FOR I AM FERNICUS

Let me get this out the way and show you a picture of the beautiful loaf of egg bread I made a while back for dinner. Did I mention it was a weeknight? Nothing less than a Tuesday night mind you. I had to skedaddle to Mutual AND Tyler had signed us up for the missionaries. I'm expecting my medal in the mail any day now. That bread was good. I think I'll make it again tomorrow.

This is a picture we took of everyone from Tyler's side of the family together for Henry's blessing. My mom has some pictures up on the Porterfield blog of her and my Dad with the boys so I won't post them twice. I always leave these kinds of days wishing we'd taken more pictures. I don't think we got a single one of Tyler, the boys and me with my parents. I guess we were too busy having fun. It was great having my folks here and I really wish they could've stayed longer. We picked them up from the airport Saturday morning and bummed around Seattle. We went to Pike's and explored the shops underneath and across the street, including my Mom's favorite antique store down by the waterfront parking--you know the one I'm talking about. If you've never ventured beneath the main level of the market, you're really missing out. Next time you're there, be sure to check it out. There are a few good shops mixed in with some really odd ones. Once we were done there, we headed over to the Seattle Center to do all the things one does there. AND THEN, we drove up to our neck of the woods and got seafood for dinner. I'm not sure how Mack was able to stay awake for everything. It was Henry's first time out of the house for an entire day, and I think he took it pretty well. The next day was Henry's blessing and after church, everyone crammed into our apartment for Chili and Scones. Given that Ty's family aren't big sweets people, I was worried Scones wouldn't exactly be their cup of tea. But Tyler insisted it would be okay and the Scones actually turned out to be a big hit. Later that evening, after our bellies were full and everyone had gone home, it was time to take my parents back to the airport. Like I said, it was great having them. We loved taking them to do all our favorite things and can't wait for next time.

Here are my two little monsters taking an afternoon nap. Mack moved into the big boy bottom bunk bed a couple of weeks ago and it's been going pretty well. we have a few problems with nap time every once in a while. Mostly on weekends because he knows Daddy is home and he just wants to play so badly! Henry takes two GOOD naps a day, from 9-11am and 1-3pm, in addition to a cat nap or two in the early evening. He is still waking up to eat about 3x a night. Luckily he goes down for the night around 7pm and doesn't get up for good until about 7am the next morning.

We recently became members at the Pacific Science Center. Since Mack and Henry are still free, it's a great bargain for our little family. They have a wonderful toddler area along with a bunch of other great exhibits and my favorite -the Tropical Butterfly House. There is even a private little area for nursing if your little guy (like my little guy) feels like being a tad difficult that day. On our first trip to the PSC, Ty took Mack on one of the rides at the Fun Forest with some tickets leftover from when my parents came. Mack LOVED it, as you can tell from this picture. If you look closely you'll also notice that Tyler and Mack were matching that day. It shouldn't be hard to take advantage of our PSC memberships. I try to take the little men into "town" once a week. I tell Tyler it's my way of fighting the suburban hermit syndrome. I think he thinks I'm a little nuts. All I know is, the boys and I really enjoy getting together with him once a week for our special lunch.

I want to leave you with a little bit of an explanation for pictures Tyler posted on our last update. The ones of Henry with the blanket behind him were rejects from a little photo shoot we did in our living room for Henry's baby announcement. If those were the rejects you can just imagine how cute the announcement is going to be, so if you want one and you're not sure we've got your address, drop us a line. The profile shot of Mack with the ferry in the background is from a picnic we took two weeks ago (last Saturday was Ikea and dinner at Ty's folks' house), at the Edmonds Ferry Dock. We also took the photo shown above. It was Henry's first picnic, and we all had a good time watching the trains, boats and scuba divers and throwing in a few rocks.

Tune in next time for Adventures in Potty Training.