Slug Mountain

Being a non-rainy day in Seattle, we decided to get out! On to Slug Mountain! Or, as the Russians say: Pe-hot Fegori! (okay, so that is just "to the mountains, but close enough)

Really we went to Tiger Mountain which is on I-90 past Issaquah. However, it is officially called Slug Mountain in the Knight household because the first time we went there after moving to Seattle, we were shocked at how many slugs were on the trails. Of course, no slugs today.

But the kids had fun, we had a picnic lunch, and it was incredible doing a "hike" without a child on my back. Here are some pictures.

Levi and Claire update

A quick update on my children...

First, Levi. Levi is totally into games right now. He loves them. His favorite is War, Monopoly, and Candy Land. We are always playing something with him and we quickly learned, kids love to cheat. We put an end to that though, neither Josh or I will play with him if he cheats.

Perhaps Levi's favorite game is Star Wars. I guess Star Wars is not technically a game, but him and Josh have lightsabor battles constantly. I tried to upload a video of them fighting, but cannot figure it out. It is hilarious. Levi will jump off the couch with his sword swinging, do a 360, and usually cut off Josh's foot. Basically, we should have named him Jedi. (ha ha, Jedi Knight, get it?)

Here are a couple photos of him and his precious. I love this picture. You can see the sheer concentration in his eyes as he tries not to clobber his sister.

On to Claire. The big news update on her is... she is potty-trained! She loves going to the bathroom and wearing underwear. Usually that is all she wears, as the photos below prove. When she has to go, she starts yelling "pee pee, mama! pee pee!" Last Sunday she did this rather loudly during church. Very entertaining for the folks nearby.

Here is Claire doing her favorite activity: taking whatever belongs to Levi and running away as fast as possible. Here she is with Levi's knight helmet. She is making a break for it on her scooter.

Joshua's new activity? Making fun of me. Okay, maybe that cannot be considered a NEW activity.

Apparently he has some sick childhood fear of granny squares. Maybe he was attacked by a ghost wearing a blanket made of granny squares when he was five. I don't know. But, I am crocheting myself a blanket of granny squares and every time I pull out my yarn to work on another square, the wise-cracks flood my ears.

Whatever. My blanket will be super warm. And I won't share with him.

25 Facts about Naomi (Tagged)

My Aunt tagged me on Facebook, my other addiction, and I thought I would post it here as well. Only becuase it took me FOREVER to think about things related to me. I tagged my peeps in fb.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I am an early bird. I seem to accomplish a lot of things before 7am.
2. I bake prosphora for my church.
3. I love to bake.
4. I secretly love that my children both have Christmas birthdays.
5. I want Levi to marry Khalila.
6. I love my family. And Josh's family.
7. I hate my job.
8. I love running and most forms of exercise.
9. I am a procrastinator.
10. I am very organized.
11. I am stubborn.
12. I am opinionated. This trait often gets me in hot water.
13. I cannot wait to move in June.
14. I am sick of living in a small, stinky, no-storage space, one bathroom, dirty, hole-in-the ceiling, slug-infested, too-many rules to live by, drafty, apartment.
15. I often call the UW police on the cars that park illegally in the family housing parking lot.
16. I wish I knew how to apply makeup better.
17. I love red wine.
18. I love when Josh plays the piano.
19. I am addicted to NPR. Especially Warren Olney.
20. I enjoy making things with my hands. Especially quilting.
21. I love making gifts for my friends and family.
22. I hate princesses. Hopefully Claire will skip this stage.
23. I think my children are very intelligent.
24. I am VERY proud of my husband.
25. I love my red hair.

Yes, she can handle two crazy kids

Once we found out that Josh had three interviews in three days in Michigan, I knew I wanted to tag along. I had never been to that state, and the dates were so close to our anniversary, it seemed like the perfect time to go. Not to mention that we used our airline miles and the flights were non-stop.

Luckily I have a wonderful mother who offered to buy a plane ticket from Anchorage to watch my children so that I could go. What a blessing. Of course, Josh and I had a great time. But apparently, so did my children. One sure sign, they did not want to talk to us on the phone the entire time we were gone. I could actually hear my mother in the background begging Levi to at least say "hi".

I am so extremely grateful that my mom came. It is hard that my family lives so far away. I try to talk to them about Uncle Ben and his family or Grandpa Jim and Grandma Ann often. We have pictures of my family around the house so my kids at least know what they look like. Levi, I know, really bonded with Grandma Ann when she was here. The other day he asked me if I remembered when we went to Alaska. I said yes, and he then sighed and said that he was ready to go back for a visit.

I know that it is hard on my mom too; us living a three-hour plane flight away. She loves Levi and Claire and did an exceptional job with my crazy children. She took Levi to school and took them both to church. They did fun stuff at home too, like decorating a gingerbread house, coloring, reading lots of books, going to Barnes & Nobel and playing War (the card came.)

Thanks mom. You are the best.

Will We Ever Stop Fighting?

Josh finished up his last radiology interview today in Portland. What a wonderful feeling; no more interviews! Of course, we all know what this means. Now starts the really hard part: ranking all the programs.

Josh and I are so far apart from each other in what we want out of the five years of residency. I would like a house. Josh wants a reputable program. I want a yard. Josh wants to work at a level one trauma center. I want Levi and Claire to have a pet. Josh wants to be someplace where it won't be hard to get a fellowship. I want to enjoy my hobbies again. Josh wants to be close to family.

So far we both really like Vermont. I know they will be in the top five. What programs will be joining Vermont? If you ask Josh: Oregon, UW, Albuquerque, and Yale. If you ask Naomi: Grand Rapids, Maine, Dartmouth, and William Beaumont.

Basically, every time we discuss where we will move to, we end up fighting. I am not kidding.

On a happier note...

We made Joshua's favorite dessert tonight to celebrate the end of interview season, apple crisp.

Here is Levi helping me peel, core, slice and eat the apples:

And here is Claire being super cute:

Younger Brothers

One benefit of having siblings half your age is that they ultimately end up being cooler than you. I have entered that stage in my life. My two younger brothers, one 19 and the other 17, are way cooler than I am. Well, the 17 year old John, is reeking havoc in my mother's life, and that is definitely not cool. My mother tells him that she successfully shooed five children from her nest before him; and those five combined did not give her as much trouble as he is.

The other brother, 19 year old James, just left Alaska for California to be with his girlfriend. According to his parents, that is not cool either. The jury is still out as far as I am concerned. But I digress...

Okay, so maybe we could argue that they are not cooler than me when it comes to lifestyle or life choices, but they are way cooler than me in regards to music. I used to be way into music. I knew all the hot songs, top artists, and new albums. But since I have had kids, I had to grow up. My music library has thus remained pretty stagnant.

Luckily I have these awesome younger brothers! This summer while we were all in New Hampshire, they loaded up my i-pod with their music. Some I did not really like, but others, I am totally into. My two favorites that they introduced me to are The Decemberists and Franz Ferdinand. Thank you, James and John, for making me a cooler sister.

Franz Ferdinand: 40'

Alright, I am having problems loading up a video by The Decemberists. But here is a link to their song, Sixteen Military Wives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3Ce9md96g&feature=related

Brody Pierce

Forgot to mention that Josh's sister, Lora, had her second baby on Monday January 5th. His name is Broderick (Brody) Edward Pierce. Finally a boy has graced the Knight family once again! There are four girls separating Levi and Brody