Go-carts, meatballs, and colds

I stayed home today from work to nurse a cold. Hence, why I'm finally catching up on this blog. I feel bad for neglecting lately, but life has been keeping me uberbusy. As you can probably imagine, I have been putting in many hours at work and all my spare time is spent on home projects and quality time with the kids. We did manage to fit in a family fun day this past weekend to have a preview of N's 9th birthday. His birthday is actually tomorrow (9/29), but we wanted to be able to spend the whole day celebrating him, without work hindering any of it.

We went to a place called Bullwinkle's (named for the cartoon moose) down in Wilsonville, about 40 minutes from where we live. They have all kinds of things to do there such as go-carts, bumper boats, miniature golf, arcade games, and more. In other words, it is a kids' dreamland. Grandma J tagged along for the fun and pitched in for the cost, a bonus for us. As a quick sidebar...upon her arrival she whips out some pictures of her doing the unthinkable...skydiving! My MIL is turning 70 years old next month and she wanted to do something completely crazy. I think she succeeded. DH and I both dropped our jaws in awe and shock. I was actually proud of her for doing something so wild and out of character. Good for her. She wanted to cross it off of her bucket list (it's on mine still) and she said it was the rush of her life...but I digress.

So we arrive at Bullwinkle's and with a little help from some coupons, we managed to afford the kids a handful of activities. The kids were just a little under the height requirement, so DH and I drove the kids around in the go-carts. Ooooh did they have fun on that! N and I raced around and passed lots of people, much to his delight. We were quite the little speed demons. N got to fulfill a longtime wish of climbing the rockwall. He struggled at first with his fears, but eventually made it almost to the top. K strapped into the harness jumpy thing (no idea what you call it). This was K's second time trying this thing out (first time was over the summer). At one point, Grandma J got into a conversation with the 18 year old attendant about skydiving and impressed the you-know-what out of him. He kept repeating..."you actually willingly fell fell out of a plane." She would say, "no I jumped out of the plane." He would reply, "No, it was a tandam jump. The instructor jumped, you fell...willingly." This went back and forth for a few minutes and we just kept laughing at his incredulity. Grandma J enjoyed the moment though, I'm sure.

Anyhow, we went inside to enjoy some pizza for lunch. Afterwards, the kids played various video games and climbed on the indoor play structure to get rid of some excess energy. We then left to go to the theater, which was located just a block or two away. The kids have been waiting all summer to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The movie was so worth the wait! It was hilarious. The kids filled up on popcorn and treats. Grandma J gave N his presents and that was the icing on the cake for him. It was getting late and so we called it a day.

K was quite the trooper since she was still battling a cold. She insisted on coming along and didn't let her it stop her all day long. We stayed home on Sunday to help get her healthy again and realized both N and I caught her cold. What a doozy of a cold it has been too! I ended up staying home from work today (Monday) with both kids. I suppose it's been a blessing in disguise as it's forced me to slow down. Too tired to download all pictures from the camera tonight, but will work on it tomorrow I can. I have to muster the strength to run to Target to get N's other birthday present and bake his cake before he gets out of school. We have a little craft project that we've been saving and will do that after they get home from school. I hope my health returns enough to do all this stuff, for N's sake. Here's hoping!

Wordless Wednesday

(Cake topper from my friend's summer wedding. She is a hairstylist and he is a massage therapist. )

Autumn Adjustments

School started this past week. Oy vey! We enjoyed a long and relaxing Labor Day weekend and were sad to say goodbye to the freedom that comes with summertime. Since I am off with the kids in the summer, our lives run smoother overall and I feel so much more at ease. Whenever September rolls around, it seems like time flies by and our lives get super busy. I go back to teaching and spend countless hours away from home in order to get my classes ready and organized. The kids go back to school and have to be in morning and afternoon childcare. Thankfully, we use a neighborhood lady that has watched the kids for years and so we know they are well-cared for. Though it is REALLY hard leaving them to go back to work every fall. I go through withdrawals when I can't be with them, so you can imagine how important summer is for us.

Unfortunately, the house suffers the most. The little time we do have at home is not spent worrying about the chores. Doing laundry, dishes, and other necessary evils get their due attention on the weekends mostly. Thank goodness for the dishwasher! Each year I am working at the juggling act of teaching and parenting. I have to do keep my students' best interests in mind, but remember to put my own family first...a hard thing to do when school gets busy and has heavy expectations on the staff. This is my third year of teaching, so the balancing is getting better. My lead teacher reminded me just the other day to have more confidence that I'm doing well (it just never feels like it) and that I am a good teacher. I guess I need to hear that sometimes as I get really analytical about everything and dwell on the negatives too much. Summer brings out my softer, more peaceful self...while the school year tends to bring out my anxious, more stressed out self (thank goodness for this blog to let it all out once in awhile).

The good news is that I have a great classroom (still have a few finishing touches to make on it and then will post pics) and work with a great team of people. I am enjoying my students thus far, though I have a few doozies to contend with (don't we all though). If I can keep myself organized and stay on top of things, I have faith that the third year will be the charm with this whole teaching thing.

N and K started at their school on Tuesday. N was pretty laid back about everything. He was excited to get his old kindergarten teacher for third grade. She was always wonderful with him, so we are really happy about that. Our neighbor girl is also in his class again, so that's nice for him to have her nearby too. K couldn't have been more eager to start first grade. She got a familiar teacher too. Her teacher was N's reading teacher in first grade, lives in our neighborhood, and her own kids go to the same childcare. I am grateful for these blessings and hope they are a sign of a fantastic year ahead. I am still mourning the end of summer, but also look forward to the joy that autumn brings. A trip to the pumpkin patch, celebrating N's 9th birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and whatever else comes along.

Ready for the 1st day of school

Finally a 1st grader

My big 3rd grader

Mommy has to get just one more photo

OMSI

Over Labor Day weekend, DH surprised us with a daytrip to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It was the first time for the kids and I hadn't been there in I don't know how many years. It used to be located by the zoo, but then they relocated to downtown Portland by the river and so it was neat to see the new layout. Our kids are quite inquisitive, so this was the perfect place to let them just explore and discover to their heart's content.

We checked many of the different sections and the kids played with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos. There was a science playground and labs to experiment with a variety of things. They had a few free exhibits going on that we checked out as well. The kids loved the reptiles and amphibians section. There were a myriad of snakes, but only a few frogs and turtles sprinkled here and there. The best part was the chance the petting area.

There was a special section devoted to babies that displayed the different stages of development from tiny embryo to full grown fetus. This part was both creepy and morbidly fascinating since the fetuses were all real (donated to science). My own grandfather donated himself for scientific research after his death from cancer a few years back, so I could respect that...though it was a strange sensation walking through it all. We didn't spend too long in this area as I wasn't sure how I felt having the kids see that. DH assured me it was fine, but there was just something eerie about being surrounded by these unborn babies (even if they had all died of natural causes, not abortions).

Since it was pretty expensive for admission, we couldn't afford to go to the planetarium or participate in the interactive exhibit, CSI: The Experience. We had a really wonderful day though and will definitely be back. The first Sunday of every month is only $2 a person, so we'll have to plan for that so we can check out many parts we didn't get to see.

Ready for launch!

Static electricity

Imagine if her hair hadn't been in a pony tail...LOL

Dare I press the red button?

Playing kissyface with the snake

Feeling the turtle's shell

Look Mom, it's slithering

That was one big tortoise

Do you hear what I hear?

A mural of Portland

Forecasting the weather

This is why you don't wear green on a green screen.

18 was not enough

So I just finished watching a CPR/First Aid training video that lasted about 3 hours (after working 10 hours) and my brain is completely shutting down. In order to untangle myself from a zillion thoughts that will keep me awake, I thought I'd surf for a bit. In my web travels, I came across the Duggars website (whose show I do enjoy, 18 Kids and Counting). In case you've never heard of them, the Duggars are one of America's largest families (of all natural-born children). Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have 18 children and their eldest, Josh and his wife Anna, are expecting their first child.

Well, I guess they're going to have to rename the show yet again...as they are expecting their 19th child! Michelle Duggar is one strong (and fertile!) woman to have carried all those children and Jim Bob, well let's just say he is one potent guy. I wish them all blessings in the world. Josh and Anna's new daughter (due in October) will be the older than her new aunt or uncle. Wow. Do I think they'll be done after this one? Not likely, I keep thinking they're going for an even 20. Will have to stay tuned I guess.