Thursday, December 27, 2007

The season was good to us

As Marty and I headed to bed on Christmas Eve we took one last look at the tree and knew Santa was good to us this year. As I turned out the lights I knew the next day would be a whirlwind of excitement and torn up wrapping paper. The boys were reluctant to go to bed... one, because they wanted to stay up play guitar hero III... their gift from Santa earlier in the evening, and two, well, because it was Christmas eve and Santa was coming... but we knew they needed to lay their sweet heads down and begin their visions of sugar plum fairies.

Morning came quickly, 5 a.m. to be exact, we could hear them rush down the stairs and scurry around the tree to spy which gifts Santa had left them. They woke us up, or I should say got us out of bed at 7:30 with anticipation busting at the seams.


After a delicious breakfast and at least one cup of coffee for Marty and I the festivities began. We enjoyed the day, the smiles and the excitement of Christmas with each other.

Monday, December 24, 2007

A Special Visitor

Santa made a special stop on Christmas Eve... He dropped by to give a few packages to the boys and read them a story. It was such a treat for them and us... who enjoyed watching their faces as he came through the door! P.S. that is a REAL beard. And that is Santa Clause!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Cat Clause


What...? He wanted to get into the Christmas spirit. Later he told me he wanted to dye his beard white. I swear!

Monday, December 10, 2007

CAUTION: A tree

We picked up our tree this weekend...

Let me begin from the BEGINNING. Last year when it came time to select the perfect tree it seems all the trees were snagged up. You know the only ones left are lop sided, or missing a bunch of branches at the top. We did end up with a pretty good tree last year that had to be positioned just right so you couldn't see the bald spot on one side.

So this year we got smart. We went to the tree farm early and tagged our tree! This way we didn't have to pick it up too early and we still got a perfect looking tree. (and I say looking, because a PERFECT tree would be one that didn't come home with spiders. AHHH! ewwwwwwwwww) Now, the gentleman whom I spoke with on the phone said you could bring your own tagging material and the better you tagged your tree the greater chance you had of it still being there. So having said that, we tagged our tree REALLY well.


Saturday afternoon we packed up the crumbs and headed to the tree farm. Let's just say after 99 atempts to take a photo of the kids all smiling at the same time, Marty and I were both ready to pull our hair out. So we found our tree (which wasn't hard, it stuck out like a sore thumb) and joyfully, while whistling the song O' Christmas tree, sawed it down.







I must tell you after getting the lights on it, a task which is never fun, it looked perfect! Nice and full... and the smell was AMAZING.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

ribbet... ribbet!

What do you get when you cross an arrowhead plant leaf, Syngonium podophyllum, with some glue, a pair of googly eyes, and some construction paper?

An art project. Well done Reuben, well done!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

It's never too late...


Okay, I know what you are thinking, Uh Thanksgiving was last week. Well, you see, it's taken me this long to recover from the food induced coma I slipped into on Thursday. We had a glorious feast... We packed up and headed over to Marty's mom's for all the turkey goodness. It was a spread of biblical proportions.... and we ate in much merriment.

The boys slipped into a coma as well and I swear were quieter than I have heard them in a long time... we ate pie afterwards. I seriously don't know how, but we did and enjoyed good fellowship with family.

Later that evening, at home, I thought about what I am thankful for and realized I don't say thank you nearly enough to those who do so much for me. Marty, for his constant love. The boys, for being such good, wonderful, amazing kids. My friends, for always being there for me. My Mom, for remembering the important things. And lastly, for coffee, I don't know how I'd make it through the day without my all important cup of coffee!

So, what I am really getting around to saying is Happy belated Thanksgiving to you all! I hope you all enjoyed food, fellowship, and the opportunity to reflect on what you are thankful for.


Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The way to a girls heart....

I have to hand it to Marty. He knows me, really well. And he knows my weaknesses... the biggest one in fact. Shoes. It's true. If I had my way I'd have new shoes everyday. There is nothing like the "new shoe" feeling. Slipping them on, checking them out, and suddenly feeling like a million bucks.

Tonight, for no real significant reason, other than he is the most amazing man ever, he gave me a new pair of shoes....


"Thanksgiving shoes" he said with a twinkle of satisfaction in his eyes.


And as I slipped them on, I felt so thankful for him and that he knows the way to a girls heart.


Educational Amusement

The joys of school bring ups and downs. Solomon has an exceptional teacher this year. Not only does he coach the High School football team and gave Solomon and his buddies an opportunity to be ball boys this year, but he has some really amazing teaching methods.

It's book report time and what way to make it better than turning your book report into a board game! Sol read Deltora Quest: The Maze of the Beast, yes the boys love science fiction! We had a blast turning a rather ordinary book report into a board game!




Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The truth


You have no idea how true this is at our house.... Poor Rosemary. Louie has been stealing her bed lately, and you know all he has to do is look at her and she shrinks back and gives it up.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Ah, the joy of.... painting?!?

So, Marty and I are nuts. Seriously, crazy. We painted the living room yesterday. And WHOA, this was an undertaking. To put things into more perspective, Marty, unannounced to me, painted the bedroom the two days before, while I was busy shoplifting in Oregon with my Mom. (and No, we didn't actually steal anything, but we shopped till we dropped)

The living room was painted a really nice beige color on the walls and a rich chocolaty color on the ceiling. We both liked it the way it was, but decided to make the change to make the room feel bigger. We slaved, well, Marty slaved and I helped. And I still have primer in my hair to prove it!!!

This is the before picture, with the browns.


Bye, bye brown ceiling...

The boys helped for about 5 minutes... and then it got "old" really fast.

Has anyone seen my fiance'?
Viola! Finished, okay not totally finished, we still need to do the cut in work on the accent wall, but for the most part done. And it only took us ALL DAY!!! As you can see it's dark out.

All in all, we're really happy with the result, it makes the room feel much larger and brighter. However, next time we paint, if there is a next time, we will definitley give ourselves more than one day.


B.L.T. and no, not the sandwich!

The boys celebrated a L O N G weekend, due to parent teacher conferences and veterans' day. Lucky. Reuben, however, instead of staying home, lounging the weekend away attended B.L.T. for his R.O.T.C. class. Basic leadership training, sure it sounds fancy, but it's really a nice way of saying BOOT CAMP! For 3 days he was awoken at 5 am to run, do push ups and learn about leadership. He swears he did over 400 push ups in the 3 days, my arms would have fallen off at about 3.
Saturday after it was all over they had an awards ceremony for those cadets who toughed it out and made it through.

Still lookin' sharp after little sleep, bad food, and all those push ups!





Tuesday, November 6, 2007

'round here it's always cats week!

It's true... the cats rule. They get what they want, when they want it from any of us. They know how to work it too. The food dish is a great example. It's been getting empty much faster than usual as of lately. And it's Louie. He had been ravenous... growing and getting bigger and that makes him eat like a horse, literally. When the dish is empty, Samson is the first to tell you. He strategically waits outside the bedroom door in the wee hours of the morning. As I am hazily making my way to the laundry room to let Rosie out, he's there underfoot making it known that he's hungry, NOW. And by making it known, I mean he's causing me to trip over him!

The truth of it is, if you are a "cat" person you relish in this ridiculous behavior from your felines. It's what makes them charming and irresistable. Aside from the fact they rule and they are just fine telling you that, we love them 'round these parts.






Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tricks and Treats.

It's that day... Halloween. The thrill of dressing up, walking house to house, getting a bag full of delicious goodies and then coming down off the sugar high and falling asleep with dreams of another sugar high the next afternoon!

The Boys' Halloween costumes have been in the making for a month now. We have schemed and searched and found just what they wanted. Goodwill, Serenity House thrift store, RiteAid, Wal-Mart... we've been everywhere! I can remember how infatuated I was with my costume when I was young. I would plan with so much anticipation that I thought I would explode! I can only imagine they feel the same way!



Tonight we had pizza, watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, headed out for some tricker treating, and finished up with a trip through the Haunted House! It was a perfect Halloween celebration!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

BOO!

We carved pumpkins tonight.... oh scary! And messy, and the cats helped.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Dance, Dance

Check out Julian bustin' a move to Dance, Dance Revolution! It's this crazy video game where you follow the moves on a pad.

How does your garden grow

This is my first year trying to winter over a few flowers. I love begonias. All kinds. You could say they are my favorite. So I got my begonias ready to come in the house for the winter. I also planted a little "winter" garden in the whiskey barrel in the front. I'm lovin' the kale!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

What they do when we're at work


YES, Sir!

You know when the phone rings in the afternoon from home, only one thing comes to mind. It's Reuben and he wants to know how long to put something in the microwave for. But much to my surprise he had some really exciting news! He was promoted to a Squad Leader in N.J.R.O.T.C., which for those of you, who like me, are thinking, "what in the heck is N.J.R. what were the rest of the letters"? It stands for Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. Port Angeles High offers this as a class and it has turned out to be a wonderful thing for him. He is learning responsibility, leadership, and discipline. Way to go Reuben! Does this mean we call you Sir now?

This was from his awards ceremony last year. Lookin' sharp!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Goodbye Football

Saturday wrapped up this season of Future Riders football. Our record 1-6. Yeah, not so great, but that's not the point. The point is that our boy is learning the fundamentals of sportsmanship, teamwork, and how far a good attitude can take you. Good Job Sol, we're SO proud of you!







The Dog

I think it would be safe to say "our" dog falls into this category.

In the Beginning...

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." ~ Emily Dickinson

I suppose I could go on and on about where we all started but I'll let the stories unfold as we tell the tale.