New Blog....New Year

New year, new goals. One goal in particular, blogging...on a more regular basis. So, in an effort to lessen my guilt in posting to one blog and not the other, I have combined the kids blogs in to a new one. Hope you will follow us here:

http://theempressandlildude.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!!

Tis' The Season

Gus the Elf arrived. His arrival marks the beginning of the holiday season in my mind. The Empress was so excited this morning when she spied him sitting on the shelf. I even heard her talking to him while I was in the other room. Isn't it glorious? That childhood wonder. That sweet innocence. I can't wait until the little dude gets it. The Empress introduced him to Gus the Elf, but he wasn't impressed. He just didn't get it. No matter. She gets it and that makes me smile. She is all about Christmas. Her joy makes the season more than special.

Soon the Christmas cards will arrive. Soon the shopping will be complete. Before you know it we will be opening our Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve, baking gingerbread cookies for the Big Red Guy, mixing and spreading reindeer food on the lawn, reading the traditional "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before bed, and saying goodbye to Gus for another year. In the morning we will be awakened by an excited child, watch the pure happiness of our little people as they tear into their gifts, eat way to many crepes and bacon, and be ready to nap by 10.

Happy Holidays!!

Fall Post....(Past Due)

My mom reminded me today that I hadn't posted to the blog for some time. She is right. Life seems to just whiz by. Many evenings I collapse into bed after a long day at work, chasing the Empress to her various after school activities, followed by an evening of cooking, cleaning, off tune violin and first grade chapter books. My life is full. Brimming really. But, satisfying. Just sometimes my forty something body has a tough time doing the job of a twenty something working mom. But my lame excuses aside, enjoy our fall recap in pictures.

With more sadness than I will ever be able to express, we said goodbye to our beloved Matisse on October 14th. We all miss her terribly and our family has an enormous hole that can never be filled. We love you Toot!! In an effort to numb our pain and provide our little killa Attila the pug (who still looks for Tisse) some companionship, we added some adorable kitties to our nest. Harriet and Hennigan are sweet kitties. Grayson is a super mommy to her kitties. Despite being somewhat tentative towards them in the beginning, Grayson is beginning to hold and pet them. She feeds and waters them twice a day and keeps their cat box clean.

We made our annual trip to Sweet Pickins. It is a magical little farm complete with pumpkins, farm animals, corn maze, a train, go carts and a huge jumping pillow. Autumn heaven.

We carved lots of pumpkins this year. Mommy became obsessed with roasted pumpkin seeds. Yum-O! I believe at last count we carved 10 pumpkins.

T was gone this year for Halloween. He was in Mumbai, India for the week. We missed him, but soldiered on. Our sweet friend Sheri went Trick or Treating with us and we treated her to a Morstein tradition - Mummy dogs. Yes. Mummy dogs. Yum.

For the most part, with the exception to losing Matisse, this fall has been great. Lots of fun. Greer loved Halloween. Didn't quite understand ringing someone's door and not going in to their houses. He attempted several times. There were several occasions when he was nearly pushed out of houses. Funny. Grayson went as Mulan. She was stunning. She was also very driven. I nearly had to run to keep up with her.

Happy Fall!

One Glorious Year

Last year on October 5, 2010, we awoke in a strange country to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer. It was strange and very foreign, but oddly comforting. We dressed quickly, grabbed a quick bite and headed to meet our son. We were so excited and anxious to meet him. When we arrived at Layla house we were taken directly to the baby room. He was so beautiful. I remember seeing him immediately when we entered the room. Strangely, it was as if he had been expecting us. He was not happy to see us. He clung to the legs of his nanny while all the other children came directly to us. Those that could talk were saying "mama, mama" and clutching my legs. All I saw was him. Standing there. Terrified of us. Finally, he ventured near. He smiled, but quickly ran back to his nanny. We played with the other children, hoping he would begin to feel more comfortable. Finally, when we couldn't take one more moment of not touching him, not kissing him, not hugging him close, we scooped him up and sprinted out the door. He wasn't happy. We sat down in the courtyard and held him. We spoke softly to him. He began to relax. Then we took him back to the guest house, played with him, fed him and put him down for a nap. He was ours. Forever. Thank the Lord!!

Today, Greer is a happy, silly, smart, loving little guy. Each morning he wakes up singing with a huge smile on his beautiful face. He loves his sister and waffles. He is into the difficult twos. Not terrible, but definitely difficult. He is all boy. He loves cars, trucks, trains and motorcycles. He has grown like a weed and talks a mile a minute. He has come a million miles since that first morning at Layla. We have been blessed and love our little guy.

Today is a celebration of Greer's Gotcha Day. We went out for Pizza and frozen yogurt and he received a book and a coloring book and crayons. When asked what day it is he excitedly shouted "Dacha!" You got it dude. We Gotcha and we are never letting go!

Recap from Starbucks

If you check the last posts you will notice that they are all posted today, Sunday, August 7. We haven't had an internet connection, so to speak,for many days. So today we headed to Newport for lunch and Starbucks Wi-Fi. Tomorrow we leave our little paradise. It has been a lovely vacation and we would all love to stay longer, but funds are short, we miss our beds and our puppies, and work calls. So I leave with a photo recap.

Hanging in the trailer

We hit the beach first thing this morning. Boy was it chilly. After we got back and warmed up we decided that perhaps we should just hang out in the trailer today, napping, reading, playing, blogging. We need a little down time.

Tide pools and a starfish named Patrick

Boy, we couldn't get outa bed quick enough this morning. We junped in our clothes, grabbed our buckets and practically sprinted to the beach. The weather started out a little bit dreary but soon the sun came out. We roamed the beach for a couple hours looking in the tide pools and collecting shells. Grayson came upon a starfish flipped upside down on the beach. It was obvious it was dead, so we allowed Grayson to take it back to the trailer. She named him Patrick and he is currently drying in the sun. After the beach we regrouped, loaded in the truck and drove up to Newport to the Oregon State Aquarium. It was a lot of fun and both kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. While the kids napped, Todd drove back to Newport and did some laundry. This is the life.