We survived the tree hunt

Last Friday we pulled the kids out of school early to take them tree hunting. Mike was headed out of town this week, so I talked him into working from home of Friday to spend some time with us before he left. We went out to Melchers Tree Farm in Gervais. We were met at the van by the owner with candy canes for everyone. He gave us a tag to tie around our tree when we found it and we were off. They have all of their "lanes" named for reindeer. It was damp, but not raining. The kids had a blast running through the trees trying to find the "perfect" one. We probably looked for 15 minutes before we found it. It stood about 8 feet high and was beautiful. Mr. Melcher came and cut down the tree for us and then hauled it (and a couple girls) away with his golf cart pulled trailer. He shook out all of the dead needles and bundled it up for us. Helped Mike tie it onto the van and then we headed inside for free hot cocoa. All in all it was a really fun experience. I'm looking forward to going again next year.

An early Christmas gift

We decided to buy ourselves an early Christmas present this year. We bought a new Nikon camera. It is really cool. It has lenses and everything. Mike could tell you all the specs, but I just think it looks good and takes awesome pictures. I'll post a few. Of course, the reason we bought a new camera is just in case Santa does decided to bring us a trip for Christmas, we really need a camera that works. We have a small Canon power shot, but the batteries don't hold charges. Both of them. Crazy. Anyway, I can only take about 5 pictures before it dies. So instead of buying new batteries, we would just buy a new camera. Makes sense. Spend $700.00 instead of $50.00. That's totally MY logic! Anyway, we order the new camera because it's on sale at Costco. Then Mike tells me to go ahead and buy the new battery for the Canon too. He he, so now we have a really cool new camera and 2 new batteries for the old one!!! Merry Christmas to me!

Ann-Elise has started her holiday performances for tap dance. She had her first one last Saturday at the Woodburn Library. It was fun. Alia and I went to watch her. She did really well. She's pretty shy, but she did great. As parents, we love that kind of stuff, but I'm not so sure I would enjoy it that much if I was just watching. But it was nice to see her outside her element and do so well.

We are planning on getting our Christmas tree this Saturday. That should be fun. In theory. Reality is that it will be freezing cold and/or raining. We'll have 3 kids that refuse to go and at least 1 running around like a mad (wo)man. But, we're gonna try it anyway! My friend, Niki, told me of this place that they go, and it sounds pretty fun. Hopefully it won't be miserable. Oh, who am I kidding, I know it's not going to go well...

Let's see, the hamster cage: Tommy is still in his cage. He hasn't figured out a way to get out of the new one (yet!). Although, a few days after we got it, Alia opened the top of the cage to give him some food, and forgot to close the lid. It's about 4 inches square. Anyway, Ann-Elise comes running downstairs saying that Matisse is going to eat Tommy. I run up there and Matisse has climbed into the cage and is curled up inside. Just resting. Tommy was smart and stayed hidden in his little house. Heck, he probably didn't even realize what was going on! Needless to say, Alia is VERY careful about closing the door!

Once again...

That stupid hamster...Yes, him again. So, I put him in the cupboard in the bathroom because he was so loud. On Saturday, Alia is getting ready to take her shower and happens to look down, and there is Tommy. He has torn his new cage apart and somehow opened the cupboard door and is literally a peeping Tom! UGH! He has now gone through 3 cages. And I'm out. Ok, so I'll buy him an aquarium and shove him in that. Put a mesh cover on it, and if he gets out of that one, he's fair game for the cats. Head to Petsmart. Cool, an aquarium is only 9.99. However, they don't have a mesh cover for it. The nice sales associate informs me that I could buy a "ready to go" aquarium for 35.00, or I could buy an over sized mesh lid for 15.00. Hello. The stupid hamster only cost 8.99 to begin with! Now I've invested 100.00 already just on cages. No, we're going cheap! Then I find a metal cage with a plastic bottom. Looks sturdy enough. He can't really get to the edges of the plastic to eat it. Should be good. Oh my goodness, it's only 19.99! I hit pay dirt! So, it's been 3 days, and other than the fact that the kitten likes to lay right next to him (still in the bathroom) and try to swat at him through the metal wires, it's going good. NEVER AGAIN will I fall for the "can I please have a pet? I promise I'll take care of it!"

And on a strange note. Conner was supposed to put his football away. He decided to kick it up the stairs. It promptly came back down, knocking over one of the pictures as it came down. The picture frame, glass, pictures and backing all came apart (nothing broke, mind you, just disassembled itself). I don't know if Conner was trying to catch all that was coming down at him, or just got "lucky", but the glass came down and sliced him right between 2 fingers. Like in the "web" part. It was crazy! I looked at him and saw the oncoming look of panic (did I mention, not to long ago, his fear of anything red, like blood?). He waited about 30 seconds. And to his credit, he didn't scream like a pansy this time. He had this shocked, panic, fear in his voice. I came over and looked at it. And do you know what? If you cut yourself right there where the skin connects in between your fingers, and it's deep enough, there is a whole pocket you can look down into. I know this. First hand! So I took Conner to Mike and told him he needed to check it out. Then mouthed to him that he probably needed stitches (I wouldn't recommend this if you are standing in front of a mirror and the person you are trying to avoid knowing this information is watching you in the mirror). Oh crap, now he's flipping out. Mike looked at it and we weren't sure what to do. Can you even stitch that? Now, over our time with Conner we have gotten pretty darn good with butterfly stitches. By necessity. He is deathly afraid of stitches (I tell you, one bad experience when he was 2, and he's crazy about it now!). But there is NO way to butterfly that one, I can't even get a band aid around it. So I called a friend of mine, who's a nurse and took him over to her place. She looked at it. Well, it could use a stitch, but I don't know how they'll be able to do it. Do you really want to go and wait at the hospital? Ummm, no! So we decided to go home and lube it up with neosporin and stick some gauze in between his fingers, then tape 2 of them together so it can stay clean. After I finished chatting with her and her 2 girls (oh, about 45 minutes...) we headed back home. On the way home Conner said "I wish I could turn back time." Now we had talked about a ton of stuff while we were over at my friends house, so I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Um ok, what would you change? His reply "I think I would WALK my football up to my room instead of kicking it." At that moment in time angels sang "Alleluia". Yes, my job here is done. I never said a word about what he did. He figured it out all on his own. Who says that natural consequences don't work?

Christmas is when???

So, we survived Thanksgiving. It was actually really nice. Well, other than the fact that I was sick. That's a sure way to lose weight during the holiday season! I think I lost 5 pounds in the past 4 days. But other than that, it was a fun visit with family. My sister and her family came up from Bend. Although we don't really get to spend much time "chatting" with everything going on, it was fun to see her and her kids (even her husband too!). Both my brothers came and my parents too. So, lots of kids and good food. It was nice.

I was feeling better by Friday. I had dreams all Thursday night about shopping. I usually ALWAYS go shopping on black Friday. For the past couple years I've gone with a friend from church. Because I hadn't been feeling well, I didn't even call her and plan anything. However, at 2:45am I felt ok, so I go up and did all my "cyber shopping". Walmart offers the same deals on line at 5pm est as they do at 5 at my local store, so I like to shop from home. Got that stuff done and fell back to sleep. I woke up at 7 and felt really good, so I woke up Ann-Elise and we headed out for the last couple hours of early bird shopping. We only got as far as Target before we called it good and headed for a fun breakfast at Shari's. Then home. We are shopping light this year for Christmas. Hoping that Santa will bring us something big (like maybe a Disneyland trip...). Anyway, I pretty much got everything done. Well, for now anyway! The problem with shopping early is that I tend to spend more because I never think I have enough.

So yesterday, we got up and dressed warm. Headed into the garage for some "fall cleaning". We were able to get the garage cleaned out and swept out in a couple hours. Now we are ready to build some storage shelves for our food storage. I'm really excited about stocking our "store" shelves. My inside pantry is really tiny, so it's just a mess. Everything is crammed in there and you can't find anything! So, by putting our year supply of food out in the garage, I can "shop" in my garage weekly, then move the week supply into the pantry. Then I only need to replace what I've used and I should only have to do that once or twice a month. Oh my, that is HUGE! Not grocery shopping with, at the very least, 2 babies will be amazing! I'll only need to run to the store for perishables based on our weekly menu. Piece of cake!!! How cool is that? I am hoping to have that done by the end of next week. However, we'll see what Mikes plans are!

Speaking of Mike, he's on this "energy conservation" kick. It's kind of cool. We are really interested in solar energy. He bought this meter that he is using to test EVERYTHING that uses power. It's very interesting. I don't know why I always feel the need to say this but...It's not for the global warming craze. It's because we have a large family and would like to save money! Anyway, there are some really cool things out there. And the plus side is that he wants to get all new appliances because ours aren't "energy star". Cool aye! The down side to that is that he feels the need to cut power to everything at night. Not a big deal except when I get up and have a screaming 2 year old wanting to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that we have recorded on the dvr and it takes about an hour for the dvr system to "warm up" and load our saved data. Oh, and we can't even watch the tv if the remote is missing (like now!) because it's all password protected. Again, the system doesn't connect with the main menu to display what shows are on, so it all registers as "to be announced", therefore, it doesn't have a kid friendly rating, so there is no tv either. Not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination, just inconvenient. An inconvenient truth, you might say!

Random Thoughts

So, I was up most of the night with this gigantic horrible tooth ache. I thought that after having 5 c-sections and almost no pain after that I had a very high tolerance for pain. I AM superwoman, you know. Anyway, last night proved me wrong. It was awful! Miserable! Horrible! I turned into a sick man. You know how men get when they're sick. Whining, moping...you get the idea. So, that was me. Between 3pm and 8pm I took 3 Tylenol 3 and 7 Advil. Not to mention the baby Ora-gel that I used (and I will NEVER torture my babies again with that poison!). I kicked back in the recliner with a heating pad... No dinner... Must be bad if I'm not eating! This happened a couple weeks ago and I marched my behind into the dentist but they couldn't find anything. I called them again this morning and told them I was planting myself in their chair and I wasn't leaving until they figured out what the problem was. So, we'll see how that goes...

Next thought: That stupid hamster that is STILL in the bathroom is driving me crazy! I got so sick of hearing him destroy his cage that I got up in the middle of the night and put him in the cupboard. In his cage, of course. You should have seen the look on Alia's face when I told her that's where he was.

Ya know, at 3:30 this morning I had a lot more random thoughts to write about...

Thanksgiving is 2 days away. It's at my house this year and in some warped way, I'm really excited. I love to cook. I like to come up with fun new recipes to try. This year's menu consists of: Maple Roasted Turkey and Gravy; Sausage, Apple and Cranberry stuffing; Mashed Red Potatoes; Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Bananas with Honey; Green Bean Casserole (of course!); Spinach Gratin; Cranberry-Orange Sauce; Yeast Rolls; Cherry Pie and Pumpkin Pie. Oh, and Baked Brie with apricot/jalapeno sauce and pecans and the basic cream cheese, cocktail sauce and shrimp dip. Where would I be with out Food Network? Love them! Anyway, I love to cook so this will be fun. And it seems that we are only going to have 18 people here, so not too bad!

Well, until an idea strikes me...we'll leave it at this

Mean people suck!

OK, so we all know just how calm and level headed I am. Generally don't get too excited about much. Very balanced. Easy going. Agreeable. Move well with change. (Are you dying of laughter yet?) So I'm at the gym today. It was after my workout and I was picking up the babies from the childcare there. My trainer had told our class that because we usually have class on Thursday, and next week is Thanksgiving, we would have it on Wednesday instead. She said that they had already informed the "boss" of the gym and she was aware of it, but they were going to discuss it with her more because she didn't really respond when they told her. In the past when they have had our class move it has caused some issues with too many kids in childcare. Because all 5 of mine would be attending next Wednesday, I decided to check with the ladies who work in childcare. They told me that it shouldn't be an issue. They usually aren't very busy during that time, so don't worry. Anyway, boss lady over heard. And was "shocked" that class had been moved. I told her that she had already been informed of the change and she said that she had not. No one had said anything to her. Ohhh, so now my trainer is a liar? Heart rate rising... She went on that that was not OK. It wouldn't work. We would have to change our time... Anyway, I just figured that I wouldn't go next week and wouldn't worry about it. Then later today I got an email from one of my trainers saying that if we could find other childcare arrangements, then to come to class on Wednesday, otherwise they would figure something else out. Umm, excuse me, I have already paid 225.00 for my 5 kids to use the gym's childcare. OK, now I'm steamed. I'm flipping out. So, after a not so nice email to my trainer (only about mean boss lady) I have decided that I will attend the gym, that I have paid hundreds of dollars to join, with my 5 kids, that again, I have paid hundreds of dollars for them to be there, and I will show up, not for MY class, oh no, that wouldn't be acceptable, but to sit my fat A$$ on the bench by the machines for 90 minutes! Now she's just gone a ticked me off... I'll skip my class and I'll bring ALL OF MY KIDS, ya know the ones I paid to have there? Ya, all of them will come, kicking and screaming, to join me in the gym! Boy that will be a fun day!

house pets

So, I have been meaning to write about how long, exactly, can a hamster live outside it's cage in a house with 5 kids and 2 cats? Then the answer came to me. IF (big if here) you pay REALLY close attention to your kitten, the hamster can be located (alive even) in about 3 days. Don't ask how I know this. Just trust me.

So, one of Adrie's favorite things to do in this life is to harass, I mean play with, her siblings hamsters. Lately she leaves Conner's hamster, Levi, alone. However, Tommy is a whole other story. His cage is conveniently located in the kids bathroom on the counter top. He is a master Houdini, so we moved him in there when he was literally eating through his plastic cage and it was so loud that the neighbors next door asked us to do something about it because it was causing sleepless nights for them. So, he's been in the bathroom for, oh, about 2 months now. Yes, he has a new cage, just never quite made it the 20 feet into the bedroom. Anyway, this makes for perfect access for Adrie. She LOVES to show him off to any and everyone. She isn't afraid to pull his cage apart to get to him either. So last night we had our good friends, the Allens, over for dinner. Their youngest son is 4. Adrie and Deacon play very well together and they disappeared after family home evening. Us adults were busy doing what ever it is adults do in the few minutes of peace and quiet they get. All of the sudden my friend Niki looks up the stairs and asks "Is that blood? Deacon, is that blood?" HUH? What, who, how??? I stop and run up the stairs. There is Adrie COVERED in blood. I'm not kidding. I'm looking for gouging eyes, missing limbs, razor slices (I'll come back to that). We narrow the pour spout to her hand. Missing fingers? Nope I count 10 (ok, well 8 and 2 thumbs). I flip her hand over and there is, no kidding, a pin prick! What the heck??? Who the heck knew that you had a flippin' artery in your finger? So, we got her cleaned up. Literally from head to toes. And come to find out, she wanted to show Deacon the hamster and Tommy didn't really want to play right then. Crazy. The funny thing about the whole thing was that Adrie didn't even cry until we put her hand under the water. Had that been Conner, he would have been a screaming girl at the first drop!

Ok, so the razor part... I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and Adrie and Caile were off doing whatever. Mike was home and laying right on the bed so I wasn't paying to close of attention to the girls. I could hear them. That should be good enough, right? Anyway, I come out of my closet (yes, I DID just type that I came out of the closet. Shut up!) and Adrie is chewing on my razor. She bit the razor part off and was really chewing on it. I about flipped out. However, no blood. She didn't cut herself. All I can say about that is that it's a good thing that I use my razors for 6 months! Guess it's time to get a new one!

My new hobby

First let me start by saying "Holy Cow, 2 posts in one week. What is this world coming too?". And with that said...

I think I wrote about Mike's aunt Rose teaching me how to knit when we were in Canada this past summer. I have made many attempts to create something that was recognizable with no luck. So last weekend when Mike and I were in Sisters, we stopped at a little store called The Stitching Post. They have some really cool quilting stuff and lots of fun (expensive) knitting yarn. They also have a little section with fun nick knacks (probably "home decor") but I stayed out of that area. Anyway, I was looking for an easy project to work on using my vast knitting skills (knit1, purl 2). I found a cool free hat pattern that one of the owners had created. It looked easy enough. After buying bamboo knitting needles (no walmart specials here!) and some 18.00 yarn, I was off to complete my masterpiece. It could have been the fact that I was trying to complete most of it during the 2 hour car ride home, or just the fact that I'm not so good at details...but my winter cap turned into a very expensive kippot (the name for a Jewish hat). Well, seeing as how we're Mormon, it didn't really seem to be a necessity. The next one I made (with cheap yarn) was a little small for Caile. But I kept on trying. Oh yes, you can't deny that I am the little engine that could! I tried again on inexpensive yarn and created a beautiful little hat for Adrie. Wow. I was impressed with myself. The positive thing about making so many, was that I really had that pattern down pat and was getting pretty quick. So last night I started another one with some yarn that I had purchased (at Walmart for 1.98) specifically for Ann-Elise to match her new coat. I finished it this morning right after she left for school. Hopefully it fits. The problem with this one is that it may just be too big!!! Oh well. Determination. I can do this! So, I think EVERYONE I know is going to get a new beanie hat for Christmas, so if you know what colors you want, just let me know!

The fans demand it...

So I suppose I should update the blog. Unfortunately, my camera has died, so I don't have any cool pics. Anyway, life does go on... So, football is over. The Huskies finished their season with an awesome win (19-0) on an amazing Saturday here. Conner had a great game with some good tackles and a really good run. It was a great way to end the season (2-5). He is going to play again next year and is excited to have his dad coach him then. Alia is down to 1 more soccer game left. She is actually a pretty good defender. Conner was even commenting on how well she played (impressive!). She loves hanging out with her friends on the team and if they get a win, it's even better! Ann-Elise is busy with tap class. She is enjoying learning a new skill that will drive her parents crazy when she practices (should have thought about that before suggesting it!). She will keep us busy over they holiday season with MANY performances. But it will be fun. Adrie is just Adrie. She is a ham and a love. She is so funny. She says some crazy things. Some of her favorite sayings are "I love you so much." and "I like your hair.". She is also crazy about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney and will watch hours upon hours of it if I let her. Caile is turning into a funny little bug. She is learning lots of new words and is not afraid to let you know what she wants. She will wake up in the morning and inform you that she wants to "go down there". And she is VERY good at "yes" and "no". She has that last one down to perfection!

Anyway, other than Leise's dance, we will be taking the winter sports season off. I am looking forward to evenings at home. It has been nice spending the evenings together as a family playing games. Oh, except last Tuesday night because I took Ann-Elise to the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert. Alia was supposed to go, but negative actions necessitated having to forgo that one. Anyway, Leise and I had a blast. We went with Tracy and Hannah from next door and had a great time, other than the fact that Ann-Elise almost fell asleep. Oh well, guess that goes along with being 6.

Let's see... Mike and I have been trying to get away once night a month. My dad will come out and watch all 5 kids while we go have fun. Our first trip was to Lincoln City and the Inn at Spanish Head. Wouldn't recommend that place, but we did eat at a great restaurant, Pier 101. Then last weekend we spend the night at Eagle Crest in Redmond. Stopped in Sisters on the way home. I've been through there a million times but this was the first time I ever stopped. It was fun. We will be going back to some of the little shops. One was a yarn and knitting shop. Mike admits he is now a "yarn snob". He doesn't like the "cheap" 3.00/skeen yarn, he likes the 18.00/skeen yarn. Oh well, as long as he's buying!

Well, I'm sure that this was exciting to read. So until next time...

October already?

How exactly does that happen? It seems like we are strolling along enjoying summer and then WHAM you're smacked in the face with cold wind and pouring rain. I actually really like it in the North West. When it's summer. I definitely have a hard time the other 11 1/2 months of the year! We're into freezing cold and wet and windy soccer and football games and practice. That's fun with 2 babies.

It seems that not much interesting has happened over here. I'm actually enjoying some peace and quiet during the days while the older kids are at school. Somehow it doesn't motivate me to clean the house AT ALL. I guess I really am a lazy person! I started back up at the gym in hopes of some adult time. It's nice. I get 90 minutes with no babies (their in child care there) a butt whooping from Tanya or Dana, the fitness Nazi's, and hopefully I'll even lose those extra 5 pounds that have been following me forever (he he he). I'm actually really excited to kick some butt there. I may even get off the "happy pills" I've been taking to make it through the day (they aren't really that great. Their just antidepressants. Hmmm, why would I need those???)

On a happy note, Adrie is (dare I say it?) potty trained. She is amazing. Once she decided that she could do it (OK, so I told her she couldn't go to school if she was in diapers) she just took off and hasn't really had any accidents. YEAH! I'm not sure what it's like to only have 1 in diapers. Boy my life is sure looking up!

Totally off subject, but I am hooked on the show "Ghost Hunters" on the sci fi channel. It's on Wednesday nights at 9pm. It's cool. There is a group of people that go an investigate "hauntings". They really try to find ways to "debunk" claims. Anyway, I was watching last night and I about died!!! Totally freaked me out!!!! There was no way I was getting out of bed after watching that one. And of course Mike fell asleep in the middle of it, so I was suffering alone! Needless to say, dawn couldn't come early enough for my bladder! You should check it out. I DVRed it.

Well, I should go gear up for the tornado that happens everyday here at 4pm when the kids get home from school. Love that hour before football and soccer practice (did you catch the sarcasm there?). Anyway, until something fun happens... ta ta for now.

Fun day ahead

So, I'm sitting here trying to blog while Caile is "helping" me type and Adrie is screaming at me with her new lotion and hair gel (mint toothpaste) covering her body. Great and it's grocery shopping day! After a tramatic morning of paying bills (shouldn't payday be fun?) it's time to get ready to go. The fun starts with working a weekly menu around my "new" goal. And I do use that term VERY loosely! I'm going to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year. Why do I always think this is a good idea right before Halloween? But I do think I'm off to a good start. This morning I've had 3 fun sized butterfinger bars. But I did share with both the girls, so that's only 1 right? 3 people, 3 bars... so what if one kid is only 13 months old and just licked the chocolate. I'm sure that Adrie had at least one bite! I suppose that I should gear up to tackle the fun day of shopping (eye roll). I don't understand why it's considered child abuse to duct tape a toddler to the shopping cart. Who ever made that law obviously never went shopping with kids!

Which made me think of yesterday... I was filling out the volunteer form at the intermediate school (they just made me an official volunteer badge with my picture on it and everything, so I suppose I should start volunteering...) Ya know, it's one of those criminal background check things. Anyway, one of the questions was about every being convicted of a crime against a child. Hmmm I suppose if you aren't ever caught the answer is no right? I'm sure that's it's perfectly normal to bungee cord your child to the kitchen chair... right? Right? RIGHT? And after Conner's last football game, when we locked him in the garage we made sure he had his playbook, a bottle of water, some old dog kibble and a jar. Does he need more? Does he? DOES HE?

Oh well. I suppose I should medicate, I mean breathe deep, so I can tackle the store...

(btw, all you law people out there, this is my feeble attempt to be funny!)

So now what?

Well, the kids are back in school. How did that happen? And what do I do with myself? I have both the babies sleeping and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do! I did just learn to knit, so I am once again attempting to start a hat for Conner (Beaver's colors, of course!). We also had a tragedy last week when our beautiful 14 week old kitten got out of the house overnight and was found in the street the next morning. It was very sad. But after much deliberation, we decided that while we could never replace Leo, we missed the fun and excitement of a little kitten. So we found one yesterday and the kids fell in love with her. Her name is Matisse and she is soooo tiny! We are in love!

We start this weekend with the craziness of games. Conner's first football game of the season is on Saturday morning and Alia's first soccer game is in the afternoon. That should be a lot of fun. We are looking forward to all that the first weeks of school has to offer. I'll keep you up to date on any new happenings...

And just like that, it's gone!

Hard to believe, but school starts next week! The kids are excited to start in their new classes with their teachers and old friends. I'm excited for a whole 5 days in a row with only 2 kids home! We passed the summer with swim lessons and sports. Baseball finished and gave us 2 weeks off before Conner started football. He is enjoying that and is excited to start playing games. Alia has started soccer and loves it. She has a great coach and some old friends on her team. Ann-Elise will start tap dance classes in 2 weeks and with a new addition to the family (a piano) she will start those lessons as well. Adrie is just a crack up. She keeps us all in stitches. There is no dull moment with her around. And then Caile... what a little dolly! She just learned to walk and is exploring her world on 2 feet!

We spent a week in Canada and got back last Friday. Grandma and Grandpa Shaw surprised us by being at Uncle Larry and Auntie Rose's when we arrived. So the kids were able to spend 7 full days with them. It rained the first few days that we were up there, but then the weather cleared and it was beautiful. We were able to sneak in a couple swim days at the lake (cold lake!) and a day at the park. And one day we hiked to a beautiful waterfall for a fun afternoon of fishing and a picnic. The older kids spent the last couple days exploring the "forest" behind uncle Larry's house. They enjoyed the fort that their cousins had started last year. One of Conner's favorite activities was playing with the dog and kitties. We had an amazing time slowing down and visiting with loved ones. Aunt Rose even had the patience to teach me how to knit!

So, now we gear up for the hustle and bustle of school. I look forward to this time of falling leaves and crisp weather. The excitement of a new school year and making new friends. We'll keep you up to date as fun stuff happens!

And Summer's Here

So what do we do now? Kids are out of school and we are gearing up for a long and fun summer. Hopefully we'll even get some good weather. Our plans for the summer include lunches at the park, bike riding and zoo trips. And we can't forget lots of sleepovers with friends. At the end of summer we will travel up to British Columbia to visit Uncle Larry and Auntie Rose. We are looking forward to a nice long relaxing week there of fishing, swimming and eating (Aunt Rose is Italian, you know!). We'll keep you posted on all of the happenings.

As a side note, ball season is finishing up. Ann-Elise is done, Alia has one more game and Conner has 2 tournaments and 6 more games to go! But next week starts swim lessons, so we'll do some double duty there. Oh and we can't forget that Football for Conner and Soccer for Alia start in August. Will this ever end??? It's busy, but fun.

A new season

So spring brings flowers to the ground, birds to the air and leaves to the trees. But in the Lader household it brings spring sports! So, we have Conner playing midget baseball. Alia playing 8U softball. And Ann-Elise playing t-ball. Of course, to make life easier, they all play on Monday and Wednesday nights. And of course they all play at different fields! And of course Mike has an obligation on Wednesday nights. So, to say the least, it makes for a little chaos. However, the kids love playing and are excelling. Alia is a little power hitter and is having fun learning the concepts of the game. Conner is pitching for the first year and has the potential to be pretty good. He is enjoying being coached by his dad again. Ann-Elise is playing on a team with one of her best friends, so she is having fun. It's cute to see the kids try to figure out which way to run when the ball is hit. So, when it's all said and done, we really enjoy it!

A new wolf in the pack

On Tuesday night, Conner received his Wolf badge for Cub Scouts. He has worked very hard for the past 6 months and recived it at his Pack's Blue and Gold Dinner. He also received a gold arrow and 2 silver arrows. It was a fun night. Grammy and Papa came to watch him. We had a Hawaiian Luau. Yummy food and lots of fun. Great job Conner!!!

Another Party

Ann-Elise was sick on her birthday, and the week after, so we had to move her Princess Tea Party. Yesterday she was finally able to celebrate with her friends. We played dress up and had a wonderful lunch complete with wonderful "tea". Her friends mom made her a beautiful princess cake too! It was worth the wait!

Happy Birthday Ann-Elise

After a rough start to the day, Ann-Elise celebrated her 6th birthday with a special dinner with Grammy and Papa and our family. She picked the menu of spaghetti with butter, garlic bread and salad. We finished the meal with a yummy strawberry surprise Strawberry Shortcake cake.

A day on the mountain

On Saturday we decided to head up to Mt. Hood for a fun day tubing. We dropped the baby girls off at Aunt Martina's for a fun day of visiting and playing with cousins, and we headed up to Hood early. It was a little overcast but beautiful when we got there. We over dressed for the 40 degree weather! We had a blast. After quite a few spills and crashes, we figured out what we were doing and enjoyed the rest of the day!

Business as usual

Well, after 2 days off from school (3 for Ann-Elise), things got back to normal last Friday. The snow is pretty much gone now and the temps are back up. Conner still checks the weather every day to see if snow is in the forecast, but it's not looking likely. The kids are excited to be back to class. They really do like school for all of the complaining that they do!

Little Caile is ALMOST crawling. I can't believe it! She's not old enough for that is she? Yesterday she was up on all fours and rocking. Umm, I don't think I'm ready for that yet!

Now, the Winter Blast!!!

OK, so I know that here in the Northwest we are totally wimps, but this is too cool!!! We had about 3 inches of snow this morning. The kids have enjoyed playing outside and building snowmen and having snowball fights. It finally stopped snowing around 11am, but it's still pretty cold. Michael braved the elements and drove into work. Now we don't know if he'll make it home!

Snow Day

Well we got a nice present this morning as several inches of snow rolled in. Adrie sure enjoyed herself.

Happy Birthday Michael!

Today is the big day. It was nice because of the holiday he was able to stay home. His mom is up visiting from Yuma, AZ. His sister and her 3 kids dropped mom off to spend the day with us and stayed for a pancake breakfast. Then we just hung out and enjoyed each other. Spent the evening rocking out with Karaoke Revolution and fun family time. Then enjoyed and awesome German Chocolate cake! It was a lot of fun!!!

Giraffe's Can't Dance!

Alia's class had their musical performance on the 11th and they did an adaptation of the book Giraffe's Can't Dance. She looked beautiful and did such a great job. She danced the Tango and also played the Alto Xylophone and, of course, sang beautifully! It was a fun evening.

Winter Blast?

So, the news crews have been going crazy about our "Winter Weather". I know it's pretty pathetic when there is 1/4 inch of snow and they are recommending that everyone "stay home if possible". Yikes. Anyway, the kids had school, so they were up very early so they could play outside in what we did have. Perfect snow for snowball fights! Anyway, they really enjoyed it. So, after the snow came the freezing cold temps. I still have ice on my driveway that will probably be there for another week. At least this time I can actualy drive up it to park in the garage! After school one day, the kids decided that the steep driveway would be perfect for "sledding". So they pulled out an old pizza box and any plastic bins and lids that they could find to make the trek down. They were going pretty good. Even Adrie had a couple runs down the "hill". Next thing I know, Conner is screaming. Good Gosh, what Now??? He had slipped off his "sled" and went face first into the concrete! Oops, guess that wasn't the best idea now was it? We got him cleaned up and he has decided that he doesn't like snow and ice and concrete when they meet!

About us

Conner is 8 and is currently wrestling. He is very athletic and loves any sport that is on tv or in season! He is a math whiz and loves recess at school.

Alia is 7 and is a performer. We recently bought Karaoke Revolution and she spends her time rocking out to that or her friend Hannah's Dance Dance Revolution. She loves to read and write and excells at anything creative at school.

Ann-Elise is almost 6. She is a little fireball. She loves to play with her friends and is always looking for someone to play with. She is in kindergarten and is enjoying learing how to read.

Adrie is 19 months old and is a ham! If it gets a laugh it is bound to happen over and over and over. She is the happiest baby ever and loves to climb.

Caile is 5 months old and is growing so fast. She just started sleeping through the night! She loves to smile and is very content with whatever is happening around her.

A place to start

This is a fun place to post picutres and all of the funs stuff our family is doing. Check back to see all of the new stuff.