Eleven

Belated post, but wanted to be sure to commemorate my son's 11th birthday. It was rather low-key, but we went out to eat at a great little country diner with just us and my MIL. He turned 11 years old on September 29th. Ironically, we given the number 11 for our table too. N loved the coincidence and his lemon cake that Grandma Jeanne baked for him. Still can't believe he is growing up so fast!

Apples, Pumpkins, and Peace of Mind

October was such a crazy time for me at work, that I almost neglected Halloween altogether. We usually decorate and get costumes by the end of September. This year I think I had the house decorated around mid-October and costumes were almost an afterthought. Kirsten recycled pieces of her old costumes to make herself into a cat. We splurged and got her kitty cat ears and a tail though. Nicky settled for a skeleton outfit that was literally a last minute purchase the morning of Halloween. Yes, I know...bad Mommy. What can I say? All month I was totally preoccupied with work. As I've previously mentioned (I think), I travel this year and it has been a tough transition and very time-consuming. November would only get harder with the onset of report cards and parent conferences to prepare. Aaaargh! BTW, if you look closely at this picture of the kids, N is quite see-through. This photo was taken in front of the neighborhood haunted house. Creepy!

We also tried jumpstart the fall in our household by visiting our favorite local apple orchard. We trek there every year to get our pumpkin and stock up on honeycrisp apples. It was so much fun to be able to indulge the kids for the weekend. They ran through darkened hay maze and sip some apple cider, always a treat!

Thanksgiving was whirlwind day for us. We spent the first half of the day visiting my natural father and family down in Salem (an hour's drive). That was too quick of a visit, but was very glad to see my aunts and uncles, although I missed seeing my many cousins. Hopefully next year we'll be able to see everyone a lot more. By mid-afternoon we drove to my MIL's house to eat turkey with DH's family. His sister and her family were in town, so it made their mom quite thrilled to have all her children and grandchilddren under one roof (a rare event these days). Dinner was delicious and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun playing with their cousins. Their Uncle Mike was exceptionally patient as they dogpiled on him. All in all, it was wonderful day with family.


The next day, I took N and K with me for a little Black Friday kamikaze shopping. It's a ridiculous thought to think that my kids will last long on such a day or any other shopping day for that matter, but I gave it my all. We last through a few stores, before finally calling it quits. We start out at Fred Meyer's every year for their half-off sock sale because it's less crowded and they always serve doughnuts and juice (for free!). I always seem to run into this one gal I went to high school with there by the name of Gina. We've bumped into each other three year's running.


The rest of the weekend was fairly quiet and relaxing. I was coming off a really insane month with work and personal issues, so it was truly a welcome respite. For those who have been quietly following along, my brother's trial finally finished. It was rather stressful and emotionally exhausting for my whole family. There was a lot of local media scrutiny that was tough on my parents, extended family, and friends. Sadly, my brother was convicted and now is serving a life sentence. It was a bitter pill to swallow and now we getting used to this new normal. Thankfully, he will be not too far away, so I can still visit him. With all of the turmoil behind us, I so so thankful for the peace. It has brought a new sense of calm to my world and I welcome that with open arms. I know I've been vague about the specifics of his case, but out of respect for him and our family's privacy, I will leave it that way. Those who know me outside of this blog are aware and that is enough. I am most grateful though that I am blessed with an awesome family and amazing friends.

All in all, fall came to a close with little fanfare and that was fine by me. Here are more pictures to enjoy:

Wow! They do love each other (most of the time).

Adorable collection



I love fall flowers

DH loved the play on depth in this photo

Gourds galore!

Mmmmm, my favorite!

Hidden tiger, crouching children

Love love love this pic

Sticking his tongue out

Rising

Okay, I'm terrible...I'll admit it. I have let this blog go by the wayside. It wasn't intentional, life just took over and I have had very little desire to write this year. And I'm a writer at heart! Well, I thought maybe it was high time I do a little updating. I probably won't be up to doing the long, drawn out version of the life since March (the last time I blogged). So I will stick to the highlights.


We celebrated K's birthday in June. She turned 8 years old! My baby girl...not such a baby anymore. We had this big 'ol party planned for her and she was so excited for it. All her little friends were invited and I had been preparing for weeks. Unfortunately, her birthday coincides with report cards and end-of-year wrap up obiligations at my school so I was super busy and exhausted. During this time, I caught the flu and was ordered on bedrest by my doctor. I hadn't had the flu in years, so this one kicked my arse! Well, the worst of it just happened to occur during K's birthday. I told DH to celebrate without me, but he wouldn't have it. He didn't feel that we should have her birthday without me. So he canceled the party and needless to say, I felt terrible. K took it like a trooper, but I could tell she was disappointed. I promised to make it up to her. She and I had a special day when I took her to lunch and to get her a mini mani/pedi. She loved that! We also took her with Grandma to go bowling at Big Al's with just the immediate family. The kids both love bowling, but can't always afford to go, so that's always a treat in their eyes.

As summer got underway, the kids signed up for some activities. N took an art class on 3D drawing, K took tumbling, and both had swimming lessons. N had to repeat his Goldfish class from last summer since he hadn't passed, but this time he did. K will have to repeat her Frog class next time too as it was difficult for her to master all the skills. N was excited to finally make it to Hammerhead level. N also had his first art show. The place he takes his classes hosted a teacher/student joint art exhibition and personally requested his dinosaur sculpture he'd made the the previous summer be in it. We were thrilled for him!

We didn't go anywhere exotic this year. Kind of a bummer, but finances have been tight (isn't it like that everywhere?). Although we did get to visit my family in Bend a couple of times. It doesn't count as a vacay, but at least it was a change of scenery. DH came along for the first trip over 4th of July weekend. We visited my best friend from high school at her candy shop, The Candy Jar, in Lapine. It had been years since we'd seen each other. It was good to catch up, even if it was only for a little while. And then we went to ride horses at my cousin's place. In addition, we took the kids to Lava Lands to explore all the lava flow. The visitor's center had changed considerably since I was a kid. They took out the interactive exhibit, much to my disappointment. Although the kids still enjoyed checking out all the geology going on and standing atop the butte. Then on the 4th, we started the day with a charity breakfast in the park, the annual pet parade, and then celebrated with the whole family with a BBQ and evening fireworks display atop Pilot Butte.

My familycame to celebrate, although not everyone could be there

"See? I'm taller than you are!"
(Jace and Ariella so cute!)

At Mirror Pond on the 4th



Cowboyin up!



My bff from high school

During August, I drove the kids back to Bend and stayed the weekend. We spent a day up at Cultus Lake (a favorite childhood spot). We went kayaking and swimming all over the cove. So much fun! My mom and I snuck in a movie and saw The Help. After the movie ended, nobody said a word or moved. Then all of a sudden everyone burst into applause. I'd never seen anything like it. Hope it wins an Oscar next year! It was so good.

On a more serious note, I also got to visit my brother too. I hadn't seen him in almost 2 years. I'd been writing to him, but it felt good to see him face to face...sort of. It was certainly a different sort of experience to see him behind plate glass and only be able to talk through those phones they have. He was looking a bit older and thinner, but kept his spirits up. Not sure if it was for my sake or his own, but I appreciated how easy he made it on me. When you know big brother is listening and you can't talk about the big elephant in the room, it can make things a little awkward. Regardless, I was so grateful for the time I had with him. After my visit with Steve, I drove back home without the kids. They stayed with my parents for the rest of the week. It was their first time doing so, so they had a blast.

One of the highlights of the summer was our annual campout with some dear friends. This was our fourth year and the number of kids seems to increase with each year. This time 6 adults, 12 dogs children, and 4 dogs made the trip! You can say it was a busy weekend. We stayed again at the rural property of DH's coworker along the lower Nehalem River. The kids enjoyed swimming in the river and swinging on the tire swing. Everyone gobbled up the yummy camp food and jumbo marshmallow s'mores. Why does everything taste better when you're camping? Go figure. Maybe it's nature's way of welcoming you to her world.

It's not really cheaper by the dozen



Just a swingin!



Turning over a new leaf...literally





Camp life

It's chilly out there!

We spent most of the summer doing little things as a family and with some dear friends. We went berry-picking a lot and the kids played in the park fountain quite regularly. All in all, it was a relaxing, albeit quick summer. For the first time, I never really totally into summer mode. I can be a ball of stress sometimes, so I'm always working on ways to fix that. I knew this school year would be more stressful than most with all the changes, so it was hard to let go of the anxiety and anticipation. As it turns out, I was justified in my fears. Being a travelling teacher is one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my career. There have been harder things, but this year has been a true lesson in juggling...but that's a blog for another day.

N turned 11 in September. He got to enjoy a full weekend of festivities. We took him out for a nice birthday dinner at a local country diner with a classic car theme. We then held a joint celebration for N and the daughter of family friends who also has a September birthday. Then on Sunday, N and I went on a mother-son date to see Dolphin Tale (which was really good by the way!). It was surreal to think how much time had passed since I'd held my firstborn in my arms as a baby. Where does the time go?

Earlier this month, DH went hunting with his friends for the second time. He was gone for a week and had no luck, although his friend did get a deer. Last week we took the kids on a our annual trip to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard. They got to go through the hay maze and pet some horses. There were a lot of fun things to see and we bought some honeycrisps and apple cider. This time of year always makes me crave egg nog, but it won't be available for another couple of weeks. :( Next up is Halloween! :)

It is now late October and the kids are well into the new school year. K is a 3rd grader in a 3/4 blend and N is a 5th grader in a 5/6 blend class. He seems to be adjusting well and excelling in most subjects. He's even taken on participating in an advanced vocabulary program initiated by his teacher to further challenge him (he's TAG). K on the other hand has been struggling a bit. She's not fond of school and so she prefers to daydream. It's tough, because she is really smart and creative. We're trying to find ways to motivate her and keep her focused.

On top of balancing the craziness that is my job (oh how I wish I could teach just one grade level) and keeping up with my kids, my brother's trial begins Monday. My family is hoping for the best, but do not have false hope either. I believe in my brother and pray that the truth will truly set him free. I can't really go into things here, so I will not comment further until there is some kind of outcome. Suffice it say, I am trying to stay in a positive place in spite of the dark cloud that's been hanging over us this past year. I believe that these experiences test us and it helps one see what they are truly made of.

I love this from Nelson Mandela...

"The greatest glory in living comes not from never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

I get knocked down but I get up again!

Normally I have a plethora of photos post after spring break. However, this year we had to watch our pennies and decided to stick close to home. Ironically, I ended up battling a killer cold for much of the past week. This illness knocked me on my a** and so I had to stay in bed for three days and then had a slow recovery. I managed to get out of the house a few times with the kids and even squeezed in a rare lunchdate DH at Podnah's. Got to indulge in their yummy pulled pork sandwich. I am anxious to go back and eat more of their spare ribs! Overall my spring vacation was restful and enabled my mind to clear out some of the clutter. The last two plus months of school will be brutal, but summer is on the horizon so I can look forward to that. It will be busy then too as I am set to babysit my neighbor's daughter to help them out and also earn little extra money. However, I love the relaxed mood that settles over our home in the summer. The kids are happier, I'm less stressed, and DH loves how much cleaner the house gets! :)

Unraveling

So lately I've been fascinated by the saga that is Charlie Sheen's life. He has been up and down for years, but lately his erratic behavior and rambling press releases make you definitely pause. This guy seemingly had it all and continually throws his personal life into the crapper. Remember when once upon a time when Britney Spears and Robert Downey Jr. both spiraled out of control and we all thought it was a matter of time before one of them overdosed. Well, that is what Charlie Sheen's current state makes me think (Lindsay Lohan is another hot mess too). He is rapidly unraveling and nobody can stop it.

Charlie reminds me soooo much of my brother. He suffered setback after setback, but seemed oblivious to his own role in his undoing. I won't go into all of that here out of respect for his privacy, but it just makes me so sad to watch people who flush their lives away like that and you feel helpless. I have seen too many family members and friends flush their gifts down the toilet and I'm so tired. It takes a toll on those who care for them. Squandering something as precious as your life is like taking a sledgehammer to a rare jewel and not giving a rip. Living on the edge like that is a one way ticket to crazytown or the pearly gates, whichever comes first.

Second Hand Second Gen

Me gots a new toy! Thanks to a dear friend who recently purchased an iphone gen 4, gave me his old iphone gen 2 (hope that's the right names for both). Anyhoo, instead of going out and buying an expensive upgrade that I can't afford right now, this was a nice gift and easier way for me to learn a new technology. Even though newer models are already out there, I'm happy to try this one on for size until we are in a better position financially...who knows when that will be in this economy! I have been pretty resistant to the touchscreen models since I like my keyboard option. I still can't stand the touchscreen way of typing because I am so bad at it, but I suppose I'll eventually get used to it. I am excited though for some of the extra goodies I can use like facebook, lots of apps, and music. My old phone was a dinosaur in comparison. Technology moves on and I guess we have no choice but to move along with it or be left behind.

Back to reality...

What a long and winding road this week has been! As per usual, report card season has kept me freakishly busy. However, if I hadn't had so many days off this week, I doubt I would've finished my work in time. Last term I was working until the last minute to get all 57 report cards/comments completed. Much of it was done on my personal time, if that gives you any indication of how time-consuming the process is. I pray that spring term goes smoother!

This past week, Monday was a holiday, Tuesday K had a fever, Thursday was a snow day, and Friday I had the option to work from home. Wednesday was the only day I actually taught. It's always a good feeling to finish, but it takes an additional couple of days to resume my regular routine since I become so immersed in my work. I'm going to try and do that starting tomorrow and get some home projects taken care of such as decorating for spring holidays. I've misplaced my camera, so I need to find it so I can get back to my love of photography. A hot bath, some good comfort food, and no thoughts of work for the whole weekend are in order.

Family, Pizza, and Ghost Monsters

A few weeks ago, the kids and I drove to Salem for a belated Christmas with my natural father and my grandmother. They treated us to lunch at Walery's Pizza, a slice of heaven literally and figuratively. They seriously make some of the best pizza I've ever eaten. The kids even got to open some gifts, eat some yummy food, and play some arcade games with their Grandpa. I even got to play a round of Ms. Pacman, something I can't resist when the opportunity presents itself (and I can kick a little ghost monster a*@#). It was a wonderful day.

N received The Last Airbender and The Karate Kid

K received Strawberry Shortcake's Glimmerberry Ball and Hotel for Dogs

At Walery's Pizza

K and N with Grandpa Gordon

Comparing hands with Grandma

Waiting for some yummy pizza

Thankfully he can't drive legally for another 5 years

Practicing her aim

Concentrating so he can stay on the road

Pinball time!

Fighting the Good Fight

Oh what a long and winding road this school year has been. Each year you would think things would get easier and some ways they go, but not quite the way I envisioned. As much as I like my job, there are so many hurdles that keep me and my fellow teachers from doing our best and loving it here. Space is an issue at every school, but it is a particularly sore subject with my department. The homerooms must take priority, which leaves us specialists in the lurch. Our music, pe, and art departments all have their own spaces (pretty nice ones actually). However, our English department get whatever is leftover. We've made things work in spite of this, but have been informed that we will be "traveling teachers" next year. Basically, we will teach each grade level by sharing a space with a homeroom teacher from that grade. Can you feel my excitement?


I have kept the hope alive and have tried to be positive about the changes and expectations that come down the pike, but I'm nearing my limit. I still truly enjoy my work there and in spite of the myriad of other obstacles we face, not having a space to call my own is a bitter pill to swallow. The job market doesn't give me the luxury to be picky, so I may have no choice but to keep fighting the good fight.


I just keep wondering how patient we have to be before the powers that be realize how far backwards we are backsliding. We already have more content than we can possibly fit into an hour of instruction for each grade level, so get very creative. We already have an major lack of resources from which to draw from, yet we persevere. We already have faced as disturbing turnover rate in years past. However, our current team is longest any previous teachers have stayed in our department. Myself and the other teachers have literally built our program from scratch in spite of everything.


Report card season is a particularly brutal time. It is a race against time to input the large volume of grades and individualized comments required (for all 57 of my students) each semester. I have worked just as hard at other jobs before teaching, but this profession drains me mentally and physically in ways I never expected. Don't get me wrong, I love it. Just need to occasionally vent. Every great job will inevitably carry unpleasant aspects that we don't look forward to, but we are all entitled to blow off steam as needed.


Patience, flexibility, and perseverance are the skills I will most definitely take away from this school when my time to move on arrives. When that will be, only time will tell. Until then, I will keep on keeping on.

Our new baby girl!

So our neighbor's chihuahua had a litter of 6 puppies and they were struggling to find homes for them all. They opted to keep one of the girls, but still needed to place the others. One Sunday afternoon K and I stop by to see if their daughter wanted to have a playdate, but instead it turned into a long day of should we or shouldn't we adopt a puppy. We really weren't looking to add to the family, but we were instantly smitten with the little white one with brindle brown spots. Her mama was a deer chihuahua and the daddy was a teacup chihuahua. She was so sweet and adorable that it didn't take us long to agree to take her (and she was free to boot). After mulling over several names, we settled on Tia (from the girl in Escape to Witch Mountain). K had the ultimate say as we decided Tia would be her primary caregiver (with lots of help from us of course). Tia is a lucky little girl since she frequently gets to see her mama and sister. Instead of having a third child, we adopted a furry baby girl. Less sleepless nights, but still gotta potty-train. LOL.

Wrapping Things Up

Okay, I surrender. Time has gotten the best of me yet again up and I am literally an entire season behind. For those who know me IRL understand why. I will share some of our autumn, including the good, the bad, and the ugly...albeit in a nutshell version. Here goes...

So I returned to the same school for the third year and of course there were many changes to adjust to as seems to be the norm now. Just when we think we all have it down, new and additional expectations come down the pike. In addition, I have been taking online courses to complete the necessary credits for my teaching license renewal. Let's just say this not an area I recommend procrastinating in. I learned some valuable lessons about time management in recent months.

The kids started back to school with N in 4th grade and K in 2nd grade. While N has been thriving and feeling truly challenged for the first time in a long time due to a fantastic teacher, K has been struggling with her teachers. She is very bright and capable, but tends to daydream or find other things to do besidesher work. We're working with her on finding solutions to this.

First day of school (notice K's shorter hair!)

We celebrated N's 10th birthday at Big Al's with a mini bowling party. We invited Grandma J along for the fun. My parents took N to an Oregon Ducks game (as previously blogged) for his birthday gift as well. As if all that wasn't enough, I treated the kids to a movie. We saw Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which was had beautiful graphics by the way.

Scored a spare!

Bowling with the family

As October rolled around, Kevin went on his first hunting trip with some friends. He was gone for almost a week. Then we made an annual visit to the pumpkin patch/apple orchard at Oregon Heritage Farms. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed a festive day and stocked up on honeycrisps, my personal favorite. Money was a bit tight, so we opted for just one plump pumpkin. The kids cleaned it out and helped design the face so I could carve it out. Then for Halloween, K dressed up as a 'midnight princess' and N went as 'skullzor'...(the names on their costumes). I'm hoping for lighter colors next year after the dark ones that permeated this year's choices. We went trick-or-treating with a friend of N's and he really enjoyed that. Of course, we also had to check out the annual haunted house. K wanted to experience the full scare for the first time, so that was entertaining for her.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin

Scary!

One really nice development these past months has been the friendships the kids have made with neighbor kids. For so long there weren't too many children in our neighborhood, but now there are lots. Another first, the kids begged us to let them watch their first real scary movie, so we allowed them to watch Poltergeist. N did fine, but predictably K had a nightmare (which we warned her could happen ahead of time but she was determined). We did make sure they covered their eyes during the really scary parts, but K admitted to peeking once or twice. Lesson learned for her.


Thanksgiving was a quiet one this year. We were going to host my MIL at our house for once, but she eventually insisted on hosting instead. She is the consumate hostess and because I was swamped with work, I caved. She knocked herself out as usual with quite a delicious spread. We had leftovers for days afterwards.

Ready to give thanks and dig in




On another note, we experienced a family tragedy that is still unfolding. Many have asked, so I will share a little bit here. My SIL went missing in late October. After a couple weeks of searching and no answers, things took a turn for the worse. Sadly, my brother ended up getting arrested and charged. My extended family is battling through this as there have been many ripple effects from this ordeal. I am sad at the loss of my SIL and my heart aches for my brother. I cannot share any more details at this time, but our family is strong and I have faith that time will heal us all.



To wind down the year, I celebrated my birthday in December. I finally understand why birthdays begin to blur together over time and I've stopped looking forward to turning another year older. One too many gray hairs for my taste! 37...yeesh! Not quite over the hill yet, but certainly climbing. Didn't do much, although DH took me out to dinner. We also got into the holiday spirit by going to Loch Lolly's to cut our Christmas tree down. The kids look forward to this because they also get to see Santa and his reindeer. It's a very special treat for them. I was so busy with work stuff this year that I opted to keep decorations low-key. I only put out about half of the usual items since we'd be out of town over Christmas. The saddest part is that it was mid-December before I realized I'd forgotten to put up the advent calendar. Thankfully, the kids didn't mind much. It was defitely a sign that I was too preoccupied with other things.


The week before Christmas break began for the kids and I, we had brunch with Grandma J at her house for a belated birthday for me and an early Christmas for her. We then went to my parents for Christmas. It was especially sweet this year in light of all that had happened. On Christmas eve, we watched It's a Wonderful Life with my family. The next day, we enjoyed a yummy Christmas brunch and dinner and opened some gifts. On Sunday, several family members came over for a buffet style brunch that lasted well into the afternoon. I got to hold some of the newest additions to our family. I helped my mom babysit baby Jace (who is my grandnephew! Am I really old enough to have one of those?) DH and I went out on a double date with my nephew and his wife (in their early twenties) to see Tron: Legacy (awesome and so nostalgic). We drove back on Monday and stopped off at Government Camp to let the kids and dogs play in the snow for a bit.

Sitting with Santa in his sleigh

Opening stockings

Kids and the dogs

Me and a sweet bundle of joy called Jace

I loved being off for two weeks to relax and catch up on some things. We have some truly wonderful friends that we often spend time with on weekends and have created some fun traditions with them. To help kick off the holiday season, we made some crafts and decorated Christmas cookies. We also celebrated New Year's eve with our them with a turkey dinner. It's become an annual tradition that I think we all look forward to. The kids especially love getting to stay up til midnight. DH barely made it this year as he's been working an earlier schedule, so he was dragging by the time the ball dropped in Timesquare.






Well, that's our autumn and early winter (for the most part). 2010 started off fairly quiet, but the second half certainly picked up in more ways than one. So far the new year has been exciting already. Our beloved Ducks (my alma mater) played for the national championships against Auburn in one of the most spectacular games ever. I mean seriously...they were tied 19-19 until Auburn scored a field goal in the final seconds of the game for the win. I don't care to watch football, but I was riveted by that game.


Whew! Okay, tired of talking about 2010. Onto 2011...:)