Street boarding

After a couple weeks of cold temps, the snow has mostly melted around the city, although our street is still pretty clogged and tricky to get up ... gotta stay in those tire tracks. Speaking of tracks, I have to mention some fresh ones I caught one night during the snowstorm.

Around midnight, I couldn't sleep and it was just dumping outside, at least 6 inches of fresh powder on the ground on top of the previous 4-5. Joi was in bed, and I told her, "I have to go snowboard down our hill right now or I'll just lay here thinking about it." So I got the boots on and trudged up the hill. It was a short ride, maybe a minute, but super fluffy snow, eerily quiet, and bright as day from all the streetlights and city glow bouncing off the snow. A man was out snowshoeing at the top of the hill and he said "I gotta see this" as I took off. I boarded all the way down to our house and made a big sweeping turn through our front gate and right to our front porch. That's a run I'll always remember. Joi went out the next morning and tried to do it, but sometime around 4-5 am, we got some freezing rain and it put a layer of crust on top. Her experience wasn't quite as pleasurable.

We got a few more runs (emphasis on few) on our trip to Mt. Hood for Christmas. We'll post some pics of that soon. Here's one of the front of our house right as we left to drive down to Oregon.

Snowy day!

Daddy's bus for work never came today and mommy's patients mostly canceled, so we got a chance to do some sledding this afternoon, after about 4 inches of snow. Max loved it, although he wasn't so fond of the cold spray in his face when we slowed down using our boots. But he had a good time making snowballs. There's more on the way this weekend! Looks like our Mt. Hood vacation will include some snowboarding after all.



We also went on the Santa Train in North Bend, and Max met Santa, got a nice wooden toy train and ate some red cookies and drank hot chocolate. Santa was "a little bit scary" as Max says when it came time to sit on his lap, but there's always next year!

Max sings "Old Macdonald"

This is a little old, as you can see from the Halloween candy. But Max sure loves to sing. Too bad the audio gets a bit out of sync when converting from avi to mpg.

Ta da!

What we'd really like from Santa is new countertops but for now this will have to do.

Other events of the weekend were going to winterfest at Seattle Center and my office Christmas Party at Il Fornaio.

We put ice skates on Max but he definitely did not like it. Hopefully we'll have better luck next year. He preferred to boogie down to the Garfield High School Jazz band instead.

The food at Il Fornaio was fabulous. We also had a famous diner at the table next to us. None other than Christine Gregoire! The Governor of our State. I'm sorry Charles had to miss out but it was scheduled right at Max's bedtime and we still haven't had anyone else put him down yet.


Rebecca and Louise



Dr. Fukuda and Toshi ....Why the flag? I'm not sure.

Greg and Marsha

Roamie and Tao

A lullaby to share

Sandi Dexter taught us this lullaby at coop and Max just loves it so much........ we sing it every night


Nina Nona, cocola della mama

Nina Nona, cocola dell pappa

Nina Nona cocola della mama

Nina Nona cocola dell pappa!

A nonsense lullaby from Italy

roughly translates

little one go to sleep for mama

little one go to sleep for pappa

I've learned of so many good songs and books from her I wanted to share her list of favorites because we listen to most of them. Next I'll post some books.

And I finished my curtain! I think it came out pretty well. I just need to download the picture. Here is the list she gave us of her favorite music

SANDI’S FAVORITE MUSIC!

Well, at least a selection!

________________________________________________________________________

BAKA Outback

A contemporary group who plays aboriginal instruments from Australia. Somewhat subtle, but the sounds are unusual to our ear and fun to offer to the children.

CARLOS VIVAS Classicos DeLa Provincia

Only one of many records by Carlos Vivas, this is lively music from South America and definitely works for when you need your toddler to stay awake – it’s NOT bedtime music!!

RAY LYNCH Deep Breakfast/No Blue Thing

Synthesized music at it’s best (in my opinion). Mellow music for those times when you want to set that mood.

IZZY K. Facing Future

His real name is Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and he had a great tenor voice. This cd is a mix of traditional and contemporary music and you probably all love OVER THE RAINBOW! Great for those darks days of winter - turn this on and imagine yourself lying on a beach.

YO YO MA Hush

A collaboration with Bobby McFarrin and a superb piece of work. It’s great in small doses for those young ears. Would be fun to play selections for creative movement...get out those scarves and move and groove!

HOWS BAYOU New Melody Stomp

Like Zydego? This group (from Seattle) is so good. It’s great for creative movement, bouncing time or anytime!

SUZUKI CELLO/PIANO SCHOOL

Sounds crazy, but the simplicity of these cd’s is really appealing to children. The music is good and many of the tunes are very familiar.

UNGER/MASON Harvest Home

The sweet and gentle style of these musicians/vocalists is really calming. Their music is lovely and you will enjoy it as much as the children do!

TONY ELMAN Shakin’ Down the Acorns

This cd features the hammered dulcimer which offers a different sound for children. It’s bouncy and fun.

TISH HINOJASA Cada Nino/Every Child

She’s been around for a while, but I heard her on Prairie Home Companion. Her song about her Grandmother was so compelling, I looked her up on the PHC site and ordered the cd. You’ve heard it on a Friday at bubble time!

GATHER ROUND: Songs for kids and other folks (Pottery Barn Kids)

This compilation CD is tons of fun from the first cut by Sarah Mac to the last by an elder who brought traditional folk music to children; Ella Jenkins.

TOM HUNTER/Bev Bos/Michael Leeman: I have all the cd’s these great friends have done over the years. Among my favorites are:

I HAVE A BOX, WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, COME ON OVER, and one I recently acquired; I’LL SING FOR YOU and HANDED DOWN (two cd’s in one!). You can order these from the Song Growing Company – along with many more. Buying cd’s from Song Growing will help keep the company alive and help the Hunter Family keep their farm!

Tom also recorded with Richard and Helen Scholtz, who did our sing-a-long in October: IN THE AIR and MANY A MILE. These cd’s are filled with lots of traditional songs, songs that are worth keeping alive.

Richard also recorded with others and a couple of wonderful instrumentals he did with fellow artists are: LATE NIGHT CONVERSATION and GENTLE BIRD. LATE NIGHT CONVERSATIONS is available on Song Growing and if anyone is interested in GENTLE BIRD (12 tunes played on the recorder, autoharp and hammered dulcimer), let me know and I will contact Richard.

TIS THE SEASON:

JOHN DENVER and The Muppets: One of the first cd’s of the season our family plays is this one – A CHRISTMAS TOGETHER. It brings back memories of when our now adult children were little and it’s fun to remember those wild and crazy holly days.

RAFFI’s CHRISTMAS ALBUM: One of his best, and some great holiday tunes.

WHEN THE SILENT NIGHT STARTS TO SING by Tom Hunter and friends: Many of these songs are originals, by Tom, and have become family favorites of not just my family – but our extended family across the country. While we may tire of hearing the same old familiar songs of the season, this cd offers a fresh take! You can order it from The Song Growing Company: www.tomhunter.com.

Texas, Texas

Charles, Judy, Aunt Ivy, Max and Paw-Paw


Max's first haircut!

Max and Grandma climb trees

Cowboy Max

Cute overalls

Sam Houston museum in Huntsville, TX

Max loved riding in this wagon


Blowin the leaves

Max is riding Mr. Pooh that Charles and John rode when they were youngins'




Max meets Granny!


Max did awesome on the plane ride there and back which was a big happy surprise for Charles and I.

We ate too much, caught up with family and enjoyed the warm weather down there. Max absolutely loved Paw-Paw's shop especially the leaf blower with which he blew leaves all over the yard and even blew our shoes clean.

At Grandma's house she showed Max how to climb trees. Good grandma! We spotted a few turtles in the bayou and checked out all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

I wanted his first haircut to be at children's salon but he needed one badly (in my opinion) so we found a place that would take us without an appointment and went for it. It started out good but went down hill about midway and ended with full on screaming and crying. Ohh well.....

Max's first day back at daycare after a whole week with mom and dad wasn't easy but by the second day he was back in the swing of it.

Of all the many, many things we love about Max right now my personal favorite is that he asks us for hugs and kisses. He doesn't just put his lips on your face anymore, now he puckers up and makes the sound affect as well. His kisses are big and wet and usually land smack on the lips. So sweet!

As for Charles and I we are trying to do some minor improvements to the house. I bought some fabric to make curtains for our kitchen windows. I might finish it this weekend and I'll post a picture.

I see onions coming up in our garden!

Fall at Woodland Park

Joi's friend Rebecca, who's a professional photographer, took these photos of us at the park by Woodland Park Zoo right near our old house in Ballard. What a nice fall day it was, and she captured some great moments! Click on the image above and it will take you to a full-size slideshow.

Halloween 2008

Max the Frog went to a few parties and the Pumpkin Prowl this Halloween and had a whole lot of fun. Then on Halloween night, he went trick-or-treating with Daddy in our neighborhood. Max liked knocking on the doors and saying "trick-or-treat" to the people. And thankfully, he could care less about the candy at this point.

Max Sings "Twinkle Twinkle"

The Past Week

Max has sure had some fun this week! He went to his first party he was invited to from his friend Skylar at daycare. It was a fun event for parents and kids alike . I enjoyed meeting his schoolmates parents and seeing him and his buddies in action.

We also went to the Sing along at Preschool with featured local artists Helen and Richard Sholtz.
Our other weekend activity for the past few weeks has been visiting local farms. We've done this several times because Max is so enamored with the tractor rides and seeing the animals.

We've had intermittent success with potty training. We've noticed that he seemed to be quite proud of himself the past couple of times he's used the potty so maybe that's a good sign.

We have a few parties next weekend and we are meeting some friends at the pumpkin prowl at the zoo so Max will get several opportunities to wear his costume!

I still haven't posted the video of his great singing skills. One of these days!!!


Max, Izzy and Lucas

Skylar and his brother Max's halloween party


All School Sing-along for preschool

Max and friends bobbing for apples

Max gets some sugar from teacher Melissa at Skylar's party (We all love her)

I took 6 pictures of Max sitting on the pumpkin and not one is he looking forward
Carkeek

In the patch!
Hitching a ride on Daddy

Our tomatoes and peppers

Max Turns Two! A visit from Grandma and 2 year check-up

Max had an amazing visit with grandma. He enjoyed playing with her and learning how to eat properly. (mommy needs to work harder on one bite at a time with Max). Grandma made us lots of good food, she put several of our tomatoes to good use in a sauce and made one exceptionally good spinach salad with fresh strawberries from the farmers market. An unexpected treat in October!

At Max's 2 year check-up he was sick with his first cold of the season. He 's better now, but his nose is running constantly again. He was 351/2 pounds and 371/2 inches. He's still going strong at the 95 th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. I am really psyched to have a new friend for Max at preschool. Owen is 36 pounds and slightly taller than Max and he is only 18mo. old. It is very comforting to have someone his age and size that I can see and relate to his mom.

I can't say enough how much Max loves preschool. He talks about it all week. He is really putting words together especially when he sings songs which is so darn cute. He is at the point where he's trying so many new words that we often can't understand him right away. He isn't quite so chatty outside home ( a little shy) but once he gets comfortable he opens up.

This is a 2 part post.

Daddy and I love to build zoo's. I put dinosaurs and spiders in my zoo!

I love you Grandma

It's my Birthday!

I feed the chickens

Grandma feeds Max
Fairbank animal farm with Grandma

Mommy made me a sock monkey for my 2nd birthday!

Cute picture of Max eating his birthday cake

Max in his lumberjack hat


We three
Max and Grandma at Fairbanks Farm

Max 's Birthday Party!

Max's birthday party was very small . Just Grandma and his BF Malik. Since we don't have any family here and Max doesn't technically have any friends yet we thought we'd wait till next year to do something bigger.

We did of course, want him to know how special he is and how much we love him!



Happy 2nd birthday Max!

Max eats his cake!

One candle for good luck. Max was afraid of the fire on the candles.

Max finally got to wear the vintage outfit I made for him before he was born.

Max and Malik in their party hats

Life and Times of Max Beene

Here are some recent pictures of Max and the things he 's been up to. Even though we take a lot of video of Max I never seem to get around to posting it. Yesterday Max sang Twinkle Twinkle in the car so clearly my head spun. I have to get him to sing it again and post video.

We are so happy that Max is playing so well with other kids now. He and Malik chased each other around the house laughing and giggling. This is our first glimpse of seeing him play with someone and not just play next to them. All parents involved were happy to see it!

Everyday in the car Max loves to point out all of the buses and trucks on the road. He literally squeals when he sees a backhoe. So when were not singing a Raffi song we are busy looking at all the trucks and cranes. Seattle has plenty around (for now).

Next on the horizon for Max will be trying pull-ups. We'll see how it goes........


preschool

Preschool

Max picks a tomato from our garden

Front yard

Front yard

Front yard
Our front yard looks so much better since Judy and Jerald helped us with it!

Max likes scarecrows!

Our garden
squash are coming
Peppers are here

Our ripening tomatoes

Thanks Uncle George and Auntie Dina for my new sweatshirt!

Carrots and beans from our garden

Going for a ride on Auntie Dina

Max, Auntie Dina and me

Andrea and Yazmina

Gobbling up the berries!

Max and Malik washing hands after blackberry picking

Max has graduated to the big table so we all eat together now!

Max and Malik picking blackberries in front of our house