Back to December

Its been a normal week around here, school, wrestling, work...Not to much new going on. Well a thing or two I guess...
Our sweet little girl kitty, Jezebel, has been missing for over a week now. We have gone to the Humane Society regularly looking for her. We still have hope she will come home, but the longer she is gone the less hope we have. I did tell Lucy that if she has not come back by new years, we can look at getting another kitty. This is the hard part of having pets....
We did spend all day Sunday crafting. I always make a few things for Christmas and this year is no different. Unfortunately I can not post pictures or discuss what I am making until after the holidays because I don't want to give away someones gift! But the kids and I had fun making stuff!! My table still looks like a bomb went off on it....
The weather has been cold, very cold. In the 20s. No snow, but a very thick, freezing fog. Its kinda cool actually. Today though it started raining....blah. I will take cold any day over rain.
Today is the last day of school for the kids before break....they get almost 3 weeks off this year....hmmm wonder what we will do to keep busy......

Last Saturdays Wrestling tournament. Lucy wrestled one of the best matches I have ever seen! It was awesome!

My crafting disaster!!!

And some REALLY AWESOME NEWS!!! My baby brother made it back home safely from Iraq!!! Just in time for the holidays! B- I am so proud of you and love you more than you can ever know!!!

What keeps me going....

These kids are what! They are so entertaining. I love watching them grow. Everyday is a new challenge, experience, laugh.
We are in full wrestling swing....I am not coaching this year and both are not totally crazy about that. But we are finding our balance and making it work. This weekend was their first tournament of the year. Both did really well and are so brave. If you have never stepped foot on a wrestling mat then you have no idea what bravery it takes to look your opponent in the eye and wait for the whistle to blow. Its intense.

Lucy bought this hat with her own money and has not taken it off since...She sure does look cute in it!!!

And she brings humor into my life daily. I love her spirit. She is an absolute blast to be around.

My little man. Notice his black eye. This kid is to smart for his own good, a goof ball, vocal, energetic, loving and thoughtful. Can't imagine my life with out him.

Spot of tea gov'na! They had a tea party/picnic on their day off Monday. HUMOR!!!

My stocking lamp..... :-)

I love digging out all our ornaments. My mom gave us a new ornament every year growing up...ok she still give me a new one every year. And I give the kids a new one every year...and so does my mom...so we have a lot. But its fun to look at all of them and remember what we were doing that year that inspired the ornament. I LOVE my eclectic tree, its a perfect fit to my eclectic house!!!

Happy Birthday 9 year old!!!

Lucy turned 9 on Monday....Its hard to believe...I know I say that every year, but it really is!!! I can still remember the feeling of the first time I felt her move inside of me. It has been a wonderful 9 years and I love the girl she is and is growing up to be.

Enough mushy stuff and on to the fun!
My Mom stopped at IKEA on the way down and got her a desk for her room, so we spent a few hours putting it together and then the 2 of them decorated and organized her room! She LOVES it!!!

Desk building!

She was a helpful little girl!

She was a little excited!!! She loves her "stuff", and now has more space to display it!

Since her bday is always around the holiday weekend its really hard to plan a party and have people free enough to make it. So this year we spread out the fun. She got to party in California, then dinner out with us the night before her special day. After school on Monday Mom and I picked her and a few friends up, went to Starbucks and then Color Me Mine for some pottery painting. They had a great time and so did she!

A little painting for the birthday girl and some friends.

She wore her tiara all day long!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

And her finished room!!!

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas!

We had some beautiful weather on Saturday....perfect for decorating! I strung lights outside. The kids helped put up decorations in and out....this was entertaining.....
My mom came down for Lucy's bday and arrived just in time to go get our tree with us. We cut it down by hand, totally awesome!!!
It wasn't long before we had all the decorating done! Awww its time for Christmas!

Picking out the tree.

My hard working little man! Cutting a tree down by hand is real mans work!

Decorating with joy!

What a little poser!

My family!

Ta-Da!!! All done!!!

Love these two!!! Lucy finally got Bob to smile for the camera!

Lummi Escape and Thanksgiving

Last week I packed up my Tahoe and headed North.....All the way to my favorite escape Lummi Island!
My dad is off working for a few weeks, so that left Mom home in an empty house. My kids were off to visit the other grandparents in SUNNY Palm Desert, so this gave me the perfect excuse to go.
We beach walked, visited family, sewed, ate, hung out with Reid who came down for one night, made some beaded mermaids...and had some really good girl time!

Just a little glimpse into out beach combing adventures.

We ended up with some really stormy weather while I was up on the Island, waves crashing, wind blowing, quite refreshing!
One day I went for a run and along the sea wall the waves were crashing in and over the wall, that was awesome!

My Mama and I on the beach.

Wednesday I headed back home to meet up with Bob and go to his folks place on the coast. Apparently the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year. Super. It took me 8.5 hours to drive home....normally a 5.5 hour drive. Oh and it rained the entire way. Double super!
I did make it and we did make it then to the coast (another 2.5 hour drive).
We had a really nice relaxing time at his folks place. Eating, cooking, shopping, and storm watching!!!

Big Smash

Sunday was the BIG SMASH....bowl game for Caymus' football. His final game....he loved football this year and was very successful. He was a leader to his team and a very focused player. I am so proud of him. He is sad the season is over and cannot wait for next year.

My boy on Offense, number 7.

They got to play in Reser Stadium, OSU, on the turf! A very big deal for these little guys!

His biggest fans!

They won all 3 of their games and only gave up one touchdown.

He will be famous some day......

Thank you Veterans

Thank you to all the service men and woman out there who fight and have fought for our American Freedom. Everyday I am proud to be an American and everyday I am thankful for those people.

My Baby Brother Bryce on the day of his deployment with his daughter Isis. So proud of him.

Getting back to crazy

I could say getting back to normal but that just sounds boring and I would say our lives are more crazy than boring.
The house has been transformed from ghoulish to harvesty. Soccer is over. Football has one more practice with the BIG SMASH on Sunday. Wrestling starts on Monday......
Last week we had 2 days of school because of conferences, both kids teachers had wonderful things to say about them and both are doing great in school. Lucy did spend 2 of those days sick, fortunately we had no school to miss and she was able to get better before the new week began.
Since I have been back from Europe we have been walking to and from school everyday. Its only .4 miles one way, not very far. The kids are really enjoying it. And they are recognizing why it is a good thing for a few reasons....its exercise, we are not wasting gas, its good for the environment, its a great time to have a conversation.

This made me a very happy mama! Lucy sharing her umbrella and them having a conversation!

Fall is in full swing, the leaves are changing and falling, the fog is thick and heavy, the air is crisp and the apples are DELICIOUS!!! I really do love this time of year, it has a refreshing feel to it and there is the hint of holidays in the air, always an exciting time.

Caymus finally lost his top front tooth last night! It has been dangling by a thin thread for weeks now. He claims it was knocked out at football! Isn't he so cute?

Happy Halloween!

What a crazy weekend we had!!!! It started with Friday afternoon.....
Both kids had Harvest Parties in their classrooms. Fortunatnly my friend Jill did all the planning sicne I was outta the country....and she rocks. So both classes were pretty much the same, easy. Then right after school was Harvest Party set up time for our BIG carnival in the evening. We transformed the school in to a giant playground! Lots of games, face painting, photo booth, food and fun! We had an amazing turn out....probably 600 or so people came out. Needless to say we were beat by the end of the day!
Then that brings Saturday. Lazy morning followed by house keeping and then Lucy's last soccer game. Here team went undefeated! So the coach treated them to a party at Chuck E Cheese!!! After that and a quick stop at the grocery store, we got ready for some friends to come over and have a little Halloween party of our own! 
Sunday truely was a day of rest....well accept the 3 hours I speent working in the yard...but for me that is rest. :-)
Monday = Halloween. The kids said they wanted to hand out candy this year and I was happy with that! So we headed to Bob's house, had dinner and then waited for the trick or treaters to start! The kids made a game out of it, they had to say something nice to each kid that came to the door. Anywhere from Happy Halloween to rad mask and sick wounds. It was VERY entertaining!!! We did end up going out for a little trick or treat....just to say we did it I guess!

My little jaguar at his Harvest Party.

And my pumpkin at hers!

Caymus testing out the bean bag toss for the Harvest Party! One of our VERY talented moms painted the board, she is amazing!

The Fierce Jaguars!!! Undefeated!!!! Lucy is on the far right.

Lucy and her friends singing Party in the USA for us at our Halloween party!

Bob, Caymus and Moka watching Sunday Football....I love these boys!

All ready for passing out candy and trick or treating!

Sorting her loot!

Our creepy make up for the Harvest Party!

Picture from the Photo Booth! Thank you www.heatherboylesphotography.com!!!

The fabulous PTC board!!!!

So I guess that explains why we are all beat today! Lucy even came home sick from school today....good thing we have the next 5 days off from school!

Pumpkin carving

I made it back home around 4pm on Tuesday...what a long day. It is so nice to be back and get back into the swing of things! And that means Halloween!!!!

We finally had a free night with no activities so it was PUMPKIN CARVING night! I love seeing each persons creativity and individuality come out with their pumpkins!

The kids and Bob carving away....they were really interested to see what Bob came up with....

Playing with the guts is always a highlight!

My masterpiece!

Lucy's......she got carried way with adding guts....then decided to add the beer. Very clever.

Caymus'....he wanted scary and I think he got it!

Bob's.....he is adorable!

My posers with the final product.

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And after all that hard work we pigged out on home made chicken soup with dumplings....everyone had seconds....some had thirds.... GREAT night with my loves!!!