Christmas jammies, watching a movie, and falling asleep in sleeping bags beneath the tree.

Christmas Party!

2006-12-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Last friday the gang all met up for some good old fashioned cookie exchanging and decorating. Let the holiday festivities begin!
Eliot and Carmen sample their creations.

I can't stop loving Carmen's hair.

Ethan and Garret (well, the back of Garret)

Who are these superheroes?

Boys vs. Girls...a competition that never gets old.

No fun like SNOW FUN!

2006-11-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

A New Friend!

2006-11-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

There's a new kid on the block. Ivor William Griffiths was born eight days ago on the 16th to our neighbors and friends Erin and Evan. Big sister Eliot is delighted, as are we to have a new playmate! They all joined us for dinner tonight. When Jubilee was placed next to Ivor, I couldn't help but notice how giant she looked (despite that he was born almost two pounds heavier than her at 8lb 4oz), her limbs all spread out and waving wildly next to little bunched up Ivor. Ivor didn't fail to interact though, stealing a kiss and then landing a punch.

Tuning up the Christmas train

2006-11-24T21:25:00.000-08:00

Wyatt and Caleb complete a task of manhood...tuning up our toy train to ready it for christmas decorating.

Our little elf!

2006-11-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

Hello adoring fans!

2006-11-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day

2006-11-23T23:31:00.000-08:00

Although our Thanksgiving this year was limited to just 5 people (or maybe just four and a half since Jubilee didn't eat turkey), we had a nice time nevertheless. Caleb's friend and coworker Jeff joined us for the traditional fixings. Jeff moonlights as a cooking instructor, so I felt a little nervous cooking in front of him in our tiny kitchen with sub-par cooking equiptment, including a sorry set of knives and no turkey platter. But the turkey tasted great, and the mashed potatoes, squash, sweet potato pudding, and stuffing wasn't bad either. Sad to say the biscuits didn't make it through. Jeff served up a magnificent pumpkin cheesecake, which Wyatt had been asking to taste since the beginning of the evening. After dinner, when Wyatt was asked what he had to be thankful for, he replied "I'm thankful I have a good mommy...and a friend to share dinner with...and a baby sister who has lots of sugar for me to steal!"

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T20:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween friends and family! Today was a great day for Wyatt. It began with showing off his Davy Crockett costume at the Alderwood mall and scoring some great candy. We picked Dad up from work in the afternoon and headed to downtown Bothell for some more trick-or-treating with friends, then went home for yet more trick-or-treating. After consuming 5 candies of his choice, Wyatt is currently bouncing off family members and talking hurriedly to himself in a whisper voice. Go Candy!

Wyatt cooking

2006-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Jubilee is all smiles!

2006-10-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Yakima Part 1

2006-10-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

This month sure has flown by, due in part to spending nearly half of it so far in Yakima. Liz, Wyatt, and Jubilee took off for the sunny half of the state on October 1st. Caleb joined on the 3rd for much-needed knee surgery. We've been waiting over a year for this surgery since Caleb injured himself on an evil treadmill. Thankfully the surgery went very well, and Liz had a lot of fun watching Caleb go under and be brought back from the effects of anesthesia. We retured home as a family on October 8. Here's some of the fun we had on our mini vacation.

Wyatt unhappily scrubs off the residue collected while playing on his beloved dirt pile at Pappy and Memaw's ranch.
Jubilee happily napping on Pappy
Yes, Wyatt plays with My-Little-Ponies. Got a problem with that?!
Fall just wouldn't be the same without a walk through the nearby orchards. We missed pear season by a few weeks, so this year we filled four grocery bags of apples. Liz is currently trying to figure out what to do with them. How much canned apple pie filling can one family eat?

"So how fast does this horse go?"

Don't touch her face!!!!!

2006-10-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Despite our REPEATED warnings, Wyatt has the habit of touching Jubilee's face and incurring her wrath on a regular basis. I guess when a 3 year-old loves you so much, they have to express their sincerity by cupping your cheeks with their hands. I like it that Wyatt is still in love with his sister, but couldn't he learn to stop doing that, atleast when she naps (most of day)? So here's a shot of Wyatt expressing his love, and another of Jubilee on the couch (both from about 2 weeks ago).

Mom and Wyatt at the park

2006-09-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Wyatt, your everyday moments amaze me…

Always, as soon as the front door opens, you hop on your big wheels and beg to go somewhere. It’s early September and we are attempting to take in the last of what summer has to offer. Just a minute away from our front door, full of ripe blackberries, and open to a world of imagination, the neighborhood park beckons.

You ride away, wanting to leave me behind, but stop and wait for me every so often because you know you should. “I bet I’m gonna get there first,” you boast. And after careening down a small hill towards the playground at warp speed, you land and take off on your feet.

You are playing the part of a pirate. You are hunting mean guys. You are looking for mermaids. You skip, hop, and sprint. You jump off the tallest objects you find, and sprawl out on the grass. You beg me to join you, and later indulge me in a short photo session.

You could play endlessly here I bet, and how I wish I could forever remember you like this…on a summer day with no end in sight.

Baboo's Visit

2006-09-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we were all treated to a visit from Liz's Mom, the one and only "Baboo." Liz used to call her mom, "Mamoo." When Wyatt got a hold of that name, he changed it to the toddler-speak version of Baboo. So long as she is not called grandma, Baboo is happy. Highlights from the week included Jubilee's first visit to IKEA and Wyatt's first taste of the IKEA childcare (as well as a week of delicious Mellenmork!), a charming Snohomish craft show, shopping at the Disney store at Alderwood Mall, and best of all CLEAN carpets thanks to Baboo's tireless efforts with a rug doctor. We miss you Baboo!

Thanks for the flowers!

2006-09-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

Our fabulous family of Buerers down in CA sent these flowers in honor of Jubilee. Thanks!

bath time!

2006-09-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

Last week Wyatt helped give his sister her first tub bath. Not to be outdone, he acted up during his own bath shortly thereafter.

Wyatt is a great big brother!

2006-09-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for bragging, but boy have I been impressed with how well my three year-old son is taking to being a sibling. He's protective, gentle, and loving with Jubilee. He seems to wish her no ill will. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Jubilee Rose's first photo shoot

2006-09-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

I took some shots of Jubilee a few days ago, and here are the results. They are a bit grainy, and I will probably repeat them soon with better film now that she is less jaundiced.

Hello Fans!

2006-09-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family (especially grandparents),

This is the blog of Wyatt and Jubilee, children of Caleb and Liz Reed.

Although mommy and daddy have their own blogs, we've decided to start a little one of our own. Visit here to read about our daily adventures, our milestones, and the general mayhem we are inflicting upon our parents.

Today Jubilee did what newborns did best: ate, slept, and pooped. She enjoyed napping on dad during the Seahawks game for several hours. After that, mom made her pose for a photoshoot on the big bed, with a sheet for a backdrop, and rose petals artfully scattered around. What appeared to be Jubilee grining for the camera was actually Jubilee peeing on the bed. Anything for the perfect shot!

Wyatt has taken the transition to big brother in stride. It might be the gifts filtering in our front door, for half the people who bought Jubilee a gift also brought one for Wyatt. It might be the novelty of having a living toy that he can protect in the home. Mom would like to think it is the healthy doses of running in the park...or moments like the ones Wyatt and his Mom had today. They went out for a "date" at Starbucks. They shared chocolate grahamcrackers, a special chocolate milk with whipped cream on top, and a free strawberry frappuccino. They chatted, watched the cars exit the highway, and made giant straws with several smaller ones. A good day to say the least.