Birthday Celebration

Posted on October 8, 2010 by admin

September 22nd we celebrated Aana’s birthday with a big family dinner party!

It was nice to have everyone together. Aana was showered with extra-special gifts. Amara picked out some great additions to Aana’s Fairy Garden thinking the fairies might like to travel in a camper just like Aana & Upa’s new one… how sweet & thoughtful!

The Littles helped Aana blow out her candles after we sang Happy Birthday, of course!

Big smiles & happy hearts: Aana with a handful of her favorite kids!

Nana & Granddad loving Luis with his big smile and funny, little personality. For a minute, I thought they might scoop him up and take him home!

It’s been so long since we’ve all been together, I insisted on a family photo. Though I heard many groans, everybody grouped together and smiled! (Josh was our photographer)

Bathes were a must for the littlest party goers. Ice Cream cake can be quite messy!

Fishing with Gramma

Posted on October 8, 2010 by admin

James’ new love in life is fishing. He lives to fish. He is always learning something new about fish. We can’t go to a store without looking for the fishing aisle. When he spends his money, we head to Sportsman Warehouse. He lives & breathes to fish.

A couple Saturdays back, Gramma made his dreams come true… she took him fishing! They had gone before to a local lake without much luck.. This time Gramma did her research and found a stocked trout pond where kids are sure to catch some fish… 7 trout to be exact.

The weather was cold and rainy, though it didn’t stop James from jumping into his fishing gear. He packed a sack lunch for he and Gramma, a blanket for a picnic, rain-gear, 3 of his poles & his tackle box. However this pond was ready for even the most novice fisher-person. They provided poles, buckets, tools, etc.

They even clean the fish for you… so you can head home for a fish fry. Unless of course you are James. He allowed the people to clean the fish guts out, though he asked that they leave the heads on. he wanted to cut those off himself.

Once they arrived back to our house, it was time to ‘science’ the fish. Gramma had to jump in and help. Together they cut off heads, inspected the fish inside & out, then bagged up the heads & bodies into separate bags to store for later viewing & ‘science-ing”.

Thanks for taking James fishing, Gramma! It was a perfect day!

Kids

Posted on September 13, 2010 by admin

Over the weekend, we were surprised with some warm weather! The girls took advantage of the Fall sunshine and hopped into the pool. It was refreshing! After a very quick dip in the pool, they decided to wash our cars for us… lucky us!

James organized his tackle box, fished in the yard for moles, the hottub for jet-fish, and in the house for cat & dog-fish! He loves this hat he created with some of the awesome hand-tied flies Grampa Fred sent him. These flies were made by James Great-Grandfather many years ago… they are quite special to James.

Here he is examining the hand-tied flies trying to figure out how he can tie his own flies. While he hasn’t quite figured it out yet, he has started collected bird feathers and other treasures for the day he teaches himself to tie those flies!

and I just can’t resist throwing in a super-cute picture of our Max every now & again. Max was not happy when we went back to school. He is getting used to the routine now, and is so excited to see us when we return. Always nice to see a happy boy with that wagging tail when I get home!

Welcome Back to School

Posted on September 13, 2010 by admin

2010-2011

Annual 1st day photos

Abbie starts 8th grade this year. She is busy with volleyball, band, yearbook committee, mentoring, friends…

James starts kindergarten. With budgets cuts, our district offers a part-time kinder program. James attends Hockinson Primary School (where I work) on Monday/Thursday & every other Wednesday AND Country Friends kindergarten Tuesday/Friday & every other Wednesday… what a schedule! He is back in Tae Kwon Do on Monday & Wednesday evenings.

Abbie & Chandler posing before hopping on the morning bus

Josh is still working at Wy’East Middle School as an Associate Principal.

and I continue to work as a K-2 Reading Specialist at Hockinson Primary School.

James proud to be in kindergarten!

We are learning our daily routines, getting used to waking to an alarm… all with a smile because it is going to be a great year!

End of Summer Celebrations

Posted on September 13, 2010 by admin

At the close of each summer, we debate on whether we should spend the $$ and head out to the county fair. We usually decline the idea, though this year we had a GOOD reason to visit the fair… Abbie was working the Young Life booth selling various food & drink items! What fun to see our baby-girl busy pouring frozen lemonades & slopping up bbq sandwiches!

She worked several days & it was on her final shift that we decided to surprise her with our camera in hand! After she turned in her apron, we walked around munching on food, looking at all the animals, and riding a few rides… while at the fair, we might as well have FUN!

The Young Life food booth

The exciting kiddie-coaster!

The always fun merry-go-round

A night-snack for the drive home! An all-time favorite of mine… and so proud my kids share the love of caramel apples!

~~~ Back to School Pool Party ~~~

Exactly one week before the kids headed off to school, Abbie planned a pool party to kick start the new school year!

The girls lucked out with a HOT sunny day! They had lots of fun splashing, jumping, & playing in the water.

James greeted each guest with a bright-colored lei.

Festive decorations

Tasty foods & drinks

After playing in the pool, the girls ALL slipped into the hot tub. While they all fit into the tub… the water escaped!

Of course, I did not pull this party off alone. I had helpers, Cary & Sam. Thanks to these super-duper girls, the party was perfect!

We enjoyed our summer & celebrated the end of one season & the beginning of a new one…

Welcome Fall

Aamie’s Birthday

Posted on August 5, 2010 by admin

We celebrated my mom last night. My sister & I both made a batch of soup and bread, a few snacks, and our mom’s favorite strawberry cream pie. It was simple.

My mom’s long-time friend, Lisa, delighted us all when she made a surprise visit to wish mom a Happy Birthday! It was great to see Lisa and catch up. We realized it had been 6 years since our last visit.

Mom enjoyed some fun with her grandbabies.

Leave it to the boy in the family to create a bow-and-arrow out of a party hat!

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Keeping Busy

Posted on August 3, 2010 by admin

While Abbie has been away at camp, James & I have been keeping ourselves busy doing lots of experiments!

We have grown Magic Rocks in a variety of colors! Grown bacteria in our kitchen-made petri dishes.

Dissected an owl pellet to find a mole skeleton

Bubbles are always a summer treat. James kept busy pretending the sudsy water was a dinosaur burial ground, a lake with boats, a lake with boats & swimming dinosaurs that ate the people in the boats… and of course, he had fun blowing through a straw to make BIG bubbles. A good way to keep a 5 year old busy for 5 minutes!

The sleeping bag was a cave, and of course Max wanted in on some of this floor-time fun!

We’ve also enjoyed cousin time. Maya is getting so big! She is starting to really enjoy playing with the big-kid toys. Her Mama was tending to her animals on Farmville – I think Maya was gardening (big grins!)

I turned a brown 3dollar Goodwill hat into a lovely Red Hat for Nana.

(The yellow on the above flowers were later covered in purple glitter glue, a much better match)

Nana looks amazing in her fancy hat… but it’s not hard to make her look amazing, she is one of the most beautiful ladies I know!

Getting Caught Up…

Posted on June 26, 2010 by admin

Josh and I have both had a whirlwind end to the school-year. It felt as though we were running on full speed for weeks. Yesterday was Josh’s final day for the 2009-2010 school year… so now we can take time to rest & slow down.

Here are the highlights of the past 2 months:

Stacie attended a Marzano Workshop with some ladies from work. It was inspiring, refreshing, and fun! We stayed at a waterpark… so of course we hit the water slides at night!

Cary & I (Cary & I are teaching partners & friends!)

The group of us after dinner & drinks posing for a picture!

Josh and Larry installed a new garage door opener complete with remotes for the cars! No more running through the rain to close the garage door & hop back into the car drenched! (Our house came with an opener that worked intermittently and had no remotes)

Max & Ruby continue to make us laugh! They love to sit on either side of the baby-gate and and play “paw-tag”

Ruby’s favorite place to lounge is on Abbie’s bed… we giggle saying she likes it because she’s camoflauged.

I finally found the perfect duvet cover for our room!

Stacie riding the Primary School float in the Fun Days Parade

Our Little Man made it through one of life’s big milestones and is now excited to move into the Primary School

Grampa Fred flew up from Mexico and stayed almost 2 weeks with us! He was able to celebrate many things with all the grandkids while he was here. He also became Mr. Mom, driving the carpool around!

A special dinner to celebrate all of us!

The pool has been patiently waiting for a face lift and finally, weather permitting, it happens!!

The water truck was not avaliable on the day we needed it, so I ran all over town renting fire hose, 800 feet to be exact.

Once the guys got the liner in and wrinkle free, the filling began!

and that night, as chilly as the water was… the kids still went for a swim!

Our super-cool & energy-efficient washer & dryer are in and working beautifully! We plan to paint the laundry room a water-blue and I have a cute rug to lay on the floor once the paint is up!

James has turned into a super-science kid… so his room is transforming from a bedroom to a science room. We organized the science mess last night… we plan to paint the walls and add some animals to the walls… but for now we have a start with critters & a science table!

and I saved the BEST for last… Monday morning we are headed out on the open road for a trip in the RV!!!

(some GREAT friends of our dropped this little gift off to us yesterday! I now have a table book for the motorhome!)

James – End of the Year

Posted on June 24, 2010 by admin

James is quite a little man. He has spent the year absorbing and learning all about life… a BIG part of this wonder about science and his sense of adventure is thanks to the amazing teachers at Country Friends Preschool.

~ Celebrating James ~

“Kindergarten Cross-Over”

Miss Kathy – James – Miss Georgine

Josh & I were excited to share these bug-filled books with James.

James has made so many good buddies. He has learned so much about sharing, friendship, and feelings through the daily routine with his buddies at Country Friends.

Jaylynn – Addy – James – Carter

It is hard to believe my Little Man starts kindergarten in September.

One of the centers James LOVED at school was the Take-Aparts. James spent hours pulling apart donated electronics. He wore safety goggles & used tools… He has bags of electronic treasures. His plan: to make a robot.

The good news… Grampa Fred turned out to be a GREAT Robot Builder!

Together, these two built a quite the little robot!

James with the almost complete Robot! He is VERY proud of he & Grampa’s work.

James is also enjoying Taekwando. We are taking the summer off, but will resume in the Fall.

He walked in the Hockinson Fun Days Parade with many of the other TKD students. It was awfully cute to watch!

Amara was waiting for him at the end of the parade with some refreshing treats!

Sam (one of James’ favorite people & babysitter) rode the fire truck with the HS BBall team.

While camping over Memorial Day weekend, Jeff (an avid fisherman) was happy to share his love of fishing with the always curious James.

Jeff and James with the white fish they caught!

James posing for a picture with Caleb & Michael. The boys caught another fish and brought it back to camp for James. James ended up keeping it and took it to school for show & tell (where they made fish prints and dissected it).

What a fun idea for a birthday party ~ Roller Skating!

James thought this would be easy-ka-beezy!

turns out… not as easy as he’d anticipated

He tried a few tricks to stay upright…

they didn’t work so well…

he decided to take the skates off…

He enjoyed playing with his friends and wishing Stellan a happy day!

One thing James never tires of is playing with his favorite buddy of all: Max.

End of the Year: Abbie

Posted on June 23, 2010 by admin

Abbie has finished her 7th grade year and is now officially a teenager!

Track wasn’t something I ever expected Abbie to be interested in, but she wanted a Spring sport, so she tried it… and guess what? She is really good! She ran hurdles, the 400 meter, and long jump. She learned much and excelled at all three. Josh & I were both shocked and impressed with her ability and determination!

But never fear… she is still as drama as ever, even when competing at a meet!

The Hockinson Middle School Band marched in the Junior Rose Parade in Portland, Oregon and took 1st Place! You can see the band marching in our Hockinson Fun Days festival!

Abbie celebrated her 13th birthday May 30th and since it was Memorial Day weekend, we decided what better way to celebrate it – camping! We headed out with The Picard Family and school-friends to lake Simtustus in Central Oregon.

Abbie did not get her wish of a hot & sunny day, but it was a fun-filled day none the less!

… and of course, she dressed the part of a sunny day!

We spent the day on the lake fishing and playing in the water.

That night we celebrated Abbie by the warmth of a camp fire with tasty treats & fun gifts!

We ended the evening listening to Abbie & Michael share the speeches they had written for Student Government.

Abbie planned on running for student body all year… she wanted to be Secretary (cause that’s where all the fun is). Abbie made shirts for her and all her friends to wear. Her slogan: Don’t be Crabby Vote for Abbie!

She made posters & signs -

She handed out personalized pencils: Abbie for Secretary

She wrote an inspiring speech, that I was able to watch her give to the 5th graders at the Intermediate School… but in the end, the girl who did not give a speech – rather rapped a tune to Vanilla Ice – won the election. It is true, a catchy little tune sticks with you. Of course, I think Abbie would have made a better Secretary… but of course, I’m biased.