Flubber Fun

We made Flubber tonight it is so much fun and provides lots of lasting entertainment for both of them. We first found the Flubber at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) when we visited Portland this fall. The boys were enamored by this orange goo and it was all we could do to get them to see what else the museum had to offer. Needless to say I did not leave without getting the instructions on how to make it. Part of the fun of making the flubber is letting the kids get their hands dirty and squish it into it's alien form. As you can see from the pictures Jett LOVES it. We have done white flubber, glitter flubber, orange flubber, green flubber and more.

Where Did February Go?

February 2009 will likely be one of those months that I will want to but will never be able to forget. The flight of February was due to it being one of the hardest months of my life. My father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I was so completely taken back by what happened that a week passed and I don't even think I was present. Guilt, sadness, shame all whirled around me and I was functioning at a very low level. I barely had time to process what was happening as it was me who needed to make arrangements with the mortuary and funeral home. I wanted to be a child again head in the clouds, drifting along aware but unaffected. I literally had to dig down deep to places I had never had to visit to tackle things that I had given very little thought to.

By the second week I felt like someone else pushing myself along waking with a list of duties and pushing myself forward like a drill Sargent without choice, "women you will get this done"! I don't think I have had to be that person before but was amazed at my ability to find her. It was that week that I knew I would be o.k. that somehow I was going to get through it and hopefully gain something out of my loss. It was at this time that I started thinking about things that one often thinks about when dealing with death. " what truly is important and who". I'm sure I came up with the same cliche answers that everyone does but the gift of reflection and somehow being forced to dig down deep within myself has changed me.

I am still dealing daily with the sadness that this has left me, a quite sense of loneliness that has been there long before his actual death. But the difference is I am dealing with that sadness and loneliness now and that is something that I was not able to do before. I can actually look back and see how things that happened in my youth really affected me. I am dealing with the shame associated with having a parent who is too sick with his addiction to reach out to you. I am trying to understand it and be o.k. with it that is hard! I am realizing that the shame I carried around of him reflected on how I felt about myself and I am learning to slowly let that go. I am realizing now how much I really missed him in my life and wish although I know I can't change things that my circumstances were different.

But the one thing I know for sure is that I am strong and if I can choose to grow from this and do with it what I know in my heart is right then the things he has brought me in his death are things that I will be grateful for for the rest of my life!

Happy New Year

We want to wish everyone a wonderful start to 2009!

We are back from our 2 week vacation and although we are still recuperating and stuck in a different time zone things are getting back to normal!

We had a great time on vacation it was loads of fun and the boys were so good. They were almost perfect on the plane rides both there and back and I can't think of one time that stands out that I felt stressed!

We had a lovely time on the cruise and my favorite was the beach day, Indy and Jett love the water and it was awesome seeing the fish swimming in the blue, blue water the iguana's in the bushes and the beautiful white sand.

Christmas was so wonderful! I loved being in one place all day it was much different then the normal shifting from house to house. I must confess though I did miss the snow especially because Boise was getting so much! I love the change of seasons and I love snow!
It was also nice to see my brother and his new baby girl Emily and Xander what sweeties. Xander is about the sweetest little boy I have ever seen and Emily looks a lot like Indy did when he was a babbins so it took me back a bit. Jasun said just yesterday that he missed that baby girl. (Maybe there is still hope for me getting a girl)

It is good to be home and slowly getting back to our normal routines. Indy will be back in school on Jan 5 and starts snowboarding lessons on the 7th. Jett will be back a pre-school on the 6th and things should return to the controlled chaos that we are used to!