Shapes and Sizes

My family has always come in different combinations... it was funny trying to piece together all the combos during our Christmas dinner, and we still didn't get them all!

We celebrated Thursday with our families and it was a wonderful meal (pat, pat) and just a really nice day with family.

I think the kids have gotten to quadruple their Christmases this year, the grandparents brought gifts Thursday; we had our exchange on Christmas eve; then they had their Christmas on actual Christmas day with their respective parents, then this afternoon we will see what Santa brought here! Then finally, I can put Christmas away!

It was bittersweet not having our children this year for Christmas. The holiday is just so much more magical with children in the house. But after weeks of nothing but children in the house, it was hard to not enjoy the break from chaos. And we figure that next year will be more fun since life will be more settled (We've only been under one roof for just over a month). Michael and I did enjoy sleeping in, a run, lunch (albeit at the casino... it was that or IHOP), and a movie.

The Santa Sightings

My dear friend Erin had a milestone birthday this past week, and Saturday we had a "surprise" party for her. After a family chili-feed, the ladies headed downtown where we had a scrumptious cake waiting for us at Pure Bliss Desserts (which is amazing and the service and atmosphere is excellent). Afterwards, we walked over to The Temple Bar where lo and behold, the jolly old elf was having a little cocktail. I knew the holidays were stressful, but stressful enough to drive Santa to drink?!

What do you think Santa was knocking back? A Rusty Nail perhaps? It has Johnny Walker RED in it after all...
I hoofed all three kids to dinner and through the Alderwood mall all while carrying a cute-though-a-little-too-big pair of black Mary Janes for Makenzie to wear. In all the excitement guess what I forgot to do? Yup. It's like those sneakers are smirking at me, see their tongues sticking out at me (ba-dum-dum)?

At least both girls are in their sneakers this time. This is an annual event at Sound Harley and it was lots of fun (I think the kids favorite part was the free cookies and milk).


I love this picture, but wish someone would have said "woman put your hand down!" to me.

A twinge

Before I moved to Everett, Michael would often send me pictures of Mt. Baker from his point of view, and if I could see it, I'd send him a picture of Mt. Baker from mine.  It was very Fivel of us (Somewhere out there... beneath the pale moon light... Ok I'll stop).
This Friday was an especially beautiful and clear day, and Mike took a picture of Mt. Baker this afternoon and sent it to me.  Sweet, I know.

Then the girls and I headed out to run some errands and BLAM!  there was Mt. Baker.  And the tears welled up.  A little twinge of... of what?  Homesickness?  Not exactly, home is wherever Mike and the kids are.  But Whatcom County was 14 years of my life.  Or was it as simple as: 'Wow, that mountain is beautiful.  And it's Friday.  And it's sunny.  And I've got 2 sweet little girls with me'.  Or maybe it's the fact that I have 3 kids now home on Christmas break. That's enough to bring a girl to tears :)
But I actually think that I have a much better view (although farther away) of my beloved volcano from here than from Bellingham.  Just sayin'.


From the alley behind our house...

Happy Anniversary to me...

So today is my blog's 3rd anniversary. Three years of my blathering documented for the world to read... yikes. Sorry 'bout that.

I took a quick peek at some posts from 3 years ago and found one that talked about my feelings about Everett, which happens to now be my new hometown :) If you care to read about it, you can here.

So how do I feel about E-town 3 years later? Well it's only been home for a month, but we're finding a routine and the kids seem happy at school but finding playdates is difficult since I don't know anyone with 8 year old boys around here (well except for one who came over the other evening and one who occasionally lives next door but is seldom let out to play). Natalie is blessed to have a built in playmate in Boo, but even they test each others limits after a few days. There is a lot to do down here, but finding time and energy and money to do all of it is a challenge.

Oh wait, the question was how do I feel? I'm happy to be here. I have rose-colored glasses on when I think of Bellingham, but Everett is quickly growing on me. Sure, there's skeezy parts, but what city (even my beloved Bham) doesn't have 'em? I happen to love our neighborhood, and I love that I can walk 1 block and end up at the grocery store, Starbucks (ok that one is trouble), the post office... I love the downtown area, it's like Little-Big city. We went to the theatre, to the Harley store, and Mike brought home some locally made beer from Lazy Boy Brewing, that was amazingly delicious. And I just feel "right" here with Michael and our respective children. Life is finding it's balance.

Oh... and Everett has an abundance of tattoo parlors, low-rider auto-body shops, and bikini barista stands... Ok, so I couldn't get through a whole post without taking a few jabs... part of Everett's charm is it's ability to take my abuse.

P.S. Thank you Jen for encouraging and inspiring me to start a blog in the first place. Even if no one else ever reads another word, I'm sure my children will thank you for getting me to journal for them.

Exploring our surroundings

Being freshly unemployed (by choice) has it's benefits. Like I get to participate in the kids lives a whole lot more. After taking B to school, the girls and I headed out to look for what Everett has to offer us. We toured the YMCA (which is a great facility, and they have a covered outdoor track on the roof, that was so exciting!) and got lost downtown for a bit. We found the Co-Op (which is obviously not as popular here as it is in Bellingham) and got some fruit and nuts for snacking. Then we headed to the library (they have a coffee shop in the foyer, kinda awesome) for story and craft time. The girls had a lot of fun, and Natalie and I signed up for our own library cards so that we can browse the shelves next time we visit.

A double rainbow ending where Mike works...

Kids Crafts Kicked Up a Notch

I bought some jingle bells and pipe cleaners for the kids to make ornaments and gifts and to just keep them busy for a half hour.

We were making wreaths and candy canes and the kids were busy twisting pipe cleaners together making their unique creations. I asked Mike to get me some needle nose pliers so that I could twist and cut the floral wire. He looked at our craft table and said "I know how I'd be making those" and left to get the pliers.

He came back and put the "man power" (insert simian grunts here) into our Christmas ornaments. The kids much more preferred his methods over my primitive hand-twisting technique.

Sanctuary!

I had half of a loaf of bread that was slated for the trash, so instead we took it to a bird sanctuary to get out of the house for awhile. The problem was, there were 3 birds. And they weren't hungry. But it's a beautiful sanctuary and the day was not ruined by the lack of birds!

We found a little tree frog on the boardwalk...

Playing "park-bench bum"

Looking for ducks.

Using her "binoculars" to look for ducks.

Turtle hunting.

Here We Come A-Caroling

Here are the first two carols of the season being sung around here:

Natalie : O Chrissmus Tree, O Chrissmus Tree, O how your branches love me...

Makenzie: Santa Claus is coming... From town. He sees me when he's sleeping...