Adams Family Inferno

gratitude and stuff

2012-11-24T23:32:00.003-08:00

Sort of a hodge podge of Halloween and Thanksgiving, but I have been doing some photo editing and thought I'd do a quick update. So grateful for my family and for the holiday season. Two of my favorite things!!

Optimus Prime

A "cute pirate" with her friend from school, Katarina

Trunk or treat at the church, with BFF's from school. Kiara was Cleopatra this year.

Spencer was a crazy Judge or something like that.

Caden got to dress up for his Pilgrim and Indian Thanksgiving Dinner at his preschool. Mustard Seed has been a great school this year!

Love these kiddos!

My TEENAGER. So weird that I am old enough to say such things.

Happy Holidays!!

The benefits of having an older brother...

2012-05-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

Levi played soccer for a couple of years before football called his name, but he had a great coach. The coach has two sons, one Levi's age and one that is Kiara's age. Several years ago, he invited Kiara to play on his younger son's team b/c they needed extra players one spring. Kiara held her own surprisingly well at that age and has played with his team ever since. This last year, however, he decided to consolidate and just coach his 12 year old's team and let his 9 year old play on the team. We were disappointed b/c the coach is really that great, but as luck would have it the 12 year old boy team was short a player and he invited Kiara again to be on the team. Kiara loves it!

You can't really tell from the picture, but she just scored. The best part about it was that she had scored in the game the week before and a boy on the team bet she'd not ever score again...he bet in pushups and he had to do them mid game (and ended up with a yellow card from the ref who thought it was poor sportsmanship). The smile never left Kiara's face the rest of the game.

So despite the teasing, the endless fighting, and the tears caused from constantly being bested by an older brother...it has its benefits on the soccer field!

Yup, I am on it...

2012-04-09T20:47:00.019-07:00

I know, I am posting holiday pictures the DAY AFTER THE HOLIDAY! Not even weeks, or my more traditional...MONTHs! Yay! I am editing pictures b/c I went a little crazy with my camera this weekend, but that is partly b/c the sun came out. I know, hard to believe that we in Oregon see the sun, but when it comes out, it is a day to celebrate and as it turns out, a day to take pictures.

We had a super fun Easter weekend, first visiting Olympia for a BBQ (and the hugest easter egg hunt ever, baseball fun, soccer fun, and just hanging out with the fam fun), and then Sunday we went to Ridgefield for a yummy Easter dinner and another easter egg hunt. SO grateful for wonderful family to celebrate Easter with. It was a great weekend.

This is what four dozen hard-boiled, decorated eggs look like. And, as opposed to my grouchy Pumpkin Carving Post late last year, we had a delightful time decorating and designing our millions of eggs as a family. Never fear, we found every single hidden egg and followed all life-threatening egg hiding procedures. No one has died yet...

Not sure why we are completely incapable of a simple smile for the camera. Completely. Incapable.
Completely. Capable.Completely. Capable.

Levi named all of his eggs and they each had a face.

I did not notice the twig until after I put this in the blog. She was heavily invested in finding lots of well-hidden eggs in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard!
Wondering why the completely incapable was caught smiling? He was actually being a turd and I happened to accidentally catch him smiling b/c he thought he was being funny. If you look closely, you can see the devilish look in his eye.

So sad this little ball of cuteness doesn't live closer to us, b/c she is seriously the light of the party. Such an adorable little thing and she often shouts clearly: "WAIT FOR ME!" and knows every single aunt, uncle, and cousin's first name by sight! Love this little girl!!
Is it possible to be overwhelmed by adoration? If so, I am sure Matt is overwhelmed. Caden LOVES Uncle Matt. This is just one of about a million Caden clinging to Matt pictures.
I have sooo many more pictures, hard to choose which ones to put in, and I won't give false promises of adding the rest of them later, but just know this is but a small snippet of our Easter weekend fun! :)
Wait, so this is NOT a punctual picture, but we made these for St. Patrick's day and they were SO fun. Lime sherbet ice cream with 7-up. Just wouldn't be right if I didn't have at least one totally outdated picture. :)

When I am a dad I won't get angry...

2012-03-10T12:27:00.002-08:00

Caden has been telling us lately how to parent, and how he will do things differently when he is a dad. This segment is what he is going to do when his kids fight. Oh, and the shiner is from falling at the park, NOT from fighting. :)

Daddy Daughter Valentine's Dance

2012-02-18T18:51:00.006-08:00

For the last couple of years, my dad, my brother Derek, and Spencer take all the girls to a special Valentine's day dance. We opted to step it up a notch this year and they went to an even nicer venue in OREGON CITY. 45 minute drive for all this bliss! From what I hear, it was well worth the extra drive.

The girls and their cousin Ashley after dinner.
My dad and all the girls.
This is scanned in...thus the quality issues...

Ummm...I did not tell her to make this pose. The girl is comfortable in front of a camera, what can I say?
For the girls, this year it was all about the earrings. Dangly, sparkly, or heart shaped? So many choices.
For me, the dance was all about the HAIR. Love an excuse for a fancy updo!
This was supposed to be a heart shape...can you tell? Emma could, and that is all that really matters, right? :)
I got reports that it was the most fun year ever, great food, great music, and of course, good company!

Funny how that happens...

2012-01-15T23:29:00.000-08:00

Do I sound like a broken record? I am for sure going to stay caught up on my blog. Starting now. Okay, really, I won't. I am editing tons of pictures for my annual "blurb book" that I give to the family for Valentine's day and so I am sitting and staring at pictures for hours on end. My kids love to look at these books, so it is all worth it in the end, but my eyes start to gloss over from staring at the computer screen for so long! I figured I'd add some to the blog while the other ones are uploading to my blurb book. Here are some favorites from the month of December, for a bit of a recap.
Over Christmas break we decided to learn how to skate, spent lots of time and way too much money at the skating rink, but it beat video games and 46 neighborhood kids begging to play all break long! Levi is wreckless and I can't watch him skate, Caden is a nightmare can't even get in one good stride, and the girls took right to it. We ended up getting them skates for Christmas, though ironically we have not been back since. Hmmm....

Caden turned 4 (this is out of order but I am too lazy to cut and paste).Those are spider web cupcakes though they are a bit pink and blue rather than red and blue. Fortunately, he didn't complain TOO much about it.

Gingerbread house decorating. Our annual tradition that I sort of loathe (remember how I feel about pumpkin decorating? This falls into that category...just going for fun mom points and I need as many as I can get).
Can't forget the annual employee party, where I get to sit awkwardly and make small talk with lots of drunk people who I don't know. Always an awkward night, though it is always a fun chance to dress up and go out on the town with my man!

This is a well known pose at our house. Caden has two group poses, he either squeezes your neck till you are near choking...or we have to point or touch a random object.
Another birthday picture (again, out of order, again lazy...but hey at least I am blogging).
The boys all got shot guns for Christmas (never seen my husband so excited about a gift in his life...despite his rather grim expression...), and after all was said and done my mom asks "you are okay with him having a gun in the house?" Since my mom also got a shotgun, a pigeon disk shooter thingy and a GLOCK, she is obviously more of a gun fan than I am (and she can really shoot too...not a fake gun fan, a real gun fan). But the boys have gone shooting several times now and their obvious delight has softened the blow somewhat...
All of the girlies in our matching Christmas outfits.

Short and rather boring post, but I am not going to promise anything more inspiring since I will clearly just not get around to it and it isn't like I need more opportunities to remind myself of my shortcomings!! Happy New Year!!

Whirlwind of Tday Bliss Day 1

2011-11-29T19:50:00.001-08:00

We managed to seriously squeeze in a lot over Thanksgiving this year. This post will cover our first day. After Spencer played some Turkey Bowl football, and I finished a beastly crossfit workout (my hands are still raw from so many dead lifts!), we headed to Olympia to visit Spencer's family. Even though it is only 2.5 hours away, we don't make it out there very often. This is particularly unfortunate b/c the kids absolutely ADORE their uncles and drive everyone a little crazy with the constant wrestling (though Matt and Nathan usually have their own style of wrestling that involves dogpile push ups, timing the kids to see how long they can stand on someone's back, or swinging, throwing or catapulting children in the air or middle of the room). The kids go crazy they are having so much fun, and the adults just try and talk over the mayhem.

Dishing up on the goods...

Benson and Devon...
Kiara and the cutest 2 year old EVER. Poor thing is bombarded by every aunt, uncle, and cousin in the room vying for her attention.

Some of the musically talented in the group serenaded us with music. The Adams family has some serious musical talent (and Spencer went and married me!!).

Me attempting a plate craft, that was decidedly done better by my more craftier girls.

A more or less failed attempt at a clever cousin group shot. No idea why Emma felt the need to cross her eyes, and poor Sula had had enough.

Almost succeeded with the boy only pyramid, Devon couldn't' resist the urge to burst off the top of the pyramid in every attempted pic.

Did I mention cutest baby ever???

Okay, so my baby is pretty cute too, and don't remind me...not a baby anymore. :( Too bad the only thing he ate on that plate was the roll, thus the devious grin.

Stay tuned...the next day we head to Ridgefield for more food, bowling, shooting range, and Leinenbach fun. Followed by Christmas tree acquisition (resulting in our largest tree ever), and a perfectly delightful Jon Schmidt piano concert. Might be the best weekend EVER!!

Cookie Backwash and Middle School Drama

2011-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Monday evening Levi came sheepishly downstairs, holding a poem he had written in class that day. He started his sad confessional with the words "the teacher put this poem in my file. She said my writing is unintelligent, a poor attempt at humor, and inappropriate". Apparently the boy who had to edit the poem found it offensive and brought it to the teacher's attention.

Naturally I panicked. What in the WORLD did he say in his poem that would have him put on "file" and caused his teacher to be this upset? I never should have allowed him to buy himself an xbox! Maybe b/c we let him watch Harry Potter movies and they were PG-13? Haven't we taught him anything? Immediately angry with him, I demanded to read the poem. He nervously and apologetically handed it over. I read it out loud for my husband to hear:

My Winter Poem

Winter tastes like cookies freshly baked. With eggnog to drink, leftover milk that Santa had not finished may not only taste like cookie backwash, but it might attract the reindeer.

Levi Adams (6th Grade Humanities)

I had to re-read it twice before the panic subsided. I asked if it was his reference to Santa that was offensive? No, it wasn't even THAT logical. This poem was put in his file b/c of the word BACKWASH.

Unfortunately, my panic, and fear turned immediately to RAGE. What teacher would tell a child his writing is unintelligent (ever) when he was cleverly (imo) describing eggnog? I spent the whole night drafting an email to send to the teacher. I could hardly sleep that night.

The best part is her placid and pathetic reply to my email. She claimed that she felt he was testing her to see how far he could go with inappropriate writing. She thought he was opening a door to push the limits. Not a single apology for her comments was made, but she did graciously remove the copy of the poem from his file and did also say (my favorite part) that she "may have" misinterpreted his intentions and that the fact he talked to me about it shows that he probably did not mean any 'harm or malice' in his remarks.

Two days later and my shaking rage is beginning to subside. Stripped of sarcasm, humor and creativity, his poem was finally acceptable to his classmates and teacher. Middle school in suburban America at its finest.

Halloween Part 2

2011-10-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

The girls invited some of their favorite friends for this year's trunk or treat. The giggling, wooping, and squealing could be heard from miles away when these girlies arrived.
Quite possibly my favorite of Spencer's costumes. We found this full genie costume it at Goodwill for $6! Love Goodwill!

Griping about Halloween Part 1 (Part 2 will be the classic, cheerful costume and aren't my kids adorable post)

2011-10-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Corn maze at Plumper Pumpkin Patch. Luckily I have Caders who is still my baby b/c...

We had to practically drag Levi in from neighborhood football fun outside to carve pumpkins this year (don't get me started), but once inside he remembered that he actually liked carving pumpkins. Well, I think he remembered, but looking at this picture closely his smile looks a little less genuine than I was hoping for!
Emma has a blue glow to her b/c she was at a friend's house who apparently has lots of blue eye shadow available. Or it could also be the fact that she is sad b/c we had to ground her just prior to carving for not coming home after her playdate (with blue eye shadow friend) and going straight over to neighbor's house without telling us and after almost 2 hours of wondering where she was and canvasing the area, she waltz' in the room like she just got home from the FIRST playdate. Missing the whole GUTTING portion of pumpkin carving (the best part of course!)

Deep breath, sweet baby who thinks the pumpkin patch is AWESOME and loves to hang out with me and thinks my fun ideas are great!
While at our ward's Trunk or Treat, I marveled at all of the Southern Bells, the beautiful princesses with fancy hair, heart-melting pink and purple ballerinas, lady bugs (with wings and cute hair buns!), and other adorably clever costume creations. Then I looked at my table where we had fought all afternoon on whether or not they could have blood coming out of the corners of their mouth (I hate bloody costumes). Fortunately, since I am mom, I won. However, they definitely weren't winning any beauty contests with these costumes. Kiara is a zombie cheerleader (she has pom poms and a skirt to match) and Emma was some sort of dead, zombie-witch, frankenstein bride combo of her own design. No more princesses at our house.

Levi wore his football uniform b/c he had to come late and straight from practice. He whined the whole way to the church b/c he claimed to have too much homework to go to Trunk or Treat. I told him he needed to live a little. Hmmphf.

Kiara finished her pumpkin just in time to play outside for a few more minutes before dark. Roasted pumpkin seeds anyone? Let's set these masterpieces outside and marvel at who made the scariest pumpkin! Anyone? Anyone? Let's sit on the bench in our PJ's after lighting the pumpkin candles and watch the flames flicker! Anyone? How about our annual after carving family picture? Clearly, no one. hmmphf.

Caden's creation won scariest pumpkin award this year. Entirely by default since everyone else was either playing outside, or in time-out for playing outside too long, or possibly, and most likely, no one else even cared which pumpkin was scariest! Sniff.

Oh, did I mention he wants me to read him stories and begs for me to play Legos and holds my hand when we cross the street, at the grocery store, and sometimes while I am cooking? Thank goodness for Spiderman. A super hero who is brave, caring, cute and doesn't have blood coming out of his mouth.

At least not this year.

Grouchy post today. :)

Negligent Blogger

2011-10-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I fell off the bandwagon pretty big time. Fall starts and my life gets so crazy I can't even begin to think about blogging or really anything I used to do. My life consists of volunteering in classes, taking kids to soccer, soccer, piano, piano, dance, dance, scouts, football, then helping with homework (times three!), and I am working a little part time from home now too so life just got super hectic. I am hoping now that sports are starting to wrap up (Emma finished soccer last week) that I can get into my routine again. I also injured my calf playing soccer last week, which sort of forced me to slow down which despite my craziness of not being able to exercise like i usually do, it is probably good for me to slow down a bit. Here is a little catch up of the summer, and the beginning of fall. I am hoping to pick up the pace and keep up with this a little better b/c my kids love it and it is my sole form of journaling anymore!

Summer and berries...my favorite combo. We have the best berry farms around here. SO much fun!
I bet no one can guess which legs are Levi's. :)

Levi got his much coveted BMX bike for his birthday with back pedals to give people rides. This is his adorable cousin Ella on the back.

Derek's daughter Ashley got baptized. These are all the girl cousins on my side of the family.

Emma really improved on her soccer skills this year, I didn't know if she had it in her last year, but I saw some of her siblings' fire in her eyes this year. Course, she still loves to dive into the goal and do cartwheels down the field, but there is a glimmer of hope!!

Emma first day of school in 1st grade. My days without Emma home are just not the same. Quiet for one, a little boring for two, Caden and I both miss her during the day.

Caden in 4's preschool. He is still 3, but he is so huge that he dwarfed all the three year olds. Youngest of 4 kids, he needed to be in the older class. Three days a week of preschool is delightful for both of us. I get a few hours to work, or run errands and he gets to play with his buddies. He loves it and so do I!
Levi took the leap into middle school this year. I may yet write a whole post about this. I had a hard time with it, and he has turned over a new leaf. He cares about his grades, wants to work hard, and just seems to be growing up right before my eyes. Middle school is also a little terrifying to me, when I take him to school I feel a little pit in my stomach of jumbled feelings and I have a hard time letting him go, but he is definitely ready.
Kiara first day of 4th grade. Her outfit fits her personality so perfectly. A little frilly skirt...with high top converse? Cute but spunky...definitely Kiara.
Levi is number 87, having a fun season. He has found his new favorite position: Linebacker. He isn't very big, but still manages to hold his own. We love football season in this house!
Kiara is still a little monster soccer player. I will be really sad if she ever decides to give this sport up, so much fun to watch her play.

More to come, I have high hopes of getting my game back on!! :)

Fourth of July fun fun fun

2011-07-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

So over the years we have sold soda at the Ridgefield parade, and have never been terribly successful...no need for long details but we've never made a dime on the soda sales when all is said and done. This year, we tried a couple of different marketing techniques. First, we used a fancy lemonade stand, decked out with flags and advertisements. Perhaps more effectively we charged half the price of our competitors...50cents a can. The kids couldn't get the soda out fast enough. They made (after paying all the fairly substantial overhead fees) almost $70! AND, Levi made it into the Reflector for his soda stand. Overall, total success.
After adding baby soap and boogie boards, the slip and slide has been perfected. (Spencer was having fun here, I promise!)

Darn the strangle hold on Levi, b/c it would be such a cute picture otherwise!!
I made a beast of a fruit pizza, super yummy (if I do say so myself) but spent most of the afternoon preparing it so probably only be made on special occasions. Or not ever again (more likely scenario).
I never anticipated being one of those people who takes pictures of flowers, but I technically am one of those people now. Maybe I am officially aging...
Emma picking strawberries in Boppa's garden.
Emma...being Emma.
My dad has cherry trees, and even though they aren't all the way ripe (still down right sour...) the kids were eating them like crazy. Such a perfect summer evening!
It wouldn't be right if I didn't post a few pictures of the girls' hair???

The girls got their fingernails painted red and blue to match their face paint, and hair accessories, and patriotic outfits (I DO love the 4th of July).
Caders outside playing with Ashley and Ella's dog Zoey. He LOVES that dog. Pretty sure the dog suffers night terrors from being carried, poked, chased, and prodded by this adoring 3 year old!

Summer: Not quite, but almost

2011-06-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Jogathon at school. Emma with two of her favorite friends, Rainey and Sam. She was a great little runner, I was impressed!
Poor Caden is phasing out of his naps, but gets to stay up late with the big kids playing outside with friends. Finally took its toll when we were just finishing up dinner to notice Caders out cold sitting upright! So funny.

Disneyland

2011-05-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

We have been planning this trip for almost a year now, and have been anxiously looking forward to it. We decided we wanted to surprise the kids with the news. So after school, I told them we had to pick up dad from work. When Spencer got into the car, we put the DVD in and it was "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and after the intro song, I popped onto the screen and said a few words and then Spencer zoomed in on pieces of paper that said "We are..." "Going to..." "Disneyland..." "Right Now..." you could have heard the screams from another state! They were soo excited. The flight over went smooth, and our hotel was beautiful. The first picture is our view from our balcony of the swimming pools.

We went with our friends the Guse's, and their cute cute kiddos.

The kids each got a pair of sunglasses in their plane bags (we don't need things like SUN glasses in Oregon haha), and Levi was apparently pretty happy about these...
Caden's sunglasses were "Batman" and I am pretty sure he didn't take them off the whole trip. Inside, outside, awake or asleep he had them on!!

California screaming...yes, I screamed the whole time. This ride was definitely one of our favorites!!
We got two early entries as part of our hotel package, and Disneyland closed at midnight...needless to say, Caden was beyond exhausted. He was a really good sport though and his lack of height was an advantage b/c we didn't have to wait in very many lines for the bigger rides b/c of the stroller pass. Nice!

The most amazing balloon expert (hmmm...not sure the official title for this!) came to our restaurant and our sweet friends got the kids some balloons. They were amazing! Spiderman, aliens, crazy hats, pirate swords, you name it. We had a bit of an audience with all of the balloon dancing we did after dinner.
One of the highlights for me was seeing our good friends the Lauper's while we were there. Not only did the beautiful weather we enjoyed the whole trip make me miss California, but seeing Ryan and Arlene and their adorable boys made me miss it even more! We got to catch up for a bit, but it was definitely too short a visit!!

Imagine waiting in a 40 minute line to take a 30 second picture with Aladdin and Jasmine. I don't have to imagine such things...I got to experience it first hand. But, I did get to admire Jasmine's abs and Aladdin's eyebrows, which was sort of exciting. :)

Same long line, only this time no abs or eyebrows to admire, only Pluto.

Our flight home did NOT go smooth. We flew Alaska on our way home and they charged us for each checked bag (which we weren't aware of, and JetBlue on the way there did NOT charge for bags) so we last minute started consolidating and trying to carry on additional bags...which would have been annoying but tolerable except it ended up having all my toiletries, sunblock, and additional food items that we had to throw away. So $40 for bags, and probably $50+ worth of thrown away food/sunblock/etc. I was not happy. Then the flight was nearly two hours delayed, and we got home after midnight. Kiddos were tuckered out, but we made it. We definitely had the full Disneyland experience! Such a fun family trip!

Sisters Retreat

2011-05-07T20:21:00.001-07:00

This year I was finally able to make it happen and visit with my SIL's for their annual Sisters Retreat. It was on an island near Seattle, called Vashon Island. It was stunningly beautiful with the view of the mountains and the greenery and the water, very picturesque. We brought books and had a book review, did some crafty fun projects, ate lots of yummy food, did lots of shopping, played some games, and had uninterrupted adult chat time! WOW! It was super fun to get away, but I was definitely excited to see my familia when it was over. Here is just a small snippet of the pictures that were taken, but the only ones I have had time to edit/post.

Spencer's sisters Valerie and Gaylene.

Nora, Valerie, Gaylene, Jen, Roselyn at the lighthouse.

Nora and Gaylene

Group pictures taken with remote, while my camera was balanced on an ironing board and three books. :)

The Good Woman Part 2

2011-04-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

It is another rainy day here in the lovely land of Oregon. In my efforts to not slip into the pit of despair, I whipped up some play dough and withstood the temptation to turn on the TV. E and C played with play dough for over an HOUR! It was much better than "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" b/c I didn't feel guilty afterwards. :) I did have to spend 10 minutes on my knees plunking up play dough droppings, but I think it was still worth it. They made bugs and pizza, over and over, like 100 times. Childhood bliss and a happy mom!

Work From Home? E-book review

2011-04-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

My college degree sits dormant in a box somewhere in the garage. I don't regret or even mourn over the "lost" years staying at home raising my kids. I do, however, on occasion look forward to the day I can use some of my suppressed skills. I started several years ago doing a little freelance PR work and have absolutely enjoyed the chance to use some pent up brainpower and have a little budget-less spending money (oh how I adore having a little cash in my wallet!).

I am finding myself approaching a day where I might have FOUR children in school (Caden starts preK next fall. Eeek!) for a few hours during the week, and I can't help but daydream about all the possibilities!

I started looking into adding some more freelance work to my meager arsenal and came across an e-book titled "You Can Work in Your PJ's" by Sylvie Charrier. I asked if I could read the book and review it on my blog, and they kindly obliged.

I just finished this very lengthy book and will give my review below:

You Can Work in Your PJ's has a lot of great points. Sylvie didn't sugarcoat the amount of work required to start up your own business online, and she really broke down every detail required to do so.

Some good points:

The e-book has a money back guarantee, if you don't find yourself on board for starting an online business after reading her book, you can get your money back.
Upon ordering the e-book, you receive several other interesting articles, customer support, one on one online consulting, access to their member website, and quite a bit of additional material.
This book is HUGE, there is a ton of information. Really, it covers everything you need to know about telecommuting.
I finished feeling excited and having several good ideas on what I can do to expand my freelance business.
Straight forward, doesn't appear to beat around the bush about what is involved (tells you what you will like and not like about working from home, etc.)

Some not so good points:

Well, I mentioned previously, it is HUGE. I am not a fan of reading on the computer, but didn't want to print out a million pages, so that was a downfall for me. Though one can hardly complain about receiving too many tips and too much info about a topic you are interested in.
I wished there had been a little more focus on what to do for small time businesses (like mine), for instance a chapter titled "If You Don't Want to Work Full Time From Home, but Just Want to Make a Little Extra Cash" (maybe abbreviated a bit... :)). Designing my own website, and getting massive amounts of traffic, and customers and everything sounds awesome, but it is way bigger scale than I really ever intend to take my freelance biz.

Overall, if you are interested in starting a successful, full-time career from home, then I highly recommend this e-book. Click here to order.

Am I a good woman?

2011-03-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

Day 189,765 of non-stop rain seems to have put me in a funk. I am desperately trying to pull myself out of it, but by evening (or mid-morning as the day may be) I am right back in! I always joke about how funny (sad) it is, that I don't need Satan to tempt me or beat me down, b/c I do a right good job myself!

Let's count the ways I am falling short....hmmm...that always brings a smile to a mother's face!? Why do I do this to myself?

I started last week writing one thing each night in my journal that I am grateful for. While looking for things to be grateful for, it definitely helps my attitude and gives me an excuse to take more pictures! Going to do the age old ad em of looking for the positive. So, today I made homemade honey wheat bread, and the sight and smell instantly put everyone in a better mood. Not sure what it is about homemade bread that makes me feel like a good woman, but it did the job. AND, just as I was pulling the bread out of the oven, the sun peeked out of the seemingly endless and very dismal clouds! A little sunshine never hurts either...

Will it be a bad sign if all my gratitude picture posts are about food? Hmmm....

Call me Crazy

2011-03-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite days of the school year...crazy hair day.

We love Sula!

2011-03-12T22:22:00.001-08:00

Matt (Spencer's older brother), Jen and their little 15 month old Sula came and stayed with us for a bit this weekend and the kids were more excited than ever. I felt bad b/c my kids were so excited I don't think Matt, Jen or Sula could even hear any of our adult conversations, but we were grateful for the fun visit. Uncle Matt spent the majority of the time throwing the kids in the air, playing rock/paper/scissors, and doing LOTS of wrestling.

(I should mention that this is a picture of the kids wrestling with U. Matt, not spencer! They look so much alike that multiple people at Kiara's basketball game mistook Matt for Spencer. From the haircut, glasses and facial hair they could almost be twins!)

Meet Sula... seriously is there a cuter baby anywhere? I pretty much begged them to leave her with me for longer. She is as yummy as she looks. Wish they lived closer!!

Kiddie pictures and Daddy Daughter Ball

2011-02-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

Our cute valentine cards this year (copied idea from my super creative friend Becky), printed these at walgreens with heart borders and poked a small hole in where his hand is and put a sucker in. Turned out SOO cute. Thanks Becky!

Daddy daughter ball. Required special hair prep, and fancy dresses, corsages and all. The girls went out on the town with Dad, Uncle Derek, Boppa and their cousins. Spencer didn't take any pictures of the actual event (grrr...but he was too busy dancing the Macarena with the girls so he is forgiven!) so we will settle with some hair prep photos. ha!

Randomness

2011-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

I usually only get to practice with the little kids b/c the big kids are in school all day. But, we are having surprisingly beautiful sunny afternoons this week so I got some of Levi.
Since we aren't cake fans at this house, and Spencer has a serious love for ice cream, we tried a sinfully good ice cream cake. Titled "banana split ice cream cake". I am playing Game On! so I didn't get to try it, but i heard rave reviews.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2011-01-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

Bball and Girl Scout Cookies

2011-01-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

We started off the winter season of craziness. Three kids in basketball makes for a long Saturday! Spencer is either coaching or assistant coaching all of them too. Busy busy. But, I am grateful for more opportunities to practice taking different pictures!!

Kiara is in Girl Scouts and has to sell the infamous Girl Scout cookies. Only problem is, she wants the prizes and all the glory of selling lots of cookies, but she hates to actually do it (I do too!). Emma said in the car when Kiara was moaning about only having 7 boxes sold and how she wasn't even going to get any prizes: "I will wear your vest, and sell your cookies. I am not scared one bit!" So, she went to the basketball game, wearing Kiara's vest and sold......FORTY EIGHT BOXES! In less than an hour! She was 100% not afraid to ask anyone and everyone, and everyone was suckered into her cuteness. Now they are at almost 100 boxes, and we are officially one of the crazy Girl Scout sellers around here. Heaven forbid.

Levi is super aggressive when he plays basketball. If there is a jump ball, he ALWAYS comes out with it. And everyone better watch out!

Even the scorekeeper on the other side of the court was not exempt to the prowling saleswoman. Love that girl!!

Godfather and New Years

2011-01-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

We decided to start a new tradition this year, we had an Italian food night and watched The Godfather (I should add here that the DVD's are edited, in case anyone was worried :)) until midnight. We added some fondue at the end for treats during games too. Over Christmas break we went to central oregon for some Christmasy snow and fun. Such a fun Christmas break, i almost don't want it to end (provided Spencer stays home too of course!)

My cute SIL and my cute Mom.

Ringing in the new year with some bubbly.

Authentic Italian Soda (sanpellegrino limonata y aranciata), the kids thought they were in heaven (some of the adults did too!)
The salad might have been my favorite part of the meal. It was so yummy!
Bruschetta, yumm-o.
My dad was not a little proud of his manicotti. He cooks probably twice a year (at the most), and takes great pride in his creations. This particular one took him several hours to prepare. So cute.
Insalada caprese. My personal favorite italian dish ever.
The chalet. We got 4 inches of snow and it was a little bit of Christmas heaven.
I came home from our trip and New Years festivities with a need to run (went over 6 miles, though it didn't put a dent into my holiday damage I am sure), and a need to CLEAN. Got all of my Christmas stuff put away, went a little nuts reorganizing and purging through our house and even went so crazy as to recover all my dining room chairs. I need order in my life NOW!!! I did enjoy the Christmas chill while it lasted though....