Whew, are we tired. We went to a Likkel family reunion today. Was really great to see everyone and Ethan had an AWESOME time. The reunion was at a park with cool toys and he played on those, and with the other little kids that were there. Here are some pics of him playing:



In all truth tho, this kid would have been happy to throw bark all day. Seriously. We had to place him on the toys, and he wouldn't even smile! Maybe Ethan will be a landscaper :)

We got a great pic of Gwennie with her Poppa (great-grandfather):



We got home at about 5. We put Ethan down to finish his nap and before we knew it, it was 6:30 and Ethan was still sleeping and no dinner had been started. Oops! I ended up making Mom's Tortilla Light Soup, and Ethan had leftover lasagna, cuz he couldn't wait to eat :)

It was hot in the house, and it just drained all energy from us. Doesn't help that somehow, the house I had managed to keep fairly clean all week (using my new chore chart!) got completely trashed and cluttered and so every other step you're tripping over kitchen utensils (thanks to Ethan), stepping on blocks, and constantly knocking stuff off counters and tables.

Sometimes, it seems like everything goes to heck when Jason is home. I don't know why this is. Is it because I feel like since he's here I can be more relaxed and not stay on top of things? Is it the extra body generating mess? I don't know, but I do know that on Monday, I'm sad that J has to go to work and sadder that I have to spend the entire day making the house usable again.

Speaking of houses... OY. I'm in serious depression about our house situation. I want a new house so badly. We were talking today about me entering this cooking contest... the grand prize is $100,000. I said to J, "Wow, if I won, we could buy that house in the Pilchuck Highlands that we want". There was a pause, then we both were like, "Nope, even with $100,000 we couldn't buy it". Since the house/property is like $489,000, $100,000 wouldn't bring it down enough for us to afford the monthly payments on Jasons salary. How freaking depressing is it that even if you won a great deal of money and you make a good salary, you still could not afford your dream house? It was then that I realized I have to give up my desire for this house or it would drive me to insanity. Truth is, I don't need 5 acres and a luxury mansion type house to be happy. But it is so frustrating when you look down the road and realize that there is nothing better than what you have that you'll be able to afford in the next 5 years. I'd just like a kitchen that has usable cabinets and some room to it. An extra bedroom. Neighbors that are more than 5 feet away. Our needs are simple, and yet they seem to cost in the $300,00 and up range (or, require you to move at least 2 hours away from where the good jobs are). We so hate our neighborhood. Its gone into a serious decline, people-wise, even as the house value has risen. I can't even talk about it any more. So depressing.

So, on a lighter note, I was trying to take a pic of Gwen tonight playing with her toes. Well, the first pic came out too dark, so I turned on the flash. I accidentally turned on the red-eye flash, which flashes like a strobe light right before the picture is taken. Um, I scared poor Gwendolyn! A moment before, she'd been holding her toes and cooing... then I took the pic and this is what I got



Poor little thing... but she sure gave her Mom and Dad a good laugh!