Misc pics

Since I didn't post for forever, I feel like sharing pictures from Christmas and the intervening months. Enjoy (or don't :) ) ! Mormor and Morfar and Aunt Heidi were here, and we had a blast!

Hamsters, tomboys, & superheroes, oh my!

Don't you hate it when you go to save your post and it erases? So happy that happened.

So, starting over--my favorite quotes from this week?

CBC: "I'm half-boy and half-girl. That means I'm a tomboy and I can do whatever I want."

Buddy: Playing with his Superman and Batman toys: "You killed my father!" and "Wanna piece of me?!"

This has been a busy month, as usual. I went on a 3-day weekend trip to Oregon with my sister-in-law--we shopped and went sight-seeing and had an overall great time! (Enjoy the picture of me practically blowing off the coast.) The kids missed me a lot, though, so I tried to make up for it by taking two days off this week to spend with them while Clark was at a work conference. Right before we left, we found out Buddy had the flu and pneumonia, so that was a definite drag for him (poor guy!), but I think Toys R Us, Target, and Chuck E. Cheese made up for it :) Buddy seriously thought Toys R Us was the greatest store ever, and feeding the tickets into the ticket machine at Chuck E. Cheese was a definite highlight. And CBC loved playing the big sister and showing little brother how everything worked.

This month we also were happy to see friends from college--we used to live by them in Arizona and haven't seen them in a few years, so it was really enjoyable to show them our fair city (Seattle, not Maple Valley :) ). It's so crazy to see friends' kids growing up when you remember them as babies.

Now that school is back in, we've started swimming lessons again. CBC loves jumping off the diving board, and just overall being in the water. Buddy walked the plank but couldn't actually bring himself to jump off. I presume he was imaging himself as Spider-man at the time. Or Superman. Or Batman. Or Lightning McQueen. Or Buzz Lightyear. I think I've overdone it with heroic toys :)

And to top it off, CBC decided she wanted a hamster instead of a dog. Of course, this lasted all of a week before she admitted she just wanted the hamster as a warm-up. Good thing Superman held me off from buying one! Now her plan is to learn how to take care of dogs by walking neighbor dogs. Her flier is very impressive.

And the violin came home this week! You should hear my girl play! I'll post a video as soon as I think the general audience can stand it :)

CBC First Day of School & Working on Home

Ahh, the first day of school. CBC was sooo ready for 2nd grade to begin, and she really enjoyed her first week. With only 6 boys in the class and 18 girls, I think her teacher is going to have her hands full! I took the day off and took CBC to school--we went out to breakfast at McDonald's as a family, and then Superman took Buddy to school while I took CBC. Apparently, Buddy cried his little eyes out when he realized he didn't get to spend the day at home with everybody--poor baby (uh, excuse me, poor "big boy!" I have been taken to task regarding that several times this week--"Mom, I not a baby! I a big boy!"). CBC, on the other hand, didn't cry and wasn't even really nervous. She just takes things in stride, that's for sure. I totally forgot to take pictures of her in class (who is honestly surprised?!) and so I had to settle for pictures in front of her after-school program later that day. She doesn't get her violin for a month--"Mom, seriously, I already told you--we won't get it for a month or a few weeks. Stop asking!"

Oh, three more things! After taking CBC to school, I came back to work as Superman's servant on finishing our guest room. He and Morfar laid most of the hardwood, but Superman and I finished the job. Wow, it looks nice!! Then on Saturday, we went hiking (shocking, I know!) on Mt. Rainier--first time we have ever been there, and it was beautiful. AND . . . I stopped drinking soda this week! I had a dental appointment and it really made me realize it's time to grow up and stop living like a teenager. (I also started flossing every night, for those of you who care.) I had my last Diet Pepsi on Tuesday AM and started drinking water shortly thereafter. Yay for my bones and my teeth, but wow, this is proving to be extra hard on my sweet tooth so far. I have really been sucking down the candy. Maybe not so good for my teeth, but at least I'm not sucking down 3 or more cans of soda every day . . .

Summer, we will miss thee

How can summer be over already? School starts in one week, and I think we're about ready to get back into the learning groove. It's been a really fun summer, even though the weather in WA hasn't really cooperated. We had about a week of extremely hot temperatures when we all slept in the master bedroom with the a/c in the window, but other than that, it's been off and on rain. I'll have to post some pictures soon, but I wanted to get caught up before procrastinating this any longer.

In July, we combined a work conference in Anaheim, CA with a family vacation by driving to Utah first. We visited Superman's parents and mine, and then Morfar and Mormor traveled with us to California, where we went to the beach and Disneyland, visited some good friends, and absolutely loved every minute of it. My conference was really good, too! Everyone at the beach forgot sunscreen, with CBC and Mormor getting the brunt of the sunburn. CBC's was so awful because she body surfed for 4 hours straight without coming in. I forget sometimes how much she loves water. Buddy had to re-learn grandparents' names, because once again he called them all Grandma. So we have officially switched over to Morfar (literally, mother's father) and Mormor (mother's mother). That seemed to help :) Morfar and Mormor took CBC home with them for two weeks, which proved to be very difficult on Buddy, but she had a great time.

On the way home from Anaheim, we stopped in San Jose to visit my brother and his family, which was an absolute blast. I wish they lived closer so we could see them more often! Two weeks later, Morfar and Mormor drove from their house in UT to our house in WA with CBC, carting a U-Haul behind them filled with furniture and a piano for us. If I haven't mentioned it a million times, my parents are so good to us! While they were here for a few days, Morfar helped Superman put a hardwood floor in upstairs (no rest for the weary!).

Since they've left, CBC has gone back to camp and enjoyed a Mariner's game, bounce houses, laser tag, swimming, etc. Buddy switched daycares, which went a little easier than I had feared. We miss our old school, but now I can pick him up earlier than before, which makes his day a little shorter. He told me he was sad on Friday after I picked him up, and when I asked him why, he said, "I miss Mormor! I want to go to her house." We're glad we'll be seeing them again at Christmas!

We've enjoyed the lake with family, gone to the fair, ridden bikes, played at the park, and did yard work like nothing else. Summer has also shown us what a big boy we have living with us--Buddy's vocabulary constantly surprises me ("Mom, that is so lame!"), he was potty-trained in May, and was bottle-free by July (and, yes, that was painful for all of us). Ever since CA, he is absolutely obsessed with Buzz Lightyear and Woody, and is always shouting, "To infinity and beyond!" while jumping off various items of furniture.

CBC has grown another million inches and made new friends everywhere she goes. She is reading like a champ, too! We have really enjoyed this summer, and I'm a little sad to see it go, but I'm excited to see what 2nd grade in our new school brings us. I especially can't wait to hear CBC play her violin :)