In the Blink of a Klink

Alex reading

2012-01-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

Alex has been working through the BOB learn-to-read books and is doing a great job. It's amazing how much he picks up from having a big sister.

You can also see Mia's large Littlest Pet Shop collection (119!) on the coffee table. She was doing the video taping and kept panning over to get the pets in the shot.

Running playlist

2012-01-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what possessed [the formerly running-hater] me, but I registered for the Corvallis Half Marathon. I've never, ever run a race (I walked the Race for the Cure once, but that is all) so I'm not sure why I thought a half would be a good starting point; but nonetheless, I have paid and am determined to do it. It's only 13-ish miles, right?

I've been working on perfecting my running playlist, and would love to hear what songs/playlists others run to, so please post your favorite inspirational running/workout songs in the comments. Here is what my list looks like as of now:

**Please note, this is NOT a kid-friendly playlist, and although there is a wide variety of music here, I do listen to a lot of rap/hip hop.**

Dreadlock Holiday - 10cc

Fallin' - Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul

Good Feeling - Flo Rida

One Night in Bankok - Vinylshakerz

Why Don't You get a Job? - Offspring

Como ves - Ozomotli

Watch Out Now - Beatnuts

Scenario - Tribe Called Quest

Next Episode - Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg

Fire it Up - Busta Rhymes

Look at Me Now - Karmin

Place Your Hands - Reef

How Much is This Fish - Scooter

Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes

6 foot 7 foot - Karmin

Yo Pumpkin Head - Seatbelts

Cumbia de los Muertos - Ozomotli

Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz

Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5

Beggin - Pilooski remix

Love Don't Let Me Go - David Guetta vs the Egg

More - Usher

Voodoo Child - Rogue Traders

O Le Le - Ozomotli

Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

Rock this Party - Bob Sinclair and Cutee B

Don't Stop Wiggle Wiggle - Southern Light

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' - Scissor Sisters Remix by Double

S&M - Rhianna

19-2000 - Gorillaz

Lose Control - Missy Elliot

Higher Ground - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Let's Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas

Faster Kill Pussycat - Oakenfold ft. Brittany Murphy

Crabbuckit - k-os

Thunder Kiss '65 - White Zombie

What Planet is this? - Seatbelts

Science Saturday

2012-01-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Nathan is the best dad ever. He started a new thing called "Science Saturday" with the kids so they can try different experiments. Grandma even made them some pretty cool lab coats.

If he was writing this blog, he could give you a lot more details (I was out for a run when they were doing this), but today they are growing rainbow colored crystals.

Last week, they experimented with reactions - my favorite reactions are the ones on their faces.

Bathroom humor

2012-01-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

I interrupt the regular scheduled program for a message from our sponsors:

Ah, the bathroom humor never gets old. This was a collaboration between Mia AND Alex, and I have to admit that I laughed pretty hard when I saw it. It's from a while ago, but I just came across it again.

Magic Wings

2012-01-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Magic Wings and Yankee Candle in Deerfield, MA one day. The kids were very tired and cranky that day, so it wasn't quite the experience I had envisioned...but you win some and you lose some, that's just how it goes with kids.

Supposedly, they were grumpy because they wanted butterflies to land on them. They tried sitting nice and still...
but still wouldn't crack a smile when a butterfly finally did land on them.
Alex was out of control when we were in Yankee Candle, so I had to just bring him out to the car until everyone was done. He was asleep within 5 minutes.

Fun with east coast friends

2012-01-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

Although we didn't get around to seeing everyone we wanted to while visiting, we did get to spend some quality time with my brother. Megan and Jari and their cuties also came for a visit, too.

My mom made a huge surf-and-turf dinner for New Year's Eve

This is Zach, Jari's new little baby. He is SO stinkin' cute!
Alex and Uncle E
Madison, Samantha, Alex and Mia - they had so much fun playing together.
And us girls (Alex took the photo, thank you Alex).

Christmas rewind: Christmas #4

2012-01-14T14:31:00.001-08:00

Thursday evening was the fourth and final Christmas at Auntie Lynn and Uncle Butch's house.

Mia was SO excited to get Cookie the dog....Cookie now wakes her up for school every morning.

Guitar lessons

2012-01-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

The kids had fun getting guitar lessons from my dad when we were in MA:

Christmas rewind: Christmas #3

2012-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

This year's holiday included a trip to the east coast for the kids and me. Santa Claus even left a note saying he dropped some presents off at Memere and Popi's for the kids. We planned to leave Corvallis on the 27th, so that left only one day to pack, get presents organized for the trip and clean up. I don't usually leave everything until the last minute, but with Christmas, that's just how it happened. Everything got packed, but the house was a complete disaster (sorry Nathan - and THANK YOU for cleaning everything up!) We headed to Portland to watch the Corvallis Spartans play in the Les Schwab basketball tournament, stayed over night in a hotel, and then flew out of Portland bright and early on the 28th. The kids are great travelers despite the long day. We had originally planned to do Christmas #3 when we got in that day, but the kids were way too tired. So we woke up early the next morning and the kids quickly opened their presents before Memere had to go to work.

So, remember how Mia put an e-reader on her Christmas list? Well, Santa totally came through and got her a Nook Simple Touch. She was thrilled and quite proud to have her own (which is nicer than mine, by the way).

She also got the Playmobil school bus, pretty awesome:

Alex got his very own walkie talkies, which supply endless fun

We spent the rest of the day just chilling and playing with all the fun new goodies.

Christmas rewind: Christmas #2

2012-01-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

We spent the late morning at Grandma and Grandpa's, where more present opening happened.

Mia and Alex had some challenges to get their presents. Mia had to play 20 questions to try to guess and get hints where her present was....
It's a super cool moon chair for her room. She loves it and spends lots of time reading in it.
Alex had to go on a scavenger hunt around the house that took him outside where his present was - his own basketball hoop! It's awesome, it goes down really low so he can shoot and make baskets (without compromising his form, says the basketball coach).

After presents we had a yummy breakfast, then headed home where we all had naps and a lazy afternoon playing with all the fun new stuff.

Christmas rewind: Christmas #1

2012-01-12T20:21:00.000-08:00

The kids were pretty pumped about having "four Christmases" this year. One at our house, one at grandma's, one at Memere and Popi's and one at Auntie Lynn and Uncle Butch's.

Christmas morning the kids were up early - like 5:30 a.m. I think? Alex was up earlier, but we sent him back to bed until Mia got up too.

Here is the note that Mia left for Santa. We didn't get a photo of his signature, but he left it. And Mia definitely compared it to Santa's signature from the Christmas eve gifts he left. And they matched. So HA! Tracking these details is exhausting.

Coming down the stairs...
The first thing Mia spotted was the bunk beds for her American Girl dolls from Nathan and me. Nathan built the bunk beds and I made the mattresses, blankets and pillows.

Mia FINALLY got a locket, just like she wanted.
Alex got a Batman helicopter, which was totally awesome.....except that it lasted oh...maybe 1.5 hours before it broke.

Mia got the Playmobil schoolhouse

I made Mia a book tote and she loved it.
Love, love, love that the kids get excited about getting books. Alex got a new Spiderman Phonics learn-to-read set.
Alex got some awesome vintage superhero tin posters for his room.
And Alex...oh Alex. He cracks me up. He spent a few days before Christmas wrapping presents for people. I had no idea what, but he worked very hard at it. I got a purple marker:
Star Wars Trouble - he was so pumped.
After we opened presents and had a little breakfast, we headed over to the Klinkhammers' for Christmas #2.

Christmas rewind: Christmas Eve

2012-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

Taking off right after Christmas for Portland and then to the east coast, and then back home to press deadlines means LOTS of catching up to do. Yikes!

Here are a couple pics from our pre-Christmas eve family photo shoot:

We spent Christmas eve at the Badgers' again, but this year Cory's brother and his family came up too, which was really fun for Mia because they have two girls that are into all the same things as Mia.

Santa did not come in this year, but he rang the doorbell and left a letter and bag of the goodies for the kids.
The kids were all so excited. We spent a lot of time outside looking for him and trying to spot him flying off in the sky.

We started our Christmas eve celebration early so we could all get home early and get the kiddos in bed. Both Mia and Alex were up several times throughout the night for various reasons - mostly excited and nervous. Around midnight, Mia came into our room scared - she said she heard something. I brought her back to bed, and at the same time our neighbor across the street had just pulled into the driveway and the car's break light was shining through Mia's window. Mia was like "What. Is. That." And I was like "...I don't know?" and she was totally convinced it was Rudolph's nose shining through. Ladies and gentlemen....we've got a believer. Well, that or a very good actress.

Homemade from the heart

2011-12-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

Lots of pictures to go through from today, but I couldn't help posting this series right away. Mia and Alex made each other gifts (Alex made Mia a no-sew fleece blanket; Mia sewed Alex a Batman pillow). Last night before bed they decided together that the first gift they would open would be the ones from each other. This right here made my entire day:

The hug was totally unprompted by us.
They truly loved the gifts from each other. It made my heart happy.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T20:20:00.001-08:00

Alex's Christmas concert

2011-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Alex had his Christmas concert at school last week, and I need to get the video uploaded, but here are some photos:

If you look closely in the photo below, you'll notice that Alex's fingernails are painted - nice, huh? Mia and I were doing our nails and he decided he wanted his done too...so Mia painted them.
Alex and Teacher Sarah
Alex and Teacher Francisco

Alex and the Chipmunks

2011-12-17T10:01:00.001-08:00

The Chipmunks Christmas album is probably the thing I remember most about Christmas as a kid. My brother and I listened to that record over and over and over. I bought the CD for the kids a couple years ago, and my kids love it just as much as I did when I was young. Alex asks to me to turn it on first thing in the morning, and hearing Dave yell for Alvin never gets old. A few days ago, I showed them the video of "Christmas Don't be Late"

The most hilarious part of the video was the signs Alvin leaves around the house asking for a hula hoop. Alex decided after seeing the video that he also wanted a hula hoop for Christmas, so when he asked me how to spell it I thought he was just adding it to his Christmas list. But then I found this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

That kid cracks me up.

2011 Christmas card

2011-12-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

We usually make our own Christmas cards, but I was feeling very uninspired this year...so I asked Mia to draw something we could use. She was home for an entire week with pneumonia, so she spent quite a bit of time coming up with the perfect drawing.

This is how it turned out:

I think the Christmas-card-making torch has officially been passed to Mia. She was quite proud that we were using her work for our family card.

The great tree hunt x 2

2011-12-15T20:02:00.001-08:00

Usually we get our Christmas tree the first weekend in December, but this year due to various sicknesses (Mia with pneumonia and Alex and me with the flu) our tree hunt was delayed a week. We headed out to Sunrise Tree Farm in King's Valley first thing this past Saturday. We were the first people there and had a sleigh ride all to ourselves before we began the search. We saw some tiny 3-foot trees, and started talking about getting the kids their very own tree for upstairs in the bonus room. The kids loved that idea, and we did too. I love how you can see trees lit up through the front window of houses, but since our living room is in the back of our house, you can't see it from the front. So we figured we could put the kids' mini-tree on the train table in the bonus room so you can see it from the street. It was perfect!

We got home and set up the kids tree while they started going through all the ornaments. They took all of their ornaments and went to town while Nathan and I decorated tree downstairs. They worked so hard and take so much pride in "their" tree...they are insisting that this be a new tradition.

We left the camera upstairs, and when I went to check on them, there was Alex taking (multiple) pictures of every single ornament on the tree.

Here is the kiddie finished tree:

And the "grown-up" tree:

This is the view of the kiddie tree from the street:
And our house with the snowflake lights:

And that sneaky little elf hiding in the tree:

One final sweet little Christmas tree story: A few days ago, Alex told me a "secret." He said sometimes he gets up in the middle of the night, comes in the bonus room and turns on the Christmas lights and just sits there and looks at the Christmas tree. I didn't think much of it until yesterday morning - at about 6 a.m. I had just gotten back from a run, and I heard his bedroom door open. I figured he just had to go to the bathroom and went back to bed, as I didn't hear anything else. When I finally went upstairs about 10 minutes later, I saw that the Christmas tree lights were on, and there he was just sitting criss-cross applesauce in front of the tree staring at it. It was the sweetest thing. As soon as I saw him, he went back to bed...so now I'm wondering how often he does this?

Winter concert

2011-12-09T21:52:00.001-08:00

Mia had her school Christmas concert last night. She was a bit tired as she's still trying to recover from being out with pneumonia all last week, but she did a great job and all the kids were so cute.

As for Alex, as soon as 7 o'clock hit (the time the performance started), he was out like a light. He is now 2 for 2 - he did the same exact thing at last year's concert - fell asleep at the beginning and then slept through the entire thing. We brought him home, changed him, brushed his teeth and put him to bed and he slept until I had to wake him up at 7:15 the next morning.

Here are a couple songs they sang:

November notes

2011-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving post will be published (below) soon. Just some quick notes:

-The kids have been sick all week. We just got back from the doctor, and Mia has pneumonia. Not fun. I think I was up about 8 times last night with one child or the other, and I was having flash backs to a couple years ago when a full night's sleep was rare. Again, not fun.

-Mia has been hallucinating with her fever, and she woke up screaming and crying early in the evening two nights ago. Alex came running in and was really worried about her. Once she calmed down, she asked for a book that was downstairs. Alex said, "I'll go get it for you. Mia, you are my sister and I'll do ANYTHING for you." It was so sweet.

-Yesterday the kids were making their Christmas wish lists, and Mia asks us "So, Nook or Kindle - which one is better?" She was totally serious, and wondered what Nathan and I thought was so funny. So 'Kindle' is now on her list.

-Mia was reading the Elf on the Shelf book yesterday and brought it over to me and said "Look at this!" pointing to the author on the cover, "This book does NOT say 'written by Santa Claus' - so tell me the truth. Where did you order this from?" She asked me seriously a couple months ago if the tooth fairy and Santa were real. I told her I didn't know, and she said "I think it's you and daddy doing it." But she still talks about Santa like he's real, so hopefully the fun and magic can last one more year for her.

-Alex is a little less skeptical about Santa. He keeps saying "I KNOW Santa is real, because I've seen him!"

-Having kids that a) can read and b) are critical thinkers makes the whole Christmas present shopping, hiding and wrapping difficult. It's hard work trying hide stuff from them now!

Turkey for the girls and turkey for the boys

2011-11-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

My favorite kind of pants are corduroys.

We had a great Thanksgiving with my parents and the Klinkhammers....the pics say it all!

Mia felt very special because Grandma asked her to write out all the place cards - she very nice handwriting.

Cousins in their traditional matching holiday jammies! Love it!

And here is our Thanksgiving Day entertainment....the Blue Skeleton Bomb heads!

And here is a link to their rehearsal video, when Anna stood in for Mia: http://badgerfamily.blogspot.com/2011/11/turkey-dinner.html

Hobbit Beach

2011-11-22T22:21:00.001-08:00

After the Sea Lion Caves, we headed north on the coast a couple miles to the Hobbit Trail - we've been here before, and it certainly is a favorite.

It's the coolest trail, and it leads right out to a beautiful beach. This time, the tide was out so there was so much more beach than last time. The kids took off their socks and shoes and just ran and played and jumped and got sandy and wet.

My parents loved it, as I knew they would...they found 2 perfect sand dollars, too.

Sea lion caves

2011-11-22T22:10:00.001-08:00

The bad part about visiting Oregon in November is that chances are the weather will be gray and rainy. We talked about going to the coast one day, and when we looked at the forecast, Sunday was the day - it was the only day all week that was to be clear and sunny. So we headed west and when we finally broke through to the coast, it was just gorgeous. We stopped and had lunch in Waldport at Grand Central Pizza, then drove south to the Sea Lion caves.

You go down this elevator to the coolest cave. Typically, the sea lions are all over that rock in the middle of the below photo.
But since the weather was so nice, the seals were all out enjoying the sunshine. We did get to see one inside - see?

But we were able to see tons of them outside and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Snuggle time

2011-11-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

My parents arrived on Saturday, and we are having such a good time. Alex is particularly happy because he is getting lots of time to snuggle with Memere.

Book worm

2011-11-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

Mia's reading has taken off lately, and she's now reading chapter books completely independently. She gets to stay up a little later at night to read. Last night she needed a new book, so she picked out one from the Magic Tree House series. After about an hour or so, I went up to check on her and she said "I only have one more chapter to go and I'm done!" She read the entire book (10 chapters) in one sitting.

Escuelita de futbol

2011-11-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

After spending many afternoons hanging out at Mia's soccer practice, Alex's soccer finally started a few weeks ago. He totally loves it, and the mohawk certainly helps him run faster.

See? That is speed you only get with a hair cut like that.
Can't believe that little guy is going to be in kindergarten next year...

Mohawk

2011-11-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ever since his last haircut, Alex has been begging for a mohawk. We weren't quite sure where he got the idea, but we recently deduced that it's because one of his teachers at school - Teacher Cisco - also has a mohawk. Teacher Cisco is a young, soccer-playing, mohawk-wearing kinda guy, and Alex adores him. So while I went and got my hair done this evening, Nathan brought Alex to get his hair cut, too. He came home with a 'hawk, and I kinda love it.

Highs and lows

2011-11-03T21:59:00.001-07:00

Every night at the dinner we do "highs and lows" where we go around the table and everyone shares their high and low points of the day. It makes for some great conversation and teaching moments.

The other day I had to get the kids up about 15 minutes earlier than normal (6:45 instead of 7:00) so we could take Nathan to work while his car was being serviced. That day both kids' 'low' was that they had to wake up so early. It was a beautiful realization, and I know there were times only a couple short years ago where I never believed this day would come - when the kids actually like sleeping in and typically sleep in longer than we do (even on the weekends).

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:32:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween Alex dressed up as Kid Flash and Mia dressed up as a Japanese Princess. In case you don't know who Kid Flash is (we only encountered 2 people all night that knew who he was) - he's Flash's nephew: http://youngjustice.wikia.com/wiki/Kid_Flash

Mia wanted to be a cat for the longest time, until she realized that most cat costumes are just plain boring and black - not quite "pretty" enough. Then she saw this Japanese costume and was in love. She looks pretty darn cute in it.

We went trick-or-treating at Nathan's office and then headed downtown for a bit. We grabbed a bite to eat at Laughing Planet, visited Grandma and Grandpa's house and then headed back to our neighborhood. The kids had so much fun running around everywhere and collected a ton of candy.

Airlie Hills Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday we headed out to Airlie Hills pumpkin patch - it was a gorgeous fall day. We've been so lucky and have had beautiful weather. The kids had so much fun going down the slide and running through they hay maze. It's such a cute little farm, I love it!

This is my friend Linda's daughter - isn't she the cutest?

Pumpkin carving party

2011-10-29T12:05:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday we had a pumpkin carving party at our house.

Mia carved her pumpkin completely on her own this year. She designed the kitty cat on paper then did all the cutting herself. She was quite proud.

Here's Mia's finished kitty pumpkin
We carved outside then came in for a baked potato bar and hot soup.
Here they are, all aglow:

We are officially ready for Halloween. Thanks all for coming - it was lots of fun!

Muddy Creek Maze

2011-10-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Mia's American Girl Club had an outing to the Muddy Creek maze today - we could not have asked for a more gorgeous fall day.

We split up into teams and headed out to the maze to try to get our cards punched at all six spots.
We had a great little team and worked together to find all the stops - they were so proud! We were the first team out, and they all got a little prize.
The sun lowering down behind the trees provided such pretty light - the kids played on the hay bales and I took a bunch of pics.

Stick bombs!

2011-10-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we spent quite a bit of time making stick bombs. Nathan found a tutorial and examples online, and we had to try it out. We got a pack of 300 tongue depressors at the craft store and went to town - you weave them so that when one is triggered, they all "blow up." It's pretty awesome. Above is a pic of one we made, and here is a little video of one we did at Susan and Gary's:

Here and here are other awesome ones that people have done.

The Art of Arguing

2011-10-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, Nathan and I read this article on teaching children to argue. Of all the literature I've read about kids and their development, I have to say that this article has been the most influential on how we parent. It has even helped me in dealing with both kids and adults (especially certain spouses who are particularly good at and thoroughly enjoy debating), and forces me to think more about decisions I make and why I make them.

Alex, now 4 1/2, has turned into an extremely good arguer - he's got pathos and ethos nailed, and what has helped him tremendously lately is that he has much better control of his own emotions. Instead of having a complete meltdown, he talks calmly and rationally to prove his point. He is really in tune to other's feelings and motives and definitely uses that to his advantage (like at the age of 2 when he tried telling me how pretty I was to avoid going to bed). We are nowhere near free from meltdowns, but he has really matured a lot in the past couple of months.

Case and point: The other evening Alex was asking over and over to play a video game with Nathan. We were just about to sit down to eat dinner, so we told him after dinner he could. We sat down to the table and Alex wasn't interested in eating. He took a couple nibbles and then after some time cleared his plate and came back and sat down. When told he wasn't going to get to play the video game because he didn't eat, he said, very calmly, "That's not fair. Food and video games are two different things. I don't get any dessert because I didn't eat, but I still get to play the video game." Nathan and I just looked at each other speechless. He was 110% correct and there was nothing we could say to fairly refute his argument.

Soccer

2011-09-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Mia is playing U8 AYSO soccer this fall, and I am coaching her team. It's been so fun coaching 6, 7 and 8 year old girls and Mia is starting to really like soccer.

End of summer BBQ

2011-09-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

We are so lucky to have such awesome neighbors. Nathan made a secret door in our back yard fence so the kids could run over next door to Jeff, Tana and Annie's house; and they share part of their back fence with the Hales, who also have a secret door so kids can run in and out. We celebrated the end of summer with a barbecue at Jeff and Tana's and we had such a fun time. The kids all love running around and playing together.

Tagalong

2011-09-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

We recently bought a bike tagalong from a neighbor - Alex has outgrown the bike trailer, but doesn't quite have the stamina for longer rides on his own (like, to Mia's school in the morning). It's a Burley Piccolo, and it attaches to a rack that I put on the back of my bike. Yesterday I was trying to get the rack installed properly on my bike (which is not as easy at looks). At one point, I said to Alex "I don't know if I can do this - I think we may need to wait until daddy gets home to finish this." He looks at me and says, "Mommy, with me by your side, you can do ANYTHING. You can even climb a mountain."

He is just like his father, because that is SO something Nathan would say. I had no choice but to keep working. And you know what? I did it. Thanks for the inspiration, buddy.

Alex loves the tagalong! We went for a 8 mile ride today, and he peddled his little heart out (while talking non-stop). "I didn't know I could peddle this fast! I didn't know I could ride on the road like this! Mommy, I'm helping you!" and then a whole conversation concocted in his head about the crocodiles and snapping turtles that were chasing us that we were trying to get away from. We rode to Avery park via the "secret bike path" where he played on the train:
and then back home again. He made me stop along the way to pick and snack on some blackberries:

Some quality Mommy-Alex time before he starts school next week.

Watermelon!

2011-09-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

As you may recall, we planted watermelon for fun to see what would happen. Well, thanks to a heat wave going through Oregon, our watermelon are doing quite well! We picked and ate the first one for lunch yesterday.....and it was delicious!

I do realize that the time and effort we put into this plant is not quite worth the 2 watermelon we'll get out of it, but it is so fun and satisfying eating something you grew yourself.

Second day of first grade

2011-09-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mia had a fabulous day of first grade. I could not be happier with what I'm seeing at her school, and she is so much more confident and comfortable this year than she was last year.

She came home after her second day with some exciting news...apparently, they started this recognition program where the teacher selects a student that did exceptionally well that day and gives them a certificate and presents it to them in front of the class. Mia got it the first time! Here is her certificate...I was so proud of her.
Mia was a little nervous going into first grade because of the Spanish - she was afraid she wasn't going to know what was being said. But after the first day she said she didn't have to speak a word in English, and felt a lot better. She adores her Spanish teacher. Yay first grade!

Mia B. Jones, First Grader

2011-09-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

She's a first grader....at last!

The new back pack
Best buddies, all in the same class

She had a fabulous day, and loves first grade. Her teachers are wonderful. She also had her first day of soccer, which went well. I'm coaching her team - we are the Robins. We'll get some soccer pics up here soon, too.

Labor Day in Cascadia

2011-09-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Labor Day by taking a picnic out to Cascadia. We ate and then we spent some time exploring and swimming in the river. It was a beautiful day and lots of fun.

The Klinks in Seattle

2011-09-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

I love that the Seattle Space Needle has professional photographers walking around taking pics that you can redeem for free! Here are a couple we had taken:

Seattle Space Needle

2011-09-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Seattle is such a beautiful city - especially on a beautiful day. We hit the Space Needle on one of the best....

This is Alex's new pose - not sure where he got it?
We put a sticky note on the side - the building rotates around 360 degrees in one hour so if you put a note on the side you can wait for it to come back around...
and then of course Alex and Mia had to put their own notes on....

The view was spectacular. We saw several planes land on the water.

The surrounding mountains are amazing - do you see Mt. Rainier in the background? Awesome.
The sun setting....

Can you guess which was Mia's answer to another person's note that we saw go around?
Mia's dinner - space needle pasta -

The EMP (Experience Music Project) - we did not go here this time, but Nathan and I went when we visited Seattle in 2001.
We ordered the "special" dessert - which was an orbital sundae -

(it's not appropriate, but I'll mention it here: when Nathan was explaining how they made the ice cream steam, Mia says "It's just like how the doctor burned my wart on my foot off!" Yes. Exactly.

The kids had SO much fun having dinner up there. Totally worth the very steep price.

Pike Place Market

2011-09-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we woke up and drove into Seattle to visit the famous Pike Place market. We had breakfast (pastries and fresh fruit) and walked around checking out the vendors.

We found bubble tea! The kids were psyched.

Such good fresh fruit! We had raspberries and Rainier cherries.
The highlight was, of course, the Pike Place Fish Market (it brought back memories - I took a whole course on customer service at MassMutual around the the Pike Place Fish Market)

He was holding a stapler to his head and saying "Buy some fish or I'll do it!"
And his co-worker was laughing saying "let him do it!"
So fun to watch them throw the fish....

Seattle is a great place to be on a nice day.

American Girl in Seattle

2011-09-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Seattle (there are some gorgeous mountains on the way) and landed at the Lynwood Mall around 1:30 p.m. As you may recall, Mia had been saving up for Kanani. Well, she received 2 gift certificates from Madison & Samantha and Memere & Popi that gave her more than enough money to get Kanani. She was able to get the "starter set" that included a couple outfits and accessories and her paddle board. She was also able to get both Mia and Kanani's ears' pierced.

Mia and I had lunch at the bistro while Nathan and Alex headed out around the mall. It's pretty cute - the dolls get seated at the table
Mia had a Kanani special drink...

And the dolls are also served their own drinks.
After we were done at the American Girl store, we headed to Bellvue where we checked into our hotel. I remember as a kid how fun it was to stay in a hotel - my brother played hockey so we were in a different hotel every weekend it seemed. It was so cool to see how much the kids loved staying in a hotel (now that they are old enough). Last time we stayed in a hotel, it wasn't so fun, and the fact that it's been 4 years since we've tried again is proof. But this time, it was a blast. We got take-out from Red Robin, and ate it on the floor while watching movies. The kids loved playing in the room, hiding behind the curtains and just being silly.

Slappy cakes

2011-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

We timed our trip to Seattle so that we would be passing through Portland around 8, just in time for breakfast at Slappy Cakes (thank you Brittany for the recommendation!). It's a breakfast place where you make your own pancakes at your table - you choose the batter and fixins' and go to town. It was SO good and SO fun! We got peanut butter batter and chocolate chips for Reese's pancakes, as well as regular buttermilk batter with plenty of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries (Alex ate almost all of these himself). We are less than 2 hours into our trip and already having such a good time....

I may be partial because they had Stumptown coffee...the only other place (besides the Waterside Market on Martha's Vineyard) that I've had Stumptown coffee, but it is SO SO good. Yes, better than Dunkin' Donuts. The only coffee I don't need to sweeten to drink.
You had to be 6 to make the pancakes on the hot griddle, so this was the perfect rite of passage for a birthday weekend:

YUM!

Portland is famous for food carts, and we walked by some good ones on our way to Slappy Cakes....Nathan and I need to definitely do a food cart tour of Portland sometime:

We ate up, and then continued north to Seattle!

Seattle trip Part 1, NW Art & Air Festival

2011-09-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

Mia was unsure what she wanted to do for her birthday, so when we suggested a trip to Seattle to visit the American Girl store, she was stoked. We were excited because we had been wanting an excuse to visit Seattle again. We left bright and early Saturday morning (the 24th) and when we hit I-5 and saw an incredible display of hot air balloons from the NW Art and Air Festival, we knew it was going to be a good day.

It was amazing - those little unplanned surprises are the best. And even more amazing was the fact that we saw the Tigard hot air balloons when we passed Tigard, too.

Pooltime

2011-08-09T23:22:00.000-07:00

Birthday shout out and basketball camp

2011-08-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today is Auntie Lynn's Birthday - Happy Birthday Auntie Lynn! We love and miss you lots! I was talking to the kids about her birthday, and was asking them if they remembered the "virtual birthday party" we had for her a couple years ago. They didn't remember it at all, so I showed them part of the video. They were 2 and 3 (almost 4), and I got out all the ingredients for a cake, and I had them make it all by themselves (I put it in the oven, of course). They decorated it and then we sang happy birthday and ate it - all on video - then sent her the video. It's pretty long, but here is the second half of it:

Anyway, it was so funny to watch this - the kids were so little, and I totally forgot about the cute little way they used to talk. The change in Alex is especially amazing, as he has gone through a huge growth spurt both physically and developmentally lately. He is doing a little Hoopsters basketball camp this week and he is totally loving it. I hope he always has this much fun with sports and playing basketball.

We are finally starting to come out of the rocky toddler stage. He's the sweet, lovable and funny Alex again, without the frequent appearances from his evil twin (the one that doesn't like to listen, is grumpy for no reason and walks around scowling at everything).

American Girl Spa Day

2011-08-09T22:20:00.001-07:00

Mia's American Girl Club is still meeting throughout the summer, and last night they had a very special meeting - a spa day. It was so fun for the girls - they loved getting to paint their toenails and fingernails, but they learned a lot about taking care of themselves, too. Mrs. Arnold, the head of the group, goes all out for these events. It was amazing!
Each girl got a basket with her own supplies
And in true Mrs. Arnold fashion, there were tons of prizes for giveaways...Mia won a new American Girl Doll outfit, a bead kit, and a little jewelry stand. And they got their club sweatshirts.
The "spa food" was served on American Girl plates and cups.
Here they are learning about their skin and doing masks.

Pretty toes!
This is a partial group shot

And the whole club, including Mrs. Arnold.

Camp Grandma

2011-08-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Mia and Alex spent some quality time with Grandma last week while I had meetings and work to get done. She took them on some super adventures...

On Thursday they went to camp at The Little Gym (which they totally love), and then Grandma picked them up and they headed out with Grandma's friends Pat and Sally Starker (and little Simon!) to the Starkers' lake. They fished and swam (although Mia was a bit scared of the algae and salamanders) and had a blast.

Alex caught a salamander...
Gorgeous view
Sally, Simon, Pat and Mia on the dock...

Then Friday Grandma took the kids to Buena Vista to visit her friend Katherine, where they fed llamas and picked fruit (plums, apples, blueberries, raspberries marion berries) until their tummies were full.

They took a ride on the Buena Vista ferry (which is about the size of the Chappaquiddick Ferry)

And had lunch on the "Hard Rock Cafe."

Thank you Pat for having them at the lake, Katherine for inviting them to the farm and thank you Grandma for taking them! They loved it!

Breakfast of champions

2011-08-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

This morning while Alex was having his standard bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, he asked me to also make him a mustard and cheese sandwich, which he gobbled right up. We then headed to the Farmer's Market where he proceeded to eat a pint of blueberries, chocolate doughnut and his fair share of the 3 pint mix of marionberries, strawberries and golden raspberries.

Growing much?

Oregon sand dunes part 2 - Dune buggy ride

2011-07-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was for dune buggy rides, and this seriously was one of the most fun things I've ever done in my life. I know what a dune buggy is, and I thought we would just take a nice little spin around the dunes in one to see the sights. I had NO clue that it was a "thrill ride" (I might have thought twice about bringing my kids had I known) - but it was SO fun. We were in a 5 person dune buggy, and they take you speeding through the dunes, up and over huge drop offs, and scale along the sides of the dunes. The view of the dunes and ocean from out there is just breathtaking (and not just because you have a mouthful of sand).

Once we started going and I saw how fast/intense the ride was, I was a little worried how the kids would react. But when we stopped at a scenic point for pics, this is what we got:

Alex was hilarious - he sat like this the entire time - pretending he was driving. He LOVED it.
Again, pictures and videos do not do the view or the intensity of the ride justice. There were times we were speeding at the top of a very high dune (parallel to the ground) and I wondered how we weren't tipping over rolling down the hill. Check out this youtube video to get an idea of what it was like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtX_1hNuRGI. We will take anyone who comes to visit us here for sure!

Oregon Sand dunes part 1

2011-07-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

Going to the sand dunes has been sort of a running joke with Nathan and me - since the first time I came out to visit Oregon years and years ago, Nathan has been saying "we should go to the sand dunes, they are really awesome!" but we never end up going. I started to question whether said sand dunes were really that cool (or if they even existed?!). Our day spent at Honeyman State Park proved that they are, in fact, there and they are even more incredible than how they were described to me. At first I was like "I've been to the beach - I've seen sand dunes" but this is NOTHING like normal beach sand dunes. These are enormous mountains of sand dunes that go for miles. The first spot we went to was where the sand dunes meet Cleanox lake. You can't really see the magnitude of the dunes in the photos, but it was incredible. People were sand boarding and sledding down. We would climb up and then run back down, then the kids would sled into the lake.

So cool, but it gets better - more about the dune buggy ride up next!

Lucky 33

2011-07-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 33rd, and I really feel like one lucky girl. First of all, how many people get their very own birthday mascot? Alex was feeling bad that I didn't really have a "theme" for my birthday, so he got in his Captain America costume to be my personal mascot. How cute is that? Nathan made homemade waffles and then I opened presents from Nathan and the kids....they got me a new iPod nano, and the Nike+system to go with it. It is SO awesome! I've been running lately, and since the sneakers I already have are Nike+ compatible, it's perfect.

You pop the little sensor into the space in the sole of your sneaker and it tracks your runs through the iPod. You can set different workouts (by distance, by time, by calories burned, etc), set the playlist you want to listen to and it talks you through the workout (tells you how far you've gone and how fast). When you get done, you plug the iPod into your computer and it logs it into a Nike+ account so you can track your progress. It really is such a slick, cool system. I tried it out today on a 4.4 mile run and it was awesome. The best part is you can set a "power song" - a song that you can tap a button to listen to at any time if you need a little boost. My power song is "How much is the Fish" by Scooter - such an awesome song with some awesome workout memories from Melissa's killer classes. Melissa - I was doing the moves in my head while I listened to it on my run!

After breakfast, Rebecca and I met for pedicures and to catch up. With my feet feeling great, I headed home to the next part of the birthday adventure - a trip to the Sand dunes on the coast. That post is coming next!

All in a day's work

2011-07-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a super productive day. While looking up ways to use lavender, I found a youtube video on how to make a lavender wreath...so I had to give it a shot. This is the result and it is now hanging on our front door:
Then my super awesome mother-in-law came over this afternoon to help me purge, clean and organize our garage. We recently got this huge shelf/cubby thing from the OSUsed sale for our shoes (most of them live in our garage, as that is where we come into the house most of the time) and things got turned upside clearing room for it. So Susan and I tackled the garage and now it's so nice and clean and organized. I love it. It was the best birthday present ever, and I told Nathan if we could squeeze a trip to the dump in this weekend, it'd be the best birthday weekend ever. I'm a dork like that.
I also cut some flowers from the garden for our house. This is Alex's bouquet. He specifically asked for lavender and hydrangea. And dahlias. I love dahlias.

Garden update

2011-07-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today I cut a ton of lavender. Not sure what to do with it all.
Our garden is growing nicely. Alex's pumpkins are taking over one bed...
Here is another - we picked and ate all our carrots, lettuce and kale. We just planted some more carrots, lettuce and peas.
My cute little lemon tree. No blossoms on it yet, though.
Colorful dahlias. I accidentally pulled out two huge dahlias mistaking them for weeds. So mad at myself!
Watermelon! We have watermelon!
Look, 2 more! See? Now the trick is to see if it gets/stays hot enough for them to grow and ripen.
Tomatoes. I've pruned a bit this year hoping for fewer, better tomatoes.
One little hot pepper...there would be more if it wasn't for the giant sunflower that grew right over it while we were on vacation.
Peas...I must remember to plant more peas next year. I need to figure out a better set up for them.
That's all for now!

Underwater

2011-07-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

Now that we've been home for a week, we've been settling into our little summer "routine" which includes as much time at the pool as we can squeeze in. Susan came down with her cool under water camera this afternoon and we got these shots of my little fish.

Lemonade stand

2011-07-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

After getting the latest American Girl Doll catalog in the mail, Mia decided that she definitely wants the American Girl doll of the year, Kanani. I explained to her that these dolls are very expensive, and that she would have to save her money for a very long time to have enough to buy it. She went and got her piggy bank out and we counted out what she had: $33. We brainstormed ways she could earn money, and she convinced me that we should participate in the neighborhood yard sale to sell some stuff and so she could also sell lemonade. We worked for 2 full days getting things ready for the sale - she helped get all the stuff together, helped price it out and made a sign for her lemonade stand.Her lemonade stand was a HUGE success - the weather was sunny and hot, and she was in a perfect location - right at the entrance to the sale. She made a sign that said "Thank you for helping me save my money for Kanani," which was a big hit with customers.
We had a 3 gallon drink dispenser that we had to refill 3 times! She sold a glass for .25 and ended up making $38. She sat out there from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., getting up only to go to the bathroom. The first time she ran out of lemonade she got really nervous and was like "Mommy, call daddy quick! I'm losing money here!" She greeted everyone that came in and asked if they wanted a glass of lemonade - I was really proud of her because that is so not her nature. This was a perfect lesson in money and counting, too, because she had to learn how to make change for $1. Nathan also sat down with her at the end and counted it all out so she learned about nickels, dimes, quarters and the different combinations that make a dollar.

Alex sold bottled water. Although he still doesn't really fully get the "saving up" process, he is saving up for a Nintendo DS. He didn't have quite the stamina that Mia had, but he was out there for a good 3 hours selling. He ended up making $13 - not too bad.
So when the day was all said and done, this is what Mia's savings looked like:

$33 - from her piggy bank
$3 - from returning bottles
$38 - lemonade sales
$10 - her portion of the proceeds from the garage sale

If you do the math, she only has $16 to go. So here I am thinking I'm teaching her a valuable life lesson on how long and hard you have to work and sacrifice to save up $100, and she'll probably have it saved by the end of the summer. Maybe she should be teaching ME something about saving money.

Jump!

2011-07-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

I need to catch up on MV posts, but most of my pics are on my mom's laptop and I forgot to transfer them to a jump drive before I left. Luckily I had these uploaded & unpublished to blogger before I left.

The "Jaws Bridge" is famous due to its roll in the movie Jaws, and also for the thrill it provides to hundreds of people every day. It's about 25 ft high, and in all the times I've been to MV, I've never jumped off it. My dad, bro and I decided it was time (although my dad has done it tons of times). It's a lot higher than it looks, and it was such a rush. I knew my kids were watching, so there was no hesitating or acting scared. This was on our second jump:

And here is Colin jumping and us swimming back.

And climbing back up the rocks.
We intended to do the jump while Nathan was still here, but we ran out of time. Susan did find, however these pics of Nathan and Rebecca jumping when they visited MV in 1990:

Island scavenger hunt

2011-07-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

We've been so lucky with the weather. Honestly, it's always a little relieving when you get a less-than-stellar day, as it gives you an excuse to do some of those things you always talk about doing, but never get a chance to as you are always at the beach. Today we woke up to severe thunderstorms. The weather looked iffy all day, and I knew I had to come up with a game plan to keep the kids occupied. We decided to go on an island 'scavenger hunt' - we were on a mission and we had to visit certain places to find 'clues' (to what? we never really determined, but the kids had fun none-the-less). It started out with the 5 island light houses, then we added Menemsha and the Turtle crossing:

1: East Chop Lighthouse

2. West Chop lighthouse
3. Menemsha
I LOVE Menemsha, and I love driving up-island. I had read you can find star fish in Menemsha, so the kids took nets and had so much fun trying to find a sea treasure. They would have spent all day "fishing" for minnows and star fish if we didn't have to press on for more stops on our hunt.

4. Gay Head Lighthouse
It was lunchtime by the time we got to Gay Head, so we decided to stop at the Aquinnah Restaurant. Honestly, I had no clue this place existed - but what a treat! We sat outside with an incredible view of the cliffs and had a wonderful lunch.
After we ate, we climbed up to the top of the Gay Head lighthouse. Alex is a bit scared of heights so he did not make it all the way up, but Mia and I did and enjoyed the view. Amazing.

At this point, my brother and mother were calling us saying "hey! it's a great beach day! come back so we can go to the beach!" so we had one more stop:

5.
And then hit the beach with the fam for an amazing beach afternoon - more on that later.

Cinema Circus

2011-07-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival holds a "Cinema Circus" every Wednesday night, so we took the kids to it. What a great event! It was well paced, organized and executed. It started out with a little circus with activities geared toward educating and encouraging the arts and film. We got some food, then all the kids gathered under the "big" top for a theatrical circus and music, which was very well-received. The clowns and mimes then led the kids through some dance and exercises, then they all marched inside where they showed some short films. The feature presentation was"The Gruffalo" which was a (surprisingly) cute movie. We were super impressed with how well done this was - I think I may take the kids back next week.

As we were leaving the Cinema Circus, Alex said "I wish I was home." And by that, he did not mean "I wish I was at home in Oregon," he meant "I wish this vacation was every day life." Nathan had to explain to him that if we lived here he'd have to go to school and clean his room and all that stuff, and this is why vacations are special.

Menemsha Hills

2011-07-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'm back tracking a bit, but our Menemsha Hills hike deserves it's own post. My parents did this hike when the came to MV last fall, and after seeing their pics it was definitely on our to-do list. It's a Trustees of Reservations property and such a gorgeous hike with an amazing payoff at the end. We figure we did about 5 miles when it was all said and done, and the kids walked every step themselves without a single complaint. I was so proud of them. They led the way most of the time, keeping an eye out for 1) Box turtles 2) poison ivy and 3) ticks. Lots of pics here...

State Beach & Snorkeling

2011-07-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

We've been spending most of our beach time at State Beach since both kids are really loving being in the water. We got snorkel gear for the kids, and Mia has really gotten into it.

Beach shoe parking

This is hilarious - Mia is the queen of redirection. Alex was bugging her, so she picked up some seaweed and said "Alex! This seaweed is endangered! You need to sit here and protect it so nothing happens to it!" And he did. Here he is guarding the endangered seaweed:

The Popinator....

That seagull had his eye on Alex's sandwich the entire time he was eating it. Alex had to squirt him away with his squirt gun.
We've been so lucky with the weather - it's been so nice out. The kids have been super and love the beach so much. It's so fun to watch them running around and making up games and splashing in the water. I love MV.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

The kids walked in the Children's Parade on the campground....

The anywhere sleeper strikes again

2011-07-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Dinner, night #1:

Dinner, night #2:

Scenes from the ferry

2011-07-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the ferry

GTL, MV-style

2011-07-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

We've adapted the Jersey Shore's gym-tan-laundry sequence to fit our routine here on the Vineyard....it's more like SBF out here. "S" for sea glass searching - "B" for beach - "F" for flying horses. Throw in meals some meals, ice cream, shops and walks, put it on repeat, and you've got our vacation.

We had a tough time getting out here - traveling hasn't been the easiest, but we made it and are now having a blast.

Yesterday was a perfect beach day kicked off with some sea glass hunting:

Mia is quite good at finding sea glass and has a nice little collection built already.

We spent the majority of the day at the beach, which the kids (and adults) absolutely loved.

My dad and Alex playing some sort of game against the waves.

And my dad teaching Alex how to ride the waves.

Dance Corvallis @ the Knights game

2011-06-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Mia had one last dance performance tonight, and it was a big one. They were the pre-game show at the Corvallis Knights' baseball game. The Knights are the wooden bat league here in town, and it's always a fun time. Confidence is one of the most important things I wish for my kids, so I'm thrilled with the confidence Mia is gaining every time she performs at one of these events.

(ok, so it wasn't a sold-out game, but still....)

Father's Day

2011-06-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

Nathan had a very low-key Father's Day, and it was quite nice. He slept in and then he opened presents.

This is the card Mia made for him all by herself.
And inside is a song she wrote.
And the gift both kids made for him:
We went out to breakfast at Sharon's Cafe, and then Nathan got to relax and read for most of the day, which was perfect. Thanks for being such an awesome daddy! We love you! And Happy Father's Day to my own Pops - we'll celebrate on MV soon!

Kindergarten graduation

2011-06-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe we just got through with Mia's kindergarten graduation. Really? She's going to be a first grader?

Class of 2023

Classic Alex
Mia & Maggie
Olivia, Mia & Maggie

Maestra Banuelos & Mia
Mia & Mrs. Miner

Mia & Skya

Weekend in Bend: Around the cabin

2011-06-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

The kids spent a lot of time playing around outside the cabin - swinging, exploring and pretending to be superheros.

Mia climbed up the house

Lots of swinging

Like father
Like son

And toasting marshmallows for S'mores

Anna even liked the marshmallows!
Good times.

Weekend in Bend: High Desert Museum

2011-06-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

After a little hot tub, we headed to the High Desert Museum Sunday morning. It was pretty neat - there are animals, a living history area, and indoor and outdoor exhibits about life on the high desert.

First harvest of the season

2011-06-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Kale, for kale chips (picture taken with our lovely new camera).

Sound gross? I thought so too, but they are really good. You bake them with a little olive oil and vinegar and sea salt and they are so yummy. Here is the recipe I use.

Memorial Day weekend in Bend

2011-06-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

This winter, Susan bid on a Bend log cabin rental at an auction. Lucky for us, she won and took the whole family! We headed out for the long weekend, and although it felt like January or February weather-wise, we had a great time. The cousins love playing together - the log cabin was an a large piece of wooded property perfect for imaginary play and exploring. We spent a lot of time in the hot tub, and it's always fun for the adults to kick back, have a drink and play some card games after the kids go to bed. There are a ton of pictures, so I'm going to break it down into different posts. Unfortunately, we had a little incident with the camera - Nathan slipped on a log while holding the camera, and to save himself some serious injuries, the camera broke his fall. Luckily he did not get hurt. Luckily it happened on our last night there. And luckily our new camera is scheduled to be delivered today.

Here are some phone pics of the ride - kids listening to MP3 players checked out from the library - they are so cool. Each MP3 player has different stories so you just plug in some headphones and listen!

After we checked into the cabin, we headed down to a Kids Fun Day in Sunriver. There was lots of games, bounce houses, petting zoo, etc. but it was so cold and rainy and snowy that we didn't stay long.

Mia did get to go on a horse back ride, which she absolutely loved.
And we warmed up back at the cabin in the hot tub.
More to come!

Kermes

2011-05-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

Mia's school held their annual Kermes today - it's Lincoln's biggest fund raiser of the year and it was a great time. They had games, food and lots of performances, including Mia's hip hop dance group.

Here is Alex playing Mini-golf*
Mia and her friends Skya and Joaquin:
Alex playing games*

and the dunking booth*
And Mia** doing hip hop in front of her principal, teacher and friends:

So fun!

*Sometimes it is hard to believe that Alex has another whole year before he enters kindergarten, as he is pretty comfortable and confident with the whole "school" thing and knows just as many kids there as Mia does!
**Mia lost her second tooth just minutes before she went on stage. I seriously can not believe how fast she is growing up.

Hip hop superstar

2011-05-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

Mia did hip hop dance again this year, and has loved it. They have had performances every weekend this month, and I'm so proud of Mia. She's such an interesting, cool kid. She is definitely an introvert and can tend to be on the shy side in group settings...but nervous going up on stage in front of a big crowd? Heck no! She loves performing.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Alex was impressed with the performance. And it's not that the dancers weren't good, it's just that it was National Free Comic Book day and he had this awesome new comic book to read:

Garden, Jr.

2011-05-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

I call it Garden, Jr. but I swear my kids know more about plants and growing things than I did just a few short years ago. The kids have their own garden again this year - Memere and Popi sent out kits so they can start their seeds indoors. Here is Alex getting his seeds all planted:

They have sprouted and are doing great! Word on the Corvallis street is you shouldn't plant starts until the snow is gone from Mary's peak; and there is still a little white stuff at the very top despite a few gorgeous days of 70 degree weather. So we'll wait a bit to transplant them (even though mommy couldn't resist and has already planted an entire salad and salsa garden).

The kids also went to a Home Depot workshop where they made planter boxes and planted seeds a couple weekends ago. So Alex is working on growing tomatoes, pumpkins, and zinnias; Mia is growing carrots, dahlias, and zinnias. I love that my kids love gardening. It's such a great activity to share with kids. I have very specific memories growing up at different ages and being in the yard while my parents worked in the garden, and hope that my kids keep similar memories. In fact, one of the things that the kids look forward to most about summer is going to my parents' house so they can pick veggies and berries from their garden.

We are putting down mulch tomorrow as our last major yard project this year, so I should have pics of the entire yard soon. We've had our first couple of meals outside on the patio, and look forward to many more to come. We are all definitely ready for summer!

Tennis lessons

2011-05-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to bringing my camera to Mia's tennis lesson. I actually hadn't been to a lesson in a while, since Mia had been going with one of her friends. I was really surprised at how much better she has gotten. It's fun to see the progress from the beginning of the year when she missed almost every ball tossed at her - now she has a pretty nice swing.

2011 Garden Notes

2011-05-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a ton of work in our back yard the past few weekends (if you could see my fingernails you would know I'm not lying).
This will be our 3rd year in our house, and we finally decided to seek some help. We don't mind doing the work ourselves, we were just a little stuck on what kinds of shrubs and trees to plant and where to plant them to give our yard some structure. So we had Shonnard's nursery come out and draw up a plan for us that we can implement in stages. We are extremely pleased with what they did and have been working away at moving things around and adding shrubs with names I can't prounounce (but are quite lovely, none-the-less). It looks so much better already- I can't wait to see it when it all starts to fill in.

Just simple things, like grouping our 4 rose bushes together instead of having them spread out on 3 different sides of the yard, make a huge difference. We interplanted some existing and new Euonymous.

The new plan has lots of blueberry bushes. We got one "Pink Lemonade" Blueberry bush - it produces pink berries.
Here is a Viburnum Davidii - we've got a bunch of these now, too.
Here is a Cotoneaster (note: if you want to look like a fool, go to a nursery and ask for the "Cotton Easter." "Oh, you mean the Ca-tone-aster?" Yeah. That one.
We are also doing the square foot veggie garden again this year. I've got some seeds planted, and am hoping it warms up this weekend so I can get some starts in.
Here are our tulips and lavendar:

Anemones
And ranunculus in a pot - I hope these work, I love them.
And my poor, sad clematis. Earlier this spring I was on a pruning rampage, and I hacked it back to the ground. Then I realized that what I cut was alive and came in to read up on clematis care (Note: it's always best to read about the plants BEFORE cutting). Turns out this kind of clematis (Montana Freda) blooms on old growth and I cut away any chance of flowers this year. :(

It's been fun getting things all moved around and planted. We are just about done Phase 1 + 2. The next couple phases will happen this fall/winter, and involve moving our veggie boxes around and planting some trees.

Tulip Festival 2011

2011-05-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

I took the kids up to the Tulip Festival this past Saturday so Nathan could get some work done around the house (pics to come). We had a BLAST. The kids loved running through the tulip fields, then we headed to the Woodburn Outlets for some spring clothes, and finished off the day with pizza at Pietro's Pizza in Salem. It was fun, fun, fun.

It was a little muddy, but not as bad as I expected.

But Alex seemed to have no problem finding the mud....

Multi-tasking

2011-05-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

I love working from home. I truly do get the best of both worlds, but that's not to say that it isn't hard. One day recently I was on the phone with a co-worker, and we were talking about how tricky it is to balance family/home/kids and work. We were laughing about the debate you have when the phone rings of whether to answer it, and how the kids may or may not behave for the duration of the call. In the midst of this conversation, Nathan yells up to me to come downstairs. He knew I was on the phone, so I knew it must be something good. I ran downstairs and found this:
These are the things you find when you work from home and turn your back for a moment.

Easter weekend

2011-05-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend kicked off Friday evening with a family trip to the movie theater. In our household, age 4 is when you get to go see a movie at the theater for the first time. Alex's actual birthday weekend was too busy, so we took him Friday to see Rio. It was a cute movie, and Alex was on the edge of his seat the entire time.

Saturday we colored Easter eggs:

Sunday morning the kids woke up and ran downstairs to see if the Easter bunny came. They found their baskets

and then raced around the house (on their new scooters) finding the eggs that silly Easter bunny hid:

Later we headed to brunch at the Klinkhammers', where we tried on bunny ears

and then Alex grabbed the camera and decided we needed a group picture. So here they are - totally posed and shot by Alex, age 4.