Hiatus (official)

We're going offline for a period of time while we figure out a solution to our computer woes.  If you need or want to reach us, it will be easiest to give us a good ol' phone call or swing by. 

Holding Pattern

Our computer gave us the black screen of death 2 weeks ago so we've been making do since then.  Fortunately, for $245 some computer guys were able to save most of our files and put them on our new $90 1TB external hard drive.  We're currently using a netbook that I hastily purchased from wally world to get us by but I'm not very thrilled with it.  Going from a full-size laptop to this tiny thing has it's advantages, I'm sure, but I'm thinking it's not for us.  All that to say that for now we won't be posting any new pictures or videos (even though I have an amazing one of U2 from our trip to Seattle last weekend) until we're sure of our permanent computer situation. 

To top it off, this is a busy time of year for us.  Justin's got a couple of work-related trips planned, our friends the Tippens are coming for a week at the end of June, a visit from my dad in July, another visit from the in-laws in August, not to mention our Seattle trip last weekend!  BTW, we would like to give my mom a HUGE THANK YOU for watching the Cline creatures (the two little humans and two furry ones) while we were gone.  Everyone survived, although Drake did try to rehome himself twice.  Sorry about that again mom!  We still have a little space left at the end of August for anyone else who finds the time to make it out West.  The waters should recede by then and we'll be out fishing as much as possible if you're interested.  Then it will be September and both kids go to preschool!  When I put it that way I almost don't know if I'm looking more forward to summer or fall :)  Here's to sunny days, sweeping the clouds away!

and CUT!

"You're being annoying Mom" said Madeleine as I pestered her to let me take a picture of the "makeup" (mud) she and a friend put on her face at school while playing outside.



Haircut season finally hit last week. 





I couldn't take the outta control curls and waves that kept finding their way into Madeleine's food and mouth.  I had a vision for what I wanted to do with the scissors so every few days I'd snip a little more here and there.  The final result has made life much easier: fewer tangles, no dips into her morning yogurt, and she managed to not get throw up in it last weekend when she was sick (oh the simple joys). 

Parker hasn't been as willing to sit still so his cut is still in progress.  At least we can now see his ears, eyes, and neck.  Hiding under all of their hair both kids apparently have Justin's neck.  Who knew?



Survival

It's time for a beer.  M's been sick since she started puking Wednesday night and although P's high fever broke yesterday, his sour mood persists.  He's currently yelling for Justin from his crib (supposed to be napping) despite the fact that I've told him numerous times that Daddy is on a bike ride (the truth, I swear).  M desperately needs a nap too but thus far she's been fighting it in her room during quiet time with tears and wailing.  I've been up since 6:30 this morning (thanks Parker) and have managed to not seriously injure or maim anyone so now that it's 4pm, I'm going to celebrate this major accomplishment with a cold one.  So much for losing weight this summer...I'll just try to save my sanity.

(I do love my children; I just wish they didn't get sick and tired and whiny and ornery and stubborn all at the same time when I've only had 5 hours of sleep and one cup of coffee.)

spring, Montana style

I promise to post about Madeleine and Justin's birthdays but I couldn't pass up the chance to show you the fun I had with the kids at the end of last week. Although we're currently experiencing cold, snow, and gray skies this week, last week was glorious. With one day even reaching 60, I was itching to get dirty. We broke out the shovels and got to work weeding and worming. Mads and I even managed to plant some seeds on Saturday before getting 2 inches of snow Sunday morning. Spring in Montana.

Wind. Powers the butterfly.

On a side note, Parker's decided to start potty training. Personally, I think it was his way to combat all of the attention Mads was getting for her birthday. I've been impressed with his interest (every day for the last 9 days) and lack of accidents (just 1). We haven't left the house without a diaper but inside he proudly wears his Lightening McQueen undies or goes without. He has embraced his twoishness which often comes out in challenging yet harmless ways. Like the afternoon he refused to wear pants or let me change his diaper while insisting on layering on a Hawaiian shirt. Like I said, harmless. And entertaining. And it's warm enough to tolerate. Spring.

Volcano cake

Over a month before her birthday, Madeleine told me she wanted a chocolate cate with chocolate buttercreme frosting to eat on her big day. Then the volcano fascination began shortly thereafter and I decided to try and combine the two interests. Here's what resulted.

This is a 3 cake mix creation: two layers of red velvet and one of chocolate. I cooked them all in the angel food cake pan (the red velvet together...almost overflowed the pan) and the chocolate by itself. Trimmed to look more like a volcano with the crumbs scattered at the bottom, I covered it in almost 8 cups of buttercreme frosting (Wilton recipe online) and added red and orange suger sprinkles along with dinosaurs for decoration. I placed a small cup inside the cake to hold dry ice. I was taking the cake to M's preschool for snack and wanted to add some special effects. After adding dry ice and pouring colored and thinned marshmellow fluff on top of it, I poured some boiling water in the cup to make the dry ice "smoke" and the fluff bubbled and overflowed down the sides. (Video to follow later) The kids ooohhed and aaaahhhed much to my delight. Did I mention that I made this cake the night after I had my wisdom teeth pulled? Gotta admit, I felt a bit like supermom :)

Kids

There are days when I can't quite get enough of these two.

Mads had a great birthday (thanks for asking!) and I'll be posting pics of it soon as soon as I can steal some from my dad. (Hey Papa, can you please hurry and post them to Picasa? People wanna see some birthday fun! Thanks :)