Pistol Tanker Palin

Introducing Pistol Tanker Palin:

"Thanks but no thanks..."

"Ah shit, I was just kidding...that woman is nuts!"

Okay on a separate note, it's so awesome when your kid thinks you are single-handedly the most powerful person in the world. Apparently even more powerful than Daddy. Hah! Here's how it went down this morning:

Good morning Bea, can I make you some brekkie? Read a book?
Yea.

Oh, by the way, Bea - did you know that Barack Obama won last night? He's our new President!
What about Hillary? (that's my girl)

Well, you know she was sort of out of the picture - instead Barack won.

Woooowwww Mom, how did YOU DO THAT??

Instead of leading her to believe I really was that powerful, she got a short lesson in civics - 4 year old style. "Let's take a family vote on who gets Bea's Halloween candy."

And on a final note, I survived poll watching. It was a great opportunity, but it got a tad bit boring. I wasn't allowed to have a cell phone or laptop in the polling station, so I had to sneak out to get updates from Shonna & David. Thank god for David, who was able to talk Shonna and I down on a number of occasions by simply explaining how the numbers worked. So while I was stuck in a school gym, being eyed suspiciously by the election judges, Bea was busy checking the electoral map on my laptop:

Me approaching the closing of the polls...LONG day, but worth it. I saved several votes for the Dems.

Big Day

On two fronts:

1. Bea's first day at the Clark Fork School. www.clarkforkschool.org Every child should have the opportunity to engage in this type of learning. It is a parent cooperative school which focuses on connecting education, nature & community. We are so fortunate to have access to this school. Bea did so wonderful - and the kids were so welcoming. She left her first day with two new, special friends - Lucia & Audrey. As Bea and I discussed, we will still see her old St. Paul friend, Luke, Sophia & Isabella, and she's so lucky to make new friends. Bea met her new teachers, Miss Julee and Miss Jennifer, as well as the class bunny - Applehopper - who gets to hop around the room making friends with the kids.

Today Bea did a still life painting and learned about frogs and seed pods! We are looking forward to this year and kindergarten next year.

2. Today is Election Day. So, it wasn't Hillary, but then again, I'm starting to believe it just may be Obama's time. I am hopeful he will be elected. In the spirit of community service, Bea & I are off to volunteer at the polls, to ensure all voters are protected and able to cast their votes.
Bea is adorned in Obama temp tattoos, but we are still Hill-Girls at heart. When Obama is elected I am confident Hillary's vision for the care of our citizens, particularly children, will be enacted. Regardless, he's earned this in his own right and is a compelling and impressive man. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Finally, we are headed to Ben & Kelly's tonight for our traditional Election Night Dinner. Thankfully, Elizabeth will be there to help me piss Ben off. Yay! Nothing more fun than a raging fight at the Hurshes!!

Bea's Summit

So this morning I surprised Bea with this: "We're going to hike the 'M' today!" Because Bea has never done this before, under her own leg power as opposed to riding in the kiddie-pack, she was totally game. After brekkie, off we went, in windy, wet, 45 degree weather. It's a pretty intense hike - relatively short - 20 mins up - but steep.

Bea completely rocked that hike. She made it to the top with me in 25 mins and didn't even complain. We sang songs, took little breaks to look at the wildflowers and pretended to be mountain goats. Ollie sprayed urine over the entire trail just to ensure no other dogs got any ideas they might have any right to be there. (seriously, HOW can such a small dog generate so much piss?? It's ridiculous.) We all had a great time and I was so proud of Bea for summiting the M.

You'll see in the pictures that she's wearing her GU sweatshirt and Gonzaga Girl hat. We feel it important for her to have a solid understanding that she's a Bulldog, not a Griz. Thus, anytime we do anything U of M-ish, she wears GU apparel and sings: Go Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A! Which she did sing as she was summiting the M.

Can anyone find puggy at the very first picture? He's taking a break from marking the perimeter of the M.

Butte, America

So while I was holed up in my thousandth f*cking deposition in Butte, George & Bea got to discover Butte's "colorful" past. They ate brekkie at a Butte uptown diner; went on a tour of an old mine shaft; then hit the hot pools at Fairmont. Nice to have them along as I miss them when I have to travel for work.

Bea in "old town" Butte at the mining museum
Bea modeling in front of some old time mining equipment.

Bea in front of a really, really, really big tire.

Bea on an old mining cart.

Hangin' at the bottom of the mine shaft.

Syttende Mai

Last Saturday Donna & Paul invited us to the Sons of Norway "Syttende Mai," which is essentially a children's festival. So on a beautiful sunny Saturday we joined them at the Nordic Pines cabin for a very enjoyable afternoon.

Beatrice trying out the bungi-trampoline. Up, up, and......

.....AWAY!!! What a brave girl!

Partaking in the gunny-sack race with Daddy & Donna. Bea is in the lead!

Uh-oh. One to many Hieniken's for Donna.

(Even though she looks mad, she asked that I take this picture. I swear.)

Who would guess this woman is 2 years shy of 80??!!!

Roasting weenies with Daddy & Paul.

Trust me, nothing compares to a Nordic Pines cookout/potluck.

The Three Musketeers. Paul, Bea & Donna.Donna is doing her damn best to turn us into honorary Norweigans. We got hit up to join the Sons of Norway. Although George's father's side is Swedish, and although we are Catholic, Donna seems to have pardoned us. So we think we may join. Lots of nice families with little kids.

We've been to a few of their rippers and they are really pretty fun. They put on the Barnelopet (kid's x-c ski race); regular pancake breakfasts at the Nordic Pines (Paul makes the pancakes - to die for); Annual Christmas Party at the Nordic Pines, where Paul dresses up as the Julenissen (Santa) and the old ladies, including Donna, don their Norweigan dancing dresses; and now the Syttende Mai. I think we're signing on. Not to mention we are in good standing as we have been taken in by Donna & Paul. Those two are like the Godfathers of the Sons of Norway. I mean to tell you, we are in the "in-crowd" when we hit the Pines. We get the best seats in the house, next to Donna & Paul. Best of all, Donna knows where the Heinekins are stashed.

Mother's Day Tea

Bea invited me to a Mother's Day Tea at her pre-school, St. Paul's. We also invited Donna. It was so nice and very special. We had cucumber sandwiches, drank tea and punch and had some dessert. Bea and her pre-school friends did a little performance of "I'm a Little TeaPot" and "I am Special." Bea then gave me a beautiful wooden plaque that says "MOM" on it with wooden butterfly that she painted. Bea made me feel like a very special mom that day.

Bea all dressed up for the Tea

Isabella & Bea at the Tea

Then on actual Mother's Day, I was so lucky to be woken up and given a present from Bea & Ollie (a cell phone headset so I don't use my cell phone while driving :) Then Bea & George made breakfast while I drank coffee and read a magazine. How relaxing! We rounded out the day by doing a lot of gardening and I got to pick out a beautiful hanging plant. Ended the day with a yummy dinner of Pasta Carbonara.

Donna & Bea

Shine

your power, your might, your light little girl.
Your mommy told you a story that you'll not forgot -
you can do whatever you chose.
You can do it all or not at all.
You knew. You understood.

You told me that you had a princess meeting
with your coworkers in a half and hour.
You were going to talk about babies at your meeting.
Your carriage was coming to pick you up.

We went together to support
a great woman.
A woman who's
intelligence,
frank ambition,
and care for us
were palpable, touchable.

My little girl, we will see it
in our time, together.
We will experience, and
I will savor, our time of respect.

And I will not forget who got us there.


Bea & I went to see Hillary speak this weekend in Missoula.
We were able to meet her, talk to her and most important,
we listened to her.
I am very grateful to have been part of history and to have given
the same to my daughter.

Pictures of the meeting to follow!!

Tiny Dancer

George & I often refer to Bea as our Tiny Dancer because, well, she loves to dance and she's tiny. She has "happy" dances, "sad" dances, "angry" dances and "silly" dances. She twirls and points toes and gracefully throws her little arms in the air. She love to "practice" her "ballerina dancing." It's one of my favorite things about watching my 3 year old.

So this week we were driving and the song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John comes on. Bea immediately tunes in, quietly listening to the lyrics:

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Bea then pipes up from the back seat: "Did you hear that Mommy? They are singing about Jesus. They said Jesus. They said his name: Jesus Frees. Mommy, did you know that Jesus' middle name is Frees? His whole name is Jesus Frees."

Seriously. She is so darn cute, clever and all of the above.
Our little Tiny Dancer.

Ballerina, you must have seen her, dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand

Salt Lake Pictures, part duex

Mommy & Bea next to our carriage horse, Kidd. Bea in the lobby of the Little America Hotel. I wanted her picture by a huge vase of flowers, she insisted on having her picture with this stone dog. Whatever -still cute a bug no matter what she poses by.
Three generations of Ericksons!! Only missing Grandpa Matt. Doesn't Grandma Dode look fiesty for 94??!!! Bea with Grandma Dode's doll, Mary Marie. Grandma Dode got this doll from her "Poppy" when she was only 4 years old - that makes this doll 90. It almost looks as good as Dode.

Broken Wing

Honestly, we have had the most eventful week we've had in quite awhile.

Here's the run down:

Sunday: Bea comes down with a NASTY case of the stomach flu and was a little wet dishrag on the couch all day with Mom cleaning up quantites of vomit. Meanwhile, Daddy & Ollie go for a day-long snowshoe adventure with Chris Tenny & Co.

Monday: Bea stays home with Dad due to the flu.

Tuesday: While practicing her "ballerina dance" Bea eats shit and lands on her ladybug tea set from her Nannie, thereby sustaining a "buckle fracture" to her forearm. Off to the First Care center we go for x-rays, splint, etc... We officially dub her with a broken wing.

Wednesday: Mom stays home with Bea and follows up with the orthopedist to find out....permanent cast is in the forecast once the swelling goes down. Nannie comes down to help Mom w/ Bea. Mom prepares for depos in Butte, gets Bea ready for her Valentine's Day party the next day, and gets the family packed for the trip to Salt Lake City - leaving Friday. Mom then has to leave for Butte, for depositions.

Thursday: BeaMom kicks some serious ass during depos, Bea & Dad drive to Butte to spend the night before leaving for Salt Lake City. Mom, Dad & Bea spend Valentine's evening at the Hampton Inn in Butte. We decide to make the most of our romantic suite and the 3 of us pile into the whirlpool in the bathroom for a big, huge, giant Valentine's day bubble bath complete with whirlpool jets. Top that off with boxed wine and Bud Light from the convenience store across the street. Hey, there was lots of love to go around on Valentine's Day, all we were missing was Puggy. That night Bea gets a 2nd bout of the flu, or else ate too much Valentine's candy, and throws up massive amounts of vomit twice in the hotel.

Friday: Get up bright and early - assess Bea - she appears fine. We hit the road for SLC. But first stop in Dillon for the legendary Patagonia sale. Too much money later, we head out covered from head to toe in Capeline and fleece. Drive like bat-shit crazy to SLC. Check into the Little America Hotel (our favorite place to stay in SLC). Bea & I get gussied up - Big Daddy G takes us to dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill, where the three of us truly enjoyed ourselves. We take the light rail back to the hotel, get bundled up, then catch a 8:30 carriage ride of downtown SLC & around Temple Square. So, so, so, fun. 3 of us bundled under about 5 wool blankets snuggled in and taking in the sights of SLC at night. wonderful. Then to bed - finally.

Saturday: Get up, work out, drink coffee, go see Grandma Dode at St. Joseph's. Grandma Dode is George's grandmother who is 94. She was the reason for our visit. She didn't look a day older than when I met her 11 years ago. She was dressed to the nines in black slacks, nylons, dress shoes, crisp white button up blouse, brooch, Norweigian sweater, earrings, hair coiffed and lipstick. It was wonderful to see her so well. We ate lunch w/ her at her assisted living center, and stayed for about 3 hours hearing all about family history. It was a really great experience. We look forward to seeing her again soon. Then we left, Bea slept, George carted me around to go shopping at Ann Taylor and the like, back to the hotel for Bea & I to swim. George headed back to have dinner with Grandma Dode and his aunt Mary Ev. Meanwhile Bea & I lounged around, drank hot chocolate, primped, preened then waited for Big Daddy G to come back and take us out on the town. Daddy came back w/ Mary Ev, we went to great pub, ate, drank then fell into bed.

Sunday: Got up at the ass crack of dawn and hit the road. Drove like mad, and finally made it home. Went for a nice, loooooong walk, came back and ended the week with a hurrah at Blue Canyon Grill. What a week.

Bea goes in on Tues to get a permanent cast. She's doing great and not really in any pain. I feel so bad for her though b/c she's so tiny and she really does remind me of a little bird with a broken wing. :( But she's been getting tons and tons of TLC from us.

Anyway, I have tomorrow off, then on Wednesday have to head over to Great Falls for work. Blech. I just want to stay home. Well, here's some pics of our week-long trials and adventures.

Sunday: Bea recovering from the stomach flu. Note the yellow puke bowl next to her.

Puggy recovering from a long day of Snowshoeing with Fashja

Bea with her broken wing all wrapped up in plastic for the Valentine's bubble bath in Butte.

Bea & Daddy enjoying hot chocolate at the Hampton Inn after the "Bubble Bath."Mommy & Bea outside the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City

Daddy & Bea after a big, hearty dinner at the Macaroni Grill in SLC.Daddy & Bea doing their best Italian Mafia impression after dinner - Capiche?Mommy & Bumblebee at the light rail in SLC...on our way to catch a carriage ride!The troop at the carriage ride - just like Cinderella! (or so we told Bea).Staying warm on the carriage ride.

A Girl & Her Pug

Lounging in bed.....

Looking for love & treats.....


....Slumber party!!

Sleeping by the fire...

Tea Party

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Not Nannie. Tee-Hee.

House Frau & Hillary

We think Bea looks like the essential "HouseFrau" in this picture. I can't claim that term - in fact Grandpa Matt on occassion referred to our midwife as "the HouseFrau." Which still cracks us up everytime we recall him calling the midwife that.

Here's a few pics of Bea with her NanniePappy at the Ironhorse and then on the Missoula Carousel. Perfect day in Bea's world.

Pappy as sidekick - Tally Ho!!!

Finally, on a separate note, I have fully enlisted and brainwashed Frau to help campaign for Hillary. George has squashed my hopes of turning Bea in a HillGirl. Won't have it. Won't really even let me talk about it. So, I may have to do so here. Go Hillary!!!! Ollie & I are pulling for you on SuperTuesday!!!

If she gets the vote, Bea will be able to thank me in the long run when she's able to earn as much as her male counterparts without having to work twice as hard to earn less. And YES that is still the case. I'm rooting for Bea to be able to work in an environment where she's a part of the 'Good ol' Girls' Club" who goes to the winebar to conduct business instead of the 'country club' where she's not even welcome. Where Bea can choose whether to be a HouseFrau, mother or successful working woman and her choices will not be considered mutually exclusive. Where she grows up in a society that values helping each other, not helping herself. (On that note, kudos to Max Baucus for attempting to re-work the tax rebate to include the elderly and unemployed - it's not going to kill any of us to forfeit $100 to help someone else). And where her generation will be the fortunate recipients of a clean energy revolution.

So for now, Frau & I will be proudly touting our Hill-aphenalia and working our asses (and curled up tails) off to get her the bid. And for all you Hill-haters, if by chance you are offended, just go ahead and close the webpage. And for those of you who are intelligent enough to look past the smut associated with her husband and the GOP propoganda bullshit - go check out her positions on the issues: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ And if you are inspired - donate or volunteer.

SuperSkeetieSaturday

Today was our first Saturday off as a family in about 3 months. George just switched shifts, so now he has Thursday, Friday & Saturday off. It was simple, and probably in the long run forgettable, but these days are what makes parenting a joy.

I put together "Land of Nod" cinnamon rolls last night. Actually they are a Canadian recipe, thanks to "the Best of the Best" cookbook from George's mom. They rose to massive proportions this morning and eventually got even bigger in the oven, but turned out to the perfect Saturday morning breakfast.

Skeetie slept snuggly between us last night, so pug resorted to being my pug-hat all night. Cramped, but again, perfect. She had spent the last 2 nights w/ NanniePappy, so we all just needed a good 8 hour snuggle-fest.

At any rate, we had cinnamon rolls & green tea smoothies for brekkie, then all piled Ol' Blue, including pug for a day around Missoula. We hit Great Harvest to pick up bread, invaded the Good Food Store for weekly supplies, ran to Target to get Bea a new big-girl booster seat, flew by Loose Caboose for hot chocolates, then drove out to Spurgin Road for some sledding. Sadly we didn't have our camera, but we had a kick-ass time flying down the hill on the purple plastic sled. Twice all of us piled on the sled and freakin' screamed down the hill. One time ending with a snow-wedgie. Soon thereafter we took off for the the Montana Natural History Center to participate in a kiddie-seminar on bird species. Bea huddled around the presenter, a bird-specialist from East Glacier, and was the perfect "little naturalist." Actually, she was fascinated with a flashlight battery that she had found and stowed away in the pocked of her fleece jacket, but regardless, she sat still. That is a fantastic center and I would highly recommend their kid-programs every Saturday.

We then headed home for naps and then made dinner. I found an instant Bea favorite: wild mushroom mac & cheese. She had a penchant not only for edamamme, but also for any type of mushroom, prepared any way. So combining mac & cheese with mushrooms was a delight for her. I'd highly recommend this decadent dish, particularly if you are hell-bent on ruining your healthy eating plan. You can find it at http://www.gourmet.com/ in February's recipes. After a supreme comfort meal we all rolled downstairs to finish the day with a movie. Tucked under a down blanket, on the couch with Frau, Bea & Big Daddy G - is quite simply the best.

Back in Business

It's been a long time, but I'm going to try to get us back in business.

Bea's now 3, Ollie is 5 1/2 and George & I are trucking along as well.

For New Year's we hit First Night Missoula with our dear friend Eliza. Bea got to meet Curious George in person - no kidding!

Then Bea got her face painted, which was very thrilling for her. When asked what she wanted painted on her face, she replied dead pan with "apples & bunnies." Uh, sure - a totally logical combination.

Next day we headed over to Cd'A to spend the night and see George's friend, Jay, from his days at BSU. The four of us really had a lot of fun, hangin' at Moon Time; swimming in the pool; going to church at St. Thomas and visiting friends. It was a great way to start the New Year.

Bea and George after a filling Moontime lunch. Yum!!

More recently we have been subject to a punishing cold snap - thanks to Canada. Blame Canada!

At any rate, during what was perhaps our coldest morning, as in minus 3 Fairenheit, we had a malfunction with our second car and George needed a lift to work. Which would be no prob if he went to work at 9 am, but he in fact leaves the house at 4:15 a.m. So with little to no warning, Skeets and I were forced to haul our asses out of our toasty beds and drive Fashja to work. Ugh. Oliver kept my bed warm. Bea was good sport, on the way home I hi-jacked an espresso stand that had not officially opened and treated us to hot chocolate. Bea decided the day had started, no reason to go back to bed, so we hung out downstairs under down blankets watching PBS kids. Not a bad way to beat the cold afterall. See first picture above. I couldn't get it to move down here. I forgot just how f*cking aggravating the formatting can be on this blog.

On that happy note - hopefully I'll be posting again before 2009.