Dinnertime on the Down Low

Around here, the first kid done with dinner is the one who gets to choose dessert. Tonight Boo had a pretty sizable lead since my two spent most of the time trying to make deals ('can I just eat 4 bites?' 'can I eat raw carrots instead of these ones?').
Mike and I were having our dinner and talking when the next thing we hear is Brady proudly asking "May I be excused?" Poor Boo had 2 carrots left on her plate which she practically choked on trying to eat them to be first done as Brady had only one small piece of carrot left on his plate. Surprised at the speed he ate his dinner, I told B he could be done as soon as that carrot was gone to which he dramatically picked up and pretended to pop into his mouth and made a move that was highly suspicious.
I walked over and sure enough, his ENTIRE dinner was crammed into his pocket! Well out it came and back onto his plate it went (oh yes I did) and I added a couple extra carrots for good measure. 2 HOURS LATER the last carrot actually went into his mouth.

Natalie using the tried and true 'plug and gulp' method of eating my cooking (it was a pork chop and brown sugar glazed carrots!)
She was sent to her room 3 times over her theatrics.

4 Wheel Weekend

4 Roller skate wheels, that is. We've been inundated with Roller skating this weekend! It actually started Thursday night when Michael and I got to go to the Jet City Rollergirls scrimmage. We've gone a few times, and have gotten swallowed up into the derby... you hang around long enough they put you to work. So we're NSO's (non-skating official), complete with pink polo shirts, timers and whistles. We mostly like doing the penalty box, because we can still b.s. and watch the match at the same time. But Thursday night we had different duties, which were interesting but I left feeling like I didn't get to really watch any derby.
Saturday was Michael's niece's' 9th birthday party at the Skate Deck. Natalie was in heaven... where else can you dance, sing, and roller skate under a giant disco ball? I have a feeling this is where she wants her party next month (holy crap, she's 6 in a month?!) Makenzie was having a great time until they brought out the inflatable bounce houses (why oh why did they have to have those... it pissed me off) and that became her main goal: to get to the bounce houses (for only an additional $3... after the $6.50 we already paid to SKATE at the SKATE DECK). And B of course got completely overwhelmed by sensory overload, so he took it out on me...
And Saturday night we went to a bout between the Bellingham Roller Betties and Spokane... It was a 99 point victory over Spocompton.
Sunday and Monday bring more derby action...

And a couple extra photos that I never blogged:

Erin and I had 6 kids between us last weekend. After a couple of hours at the children's museum, we stopped at the port to say hi to Michael. He loaded all of the boys into his work truck and we went on a heavy equipment tour. I think he made them all very, very happy.
And at the museum, Erin and I caught our 8 year old boys holding hands... awww. I think they were leading each other around with their eyes closed, but still. They've been buddies before birth, and I love seeing their friendship still going strong 8 years later.

2010: A photo roundup

It's long, but the girls made me play it twice for them. I wish I could put captions under the photos but I'd have to upgrade from "free" to "premium" and I ain't payin.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hello 2011!

I wanted to start this year off with something we've never done before and I wanted it to be fun and exciting too. Well... driving downtown to Seattle at 11:20 was exciting, as was running from Lake Union to the needle at 11:35!
It was fun to be part of such a big event and it was fun getting to hold my favorite fella's (cold) hand as we counted down to the new year. And that smooch that I'd been waiting for all evening for was perfect; you might even say I saw fireworks (ba-dum ching)!
Here's a little bit of sugary-sweetness: Did you notice our cool '2011' glasses (courtesy of the children's museum)? I'm wearing blue because it's my birthstone and the color of Mike's eyes. And... yup, green is his birthstone and the color of my eyes!
Afterwards we raced back to the car and fought our way out of Seattle and over to Dick's, which is always an interesting place at 1:00 in the morning; but 1:00 in the morning on New Years? Wow.

Insers 2010 post here

I have grand plans to create a photo montage of last year but I also want to get my photo calendar done and ordered so I can have that before the end of January too... so it's a coming.

I am just so excited to say goodbye to 2010... I've had enough of the emotional extremes... just want the peace and joy that I think I've worked pretty hard to get. So I have a little something I'd like to say to last year:

2010 made me be stronger than I've ever had to be in my whole life and make choices that I had tried to avoid for years. It was/is very painful to go through but the reward has been worth the effort.

2010 threw a bunch of shit and Michael and I. A bunch. Right up to the last day. But we think we got it all out of the way.

I never want to see 2010 again. What a doozy. I don't want to write down everything that happened this year... but some highlights (lowlights?):
Moving. Twice.
False arrests.
Cancer.
Broken bones.
Divorce (well I'm still working on that one).
Financial nightmares.
Inept lawyers.
New Employment.
Unemployment.

So. Yeah. Eff you 2010.

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.