Whale Wars

As a little girl, I loved the grace and beauty of whales and dolphins, I thought dolphins were cute and would watch anything that had either creature in it. I loved Shamu at Sea World, at one point, I wanted to be a whale trainer at Sea World.

And a few months back, I saw an ad on Animal Planet for a show, called Whale Wars, where an activist group tries to stop the Japanese whalers, from hunting endangered whales. This hit a HUGE soft spot with me, I found it horrifying that the Japanese would go and kill a whale for "research", which they sell whale meat in Japan...

The episode I just watched, has me infuriated. The Japanese ship, harpooned a whale, it didn't die. It was making crying noises and trying to get away, they took a rifle out, and shot it SEVEN TIMES, and it finally died. I felt my heart sink, it was so sad.

I don't call myself an animal activist or super animal lover, but things like this, I think need more spotlight and attention. I didn't care much until I saw what REALLY happens. Arctic dolphins are harpooned and slaughtered for their meat. Humpback whales and Minke whales are harpooned and slaughtered for "research", which we all know, they take back to Japan and sell the meat on the market. With how many whales are being slaughtered to death, there really won't be much left of them. The IWC needs to make a decision, and fast.

This is inhumane!!

Some of Leenas other good ones!

School is winding down to an end...ok ready set, sing the "HALL-E-LUJAH!" with me!

I took these photos for Father's Day, and lo and behold I have a nice new gorgeous picture of my little girl up on my wall in my not as dull living room now, yee haw!


I am mesmerized at how she *CAN* be photogenic! She did inherit my genes! Ok, that calls for another HALL-E-LUJAH!





She's a cute little bug! I can't believe she'll be a 3rd grader! We plan on keeping her busy with "Where the Red Fern grows", this summer as far as reading. We have her in a little club at borders that if she gets 10 book reads in, she get a free book. She sure is a bookworm! It's cute though, she starts gymnastics here soon. We're going to a new gym, a smidge further away, but it shouldn't be too bad, knock on wood. She'll be in a competitive gym, so we will see. I don't think it'll stunt her growth as she's fairly tall as it is, and she has been only doing it a few years, and they've lifted many diet restrictions which were once imposed on gymnasts. Needless to say, she's excited!

The joy of my boy!

My little man, who was pretty sick, happily enjoying a small portion of pepto, who knew it would be sugary decadence?!

Doing little updates on a toddler, seems to bring me alot of smiles and giggles and excitement!

"Landy", as we call him, is 19.5 months old now.

*He LOVES cars, and trucks. ANYTHING with 4 wheels, he's a hapy, and quiet camper.
*He has discovered that he has a high pitch scream, and he tests it out regularly, driving his father crazy.
*He is learning to run, but with that, comes alot of falls. It's more falls than run.
*He is TERRIFIED of anything loud.
*He runs to Leena everyday when she walks in from school, to give her a hug. It melts me daily, he's so crazy about her.
*He just mastered "MOMMY!", I love that 2 syllable word!
*He thinks he can drink out of a cup no problem. Truth be told he can pick it up and try, but usually ends up soaked. A for effort, son.
*He also mastered "DADDY!"
*He LOVES to talk on the phone, it's the funniest thing! He just has so much to babble about and he really could care less if there is anyone on the line!
*He LOVES anything soft, blankets, fleece, you name it. He's usually seen with 2 blankets in tow almost daily. He will plop them on the ground, grab a pacifyre, and lay on it. No more than 5 seconds though, can't miss anything!


*He can say the following words:
-Mommy
-Daddy
-Leena (NANA! or E-NA!)
-Car (KAH!)
-Truck (Guck!)
-What's that? (Es-sat?)
-Uh oh!
-OWIE!
-No
-M-hmmm (he got that from me! oops! Ha!)
-Eat
-Out

We've also have decided because he IS a boy, and he IS behind, that sign language would be a valueable tool, and it's definately aided with our communication with him. We can ask him "Landon, are you hungry?" and he will do the sign for eat, so we put him in his highchair and he's one happy kid. And if he starts whining when his food is gone (or on the floor), we ask him "Do you want some more food?" and he will do the sign for more. So, it's helping, he can tell us what he wants alot easier!

he sure keeps us busy, but also keeps us laughing and entertained, that's for sure. He really is a joy and wonderful soul from heaven, truly he is. We love our little Landy!

WOO! Family Fun!

For ages, I've been hinting that my road tripping loving cousin, Amy, make the trek up here with their kiddies. They live in Provo, so I knew it was a drive...I also knew they liked long drives! PERFECT!

Anyway, they made it here and we had some cousinly fun! It was great to see her as I hadn't seen her in almost 8yrs. My family is spread out, and it's hard to get to see all 35 cousins (on one side) of mine.

We got to go to Owens beach Park in Point Definace, (where the girls loved to pick up jelly fish!) in Tacoma, Climb a rockwall, eat at Johnny Rockets (which was nothing like I expected, but the kids seemed to like it, so hey!) and have a big uge family dinner at my Mom's house, fun filled weekend, LOVED HAVING YOU GUYS!! Come again, seriously!! =)

And next time, we need to try the hot chocolate!! I can't believe we missed that! He's the pictures that are totally out of order but hey!

They grow up way too fast!!

Father's Day is coming up, and I decided to take a few photos of Leena...Well, here are the best of the best. She's growing up so fast and is so pretty in all of these! I love my little princess!!

Oral Overhaul

So...I had really been a slacker and not gone to the dentist in 5 years. (I know, I've learned I won't do it again!)

I had a slough of things done, which, I'll shortly mention. When I was 17, I was at the neighbors house, quilting a quilt with a church group. I bit the needle as it got stuck in the fabric, I bit it to pull it out. That in turn, chipped the inside corner of my front tooth. OF ALL THINGS!! Which when it chipped, it hit a nerve line, dead on, and literally killed my front tooth. Over the years, I had the chip fixed, and re-fixed because the procelain would chip off somehow, someway. Anyway, overtime, it started to lose it's color becuase it was dead. I had all these things done to it and so on, but it helped only so much....And, ontop of it, my mom had been nagging me for years. She'd always say, "You're so pretty Heidi, you just need to get that fixed".

So, she set up an appointment with a dentist near her, so I can leave my kids with her while I sat in a chair for 5 hours (LITERALLY!) with drills and other fun things. After all the main things were done, they "re-constructed" my front tooth again. It's a nice false one now, woohoo. I had my teeth bleached too, that's still setting in, but...it's a big improvement, and I've yet to hear a bad thing, so hey!


Here is before..


After

The "Shocking" is going away. When you bleach your teeth, it causes an electric shock feelin in your jaw, like lightning and then your mouth waters. On the way home from the dentist, I was in alot of pain with multiple strikes. It has eased up since, and they are less intense, YAY! It may not sound that bad, but when it doesn't stop for a long period of time, ouch! The dentist gave me these gel retainer things to wear which were supposed to reduce the amount of shocks I got, but I don't think they worked that good, oh well. And, my front gums are healing up faster than I anticipated. Looked like someone punched me, for a few days it was black and purple. Glad that's over!

The Minivan Curse

As I went to drop off Leena at her "Achievement Day" yesterday, I pulled into the Church parking lot and noticed something. I was one of TWO people, dressed in Jeans and a t-shirt. Everyone else was in sweats or hoodies, or athletic gear of some sorts. And I was one of THREE cars, out of about 20+, that wasn't a minivan.

I have beef with minivans. Not only am I willing to admit, that a good portion of women, are bad drivers, but women in mini vans, are almost even worse. At least that is from my observation in this state, and in California. Those are probably the 2 states I've driven in the most, next to Oregon.

Props to the soccer moms that love their Odyssey, or love their Sienna.
But, I'm pretty content with my 2002 VW Passat. I find myself annoyed when someone asks "What, you don't have a van with 2 kids?" I'm sorry, but TWO is enough to put in the back, with one more soul to spare.

If I am going to get a vehicle for my small army of souls, it would be either of these; Dodge Journey, Nissan Pathfinder, BMW X5





Here is something to consider if you're expecting quintuplets, or even multiples. These cars can have 3rd row seating. No excuse for a minivan! It can seat as many people as your little Sedona can. And, usually, in most cases, can be more cost efficient. Some of these SUV's with a few miles on them at your local dealership, will cost you about 10K less than a minivan.

So, think twice before you come one of those drivers that have the bumper stickers saying you're proud of your eagle scout, or the "baby on board" sign in the window, it's always good to think twice before you sell your soul!!