don't worry, we're still grateful

Saben: I am grateful for my friend, Kaiya who came over.

I can't even tell you how fun it is to see Saben playing with my friend's kids. Let me clarify - since we moved to Bellingham when he was only 3 months old, I've felt some sadness that neither of my kids has gotten to spend much time with the kids of my friends in Seattle. The friends I spent time with when I was still newly married and carefree. We LOVE our new Bellingham friends, but it really struck me today that it is SO FUN to watch him play with my "old friend's" kids. Saben & Kaiya had a blast coloring together, playing strange games in Casa Que Pasa and just chatting. Kari & I chatted (yes, we have the same name), but had to keep stopping because they were so darn cute.

Annika: Eleanor

Oh my goodness, i am sorry Roxxy, but I am ready to get a new dog. From the get go, Roxxy has completely ignored the kids and I don't think she really likes them that much. After Saben was born, she got a little weird & nervous and things have never been the same, even though we did try to keep her included. I realize now that if she had actually liked Saben & paid attention to him, I think I would like her a lot more than I do right now.

Anyways, we're watching Eleanor this weekend and Annika is madly in love with her. I laughed my head off all day. Annika loves sitting on animals in general and spent quite a bit of time this evening sitting on eleanor, who put up with it for a good 15 minutes, including the times annika was bouncing on her back. When eleanor finally stood up, Annika progressed to patting & hugging. During dinner time, Annika ran to eleanors food bowl and hand fed her most of the food.

Finally, to cap off the night, Annika would stick her face up close to Eleanor's nose and Eleanor would lick annika. Annika would giggle and run away and then come back and do it over & over. If Eleanor didn't notice her, Annika would grab her face and pull it towards her. It was really really funny.

Kari: I am grateful for kids who make me laugh, visits from friends and for a great new recipe for crudites & vinagrette that has me gobbling down lots of veggies. (all I did was blanche them instead of eating them cold and raw. Wow, what a difference)