More and more snow

It didn't stop. Briefly, here, and there, but we got hit again this weekend. Poor James...both his birthday parties were postponed. But we got his cake anyway and invited the neighbors over to help us eat it!

Here is the progression of snow...

Don't ask us if we're enjoying it. We did, for about 15 minutes last Monday. Then they sanded our sledding hill and put and end to that fun. Then the next snow that came was powder, and we couldn't sled on that either. It's too powdery also to make a snowman. It is fun, however, to walk knee deep in the stuff. That's an unusual. And we have to keep clearing a path through the deck, down the stairs, and in the yard for Kelsey to "do her business." I don't think she's pooped since the snow started.

And it's beautiful outside. Everything is peaceful and white. Merry Christmas everyone!

Snow Day!

What was going to be a busy Sunday has turned into a Snow Day. We have provisions and after spending a few minutes outside early in the snowstorm, are now snuggled by the fire enjoying our individual pursuits.

Trimming the tree

Got this business taken care of early - with a December birthday in the family now it tends to sneak up on us rather quickly, so we got out our lights, decorations, and ornaments and put up 'ol Tannenbaum.








I'm not sure what we'll do for a card this year - it's nearly impossible to get all 3 children plus the dog in a photo with everyone looking halfway happy. And don't even get me started on trying to see Santa. Every time we leave the house someone is having an attitude problem or a meltdown or they fall asleep. Bah humbug!

Typical Beavs

One thing about being a Beaver fan - when they do well it's a nice surprise, when they choke, it's business as usual.

The last game might have been a pisser, but it can't erase the fact that we had a great run these last several weeks.

Go Bruins - beat SC!

Tardy Halloween greetings

Well, so much for trying to update this blog in a timely manner. I blame the children. They don't nap, they sleep fitfully, and I have nary a minute to call my own. As I write this on a lazy Sunday afternoon I'm being bombarded to "Play, Mommy!" and "Do this with me Mommy!" and Eve from Wall*E is sitting on my chest so it seems to DJ that I'm playing with him while I type this, and now Helen's reading this over my shoulder to make sure everything I relate is accurate to the nth degree.

So, Halloween. Beautiful weather, lots of loot scored. Helen was a pioneer girl (such a refreshing choice from the pre-made, mass produced outfits we usually do). we bought a bonnet from the store at Champoeg State Park, found a pioneer-y type dress at Goodwill, and Mom found an apron (along with more bonnets!) in a box of old clothes for Coburg Golden Years dress-ups.

DJ could still fit into his Lightning McQeen driver suit from last year, and he wanted to wear it again.

We got out all the fittable costumes for James and he chose the old Bee costume. He was the cutest thing on the street that night. Yes, I know he's too young for trick-or-treating, but there's no way I could leave him behind when everyone one else was going out. He seemed to have a good time - he didn't smile but once he got the hang of what he was supposed to do he was pretty eager to to get that candy in his bucket. Of course, he only liked the Smarties, and DJ only at the Tootsie Rolls, and Helen has lost all interest in the stuff in her bucket, so I'm enjoying the spoils. We invited some friends over - Melissa from JC and her daughter Sarah, and Janet from OSU and her daughter Elizabeth. We had a great time with them!







Speaking of OSU...Way to beat Arizona, BEAVS! Talk about a heart-stopping game...I'm lucky I didn't have a heart attack last night. Now we just to beat the Ducks next week and we are ROSE BOWL bound, baby!!!!! I always send I'd find a way to go if we ever went, but that was a different time in my life. I'm just hoping to be able to get away with my girlfriends for a Girlz Weekend early in the new year.

Now the children have become interested in their candy buckets since Helen read this and had to make a big production of looking through it. I need to referee/supervise the eating of sweets now, so I'll sign off.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Things Halloween-y

We've been having such lovely weather here, haven't we? We threw in a visit to the 'ol Pumpkin Patch after church the other day.

We all enjoyed riding the hay wagon out to the pumpkin field, but the boys were especially enamored of the tractor.




Helen was chomping at the bit to carve pumpkins. I told her we had to wait until the 28th so they wouldn't get moldy. As soon as we got home from gymnastics she was dragging the pumpkins in the house and getting out the carving kit. This is what we ended up with.



I do so solemnly swear that each kid drew the designs on those pumpkins. Helen's is on the left, DJ's is the middle one, and James' is on the right. I think his actually turned out kinda cool!

Sorry for the short update - I'm beat. James is just getting over a tummy bug in which he did not eat for 4 days and couldn't keep anything down. As soon as he started feeling better Helen scratched her eye and we had to take her to the doctor. I called the advice nurse Monday morning and said, "I've got two kids with two different issues. Who do you want to talk about first?" I called three times about James, but they never wanted to see him. The poor kid was in misery for days, sleeping and barfing, but I guess they knew what they were talking about since he's bounced back quite nicely. Helen's eye is fine now. A few drops and the passage of time and she's all healed up.

Good grief.

The state of Me.

People. I am LOSING MY MIND!
To wit: I forgot picture day at Helen's school. I wrote her conference date down and promptly switched it to another day in my mind. Her teacher had to call and reschedule. I couldn't blame writing it down wrong because I wrote it down correctly. I've forgotten about other activities and places we needed to be. I show up to teach Sunday school and it's not my Sunday. *le sigh*

I only have room in my brain for one thought at a time, and God forbid it's competing with another thought because one will always lose.

My friend Debra says to tell myself that I am not forgetful and that God can help me remember things (in other words, do not succomb to that ol' self-fulfilling prophecy of telling myself I'm a forgetter). Jimmy is getting me a 2-month giant whiteboard calender that I'll have no choice but to check on a daily basis. He's also in charge of telling me every night to look at the calender.

So sorry, no cute kid pics this time. Just requests to pray for my sanity and peace of mind.

I did have a picture that I wanted to post, but we never took it (forgot the camera-are you surprised?). My good friends Debbie, Karen, and Lynnette went to a Women of Faith conference this past weekend. What a great time that was! I heard some very inspirational speakers (one even spoke to my remembering issues) and some great music. Sandy Patti sang, and so did Mandisa. This young woman, who was on American Idol (which I do not watch) in the season that the prematurely grey-haired guy won (see, I don't even know his name-Hicks or someother), turned out to be a wonderful surprise. She has a gorgeous voice (the people who vote on this show obviously have no idea what a great voice is) and her story is very inspiring. She won more than a few new fans, I think.

It was great to see my girls, even though Karen got a nasty flu bug and missed the Saturday conference. I cannot believe I've known my college friends for 24 years now (!), and Debbie and I have enjoyed a 36-year friendship. Those numbers boggle my already beleaguered mind so I'd better go take a nap and take my Geritol.

But first, this: pinkyd, have you seen this yet? Hi-larious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos

We made it

So I went away last week-end and we all survived. Stop reading now if you do not want TMI re: my boobs, and come back in a few sentences. I was going to wean the baby, but MAN! did those things hurt come Saturday afternoon. When I got home on Sunday the baby came snuffling around and I let him have at it. Guess neither of us is ready to let it go yet.


Okay, come on back....

The weather in Manzanita was GORGEOUS! And what a nice, little protected beach they have there with Neah Kah Nie mountain on one side and....whatever on the other. People were out and about enjoying themselves on the Oregon Coast like I hadn't seen in some time. And it was a fruitful time - I completed about 32 album pages in DJ's scrapbook, from 6 months to 9 months old. Yes, that's a lot of pages for 3 months, but hey! My kids will always know what they looked like as babies, unlike their poor parents who have little (Sena) or no (Jimmy) pictures of their babyhood. With the exception of much interrupted sleep, those left back in Sherwood didn't suffer too much. I am always impressed when Jimmy does stuff that I probably wouldn't, like take all 3 children to play at McDonald's. He even got them ready for Sunday school on time!






I tried to take some artsy fartsy pictures of the sunset...














Here is evidence that I do not always sit in front of the computer while my children run amok in the house. We actually get out the art materials every now and again!












Helen had her fun run last Friday. Any of my old 4-H buddies will appreciate this: I sewed on strips of patching material, a bell on the front rim, and two sets of buttons to make a clacking noise when she ran. Yes, I can still wield a needle and thread.

We have some great apples on our tree this year. I love watching the kids eat them (James is screaming, "APPP!" as he sees this picture).

Go Beavs!

OSU Beavers - 27
USC Trojans -21

Hahahahahahahaha! Now where's the OSU shirt I stashed away....?

Shouldn't every post begin with a picture of a cute dog? Helen took this picture of Kelsey at some point. We finally uploaded pictures from her camera and she's quite the photogropher. Also, she makes some great videos. We'll have to get them up at photobucket and let you all take a gander.

School is progressing nicely for the two eldest children. Helen's teacher has

very nice things to say about Helen - which is great because the girl doesn't say anything at home. DJ is having a more difficult time than he did his first week. He's getting to the point where he doesn't want me to leave after I drop him off and he tells me that he cries sometimes :( But the good news is that he hasn't had any potty accidents at school (I'm knocking on top of the computer desk as I type this).

Here's a picture of him at the school's jogathon.

Helen's school BBQ was last week. The boys and I joined her for a picnic on the front grounds. The school got the local firefighters to grill the burgers and here's their ride. The boys were in heaven looking up close at a fire engine.

I'm gearing up for a scrapbooking weekend at the coast this Friday. The baby is still nursing at night and occasionally during the day. Guess we'll be going cold turkey to wean him. I've got mixed feelings about it. I'm really looking forward to having some productive alone time, but I'm not that eager to leave the baby at this stage. It's probably for the best, as I don't think he'll ever get weaned if we keep going on like we do.

Y'all might want to give Jimmy a call on Saturday night; see how he's holding up - make sure the kids haven't tied him up or locked him in the cupboard under the stairs :)

Watch out, Nastia!

Helen wanted to take a gymnastics class, but they're 70 minutes long. Can you imagine trying to entertain the boys while she's doing her thing? But God was watching out for us...they offer a class for 3 year-olds at the same time, for 45 minutes, and DJ was game to try it. So they both get to do something fun, and then I only have to entertain James, and then DJ for a short time. AND...Metro (in Tualatin) has remodeled in the 2 years since we were last there and they've got this great upstairs observation area with toys and television monitors. And you can see your kids wherever they're at in the apparatus rotation. Cool!

So of course we missed the first lesson because we didn't sign up till last week, so we didn't know about a very special guest that was at the gym on Tuesday. There were all sorts of group pictures being taken and then a long autograph line. I had to ask another mom who the guy was. It was Paul Hamm, the Olympic Gymnast who won gold in 2004. Dude is pretty short. The kids seemed thrilled.

Helen nearly busted her nose falling while attempting a handstand, and DJ made me hold his hand for the first 15 minutes (at the same time I was holding onto James and wearing a 20 pound backpack), but I snuck away when they changed location. He ended up having a great time.

He just needs to try and take a nap between preschool and gymnastics class on Tuesdays. Hahahahahahahah. I tried 3 different times to get him to nap today, and he would NOT. I even drove around after Helen came home, and went to a park in Newberg to tire him out. He didn't fall asleep on the way home, and then he went into complete meltdown after we came back. The kid gets so tired but just won't give it up, and then it becomes a way bad scene. The good news is that out of 3 days of preschool, he hasn't wet his pants. *knocks on wood*

School Daze

The house is much quieter with Helen off to school. She's a second grader this year, but you wouldn't know it. She was not very eager to go back and has been quite shy, not even playing with her friends at recess. I think she just needs to ease back into the swing of things. At least I got her to buy some new clothes. Isn't this a cute "first day of school" outfit?

That night she lost her first tooth. There was a bit of drama because it was very loose and she was greatly bothered, but she let Jimmy pull it out. What a brave girl! And the tooth fairy left her a nice, new gold dollar coin.

And then there's DJ. I signed him up for pre-school, just because. I have since gone back and forth about if he really needs it. Mostly it's because he's not interested in potty training. He's pee'd on the carpet more than Kelsey ever did. Yesterday he did it in Helen's closet, all over her shoes (what is he, a vengeful cat?). And let's not even mention the poop. Helen was at least able to ask for a pull-up when she needed to poop and refused to do it in the toilet. DJ just stands there and does it in his underwear. That is a gross thing to clean up, let me tell you. But I had a nice conversation with my sister Christi, a preschool teacher, and she told me it's great that DJ has an activity he can call his own. Poor middle children often get pulled into the orbits of their older and younger siblings, but if school is a good fit for him, he'll have it all to himself.

So Tuesday after we get back from taking Helen to school, I get a phone call from DJ's preschool. "Where is DJ?"

"School starts today?" Uh....I thought it started Thursday. But it worked out well - we went to see his teacher after school that day and he got to see the classroom and playground and talk to his teacher without the other kids around. Like she said, I was busy enough getting Helen ready, and trying to get DJ ready too might have sent us 'round the bend. So we dropped him off this morning and all went well. Neither of us cried - the two other boys that were there were really wailing for their moms, so I guess that's good. And the teacher and her helper both told me not to worry about the potty thing. What lovely ladies!

Now James is asleep and I have the peace and quiet I don't get very often. My parents will be here soon - James has an appointment at OHSU this afternoon and they're watching the big kids. Hopefully this will be our last trip up there. James is now eating well and I don't think it should be a concern anymore.

Now I'm off to enjoy a grown-up show. Our TiVO has several episodes of last season's shows that I never watched. Maybe I'll get to see them before the new shows start!

The 'Ol State Fair

I hadn't yet recuperated from our camping trip and Jimmy starts talking about going to the State Fair. When I was less than enthusiastic he accused me of wanting to be lazy and sit around and watch TV.

Ok, okay, I said. We can go. Who doesn't love the State Fair, after all?

He said he'd be home by 2:30 on Friday. I made some noise about that being kind of late, and he assured me we'd only be there for 3 hours anyway.

It turned out to be more than 4. That's what I love about the State Fair. There's so much to do! We looked at livestock, sat on tractors, ate junk, watched Chinese acrobats, rode rides, and ate more junk.

The kids LOVED the petting zoo.

I was surprised that James wanted to pet the animals. But he was in 7th heaven.

And when it came time for the rides he really wanted to get on. Too bad the only thing he can ride is the merry-go-round. He loved it.

Last year DJ wasn't tall enough for most of the kiddie rides, but this year he was. Unfortunately it was going on 9pm so the kids only got a couple rides each. Can you believe the carousel was $4 each? Man, rides are expensive.

Hey look! We saw Obama! Couldn't pass up the chance for a photo op.

And then they all fell asleep on the way home and got to go to bed in their clothes and without brushing their teeth.

So. A trip to the coast was had. It was a...trippy trip. Why oh why did I ever think it would be a good idea to take my 3 kids on a camping trip? Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking the dog while we were gone. If I'd have had to deal with her as well as the children I might have returned with no hair.

So we headed to Florence, SUV loaded to the gills and just this side of Mapleton I hear from the back seat, "Mom! DJ's throwing up!" Oh yes, he did. We stopped, cleaned him up, and then the baby started screaming. So we stuffed food in everyone's mouths (except DJ) and got back underway.

We had just enough daylight for Jimmy to get the tent set up, and we had to go with sandwiches instead of steak for dinner because of the time. Then of course we had to do s'mores. So now it's going on 10 or so and it's time to get ready for bed. I knew I should have gotten myself ready first so I could deal with the children, but Jimmy jumped the gun. When he took the baby in the tent he started screaming bloody murder (James, not Jimmy). I'm trying to take out my contacts, by lantern light, brush my teeth, and batten down the hatches for the night, and all the while James screams on. Finally I'm done and then the screws really turn. Helen is unahppy with the sleeping arrangements and becomes disagreeable. DJ starts screaming because everyone else is screaming, and he ends up with the me and the baby, who is finally starting to calm down, and then the baby starts up again because DJ is invading his space and oh my god will it ever stop? Jimmy ends up scrunched under DJ's youth-sized sleeping bag because he's trying to keep the peace and we finally all drift off.

I wake up just and hour or so later, butt on the ground, because the stupid air mattress is leaking. We just bought a brand-new one because the old one leaked and this wasn't any better. Sidebar - the air mattresses that cost over $100 tend to keep their air. We obviously didn't spend that much. Then you all know me. I had to pee. Stupid bathroom lights are turned off. Have you ever gone to the bathroom while trying to hold a flashlight? Tricky!

Next day, showers. Jimmy and I spent all week trying to figure out how this would work. They had a handicapped shower stall, fairly big, and we all crammed in. Soaped, rinsed and dressed each kid seperately and tried to keep them away from the water afterwards. DJ falls in a puddle first thing after he's dressed.

We're all cleaned up and ready to explore Honeyman state park, and the baby falls asleep. The two big kids and I rode bikes to the playground. That was fun. Came back to camp just in time for baby to wake up and we went for lunch at Mo's. Gotta have some Mo's clam chowder when you're on the coast, you know. Then it was time to go to the beach. And the boys fell asleep. So Helen and I hiked over the dune to the beach (we were at North Jetty). It's been awhile since I was at that park, and I'd forgotten that there were some sand dunes to cross. We jumped a few waves then Helen wanted to make sand castles. And guess where the sand toys were? The back of the truck. I was so excited to make a real castle with our molds, and then I forget them. I'm not crossing that dune just to get a few toys. I think we did all right though.

Next was a stop at Freddies. How great is it that Florence finally got one of those? We filled up with gas and Jimmy got a sleeping bag, and the indgredients I'd forgotten for French Toast. (Monday morning conversation -"Are all the dry ingredients packed?" -Jimmy. "Uh, I think so... just a minute..." *Sena gets distracted by something or someone* *Jimmy assumes all is well, but ingredients for french toast and pancakes are left behind*)

We had Jimmy's yummy steak that night and left the dishes to go on a family bike ride. That was probably the highlight of the trip. We rode until it was too dark to see. A much better evening routine followed, except for the part where I was up twice to pee and the mattress still lost air. I decided to get up after I had a dream that I was back home in my comfy bed with the bathroom not 10 feet away from said bed. My grand plan was to make a fire, make some coffee, and sit down with my book. Great plan, except for the part where it started raining right after I built the fire. I instead showered, and returned to camp to find 2 out of three children awake. Jimmy and decide to break camp, but then the drizzle stops. I made breakfast (after all, we did buy stuff) b ecause I knew the kiddos couldn't make it until after we packed up. I started raining in earnest while we ate. DJ and Helen abandoned ship to return to the tent, but James and I finished our food. The rain tapered off and the kids and I walked the garbage to the cans and wandered the park while Jimmy put almost everything away. By himself. The man's a saint, I tell you.

A stop at the Gingerbread Village for lunch and respite and Mom and Dad's for a few hours, and we were ready to come home. No one fell into the firepit, but James fell off the picnic table bench about 500 times. DJ finally got the hang of riding his bike, except for using the brakes. For stopping he uses his toes. We need to get him some steel-toed boots. I told Helen how happy I was that they were riding their bikes so much (they rode in front of our site all the time) and she said it was because there was nothing else to do :)

Was it worth it? You tell me.

Summer Olympics - BMX racing

I was furious when I heard that the International Olympic Committee was dropping baseball and softball and adding BMX racing. And I thought synchronized diving was a weird sport.

But then I watched a race. And another. And another. And I kinda changed my mind about it. I think it's because it reminds me of playing Super Mario Kart. I kept expecting to see the bikers do a trick when they caught air and get a speed boost when they landed :)

Here's a link to a montage of great jumps from this year's competition.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0820_SD_CBB_MN_L1033

I'm off to watch a video of the spectacular crashes next.

But first I have to take another opportunity (some of you have heard this already) to complain about the bikinis worn by the female beach volleyball players. Now I'm no prude, but those skimpy things just seem wildly inappropriate. Lest I be accused of gender bias, let me also point out the skimpiness of the male divers' speedos. Good thing those are cinched on tight or we might be getting a peep show when they land in the water.

Debut post

I've decided to take the plunge and try this blogging thing. I thought this would be a nifty way to keep in touch with friends and family (actually I got tired of googling myself and having nothing show up).

So how 'bout I start with a picture of me and the kids at the Coast last weekend? We (Mom, Dad, Christi, Laurel, Tommy, Andrea, Ted, Jimmy, the kids, and myself) went to Florence to spread Lisa (and Marty's) ashes on what would have been her 48th birthday. It was almost 100 degrees in the valley and the Coast was foggy, dark, and stormy. It was like Lisa special ordered the weather for us!

Laurel booked this nifty executive suite at Driftwood Shores for everyone. We stayed down the road a piece at another motel because Driftwood Shores is NOT PET FRIENDLY! Lisa used to sneak her kitty in when she stayed there, but we didn't think we could fit Kelsey under our coats.

Our little family is headed back there next week for a 3-day stay at Honeyman state park. We had to buy a new tent (14'x12'), a sleeping bag for DJ, and another air mattress. I hope we can fit everything in that sucker. Jimmy and I got bikes and we had to buy a 5 bike hitch for his Yukon. We are going to be loaded to the gills. I'm sure we'll be getting about 5 miles to the gallon this trip.

There you have it. I hope some of you will join me in the blogosphere and we can have a party. Creating an account is FREE and then you can leave comments and such - maybe even start your own blog!