Swimming With Dolphins

Eleven

2011-12-29T21:19:00.001-08:00

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

2011-12-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-02T22:38:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-27T00:36:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-02-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

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...:)

Day at Silver Falls

2010-10-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well once again, time has gotten away from me and this blog has suffered. I am very behind in posting. In mid-August, we went with Grandpa Gordon (my natural father) to Silver Falls State Park. There are a number of beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails for nature lovers. We had a yummy picnic lunch and enjoyed a wonderful day together.

Gorgeous

Grandpa G and N reading the history

All of us

Grandpa and the monkeys

This was as close as we could get to this one

Checkin out the riverbed

Me and my girl

Woohoo!

Pops and I

I love this photo

All tuckered out

Beautiful

Grazing deer by the road

K flexing her muscles

Tic-kled pink

2010-10-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

So I have a whole bunch of catching up to do on some of our late summer early fall doings. I will try hard to get to that this weekend. Hubby is busy hunting for the first time and so we're crossing our fingers he brings home a little venison. I say it like that because the thought of him killing a deer is not something I want to think about. We say pork, bacon, and ham...but not pig? We say beef, steak, or hamburger...but not cow? Then there's chicken...guess there's no getting around that one...but I digress.

It's been a busy month since I've been back to work. School is well under way and keeping me on my toes. Between juggling teaching my classes and helping my own two monkeys, it's enough to make my head spin. I've been trying hard to balance the two better. I've only stayed late once so far, not counting the Curriculum Night that was required. It has helped me to be a better Mom, but I think my work has suffered a little. Every year since I began teaching, the months of autumn months are sprinkled with many late nights to get things up and running in my classroom. Not so this year. I'm learning how to "be okay" with not finishing certain things, however I fall behind faster. Ugh. Definitel still working on that learning curve.

I'll work on updating our summer doings in another blog, but I do want to update on my kids. They are in 4th and 2nd grade now. Both are doing well so far in school. N just celebrated his tenth birthday (will post pictures soon) and K learned that she doesn't have to wear her eye patch anymore for her vision therapy. A year of that was more than enough. She still needs her glasses, but her amblyopia seems to have subsided. I took her to the neurologist today for similar concerns we had about N a couple years ago.

DH thought I was just overly concerned and neurotic, but my Mommy radar was kicking in. Thank you Jenny McCarthy for telling us to listen to the mother warrior instinct. The doctor confirmed my suspicions. She does indeed have a tic disorder like N, albeit a mild case. Basically, they both have a variation of Tourette's, but not the full-blown kind that most people think of. Both are aware that they have these tendencies, but are learning to cope with their tics. It is genetic in one side of my family, so there you go. My aunt said my cousin eventually outgrew his tics, so there's definitely hope. To be honest, this doesn't define my children in the least. I'm tickled pink by every quirk that makes them unique. It is one very small part of each of them and helps make them who they are...fabulous and funtastic kids!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

For his 10th birthday, my parents took N to his first U of O Ducks game at Autzen Stadium. It's my alma mater, so I couldn't be prouder of my little duckling! They even handily beat Stanford 52-31.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Took several attempts to get a shot of them diving in unison. So sweet!

Remember...

2010-09-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

September 11th...nine years ago today our country experienced a tragedy that will forever be etched in our collective memory. Much like Pearl Harbor, the moment will live in infamy. Most people can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers.

I had just began a new job barely a month earlier. They sent me to Salem (an hour away) to attenda weeklong training. Early in the morning on 9/11, I was getting ready for work just happened to be watching the news that morning. Not since the Oklahoma City bombing did time stand so still. I dropped my mouth in utter horror as the events unfolded. I had to leave to drive the hour to get to my training, but I so wanted to stay home that day. On the way there, the radio reported the United 93 flight that had crashed in Pennsylvania. It was so crazy what was unfolding that I couldn't wrap my mind around the sheer magnitude the events. It was when I arrived at the hotel where my training was taking place that I realized America was literally under attack.

Everyone who actually came to the training that day was in a state of absolute shock. Nobody could focus. It was quite strange to be experiencing that day with complete strangers that I suddenly felt an instant connection with. We were bonded by the trauma everyone was feeling. We were across the country from where all the attacks were taking place, yet nobody felt safe or secure. Our poor trainer was trying in vain to conduct the weeklong agenda, but it was so hard for people to focus or even attend. I did leave early that first day as I just longed to be home with my son. He was almost a year old at the point and I needed to just hug him. In fact, we celebrated his 1st birthday a couple weeks later. That whole week was quite surreal. Planes were grounded and loved ones were stuck all over the place and just wanted to get home. My uncle had to rent a car and drive across a couple of states to get back to Oregon.

While the raw fear and pain of that day has been dulled by time, the healing process is definitely a slow one. I don't know anyone who sees those images without reliving a small piece of that day. So many stories, so much loss, and so much heroism. Our country may be splintered over the seemingly neverending war, but we will forever be united by that 9/11. If only we can remember that solidarity and pride we felt that day all the time, not just on the anniversary. I made a promise to myself and God that day to celebrate life as much as possible and try not to take anything for granted. I thank the good lord for my husband, my two amazing children, and all the other gifts in my life. Many hard lessons have been learned since that day, but I am grateful still. Remember...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Hometown Visit

2010-08-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind in my summer blogging, but that's life for ya. It has a funny way of taking over. So the weekend after we went on our annual campout with friends, the kids and headed to Bend for a hometown visit with my folks. We left on Friday morning and came back on Monday. DH had to work, so he didn't make it on this trip. Whenever I drive somewhere, I need to break up the monotony any road trip by stopping to enjoy the scenery. The kids and I checked out this one place with a staircase in the middle of the mountains. I can't remember what it's called, but it was really something to see.

Stairway to Heaven maybe?

We were just outside of Warm Springs, an hour or so from Bend, when some kind of accident happened. Traffic was backed up on both sides for quite a ways. I figured we were in for wait so I turned off the engine and we got out to stretch our legs. It's kinda funny how you get to know perfect strangers when you have odd situations in common. The nice couple behind us were headed to a nearby campground and were on the final leg of a long drive from Washington. We all got a kick out of this one man who kept walking up and down the road looking with his binoculars. After about 20-30 minutes, cars began to move. I was glad to get going again.

Waiting...

When we finally got there, we'd been in the car for much of the day, so the kids needed to get some of their energy out. My parents weren't quite off work yet, so we visited an old friend of mine who worked downtown. Then I took them to Drake Park. We go there every time we come to Bend so they can see the ducks. Afterwards, we met my Mom and Dad at Deschutes Brewery for dinner. It was a little loud there, but the food was oh so good!

K and her ducks

On Saturday morning, we had a pretty low key day. After a lazy morning around the house, my parents took us down to the river so that kids could play and go walking. Later that afternoon, my dad took care of the kids so that my mom and I could spend some time together. We went and could go see Eat, Pray, Love. It was a really inspiring movie. My mom and I enjoyed time together.

Helping Grandpa water the lawn

N and Grandpa

My parents

K always loves being a step ahead

K and Grandma, so much alike!

Sunday was so much fun! We headed up to Cultis Lake (nicknamed Coldest Lake), a family tradition for as long as I can remember. The water is shallow for a quite a ways in the swimming area we go to. It's chilly at first, but you warm up fairly quickly. I grew up going there and we always manage to get our favorite spot at this little cove, maybe because we usually get there first..haha. Anyhow, my parents brought their new kayak, so there was extra stuff to do. We got everything set up, floaties blown up, and then finally settled in for a lovely day at the lake. We went hiking, swimming, and took turns kayaking. Poor Grandpa's arms got quite the workout! He knows how to steer the kayak well, so he indulged us all and took us out on the water. When I was younger, we owned a yellow canoe and I remember many summers enjoying it. I'm glad my parents are getting back to what they love. They go paddling down the river or on the lake quite frequently on sunny days. One thing Cultis Lake is known for are the MANY dragonflies. A yellow one even landed on my hand as was using the oar out in the kayak. So pretty! Wish I'd had my camera at that moment.

Dad and I

N wading out

K's turn

K deciding if she wants to go in deeper

N's turn

Dragonfly

On one of the docks

K being a brave girl

N helping guide the kayak through shallow water

Another dragonfly

We left Monday morning and began the 3 1/2 hour drive home. Along the way and on whim, I decided to make pit stop (big surprise, eh?). We drove up to Mt. Hood to see the historic Timberline Lodge. This ski lodge was made famous by the movie, The Shining. The exterior was used as face of the Overlook Hotel. It had been years since I'd been there, so I wasn't sure what we'd find. If you can believe it, there were people skiing (in mid August!). There were also throngs of people hiking and sight seeing via the chairlift. We didn't have time to do any of that, so we just walked around a bit and took in the amazing views. I've never been inside or even had pleasure of skiing there. I hope we can come back either in the winter or summer again to do some of the more touristy things. It's strange when you don't think to indulge in some of local treasures, even when you've lived somewhere for so long.

How's that for a view?

Timberline Lodge

Mt. Hood

N and K

What a great weekend we had!

Campout With Friends 2010

2010-08-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

We made it to our 3rd annual campout with some dear friends of ours. It's become a summer tradition that the kids really look forward to. The group consists of DH's best friend Troy and his three daughters; DH's other best friend Brian, his wife Rosalee, and their five children. For the last two years, our three families have gone to a secluded little campground near Mt. Hood called 8-Mile Loop. It's been a comfortable spot with hiking trails and a creek. The first year, we got a prime spot and had a wonderful time. Last year was DH's first year going and unfortunately he didn't enjoy himself too much. We didn't get as good of a spot and the bees were out in full force.

This year took on many changes. DH is not so much the outdoorsman, so it's been an adjustment for him. Over the year he has tried to adopt a new attitude about camping and many other outside activities, even taking up hunting and fishing...and listening to country music! I've been very proud of him for these efforts. I grew up in a very outgoing family where outdoor recreation and camping was a way of life. We drove everywhere and camped out many weekends in the summer. Whereas DH's family flew everywhere and stayed in hotels on tropical islands. Get the picture? Anyway, we decided to buy my parents' trailer for an amazing deal (thank you mom and dad!). Tenting it just doesn't work for DH, so the trailer has been a blessing in more ways than one. DH has a coworker with a large plot of land that his family uses for camping along the Nehalem River, in the Coastal Range. He allowed us to use it for free, so everyone was willing to give it a try.

All the guys had to work, so we got a late start on Friday. It was evening by the time we arrived and everyone got their stuff set up. After we got the fire started, we roasted hot dogs for dinner. The kids threw rocks in the river and explored the area a bit. By dark, we were ready for s'mores and oh how the kids loved that! DH was exhausted, so he turned in early. We got all the kids settled into bed for the night too. The four of us adults who were still awake enjoyed some great conversation and laughs that night...without any alcoholic beverages I might add! (although a strawberry margarita would've been nice)

The next morning, we took our time getting up and made breakfast burritos and hot cocoa...yummy! The older kids went exploring by the river, while the little ones found the dirtpile (of course!). Kevin's coworker who owned the property, Brian F., arrived to hang out. Rosalee and Brian's little boy really took a shine to him. As the day wore on, the sunshine was beaming down on us...making that river look very appealing.

So all the dads went wading with the kids. Eventually, they either fell in or got dragged into the water fully-clothed. Rosalee and I were quite snaphappy with our cameras. The guys rode the current down a ways before trying to claw their way back upstream, not an easy task. The kids took turns sitting with their respective daddies in the water and had so much fun. K struggled with her fear of stepping on a crawdad before finally relaxing long enough to enjoy herself. I took her hand and waded with her to help ease her fears.

After enjoying sandwiches and chips for lunch, the guys took the kids for a walk to put the crawdad trap in the river and do a little fishing. Rosalee and I stayed back for some quiet time. She put her baby down for a nap while the others were away. The dogs really had a good time chasing sticks into the river. Our dogs both braved the water for the first time.

By Saturday evening, the kids were getting worn out, so we got dinner going. This meal is perhaps the best part of the whole campout. Troy taught us how to make hobo stew, and now it is tradition that we make it every year. Hobo stew is so easy to make if you do a little prep ahead of time. You mix hamburger, sliced carrots, celery, and potatoes all together. Season it with plenty of garlic salt and ground black pepper. Feel free to add other vegies and spices as you please. Wrap it up in aluminum foil and put on the grill for about 30-45 minutes (or until ready). So good! More s'mores and even a ghost story courtesy of Brian F. rounded out the evening.

On Sunday morning, we kept breakfast simple with doughnuts. Everyone began to tear down the campsite and pack up the cars. Then the guys took a few of the kids to go get the crawdad trap and brought back quite a haul. DH boiled them in trailer and everyone nibbled them for an afternoon snack. The only disturbing part of this was when the kids created finger puppets out of the crawdad heads. Alrighty then. The kids really seemed to have a wonderful time overall and I was grateful to have such good friends. Camping can be a lot of work, but the memories are so worth it!

Acting goofy

Man vs. Fire

Bushwacking

Waiting to roast marshmallows

Keely going into a river for the first time EVER

Brave girl

Sticks were the toy of choice

Playing in the river

N with his best buddy

Campsite view from the bridge

Look at my dirty hands Mommy!

Hanging around the campfire

Yes, that is a crawdad on his finger.

Crawdads galore

All the kids in birth order

Our trailer

These two will always find the dirt

I'm king of the world!

Quiet moment for K

Checking out the Nehalem

Under Construction...

2010-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Whew! We had such a late start to our summer that we thought it would never get here. Well, the sunshine has been out in full force with near record temps on mandy days throughout August. The construction of our townhome community continues. Our own complex is finally underway and oh what fun it is... I'm sorry, but after dealing with our neighbors' construction for the last two months already, it's almost anti-climactic at this point. Since this is my blog, I'm gonna vent for a moment so bear with me.

The workers don't really bother me so much as all the logistics that comes with living in a construction zone. The workers are actually quite nice. It's just that there is hardly any parking available for our own due to all the crews comings and goings and we're not supposed to park on our driveways due to the constract debris. You can imagine the fun of trying to get a space when the extra crews come in for the specialty jobs such as demo or delivery of supplies.

And speaking of debris, don't get me started on that. At first, the crews seemed to be really on top of the cleanup at the end of each day. However, I think some of the workers are getting a little lackadaisical about it. My neighbors and I that have little children and/or pets are particularly concerned when we find lots of nails and splinters of wood laying on the ground everywhere. They remind us that the neighborhood is their construction zone during working hours and be cognizant of that fact, but their powers that be need to remember that this zone is also where we call home.

Need I even mention the toll this has all taken on our lawns? I should mention that while many of the townhomes have their own private lawns, we share our yard with two other homeowners. This sounds like a drawback, but it actually gives us all a lot more play space for the kids than the other townhomes since none of us are greedy about our property lines. We've been lucky to have awesome neighbors who share in the caretaking duties. One is a single woman who has two indoor cats and is gone quite a bit. The other is a professional couple, whose young son attends the same childcare that my kids do. Their little boy LOVES LOVES LOVES to play with our daughter. They often play in the sprinkler of little pool together.

In early June, we still had our lovely greenspace for the kids. Even though we had to wait until after 5pm or the weekends in order for the children to play outside, we could still manage. Now we can't even do that since our greenspace has become one of their work hubs. They store lots of supplies, wood piles, large disposable bins, and even workspaces for window frame assembly on our lawn. The grass has turned into a yellowspace and been trampled to death. Our landscapers assure us they can bring it back to life when all the construction is done. Thankfully, we have a park across the street to give the kids an outlet.

While all of those elements can drive anyone batty, what has really kept me on edge has been this feeling of living in limbo. I spent over a month getting the house organized and cleaned in preparation of the construction. It's certainly not perfect, but I'm proud of what I was able to do without losing my mind. As anyone with a family of little ones can attest, it can be a challenge to keep your house clutter-free all the time. Our exterior is stripped bear and we finally got the notice on our door telling us that it's our turn for the windows! So DH and I had to take down all the blinds and make sure there was a workspace area of four feet around the windows. The workers will come inside (that stresses me out!) and replace our windows over the course of 2 days. So by week's end we'll be on the downhill side of this journey... *knock on wood*

I've been trying to get the kids out of the house as much as possible, but mostly just going to other parks and whatever free activities I can find. As many others are, we are living on a tight budget this summer so we save what we can for weekend outings. The kids had swimming lessons for 5 weeks, K had a tumbling/trampoline class, and N is in the wrapping of up a clay sculpture class.

It probably doesn't sound like it, but I've been actually handling my anxiety surprisingly well. My neighbors are in this with us, so we're certainly not alone in our misery. I'm not one for chaos or lots of change all at once, so I've tried to take it all in in baby steps. The end result will be for the better and so I try to focus on that. Here are a few photo updates...

And the fun begins...

Our porch railing

Our porch now

Demolition day

View of my neighbor's home from my upstairs window.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

Alpacas

2010-07-19T22:35:00.001-07:00

One day on a whim, the kids and I decided to stop at this nearby farm that raises alpacas. We'd driven by Northwest Alpacas many times over the years and was always curious about it. As it turned out, their store was no actively selling their wares, but held events there now and then. Two men welcomed us and allowed the kids to see some of their newest additions, some baby alpacas and their mamas. So adorable! Since they were pretty skittish, we could only observe them from behind the fence. Still, they were too cute! I was thankful for their kindness and for going out of their way to share their time with us.

Mama and baby

Gazing at them grazing

Giddyup!

Summer Stuff

2010-07-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Summer is definitely in full swing around here and we've been doing a variety of things to stay busy. The kids have swimming lessons twice a week for a total of five weeks. In fact, this week is their final week of lessons. According to the aquatic center where they attend, K is an "electric eel" or beginner level under Red Cross guidelines. N is a "goldfish" or intermediate level. Regardless, they are both fish and love being in the water anytime they get the chance. Some of the parents there insist that their kids take lesson after lesson, but that can get expensive and become a little overkill in MHO. So we do it once a year each summer to keep it fresh and fun for them. As long as Nand K learn and continue to love it, that's what matters to me.

In early July, K also started her tumbling and trampoline class at a local gymnastics program. While she is still learning coordination, she seems to be a natural. This class is the perfect way for her to channel all that extra energy. I mean the girl never stops hopping or climbing on things, which is how she earned her nickname of "monkey." They play games, learn basic tumbling moves such as somersaults and cartwheels, and then practice various jumps on the trampoline such as tucks and straddles. I must say that as I sit and watch her with envy during class. Gymnastics was a big part of my childhood and I still love the sport to this day. I am hopeful that we can get her involved in gymnastics on a regular basis (costs moolah) at some point. We keep hoping that for N and his martial arts too. We shall see down the road.

Some other activities they've been participating in has included a day with friends at their Vacation Bible School, visiting Grandma J, going to various parks with moi, and berry-picking at nearby farm we love. Once a week, we try to meet up at a local waterpark with some good friends and let the kids cut loose a little. We love this newly renovated park that is all-inclusive. In addition to tennis courts, they have a fountain, very unique playgrounds, a creekbed, a sandpit, and even a couple of picnic tables. The kids never seem to get bored there, so we keep coming back. I'm still on a mission to keep checking out new parks in the area to change it up now and then. I will say that sunscreen is a must as there is very little shade available, so thank goodness for water. I have lobster burn to prove it. Ouch!

Of course, there has been lots of progress made on the homefront. On our down days, I try to tackle the clutter and purge as much of it as possible. Some days I make lots of headway, while others not so much. Overall, I've truly made an enormous dent in the amount of junk and made the people of Goodwill very happy in the process. I should stick to one room until it's done, but since there was so much clutter in every room I just couldn't stick to that gameplan. Instead, I've whittled the eyesore piles to more manageable levels in most rooms to reduce my own anxiety. Ah, so much to do and never enough time to do it all! I'll eventually post some pictures when I feel it is truly blogworthy. When I came home today, I saw that the landscapers had removed some of our bushes, a clear sign that it is almost our turn for neighborhood construction project to start on our building. Ugh. I've been observing it all unfold across the way at my neighbor's home that share our greenspace. That's one of the reasons I try to keep busy and we're out many days out of the week. The constant construction stresses me out and it's hard to feel at peace with all of that going on around you.

At least the sunshine is shining, the kids are healthy and happy, I get to spend lots of time with them, and that's enough to be grateful for.

Happy Belated Birthday America!

2010-07-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Life has been keeping us busy as usual, hence this belated post celebrating our nation's birthday. Our 4th of July was a pretty quiet, since we actually made the 6+ hour drive back from our trip to the Redwoods that same day. By the time we returned, we were very tired. We waited until dusk and then let the kids twirl some sparklers. Many of our neighbors were either out or staying inside, so the street was fairly deserted. Although a few trickled out to enjoy our little fireworks show towards the end. I usually prefer being around lots of family and friends on this holiday, but that was just not to be this year due to the timing of our vacation.

After the kids finished with their sparklers, DH began setting off some of the bigger and brighter fireworks. He even took a moment to show N how to safely light the fuse on a couple, and I think he felt very trustworthy and grownup as a result. Lately, he's been wanting to order off the adult menu and be treated as older, so I'm glad he got that boost of self-esteem. Even though it was sleepier holiday for us than normal, we still had a wonderful time as a family.

Twirling their sparklers

Bright light!

They were trying to make a torch by combining their sparklers.

DH showing N how to safely use the butane lighter.

N lighting his first firework.

There she goes...

Redwoods Trip

2010-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

For the last few years, I've been wanting to go to the Redwoods with my family. Hubby did not grow up camping or going on roadtrips, so it took him awhile to come around to the idea. He prefers airplanes and hotels, so you might say he's more of a cityboy. So when the opportunity arose for us to finally go this summer, we compromised. We drove down to Crescent City, CA (located just outside the Redwoods National Forest) and stayed in a Best Western Northwoods Inn. Money was pretty tight, so this was going to be a whirlwind 4th of July weekend. Hubby took off early from work on Thursday afternoon so we could get packed and ready to go. I spent the day cleaning the house, running errands, and packing.

We left early Friday morning, around 6am. We were very proud of ourselves for staying on schedule since we often get delayed when getting ready to go somewhere. For breakfast, we grabbed something quick from Mcdonald's and hit the road. DH insisted on doing the driving, so I got to play DJ with the ipod. Our new truck was so comfortable to ride in. We actually bought the truck with this trip in mind, so I was glad we made the leap of faith. We also borrowed my MIL's DVD player to help keep the kids happy, but mostly we played road games. For example, the alphabet sign game is where you look for each letter of the alphabet (in order) on signs, but it has each letter must begin the word for it to count. This is a great learning game for the kids too.

Crossing the border into California was exciting for the kids as they haven't been out of state much. When we crossed, we had to go through the border inspection station, where they ask you to declare any fruit you might have. The trip down was just under 6 hours, so we got into Crescent City, CA around noonish. We ate some lunch before checking into our hotel. It was located across the way from the harbor, so we liked it even though it wasn't right on the beach. If we wanted a hotel with oceanviews, we would have paid a pretty penny for that and figured we wouldn't be in our room enough to care.

The day was already half over, so we opted to check out a local tourist spot, Battery Point Lighthouse. It wasn't very tall by lighthouse standards, but it was still quite an amazing view. Due to the tide coming in, we couldn't go inside. After checking out the lighthouse, we drove up and around the town and picked up some necessities from the local Walmart. We discovered a local park that resembled an old pioneer fort, so of course we had to stop and play for awhile. Before we knew it, dinner time had rolled around. Everyone was quite tired from the trip down, so we returned to the hotel to go swimming and relax.

Saturday was our big day. We had an early breakfast and were ready for the Trees of Mystery before 9am. Our goal was to avoid the crowds if possible. Thankfully, we one of the few families there and so we took advantage by taking lots of pictures. I've had so many photographs obstructed or ruined by random people milling around, so it was very nice. I hadn't been to the Redwoods since my family took a trip down the California coast when I was 2 or 3 years old, so this was totally nostalgic for me. Paul Bunyan and Babe were still very tall, even though I'd grown a few inches since back then. The kids were excited to see the ginormous statues and couldn't wait to get inside the forest.

We entered the Trees of Mystery and admired all the unique trees along the way and learned all kinds of fascinating facts. I just couldn't get over how these giant trees towered over the land. We hiked up to the embarkation station of the Sky Trail gondolas. Now I find it odd that I grew up skiing and riding chairlifts that swung high above the ground AND had no safety bar to hold you in. However, I got on this gondola and was immediately scared. Maybe it was that the whole thing was encased in mainly glass or that we were looking eye to eye with the forest canopy. Whatever it was, I struggled to keep my vertigo in check so as not to freak out the kids. I am not good with heights AT ALL, but I managed to get through the ride to the top. It took me a few minutes to go to the edge of the viewing platform to take pictures. Once I got over my fear, I got some beautiful shots. You have the option of hiking back down if you are advanced enough, but after taking one look at how steep it was, I figured I'd take my chances with the gondola. The ride back down was much smoother and I was grateful to be back down below.

Afterwards, we toured the Trail of Tall Tales and listened to recordings of Paul Bunyan's many adventures and enjoyed the many wood carvings. Of course, we had to shop for souvenirs and look inside the End of the Trail Museum. K picked out a stuffed animal version of Babe, N chose a Trees of Mystery coffee cup that was quite large, and I got some magnets (a traveling tradition) and a unique morning glory turgquoise necklace made by the Zuni tribe. As I was picking out this last item, I met the daughter from the family for whom the Brotherhood Station (Sky Trail) was named for. Her mother was the original curator of the native american museum there. She was truly lovely to speak with. DH couldn't find anything he wanted, so he left empty-handed.

By this time, we were ready for lunch and ate at the Forest Cafe across the road. The ceiling was covered in foliage (fake) on one side and resembled the bottom of a river on the other. I was ready to really do some hiking off the beaten path, so we asked some locals where to go. We went in search of a place called Stout Grove. Now it was no easy task getting to this place, since you have to drive through a very bumpy, narrow, windy, woodsy, dirt road that takes you deep 4-6 miles into the Redwoods.

We hiked along some trails, admired some hidden treasures, and finally found the Smith River. We were told it is one of the last freeflowing rivers left in the world and the water is very pure. I thought it was absolutely gorgeous and is really something you have to see in person to fully appreciate. I was so proud of DH for indulging me with this and the plethora of photo opps really made my day. The kids got a kick out of climbing all the ginormous trees.

As if we hadn't done enough already, we went to down to the harbor. The kids wanted to go on the pier and watch the people crabbing. So many people do this that the ropes from their crab cages had worn deep grooves into the wood. A little surf shop caught DH's eye, so we shopped for some goodies for him there. We ate at a little seafood cafe right there in the harbor. We were all dragging, but we had one last stop to make for the day. DH drove us out to the bluffs right outside of town to see another lighthouse located offshore. The wind had picked up dramatically and the walk out to the edge was unreal. The kids were miserable and cold, even though the sun was shining. DH had to carry K on his back to keep her going. We just couldn't believe how crazy the winds were up there on the bluffs. DH and I lost our footing several times. Unfortunately, the fog was settling in and so it I couldn't get a clear picture of the lighthouse. Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for more swimming and more relaxing.

The next morning we packed up, ate breakfast, and headed home. This time, we took our time driving home and made several stops. We even took the kids on a tour of Eugene, OR, the city where DH and I met and is also home of my alma mater...University of Oregon. We hadn't been back there in years, so it was very surreal and lots of changes. The trip was awesome and we made many memories. This is the biggest family vacation we've been on to date and can only hope many more lie ahead.

End of the Trail statue

Paul Bunyan and the little people

Paul and Babe

Welcome Wagon

Sometimes they actually get along.

DH explaining how to a sundial works.

The Elephant Tree

Reach! This one is called The Upside Down Tree.

The Cathedral Tree

Now that is the definition of ginormous...

View from Ted's Ridge atop the canopy.

Taking a break on the observation deck.

A father son moment

Taking it all in...

Had to approach this bluejay very slowly to get this closeup.

The Sky Trail

Inside the gondola with N

Side Roller wood carving along Trail of Tall Tales

Daughter of Brotherhood Station family and museum curator

Ceiling of Forest Cafe looks like river bottom

Forest Cafe

Drive Thru Tree with inches to spare on either side

One of my favorite pictures

Breaktime

Balancing act

DH looks so tiny next to this trunk.

How's that for a fort?!

Yes, I am a treehugger at heart.

Skipping rocks

Love my girl

Smith River

Trees of Mystery

Our hotel - The Northwoods Inn

Trying not to get blown off the bluffs

Standing on the dock of the bay

Sharkbait

Beachcombing

View of the Pacific

Tire'd out...pun intended

Just a swinging!

Kidtown...local park made to look like a pioneer fort

Battery Point Lighthouse

Walking along the pier...

(notice the white spots courtesy of the seagulls LOL)

Hello Mr. Seagull

Teaching his baby girl a few things...

Gorgeous pier

N loves the ocean.

Family time

What an awesome trip!

Park it!

2010-06-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Whenever we go over to the home of some dear family friends, the kids love to play in the grassy field behind their house. They live in a rural area that is just a wonderland for the kids' imaginations. They have a play structure too and lots of room to roam, so they definitely wear themselves out every visit, which is a great thing.

We live in a townhome, so my kids' time to explore the great outdoors is often limited to our little yard or the small park across the street. For the last few years, I've made it my goal to involve the kids in lots of extracurricular summer activities, go on nature walks, ride our bikes, and whatever else we can fit into our weekly schedule. This year, we thought it would be fun to check out as many new parks as possible. So while we'll still frequent our favorites, every week we'll also be visiting a different park just to spice things up. There are three little ones in our immediate neighborhood, so we've grown weary of the familiar scenery. After reading an article in a local publication on the best parks in our area, we thought we could even branch out to some popular hotspots and lesser known gems. The kids and I are excited for this new mission. I'll try to periodically post pictures and reviews of our park explorations.

Family Bowling

2010-06-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, we took the kids bowling for K's birthday. She decided that's what she wanted to do and so we spent an afternoon at a local bowling alley. Thankfully they put the safety bumpers up on the sides for the kids (and us!) or we would've had lots of gutter balls. They struggled to get the hang of it at first, but gradually gained confidence and had fun with it. I hope we can tackle rollerskating this summer. That should be entertaining. Here are a few videos we shot for fun that day...

Spring Portraits

2010-06-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Over the last month or two, I've taken advantage of the few sunny days we've had to take the kids' spring photos. Their school does take pictures of them in both fall and spring, but the cost adds up. I do order their fall portraits, but I love taking their scenic shots myself every spring. I started the tradition about four years ago. Our neighborhood and the surrounding area provides lots of beautiful backdrops, so why not take advantage? I get the pictures developed throug Costco or Shutterfly, so it's pretty inexpensive. We are taking a trip to the Redwoods in a couple weeks, so I'm hoping for some amazing photo opps there too.

The most challenging part of the process is getting that one perfect shot that is frameworthy. Sometimes I luck out and get some good ones early on, while other times we have to make several attempts over several weeks to get it right. I suppose I am fairly picky, but I love doing it. Sometimes I even take portraits of my friends' children for them too. Obviously I am no professional, but I've learned about lighting and the various camera settings can have a positive or negative impact on the final photo. When we lost all of our photo archives earlier this year, that also meant the loss of all those portraits I've taken of the kids too. So this year I took more pictures than usual to start to rebuild our photo collection.

K used to be such a pill to get to hold still long enough, but she's getting better and more patient. I often end up with more of her as a result. She loves to ham it up and strike poses. I have to coach her into just smiling naturally and let me capture that as those kind often end up as her best photos. N doesn't enjoy getting his picture taken as much as he used to, so I have to be quick about it with him and hope for the best...hence often end up with far less of him. When they stop trying and simply smile, that's when the magic happens!

I love his dimples!

Trying to hard here, but I thought it was cute.

So serious

Love this one! It's so him...

My little ham

Too much sunlight in the background, but still loved it.

The wind wouldn't cooperate, but this is one my faves.

She loves to pose like this...it's so her.

7 years old

2010-06-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

I seem to always be late in posting this year. Better late than never I suppose. We celebrated K's birthday recently. After doing the whole Chuck E. Cheese party thing last year and spending a small fortune on her special day, we went more low-key this year. Work has kept both DH and me so preoccupied and busy that we honestly just didn't have time or money for a big blowout birthday. Yes, I feel like a bad mom, but I pray that there'll be future birthday to "do it up right."

On Saturday night, we celebrated with cupcakes at the home of some close friends. DH made her a special birthday pancake, complete with candle...a tradition in our home. Then K opened some presents and delighted in her new stuff.

A few weeks prior, she had attended a friend's cosmic bowling birthday party, K decided she wanted to do the same. While we didn't splurge on a big party, we did take her to a local bowling alley and enjoyed a couple of games and some snacky foods. They also had an arcade that had lots of new and old school arcade games to enjoy. The kids got a kick out of knocking the pins down and I loved the bumper guards...no gutter balls! LOL. K and N played lots of games in the arcade. I miss arcades! I like to think I kick a little Ms. Pacman bootay! But I digress...

I must admit that this birthday has been bittersweet. K is already 7 years old! It's neat to watch her learn and grow. Yet I don't wanna think about my baby girl getting older. I always tell her to stop growing up and she just laughs. Yes, I'm a big crybaby about it. Can't they stay little forever or at least a few more years? My son will be 10 years old this fall, so that will likely put me over the mommy edge. Sigh.

Celebrating with friends

Hmmm, what should I wish for?

What will I wish for this time?

Lucky #7

Giffies!

Loves her horses

How do I look?

More girly stuff

Learning the art of Donkey Kong

Getting my Ms. Pacman fix

Ready, set, go!

Galaga!

Bowling baby!

Messing around

Yippee! I hit the pins!

So proud of my not-so-baby girl

Thank Him for Small Favors

2010-05-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

So as if spring hasn't been busy enough, the month of May has been one to remember. DH has really struggled with medical issues. It all started a couple weeks ago when he accidentally forgot to turn on the parking brake. We were dropping the kids off with our childcare provider, whose driveway is on an incline. Our truck began to roll backwards with myself and DH still partially inside. Thankfully the kids were already out. DH tried to stop it the truck, but as he struggled he lost his footing and fell. His foot became entangled and he was seconds from getting his leg run over. Somehow he managed to get that brake and stop the darn thing. All of our hearts skipped a beat that morning and thanked God for small favors. It all happened so fast that we could barely react.

Afterwards, DH began to complain of back pain. He's had a bad back for quite some time, but occasionally he tweaks it and makes it hurt worse. DH didn't want to go to the doctor, so he just dealt with it. Then the following week (this past Tuesday), he said his back was really aching, so finally he saw a doctor. This doctor also prescribed some high blood pressure medicatoin for him. DH left work early and came home after the appointment. A half hour after hetook thenew med, he started having severe chest pains and was advised to go to the hospital. As I'm on my way home from work, he calls me to have me meet him at the ER.

So let me paint the picture for you so you get my mindset...DH says he's having chest pains and needs to go to the ER pronto. Did he call 911? Did he go to nearest hospital? Did he wait the extra 10 minutes for me to get home to drive him? No, no, and no. DH and our two kids got in the truck and headed to the hospital located about 15 miles away in the middle of rush hour traffic. He forgot his headset, so we couldn't communicate. I drive like a bat outta hell to get to the hospital. I was quickly becoming an emotional wreck. Miraculously, I caught up to DH on the freeway and followed him the rest of the way. Due to the traffic gridlock, DH opted to take backroads to the hospital. Unfortunately, this ended up taking twice as long. I kept thinking he's suffering a heart attack and just prayed he and the kids got there in one piece. Oh what long drive that was!

Finally, we arrived at the ER. We waited several minutes in line for triage and then they got him in pretty quickly after that. The kids and I sat in the waiting area for quite some time without word, so I got them a snack in the vending machine to keep them happy. A little while later, I asked them if we could go see DH. We were grateful to get to hang out in his cramped little room. I found him hooked up to all kinds of wires and machines, including a heart monitor and an IV drip. He was looking pretty tired and and was just watching TV ("Enemy of the State").

By 8:30, we knew we were in for a long night as we waited for the doctors to run their tests. I called my boss to let her know what was going on and that I probably needed a sub for the next day. She said the best thing she could've said to me in that moment, "Don't worry about anything, we'll take care of it." I also made a few other calls to DH's mom and my mom to let them know what was happening. My mom helped me to keep it together (thanks mama!) Then I took the kids to the cafeteria for a late dinner. That gave us a second wind to get through the next couple of hours. Since it was a school night, I was constantly worried about time and wanted to get them home.

By 10:00 pm, the doctor informed us that DH would need to stay overnight for observation and more tests. At about 11:30 pm, he was officially admitted to the hospital and was given a room on the 6th floor. The kids and I hung around as long as we could, but we were all exhausted and decided to go home for the night. I went to give DH a big hug and said, "Happy Anniversary honey." He laughed weakly and said the same. Oh yeah, did I mention this all happened on our anniversary?

After more drama of trying to find the cars we so hastily parked in short-term physician parking, I had to move the truck to another spot so it wouldn't get towed. We took my car home and the kids were asleep in the car almost instantly. I called my best friend, Shelley, who knew exactly how to help me let it all out and that wonderfuly quirky sense of humor made me laugh. She was exactly the spoonful of sugar that I needed.

The next morning, I got the kids off to school and headed back to the hospital. DH was away from his room when I arrived, getting a stress test. I brought along some of my work and set about grading papers to pass the time. DH was given every test under the sun, ended up staying most of the day, and was finally discharged mid-afternoon without any conclusive answers as to what caused his chest pains. It was frustrating, but at least DH would recover just fine. We were both pretty tired by the time we got home.

During the night in hospital, DH had been alternately been given morphine and vicodin for pain. Both slowed his whole system down, so his recovery would be slow-going. I made a couple trips to the pharmacy and did what I could to help. The kids were real troopers throughout the whole ordeal, so that alone was a huge relief. We both took Thursday off work as well. DH needed more time to recuperate and I was honestly just wiped out emotionally and physically. I managed to sneak in some work so I felt somewhat productive. I also cleaned the house and sorted through some serious stacks of paper that had been in dire need of attention.

We both returned to work by Friday. I was inundated with stuff to catch up on and felt the pressure of grading and report cards breathing down my neck. Some people don't even begin to worry about them until the week they're due, but I need more time then that so I start early. On Saturday, my parents drove up for a visit (all the way from Bend) and volunteered to take the kids overnight so DH and I could enjoy a date night. They took the kids to their hotel to swim and play, while DH and I celebrated our anniversary belatedly with dinner and a movie. We ate at Olive Garden, perused a bookstore we love, and then saw Ironman 2 (great movie btw). It was one of the best dates we've had in years and helped put the all of the events of the past week in perspective.

I think this quote sums up it up best...

"A simple grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer."
~Doris Lessing

Joy Ride

2010-05-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

I fear the day they actually get to drive for real.

Pigs really do fly

2010-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

So my hubby finally did something that even I never thought would happen. For as long as I've known hime, DH has had an ongoing debate with some of his buddies over the best automaker, particularly trucks. He has and always will be a Chevy man. One of his best friends has and always will be a Ford man. I find it odd that none of them prefer Dodge...just sayin.

Then sometime last year, DH started this journey down a path I never imagined he'd travel. While his childhood was difficult at best, he was fortunate enough to travel a great deal with his family. They loved going to Disneyland, Hawaii, Mexico, New York, and wherever else they could. While they never really wanted for anything, DH's family just weren't the outdoorsy type. DH grew up to be an indoor boy with a thing for computers. On the flip side, my family managed to take a number of road trips during my childhood, but some of my most vivid memories were us just going camping for a weekend.

In the last year and a half, DH has taken developed many new interests that I believe to be for the better. If you know him at all, you know DH is slow to welcome change. However, he is now into a myriad of outdoor things such as camping, hunting, and has spoken of taking up fishing. I love that our kids will get to experience many of these wonderful memories still yet to come as a result. And imagine my continued surprise when DH says he wants to get a new truck. What do we end up with? A Ford. I guess pigs really do fly! It's so comfortable and roomy. The gas mileage is not great, but it has just about everything else we could want in a vehicle.

Goodbye to an old friend, our Aztek.

Hello to our new 2009 Ford F150. Isn't she pretty? I want to call her Bella, but DH insists that he gets to name her...since it's his truck. I'll let him think that if it makes him happy.

Tiptoe through the tulips...

2010-05-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

They say life isn't a tiptoe through the tulips...but sometimes it ought to be.

Back in April, the kids and I did something we had been wanting to do for years, but never managed to time right. This year, we finally attended the annual tulip festival held in Woodburn, about an hours' drive from our home. Normally, it would go a bit faster, but the traffic to get through just to get there is ridiculous. Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and I had heard amazing things about this place, so I was excited. In a stroke of good luck, this year they were celebrating the 25th anniversary of this Tulip Fest. We had finally timed it perfectly!

N was fairly indifferent at the thought of spending an afternoon looking at flowers with his kid sister in tow. I tried to reassure him that this partiular "flower farm" would knock his socks off. K was just as giddy as I was though since she loves that kind of thing too. Hubby had no interest, so he opted to stay home.

So we made the drive and sat in an insanely long line of cars as we wound our way through the countryside. Once we finally arrived at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, I soon realized I should've stopped at the ATM for cash. Since it was my first time, I was naive enough to think visitors were welcome to browse for free like the little tulip farm near our home. Well, apparently you pay to park. The attendant was kind enough to let my faux pas slip by as he waived the $10 fee with a smile and a hush-hush look in his eye. I was grateful to him. After making our way through another crazy line of cars to park, we finally set out to the tulip fields.

We were soon to learn that we would be doing quite a bit of walking. It was also the first sunny day in quite awhile, which turned out to be a bittersweet blessing for the throngs of people and staff. When the muddy ground began to dry, the bugs came out of the woodwork. Everwhere you turned, you were met with a swarm of them. K struggled to deal with this, but eventually learned to ignore them. They were a nuisance to be sure, but after awhile you forgot they were there...almost.

I just have to say...this farm was ginormous! You had to truly be there to get the full scope, but my lord! The tulip fields seemingly went on forever, just like I had envisioned. There is little I love more than seeing nature in all her glory, and this spring she certainly did not disappoint! There was every color imaginable splashed across this heavenly canvas. The eye candy was enough to impress and inspire my cynical son to smile with delight. The kids wanted to just run the length of the fields and take it all in. They wanted to explore every nook and cranny of those fields. Behind the tulip fields, was also a mammoth orchard of some sort. It looked like something out of a Robert Frost poem. It was like a labyrinth of trees. Let's just say, I was a bit snaphappy that day.

What's more, back up towards the main part of the farm, were the festivities. They had a nice balance of free activities and some things you had to pay for. The food was astronomically expensive (in my opinion). I was able to get some cash in the gift shop, so I could feed the kids some lunch. Can you believe I was again naive enough to believe we'd be done in an hour with time to go out for lunch. Nope, this adventure was to continue for a couple of hours at least. I treated the kids to a corndog (they cost a whopping $4.00 a piece!). I got us a lemonade to share.

I stretched the budget a little and let the kids indulge in a few activities at the festival. Since they patiently allowed me to take endless amounts of pictures, they earned the right to a little fun. N got to climb the rock wall and K got to have a pony ride. They both rode the mechanical bull and channeled their inner urban cowboy and cowgirl. We browsed the various kiosks hocking their goods. I indulged a little too and bought some hand-embroidered dish towels and bought a couple of small tulip-themed knick knacks to spruce up my spring collection of decorations (small as it may be).

After walking around for a few hours, we all began to feel quite tired. We splurged one last time and shared an elephant ear. The sugar rush boosted our spirits and gave us just enough energy to make the trek back home. It was such a wonderful afternoon outing with my monkeys and I am so glad we finally got to go. The kids both said they couldn't wait for next year's festival. Who'd have thought you could have so much fun looking at tulips? Awesome! Check out some fo the pics for yourself...

Tulipa Chrysantha (I think)

O happy day!

Simply gorgeous dawling...

Always the charmer

K took this one, so N had to smirk

Exploring the tulip fields

Hurray for flowers!

And miles to go before I sleep...
We dubbed this the "The Robert Frost Orchard"

Bloom where you're planted.

Hamming it up

This is so fitting, these two are always racing each other.

Just slip-slidin away...

Cowgirl up!

Raging bull

From ponytails to pony rides

Always reaching new heights

Welcome to the Wooden Shoe Farm, literally

N was feeling tired, so he made himself at home.

Cute little pond by the gift shop

Trying so hard for a close up, but notice the little bug on the petal.

Tulipa humilus Violacea Black Base

Don't know the name of this purple beauty

Daffodils are like kisses of sunshine

I wish I knew more about flower names. I love this one too.

How's that for an orange-colored sky?

See what I mean about ginormous? Wow.

How'd ya like that for your backyard view?

Playing Catchup pt. 2

2010-05-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, here goes my second attempt at catching up on some of our myriad of activities over the last couple of months. Much of our spring break was spent cleaning and purging our house and also traveling to my hometown of Bend to help my parents do the same thing. After some 16 years, they finally opted to rid themselves clutter not their own. They are downsizing to another home in town, so they needed some help getting rid of stuff. The attic in my parent's home has been a storage unit for not only their own belongings, but for me and other family members as well. My primary job was to sort through old boxes from childhood and take back what I wanted to keep or it would be sent to Goodwill. Fair enough.

It was a fairly short trip, just two nights. After a lunch date with hubby, I drove down with just the kids and myself midweek. DH had to stay behind to work. We took our time driving there and stopped a couple times to just look around at some beautiful scenic views and snap some pictures. Wednesday was pretty much spent in the garage and attic as I rediscovered many childhood memories amidst the dusty old boxes. My mom and I had a wonderful day remembering stuff. Grandpa "Fuzzy Face" entertained the kids by taking them out to lunch and visited the High Desert Museum. The kids got to explore natural history exhibits, observe wildlife, and participate in various activities such as panning for gold. K took charge of the camera and took many of the photos. She and I share this snaphappy passion (thank you Grandma Myra!), so it's neat to watch her take such an interest in it.

On Wednesday night, many of my extended family came over to see us and have dinner. We so rarely have opportunities to spend time with each other these days, due to the distance and other life events, so I was grateful to see everyone. The kids and I left early Thursday morning to drive back home, again taking our time to enjoy the scenery. We would've smelled the roses had their been any, so we settled for skipping rocks in the river.

Taking a break and enjoying the view of Mt. Hood in the distance.

Going for a short hike...

Two birds of a feather

My nephew and his bride

Grandpa falling asleep watching N play his DS

K took this one of us

K dancing with Uncle Steve

At the High Desert Museum

One of many bronzed wildlife along the trails

Taking a break

Otters

Birds of prey

Panning for gold

On our way home, we stopped along the river along the Warm Springs Reservation.

Skipping rocks...

Chasing my tail!

2010-04-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

It's a Friday and that's always a good thing. I am so behind in my blogging yet again. I have about a month and a half worth of news to share that I WILL post more about by the end of the weekend. I find when I set a goal in writing I'm more apt to follow through. We've on on the go so much lately and so busy that I barely have any down time it seems like. So many home projects have been neglected and are in dire need of our attention, so that is on the agenda for the next few weekends.

It's nearly May and already it's testing time again. Today I began testing my students in reading and writing, a process that will take most of the month. I have more grading to do as well. Once all those tasks are complete, then I get do report cards (already!). Then once those are out of the way, I can begin to pack my classroom. Whew! And I had the nerve to think spring would be a breeze compared to the rest of the year! I often feel like the process is a lot like when my dog chases her tail around and around. Well, it is in a way, but my students and I are in the same boat... ready for summer and struggling to stay focused. My goal is to be very timely this term so that June will be more relaxed for us all. Ah yes, early June brings another birthday. K will be turning lucky number 7. All the more reason to have get all of these things done by the end of May. Wish me luck!

Say a little prayer

2010-04-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

Sending thoughts and prayers to the people of Iceland and Europe. This has to be a terrible time for all. Takes me back to when Mt. St. Helens erupted in southwest Washington. My family lived in in cenral Oregon at the time and I remember the ash that fell like snow for seemingly days after the initial eruption. We had to carry those face masks everywhere.

What about you?

2010-04-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Teaching. It seems like a simple enough concept and yet is such a controversial topic. It's not simple at all and is full of controversy inside and outside of the profession. I was listening to some people chatting about this. What constitutes "best practices" depends on who you're talking to and your students. Then there's the vacation time. First of all, I personally won't lie and say that the summers off thing and all major holidays is a major draw. It's the only way I get to be a SAHM for any length of time. It's a definite perk.

Then there's the paycheck issue. Your average teacher works their tail off for 10 months and is paid as such. Some schools offer the choice of reducing your monthly income during the academic year in order to receive spread it out over the summer months. So it is income that has already been earned, but is just paid out during the off months (it's not extra income). However, anyone in their right mind that wants to make money is NOT a teacher. It's not just a job, it's a way of life that is often all-consuming and drains your bank account. I can't tell you how many teachers (myself included) who spend their own money on materials and resources for their classroom. It's not ideal, but it is what it is.

To me, while teaching may be a challenging way to earn a living, it is one of the most rewarding fields to be in. There is much work that goes on behind the scenes, but where else can you get paid to inspire kids to create and learn new things for most of the day? A coworker shared an awesome poem with me today that puts it all in perspective. Nuff said.

You Want to Know What I Make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor

and an A- feel like a slap in the face.

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your best?

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall

in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.

No, you may not ask a question.

Why won't I let you get a drink of water?

Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:

I hope I haven't called at a bad time,

I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.

Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"

And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are

and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write, write, write.

And then I make them read.

I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful

over and over and over again until they never misspell either one of those words again.

I make them show all their work in math.

And hide it on their final drafts in English.

I make them understand that if you got this (brains)

then follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you

by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a difference! What about you?

Playing catchup (part 1)...

2010-04-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

So I vowed to update by the end of the weekend, so here goes the first one...we're gonna go back in time all the way to early March. My son sang in the spring music concert. It was entitled "A Celtic Spring" and featured a lot of Irish folksongs in honor St. Patrick's Day and the coming of spring. The kids were adorable and N did a wonderful job. They even played a song (forget the title) on recorders. He actually sang along this time and seemed to enjoy himself for the most part. In years past, he's often paid attention to everything but the song he was supposed to be singing, so this was a nice change. He initially had been given a lead part, but bowed out early on due to stage fright. By the time the concert rolled around, he regretted giving up his lead spot and wished he could've done it. I told him that next year he could try again. Here's a portion of the recorder performance:

N just before the concert was ready to start

Another interesting milestone that ironically happened the night of the concert was that K lost her first tooth. Since I didn't have anything to hold it with, I ended up putting it inside of an empty tictac container. LOL. She ended up losing her second tooth two days later during recess. Unfortunately, she lost that tooth literally, so she only got to put one tooth under her pillow. However, she got a visit from the tooth fairy, so that made her quite excited.

A lovely toothy grin

Blahbbering...

2010-04-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

Alrighty, it is my goal by the end of this weekend to update and post some long overdue pictures. Ever since we lost all of our photos and several other important items in a computer mishap a couple of months back, I sort of lost my desire to get online as much. I've checked in regularly with family and friends via facebook, but this blog has been sorely neglected. I think I've been going through some sort of a funk lately. I guess I've been just feeling a bit anti-social and been overloaded with work and the mountain home projects that have also been neglected.

I love working with my students and and all their energy, but it can wear a person down mentally (and physically) after awhile. I've worked in other fields that were taxing, but this is one of the more exhausting jobs I've ever held. What little spare time I have leftover is saved for my family. It's not like feeling depressed or anything of that nature, just been a bit of a homebody to recharge my battery. Outside of our frequent visits to some dear friends and a recent trip to see my family in Bend, we've been keeping a low profile over the last month. As the sunshine comes out more and more, I hope to climb out of this case of the blahs and get that spring in my step back.

Spring Ahead

2010-03-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for this photo, but I just loved it. It's been beautiful outside lately and makes me feel all twitterpated! I am spring break finally, so I am hopeful to take some new photos of the kids outdoors. Ever since we lost all of our photo archives in the at horrible computer mishap last month, I've been on a mission to begin the replenishing process. The weather couldn't be better so, I might as well take advantage. It's gonna be a busy week too. I am working on the house to spring clean it, have plans to take the kids to a few places, and will be traveling to Bend to help my parents work on their attic (as they prepare to move). Busy busy busy bees around ! Will update later in the week. In the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous weather!

Goin on a guilt trip

2010-03-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much to write about lately. It's not that life has been dull per se, in fact it has been quite the opposite. It's that what's been on my mind hasn't been very blogworthy. I've been struggling to keep on top of everything and that has left little energy for my other hobbies. With the loss of our photo archives, I have been wanting to take more pictures than ever. Of course that battery charger is still eluding me and I've on the verge of going to the store and just buying a new one.

Hubby also bought me a used laptop (4-5 years old) from one of his coworkers. I love him for it, although it has some quirks to it that take some adjusting. It doesn't have MS Word, which I miss terribly. Hubby thinks Open Office is just as good...but sorry honey it's just so not. Don't get me wrong, I love having my own and, but the darn keyboard sticks a lot, so I have to retype quite a bit or this entry would be full of typos.

I'll stop editing fora moment just to give you a small taste of the typos that come with the fun of it all . We have a lot oflittle things to get doen around here over the breakso it will be a busy week for all. Gotta go help myfolks clear outtheir atticc and spring clean my own housetoo . Somewhere in all this I hope to sleep in and take in a movei with the kids. They've been dyuing to see "Diary of aWimmpy Kid." Enjoying the ypos yet? It seems to be mostly the spacebarthat sticks so uch.

Okay, back to editing before I throw this thing out the window. Work kept me insanely preoccupied and busy, much to the dismay of my family. The three weeks of endless overtime began to take its toll on all of us. Now that report cards and parent conferences are behind me (save for one), I fell much more at ease. The silver lining in all this has been the heavenly thought of spring break on horizon. I know it will fly by as it always does, but at least it will be a break from teaching. It feels as though all I ever think about is another lesson that needs planning or how I can create another literacy center. Yes, I know it's a sickness.

Can you see why I haven't blogged lately? This is my life right now. I was watching "Freedom Writers" the other night with DH and felt sorry for Erin Gruwell. She got divorced after devoting too much of herself to her job. She took on two additional jobs to pay for her teaching activities. I can relate to that so much. I refuse to take on another job for that purpose though as I like having a life outside of work. My family has to come first, though this can be a challenge when work keeps insisting otherwise. I sometimes feel like a bad mom for not being able give them more of myself. I envy the other parents able to taxi them to all kinds of after school activities and volunteer their time at school. Oh how awful it can feel! I make up for it every summer when I am able to stay home with them. Being a working mom definitely does a number on you. You feel torn between both worlds. I was raised by a working mom and she instilled a strong work ethic in me. However, it is time for me to get offline and go read a bedtime story to my daughter.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Mana Mana

2010-02-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so for those of you in the know, you will feel my pain. Just to play catch up for those not, this past week was like that dreaded dead week before finals. You study study study and live on late night pizza and coke. Well, for the last week I've been running on pure adrenaline. For the two weeks leading up to report cards, I spent many hours grading papers. Now keep in mind that I have approximately 57 students in all (1st-4th). It takes about 3-4 hours on average per grade level to complete their report cards. Add in additional grading, prepping for parent conferences, and our required presence at the annual open house for prospective new students...you do the math. I was ready to put a cot in my classroom. Let's just say that I didn't see my family much this week. That's alright though 'cause they know that I love them and expect this every term. They've grown accustomed to my crazy schedule and just hang in there until summer rolls around. Life is then calm once more...but I digress.

I had the option to work from home on Friday, so I took it. Slept in and watched a little TV. Then I got back to the grindstone. It was harder to concentrate at home with all of the distractions, but I was more relaxed. I managed to finish by 5:00 at least. Whille I was working on some literacy center games, K wanted to help me. Together we cut out these cardstock cookies with magic /e/ words and pictures Cookie Monster on them (this info is important for later). She was a big help and we made lots of progress. My brain was zapped, my body exhausted, and my will to keep going for the day done. So we went to bed kinda early. I'll come back to this in a minute.

So over the course of the week, my mind was overloaded with work-related worries and my focus was all about getting those pesky report cards finished. In the midst of all this, we experienced some bittersweet moments at home. We received some unsettling news that DH's inheritance from his father's estate will be fairly taxable. We had been led to believe by his brother (and executor) that it would okay and the funds had already been taxed. Well, apparently not and so Uncle Same will get his big bite. Suffice it say, we can kiss any tax refund goodbye and will in fact owe big time. I'm not mad about it so much as just frustrated. Grrrrr. It is what it is I guess.

So DH also purchased an upgrade in the amount of space to our computer's media vault. I am not well-versed in the technical lingo or how it all went down, so I'll give you the nutshell version. While DH was attempting to install the new upgrade, something happened to cause it to completely wipe our system. We lost not only all of our music and video downloads, but our *gulp* photo archive as well. We went digital right around the time K was born, so the bulk of our photo library was on the computer. Outside of a few CDs we had backed up early on, we lost nearly 90% of our pictures that I've taken over the last 5 years or so. Needless to say I went numb. Grrrrr. Since I was deep into report cards, my mind didn't have the room to deal with this. So I shoved it aside for the week. Now I am truly grieving this loss. I keep hoping a miracle will happen and DH will be able to work some computer magic and retrieve them, but I guess I shouldn've hold my breath.

In addition to all this, my kids overheard some advertisement for a casting call for a talent agent opportunity on the radio. They begged me to call. With stars in their eyes and dreams of ending up on the Disney Channel, I called and an appointment was set for today (Saturday). Well, we were asked to bring 2 recent pictures (head and full body shot). Ummm, that is no easy task when all of your pictures have been erased. As if that weren't enough, I misplaced the battery charger for our digital camera, so I couldn't even take new pictures. Then the informational email that they sent about the event went to my spam folder, and I accidentally deleted it. So I ordered some uploaded photos that I thankfully had online through Costco's website, but those wouldn't be ready in time. Grrrr. N was having second thoughts and K was still excited to go. I was too busy with work stuff to even deal with this thing and was resigned to skipping the audition entirely.

Having finished my report cards the night before, I woke up this morning and decided not to disappoint the kids. I gave N a pep talk and he agreed to give it a try (since it had been his idea to call in the first place). With renewed energy, I searched the whole house for an elusive stack of photos that I had taken the previous summer. I thought there would be some good photos in that bunch. Well, it was nowhere to be found, so I had to make do with school photos and a couple of random ones I was able to round up. Professional attire was required, no jeans or sneakers. N looked handsome and K looked ready for Easter brunch. I took time to do her hair up nicely and then she proceeds to mess it up every chance she got. Then I had a bad clothes day and couldn't figure out what to wear. Seriously bad clothes day, not that it mattered what I looked like, but you know what I mean. Then we tried to leave early enough to run a couple of errands. I get the kids into the car and begin to pull away. Three times, I have to run back into the house to retrieve something I forgot (wallet, directions, etc.). Would we ever make it to this audition? Seriously.

We first stopped by the bank to get some cash. Then we were off to the shoe store to get some matching pink shoes for K's oufit. Brown shoes just don't go well with pink tights and a blue dress. We were getting low on time, so I figured we better get to the audition in downtown Portland. With light traffic, we would just make it. I think I got behind every slow car on the road, but managed to make good time anyway. Didn't have any trouble finding the hotel it was being held in, but wow was parking a nightmare. I think the parking attendent had was on a power trip. He made me park my car in three different places, charged me $7.00, and could care less if he was making us late (I told him I needed we had an appointment to get to). Grrrrr. I wondered if the universe was conspiring to keep us from getting to this thing.

Finally, we made inside to the ball room where the auditions were being held at The Marriot. I thought it was going to be just us and a small group of people. Wow was I naive! We stood in line to get application materials and sat in a big room full of hopefuls. I chatted with a lady there with her daughters. Turned out she had had a frazzling morning as well and we had a good laugh. She ended up having to run out to feed the meter, while I looked after her girls. She asked me if I'd heard about the earthquake in Chile and I hadn't. What flashed through my mind was a conversation I had just recently had with a 4th grader that dreamed of visiting Easter Island, just off the coast of Chile. Random coincidence or strange precursor?

On a side note, I work with two teachers (they happen to be sisters) that are from there, so my heart and prayers goes out to them and their family.

Then after a long wait, they said some introductory words, played a LONG promotional video, and then we got to the audition portion. That part literally lasted just minutes. The kids were asked a few questions, did a cold read in front of a camera, and that was it. In all, it lasted about 2 hours. The audition process consisted of two different opportunities. One was to get a callback to possibly sign with the talent agent, the other was to get an invitation to an entertainment industry symposium that provides training and networking opportunities for children in Orlando, Florida. You have to get and invite AND pay a big fat fee to attend. Not exactly a scam, but not a path we want to take. I was always told if you have to pay to play, it's not worth the say.

On our way back home, we stopped at Costco to pick up some things. Then we went to McDonald's to pick up some milkshakes to treat the kids. The poor guy at the drive-up window knocked over a bunch of stuff. Was everyone having a wierd day or what? Then we stopped by the grocery store for a few more things. While inside, a clerk was passing out cookies and dressed up as none other than Cookie Monster. After the crazy-making week I'd just had, I had to laugh at this coincidence. I can't even begin to list all of the kooky things that have happened lately. The only thing I can think of that sums all this up is this little youtube gem from the muppets.

Dive in!

2010-02-22T20:25:00.001-08:00

The sun'll come out tomorrow...

2010-02-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Ever have a ton of things to do and just no desire to do them? Well, report card season is upon us again and I am avoiding it like the plague! I have to have them done by next weekend, so you can imagine how much fun the coming days will be. My family dreads the long hours I end up putting in and wonder why I have to be gone so much. So I feel torn between work and home. After a rocky start to the new year with my supervisor, things have been really looking up lately and I feel as though I have found my second wind at work.

She and I have come to a happier place as we've both taken stock of ourselves and have been making many positive changes. Now I feel more peace of mind and I think has made me a better teacher. I've avoided taking on extra responsibilities there so that I can spend every spare minute at home with my own children. However, I felt some pressure to contribute more, so I've opted to donate my lunch hour once a week to help mentor the 4th graders as they produce a weekly newsletter. It's a start and won't take away from my personal life.

After this week is over, I will have parent conferences to contend with. I will attempt to balance that with our current home projects that we have begun and complete paperwork for returning to school to renew my teaching license. If my brain doesn't explode before spring break, I will consider the term a success. What I love most about the beginning of spring besides the beautiful blossoms is that fact that summer is only mere months away. Which means more time with my kids. I get to put my SAHM hat on and it is truly when I am happiest and stress is kept at bay. I realize nobody pities a teacher's workload due to the fact that we get time off every summer, but I think you have to walk a mile in our moccasins before passing judgment.

The sun was out shining today, so my husband spent the day with some friends. It was too nice to stay inside, so I took the kids shopping for books at the Goodwill (can't beat the prices) and bought some new shoes for K (for Easter and everyday). Then I treated them to lunch at one of our favorite summer haunts, a local soda fountain. N commented that it felt like one of our summer days. Oh that Annie knew what she was talking about when she sang the sun'll come out tomorrow...

Heart Day

2010-02-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day was fairly low key. The hearts are pretty scarce since I am still in recovery mode from all the Christmas decor. However, I recently hit some of the craft stores in search of clearance sales for Valentine stuff. K loves to decorate throughout the fall and winter, so she's been after me to spruce up our collection for the spring holidays. Hopefully by next year, I will be ready to make K proud.

Hubby and I celebrate our unofficial anniversary every January, so this holiday is often more celebrated for our children. So we treated them to breakfast at IHOP and a fun morning at the NW Family and Kids Festival at the nearby fairgrounds complex. The kids got to browse a variety of booths and participate in some hands-on crafts and other activities. N was a bit reluctant to try anything at first, but with some encouragement he let himself enjoy the day. He's been going through a phase where he feels that he is outgrowing certain things, so he needs some prodding at times to try something new.

For instance, they each got to build a birdhouse with the help a seasoned carpenter. Their Grandpa Paul would've been very proud that they managed to handle the hammer with ease and no smashed thumbs involved. They also got to meet some firefighters, a paramedic, and explore their apparatuses and vehicles. All in all, they had a great time.

Happy Heart Day

Kirsten planted some seeds

My Valentine Girl

Wii Bowling

Drumming on Rock Band

Oh how she wanted to take this home

My two budding carpenters

Building birdhouses

Filling out their building permits and drafting their design

(very official, eh?)

Local firehouse symbol

Roger that!

I'm goin in!

Some very nice volunteer firefighters

Driving the ambulance

Checking for heartbeat

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours!

Vancouver BC Baby!

2010-02-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

As resident of the Pacific Northwest, I am particularly excited for the official start of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Our Canadian neighbors are literally just about 5 1/2 hours to the north of us along the border. Some of my students are even up there enjoying the experience in person. I WISH I could've been able to witness such a once in a lifetime event, but I will have to settle for the televised version like the rest of the world. As I was watching the Opening Ceremonies this evening, I was inspired by the visual artistry of the cultural homages to Canada. So here is my small contribution to the awe and spendlor that is the Olympics. I am no Maya Angelou, so be kind...

The 21st Olympiad

Every four years
Nations gather
To celebrate
To contemplate
As the winter glistens
As the world listens
Voices in harmony
As the snow falls
As the sport calls
Athletes in ecstasy
This time we go
To the northern lights
To the frosty nights
As we celebrate
As we contemplate
The eternal flame

Most of my poetry or stories come to me in short bursts of creative energy and get written in a matter of minutes (this one took 15 or so). Having grown up in the shadow of a famous ski resort (Mt. Bachelor), I am very fond of winter sports. I began skiing when I was just 3 years old, so my memories of winter days on the mountain are long. The Games have a special place in my heart. One of my earliest and favorite memories of the Winter Olympics was of Rosalyn Sumners skating for silver in 1984. Who knows what the next two weeks will bring? I have added visiting Vancouver, BC to my travel list of must-see places. Let the games begin!!!

The Things We Do For Love

2010-02-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

So while the rest of the world is watching the Superbowl, hubby and I watching The Truth About Cats and Dogs. I'd like to say that it was a completely chivalrous on his part as he genuinely loves the movie. However, he DVR'd the game so he could enjoy the exciting parts later (especially the commercials!). That's one of the things I really appreciate about him. He's willing to watch certain chick flicks with me, such as Erin Brockovich, Beaches, Coal Miner's Daughter, or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Sadly, I have yet to lure him in enough to sit through Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment, two of my absolute faves.

That's okay though, he's grateful for how often I am willing to sit through his "guy" movies. Every weekend I am subjected to some film that I would normally never watch on my own, all in the name of love. For instance, I reluctantly sat through Clash of the Titans just yesterday. I mean I purposely avoided that one my whole life for obvious reasons. It is a painfully bad movie even worse special effects. Yet, it was fun in an odd sort of way to endure for hubby and the kids. Awww, the things we do for love.

Midwives

2010-01-31T19:52:00.001-08:00

Okay, I am in need of some book suggestions. I just finished reading Midwives over the weekend and now am without a novel to escape into. I have a handful of books piling up in the corner of my bedroom, but I can't seem to get into any of them at the moment. Midwives will be a tough act to follow.

In the tradition of all good thrillers, it ends with a bang. It was a little slow at the beginning for me, but I powered through the first couple of chapters and then couldn't put the darn thing down! The basic premise of the book follows Sibyl Danforth, a seasoned midwife who finds herself in an isolated home in northeastern Vermont. When the labor goes terribly wrong, Sibyl is faced with a harrowing decision to perform dangerous C-Section. Tragedy follows and soon Sibyl finds herself on trial and fighting for her very freedom. It is very absorbing and no matter which side you take, you will feel for all involved. It's definitely a must-read! I also would suggest A Midwife's Story as another page turner if you enjoy this sort of subject matter.

This book also sheds an interesting light on home birth. It discusses the pros and cons of hospital vs. home deliveries in narrative form. No one can argue that hospitals provide a safety net that no home can, but nothing can beat the safe haven we find in the comfort of familiar surroundings. Both offer positives and negatives, so having the choice is a blessing. I'm not really partial to one over the other, however I opted to deliver in a hospital.

My firstborn was breech and a high-risk delivery, so a home birth wouldn't have been an option for us anyway. My son was indeed a special delivery that could have gone horribly wrong in less experienced hands. My doctor was truly a blessing. He was old school and highly competent, willing to try a vaginal birth (albeit in an OR) when most doctors would have insisted upon a C-Section. I was feeling no pain thanks to the epidural, so I was pretty loopy. They needed me that way in case things went awry at the last minute. We also were so new and inexperienced, we were very grateful that we had nurses around to help us figure things out. Our hospital room became a sanctuary that we were afraid to leave.

When our daughter was born, we didn't even think about home birth as an option. I guess it just never occurred to us at the time. Her birth was fast and furious from beginning to end, with little drama outside of crazy labor pains. My contractions began at 7:00ish and walked into the hospital at 6cm within the hour. By the time the drugs kicked in at 9cm, they didn't matter much. My daughter burst headlong into the world and hasn't slowed down since. Her birth was a blur, but every bit as wonderful as our son's. Geography just didn't matter to us.

I look back on so many of my early decisions and wonder how I would do things differently now. I honestly don't know, but I don't regret either path we took with both of our children. They are thriving, beautiful children inside and out and well-loved. I'm not sure that how or where we enter this world has much to do with who we become; I like to think it's where we end up that counts.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-27T19:13:00.001-08:00

BTW...that's ice they're sitting on.

People Change

2010-01-25T21:05:00.001-08:00

I am not sure why I go through these dry spells, but I haven't been in much of a blogging mood in recent weeks. Family times were sweet during the holidays, my work life had me feeling under seige. Just as I was getting back into a groove and feeling more at ease than I had in months, the second shoe dropped (so to speak). I don't wish to relive the whole ordeal here as it only causes me stress and sadness, so I will share the nutshell version.

As I have tried to adjust to the many changes that have come down the pike this year from the powers-that-be at my school, I have continued to work on becoming a better teacher as I am far from perfect. Since I am still in my early years as an educator, I still have much to learn and it is a neverending quest for me to do right by my students. That said, I have watched someone, I'll call her T, who was once near and dear to me at work slowly transform into a mere shadow of her former self in her new position of power. We have clashed at times, but always seem to work through our philosophical differences. It has been a bittersweet experience and I have learned some very hard lessons this year. I have resolved to let go of much that has happened, but it has been a challenge on many levels. This person cannot see her own hypocrisies and shortcomings, but liberally points out those flaws in others around her.

Case in point, the librarian and I discussed ordering some historical fiction novels to enrich our English reading program. I ran it by T and she supported this idea. Today, the libarian approached me with a look of grave concern on her face. She said she had briefly discussed the books again with T, only to be told not to order them at this time as she feared they were too old for our students. The libarian shared her excitement with me about winning an eBay auction for these books, but was worried about T's reaction to this. I was puzzled since T had already approved the original decision and these books were found in school libraries everywhere. I accompanied her to confront T about this about-face. Despite my own recent experiences with T, I felt so bad the libarian. When T fearfully shared her news, T accepted this with a smile and said that it was fine. I was glad she did not make a big deal about it and we reminded her about her initial enthusiasm, which she acknowledged. Who knows what was going on in her mind. I never know anymore. I'm learning day by day to just keep my distance and not rock the boat unless absolutely necessary.

I suppose that is one of life's bitter pills that we have to swallow every now and then. It keeps us alert to things that we can become complacent about. People change, things change. Even me. It's a simple fact of life. I just have to face that fact.

Christmas Morn and Eve

2010-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am way late in posting a recap of our Christmas Day. As is the case for most of us in the new year, life has been exceptionally busy, hence this blog has suffered a bit as a result. It took a few weeks for me to get back into the groove of working and find that balance. I resolve to write more!

Christmas was a whirlwind to say the least as we hopped from place to place like frogs (a common theme over the holiday break). We spent Christmas Eve in Salem (an hour's drive away) and returned home that same night and finished packing our bags. We woke up next morning fairly early (6:30ish) to get our things ready for our trip later in the day to Bend. We all showered and got dressed. My MIL came over at 8:00 to have breakfast with us. She brought over a danish sweet roll made by a local lady that was large enough to feed all of us (and then some). We had some fruit and egg nog as well. The kids relished these wonderful treats, as did we.

After our bellies were full, we got right to the gifts. The kids got to open their presents from Santa first. I wanted them to take turns opening them (a longheld tradition in my family so we can savor each other's joy and reaction), but I was outvoted by hubby and my MIL, who prefer to just have them open them all at once. We ultimately compromised to let them open them together, while we adults waited patiently to open ours. The kids were excited with each of their gifts. Kirsten received many things that she had asked for, much to her delight. Nicholas had a particularly happy day as he received not one, but two DS games. It will be awhile before he gets another new one. We have a strict rule that he only gets to play his DS once a week and only if he has a good week at school, so it is definitely a major treat for him to play it.

After the kids unwrapped their goodies, we finished opening our own gifts. By the time we were done, it was already mid-morning. We knew we had better get on the road soon if we were to make good time. We said our goodbyes to Grandma J and tried to clean up the room a little. The car was quickly loaded and we were on our way to Bend for my second family Christmas.

Just a quick sidebar...for those not in the know, my mother and natural father divorced when I was just a wee one. Both remarried while I was too young to remember and thus extended family seesaw began. This backstory is too long to rehash here, but I have positive relationships with everyone (though my stepmother is no longer in the picture).

So after a 3 1/2 - 4 hour drive, we arrived in Bend by early afternoon and the festivities were soon underway. My family is too big to name them all here, however many were there. We snacked on a vast array of yummy foods. My Mom knocked herself out to make this delicious spread and was much appreciated by all. My cousin Teresa made her famous pies (she made the cherry one pictured in a previous post). It was so much fun catching up with everyone since we don't get to see each other nearly enough. We hadn't been home to Bend for a visit since July (six months is too long!). We opened presents, gorged ourselves on munchies, joked around, and generally had a grand time. My older brother, Steve, brought his new bride to meet everyone.
She immediately fit right in with the family.

This Christmas was bittersweet, because it would be our last in this house. My parents are nomadic by nature, but they have been in this house since 1994. When they began building it, they finally had the home in the country they had so wanted. It is the only home many of the grandchildren have ever known. They are downsizing and moving closer to town. My Dad is partially retired and my Mom is nearing her retirement. To commemorate this final Christmas, my Mom insisted on measuring every grandchild from the smallest to the tallest, despite their age. Their measurements have been marked on this log wall every Christmas since they moved in. Come hell or high water, that log is coming with them. It was a wonderful family holiday with lots of laughter and smiles. As we all go about our busy lives, it's so nice that we can come together and just be with each other. It gives one such a sense of peace and contentment.

Mom, K, and I went shopping the next morning for a bit. Found some great bargains! We had intended to go ice skating later in the afternoon at an outdoor rink, but it was just barely 10 degrees. We battled one too many colds this season and weren't in the mood to bring any new viruses home. So we opted for some indoor fun, or so we thought. Grandpa P, N, K, and I were gonna see Princess and the Frog, but the theater was bursting with crowds. We couldn't even find a place to park in the nearby businesses. It was just so beyond busy that we decided not to battle the crowds and headed to the park to appease the kids, who were very disappointed. After seeing the frozen pond and all the ducks walking on water (so to speak), they got over it pretty quickly. I snapped away at the beautiful frost that covered everything in sight. The chill kicked in right away, so we sought shelter in an ice cream parlor of all places. We sipped hot cocoa to warm up our insides and checked out an old-fashioned toy store in the downtown district. Then we came back home and vegged for the remainder of the day at my parents' home.

We left after breakfast on Sunday morning. DH had to get back to work. All in all, it was a wonderfully exhausting weekend. The kids and I ended up seeing the movie on Monday, so all was forgiven. :)

Look what we got!

DH got a mosquito-type cover for camping and picnics

Grandma J with all of her grandbabies

Keely Girl on Christmas morning

K and me

Santa stopped by

Taking a break from the fun

N got a nerf gun from someone, who is it really for?

My Christmas babies

My Mom loves to make and to gift quilts

Measuring the tallest

and the smallest (except for Aaliyah)

My Mom has a special gift for my cousin Teresa

K and her cousin Aaliyah

Mom listening to N read

It truly is a wonderful life

P.S. Took many, many more pictures...but too many to post them all here.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-06T20:17:00.001-08:00

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-30T20:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve

2009-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

After spending much of the week prepping for the holidays, we finally were able to enjoy some time with family. Each Christmas eve, we try to spend it with my natural father's side of the family. DH had to work that morning, so he woke up extra early to go in at 6am, so he could get off by noon. He made it home by 12:30, so we were on the road shortly thereafter to make the hour drive to Salem.

By the time we arrived at my grandmother's house, some people had already arrived and the festivities were getting under way. Almost that whole side of my family came together for the first time in years. The full house included my Grandma G, Gordon (my natural father), Great Aunt Grace, Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Ross, Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Dale, cousin Heather and her two daughters Vanessah and Lauren, cousin Derek and his wife Kazue, cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Kim and their two daughters Kaitlyn and Kiera, cousin Cory, cousin Kelsey and her husband Jason and their three kids Malia, Zadok, and Maclin. Whew! Pop quiz on all those names tomorrow. ;)

We set our Christmas tree brownies down on the counter along with all the other goodies that my extended family had brought. It's one big potluck, so everyone just grazes like we're at a buffet. My aunt was busy slaving over the hot stove to make her lumpia, so DH parked it right there in the kitchen to get first dibs. He's a sucker for my Aunt Rhonda's lumpia (a Filipino spring roll). I made the rounds to give everyone hugs and hellos, then I made the kids and myself a plate of food.

After everyone filled their bellies, we opened presents and such. As much as we enjoy that, the best part of the night (in my opinion) comes when we sit down to play our annual game of Balderdash. You roll the dice and read the word on the card that matches the number rolled. The words all crazy words that you have make up a definition for. Then you read off all the definitions and try to guess the real one. There's a little more to it, but that's the gist of it. My family and I get really into it. My cousin Heather won this year and oh did she gloat! She even snapped a photo of it with her phone to post it on Facebook. Too funny!

DH doesn't like board games much, so he kind of snoozed in a recliner. The kids played with Grandpa Gordon and their cousins. We had such a wonderful night filled with lots of fun, food, and family. By the the time we finished the game, it was well after 7:00, so we figured we better get going. The kids enjoyed watching the Christmas lights go by as we drove the hour back home.

Once we walked in the door, we sent the kids to change into their pajamas. Then they wrote their letter to Santa and set out milk and brownies (we didn't have any cookies) for him. And lastly, I read them The Night Before Christmas, something I've done every year since N was born. Then I finished getting some things ready for the next morning before turning in for the night. Before I went upstairs to bed, I spent a few minutes just admiring the Christmas lights illuminated in the dark. It's something that helps me reflect on how blessed I am to have my family.

Gordon and Me

The 3 Musketeers

(My Great Aunt Grace, Aunt Rhonda, and Grandma)

My cousin Heather immortalizing her win at Balderdash for FB

Breaking glass...oops I mean singing Christmas carols

My awesome cousins
(Cory, Kelsey, me, and Heather)

Opening gifts

K a happy girl

N so proud of his gameplay

N and K with their Grandpa Gordon

Smile cousin Lauren!

Lots of family and lots of love

Holiday Doins

2009-12-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Our holiday break began with a thousand things to cross off the to-do list. The kids and I raced around trying to finish our shopping and other errands. I also spent three nights wrapping presents and working on Christmas cards. Since I had so many work-related projects to complete during December, I procrastinated these other things, so it was my fault that I had to fit so much into so little time.

As if all the shopping, wrapping, and cards weren't enough, I had to clean the house from top to bottom for Christmas. We had let it get pretty cluttered, so I was glad to do it. The kids happily pitched in by sweeping and vaccuuming the downstairs for me. I gathered all the miscellaneous stuff, washed the dishes, tackled laundry, and packed our bags for our upcoming trip to Bend. After we had the house sparkling, we baked Christmas tree brownies and made Rice Krispie balls. I wish I had taken photos 'cause they turned out really good. Keep trying to remember to keep my camera handy!

It's hard to feel like I've been on vacation yet, since there has been so much to do. However, much to our delight, Grandma J invited the kids and I out for lunch on the Tuesday before Christmas. We ate at a quaint little country restaurant that we love. The place is cozy, complete with a fireplace for ambiance. Even though their menu is a bit limited and a little spendy, their food is delicious and worth the trip.

Will post Christmas recap and photos very soon! We just got home from a very long and tiring holiday weekend. Battling a bad headache and am too exhausted to blog about it all in one night.

Gingerbread House

2009-12-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas, the kids and I tackled a long overdue project that we had wanted to do for the past couple of years, but just never got around to until this year. We built our first gingerbread house! N and I constructed it, and then he and K decorated it to their heart's content. It was hard for me to let go of creative control, but I figured this was for them and should reflect their taste. Here's a little video of the process and a couple pictures of the final product.

View from the front

View from the back

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree!

2009-12-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

K and I were goofing around with the camera and she wanted to perform a little diddy for someone very special to us. So this one's for you Auntie Shelley:

Payback Palin-Style

2009-12-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

Now I'm not much of a Sarah Palin fan, but every once in awhile she does something that you just have to respect her for. She has the courage and kahunas to say and do a lot of things in the face of many obstacles and mockery. One such recent example made me laugh. Let's just say, William Shatner and Sarah Palin make strange bedfellows:

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/sarah-palin-gets-back-at-william-shatner-on-the-tonight-show--866

Little One

2009-12-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Michelle Duggar apparently gave birth to her 19th child via emergency c-section on Thursday to a very tiny baby girl, whom they named Josie Brooklyn. She wasn't due to deliver until March, so little Josie was born at 25 weeks due to complications resulting from a gall bladder issue Michelle was having (started her contractions). While most of us don't know the Duggars, that baby girl deserves our prayers as it is rare for one so small and so young to survive. It might just take a Chistmas miracle to see that little girl through, so she and large family need all the well wishes they can get.

Things are coming up roses...

2009-12-05T23:16:00.001-08:00

Must give a shout out and two enthusiastic thumbs up to the boys of both U of O and OSU. Both teams played their hearts out on Thursday night during the annual civil war game. This event is the most highly anticipated game of every season due to the ongoing rivalry between the two schools. I always root for alma mater of course, so I am a Duck through and through. What made this year's game especially exciting for all were the stakes. The winner of this game would go to the Rose Bowl (first time EVER that the civil war game would decide such a fate). Whomever walked away victorious in the end, it was still a win-win for the state to have an Oregon team there. U of O went into it ranked 7th nationally, and the Beavers were ranked 16th (another amazing feat for both Oregon teams).

They went head to head and traded the lead throughout, with the Ducks coming out on top. You couldn't have asked for a more outstanding game, and I have never been a big follower of football. I confess that I was flipped back and forth between Survivor and the game. I happened to transfer to the U of O during my junior year, the last time Oregon played in the Rose Bowl. Now fifteen years later, they are heading back to Pasadena. I might actually watch a football game on New Year's Day for the first time in years. I was raised by a football fanatic (wink wink Mom) who LIVES for this day, so in her honor I end with this...GO DUCKS!

Munchkins, Munchies, and Music

2009-12-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I survived another intense week at school, have enjoyed a busy weekend with my family, and finally have our laptop back in working order. In a nutshell, I visited a website for blog backgrounds that apparently released a trojan virus on my system and DH found tons of malware all over it. Thankfully, he troubleshoots computers for a living, so he saved the day. Why oh why do people make viruses? It's just plain mean!

Anyhoo, Monday was tough for all of us to come back after the long and much-needed Thanksgiving weekend. With testing, report cards, and parent conferences (well except for a couple) behind us, the staff has begun to breathe a bit easier. Myself and my fellow English teachers spent much of our week planning next year's budget and trying to get things planned for the last couple of weeks of December. However, the school also had to endure a 2 day visit from the Primary Years Programme authorization committee from the International Baccalaureate (PYP/IB) that all have been training for like mad for the last four years. The last few months have been the most challenging, but now that it is over, hopefully things will calm down a bit.

Friday was particularly crazy as I somehow managed to burden myself with four class "Fun Fridays" in a row. My students earn gems in a jar for good behavior and when they have filled the jar, they earn this special day. All four classes came off without a hitch, but took quite a bit of management and planning to achieve this end. I opted to set out some arts and crafts for holiday card-making, gingerbread books, or whatever tickled their fancy. I also had a game table and reading corner. For three of my classes, I provided some mini muffins or doughnut holes with apple juice as an added treat. My first graders can be quite squirrely and messy at times, so the very thought of cleaning up that kind of mess after them was too much, so I had to nix that part of it (they were never the wiser). They worked pretty hard over the last few months for me and it was my way of recognizing them for it. My toughest group to impress, the 3rd graders (who happen to be full of TAG-like prodigies), actually clapped for me as a thank you. That's never happened to me EVER, so you can imagine how much that meant to me.

Well, after rushing home after all that, I picked up my two monkeys and got them dressed up for an evening Christmas concert by Portland's Christian Center. We had some time before it began, so we did a little holiday shopping at Target and grabbed a quick bite to eat. To support my long time childcare provider's family, I take the kids to see their annual show. It is quite a spectacle and a very popular tradition for locals to attend. They sing a mix of traditional holiday hymns, popular carols, and throw in a couple of more recent hits. My favorite was "A Brand New Christmas," though I'm not sure who it's originally by. Their adult choir sings throughout the concert, with songs from their teen and children's choirs sprinkled throughout. Two of my childcare provider's daughters have been in the show for years as a part of their bell-ringing group. It's a beautiful and inspiring concert and we look forward to it every year. The assistant coach to the Trail Blazers, Monty Williams, was also there and gave a testimony. It's always a moving concert. The kids got a little tired and cranky at times, but did well for overall. It was late when we got home, so we just went right to sleep.

This morning (Saturday), we woke up early and got going. Hubby took us to MickeyD's for breakfast (real healthy, I know but it still tasted good). Then we headed to Loch Lolly Christmas Forest to pick out our tree and enjoy some other favorites. As I've said in years past, DH started going there when he was young, so it's been wonderful to pass on this tradition to our kids. It was already getting pretty crowded, so we found our tree fairly quickly. DH chopped it down and together we mounted it on top of the car. Next, we went over to their common area to see Santa. The kids of course loved that! N had no problem asking for a laundry list of items and K had to stop and think about her choices for a minute before shyly telling Mr. Claus what she would like. Very cute.

We also sipped some free hot cocoa and got up close and personal with some of the geese that were roaming around the nearby pond. I knelt down to take photos and a couple of them came right up to me and kept nipping at my scarf. It was colorful and for some reason they mistook it for food. It was comical. K got spooked by the geese when they got too close for her comfort, so we had to move on. As an added bonus, we got to see Sugar Plum and Frosty, two reindeer that were apparently in town from the North Pole just for the week. K kept asking where the rest of Santa's reindeer were and I told her they were busy getting ready for Christmas. They were really neat to see!

We came back home and sprayed the tree for bugs and will let it sit out overnight. We'll set it up and decorate it on Sunday, something the kids love to do. We are also going to try making our first gingerbread house. Will let you know how that turns out.

We sat up on the balcony for a better view. No pictures allowed during the concert.

Concert was about to start.

An N-sized tree

A K-sized tree

A partial view of this large tree farm

This little fella was not shy at all

Take a gander at these geese...pun intended

They provide a firepit and free hot cocoa to help people warm up among other goodies

Sugar Plum and Frosty

Sitting in Santa's sleigh

Loving my monkeys

Chilly but Chipper

Family, Friends, Food, and Fun

2009-11-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

What a busy holiday season it has been so far! My week began with more parent conferences to wrap up and some fun holiday activities with my students. Tuesday night was spent at my daughter's Thanksgiving concert at her school. The kinders, 1st, and 2nd graders performed a myriad of songs and readings that ranged from folk songs, poems, to classic favorites. K was excited for us to see her sing with all of her classmates. She seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the people there, but participated in most of the songs. A few of my favorites were "Albuquerque Turkey" and "Rockin Robin." I was very impressed with the turnout of families there to support the kids. DH ended up having to stay home to take care N, who was recovering from a nasty virus. My MIL was able to attend though, so K really loved having her there with us.

Wednesday was a very relaxing day overall since I just let my students finish up some poetry and craft projects they had started the day before. I sat down and colored with them, which they loved! It has been a very stressful at work lately, so it felt good to just take a step back and appreciate some quality time with my students. I am hopeful that things will begin to calm down now. You can probably imagine what a welcome break the four-day weekend was. On Wednesday night, I had to make Costco run for a veggie tray, appetizers, and dinner rolls to take over to my MIL's house on Thursday. Traffic was insane!

On Thanksgiving, we spent a quiet morning at home just watching portions of Macy's parade and eating some cereal. Then we all got cleaned up and headed over to my MIL's home for the big feast. DH's sister, her husband, and their two little boys were also there. It was a pretty low-key day with lots of yummy food. All the Thanksgiving staples were on the table such as a golden brown turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, twice baked potatoes, and dinner rolls. We also ate a lot of appetizers beforehand, so it was a surprise we had any room left for dessert. There was blackberry orange cobbler, pumpkin pie, and vanilla ice cream to cleanse the palatte. The kids played together and I got my baby fix by watching little 7-month old Kellan, while DH helped his mom and sister clean up in the kitchen (quite the sight to behold). If you know my in-law's family history at all, you know just how far they have come in the last few years alone. Suffice it say, we've been building bridges over troubled waters and it seems that bygones can finally be bygones.

We were all pretty tired and turned in early. My brother-in-law told us that there is a chemical in turkey (called Triptafen) that makes you sleepy. Well, I don't know anything about the chemistry of birds, but it was a good thing we did go to bed. The kids and I got up and braved the crowds of Black Friday. Actually, I've learned where to go and places to avoid from years past. Since I began this new tradition for us two years ago, just N and I have made the shopping excursion. This year, K got to finally come along. I would prefer to go alone to get more done, but the kids literally BEG to go. DH had to work this year, so he couldn't stay home with one of them. Thus, they both lucked out.

We slept in until 5am (an hour and a half later than previous years) and were out the door by 6am. Fred Meyers is always our first stop and is fairly close to home. They get busy like everyone else, but the crowds aren't too crazy and they also serve apple juice and doughnuts for their customers. Now that is shopping done in style! Their bargains were unreal, so I was able to get most of my shopping done in one place, always a bonus! We stopped for some Dutch Bros. hot chocolate and then drove clear across the river to the southeast end of Portland to meet up with DH for lunch. He treated us to some burgers at Red Robin. After a window-shopping trip to Toys 'R Us, the kids were getting tired. I wished I couldn've bought their presents right there to take advantage of the sales (but couldn't with the kids right there to see), I took mental notes instead. We made a quick grocery stop and then called it a day.

We spent Saturday over at the home of some good friends. My friend, R and I played some cards and chatted, while the guys tinkered with and fretted over their computers. I got to hold her now almost 3 week old baby girl again, so that was extra sweet. When I changed her diaper, I was happy that it was like riding a bike, second nature even though it's been a few years since I've done it. Though of course she had do her business right in the middle, but I caught most of it. The mess wasn't too bad, but it was hilarious that she just kept piddling as I would almost have her cleaned up. Too cute.

Now that it is Sunday, I am feeling more refreshed. It's hard to believe the past four days flew by. K and I spent the afternoon taking down our autumn decorations and put up our Christmas ones. Next wekk, we will go get our tree. We have a lot of activities coming up that will keep us busy in these final weeks of 2009. There has been much to be thankful for and many more things to look forward to. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson so eloquently wrote:

For flowers that bloom at our feet;

For tender grass so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see;

Father in heaven, we thank thee!

Many happy blessings to everyone!

K at her concert

All the 1st and 2nd graders singing

A family feast

Grandma J and N

My little turkey and me

Cleaning the kitchen together

DH and N

(I really like this one of them)

N and K with two of their cousins

N helping me entertain this not-so-little bundle of joy

K helping her cousin read

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

A Wild Life and Wildlife

2009-11-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

This past week, our school library and our English department hosted an author visit. Shelley Gill is a renowned children's author who has lived a very exciting life and has chronicled many of her adventures in her picture books, with many of her storylines based in Alaska. Among many of her journeys, she has raced in the Iditarod, swam with whales, climbed a mountain in Antarctica, and spends her summers as a whale detective to study their migratory patterns and to help protect them. After reading several of her books to my students, I learned just how passionate she is about wildlife. As I listened to her presentation, she raised many interesting points about the dire ecological straits our planet is in. She seamlessly blended history, science, writing, and living life to its fullest during her visit. Her basic message to our students was that the reason she decided to write books was to help change the world in her own unique way.

Now I try to avoid preachy blogs, but on the heels of meeting Shelley Gill and reading a recent article, it definitely made me think. I believe in signs and having faith in a higher power, so when science backs up what the universe has been trying to show us for years...how can anyone ignore it?! I believe that all things are connected.

Global warming is real, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I am baffled by the silly political squabbling surrounding this issue. If certain politicians or celebrity names are attached to an environmental cause, their opinions are dismissed as left or right wing mumbo-jumbo. It's not about them! It shouldn't be about monetary implications! Climatologists have offered study after study as proof and have forcasted severe implications if the world does not react accordingly. Mother Nature doesn't care what political party we all belong to or whether you believe it exists at all. Global warming threatens not only humanity, but every living thing on Earth. People can choose to believe however they want, it doesn't make the reality go away.

For instance, plankton are slowly disappearing. Now you might think, "so what?" Well, without plankton, the oceanic food chain would greatly suffer. Plankton are at the bottom of a very long food web that ends with whales and polar bears. I do not profess to be an expert on any of these issues, but I have done my homework. Wildlife have as much right to be here as we do. We share this planet with them, despite our arrogance that we run the show. I think Mother Nature would beg to differ. In the long run, I wonder if we can even stop what may be an inevitable future, but maybe we can buy more time us all.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T20:37:00.001-08:00

All you need is LOVE

Pause

2009-11-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a heartbreaking article I came across today. It reminded me a lot of a gal I worked with many moons ago, early on in the war. She was a single Mom in the National Guard and was set to be deployed to Afghanistan. She understood the risks, but when one joins they rarely think they'll have to go to war. She had no one to care for her son and had no idea how she would get out of it. As it turned out, they took pity on her situation and agreed to give her an honorable discharge from service. Things worked out well for her, but it is sad to think how many families have been affected by this war that just won't end.

Last night, I was watching an episode of Food Network Challenge that focused on "Thanksgiving Family Feasts." There was one family that was competing that really caught my eye and had me rooting for them. The husband had been deployed four times, so he gone so much that this holiday was going to be an extra special one for them. Most wars ask soldiers to serve an average of two tours of duty. These wars that we've been fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan have seen multiple families sacrifice for literally years. Kids are growing up without their mothers and fathers. I have some dear friends that have or are currently serving overseas, and you can be sure it has been a struggle for all involved to get through each day. It truly gives you pause.

Obviously, there are many arguments for and against this war. I no longer know where I stand. I want it to be over for the sake of saving lives, but how and when that should happen is still unclear. The tide is constantly shifting in the Middle East, so there just doesn't seem to be end in sight. No matter what side of the fence you are one, we should be supportive of our troops and their families. While we may not yet have the right answer on how to end this terrible war, we can be sure of one thing this Thanksgiving:

Be grateful for loved ones close enough to hug this holiday season.

Tis' the season of grades, good times, and googoo-gagas

2009-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

It has been an insanely busy couple of weeks. It's report card season and of course that means pulling really long days at work. After finally completing the nitty gritty of filling out all of the grading forms, my next task will be getting prepared for parent conferences this coming week. Needless to say, Thanksgiving break is welcomed in more ways than one!

With all of the work-related stress going on in my life right now, the unfortunate side effect has been neglecting things at home. I try my best, but sometimes things just get missed. My family is usually pretty understanding during this time of year, but I know it takes its toll at times. I've been trying to do better, but there just only so many hours in the day to make everyone happy and keep some semblence of my sanity. One example of this craziness still to come is an hour after I finish my final parent conference, I have to book over to my kids' school to attend my daughter's winter concert. She is super excited and has been practicing really hard. It will be the best way to release all of the stress, relax, and finally enjoy the season. My son's will be later in December (don't know why they separate the grade levels, but they do).

This is my favorite time of year, starting with Thanksgiving and running until New Year's Eve. We have to rotate among all of the families, so we are somewhere different every year. My MIL is hosting it this year, so that will be fun. Then I get up bright and blurry the next morning with one or both of the kids to brave the shopping of Black Friday. I started this tradition just three years ago with my son. This will be my daughter's first time, so it should be an experience having both of them with me. I prefer to go alone or take just one child, but hubby has to work this year, so it's either stay home and miss the sales or take a chance that they'll last at least a few hours. Will cross my fingers.

After that, we have my birthday...something I no longer get overly excited for. I guess with age we stop looking forward to that annual reminder that youth is a thing of the past. I am facing #36 this year (did I say that out loud?). Yes, I am not to the point where I am embarrassed to keep it a secret. Hubby usually treats me to a nice dinner date with or without the kids (depending on the year and our mood) to a place of my choice. Just on the heels of my birthday, we have Christmas and New Year's. This is my absolute favorite part of the whole year. I will save my gushing for that in another blog as it could easily take up several pages.

Instead, I will share the wonderful day I had yesterday. I woke up exhausted both physically and mentally, having just finished report cards at 8:30 the night before. I literally felt the brain cells dying. Hubby tried to motivate me to get out of the house to go to a sporting goods store. As you can probably guess, I didn't budge. So he took our son with him to have some quality father-son time. After vegging for another hour or so, I called a dear friend of mine who gave birth this past week and whom I hadn't seen in far too long. I asked her if she was up for some company and she said yes.

K and I got up and though we were moving slowly, we finally got going. We stopped for some Dutch Bros. hot chocolate and drove out to my friend, Rosalee's house. K was excited as she hadn't seen her kids forever. She is best friends with Rosalee's middle daughter, so they had a blast catching up and playing dolls together. R had her 5th child, a girl, on Monday via C-Section. Little Emmalie Margaret was too cute and cuddly for words. She was so tiny and delicate. Can you tell I love babies?

People ask me sometimes if I want more kids and I always say yes, but the life of travel that we are striving to provide for our family is not conducive to having a whole brood. We just couldn't afford it. My family traveled all over this country (via car) as a child and I have so many lasting memories that I want to share with my two monkeys. I think that's partly why I love teaching elementary, it gives me a chance to be with a bunch of kids all day, yet leave some of that stress behind. My two keep me happy and busy enough. In the meantime, I get my fill of babies by having a lot of friends and relatives that have plenty of kids to love. Enjoy some pics of baby Emmalie below:

R feeding 5 day old baby girl

Meet little Emmalie Margaret

Hang loose!

A bundle of joy!

Sleeping on the Job

2009-11-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

She had been cleaning under her bed...

Fever

2009-11-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

After enjoying a fun evening of trick-or-treating and an extra hour of sleep, we woke up feeling relaxed. We had to make a Costco run, so we got right the door after a small breakfast of toast. We knew it wasn't much, so we grabbed a granola bar for each of the kids to tide them over until lunch. While we were shopping, we tried many of the tasty samples. K was acting a little tired, so she rode in the cart for most of the time. N kept clutching his tummy and pestering us for food (even after every sample). After one too many "I'm hungry" complaints, finished up our shopping and grabbed some lunch there. They love eating Costco hot dogs and we even treated them to churros for dessert.

On our way out the door, N became emotional and continued to complain that his stomach was bothering him. Worried that he was coming down with something, we put him to bed as soon as we got home. K and I both took naps as well. While mine lasted only about 45 minutes, both kids slept for a few hours each. N woke up feeling as good as new. K however, was not looking so good. She was very clingy with me and just never regained her normal energy. I knew something was off, so I took her temperature. And sure enough, she had a fever of 101.7. We got her into her PJs and gave her a water bottle to keep by her bedside. She fell right back to sleep until dinner. She managed to get down some chicken broth and bread, but that was about it. We are crossing our fingers that it isn't the flu and just a 24 hour bug.

With all the craziness going on with the H1N1 virus, you 've be too careful so I called in for a sub. I wasn't prepared for one at all, but thankfully the sub I got is pretty resourceful and has worked in my classroom before. It is very hard to catch up whenever you do have a sub and it's tough to lose any instructional time, especially with report cards looming on the horizon (grading period ends in a two weeks). As much as work beckons, my kids always have to come first. You can never tell with fevers though, so we are watching her closely.

A Spooktacular Halloween

2009-10-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we got our pumpkins a few weeks ago, but never got around to carving them until this morning. Life has kept us insanely busy these past months, so we are grateful we even found time to get them done at all. We woke up, had some breakfast, and got right to it, despite my feeling a little under the weather. I've had an ick that has just lingered and keep battling pink eye. Who needs Halloween makeup with that? Anyhow, the kids and DH cleaned both of the pumpkins out and helped decide on a face. I drew the outline and then carved them. My hand was very sore by the time I was done, but I was pretty proud of how they turned out.

After getting some household chores done, K and I both took a much-needed nap. N and DH spent some quality time together. By mid-afternoon, we figured we had better get an early dinner going. After the kids ate, we got them into their costumes. K dressed up as a little devil and N was a cowboy. Ironically, K was a cowgirl last year, but she wanted something "scarier" this year. If only she knew she's too cute to be scary. :) After taking the requisite photo ops, we headed out for trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. As we made our way through the houses, we had to make a special stop at one particularly popular house.

Every year, this house of thespians deck out their garage and yard and put on a free haunted house for all the neighborhood kids. They tweak the theme just a little bit each year to keep it fresh. We never miss it. They were going for a sort of a twisted Puritanical theme. They attract people of all ages to their haunted house, but thankfully tone it down for the little ones so as not to scare them too much. K clung pretty tightly to me, but she was a trooper. N sort of took it all in with an incredulous look of why are all these people acting so strangely. He was startled a few times, but he has a higher fear tolerance I think. One really great feature of their yard is all the great jack-o-lanterns and their detailed carvings.

I love celebrating Halloween and all the spooky stuff that goes with it. The kids look forward to it every year and enjoy putting on different costumes each time. We limit their candy intake to one per day max, so we aren't taking dental trips all winter long. Now we can look forward to lots of family visits with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon. But first, we need to make a trip to get our first eggnog of the season, which typically goes on sale right after Halloween.

Cleaning out the pumpkin guts DH likes to say

Carving takes time

Zipperhead

Jack-0-lantern

Desperado

Little Devil

Ready for tricks and treats

Haunted House getting set up...we were earlybirds to beat the crowds

Old-fashioned stockade

Possessed Puritan

Welcome to our humble abode. Enter if you dare!

Pumpkin graveyard

Just a sample of their carving talent

Trick-or-Treating

Pumpkin Love

2009-10-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

For the faithful out there, here is a sweet little poem (thank you to Kelly over at Kelly's Korner for this one) you'll appreciate...

God Picks you from the patch, brings you in,

and washes all the dirt off of you.

Then, He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.

and then He carves you a new smiling face

and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see!

An Oreganic Life

2009-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

I live in a suburb located about 20 minutes away from one of the most beautiful parts of Oregon, reknown for its proactive approach to taking care of the environment, raising community gardens, and favoring locally-grown organic foods. Back in 2006, Portland was voted the greenest city in America. It has one of the largest, most sustainable transportation systems in order to cut back on urban congestion and air pollution. Many places have limited or completely banned smoking from public places and parks. City buildings are going green in whatever ways they can, including DH's work and the private school I teach at. You might say that it all had to rub off on us at some point.

We try to do the usual things such as carpool, turn off lights, unplug, and recycle. Now we are turning our attention to food. After discovering some health issues, DH was informed by his doctor to improve certain aspects of his diet. We both agreed that our whole family could benefit from this, so we have been working on making healthier choices when it comes to food. We were never ones to overdo any particular bad habit, but we realized that even the little things can add up quickly in terms of calories, sugar, and fat. I am not now nor have I ever been professional nutritionist, so I don't know how much of an impact we are making, but the numbers on the scales are improving. We are also seeing improvements in our overall energy. So now when I go shopping, I substitute certain foods for more organic selections and these tiny changes are making a difference. Many stores are carrying a huge variety of organic foods, so this has made this journey fairly easy. For instance...

Vitamins. This is the easiest way to improve anyone's nutrition, though it is not enough. The kids take a daily multi-vitamin, though DH and I need to remember to do this ourselves more often. Why is it we take such careful care of our children, but neglect our own choices so much?

Snacky foods. We allow ourselves the occasional indulgence of a bag of Orville Redenbacher, but try to stick with the all natural Pirate's Booty for snack times. Instead of cookies and chips, the kids snack on granola, yogurt (sometimes we freeze it), or dip carrots into ranch.

We've cut back on the mainstream sodas in favor of Fresca or Hansen's more natural beverages when we crave carbonation. I know I have a Coke addiction (the soda kind), so it's definitely helped me to cut back on it. We've always tried to limit our children's caffeine intake to the occasional sip, though we allow a caffeine-free soda once in a blue moon. Most meals, they drink water, milk, or juice.

When I shop, I have to look for foods that are low in sodium and contain no or fewer preservatives. Sometimes, I find this an impossible task when it means saying no to favorite foods. Bacon is one of the hardest to "just say no" to (and we still often say "aw screw it!). Pasta and rice dishes are now special treats.

We are not so gung ho on these changes that we've denied ourselves certain meals from our weekly menu. DH is a pizza freak, so this one has been a toughie. This is why we try to cut back in the areas that are realistic for us to follow through on. Change is tough for anyone, so to make these changes stick, we are taking our time. However, I've introduced a tomato cheese bread meal into the mix, which tastes a lot like a veggie pizza and that has helped.

Eating more fresh veggies (canned has high sodium content) and salads more often has definitely helped fill us up during dinner. I try to include at least a couple of salad creations throughout the week. We throw in a variety of toppings to spruce it up too. This can include any combination of veggies such as grape tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, snap peas, carrots, radishes to other goodies like shredded cheeses, croutons, tortilla strips, bacon bits, and cranberries. The salad is often the main course and is paired with a yummy bread or seasoned chicken. I highly recommend tomato basil flatbread which I have found sold at Safeway.

We have tried to eat more fruit as well. Bananas and apples are the mainstays, but we are trying to throw in some new additions such as apricots and pears. The kids love peppers and the like, so that has never been a problem. When I make a skillet breakfast, they get a healthy dose of onions, green and red peppers. I am still on the picky side of this one, so I just remove what I don't like. Trying to raise my kids not to end up high mainenance with their food, like me.

This past weekend, we added one more thing to our diet. Instead of gorging on a big lunch, we snacked on some string cheese, crackers, and hummus. Baby steps. Are we morphing into crunchy treehuggers now? Can't say that we are (not that there is anything wrong with that). While we are nowhere near where we should be with our nutrition, we making small strides. It's a lot like trying to go green with your cuisine. Most of us aspire to take care of our environment, so we reduce, reuse, and recycle to decrease our carbon footprints. Why not be just as kind to our own health?

Just a walk in the park...

2009-10-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

The weatherman predicted that we are having the last of our dry sunshine for quite awhile, so the kids and I took advantage of a beautiful Saturday in the park. Once the rain comes, it stays and stays and stays. There are occasional sunbreaks sprinkled throughout the cold season, but they are far and few between. We took our Border Collie with us to get her out of the house and to experience a change of scenery. We walk her around our neighborhood, but I'm sure that gets boring for her. She had a fabulous time, but was overstimulated by the sights and smells of fall. This was a rare treat for her, so she wanted to sniff everything and take it all in.

We went to a local park that offers everything you could want. There is a huge playground for the kiddies, a covered picnic area for family gatherings or parties, nature trails for walking, a stream that winds its way throughout the park, ponds, and footbridges. It's also a popular site for photographers eager to capture the scenic backdrop. While we were there, a large group of high schoolers dressed to the nines were getting their pictures taken. A young family shadowed us throughout our walk as they took advantage of the fall colors for their outdoor portrait shots. I take along my digital camera for such moments as well.

Fall in love with Fall!

Ta da! This is Rood Bridge Park.

(a popular park known for its beauty and awesome hiking trails)

Autumn in the northwest

The kids and I love this part of the park

Couldn't paint a better picture

N wanted to wade, but we didn't want to disturb the wildlife

Quack Quack

We call this the lily pad pond

(cuz we don't know it's real name)

Monkey in a tree

Have you hugged a tree today?