Blast from the past – Brotherly Love

So my dad owns a marketing company, and in a recent business email he received, the footer was encouraging him to vote “no” for Ref 71. It would have been easy for him to let it go, but he didn’t and I wanted to share his response (and one of my favorite pictures of him and Levi). He’s an amazing dad, so supportive and I know having a gay daughter hasn’t been easy for him. Anyhow, he didn’t expect for me to even read his email (thanks, Mom for sharing it!) but he did give me permission to share it with you all.

His response:
“P.S. I already voted the “other” way on Referendum 71. I feel quite strongly the other way. My daughter is gay, but she and her partner have adopted three foster kids and given them one of the best and most loving homes you can imagine. They also go the extra mile to provide care for children (over 30 so far) who need temporary care because of what is happening at home (quite often it’s due to something major enough to be a major headline in the news). She and her life partner have been together for many years. I feel they do more than most by far to make our community a better place to live, and I strongly feel that they should have rights similar to what I and others enjoy. I guess we’ll have to disagree on that one.”

Thanks for everything, Dad!

We’ve got some boys with rad moves on their scooters and skateboards. We realized awhile back that the skateboard park is an awesome place to spend a morning. The skateboarders aren’t usually out there until at least noon, probably too tired from video gaming the night before. It’s also like a big baby jail…they can slide in and skate around but can’t easily get out.
It’s fun to bring a ball or two as well and have them chase it around. There’s nowhere to get hurt, and lots of fun to be had. Carlos is really trying to learn to skateboard, it’s fun to watch him but he’s grown so much that his mini sized skateboard is too small. Looks like that might go on the ol’ Christmas list!

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Last night was the Members Movie Night at the Seattle Aquarium. It’s always so fun. We always stop in at the Pirate store, which is always a treat. I found our friend, Bill, a cool Whack-A-Zombie game to hopefully help with his zombie obsession and tonsillectomy recovery and another sticker for the back of our van that is cross flags of the Jolly Roger and Washington state.
Melissa and Jessica met us for the movie and we had some time beforehand to walk around and see the fish and do the touch tanks. The boys never get tired of the aquarium! The movie was Polar Express and that is one of their all time favorites. They also had hot chocolate, popcorn and candy canes as treats.
All in all a very fun night, ended up running our friends, Yvonne and Jeff on the ferry ride home so we had some nice chatting time with them. Levi was the only boy still awake by the time we docked. Jeff had bet Carlos that he could fall asleep faster and it backfired…Jeff got to carry sleeping Carlos up the ramp!

We’ve got a new song that plays over and over and over and over in the van…and the boys sing it to themselves off and on throughout the day. It’s pretty catchy. Take a listen to some Black Eyed Peas….who knows, you might get hooked, too!
It was funny, we were in Seattle tonight walking down to the aquarium and as we passed a group of guys, who were probably in their early 20s. Carlos was singing “I’ve got a feelin, that tonight’s gonna be a good night, that tonight’s gonna be a good, good night, feel it…woo hoo” as we passed them. I heard the guys chucke and say “sweet, did you hear that little dude singing the Black Eyed Peas?” Made me smile because, yes, my little dude is THAT cool!

I know this is not a flattering picture of me, but it’s a great shot from our recent trip to Chuck E Cheese. We had to take Trey to OT last Friday and as a reward for being decent at OT I had planned to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. I can’t remember how it all went down but they lost the trip (I think Levi hit Trey in the car or something) and everyone was mad at Levi. We made a quick stop in Goodwill and a miracle happened. When Alice and Carlos had to use the bathroom they went in, took care of business and when they came out there was a lady leaving the bathroom who stopped (I was outside with the other 3 kids) and told me how well Carlos and Alice behaved. Makes a mama proud! A compliment from a stranger earned them back the trip to Chuck E. Cheese and we spent the rainy afternoon playing video games and collecting tickets to turn in for cheap plastic junk!

This picture is a bit deceiving….Levi had an eye appt this week because he was complaining that his eyes have been crossing and rolling back in his head like a zombie. While we were waiting for the doctor he wanted to try on the Garfield glasses. I think deep down he really wanted to hear that he needed them, but that’s not how it went down. Apparently he’s got 20/25 vision and his eyes are healthy. The zombie issues should resolve themselves within a month or so. He looks pretty cute in those frames, though! 🙂

I wasn’t sure whether or not I already posted this picture and it’s midnight so I’m not going to look at the archives, but I’ve been a bad blogger lately because we’ve been fighing sickness after sickness. First it was a week of strep, where everyone had it but the smallest of our crew (including the mamas) and we got over that and met the next week head on with what I’m fairly certain was the H1N1 flu. We’re feeling great now and getting back into routine feels good, really good. Here’s to a healthier winter!

Most every Sunday we get together with our friends for coffee. One of those friends it Todd and it was his birthday! We couldn’t let it go without a little celebration so we grabbed some doughnuts and tried to do the candle thing. The singing was amazing, of course, but the wind wouldn’t allow the candles to be lit so we faked it, ate quickly (it was freezing out but we couldn’t take Safeway doughnuts into the bakery, that would be tacky) and headed inside to enjoy our coffee. Happy, happy birthday, Todd!

Have you ever wondered what Trey would look like with straight hair? I have…this is about as close as we could get, right out of the bath after a haircut. He looks older for sure, but I dig his curls!