Monday through Friday

Leaving Bellingham Monday afternoon. Beautiful. Serene.
30 minutes later, just north of Stanwood... 'you're going the wrong way!' (name the movie).

5 out of 7 turkeys that were fried on Thursday in our home... guaranteed leftovers!

Kids young and old loved making gingerbread houses after dinner.

A first for everyone: The Macy's Holiday Parade. We timed it perfect and got an awesome spot on the route. A new tradition (weather permitting)?

Brady's favorite part (besides having candy thrown at him).

Trying for a Christmas card, not sure if I was successful or not. Getting 3 amped-up kids to cooperate is no small feat. Someone always seemed to be staring off in another direction or had some sort of dazed expression on their face.

Brunch at Dicks afterwards...

Promised Paparazzi

I've had a headache for most of today and spent the rest of it cleaning and/or shopping for Thanksgiving.



But I thought I should check in real quick and at least post the promised paparazzi photo from last weekend:

And one more consolation photo: "I promise mom if you buy the lucky charms we'll eat the whole box"

Upside down and inside out.

I have lots of blog posts floating around; either in draft form, or in my head, or in my photo-albums-yet-to-be-downloaded.

I just don't have the extra 5 seconds to complete a blog post right now. I hate it when my life gets so chaotic that I can't blog. Or run. Or just be.

But the time is coming when I'll be back to that place in my life where I can. I just need to catch my breath. So here is a quick update:



I am overwhelmingly in love with this man:
He's like my glasses. I can see how life can be, should be, and now is.

I am in the process of moving my entire 14 year Bellingham life to Everett (about an hour south). And as much as I love Bellingham (and I love Bellingham, it is the city of subdued excitement after all), it just doesn't compare to time spent with Michael and our combined children.

So, I am in the process of making a life in Everett, and tying up the loose ends of my life in Bellingham (but by no means cutting my ties) and getting ready for the holidays, and it seems my time is at a premium right now.

But I did find some time this weekend to participate in the Winter Pineapple Classic benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Photos will be posted soon, I promise. And I got a super papparazzi photo on the way home from the race. I can't wait to share.

Winter Pineapple Classic

Before I sit down and download the Halloween pictures (the kids made out like bandits... I may or may not have stolen all of their blow pops) I need to put a desperate plea on here for my next adventure:

The Winter Pineapple Classic benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! It's a team 5k team run with obstacles that I joined yesterday; which means I have 10 days to meet my fundraising goal. So if you have a few dollars you could put in my coconut I would be so grateful! Click HERE to donate please!

Headed to the Outback

No, not the restaurant, the Outback Kangaroo Farm! I took a long lunch on Friday and met Natalie and her school at the farm in Arlington for the tour. Brady got to go this summer as part of the YMCA daycamp and had so much fun, so I was excited to get to tag along with Little Miss.
Her school is studying birds right now, so really we were at the Kangaroo farm to see their birds (they have a lot of different birds: Emu's, an Ostrich, a turkey, peacocks and pea hens...)
I was surprised that we got to be IN with the Kangaroos and Wallaby's. I mean... don't they kick and punch?
Everyone had fun, and we stopped at a park for lunch which happened to be Bum-Skeezo park. I hate that when you're in an unfamiliar city and you end up in a place that the locals wouldn't go near. Ever. And by the time the adults and given each other "the look" the kids had already poured out of the vans and plunked their lunches down next to the bums and were sprawled all over the playground. So we kind of shrugged our shoulders and chalked it up to lesson learned: do not take your children to Haller Park.

Mr. Donkey enjoying a nibble.

Little Miss getting brave enough to pet the Kangaroo, they're velvety like a bunny, but bony.

Giving a Kangaroo a nibble of bread.

And lovin on a Wallaby. **Sigh** Natalie's dimples kill me. I love them.

In the pockets of little boys

I have been fortunate enough to not reach in and regret what I find... Brady's pockets usually contain folded up pieces of paper, mini-flashlights, ipods, marbles... and pencils. But there was something about this pencil that made me giggle.

Asking for Trouble

I think he's blurry enough that I don't feel too guilty for posting his smug little face. You know, since he's a minor and all... but then I also think 'hey paparazzi always snap pic's of famous peoples children and I buy the magazines, so it's not illegal for me to post this obscure photo of this neighborhood punk, right?' So this kid... I've had one run-in with him before regarding a beach ball that went over the fence that he tried to steal but I played it off like "hey thanks for grabbing my kids' beach ball, go ahead and toss it back over to me" and he was like "yeah...ummm...right. OK."

But tonight I didn't want to play so nice. He was mouthing off to my lovely friend Erin who asked him to stop bending the prongs of our fence down because no, he will not be climbing over it as a shortcut to his house. He continued to mouth off to her and continued to bend the prongs down in her face. So I came out and asked him "Would you like to stop now or would you like me to call the police?" since he couldn't seem to stop vandalizing and mouthing off on his own. That stopped him quick, but not permanently.

Soon he was back at the fence, standing and staring at Erin and I. Really? We're supposed to be intimidated by a chubby 12 year old? We ignored him. Then he started tugging on the fence. We ignored him. He started touching the prongs again, not bending them, just touching them. We continued to ignore him, but this time I pulled my phone out and snapped his picture and made sure he saw me do it. He tried to duck down real quick but I let him no he was a little slow on the uptake and I got a lovely photo of him. When he popped his head up he had his hood on, and then he walked home (using the public sidewalks! What a concept!) and when he walked past me he pulled his hoodie up again. I don't think he likes me.

So tomorrow when I post about how I have to buy 4 new tires for my van because they mysteriously all went flat overnight, or how my house was TP'ed or how my cute little Halloween decoration on my front porch went missing, you'll know who I'm gonna blame.

Lesson of the day? I have to deal with my kids being mouthy and defiant all day long and I have to deal with them because I'm their mom. I'm not this kids mom, therefore I don't have to put up with his shit. And my shit-toleration is kind of in short supply these days.