Tick Tock

Hard to believe we are once again at the end of another year. I actually have a ton of pictures, waiting to upload and blog about and just haven't gotten around to doing it. I admire those of you who do a little bit at a time and keep on top of it, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to remain consistent! Maybe that's why I like dropshots, I just have to click and drag and the pictures upload and organize themselves! I keep thinking I need to dedicate a block of time to do this, but between my husband, my kids and our home, not to mention school and church, that block never seems to manifest itself! My pile of ironing looks suspiciously like my queue of pictures still filed under the dates I uploaded them...both awaiting some attention and organization - both of which take TIME! All good New years resolutions, right? Okay... I don't normally make any but since this will be a milestone year for me, I am making several.

1. Read my bible and pray daily
2. Exercise 3 times a week
3. Blog at least once a week
4. Iron at least once a week
5. Be a better wife, mother, friend, teacher...

the list in, in fact, endless... however, I will start with these and see where the new year takes me. I'm already ahead of the game on this...New Years Eve isn't until tomorrow! so maybe there IS hope. Besides, it's now published on the Internet for all to see, so it must be a fact, right? Wish me luck

Funny things...

I haven't had my camera out lately... we've been busy, but there was nothing to really take pictures of. However, as any of you with children or animals knows, there is no end to entertainment right here at home. Some funny things from the last few days
-Addison decided to get my stamp ink out and covered her hands and most of her arms. It took Go Jo to get it off
-Riley used stick glue for chapstick...luckily his parents were close by
-Goats got into the front yard and I didn't even notice until I saw them chasing Mrs. Kwan up to our house and then back down to her car when she tried to leave
-Kevin actually sat down while Denise and I were stamping and tried it out... actually put stamp to ink pad and then onto paper! I know, I should kept it as proof...
-Couldn't find Zach after school today, only to discover he had never gotten out of the suburban...busy with some foam craft thing, I guess

As my husband loves to tell me, "There's never a dull moment around here!" I'm sure there is more, but it's getting late and I'm a little tired. Busy day of baking and Thanksgiving prep tomorrow. So much to be thankful for!

Coyote no more

Okay, before all you animal rights activists get up in arms about this, let me just say that this coyote killed several of our chickens and was about to feast on some more when my husband finally got a clear shot at him.

The perimeter of our 5 acres is completely fenced in and we also have several pasture areas and our backyard fenced as well. This guy was right outside our backyard fence and if my kids had been swining on the swingset, it would have been about 3 feet from them. No thanks... shoot away baby!

We've been trying to get him for several months (and several chickens) and I've even taken a couple of shots, but Kevin got him on the first try this time. I'm okay with it being dead, but I didn't want to watch it die, so I waited inside while Kevin took a very anxious and excited Raymond out to "take care" of it. Raymond was full of questions and wanted to see in it's mouth, so Kevin obliged. I was somewhat surprised at how clean its teeth looked. Anyway... we are thankful to have it gone.

Hide and Seek

Addison and Zachary have recently discovered that under the dining room table is a fantastic place to play. We have what I guess is called a "counter level" gathering table, so it's nice and high off the ground with a center spot that is sort of like a shelf. Anyway, they love to play in there when all the chairs are pushed in. I keep telling my husband they need a playhouse!

Harvest Festival

Addison missed the Harvest Festival at church this year because she was sick with whatever is going around. Kevin stayed home with her and I took the boys to have some fun. There were a lot of games to play, a cake walk and even a bounce house this year. I took a lot of pictures, but none really turned out so I'm only including a couple of the boys waiting for the pinata.

I think Zach was content with the candy that he had won playing the games. He was busy trying to get these skittles open when the pinata was put into action.

Raymond has definately hit his "dork" phase. He's alway hamming for the camera and never very serious. He was excited to have so much candy all at one time!

Zachary was in no hurry to pick up the candy... he just sort of took his time and enjoyed the moment.
We had a lot of fun and enjoyed going over to some friends' house for dinner and games on Halloween. We are never home for that anymore!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trips

I had the opportunity to go along with all 3 of my kids on their pumpkin patch field trips this year. I was supposed to drive, but it worked out both times that I just got to ride along. We had a lot of fun! I absolutley love the fall and all the harvest activities.

Raymond's 3rd grade class at the pumpkin patch 10/15/09

Two very cute little pumpkins!

Zachary is currently into guns and "sights in" everything he can get his hands on. Either that, or he's just checking out the the stem on this little guy

Time Flies

Just wanted to quickly update our goings-on since last post. Time, as usual, is flying by and we are already at the end of October, the first quarter of the school year is over and Christmas seems just around the corner. I love this time of year, but the busyness of it always wipes us out. However, I'd have it no other way!

I've taken two groups of students to two different pumpkin patches over the last few weeks and had a ball both times. Kevin was able to go the last time, when Addison and Zachary's classes went and I'll try and post some of those pictures soon.

In the mean time... swine flu, croup and something called Fifths disease has all hit our school this past month. Luckily only a handful were affected in each case and our family drew the Fifths disease straw. To find more info on this click here. My joints and hands and feet were all swollen and painful for about a week and I couldn't figure out what the problem was, then when my kids displayed the rash, I figured it was a reaction to a change in detergent. Someone at school took their children in (with the same rash) and tested positive for Fifths disease. It's viral, so nothing we can do but wait it out.

Raymond still has the rash on his arms, but no other problems (thankfully, no fever or itching),but Addison had the rash, it went away and last night she came down with a high fever (103.5 through the night). Needless to say, I'm home with her today and after 2 doses of Motrin, her fever came down to about 100, which is were it is now. She's happy to sit on the couch and watch Baby Einstein for awhile and I'm hoping to get some much needed housework done, but she can be (understandably) whiny and demanding at times, so we'll see how much I actually get accomplished today! I'll post pumpkin patch pics soon.

Pumpkin Carving 101

We love the fall and everything that goes with it! First the trip to the pumpkin patch, and then we get to carve the pumpkins! Kevin has undertaken this task for the past several years and he is getting really good at it!






Raymond helped clean out the pumpkins this year and wasn't sure if he liked the slimey texture of the pumpkin seeds and pulp.
We happened to be babysitting Riley and he and Addison enjoyed each other's company more than anything else (as usual!). We found this great, "warty" pumpkin at Winco, of all places and as of yet, haven't carved it. Zachary is hoping for a skeleton!



Kevin did the classic pumpkin face and it turned out really well. We also did a spider on the smaller pumpkin.


Now I just need to figure out how to take better night time pictures. I know it just takes turning off the flash and putting the camera on something stable...

Qwest Field

We had the wonderful opportunity to take our boys and girls PE classes to Qwest field on a tour. I don't know how interesting the kids think it was, but I thought it was great! Lots of little details that you would never know or be aware of as a mere spectator.

The tour lasted just over 90 minutes and included tours of the two media rooms (one for broadcast and one for written media), the luxury suites (great views of the field and comfy chairs), a walk up to the "Hawks Nest" where the 12th man flag is raised each gameday and then down to the playing field. What an amazing surface down there! Under the artificial turf is 1000s of ground up tires and old Nike tennis shoes. How's that for trivia?!

We also had an opportunity to visit the visiting team's locker rooms which are normally off limits. They were not very impressive, but still neat to think that every week they hold some of the best players in the NFL! The tour guide related the difference of this locker room to the Seahawks and I guess it helped put it in perspective.

I walked all the way around the stadium on the "luxury" level and saw all the restaurants and lounges that you wouldn't normally get to see. Well, unless you have LOTS of money for a suite! It was a great tour and I found it quite interesting. Hopefully the kids did, as well!

Happy Birthday Brother!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Pumpkin Patch, take one

The first chance we got, on a beautiful fall afternoon, we headed to the pumpkin patch. We've visited many over the years and to start the season this year, we stayed pretty close to home. Picha farms if a favorite earlier in the year for berries, so we thought we'd try them for pumpkins.

Usually we like to find pumpkin patches that have LOTS of activities, but for starters, we just wanted to find our pumpkins to carve. We figured we'd "play" some other day. As it turned out, they had a sling shot and if you got it into the box at the end, you got 15lbs off your purchase. We got 2 in, so got this huge 30lb pumpkin for free! We were pretty excited

On our way home, we drove past another farm. I don't remember the name, but I snapped some pictures of the little ones while Kevin took Raymond through the hay maze. The view of Mt. Rainier beyond the pumpkin patch, in the late afternoon sun was stunning. Wish I could have gotten a picture that really did it justice. It was a lovely way to spend a fall afternoon.

Rice Krispie Treats for dinner!

Armed with left-over smores marshmallows and a sale on rice krispie cereal, we decided to make Rice Krispie Treats. It's been a long time since I've made them (more of a chocolate treat maker, myself). In fact, Raymond said he couldn't remember having homemade ones.

Addison was very excited about helping "cook", but I was nervous having her so close to the stove. I suppose I should get used to it, she seems overly interested in anything I am doing these days!

A fair number of marshmallows were consumed before they reached the pot to be melted. Luckily we had LOTS!

We ended up with two huge pans of treats and ate all of one for dinner. Well, we had a few other things, but nothing as good! Kevin wasn't home and we pigged out!

Zachary loved them, but wasn't sure how to get the "extra" off of his face and hands. It was rather comical to watch. We had a great time and hopefully nobody thinks less of me for letting my kids have rice krispie treats for dinner!

Homemade Pizza

We have been experimenting with making homemade pizza lately and this time around, we decided to let the kids get in on the action. It was a lot of fun!

Kevin spend several minutes trying to teach Raymond how to "throw the dough". He was getting pretty good at it by the time he finished with his crust.

Addison loves cooking any time, but this was especially exciting for her. I took several pictures and for every one she is putting something on her pizza, the next one is putting something in her mouth!

Zachary was a little more serious with his creation. He wanted to get as much on as he could and started off with a huge mound of cheese!
By the time the pizzas were made and then baked, the kids had eaten so much of the ingredients along the way that they weren't even hungry! Good thing pizza reheats so well!

Church Carnival

Our church has a carnival each year and spends a lot of time promoting it in the surrounding neighborhoods. The intent is to get a lot of people to church that normally wouldn't attend and share the gospel with them. There is no cost to anyone attending and it's always a big success. After all the hard work, it's fun to bring our kids and watch them enjoy themselves. There is always plenty of food (best part - it's all free ;o) cotton candy machines, hot dogs, popcorn and our favorite: SNOW CONES!
They can be a bit messy, but always worth it.

We also rent several bounce house type toys and the kids absolutely LOVE it!
I LOVE Zachy's expression here... he always has so much fun.

Raymond is a great big brother and had justas much fun taking Addison on these rides as she had going on them.

And my hard-working, bus-driving husband was even able to take a few minutes and spend some time with us while we all enjoyed our second round of snow cones! Pastor told us Sunday that here were over 600 in attendance and many of those where saved and baptised. PTL!