"My little Joshua... has the sweetest smiiiiiiiiiiiiiile!"

Happy Birthday Joshua!

As you know, Joshua's birthday was on September 26th. My youngest is now 2 years old! Frankly, I can't believe it! He came as an unexpected surprise to us and I would never want my life without him. He is the silliest boy and is overflowing in character. I love my little Joshy, so in addition to documenting his birthday party, I've snuck some other photo's in here.

Yup, that's Josh in big-boy underpants. Hand-me-downs from Ethan, yes, but what are you gonna do? I had hand me down underwear, it's part of having an older brother. Joshy has taken a liking to using the potty. He'll sit there for what seems like hours with his eyes wide while saying, "poo-poo, mommy!" the entire time. It gets old, but we should be thankful he's taken an interest.

Didn't want to leave Ethan out. He's growing so much as well. He hates clothes and will spend the entire day with nuthin' but his drawers on. He's also got a silly side to him.

Thanks to the Marshalls for allowing this picture to happen. I'd really rather not go into the details.

So last year a lady in the ward gave us a sack of costumes. Well, we opened it up last week and discovered that the Dalmatian costume fit Josh really well. He has a general liking towards all things "puppy" and immediately wanted to wear it. He would barely let us take it off for bath/nighttime. Ethan tried on the pumpkin, but it was a little small for him. One of those long pumpkins instead of the short/fat ones.

So, the party. My sweet wife has began a tradition of baking cakes for the children based on their requests. You may recall the baseball cake a couple years ago, or the monkey cake for Joshy's party last year. Perhaps the black icing on the Mickey Mouse cake would jog your memory. At any rate, Joshy wanted a puppy cake. I've really got to hand it to Challene, she really did a good job on that puppy cake. But more about that later.

So we began the party with pizza all around. What with the convenience of an in-supermarket pizzeria and the government issued foodstamps at our disposal it was a no-brainer. After pizza we figured it would be a good idea to do some games. The party was based (rather loosely) on the Go Dog Go book by P.D. Eastman. So the first game was the Red Light/Green Light game but with "Go Dog Go" on the back and "Stop Dog Stop" on the front.

Here's Chloe Marshall deftly listening for any in-coming footsteps. Taking a page from the handbook of the Velociraptor Attack Strategies (3rd edition), Joshy, seen next to the entertainment center, was planning a flank attack while Liza Woolsey (in blue) and Cameron Brallier (not seen here) blitzed from the center. Meanwhile, Gwen Marshall (pink shorts) was placed mid-court and commanded to "merely spin" in attempt to distract Chloe from the inevitable onslaught.

Logistically, the strategy was sound, but all bets were off once Chloe turned around. Immediately, the children opted for the "turn-and-pretend-like-you're-not-doing-anything" approach, with Liza even managing to seat herself on the sofa, but Chloe was not buying it. This picture was snapped just before she, in a situationally ironic gesture, hurled the red "Stop Dog Stop" sign as if an Olympic discus and decapitated each one of the children. The bloody aftermath was... quite difficult to clean up.

Ok, sorry. I got a little carried away.

So when we went to get the pizza and soda pop we noticed, in true WinCo fashion, a display of pinatas aptly hung above our heads. Challene spied a dog shaped one and posed the option of purchasing said pinata for the enjoyment of the children. Realizing that this inevitably lead to the additional requirement of purchasing sweets to fill the pinata, I whole-heartedly agreed complementing my sweet wife on such a spectacular idea. She smiled sweetly.

The following is a four-picture documentary of the plight of the pinata:

Notice the extreme external rotation Ethan is using in the shoulder. Further, you can see him stepping into the swing. Good form.

Her father taught her the tomahawk method, I'm sure.

Naturally, Joshua was trying to impress Chloe, so he, too, chose to tomahawk it.

Like ravenous wolves.

Notice Josh standing off to the side holding the bat as if to say, "yup... my kill. What? What... you want some of this? You want some of this, well come and get it! I'll mess you up!"

After the pinata we figured we'd best sing and do ice cream and cake. Unfortunately, the pictures below do not do justice to the cake Challene made. She is rather creative when it comes to baking.

We decided to center the tongue. The bottom picture is yellow, I think because the flash didn't go off.

Josh, while insurmountably cute, has a stubborn side. I think he gets it from his Mother. One of his stubborn points is standing on chairs. He nearly refuses to sit. He will not use a booster or a high chair and if even mentioned he pitches a fit. He's also our little dare-devil. He's always jumping, climbing, sliding, swinging on something. Well, while Challene and I were serving up the cake and ice cream we heard a loud SMACK followed immediately by a cry. Joshua was doing something and ended up face-planting it off of the chair. He's typically easy to console when things like this happen so I think it really shook him up, because it was sometime before he calmed down. Challene took him in the bedroom and calmed him down. Afterword, I fed him his cake

If you'll recall, last year Joshua had his fingers nearly crushed in a door. We spent last years birthday in the ER. His face-plant was very reminiscent of then. We all conceded that his birthdays must be cursed. Seriously. Two birthdays, two injuries. Not the best of odds.

Then it was time for presents.

Everyone wanted to be involved in present time. The kids were so cute and Joshy was more than happy to let them help.

The bowling game from Challene and I got great reviews from the kids. Again, Ethan has got great form here.

That was about it for the party. Again, I can't believe he's two years old. He's my little baby and he's growing up so fast.

In other news, Challene had her very last day of work at Curves last Saturday. It was very bittersweet for her. On one hand, she loved the ladies and working out. On the other hand, it was work. Her boss was very grateful to Challene. She was there while the business changed hands between owners and Challene pretty much ran the business while her new boss came up to speed with how the place works. She also had the chance to teach the Curves Six Week Solution class twice. She's invested a lot of time and energy into that place and she'll miss it. Her boss gave her a nice bouquet of flowers and several ladies gave her cards telling her how much they will miss her.



I suppose that's all for now. I bid thee, adieu!

NO MORE CLASSES!!!

Congratulations Will!

I am so very, very proud to announce that as of last Friday Will has no more classes! He took his last final ever!! He is still in the clinic and we are going to be headed back to Utah next month so he can do a preceptor ship until he graduates, but NO MORE CLASSES! I am so proud of the hard work he has done these last 3 years in particular, not to discount any of the schooling he did before. But he has studied really hard to became an amazing Chiropractor which he is. I can't believe he is done, YEAH! You have done a great job! I love you!!

The Park, The Zoo, & a FLAT TIRE!!!!!!

Lets just say that "2 Buck Tuesday" at the Zoo for me is cursed! I really should have known better considering I have tried this before. Foolish me thought that this time would be different though. The first time our Mommy and Me group did the infamous "2 buck Tuesday" it was so busy we had to get shuttled from a far away church. So there we are all with two kids, double sized strollers, a diaper bags, lunch bags and a camera bags. We were all expected to haul all of this onto a regular yellow school bus quickly and easily all at once. Yeah Right! So we did and it was frustrating and very stressful and swore to each other we would never ever do it again. So when Lindsey had it on the play group list I hardly even gave it a thought other the "Lindsey what were you thinking putting that on there, there is NO way I am going!" But then the night before I got to thinking that school was in and there couldn't be that many people and the kids would just love to go. So I thought we would give it one more try. So there it was a beautiful Tuesday and I even was way ahead of schedule leaving the house at 10am not the scheduled 10:30am. Then I arrived at the Zoo where it was starting to get crazy the parking lot was full and they started to point people in the direction of the church. Not knowing what to do and knowing that Lindsey was on her way I called her. That's when we decided the park down the street was a good back up plan. The kids had a fun time playing and a wonderful lunch, Thanks Lindsey! When we were all done with the park and headed home (which you have to drive past the Zoo parking lot to get back to the freeway) I had the brilliant (NOT) idea to see if we could find a spot. Which we did so we went to the ZOO. Here it is nap time and we are just showing up at the ZOO. However I do have to say we had a wonderful time at the Zoo the kids had a great time and were really good considering they were missing their naps. So here are pictures of the kids at the Zoo.

Joshua rubbing his sleepy eyes.

THE TRAIN

I only took the little stroller thinking that the kids wouldn't want to sit. Boy was I wrong. Ethan's a stroller hog which was fine with Joshua. Well, until Joshua was just so tired he wanted me to pack him, which I did for awhile. However have any of you ever pushed a stroller one handed? They do not go straight, it's very annoying. Then this particular Zoo has a huge hill you have to get up before you can exit. So there I was holding Joshua in one arm pushing Ethan with the other up a huge hill. That's when I was desperate and grabbing at straws so I asked Ethan if Joshua could sit in his lap and to my surprise he said yes. Yeah it was fabulous and look at how cute they are.

Okay so is the suspense killing you yet are you wondering about the flat tire? Well here it is. Once we were done with the Zoo we came out to the car and to my horror the first thing I see is a FLAT TIRE! Ugh! I stared at it for ever hoping I was just seeing things but nope there it was a very flat front drivers side tire. So what do I do well first thought is to tow it but that costs money, then most or all tow trucks aren't big enough for me and two car seats. Then I think call Will maybe he can come help. So I call and call and call but of course he is not answering. He is at an off site shift where he doesn't keep his phone on him. So then I call my friend Amy just to vent a second before I proceed to change a tire. She helped a ton by calling her husband who called and got a hold of Will. THANKS Amy and John it was such a stress relief just to know that Will knew that I was stuck at the Zoo. So after I talked to Amy I started to change the tire. I had to get the crow bar out from under the seat back seats which is under the kids car seats. Ugh, so I took Joshua's car seat out and nope I was wrong it was under Ethan's side. I then got the spare tire down and rolled over by the back tire. Then I start to Jack up the car, this is all the while I see middle aged men getting in to their cars driving away. Yes they saw me I know they did!!! So there I am mumbling under my breath while I am jacking up the car when this couple finally ask me if I need help. FINALLY!!! So thank you Aaron and Carrie for stopping and helping me. There is no way I could have done that by myself, first off I don't think I would have been strong enough to get the lug nuts off and second my kids needed to be taking care of. And one last gripe, why do they put jacks in your car that are not tall enough to jack up your car! Luckily I had pulled up over a side walk in front of the car. We ended up jacking the car up using the front frame. Thanks again to these nice strangers!

One little, two little, three little college degrees

Will here. In what could be considered a landmark event I, William D. Green, have completed my requirements to earn my bachelor's degree. "But Will," you quander, "Aren't you striving for your Doctor of Chiropractic?" You're right to quander so. For you see, whilst involved in the seemingly never-ending educational vortex that is Chiropractic College I had the option of obtaining a concurrent bachelor's degree. I opted to do so.

Beyond the normal rigors of working toward the coveted D.C. I merely had to add a statistics class and a thesis project. I'm happy to report (if only for me to re-read years down the road) that as of today my thesis is officially complete. That actually does put the total to three degrees. AS in general studies, AAS in chemistry, and BS in Human Biology. I actually put a lot of heart and soul into this and am kind of proud of it. It is entitled:

Nutritional and Alternative Therapies for the Symptomatic Relief for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders

You think the title is long? It actually ended up being about 17 pages... single spaced. Since the requirement was 15 pages double spaced, I think I got a little carried away! So I don't actually expect anyone to read it (though I think it is incredibly interesting), I thought I'd put a link up for anyone interested (Thanks to Mike for hosting it for me! Props!).

http://www.mpgtechnology.com/Final%20Draft.pdf

So, here it is in all it's glory. I was always interested in the subject and having some close acquaintances who are dealing with some of those above listed disorders, I wanted to research alternative therapies. I was surprised with how much there is out there. Most people have no idea these are available.

Well, I guess that's it. There's a little joke amongst the college about faculty putting their bachelor's letters behind their names in addition to the D.C. or PhD. I guess I could always be: William D. Green AS, AAS, BS, DC once this is all said and done. Hmmm... I think I'll just stick with William Green D.C. No, Dr. William Green D.C. I don't mind redundancy, I don't mind it at all!

I'm done!

Harrison's Vacation Last but not least Post

Wednesday
On Wednesday of the vacation we hit the downtown area for a little shopping. We hit a couple shops including: Fireborne which is a glass shop that features a local artist, Finnegan's Toys which had just about every toy you can imagine, then we obviously hit the Dr. Marten store as you can see below.

Thursday

We did just about a whole northern to coast tour. We started at the very well known Seaside, where we enjoyed a leisurely stroll down the hopping main street. We also did a round of bumper cars. Ethan enjoyed himself, however, he was not to into bumping into others. He didn't mind them bumping us but when asked if we should bump into somebody else he replied "NO".

Tillamook Cheese Factory

After we spent a good amount of time in Seaside we wanted to head to Tillamook because it seemed chalk full of things to do. First we hit the famous Cheese factory.

The Factory being observed by the two cutest boys ever! No I am not biased or anything.
The samples. I do have to say I was way way disappointed in the selection amount. Come on, you are a cheese factory.

BlueHeron Cheese Company

I know, I know we just didn't get our fill of cheese so we found more. I feel kinda bad for this place, you know competing with the Tillamook Cheese Factory and all. Just down the street no less. But they have been in business for 28 years so maybe my concerns are all for not. The reason we visited this Cheese company just after leaving the Tillamook Cheese Factory is the fact that they had a petting zoo.

Random Stop

While we were looking for Cannon Beach we saw a sea lion in the water so we stopped to get a closer look. Of course we couldn't find it once we stopped. However here are some lovely pictures.

Cannon Beach

We found Cannon Beach right close to sunset so it was really quite beautiful. However I am dreading to admit my very, very worst motherly moment that I had. So there we were walking in the wake of the water enjoying the beauty of the setting sun. When all of a sudden a rather large tide comes in and catches us all off guard I might add. My sister who was further out then I with her two girls picks them up by the arm and tries to run them back to the dry safe beach. Where as I on the other hand realize the water is coming in and think to self "Yes Joshua is going to get wet but he will be fine, so save yourself". So I start jogging back to the beach with Ethan by my side. Then I look over my shoulder and I see Joshua has been pushed over onto his stomach by the rushing tide, which I am horrified to say is rushing over him. He is crying/screaming so I look at my sister who has her arms full with her girls. Which I might add seemed to be enjoying themselves in the water. With my sister occupied I do a U-turn a start running back for my poor abandoned baby! Oh I am a horrible mother! I never, never would have left him if I knew that the water was going to push him over. Ahhhh! He could have drowned! Yes I deserve the worst mother of the year award and I will willingly take it. I feel so awful, I deserve it!

My poor freaked out Joshua! He was so scared of the water after that. His poor little bottom lip shivered until we got him dry and warm. Which was another torturous affair. Joshua was obviously covered with sand from head to toe. So I gave him a quick rinse off in the restrooms sink. The water was ice cold but I didn't want to leave the sand on him it was very late. I knew there was no way he was going to get a bath. I was afraid that the sand with give him a rash. Poor little guy he has a neglectful mean mom!This picture was snapped right after the above photo. So I don't think he was totally traumatized. However that photo above was how he really looked until we asked him to smile for this photo.

That's All Folks!

Well that is it. I have covered just about all that we did with my sister and her family excluding our dining out adventures. Oh, wait Bre and I did ditch the guys towards the end of a meal at NewPort Seafood Grill. We ran across the parking lot and had massages at Massage Envy. It was SOOOOO NICE! I have been craving one ever since.

I loved having my Big Sis visit. We had a great time! As much as I am torn about moving back to Utah I am excited to be closer to her. Thanks for coming!

Harrison's Vacation Day 3

TUESDAY

On Tuesday of my sisters visit we decided to go and stalk the famous family from the television show, “Little People, Big World.” Their farm is located in Hillsboro. I do not have satellite TV like my sister does but I have seen the show a couple of times whilst I have visited her. So I really do not have anymore info on the show or family then that. However if you are interested here is a link to there site. http://mattroloff.com

We were sad to say that their farm, however, was not open. I guess they are only open during pumpkin season. So we got a couple of distant pictures of the farm. Will and I think we will try and go back during the open season. Just to make Bre and my Mom who is also a big fan of the show jealous. (Evil laugh here)

Road Side America

Whilst my sister was here she found a website that had very random things to see in the US and here was one of them just in Aloha. Ed Harvey is a big man with a rabbit's head. It guards the entrance to Harvey Marine, outside of Portland. For more information on Ed Harvey the very giant man with a rabbit's head here is a link. The story is actually quite funny. I would say worth the time to read. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2191

Burger King

After our fantastic journey to the Roloff farm and to see Ed. We were all quite hungry so we stopped at the nearest Burger King we could find, which luckily was just down the street from Ed. I snapped these very funny pictures of Ethan. He seemed to be very wound up this particular day. Which made for some really funny/cute pictures.

Portland Japanese Garden

After lunch we headed to the Portland Japanese Garden. So here are some pictures of that excursion.

Portland Classical Chinese Garden

Once we were done with that garden we decided to head over to the Chinese Garden. My camera battery died so I have only a few pictures of this garden. Which I have to say is my favorite of the two. Oh well that's life.Joshua was so tired after the Japanese Garden that he fell asleep in the car on the way to the Chinese Garden. That is a push-pop in his mouth. The kids were driving us crazy so we bribed them with candy. Hey it worked the ones that were not tired enough to sleep were to busy sucking on the sucker to make much noise.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the Harrison's trip.

Only one more days worth of pictures left!!