Wednesday, September 30, 2009

It is Done!

After 5 years, Dwayne finished the stairs. Years ago, he dug out and poured—with help—6 tons of cement to make the stairs. A few weeks ago, he glued the last tile on and grouted the last steps. Take a look!

What the stairs looked like in March, 2008.

3-23-08 Staircase Lions 6

What they look like today!9-27-09 Stairs completed 5

Dwayne built stairs into the retaining wall around the “First Lawn”. (Technically, it’s our only lawn, because the second tier is mostly weeds and moss, and the third, well, even worse.) Notice the gorgeous detail work on the landing. He worked in smaller decorative tiles to finish it nicely.

9-27-09 Stairs completed 4 9-27-09 Stairs completed 3

Dwayne originally poured the stairs to be equal from top to bottom, but last year, he updated the design to include pillars with lions on top and the wrap-around stairs for the bottom.

9-27-09 Stairs completed 7

The lion on the left is Gog and the one on the right (not shown) is Magog.

9-27-09 Stairs completed 6

Well done, Daddy! We love it!

9-27-09 Stairs Dwayne with girls 29-27-09 Stairs Dwayne with girls 3 - Copy

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Piper Sleepwalks

I’m sure she was actually was wide awake when she crawled out of her crib two weeks ago, but she fell asleep over the rocking chair. I couldn’t pass up the photo op, but three or four flashes later, I woke her up. Then put her back to bed.

9-15-09 Piper asleep9-15-09 Piper awake

Jetty Island

I won’t go back and change the dates this time, but we managed to make it to Jetty Island in Everett just a few days before it closed for the summer (Sept. 2, if you want to be chronologically correct).

Kyla and her friend Isaac chased sea gulls all morning. This picture was taken with a zoom lens and then I enlarged, enlarged, enlarged on the computer. They were quite the adventurers!

9-2-08 Jetty Island Kyla and Isaac 1

“We’ve conquered this sand dune in the name of toddlers everywhere!”

9-2-08 Jetty Island Kyla and Isaac 4

“Follow me!”

9-2-08 Jetty Island Kyla and Isaac 2

“Mom, I stepped in something!”
9-2-08 Jetty Piper 2

The adventure begins and ends with a 3 minute ferry ride. Kyla loves it!

9-2-08 Jetty Piper & Kyla

Monday, September 21, 2009

Our Family

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Denise got a weekend of renewal when she was able to go on a women’s retreat to Leavenworth, leaving Kyla and Piper home with Dwayne for the weekend.

Before leaving that weekend, we went in for the 20 week ultrasound and discovered that Kyla was right—she was going to have a little brother (even if his name isn’t going to be Sam)! Baby Omega appears to be healthy and perfectly average in every way.

The best part of the retreat was an afternoon of frivolous shopping—all by myself! I found this statue that I loved immediately. And I like the idea of three kids (and only 3!) is now carved in stone on our living room mantle.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Fashion Advice from Piper

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If your big sister doesn’t want to wear her underwear and you would like to, simply slip it on over your own outfit.  While color coordination isn’t essential, you will notice the flowered detail work on the the briefs is brought out by the pink pants and satin pink ribbon on the empire waist of the shirt.  The sleek line of the training pants emphasizes toned legs.  The baby doll top is the perfect camouflage for a tummy that likes chocolate birthday cake and cat food.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Dwayne Turns 35!

Our friends, David and Kathy, are visiting us this week, and it turns out the Kathy is a skilled cake decorator, having done it in a former life. She kindly volunteered to make Dwayne’s birthday cake. It turned out great!

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September 8 2009 0949-7-09 Dwayne's 35th birthday 2

The girls approved.

9-7-09 Dwayne's 35th birthday

Oops! I only took one picture of the birthday boy! Sorry, Babe.

9-7-09 Dwayne's 35th birthday Kyla basket9-7-09 Dwayne's 35th birthday Piper basket

The Basketheads entertain.