Galbraith Mountain

My pal Maggie called this afternoon and invited us on a hike (Larry was on a 5 hour bike ride, which is all I'm going to say about that). Then 5 minutes later my mom called and said she wanted to go for a walk, did I have any suggestions? Why yes, let's join the Allen family and the Walker's on a hike!
Brady decided to be a first class pain in the rump, so I converged with Larry after his ride and dumped B and ran. He would have had a wonderful time, especially with his buddy Lucas, but I was in no mood to listen to him anymore, and didn't want to "reward" his attitude.
We hiked for almost 2 hours and there were two memorable quotes of the day. Lucas: "I think that boys and rocks match perfectly" and Natalie, on the way down the mountain whining quite a bit about being muddy and tired: "I'm getting a bit grumpy".
We had a wonderful time, the weather was pleasant (meaning it didn't rain, and I was comfortable in just a sweatshirt).
When we pulled into our driveway, Brady came running out of the house and gave me a big hug "did you have fun, mom?" "And I can go next time? With a good attitude?" (thank you Larry for whatever lecture you gave him!)

Kate and Maggie's boys inspecting a cold little snake.
One of the two very slow moving snakes.
The race is on! Trevor, Lucas, Maggie, Drake, and Natalie.
Yes, Tinkerbell is a wood nymph.
Party's over. I think Natalie is one of those girls who would rather lay by the poolside rather than get muddy running on trails.

Distasteful joke post

I found this on Larry's computer, I love word play humor.

Check and Check

So the kids and I headed to Walgreens, got my new knives at Macy's (and some Frango's too), visited with the Morris', got Natalie a haircut (and visited with the Gouran gang for a moment), hit Haggen to get more bread and such, and made 2, count them 2 turkey pot pies! The kids were just getting ready for bed when Annie (the movie) came on. How could I put them to bed with one of my favorite musicals playing on T.V.? My Grandma Alice (who was my universe) took me to the Clyde theatre when Annie came out in 1982, and I was a goner for the movie since then. I remember watching part of the movie reflected on the top of some man's chrome dome. I got a picture book, the record, an Annie doll, and an Annie wig (unfortunately it was itchy) for Christmas that year. Larry scolded me for having the children still awake when he got home... oops.

Black Friday

I fully intended on heading out of the house yesterday, there are some dog beds on sale at Walgreens and I've really got to replace those. For one, they reek. And two, Norman awakes every morning and comes out of his kennel white and fluffy. Apparently one of them has sprung a leak and everytime Norman prepares his bed, he gets a fresh coat of fuzz.

And Macy's has a great coupon that I've GOT to use today. Somehow all but 3 of my nice steak knives have gone missing through the years, and this weekend they are $30 off.

I am proud that we inadvertently took part in the underground (well not so underground in Bham, damn hippies) "Buy Nothing Day". Instead Larry and I cleaned our bedroom, I got 4 loads of laundry done, cleaned 90% of Brady's room, and... and well that's about it.

So on top of Walgreens, Macy's, Great Clips (Natalie's eyes have disappeared behind her hair), Haggen (out of bread for turkey sandwiches! Emergency, Emergency!), have lunch with Carly and introduce Huggins to my two (Carly's practice children); I've also got to try to find time to make a turkey pot pie tonight, we have an assload of turkey left, and then I was really efficient and we now have an assload of turkey stock too.

The only picture I took yesterday was of Brady's spring horse that I listed on Craigslist, so here is my favorite Comcast picture of the day:

Tired Turkey

If it weren't for the carcass simmering on my stovetop right now, I'd be unconscious. The whole family snuggled in bed tonight watching Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown and The story of the Mayflower and the first pilgrims Charlie Brown style.

We had a wonderful feast and my brother went home with plenty of leftovers (and I snuck some turkey to his little dog so she'd toot on him during the ride home. heh heh). I thought Brady might jump off the upper deck anticipating Uncle Richards arrival. He is just mad for "Uncle".


Natalie and I woke up this morning and watched the Macy's parade together (while I fought back tears every time a marching band or the Rockettes came on). She and I danced all over the living room like Rockettes, something I've never done before during the parade and I think it might be an exclusive experience that only daughters (girly ones anyway) have with their mama's. I could hardly get Brady to watch a balloon go by.

I am thankful that my mom lives so close to us this year, that my in-laws got to spend the day with family far away from us, that my brother got to spend the whole day up here, that Larry has a job where he gets to spend the holidays at home, that my friends all are in good health and happy, and that it's so damn cold outside that I can leave all the beverages on the porch to make room for leftovers and still enjoy a cold soda.

Little lunch ladies

The menu: PB&J/PB&H, Chips& Salsa, bananas, apple cider.

Brady had his good buddy Cameron over this afternoon to play, so Natalie had Riley all to herself. The girls decided to have lunch together and they sat at the table happily chatting, munching, and occasionally running downstairs to "check on the boys".

I actually braved Costco this evening, and the kids promised to behave (the lure of Costco pizza is magical). I got all my shopping done ( and we went late enough that there weren't any lines! Larry said the door counts were about 750 people and hour, and when I left the last door count was 79 (for an half hour). Timed that right. The real reason I felt compelled to go to Costco tonight of all nights, is that we won't have enough coffee to last the weekend. Seriously. I decided that a Costco crowd was worth my morning cuppa.

When we pulled into our driveway, I had to stop short for the 3 juvenile racoon's hanging around my garage door. They ambled over to the grass where I threw them a couple of strawberries (and I just got done watching the Great Outdoors, you'd think I'd have enough sense not to feed the wildlife in my front yard). They were so cute, they would wipe their hands in the dewy grass, then pick up the strawberry and wash it, then wipe their hands off again in the grass. My next door neighbor encountered their nest this summer while pruning bushes, they coons must have fared well. I am, however, constantly worried about Daisy now. That cat runs in and out of this house, and she isn't the brightest bulb in the box, either. Oh well, if anything happens, Natalie will be getting a kitten for Christmas!

I forgot to put the camera away after snapping the girls' picture, this is what I downloaded: Natalie's self portrait. Thank God 3 year olds have double chin issues too.

White trash family

Ok, that's not a fair statement because Larry wasn't there to make it a "family affair". I spent the better part of this afternoon dragging the kids to various grocery stores (the co-op, Freddies, and Cost Cutter). I don't normally shop at Cost Cutter, but I had gotten the best salsa in the world (Salsa Mama, medium please) at the Co-op and needed the best corn chips in the world to go with it (Cost Cutter's home made chips from their tortillaria in Lynden.) On our way out, dodging the senior citizens and redneck trucks, the kids begged for me to let them climb on the rocks in the parking lot. I was tired and felt a tad guilty for dragging them around all day, so I didn't forbid it. Who knows how many bums and drunkards have pissed on these rocks, but nothing a little Purell and a hot bath won't fix.Who lets their children play in a ghetto parking lot? During rush hour? Oh well, I'm teaching them "life skillz" right?

10 points (Erin's excluded) for whoever guesses what kind of mustache Brady has. Hint: It's his favorite drink next to milk. And it's very good for him. It's blurry, sorry, the co-op people seem very friendly in their woolen caps until you dilly-dally pulling out of your parking spot.

It's been 2 days...

and I haven't blogged. Oops. Yesterday the kids and I met my mom at Barnes & Noble to shop on "St. Paul Day" where Natalie's school gets a percentage of the sales. Natalie's teachers were each reading stories, so she was excited to see them in another enviroment. Brady chose to work himself up into a froth once we got inside the store and he spiraled into a frenzy. I tried taking him out to the car to calm him down but he was having none of it. I tried to threaten his life, but I was highly self-concious due to the hundreds of Christian families milling about the parking lot that day (Brady should thank his lucky stars).
I finally got him to settle down (20 minutes later) and he drank a glass of milk and fared better for the remainder of our time there. At what point do these horrible temper tantrums cease? Time to talk to the counselor again, I suppose.
My mom took them both with her afterwards (why??!!) so I could go home and file our life insurance paperwork before the deadline (I'm tempted to take some out on Brady... heh heh). I did that, picked up a little and watched Hairspray (cuz Zac Efron is in it. Pervy mom, I know. Not my catch-phrase by the way.)

I worked all stinking day today, it was Julie's 30th birthday so the office was full of treats, and I had Tracy as a patient today. She was completely uncooperative and we had to sedate her for her exam. Just kidding. Maybe.

I got my photostamps in the mail last week, and it's killing me to wait to mail my Christmas cards. How early is too early? I'm sick, I know.

No pic's today, just my endless droll. I'll try better tomorrow.

Secret Star

Alex refused to give me a plain ol smile, so I had them say "stinky feet".

I dropped off B with Erin today so that she could take him to his final soccer game (where he apparently got sidelined for continually playing for the other team) and met Chris at TOM to introduce her to the crack known as scrapbooking. Her boys play so nicely with my kids, I was a little bummed that Brady didn't get to see them, but 3 boys and a wild girl in a scrapbook store would have been a little much, no?

Then Natalie and I headed out to the county to attend her friend and classmate Abbey's 4th birthday. Abbey had an older sister, and so she insisted on having a Hannah Montana/HSM party. The girlyness of it all was a lot to take in. But she had a terrific time and has been exposed to all kinds of new girly things (ugh). In spite of all that, I also had a nice time, Abbey's mom Michelle is very nice (and we have similar decorating taste, minus the clutter-mine.) I also bonded with the other girly moms over our "pervy mom" crushes on Zac Efron from High School Musical. Natalie hasn't seen (nor is interest in) HSM 1,2 or 3, but I secretly rented the first 2 and am hooked. I really want to see #3, but will feel really pervy going by myself to the theatre. I'll have to wait to get my fix at Blockbuster.

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Part time rocker.

After we rounded up Brady, I bribed them with the hot tub tonight if we didn't have to eat McDonalds for dinner, so we stopped at Kmart to get some spa chemicals. That was a bust (the xmas stuff took over the summer stuff, duh me) so I let the kids ride on the baby rides outside while I froze my tail off.


Over to bLowe's and found what we needed, but not after we took a tour through the Christmas decorations. The children both liked the inflatable "baby Jesus" (nativity) and the Nutcracker. Nothing says high class better than a blow up Jesus in your front yard (which we would need to stake down so that baby Jesus doesn't blow down the street in the storms). I think my kids last name might be Griswald.

On a sidenote with Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I highly suggest renting 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles'. We own it and watch it every 4th Thursday in November while we sit at home with only my brother and mom (who are local). Having a small family means not having to kill ourselves for the holidays, I'm thankful for that.

Jump Around Fun Zone

It was so much fun to listen to the boys argue about the name "Fun Zone" no "Jump Zone" no "Fun Jump!" and on and on.
Last night I took the kids and C to the Jump Around Fun Zone to hang out with the MOMS Club and let the boys burn some energy. We also had an entire Costco pizza to ourselves, which I had to force the boys to eat a half slice. They ran and played for a full 2 hours, and I got to gush over Erin's photos of her new son. So sosososososo CUTE!
And just as I suspected... not 5 seconds after we got in the car Brady "was starving!", and he promptly ate another 2 1/2 slices and was still looking for more.
Also yesterday morning, Natalie and I drove up to White Rock, B.C. with my co-workers to have breakfast at a patient's restaurant "Poultry in Motion". Yum-O. Made from scratch breakfast (nothing is better than home made toast), and I had "The best Raspberry muffin in the world" and it was pretty spectacular. My doctor likes to barter with other business owners, and he bartered breakfast with this patient and took us all out, which was a moment of generosity on his behalf!
I'm heading out tonight, since Brooke cancelled Bunco on me and I already had a babysitter lined up for this evening... I'm bound and determined to do something adult tonight!

Friend or Foe?

This arrived (by my own doing) in my living room last night. The kids seem to think it's a hillbilly Ferris wheel. I tried to use it last night, but we had steaks for dinner with mom, and I felt ill trying to exercise after indulging.
I'm hoping it will be my friend. I have grand plans for it, none of which include storing jackets.
Also, as much as I want to shout his name from the rooftops, I cannot post any information about the newest Campbell, I don't want to jeopardize the adoption of this little boy in any way, shape or form; so you'll just have to wait until his homecoming for me to brag about him publicly. Sorry!
Larry and I went to Brady's first parent-teacher conference today. Luckily there were no surprises and Mrs. R said that Brady is right on target academically, and is a very nice boy to his classmates and "has very nice friends" (a shout out to Cole and Cameron!). The special ed facilitator(?) said that Brady still has a need for speech and language, but he can be removed from his social skills therapy. So that was wonderful to hear. And it was just amazing to see what amazing progress he has made in such a short period of time at school in his writing, reading, and math. He continues to amaze me more and more of all that he has accomplished so far.
And to put a little cherry on top of today, Julie came over and scrapbooked with me for a couple of hours. I think scrapbooking takes place in another time dimension, because we scrapped for over 2 hours, and it seems like we barely got anything done. That happens to me every time I scrap!

It's a Boy!

I don't know how much I'm allowed to gush here on my blog, but Erin has been in a blissful state since recieving her much anticipated news on her adoption, so she hasn't posted the details. So I'll (im)patiently wait for her to do so... and photos! And then I will piggy back and brag about her new son here too ;)
I've been walking around since 12:34 today with tears of joy in my eyes and a smile on my face, I'm so thrilled for her and can't wait to meet A and celebrate his life!
Oh, crap! It's 3:17 and B is out of school in 13 minutes! Got to get off the damn computer!

Sunset stroll

We took our dogs for a little hike in our neighborhood last night, we head up our GIANT hill, go off the marked trail and let the dogs off leash to "trail run". We popped out the next neighborhood over and reconnected with the trail. Once again, we forgot bread to feed the ducks, but it worked out fine since some people behind us did and our dogs (labs mind you) only wanted to go for a swim. Yes, when our high temp was 51, the dogs went went for a leisurely lap in the duck pond. Oh well, they couldn't smell any worse than they already did. Maybe it actually helped!
On the way home, we walked the road back and I couldn't take my eyes off the sunset and almost walked smack into another walker!
I worked all day today and when I got home I got to listen to my mom gush about her new "love interest". I think it's pretty cute/funny. I did all the dating I care to ever do in my "youth", and it's neat to watch my mom experience it now, since she married my dad straight out of high school.
Oh, and a picture so that I can maintain your interest:

Girlfriends

We had a "playdate" today with Isabella (you should have heard the argument between Larry and Natalie this morning on who she was playing with: L-"Lucabella?" N-"No, Isabella!" L-"I don't know Isabella, do you mean Munch's daughter Lucabella?" N-"No dad, my fren IS-A-BELL-A." L-"Oh,let me ask your mom who your talking about." N-"Nevermind, dad.")
Anyway, Sue and Isabella met us at Brady's soccer game, and I snuck out to walk down to the farmers market with them (thank you Erin for watching B, who also apparently played much better in my absence. Always blame the mother.) And the girls plan on spending some more time together Sunday morning.
Now that the kids are in bed, I'm trying to talk myself into putting away the 4 hampers of clean, folded laundry I have. I don't know what my problem is; I can wash it, dry it, and fold it, but I can't put the shit away. Maybe that's why my house is in a constant state of disarray. I've tried adopting a mantra: "Follow through" It seems to work for me, but Larry can't seem to grasp it, and once one person stops paddling the boat, well you know...

P.S. I found 2 pictures that were on my camera's hard drive, so I forgot all about them until tonight when my memory card fell out and they downloaded... we had Miss Amelia over a few weeks ago and had a fun morning with her. And as much as Brady insists he doesn't like babies (though she's closing in on 2 very quickly), Brady seems to be a softie for Melers.

The difference between boys and girls

Last night Erin and I got our boys together for some playtime (and so we could catch up on DH, but the night was totally selfless on our behalf).
Brady couldn't wait to play Convoy for Christian, and they were getting worked up listening to testosterone-driven music that I had to get a video of these two together.

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If this was me and Terra when we were this age, one of us would be in tears running to our mom about 10 seconds into our interaction. Girls can't play like this, somebody takes it seriously at some point and gets her feelings hurt and the playing is over. Boys say "That didn't hurt" "Nice kick" and "Oh yeah, watch this!".
While the boys were playing/fighting, Natalie was in the other room lining up her dollies in rows and giving each one a name ("tiki""rocky" "seeseu" "neekee"). There is no kicking. No wresting to the ground.

But I do have to say Natalie is frustrating to go on hikes with. On Monday when we went to Mt. Baker, she lallygagged down the whole trail, stopping to eat fresh snow, sing a song, give directions on how I should walk, etc. Anything BUT walk down the stinkin' trail. Hiking with her takes time. And nobody was in the mood to take their time hiking in the snow.

Oh lucky day...

Larry had to get in our safe today to find some documents (highly classified, I am restricted to offer you any further information). Then he told me to go through the stuff to clean it up and I found my class ring! I thought I lost it years before I met Larry, and low and behold, it was in a jewelry box along with his class ring and a little silver and turquoise heart ring my dad bought me in Yellowstone in 1987. I also found a little cross necklace with a fire opal center that my relative Pete (I think, my mom's side of the family is from Idaho, so her family tree is kinda like a tumbleweed) made me.
So today was sweet, lots of lost memories uncovered.

Tagged

I'm actually grateful that Erin tagged me tonight (that does NOT give anyone else permission to do so!) because I just have been lacking in the creative thinking, and have been feeling like a lump all week, so I find it hard to describe our day to day lives (me sitting on couch, yelling empty threats to my children in the other room).
So the tag said that I had to choose the 4th picture of my 4th file in my computer and then describe it. That landed me in 2002. Brady was 36 days old in this photo. He is laying on a quilt that a long time co-worker made for us (I think she used the same pattern for Christian's quilt too?) We were tired and the house was a mess, but Larry and I were madly in love with this little fella. All he wanted to do was snuggle (hence the sleeping in our bed for 3 years). I can't believe that the boy in this picture is the boy who stands chest high on me now. Children make the world spin faster. My children make me thankful for each and every moment of my life, from the blue skies and the hot showers, to the power outages and sniffling nights awake. I love that my life is being spent with them.

Picture #3 on this file was Larry... he had a lot more hair 6 years ago... still sexy!

Smooth day

Today Larry worked another early shift so the kids and I woke up and caught the bus downtown to take a tour of Great Harvest Bread with our MOMS Club. It was educational and delicious as always and Brady actually ate his personal loaf that all the kids receive, that was a first for him.
We got home and took B to school and Nat and I headed to work for a couple of hours. She has gotten her own routine down while I'm working, and she is so good there. She gets her snack, some highlighters and copy paper (and the occasional sticker) and Julie always puts a cartoon on for her and she is happy and content. It also helps that "Uncle Spencer" is happy to tickle her and have quiet snuggles when she needs it.
When we got home from picking up the B-man, Natalie's Christmas Aflac duck had arrived. Grandma Honey gives Natalie Aflac stock for various holidays and apparently they have an annual duck that is a fundraiser for the Children's hospital in Atlanta specializing in cancer and blood disorders.
We're on the way to the pool tonight to wear out the wiggles out (they've been cooped up ALL day).

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Where did we go today?

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I also got my Christmas cards today, they turned out awesome, I'm sure you are all anxiously waiting to get one, huh?

Weekend Update

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Dirty Mushroom, shame on you!
STOP taking my picture, mom!

Dandylions in November.

My beautiful Mama.

The bearded lady.

Natalie desperatly wanted me to take her bubble beard photo this morning, then promptly asked me "ca u had ee a ashcof?" translated from bubble beard means "Can you hand me a washcloth?".

And in today's paper I saw that if you take your stamped letter for Santa to Macy's for them to mail, they will donate $1 per letter to the Make-A-Wish foundation. I think we'll work on that today.

And I recently downloaded the new Will.i.am version of 'I like to move it' from the movie Madagascar 2 that Larry took the kids to yesterday while I enjoyed my afternoon of blissful scrapbooking with girlfriends. I would have liked to see it too, but the price of admission (me giving up my day off) was too steep ;) You're kids will love to shake their rump if you download this for them. I'm just happy we have a song that isn't the Raider's March from Indiana Jones.

I also downloaded my new favorite (local) band: Yogoman Burning Band and am loving the energy and musicality of it all. My favorite line? From the song "Chaka Chaka" it's like Fozzy bear, every chance say Wocka Wocka. And Yogoman happens to be a patient of ours at work. If you have a moment check out their myspace page, or go listen to Pass the O on itunes, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

The storm has passed

After 2 days of solid rain, I awoke to the clouds parting to blue sky. Of course the wind gusts are parting the clouds, but I do enjoy a blustery (sunny!) fall day.

We're off to Brady's soccer game (Brady's fav. position? Benchwarmer) and then who knows what this afternoon.

Tonight my mom (thank you thank you thank you) is watching the kids so that I can attend TOM's open house, and then go have a couple of cocktails with my friend Julie.

And I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow, we're heading to Semiahmoo to scrapbook all day with some of my Bunco pals, if you think you'd like to join us let me know!

Splash Mountain then and now.

It looks like my feelings towards roller coasters hasn't changed much over the years. The second photo is from 1999 when Larry and I went to CA so that I could meet his parents before we got married. We ended up at Disneyland after we had a Walley World experience at Magic Mountain.

Addictions have perks

So Starbucks launched their new "Gold" card on Monday, and we thought we were pretty special to receive an exclusive email regarding their new promotional product. I mean, I knew more about it than the barista inside Haggen did. What the card does is you purchase your annual membership of $25, and then you get 10% off every purchase along with other promos from time to time. This card can only save us money, because I've tried to make Larry ease up on his habit, and he's just too far gone. And those of you who know Larry, know that the Starbucks mermaid is the mistress in his life.
But little did we know how deep his love affair ran until he walked home yesterday from his regular Starbucks (the one 1000 ft from Costco), with one of only 3 FREE gold cards that each store got to hand out. Larry is one of their top three customers. That is sick. We're a one (basically) income family! And HE is one of their best customers?!
I'm scheduling an intervention for next Thursday evening at the Starbucks on Meridian.

(I'm actually drinking my coffee out of this exact mug as I type. Maybe I'm not the best candidate to lead a coffee intervention. I found this mug particulartly amusing because a. it applies to Larry personally an b. it applies to Larry professionaly as he is the HR manager.)

Happy Birthday JOSH!

Tracy's boy turned 18 today. I think she drove to Spokane to end it all... I can't believe he is 18, I met him when he was Brady's age, this sweet little boy kept coming over to my house to play catch and inspect my basement (apparently it was very fascinating). He introduced me to one of the best friends I have ever found.

I got back to cleaning Brady's room this morning and he and I decided that it was time to pack up his Thomas trains (there is no way I'm getting rid of those, my grandchildren will have those to play with as there are probably $1000 worth of trains in there). It broke my heart a little to see my son outgrow his trains, we've had them since he first started to play independently. Today they made space for Lego's and Playmobil.

Then at school we were greeted by the resident squirrel. The park nearby is filthy with squirrels, but this one in particular lives on school grounds and has no tail. We've been watching this squirrel for a couple of years now, and he has a little tuft of fur at the end of his stump, but that's about all there is to it. I always imagined that he got it zapped off while he was running up and down the power poles. Either way, he is interesting and cute, and the fact that he is unique makes us certain that we are tracking the same squirrel from season to season.

And finally, I confirmed that my daughter has monkey arms. Claire gave us this hand-me-down dress last spring, and I've been holding onto it for Natalie to wear this winter since it's a corduroy dress, and it's a size 4 (and Natalie is 3-ish). Today will be the first and last time she will be able to wear it. She could hardly get her arms in the hole, and I had to really strain to button the top button, and then it ended up looking like a baby doll on her, and the sleeves are about 1 1/2 inches too short. How can my 3 year old be wearing size 5 tops already? Brady just went into a 6, and he's 2 years older than her? She's part ape, I tell ya. So this super cute dress will be heading to Amelia. Note to Jen, don't let it sit around too long, or you'll miss your window!

And one more thing

I had planned on making my Christmas cards again this year, but I started doing the math of it all, and got nervous. I mean I like my family and friends and love to send Christmas cards (I mean I love my family and friends and like to send Christmas cards ;) but as I started adding up how many cards I needed and the cost per photo and the supplies needed to make what I wanted I decided that you all just aren't worth it. Har har.
I did find on Shutterfly a great graphic that goes with the photos that I wanted to use, and they also have a deal right now that if you buy 50 cards, you just 25 free. So I figured that was another sign that making cards this winter isn't supposed to happen. I'm supposed to focus on my Halloween minibook and finishing our Disneyland vacation book (and finish editing the in-laws photos so that they may get their cards done too!)
And that leads me on another tangent... I really hate calling them my "in-laws" because they are just family. But how else to I describe them without having to lead you all down another tangent like: "My husbands mom who I love to death and her doesn't-make-financial-sense-to-marry partner who she's known for almost 40 years but didn't fall in love until the weekend Larry and I got married and she came up for a visit and they reconnected and have been together ever since and now we all love him just as much and my family would be lost without him too?" It's just easier to say "my in-laws" right? You get what that means now. I guess when I type "in-laws" it looks like I might say it with a hint of dissent, but I don't and that 's why I don't like describing them as "the in-laws".
Phew, I need to go clean something now.

A fire in my belly

I finally got up and did something around here... I reorganized 2 sections of my kitchen, and creating 2 boxes of Goodwill in the process. I'm almost satisfied with my work, I'm rethinking one move I made, but so far so good.
I also demanded that the entire family spend 15 minutes cleaning Brady's room last night (and I secretly started stashing things into another Goodwill bag. The reason that everyone had to pitch in? I'm the mom, so that's a given. Larry creates boxes of crap, then unloads them anywhere, so he had to help since there were 2 boxes in Brady's room and it's contents didn't all necessarily belong to Brady. Natalie ended up with an entire basket of items that belonged in her room, and Brady, well that's obvious.
I think I'm going back in there to finish the job, his room is so satisfying to clean. Mine? Not so much.

Case of the Mondays

The younger sibs stuck on the sidelines. I think they made good use of their time.
Brady's schweet goalie skills, just like his Uncle.

No, Amelia's forehead isn't large, she is quite a lovely little girl, but it's the only photo I could get of the girls sitting together. They rode shotgun while various boys drove the semi truck (the girls navigated with maps too, isn't that what we women always get stuck doing? Then get yelled at when we get lost anyway?)

Natalie getting ready to set sail (or sail tug, I don't know the terminology) Shove off?

Indy operates heavy equipment (this thing has a loud speaker on it too... nothing like boys with a microphone to ease your nerves.)

Now I'm pissed. I just got finished typing you all a three paragraph thingy on everything and

the damn thing didn't save and not it's gone.

So... we went to the Skagit Children's Museum with the Aune's yesterday and I had already written about how nice it was to go with them and to have a friend to hang out with on the weekend for a change. Most of my circle spends their weekends doing family activities because that's what people with real lives do on the weekend.

Today I got to spend the day in B's classroom which was a lot of fun. I was going to bag out early since my time commitment was only an hour, but there was a "sub" (Mrs. Roberts was doing individual reading with each child so there was a very smart mommy helper who must have been a teacher in another life) so I stayed to help her wrangle 6 year olds. There is one 6 year old in particular that really made me decide I couldn't bail on this woman. He is what you would call in not so PC terms a spaz. And today he was just that. He gets daily progress reports and today he earned a frowny face. I really feel for Mrs. Roberts after today. But then this boy says something very sweet in his little squeaky voice that makes it sound that much sweeter, and you leave still liking him.

And I forgot (again) about soccer tonight. Larry offered to take us all out for dinner and all thoughts of responsibility left my brain and I went. Soccer just keeps falling off my radar. I don't know what my problem is this season. Must be vacation brain, since soccer started while we were still on vacation.

Off to go curl up in bed. My blog title went along with the first draft of this post that I ALREADY WROTE, and really didn't feel like rewriting. But I've been in a funk for about a week now, and I can't shake it and it's making me bummed. I have no energy, but I wake up at 6 am every morning anyway. Ick.