And we are CAUGHT UP!!!

Meet Claire. We adopted her last week. She is 2 years old. Sweetheart! Short and boxy with half a tail. She has adjusted very well here in our crazy busy home! Although Jezebel will always have a place in our hearts.....

This Saturday was the Oregon Classic in Redmond. It is the biggest tournament in the state and they have a woman's division we have taken girls to every year for the last 6 years. This year we had 3 girls wrestle. Lucy, Avery and Lily.

Lucy took first place!!! She is very proud and so are we! She has worked very hard the last few years and it really shows! Congratulations Lucy!!!

It snowed!!! So the kids made mini snowmen. I think they used all the snow we had....

Awww I feel much better now!!! I love blogging about our life and the happenings in it...sometimes its hard to keep up cause we are so busy!!! But I do know I have a few faithful followers who look forward to reading this, and for that, I thank you and will continue to do my best to keep it up!!!

Spontaneity

It was just a chill Sunday here in Atown, when along came a guy and an idea.
Lets head up to Silver Falls for a little walk around! Great idea Bob, great idea!!!

My Family, I do love them soooo much! Even the goofy kid in the front!!!

This trip got Lucy all psyched up for summer and lots of promised hiking trips!!

Mom, come in this cave with me, its so cool! Look up, it never ends!

And this guy, well he is always running ahead and exploring everything!

This place never gets old!!! Breath taking!

Awwww :-)

Magical!

Moose taking a break....

Self portrait.....

Lucy captured this beautiful shot. She has a good eye!

A great little trip. We do not go up there enough. And the funny thing is, its only about 30 min away! We HAVE to make a point of going a lot this year. Silver Falls State Park, Oregon.

Christmas....Better late than never!

 Ok so I am a few weeks off, but really its been a busy time and I got behind and then didn't want to take the time to catch up. Now I have a night to myself and this is what I am doing with it....

 Our Christmas was good. We enjoyed ourselves fully. We had fondue for xmas eve dinner, homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast on xmas morning....I let the kids open one gift every hour after 2pm on xmas eve. They had a lot of fun with that and it really spread out the gift opening. It also gave them time to enjoy each item they opened.

The first gift of the season! These were presents from my grandma, their Great Grandma Toots. Wonderful, cozy blankets. Caymus said that if this was the only thing he got all xmas, he would be happy because he loves it so much!!!

Both kids in their new blankets. They literally live in them. I don't blame them, they are wonderful!!!

This year we made new stockings. I had some cool fabric I had bought the kids last year and they thought it would make the perfect stockings. So they helped me draw up the pattern, cut and sew them.

Bob and Caymus new stockings! Or you could say Red Sox and Moose!

Lucy's with horses and Mine with wine labels.

Working on some bead key chains with a kit she got. She is my crafty girl!

Enjoying their "wine" out of fancy glasses. Always a special treat for them.

Caymus was so excited for Bob to open his gift that he made him. A hand painted picture frame with his school pic in it.

Tio Reid did not disappoint! Awesome kid sized Dakine Backpacks!!!

THANKS TIO!!!!!

The after-math!!!

Caymus grew a beard!!!

We headed to the coast to spend some time with Bob's family also!

John Bob's Dad, Bob, and John Bob's oldest brother. There are a lot of laughs in this house.

Judy and Caymus opening up some goods.

After our trip to the coast, my folks came down for a few days. There were many more meals, many more gifts and many more memories....unfortunately I did not use my camera to capture any of it...so I will have to get some pics from the folks and have a whole separate post about that visit!

And last but not least....Moka turned 11 this year!!!

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!