In chronological order...
Owen played baseball, well technically T-ball but who cares!!! (Apparently he does...according to him, hitting the ball off the tee is not nearly as much fun as having the ball pitched to him!)
Jeff and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!!! Hard to believe its been that long but it has! But because of my courses and getting ready to go to Utah we only had time for dinner but it was fun! Did a double date with Martin and Dianna to Black Angus, followed by dessert at The Melting Pot! Mmmmm!!!
I graduated from college!!! Yup, sure did...got my Associate's Degree in Elementary Education from University of Phoenix. I even walked across the stage and everything!
We took a trip to Utah over Spring Break!!! Had tons of fun hanging out with family and friends, ate lots of good food that we have been missing, and did a little sight-seeing (Hogle Zoo, Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum, and Ogden Nature Center).
Matthew is so stinking smart he got accepted in to the Challenge program through school!!!
My grandmother on my father's side passed away after she fell down a flight of stairs, resulting in a trip to Montana over 4th of July. It was nice to see the rest of my family but I certainly wish it was under different circumstances.
My cousin Clay moved here from Montana!!! It only 3+ years and a lot of convincing but I finally got him here! It only took him a few months to find a job and make a few friends. Plus he was a great help during the big move!
We bought a house!!! A beautiful 4 bedroom in a gated gated community! We found it in March but it took us almost 5 months to close, but on August 7th we closed and just a few days later (after painting the kids bedrooms) we moved in.
Because of the above mentioned move, the kids transferred from Thompson Elementary to Frederickson Elementary!!! They settled in pretty quickly and have even managed to make a few new friends.
Leah picked up a new hobby...playing the electric guitar!!!
We took a mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge!!! Indoor water park, MagiQuest, and an arcade...who could ask for more! We all had a blast and cannot wait to go back.
Our Family
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Things I Am Thankful For - Day 1
Generous people
My husband was given 4 tickets to Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream so we bought one more and surprised the kids! They all had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the performance, even Owen who usually gets bored about halfway through everything was mesmerized the whole night and clapped or woohoo'd after every song/performance!
But without the generosity of my husband's co-worker, we never would have even considered going. That is why today I am thankful for people who generous.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Thank You!!!
For 32 years you have been my Mom and during that
time I know I have said Thank You!
here
and there, for this and that, but I want to say it just one more time so you
know how grateful I am that you are my Mom!
First of all…thank you for not giving up when your life was hard!
Thank you
for showing me the difference between right and wrong by taking us back to the
gas station to pay for that $0.05 Atomic Fireball!
Thank you
for always telling me the truth when I had questions but never trying to “sway”
my thinking!
Thank you for always trying to guide me in the right
direction but also allowing me to learn from my mistakes!
Thank you for showing me how to be strong even
when I am scared!
Thank you for
encouraging me to never settle in my relationships!
Thank you for encouraging me and supporting me in
everything that I do!
Thank you
for being a wonderful “Gamma” to my kids!
I am sure there are a hundred or more things I could
and should say Thank You for
but really I want say…
Thank
you for always being there –
in
person,
on
the phone,
in
my head,
and
in my heart!
I
am not sure where I would be in life, if not for you!
Monday, July 11, 2011
A recap of the beginning of the year...
Since I haven't really updated since the first of the year I'll try to catch you up.
January started similar to all the previous January's...cold, kids going back to school, my house looking like a tornado hit, leaving a trail of paper, packaging, and toys in need of new homes. After having a two week break from school myself, I also had to jump back into my own schoolwork. Jeff, never really getting a break, was still working away at Comcast. There was also a lot of sadness in the house because Grammy passed away after suffering a stroke almost a month before.
February started off with some sadness but soon changed into celebration with Martin's birthday and then Owen's birthday. For Owen's birthday we went miniature golfing, same as the year before. He had a blast and you would never guess that one year earlier he had a broken leg. The end of February also brought a light snowfall and we found the kids playing outside, doing their best to make a snowman.
March was pretty uneventful...Leah and Matthew were doing great in school and Owen was chomping at the bit to start school since he was officially 5 years old. The kids spent some time outdoors...riding their bikes. I also had a small House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. It is pretty neat stuff...slightly softer than regular cream cheese and comes in many great flavors which are good for chicken dishes and pasta. Jeff and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by going to The Melting Pot on a double date with Martin and Dianna.
April was a quite a bit more eventful. The first week of April was Spring Break for the kids so Jeff took a few days of work and we got Seattle City Passes and had a little "staycation". We visited the Woodland Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center Museum, Experience Music Project, The Space Needle, and took a short cruise around the Seattle harbor. Some of it we had seen before but there were a few new things and it was a little exhausting but overall we had a lot of fun. Chellie and I also took the kids down to Portland, OR for a night to visit my very good friend, Roxanne, who was up from Utah. We had fun visiting the Japanese Gardens, even though it was very, very cold. We also went the Spring Fair and watched a demolition derby; it was not really a true demolition derby because it was the last day but it was still fun. Although Owen did not appreciate the loudness of the cars. Of course, we cannot forget about Easter and all things related...the kids had a blast coloring eggs and were very excited when the Easter Bunny came to visit.
May brought several school related activities. There was a science fair that both Leah and Matthew participated in. The 2nd grade had an Alphabet Recital, where Leah had a solo speaking part. And the Kindergartners had a field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo, so Owen and I met Matthew at the zoo and had fun looking at all the animals. The end of May brought Chellie's birthday...mmm...ribs.
June brought a lot of fun memories. The first weekend of the month I tried something new...I left Jeff home alone with all three kids while I flew to Maryland for my nephew's graduation. This was the first time I had been away from the kids for that long and I missed them a ton, but I still managed to have a little bit of fun in between working on school assignments. After I got home, I found myself chaperoning Leah's 2nd grade field trip to Northwest Trek and Matthew lost his first tooth. The kids' last day of school was June 19th and we left that same day for a vacation to Southern California. It was sort of weird to go to California and not see Grammy but we were still able to have a good vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one day at SeaWorld, one day at Universal Studios Hollywood (thank you Comcast!), one day stuck in the hotel room because I was sick, and one day having a BBQ and hanging out with family. Lots of pictures...I'll try to add some later.
January started similar to all the previous January's...cold, kids going back to school, my house looking like a tornado hit, leaving a trail of paper, packaging, and toys in need of new homes. After having a two week break from school myself, I also had to jump back into my own schoolwork. Jeff, never really getting a break, was still working away at Comcast. There was also a lot of sadness in the house because Grammy passed away after suffering a stroke almost a month before.
February started off with some sadness but soon changed into celebration with Martin's birthday and then Owen's birthday. For Owen's birthday we went miniature golfing, same as the year before. He had a blast and you would never guess that one year earlier he had a broken leg. The end of February also brought a light snowfall and we found the kids playing outside, doing their best to make a snowman.
March was pretty uneventful...Leah and Matthew were doing great in school and Owen was chomping at the bit to start school since he was officially 5 years old. The kids spent some time outdoors...riding their bikes. I also had a small House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. It is pretty neat stuff...slightly softer than regular cream cheese and comes in many great flavors which are good for chicken dishes and pasta. Jeff and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by going to The Melting Pot on a double date with Martin and Dianna.
April was a quite a bit more eventful. The first week of April was Spring Break for the kids so Jeff took a few days of work and we got Seattle City Passes and had a little "staycation". We visited the Woodland Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center Museum, Experience Music Project, The Space Needle, and took a short cruise around the Seattle harbor. Some of it we had seen before but there were a few new things and it was a little exhausting but overall we had a lot of fun. Chellie and I also took the kids down to Portland, OR for a night to visit my very good friend, Roxanne, who was up from Utah. We had fun visiting the Japanese Gardens, even though it was very, very cold. We also went the Spring Fair and watched a demolition derby; it was not really a true demolition derby because it was the last day but it was still fun. Although Owen did not appreciate the loudness of the cars. Of course, we cannot forget about Easter and all things related...the kids had a blast coloring eggs and were very excited when the Easter Bunny came to visit.
May brought several school related activities. There was a science fair that both Leah and Matthew participated in. The 2nd grade had an Alphabet Recital, where Leah had a solo speaking part. And the Kindergartners had a field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo, so Owen and I met Matthew at the zoo and had fun looking at all the animals. The end of May brought Chellie's birthday...mmm...ribs.
June brought a lot of fun memories. The first weekend of the month I tried something new...I left Jeff home alone with all three kids while I flew to Maryland for my nephew's graduation. This was the first time I had been away from the kids for that long and I missed them a ton, but I still managed to have a little bit of fun in between working on school assignments. After I got home, I found myself chaperoning Leah's 2nd grade field trip to Northwest Trek and Matthew lost his first tooth. The kids' last day of school was June 19th and we left that same day for a vacation to Southern California. It was sort of weird to go to California and not see Grammy but we were still able to have a good vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one day at SeaWorld, one day at Universal Studios Hollywood (thank you Comcast!), one day stuck in the hotel room because I was sick, and one day having a BBQ and hanging out with family. Lots of pictures...I'll try to add some later.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Bedtime In My House
Keep in mind that bedtime in my house is supposed to be at 8:00 p.m. as you read this:
Between 7:00 and 7:15 p.m. -
Mom to kids: "Get your take-home and start reading."
Kids to mom: "Do I have to?"
Mom to kids: "Yes, you have to."
Between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. -
Mom to kids: "Why aren't you reading?"
Kids to Mom: "Uuuhhh..."
Mom to kids: "Get started and get it done. Bedtime is in about 30 minutes."
Kids to Mom: "Ookkaaaayyy!!!"
Around 7:55 p.m. -
Kids to Mom: "I'm done reading."
Mom to kids: "Okay...go get your pajamas on and get ready for bed."
- Kids take off running to bedroom.
10 Minutes later -
Mom to kids: "Are you all ready for bed yet?"
Kids to mom: "We putting on our pajamas."
Mom to kids: "What have you been doing for the last 10 minutes???"
Kids to mom: "Uuuummmm...putting our pajamas on."
Mom to kids: "GET your pajamas on right now."
10 Minutes later -
Mom to kids: "It's time to get into bed now."
Kids run around, laughing like hyenas.
5 Minutes later -
I finally herd them into their rooms and they begin jumping around on beds.
I go in to tuck them in and I hear:
"I need a drink"
"I need my blanket."
"I gotta get (insert stuffed animals name)."
This continues for about 5 more minutes and then finally get them all tucked in, give them all kisses, turn off the lights, and walk out of the room. Then I hear:
"Mom...I need (insert some totally random request).
Finally...nearly two hours later I sit down to continue working on my school and after several reminders to be quiet and go to sleep they finally do.
This is the story of bedtime in my house...it should be a peaceful time but instead I want to rip my hair out by the time the whole thing is done. AAaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Between 7:00 and 7:15 p.m. -
Mom to kids: "Get your take-home and start reading."
Kids to mom: "Do I have to?"
Mom to kids: "Yes, you have to."
Between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m. -
Mom to kids: "Why aren't you reading?"
Kids to Mom: "Uuuhhh..."
Mom to kids: "Get started and get it done. Bedtime is in about 30 minutes."
Kids to Mom: "Ookkaaaayyy!!!"
Around 7:55 p.m. -
Kids to Mom: "I'm done reading."
Mom to kids: "Okay...go get your pajamas on and get ready for bed."
- Kids take off running to bedroom.
10 Minutes later -
Mom to kids: "Are you all ready for bed yet?"
Kids to mom: "We putting on our pajamas."
Mom to kids: "What have you been doing for the last 10 minutes???"
Kids to mom: "Uuuummmm...putting our pajamas on."
Mom to kids: "GET your pajamas on right now."
10 Minutes later -
Mom to kids: "It's time to get into bed now."
Kids run around, laughing like hyenas.
5 Minutes later -
I finally herd them into their rooms and they begin jumping around on beds.
I go in to tuck them in and I hear:
"I need a drink"
"I need my blanket."
"I gotta get (insert stuffed animals name)."
This continues for about 5 more minutes and then finally get them all tucked in, give them all kisses, turn off the lights, and walk out of the room. Then I hear:
"Mom...I need (insert some totally random request).
Finally...nearly two hours later I sit down to continue working on my school and after several reminders to be quiet and go to sleep they finally do.
This is the story of bedtime in my house...it should be a peaceful time but instead I want to rip my hair out by the time the whole thing is done. AAaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
January 2010 - June 2010 Recaps
Okay so I had high hopes about doing a different post for each month of the last year but life happens and my plans get dashed so instead I am just going to combine in it all in to two post and then maybe do one more with some pictures.
January - We started out 2010 quietly with Owen still recovering from pneumonia. He regained his strength and we headed to Southern California for vacation mid-month but instead of sunshine we met up with rain, a lot of rain, and tornado warnings. At one point the water was so high on the roads it was above the curbs. The weather did not deter us...we still made it to Disneyland and California Adventure and found shorter wait times and even a little bit of sun while we were there. We also tried something new while we where there and took the kids to Medivial Times where they enjoyed a meal WITHOUT utensils and a show with knights and a princess. They loved it and so did Jeff and I!!!
February - February started off pretty simple with Leah enjoying school and looking forward to the Daddy-Daughter dance later in the month. Jeff was busy working while I was still at home with Matthew and Owen. We had fun celebrating Owen's birthday early on the 15th by going minature golfing and getting pizza. The next day I experienced the scariest moment of my life when I watched Owen fly across our back deck in his Little Tikes car. I heard him hit the rails as I was running through the house and practically flew down the stairs to get to him. He had fallen approximately 10 feet and after rushing to the hospital, waiting through x-rays and CAT scans, we found out that he had only broken his right thigh. This was the beginning of what felt like a roller coaster ride with my not quite 4-year-old being basically bed ridden for the next two months, a series of doctor's appointments, two awkwardly postioned hip spica casts, and two surgeries (one minor and one not so minor).
March - Owen's first surgery was on March 5th to have titanium rods placed inside of his femur because the casts were not keeping his bone in the right place for it to heal properly. After staying at the hospital for two days we went home and started the final healing process. Jeff and I celebrated our 8th anniversary in the 23rd by going out to dinner (I think) and then Jeff left to go to California to deal with a somewhat complicated legal thing, more time-consuming and annoying then serious.
April - April Fool's Day found me wishing the last 6 weeks had all been someone's bad idea of a joke but knowing it was not. Owen was working on walking again , I can still remember how proud I was when he took his second "first" step. Easter was celebrated in the usual way, with the dying of easter eggs, a visit from the Easter bunny, an Easter egg hunt in Uncle Martin's backyard, and a family dinner. Spring break brought visitors from Utah, Grandma June and Grandpa Larry so we did a little sightseeing and spent time catching up. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful, Leah and Matthew helped John (our landlord who lives downstairs) get the garden started and Owen started getting comfortable on the back deck again and even got in the Little Tikes car for a quick minute.
May - Part of this recap is coming from pictures and I do not have many pictures so I can only guess that May was pretty quiet. We did some exploring and found a cool park down by the water that had tons of crabs hiding under rocks. The kids had so much fun flipping over rocks to see how many crabs went scurrying and how big they were. I decided that it was time to do something about my career future and started school with online courses through University of Phoenix to get my Bachelors in Education. It has been tough at times but I seem to pull through and I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end. At the very end of the month we flew to Utah to visit family and friends and celebrate Jeff's Grammy's birthday. It was quite exciting since I flew with all three kids by myself but they were on their best behavior.
June - We finished up our visiting in Utah and headed home. Leah finished out the school year and then summer officially started. Our closest park began charging to park there so we decided to start exploring some new parks; we found a few duds but also some good ones too. We also started bowling through an awesome program I found called KidsBowlFree.com, where the kids were able to bowl two games everyday of the summer for free. We did have to pay for shoe rentals so we did not go everyday but it was a nice alternative. At the end of the month we celebrated Mom's birthday.
Stay tuned for July 2010 - December 2010 Recaps
January - We started out 2010 quietly with Owen still recovering from pneumonia. He regained his strength and we headed to Southern California for vacation mid-month but instead of sunshine we met up with rain, a lot of rain, and tornado warnings. At one point the water was so high on the roads it was above the curbs. The weather did not deter us...we still made it to Disneyland and California Adventure and found shorter wait times and even a little bit of sun while we were there. We also tried something new while we where there and took the kids to Medivial Times where they enjoyed a meal WITHOUT utensils and a show with knights and a princess. They loved it and so did Jeff and I!!!
February - February started off pretty simple with Leah enjoying school and looking forward to the Daddy-Daughter dance later in the month. Jeff was busy working while I was still at home with Matthew and Owen. We had fun celebrating Owen's birthday early on the 15th by going minature golfing and getting pizza. The next day I experienced the scariest moment of my life when I watched Owen fly across our back deck in his Little Tikes car. I heard him hit the rails as I was running through the house and practically flew down the stairs to get to him. He had fallen approximately 10 feet and after rushing to the hospital, waiting through x-rays and CAT scans, we found out that he had only broken his right thigh. This was the beginning of what felt like a roller coaster ride with my not quite 4-year-old being basically bed ridden for the next two months, a series of doctor's appointments, two awkwardly postioned hip spica casts, and two surgeries (one minor and one not so minor).
March - Owen's first surgery was on March 5th to have titanium rods placed inside of his femur because the casts were not keeping his bone in the right place for it to heal properly. After staying at the hospital for two days we went home and started the final healing process. Jeff and I celebrated our 8th anniversary in the 23rd by going out to dinner (I think) and then Jeff left to go to California to deal with a somewhat complicated legal thing, more time-consuming and annoying then serious.
April - April Fool's Day found me wishing the last 6 weeks had all been someone's bad idea of a joke but knowing it was not. Owen was working on walking again , I can still remember how proud I was when he took his second "first" step. Easter was celebrated in the usual way, with the dying of easter eggs, a visit from the Easter bunny, an Easter egg hunt in Uncle Martin's backyard, and a family dinner. Spring break brought visitors from Utah, Grandma June and Grandpa Larry so we did a little sightseeing and spent time catching up. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful, Leah and Matthew helped John (our landlord who lives downstairs) get the garden started and Owen started getting comfortable on the back deck again and even got in the Little Tikes car for a quick minute.
May - Part of this recap is coming from pictures and I do not have many pictures so I can only guess that May was pretty quiet. We did some exploring and found a cool park down by the water that had tons of crabs hiding under rocks. The kids had so much fun flipping over rocks to see how many crabs went scurrying and how big they were. I decided that it was time to do something about my career future and started school with online courses through University of Phoenix to get my Bachelors in Education. It has been tough at times but I seem to pull through and I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end. At the very end of the month we flew to Utah to visit family and friends and celebrate Jeff's Grammy's birthday. It was quite exciting since I flew with all three kids by myself but they were on their best behavior.
June - We finished up our visiting in Utah and headed home. Leah finished out the school year and then summer officially started. Our closest park began charging to park there so we decided to start exploring some new parks; we found a few duds but also some good ones too. We also started bowling through an awesome program I found called KidsBowlFree.com, where the kids were able to bowl two games everyday of the summer for free. We did have to pay for shoe rentals so we did not go everyday but it was a nice alternative. At the end of the month we celebrated Mom's birthday.
Stay tuned for July 2010 - December 2010 Recaps
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Something different...
Since I have been really terrible about updates this year I am going to do 12 posts between now and the end of the year; one for each month of the year. I will post a few pictures and recap of what happened during that month. Then next year I am going to do my best to do one post a month...towards the end of the month so I recap as we go. Wish me luck that I can actually follow through with this!
Friday, October 22, 2010
"The Perfect Mommy"
I was reading my new favorite blog today (when I should have been studying, I know, I'm naughty) Rants from Mommyland and they had a post that reminded me about being "the perfect mommy" and I realized that I have never strived to be "the perfect mommy".
I have only ever tried to be the best mommy I was capable of being. I am far from perfect and not afraid to admit it. Of course, I certainly wouldn't mind being a "better mommy" but if I can be there for them when they need me (even if they don't know they need me), share at least one "moment" everday with them, and tell them I love them everyday then I think I am doing a pretty darn good job.
I have only ever tried to be the best mommy I was capable of being. I am far from perfect and not afraid to admit it. Of course, I certainly wouldn't mind being a "better mommy" but if I can be there for them when they need me (even if they don't know they need me), share at least one "moment" everday with them, and tell them I love them everyday then I think I am doing a pretty darn good job.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Looking back...
As it gets closer to the end of the year, I start looking back and wondering where the year went and what did I do with my time.
I spent this year supporting, encouraging, loving, watching, teaching, entertaining, and enjoying my kids. I had my scariest "mom moment" ever this year when Owen fell off the deck and hope that I never have to experience anything like it again. I also had some of my happiest "mom moments" watching the kids enjoy the simplest things in life, like running through the sprinklers on a hot day and getting an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck.
This year I started school, showing my kids it's never to late. I can only hope that they do not get distracted like I did and they go straight to college after high school. All I can do is encourage and make sure they are ready. Matthew started school just a few weeks ago and I can already see what a huge impact it is having on him. He loves it as much as Leah does, and I can only hope the Owen loves it as much when he starts next year.
We played together, explored together, learned together, cuddled together, and laughed together. I know the year is not over and we have many more things to look forward to before it is. As I was watching Owen "play" his version of checkers, I realized again (I do this at least once a day) how blessed I am - I could reflect on all the things that I did not have but then I would lose sight of all the things that I do have.
I spent this year supporting, encouraging, loving, watching, teaching, entertaining, and enjoying my kids. I had my scariest "mom moment" ever this year when Owen fell off the deck and hope that I never have to experience anything like it again. I also had some of my happiest "mom moments" watching the kids enjoy the simplest things in life, like running through the sprinklers on a hot day and getting an ice cream treat from the ice cream truck.
This year I started school, showing my kids it's never to late. I can only hope that they do not get distracted like I did and they go straight to college after high school. All I can do is encourage and make sure they are ready. Matthew started school just a few weeks ago and I can already see what a huge impact it is having on him. He loves it as much as Leah does, and I can only hope the Owen loves it as much when he starts next year.
We played together, explored together, learned together, cuddled together, and laughed together. I know the year is not over and we have many more things to look forward to before it is. As I was watching Owen "play" his version of checkers, I realized again (I do this at least once a day) how blessed I am - I could reflect on all the things that I did not have but then I would lose sight of all the things that I do have.
Monday, October 18, 2010
An "I get it now" moment
So today I was getting ready to go to parent teacher conferences (the kids are doing great by the way) and I was in the back of house and told Matthew to put his shoes and socks on and to go tell Leah to get hers back on if she had taken them off. He gets aboout 15 steps away from where I am standing and proceeds to yell to Leah to put her shoes back on.
My mom got so mad at us when we were younger and would do this...I never understood why she just didn't yell herself. Let me tell you...I get it now!!!!
My mom got so mad at us when we were younger and would do this...I never understood why she just didn't yell herself. Let me tell you...I get it now!!!!
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