another for the "ummm... no, son" category

Daddy caught him standing on the humidifier in the bedroom this morning. Kaemon Ze's been standing on pretty much anything that he can. We definitely have a climber on our hands.

thinking of you...

Happy Birthday, Laurie!
Here's wishing you a beautiful day and
a year filled with love, prosperity, joy,
and loads of laughter!

oval office fun

I love this shot of eight year-old Sasha sneeking up on her dad in the Oval Office. A man commented on the photo writing, "Pictures like this remind me why I love being a Dad and I love seeing that our President is also a DAD!! "

I recently learned that the White House and the State Department both have flickr accounts. I've enjoyed perusing the 'behind the scenes' photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/

ha!

How's this for environmentally sustainable packaging?? Real popcorn!

mystery solved!

I love it when I discover the answer to something that's been elusive to me. Take this bumper sticker, for example. Have you seen one of these? The sticker is not native to Oregon, so don't let that fool you. Every once in a while I'd see this sticker (maybe I've been seeing the same car over and over) and have wondered what the meaning is. "Say yeah to ... <>, eh??" I just couldn't guess. Thank goodness for Google. And for Wikipedia. Now I know:

Upper Peninsula natives speak a dialect influenced by Scandinavian and French-Canadian speech. A popular bumper sticker, a parody of the "Say YES to Michigan" slogan promoted by state tourism officials, shows an outline of the Upper Peninsula and the slogan, "Say yah to da U.P., eh!" The dialect and culture are captured in many songs by Da Yoopers, a comedy music and skit troupe from Ishpeming, Michigan.

I would have never guessed!

nearing the end...

It was a bumper crop for us this year! Our plums and grapes produced mightily and for the first time ever, the pear tree decided to pop out dozens upon dozens of pears. (The pear tree is grafted and produces both Asian pears and Bartlett pears.) I am nearly done preserving it all. I still have about two batches of no-sugar-added plum jam and I want to try to make pickles; I haven't done that before. Don't worry Shannan, if I'm successful, I won't share the pickles with you. ;)

(Plum jam, and plum/pear/apple jam being processed in a hot water bath.)

Feeding Kaemon Ze dinner while watching the hot water bath. He was fascinated - can you tell? hahaha At the same time, Jason was up on the roof sweeping the inside of the chimney. I'm sorry to say that I accidently deleted the photo I took of him. He refuses to get back up on the roof so I can re-take the shot. :) I can't imagine why...

goodbyes

gratitude = joy

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand;

gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life
and into the lives of all those around you.
-- Eileen Caddy

double one!

Today our son is 11 months of age!

We can hardly believe that he is almost a full year old. Amazing. Kaemon Ze's developing personality really cracks us up. He's such a joy. We love watching him explore his world and learn what works and what doesn't work; we love watching him figure things out; teaching him new things.

Kaemon Ze seems to very interested in connecting with people. He's very good with making eye contact. When we go shopping, for example, it's people he seems to be most interested in looking at. And my, people respond so positively to him. I was in a grocery store over the weekend and it seemed like every other woman stopped to interact with him and tell me how cute he is. (He was looking exceptionally cute, wearing a light-brown plaid print flannel shirt under dark brown corduroy overalls, I imagine he was too much to resist. haha) When I mentioned this to Jason, he said it reminded him of the woman who, when she saw Kaemon Ze said, "he makes my ovaries ache." That's probably as good of a compliment as it gets. *grin*

11 months and he's ...
...beginning to repeat what we say. He's said, "up," "hi," "how do," and my favorite, "rectangle." He says "mama" often, especially around daddy. hehe

...now standing up on his own and can even wave both hands energetically in the air and maintain his balance. I can set him down on his feet and he will stand.

...."this close" to walking. I predicted it would happen by the time he's 11 months. :) It seems like those first steps are going to happen any minute now.

...slowed down on the weight gain. At 25.8 lbs, he's really close to the size of his 2 year old twin cousins. Wow!

a full day

on children...

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

--Kahlil Gibran

discovering new things

In the morning, right after I dressed him.
I wanted more photos, but he dashed off to play.

Later in the evening, Kaemon Ze pretty much
empties two kitchen drawers. Oh the fun!

a reprisal of a lil gem that was sent to me

"Sit before Spirit and ask to be able to tune into the "third language." Then don't set aside any time for "listening or asking." Instead, call on Spirit and celebrate your life all hours of the day. Be prepared to "hear" ideas, thoughts, and loving energies all through the day & when you least expect it. Be aware that this new "third language" is one that presents itself through the guide energy in moments of your everyday life where the energy is ripe for it and not especially during what you might call 'Spiritual moments'."

good news!

The San Jose City Council has passed one of the country's strictest shopping bag bans, voting to bar retailers from giving out most paper and plastic bags.

The ordinance passed Tuesday would prohibit stores from giving out free plastic shopping bags. Paper bags made with at least 40 percent recycled materials would be permitted, but only for a fee.

The ban must undergo an environmental review and a legal analysis before it takes effect in 2011.

Supporters of the ban say plastic bags generate mountains of trash that clog waterways and threaten wildlife. They say the production of paper bags generates excessive greenhouse gases.

Industry groups opposed to the ban argue that improved recycling efforts are better than a patchwork of city-by-city ordinances.
___

Information from: San Jose Mercury News, www.sjmercury.com


I am excited about this! I hope this forward thinking action encourages more positive action, particularly at the level of the individual. Reduce, Reduce, Recycle, Compost! I'll hug a tree any day.

I see this day as a positive new beginning. (It's never too late to have a new beginning.)

Today and tomorrow can be very different from yesterday if you can let yesterday go and focus on today.

Today and tomorrow are about your NOW vibration, and you have complete control over that.

Look for things to feel good about, and watch how everything in your life will unfold to reflect that good-feeling vibration.

-Abraham
(abraham-hicks.com)

tired guys...

Kaemon Ze snuggles in with his Uncle Ben.

know this

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

----from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson.
(marianne.com/)

fun day at gramma's!

Playing with Auntie Katie!
I think he looks more like me in these photos.
He usually looks so much like Jason.
Fun!

happy happy!

Happy Birthday, DeDe!

May all your dreams come true for you this year!
(So dream BIG, girl!)

ummm... No, son.

While Kaemon Ze was learning to climb the woodstove...

Daddy was in the San Juan Islands riding for the American Lung Association of Washington. Note the dinosaurs on their helmets. :)

They were given itty bitty halloween masks for their dinosaurs. This is cousin Lisa. :)


And Gumpapa (aka Darwin).

And Uncle Ben. He lost his dinosaur.
(team photo credit: L. Stone, 2009)