Getting Caught Up

10/25/2008 09:37:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
Since Mom moved out it seems like all I've been doing is trying to get caught up. It's certainly harder to do that without Mom's help with Lexie when she's not in daycare. Lexie's old enough now to want to "help" me with everything so of course nothing gets done while she's awake. So I'm trying to get the blog caught up at night and then I'll make an effort to not get as far behind in the future. We'll see.





After mom left I converted her bedroom back to a guest room and her living room into Lexie's playroom. It's been nice to have more room for Lexie to play in and to get a lot of the toys out of the living room upstairs (we still miss you Mom and Lexie always checks your room to see if you have magically appeared.) As you can see she has made herself right at home and now the dogs are getting in on her hat act. Between her checking their hearts and dressing them up I have a feeling they wish I hadn't expanded her play area so that it includes them.



Life moves on and we are back for our second season of dance class. This year it's Lexie in class all by herself. I wanted to do the Mommy & Me again since the regular classes start at age 3 and Lexie was only 28 months when they started up again. But the Mommy & Me class is being held on Friday at 2pm so there was no way I could commit to that time. Plus once I let her try this class on her own she's done great. She still loves her teacher and the other girls are a little older than Lexie but almost all of them haven't had any dance so Lexie is actually the "pro" in the class. Okay that's a bit of a stretch but she is very confident in both ballet and tap which makes up for the fact that she's so young. Bottom line is she is still loving it and I get to watch her have fun. Isn't the picture adorable of the 4 ballerinas waiting to start class?

Then we were on to Halloween prep. She really enjoys her plastic pumpkins which we are practicing with for the whole trick or treat thing but the real pumpkin insides grossed her out. As soon as she touched it she was way done. Luckily I had her paint her pumpkins first. That she loved. I think she feels like she's some kind of real artist. She was very serious and took her time with the paints. And the first one she put the stickers on first then paint over it and the second one she only wanted paint. After they dried and we went to put stickers on top of the paint she did not want anything on the last one. I put one on just to see and she very firmly said no and took it off. She certainly knows what she wants and is very proud of her work!



And her she is with the end results. Ta daaa!!!

The next day we were off to a fabulous day at the pumpkin patch, corn maze and so much more. The weather was terrific and Maris Farms looked picture perfect. They had a whole area just for the little kids with steer roping (which Lexie choose to ride instead), tractor races (which Mommy got to be the motor for the tractor), duck races, pig races and even a cow train pulled by a real tractor. This place was a hoot and Lexie & I had one to boot!



Next we were off to the pony rides for Lexie's first time on one. As soon as she say them she said "Me..me..me" so there was no question of her being scared or anything. She got right on when it was her turn and only had a moment of uncertainty when the pony first moved but then she was fine. Smiling the whole time. She even thanked the pony when we were done. Her Aunt Yin-Yin and Uncle Todd would have been so proud.


Then my little dare devil saw this big slide that had been built into the hill with a huge plastic pipe as the slide and she ran right for it. At first I was going to go with her but I saw a couple of younger kids going on it by themselves and she keep saying "me go, me go" so I thought what the heck. She amazed me and just zipped right down it and wanted to go again. She is going to be a wild thing at the amusement parks.
They also had this big blow-up thing that was dug into a sand pit. Kind of like a trampoline that was on the ground the size of a tennis court. Lexie had a hard time waiting in line for that one be there was no question she was going to jump on it. When it was her turn there where a lot of older kids who bounced her all over the place but she had a ball. I just wished I'd brought the video camera. She was laughing the whole time she was in there. There was also a petting area so she got to pet her first bunny. Very sweet.


And then we were back to the little kid area again to get her face painted, also a first. I'm glad we waited to the end since the young girl who did it was no Rembrandt. It was a very large purple butterfly if you can't tell what it is. But I think the coolest thing they had was a corn pit. It was a huge room in a barn filled about 2 feet deep with dried corn kernels. The kids just jumped in and rolled around in it and had a ball. Adults where allowed in with them and it felt like you where getting a message on your feet. It was great and Lexie didn't want to get out. All and all we had a great day!!

We'll Miss You Mom (she's just moved south)

10/19/2008 12:09:00 AM Edit This 1 Comment »

More changes in the Quast household. My mom has lived with me for the last 3 1/2 years since my father passed away. I feel we have both helped each other through some pretty big changes in our lives. First missing Dad and going through that year of "firsts" without him. It was tough for Mom in so many ways since they had lived together for over 45 years and were simply each others best friends as well as husband and wife. I was certainly not what mom was used to living with and I hadn't had a roommate for a looooooong time. We both had a lot of adjustments to make but I think we did pretty well. Then we decided we needed to add a little youth to our lives so we adopted...Kit & Kaboodle. Two pups from the pound who certainly changed our lives.

They were a lot of work as puppies but a lot of fun too while we waited for my adoption to come through. Mom and I took dog training classes with them when they became more than just cute little balls of fur. Just a reminder to Mom that SHE was the one who picked out Kaboodle and said she wouldn't be that big. Looking at her paws I knew Mom was wrong and since Kaboodle now weighs in at 75 lbs, I hate to say it but I told you so Mom. Kit is just a tiny little brown guy at 50 lbs. Here they are as grown ups.
They are truly inseparable and as much work as two are I'm glad they had each other (and a dog sitter of course) when mom joined me for the adventure of a life time to adopt Lexie. Mom was really a trooper in some pretty....lets call them challenging situations in Kazakhstan. She was great during the visits with Lexie at the baby house and has been wonderful with her since we got home.

But Mom has been talking about getting her own space and a quieter space as well, I think. There's nothing nosier than a two year old and Lexie has certainly become a typical two year old. Mom needs to try living on her own since she never has and I couldn't be prouder of her. So Mom bought a little house a few blocks from my sister Angie, her husband Jim and their 3 children in the outskirts of Houston. Housing is simply too expensive up here but she got a brand new 1800 sq ft rambler with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and high end finishes with almost enough room for ALL of her stuff. She deserves it!! Up here I couldn't have found her a mobile home for the price she bought her new home for. So we packed up all her stuff from the house and her FOUR storage units full of treasures and had them transported down south the week of her 70th birthday. What a present to herself. She has plenty of room for us to come visit her which is just what we'll be doing for Thanksgiving. So Lexie and I are missing our roommate but we know Grandma is just a phone call away. We love you mom!

Doing the Fair

10/15/2008 11:35:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »


Ever since I shot a movie in the Seattle area over a dozen years ago and discovered the Puyallup Fair, I love going every year. I've dragged my sister, her kids and husband (sorry Jim) and Mom and whomever else I could get to go with me. And since it's always right around my birthday, I've been able to guilt someone into going if nothing else. Well I've found a kindred spirit in Lexie. From the minute we walked through those golden gates (okay they were yellow but to Lexie and I they glittered like gold) she had a ball! And talk about no fear - that child would have gone on the log ride, the big slide and I think even the bungee chair if I would have let her. For 6 hours she ran Mom and I from one adventure to the next. Rides, games and animals, you named it she wanted to explore it. We even got a little shopping in but I have to say for the first time I didn't really care if I made it to all the shopping booths or not. Lexie was just plain too much fun to watch. She proudly won this dolphin by slamming the dinger with the sledge hammer and hitting the bell - well kinda. But she picked the dolphin over the frog which really surprised me and then she carried it everywhere - until the next ride of course.

Here she is searching for her next adventure. Look at those pink cheeks - did I mention it was really hot, like 85 degrees which was one of our hottest days of the year. Yeah Pacific Northwest!

Driving a ATV or a big yellow dump truck, she was all over it!



You would have thought she was going down a category 5 rapids the way she hung on but she never once wanted out or cried or anything. She just had so much fun. At one point on this "ride" I splashed her so she scooped up some water then put it on her own head. What a mimic. Then she tried to lean over the boat to dunk her head in the water. Luckily the "river" was so narrow she couldn't do it because I don't think I could have gotten to her fast enough to have stopped her from going in head first. My little dare devil!


The animals where another favorite of hers. She had no fear - goats, sheep, lama, pigs, even full grown cows, she would walk right up to them and pet them and say "oh baby...sooooft." It didn't matter how big it was to her right now it's always "oh baby" and then she will pat it. She is one funny little girl.

Yes, this is my pretty little girl next to a sheep's butt. Nice shot GaGa!




I'm not sure who had more fun on the Carousal GaGa (aka - Grandma ) or Lexie. This was her first ride of the day. She saw it and said "me...me go!" So GaGa bought the tickets and off they went. Way cute. It was also the last ride of the day. We dug the last few wrinkled tickets out of our pockets and she was just as excited to ride it again.
I don't have one of those end of the day shots where the baby is asleep on some one's shoulder or in the stroller. Nope, we had to drag her out of there even though it was already past her bedtime. It was the only time she cried all day. She didn't even fall asleep on the drive home however she did pass out the minute I put her in her bed.

Now I have a fair partner for life. Lucky me!!!!