A link about the financial Crisis

Since there are a fair number of financially-minded people who happen to follow our blog I though I would post a link to this: financial-crisis-for-beginners
Not that you are beginners, but it breaks things down clearly.
Happy reading!

Chirstmas Eve

Well, the Christmas Eve post is a bit late. But the pictures are here for your boxing day enjoyment.

Here Erika sets out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. She is also having a snack as she squirts yogurt into her mouth. The babies were not getting the whole Santa idea so they were already in bed.











However, the babies have been busy as well. Catie tries to make sense of the past year by reading the week magazine. (she is advanced you know ha-ha)














Next photo is also of Catie as she shows off her flexibility. Toes are fun!










Last, Catie and Miranda before going to bed on Christmas eve. Observant readers will notice that this photo is from the same series as Miranda's Dojo.

First White Christmas in 18 years!

Did we go anywhere for Christmas? No. Not even if we wanted to.
The Pacific Northwest was completely shut down due to snow since Wednesday the 17th. And Before Jackie starts wondering aloud how it could be such a simple things as snow could completely paralyze us from Portland to Seattle let me remind you mid-westerners that the last time it snowed like this was in 1990.

Also, the area is riddled with streams and creeks which are important for Salmon and other things which are not as tasty in my opinion, so we don't use salt on the streets. We use something that is less environmentally impacting, cheaper, and completely ineffective.

Plus no one has a snow blower, or a plow or anything! And no road is flat. Seattle itself if built on 7 hills. So no, you cannot go anywhere if it really snows. Not by car, or bus, or train, or bicycle. The airport? Good luck with that.



Welcome to Miranda's dojo: Sensei Miranda allows Grasshopper Dolly to taste defeat. Pike training is about to begin. Just try to take it.


Catie tried to take it.


Thanks to "grams" Kathy for the matching outfits.
In the wrestling chaos I think we lost track of who is who. (Actually Catie is on top)

Erika sings, and defends Boba Fett

Erika is beginning to enjoy music.
Just this evening while Jackie and I were bathing the babes, Erika was spinning around in a swivel chair. She was singing, "You spin me right round baby right round like a record..."
I asked what a record was and she said she didn't know. She might never know until history class.

Also, I had previously recorded some Kipper the Dog cartoons, and between episodes, Comcast advertises music on demand. Erika heard some clip from a music video and demanded to hear the whole song. It took some clever searching with iTunes, but we now ($0.99 later) listen to Fergi sing "Big Girls Don't Cry." I had never heard of this Fergi person, but there you have it.

Also, as Erika becomes Pop-culture aware, she has been asking me what the pricess says. I'm supposed to reply, "Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." Then she practices this sentence. The practice is usually followed her telling me how Boba Fett is better than Darth Vader. But Darth Vader is nice too. She wants to know why I dressed up as darth vader for halloween when I was a boy. This kinda blows my mind since I remember mentioning this only in passing, but it had clearly captured her imagination.

But as the holidays come to fruition, our Boba Fett action figure has gone missing. His usual spot in our nativity scene will remain open. You never know when he will show up. His true origions are a mystery, his humanity ambiguous. He fits right in.

Cabin Fever 2008

We've been having some snow this week. Right now we are bracing for the phase 2 assault of snow which will supposedly include wind.
It is not always a relaxing time in the Wetzel household.


Below we see some science being done. Thanks to Grandma Kathy sending Erika a kit for color experimentation.


Can't go to the beach? How about the kitchen?

Erika turns 4. Video edition

Erika turns 4

Grandma glady and Auntie Jayne sent some lovely fairy apparel.


The flower cake sent by Grandma Kathy was of great interest to all the girls.
Notice the expert-level sitting-up skills on display!


And the novelty cupcake molds sent by Great Aunt Eilene (I think!) were used creatively.

Flower Children in Wetzelland

Time to update the blog. I've noticed that the pictures today have a 60s feel and decided to go with that theme.

June (a.k.a Jungle, a.k.a. Erika) saw pink glasses at the party store and simply had to have them. With her dotted shirt and purple pants, she is showing that the 60s live on. Pink Power!
(BTW, June is another character on her favorite video game, Katamari, and her new nom de plume. Just when I got used to calling her Jungle . . . )


Miranda has mastered the art of sitting by herself and uses her new-found freedom to chew on things located 8 inches above ground level. In this case, it is the bottom of the shoe rack hung in our front closet. Mmmmm . . . tasty.
(This is indeed Miranda breaking the stripe protocol due to an unfortunate spit-up incident combined with Mommy's lax attitude toward the wash lately.)

Catie shows off her long eyelashes as she flings her stuffed toy around. She is also showing the adventurous fashion spirit with her bib worn rakishly over the shoulder.

Uncle Ed and aunt Jeraline

Here we have the oldest and youngest Wetzels bonding during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ed is actually the youngest of the origional Wetzel clan, and he has 9 children, and so we are tagging along with these cousins for the holiday.

Aunt Jeraline demonstrates how a bouncy knee is the secret to a sleeping baby.
We also spent some time at the Hayatsu family Thanksgiving, but I forgot to take pictures there.
Overall, it was a 10 hour outing and the babies did not even cry once! They do not yet have stranger anxiety, so there is nothing better than being passed around and sleeping on whomever they can.

They call her Jungle

Erika now prefers to be called "Jungle" these days.

Any mention of "cupcake" is harshly reproached.

As for this photo, I will let the readers suggest a caption.

November naptime.

Four out of five Wetzels are asleep right now. Daddy does not know what to do with himself, so he decides to rake leaves. It is the rainy, drizzly time of year now. The moss is really loving it.
I put extra grass seed on some bare spots in the lawn a couple weeks ago, but I think the birds ate it all! I haven't been in the yard for a couple weeks and I see that there are lots of mushrooms, an insane amount of moss, and one rat carcass. That last one was a bit of a surprise, and I came *this* close to putting it on the blog, but I guess fortunately for you I didn't! So anyway here's some moss from our back yard, it's kinda pretty, in a hobbit sort of way.

2008 Ohio visit

Grandma Kathy and Miranda

Great Grandma Huges and Cate.

Family photo!

Grandpa Keith and Miranda take a moment to bond.

2008 Ohio visit

Great Grandma Hughes and Cate.


Great Uncle Chuck examines Miranda's foot, apparently.


Great aunt Ilene becomes a chew toy.


Aunt Kimi and Mirand having fun.

History being made etc.

No, I'm not going to write anything snarky.
The dems won fair and square. Erika observes.

Halloween 2008

Oct 18th

Reading is quite a bit harder to do these days, but daddy manages. Cate seems to enjoy reading even at this early age.


Catey the happy baby this morning!


Grandma Glady and Aunty Jayne came to visit us this Saturday.
Catey and Miranda enjoy being held, and Erika plays the part of a rogue fairy.
Sherry Bobbleberry (first class).

October fun

Here we have a couple baby seats which are ridiculously expensive. At least we got one at a swap meet type event! But they are a great way to plant the babies. Of course you are not supposed to put the baby chairs on a table, or counter, or anywhere else which would actually be useful. Once again, we break all the rules.


Still, it is difficult to keep clothes on #1. Miranda looks on.


Erika and I enjoyed some pumkin carving on the front porch tonight when we were visited by five very large racoons. I was able to get a photo of one here at least. Apparently, our neighbor feeds them regularly out of some misplaced need to nurture vermin. They are not at all scared of humans, and were coming right up to us. Strangely enough, Erika was not at all affraid of them either! She's affraid of everything - except a team of wild racoons? She did not want to pet them or anything, so that is good, but she was completely ambivalent toward them. I had to shoo them off, since, like persistant dinner guests, they were just getting comfortable and moving in for more conversation.

A trip to the Aquarium (for good behavior)

For exceptionally good behavior, Erika earned a trip to the Seattle Aquarium.


We spent a lot of time watching the jelly fish lazily make their way around the tank shaped like a tauroid. Also we did a significant amount of artwork. Below, Erika takes a dim view of being photographed.



For the outdoor parts, there were smocks.What could be cuter than a ladybug smock.

Squirrel Time

Once again it's Squirrel Time.
An event origionated with Erika's friend Takara and celebrated at the equinox.



The kids make crafts involving nature and whatnot.
Oh, to be young an pagan again!

Babies doing stuff!

Cate and Miranda react to the WAMU crisis


Miranda indicates that it's time to bite the bear market on it's nose.


Daddy and Cate read up on how people are really bad at understanding risk.