A Little Prayer Please...

As you could see by the length of my last post, life has been busy at our house this past few weeks. Sometimes though, when you get caught up in everyday life, you get jolted by someone else's life that has been turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday, we just found out that one of Courtney's good friends has been diagnosed with diffuse large b-cell lymphoma. There is still so much we don't know. We know it seemed to happen very fast. Courtney dances with her and she was at dance last week, then she went home sick the next day from school complaining of having a hard time breathing. Because of her symptoms, they took her into the doctor and at first suspected pneumonia. They did some xrays and found instead a large tumor on her chest area. After several tests and a week of waiting, they determined her diagnosis at Doernbecher yesterday. They also found out that there is evidence it has spread to the kidneys as well. She starts chemo today and the rest at this point is unknown. This family is wanting all the prayers they can get. What a rollercoaster ride this past week has been for them. I can't even imagine what they must be feeling right now. She is a great kid with a positive attitude and a love for God, and I'm sure if anyone can get through all of this, she can. Please lift their family up in prayer during this difficult time. Please also pray for the friends surrounding her that their words will be wise, their support network will be large and that they will be able to help comfort their friend through a very difficult time.

Life!

I know it has been a while since I have blogged about our family happenings. Life has been busy. Since my last blog, we've had a birthday party with 6 other girls, Ryan has lost his first two teeth, we visited the Pumpkin Patch, Courtney and I have been busy with Peter Pan the Musical, and an interesting Halloween.

Warning: This will be a LONG post as there is lots to catch up on!

Oct 12th:
The birthday party for Courtney went well. We all went to Safari Sam's and played, golfed and ate. All of the girls had a good time. They came to our house afterwards and enjoyed pizza, dancing, partying, cake, games, etc. Then the sleepover.... most didn't go to sleep until 1:30 or so, but they were at the other end of the house, so no problem for us! I would be fibbing if I said no girl drama happened while we had the party. We had a couple of little incidences, but thanks to having a strong willed girl who knows how to get to the bottom of things (can we say black and white, cut and dried?), she handled those all on her own. Basically bottomline...no drama was going to hinder her party. Ryan had an important milestone that night as well. He lost his 1st bottom tooth. He was pretty proud of himself and all the girls let out a big cheer for him.

October 16th:
I went with Ry to his first Kinder field trip. They went to Heiser Farms and a fun time was had by all. He was partnered with a nice boy (who unfortunately wanted to find the biggest and apparently muddiest pumpkin he could find!) but they were good kids and stayed right with me. We did a little hay ride over to the patch, a maze and learned about animals and different kinds of pumpkins. I have been volunteering in his class since September, so by Pumpkin Patch time I know a lot of the kids, but it was fun to get to see them experience their first field trip and how exciting the ride on the bus was to them. When I asked Ryan what his favorite part was, I really thought he would talk about something to do with the patch itself. No, instead "I really, really liked riding the bus!" Alrighty then...

October 18th:
Our family met my parents and my brother's family at Plumper Pumpkin Patch. We went here last year too, and had a lot of fun. This year they added a barrel train, so the kids (and my 6'3" brother!) enjoyed a ride around part of the patch. They went through corn mazes, played on slides, raced rubber duckies with a water pump (this is always a favorite for all), and launched mini pumpkins at old beater cars. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at Spaghetti Factory. Yuuummmmmy!

October 29th:
Back in September, Courtney had auditioned for Peter Pan the Musical at Gallery. She was given the part of an indian. Since I have to still drive her to all of the practices anyway, I have started making myself useful during the various shows she has been in. I usually work stage left and communicate with the tech crew and get the people on that side of the stage in their places when they need to be there. It is a very fun job, but we don't really get started practicing that part until a week or two before the play opens. I agreed to help out during the rehearsals in various ways and tonight, I was helping by taking some measurements of the kids for their costumes. All was going well until one time I bent over and my lower back spasmed. I have had little ones of these before and they usually pass as quickly as they come. Well, not this time! I could barely stand up all the way through the rest of rehearsal. I came home, still not registering that this was going to be a lengthy process, and put a heating pad on and took an Advil and rested.

October 30th:
This was the morning after I hurt my back, I literally could not get up out of bed without it hurting so bad that I had tears running down my face. I tried reaching Tom who was already on his way to work and of course when I need him, the cell phone is off. GRRRR....(I'll let you all imagine how friendly I was once I did get ahold of him. Poor Tom!) I did finally reach him when he was in King City and he turned around and came home and got the kids ready for school. Ryan was late, which I was not happy with, but what else could we do? I could not sit or stand or lay or anything comfortably that entire morning. It was very frustrating and very painful. I got ahold of a good friend of mine who is a massage therapist and she got me in that afternoon. I tell you, she worked wonders. By the time I got out of there, I felt the best I'd felt all day. Still, it was slow going and this on and off discomfort I now know since I am posting this so late would last for weeks.

So, onto the rest of the fun for that day.

Did I ever mention my favorite thing about middle schoolers is their opinions and their indecisiveness? Courtney had been saying for weeks she was not going to dress up for Halloween this year. She was convinced that no one dressed up at school because they hadn't in elementary school either. Most of her friends were not either, or so they thought until about zero hour. Since at 7:30 the night before Halloween, we didn't have any time to go hunt all over town for the perfect costume that met all of the criteria that had been given to me (nor was my back feeling up to that challenge), I agreed to ride along as Tom took her out to find a festive orange shirt and some festive socks to put with the black skirt she already had. This way at least, she would look like she had at least given Halloween some thought before, well, 7:30 the night before. :) She looked cute and has decided that maybe next year she will find a costume earlier (that of course meets the middle school criteria).

October 31st Halloween:
This morning, I was well enough that Tom went to work after he dropped the kids off at school. I still wasn't doing much, as every bend hurt, sitting and standing were both uncomfortable, and was on anti-inflammatories which were making me very tired, but there was no point in having him miss another day of work just to watch me sleep. Ryan is a good napper after school and I had my parents in place to drive the kids home from school. It would be a fairly quiet afternoon. I was bummed today as I couldn't help out at Ry's school Halloween party as I had planned. He had a great time. He did report he wouldn't try to pumpkin pudding they had made, and when I gave him sort of a weird motherly look, he said "I know, I know, if you had been there I would have had to at least try it." Apparently the boy is smart enough to know what he can get by with when I'm not there. :) My parents had invited us over to dinner, and this was great as I wouldn't need to figure out any dinner plans for our busy evening. Halloween is always busy seeing family and making a few trick or treat stops in the neighborhood. Tom is never home very early, so because of our late start we usually don't get much if any "normal" trick or treating in. This year with Halloween being on a Friday, it allowed us time to go to some neighborhoods and take the kids out for real door to door trick or treats. Things were going fine until at dinner time Courtney kept complaining of her back and arms itching. She had commented earlier in the day that she had a nasty bite on her arm, but not much more was said. Well, as dinner progressed, more and more of her body was itching. My mom started suspecting chicken pox as when they looked at her body her whole back and part of her stomach was covered in red spots with blistery tops. Selfishly, like the great mother I am, I thought "this is just great. I need one more thing right now." We put a phone call into the doctor, but it was taking a long time to hear anything back. By this time, Courtney was miserable with itching and was on my parent's couch resting. She had no interest in going trick or treating and I wasn't wild about her spreading whatever this might be to everyone around. Since my parents had already been exposed, we decided to go ahead and take Ry out trick or treating. He had been looking forward to it for several days, except of course when we went to put his costume on. He wasn't as excited to go all of the sudden, but we did convince him to put his costume on and practice trick or treating at G & G's house. He was soon totally into it and off we went. We went to neighborhoods, and all of usual family places too. Finally about 9:30, the doctor called back and when I described what Courtney's spots looked like, they said that they were not chicken pox, but a case of hives that were an allergic reaction to an insect bite. We would likely never know what insect it was, but we could expect to see the spots continue to spread over the course of the next couple of weeks. She was not contagious they said, it would just be itchy. Courtney was less than thrilled that whatever this was would last for longer than a few hours. She was already sick of it.

November 1:
(Allison, you will appreciate this next part.) This next morning, we went ahead and decided to take Courtney to the doctor so they could see the spots, just in case they really were contagious. They really looked bad, red and blistery, and it was hard to fathom they weren't contagious looking like that. They had spread during the night too. She now had more on her stomach and now a few on her face. (Which for a pre-teen girl is the LAST place she wanted them to be!) There were more on her back too, in fact her back was pretty covered. So, off to the doctor we went, and they took one look and agreed with the original diagnosis of hives. She was NOT contagious and could do normal stuff and they recommended some cream or Benadryl to relieve the itching. Over the course of the next few days, Courtney's spots got much better. She was really worried that first day back at school that if kids saw her arms and neck they would think she was freaky. So, she made sure she wore clothes that covered up all of this. The only people that really knew were those close to her and those that had PE and dance with her since they were all over her back. Finally, about 3 weeks later, the spots are almost completely gone. I think she only got one scar from itching out of the deal and it is on her back so no worries. What a crazy Halloween!

Fast forward to current: Things are getting more and more normal. When I get a chance, I will post pictures to go along with this post, assuming any of you were patient enough to read until the end! We are enjoying a few days off of school, the play at Gallery opened last weekend and had near sold out crowds every day with good feedback, her spots are almost gone and my back is getting better...although still not perfect. We have survived the 1st quarter of school and conferences went well for both kids. Life could be worse and for some close to us, it is...you'll see in my next post.

Happy # 12....well "Almost 13"

Today, Courtney is 12. It is hard to believe that this many years have gone by. She is just as spirited as the day she was born. She came out right on her due date 12 years ago, and although she doesn't get everywhere on time today, she still attacks things with purpose, independence and spirit just like she always has.

She started her day off today by sleeping in since there was no school. This was one of her top priorities for today since sleeping in doesn't happen very often anymore. Grandma & Grandpa called and invited her to clam chowder lunch at Captain Ron's at the beach, so we left here around 11:30 and headed to the rainy coast. Lunch was great and then of course it was off for a quick trip to the mall. Courtney has enough clothes to probably never wear the same thing twice for an entire month, but she really "needed" to shop for some long sleeve shirts. (Nevermind that half of what she looked at had short sleeves! :)) After stopping at all the hot spots at the mall, it was time to head home and meet up with Tom for dinner. Dinner was nothing fancy, a quick Wendy's dinner, because Courtney had practice for "Peter Pan" at Gallery tonight. I had baked 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies earlier today to share with the cast of 45, so they all sung "Happy Birthday" to her and enjoyed a little treat. I tell you, those cookies were gone in less than 10 minutes flat!

Once we got home from practice, she finally got to open her gifts....MORE clothes! We also enjoyed some ice cream from Coldstone. It was a fun day!!

This weekend we will host 6 girls for a party at Safari Sam's and then a pizza party and sleepover here. I'll let you know Sunday what a "terrific" idea that was. It sounded fun while I was planning it, but as it gets closer, the idea of 7 GIRLS having a sleepover is sounding less than appealing. :) They are all good kids, so I'm sure it will be fun. But, at noon on Sunday it will all be a memory...happy ones of course...and time to kick back and relax.

Courtney is now "almost 13" according to her. This has been her tradition every year on her birthday that she is almost the next year old. Maybe this will stop once she reaches 29??? Anyway, happy #12 (or almost 13) Courtney and many, many more.

Mr. Independent

Tom and Ryan were having a discussion about the length of Ryan's shirts this past weekend. (I know you are all thinking, "Gee, how exciting talking about shirt lengths.") Ryan has this thing about his shirts not hanging too long because he doesn't want them to look like a dress but that they can't be so short that his snap on his jeans shows either. Believe me, we have had many a battle on a morning when the shirt doesn't meet the specific criteria. Who knew boys cared so much? He and Tom were talking this weekend about it and Tom told him that if he thought his shirt was too long that he could always tuck it in like Daddy did sometimes. Ryan gave Tom a completely "teenager" look, shook his head and said, "Dad, I love you, but...I just have to be me." And with that the conversation was over. I mean, what else do you say to that? I love how randomly grown up his statements are sometimes and have to laugh when he is exercising his right to independence.

Conversations with Ryan

We were on our way to the store today and Ryan just out of the blue starts this interesting little conversation:

Ry: "Mom, I'm not a food."

Me: "I know sweetie, you're a big kindergartener now."

Ry: "Then if I'm not a food, how come I was in your tummy?" Right now I'm thinking how did we get to this conversation?

Me: "Do you mean when you were a baby?"

Ry: "Yup, I was a baby in your tummy cuz you thought I was a piece of food and ate me."

Me: "Well, babies always start out in the mommy's tummy because that is where God has them grow."

Ry: "Well, did God eat me then?"

Me: "No Ryan. No one ate you. That is where God made you and then you got bigger and bigger in my tummy until it was time for you to come out."

Ry: "Well, how did I eat?"

Me: "When Mommy ate, you were connected to kind of a little straw that allowed you to eat what I was eating so that you stayed happy in there."

Ry: "Did I come out because I wasn't happy and I wanted to eat?"

Me: "No Ryan, you came out because it was time."

Ry: "Oh, okay... Mom? Can we eat lunch now? I'm hungry!"

Turns out that this all started because over the weekend, Courtney showed him some pictures of his ultrasound where he was in my tummy. She assures me she didn't tell him that I ate him, but just that is where he lived for a while. He came up with the rest on his own.

Going En Pointe

Yesterday was a big day for Courtney. In the spring, Courtney's ballet teacher invited her to go en pointe. Throughout the summer, we weren't sure if the schedule was going to gel with her other dance classes, her school activities, etc., but when all was said and done, the studio got it worked out that the classes would be on Saturday so she could be in the class. Going en pointe is quite a big deal and it is something they only do when they have proper technique, good ankle/arch strength and ready to grow as a dancer. Since 12 is the earliest they have kids learn pointe, she is quite honored to be considered ready to learn this new skill.

Courtney's teacher met up with us at the Leotard in Lloyd Center so that we could fit different shoes and see what would work best for her first few months of pointe. We were told blisters and calluses will be par for the course, but it will be an adventure that Courtney is excited to try out.

Here are some pictures from the fitting. Her teacher, Mr. Casey (in the green shirt), is shown in a couple of the pictures:


























And here are a couple from today trying them out a bit. (Although she is not supposed to try them out too much since her teacher doesn't want her breaking them in quite yet. The picture of her foot en pointe is only one foot that she has posed that way for me, but eventually she'll be able to stand on both feet without holding on to anything that way. Amazing that you could do that on that tiny little box in the shoe. Ouch!

The Day Has Finally Come!

Today, Ryan couldn't wait to bound out of bed and start his day! This is the day he had looked forward to for the past 2 or 3 years. Almost weekly (sometimes daily) he would ask how soon he would be a "big boy" and go to school like Courtney on how he referred to it as "Monday, Tooosday, Wednesday, Fursday, Friday". And now, finally, it was here!

He started his day today with a bowl of oatmeal (his choice and a personal favorite of his) as well as a great big smile! (He was also extremely proud as he had stayed dry all night.) At 7:15 this morning, he was ready to go and was disappointed when I told him Courtney and I weren't ready to leave just yet. A little later, after a few pictures of course, we headed off to this big day. Courtney was excited to get to help him put all of his supplies in the bins like she had done in her kindergarten classroom. He was excited to see his classroom, meet new friends and see his teacher. He laughs when you talk about who his teacher is because she is Mrs. Ryan, so he says with a smile, "So I can be Mr. Ryan." The way their mind thinks at this age is so fun.

I am confident he will have a great year ahead learning lots of new things and meeting new friends. As excited as I was for him today, it was hard walking out the door and realizing that the "little years" were over. Even though he is still little in my mind, he is a bigger boy now ready for more of what the world has to offer.

Here are a few pictures from today:

How Can She Be in Middle School Already???

Wow, seems like just yesterday that I was walking Courtney down the hall to Kindergarten. She was so excited and cute as can be with the pigtails. It is hard to believe that she is really growing up now. She was really excited this morning to get to school, find out her schedule, meet her new teachers, see her friends (old and new), and just start a fresh new school experience. But there won't be anyone walking her down the hall today. This girl has grown up and just needs a quick drop off (very inconspicuously and with no fanfare of course!)and then her mom can drive on her merry way wondering what the rest of the day holds.

When I picked her up, she had a big smile on her face. She said she had a great day and loved all of her teachers. She was a little bummed that she didn't end up having classes with any of her closest friends, but they will have lunch together(in a cafeteria which she has never done before since their elementary school had to eat in their classrooms). She is excited to see what activities Middle School has to offer and just take in the experience.

We dropped her off with some friends (and some parents) to the High School football game on Friday night. It was so funny because when we picked her and her friend up, we asked how the game was. Her reply was, "I don't know much about the game, but it was fun seeing friends and talking the whole time!" Ahhh, takes you back to when we were younger and did those kinds of things too...just to be seen. :) The life of a tween...

Here is a view of my kindergartener only 6 years ago:
























And now....she is growing up and heading off to Middle School:

Obsessed With Spelling

Ryan is totally obsessed with spelling. It is not unusual for him to spend 1-2 hours at a time making words with his magnetic letter train. He starts with a word and then goes through the alphabet and sees what new words he can make. The excitement just runs through him when he finds new words and builds on old ones. He has a list of probably 50 + words that he can spell. Some are the easy first words stuff and some more complicated just because he is always asking questions how to spell things and he seems to remember it all.

The other day it was adding ground to camp to make campground. He had a little help as he insisted on spelling ground with an "ow" instead of an "ou". He said, "Mom, OW makes the ow sound like cow, how, and now. It has to be "ow" not "ou", see listen.... gr ow nd." So after I convinced him it was "ou", then he moved onto playground, wet ground, damp ground and on and on putting ground with words he already knew how to spell. It is amazing the way his mind works with letters.

Well, sometimes that mind gets us into a little trouble by finding words that let's say are a little inappropriate. We've already hit some of the biggies, but today was a new find. I was walking down the hall and Ryan says "Hey Mom, I can't find porn." Of course shocked that my 5 year old said the word porn, my little ears perked up and I asked him to repeat the question as I was certain I had heard him incorrectly. He repeated, and nope, I hadn't heard him wrong, he did indeed say porn. How did we get to porn out of an innocent little spelling game? Well, he started with corn and then started running through the alphabet and found born, torn, worn, etc. So when he got to the letter "P", naturally he wondered about if that was a word. So what he meant by he couldn't find porn is that he couldn't find that "P" letter train in his bin that made the word porn. I carefully explained to him that is not a word that we use to which he replied, "But why, isn't it a word?" I told him it was an adult word and that even most adults don't talk about that word, so it was best he not use it again. He seemed satisfied with that answer and thank goodness he didn't ask me what the word meant, which frankly is a miracle as he always wants to know what everything means and wants to use it in a sentence.

So, Judy, in case you are reading this, if the class is spelling the word corn and Ryan asks about, well, you know, he DID NOT hear that word used in a sentence at this house!

Summer Dance Recital

Today was the Summer Showcase for Courtney's dance studio. This is more of an informal recital without the fancy costumes to showcase what the kids have been working on these last several weeks. This is our 2nd summer with them and it amazes me how much the kids can pull off learning in just 9 weeks or less. A couple of the routines that Courtney did, she learned during a week long "summer intensive workshop" and she learned them in a total of 6-8 hours! That just blows me away! Courtney was in 5 routines today and did a great job in each one of them. She is a dedicated dancer who practiced and practiced to perfect the routines as best as she could. Since we were gone for a little over two weeks of the summer and then she was at church camp for another week, she learned most of her classes in 5 - 6 weeks time. She loves every minute of it though and although the next month is a welcome break for her (and me as the chauffeur), she will be chomping at the bit to get back at it again in no time.

Here are a few pictures from the rehearsal:

Ring Bling

The rings that Tom & I picked out and special ordered in Kauai arrived this past week, so we drove to Washington Square Na Hoku today and picked them up. Wow, they are beautiful! This is the only picture I could get to sort of turn out. They are much prettier in real life, but at least you get the idea. (The one on my middle finger is the new ring.)



















To read the full story on the ring purchase, click here

TAG, You're it!!

I was recently tagged by my friend Sarri. In the blogging world, that means we answer the same questions she answered in hers and tag others in return to do the same. Since anyone I would tag has already been tagged by my other friends, whoever wants to can feel inspired to "tag themselves". Oh, and I don't want anyone tagging me back! Looking back through the cobwebs of 20 years once is enough for me! :)

Here goes:

20 years ago:

I was getting ready to start my senior year of high school. This would also be the year that I would breakup and get back together with Tom a few times as I "experiment" with other fish in the sea. We all know at this point how that turned out! I was helping out at a travel agency filing brochures getting some experience in as well as working at Farmer's Co-op/West Valley Farmers as a receptionist for some extra money.

10 years ago:

We had just sold our manufactured home on Burnett Road and were looking for a place to rent. Fate intervened and has us take a wrong turn on 8th Street where we found a VA repo house that was for sale by silent auction. The day we walked in, we had 4 hours to put a bid in and the highest bidder would get the deal. We won that bid by $175. (We didn't know it until a few months later, but we beat out some friends of ours that were going to buy it and use it as a rental. We hadn't seen them since high school and now are good friends and their daughter and Courtney are good friends too.) Courtney was not quite 2 and talking up a storm!

5 years ago:

Ryan was just born a few months ago and a group of us would get together who all had recently had babies. Ryan was the kid that would fall asleep no matter what the noise level or the other kids around. (Ryan can still fall asleep like that, but his energy level when he is up is quite different now!) Life was definitely busier now juggling two kids. Courtney was 6 (almost 7 as she would say) and had just finished her kindergarten year with one of her very favorite teachers to date. She had been dancing for just about a year and a half. Little did we know at the time what a BIG part of lives that would become.

3 years ago:

This would be one of the most stressful years we had endured. Tom had lost his job that February due to a company that closed its doors with no warning. This would be the first time we experienced what it was like to be without the major breadwinner for about 6 weeks. In April, he finally found a job in Salem only to be told in September that they would have to let him go as one of the owners had decided to change the course of the business and his wife was going to help him and she needed a paycheck (Tom's to be exact). He would be out of work again for another couple of months. In the midst of that, Courtney was just getting ready to enter 3rd grade and we found out a couple weeks into the school year that her teacher had been diagnosed as having a brain tumor. She would not teach the rest of the school year, as after surgery, the prognosis was not good. There was an area they weren't able to remove because of where it was in the brain. She would die that following February and this was the first time Courtney had experienced anyone she knew dying. It was emotional for the whole school as she had taught there for so long. This was a very tough school year for Courtney as the class continually was playing catch up due to such a rough start. The highlight this year was Ryan turning 2 and a trip to Hawaii in July. How did we pay for that amongst Tom losing his job twice? It was already paid for before the first job loss, so we decided to go forward with the trip despite the work circumstances. It was a great trip in the middle of a horrible year, so we're glad we did. Looking back, it was a tough year, but we learned so much about ourselves and it solidified our faith in God even more.

So far this year:

Courtney finished her elementary school experience, Ryan graduated from preschool, and we all just returned from a 2 + week to Hawaii to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and renew their vows, our vows (14 1/2 years) and my brother and his wife's vows (1 year). Courtney and I also got to help backstage at one of our favorite shows "High School Musical". I also started the blogging world this year thanks to a couple of friends who inspired me with their blogs.

Yesterday I:

Drove Courtney to Newberg for the 3rd day in a row to go to a dance workshop, did laundry and watched part 1 of So You Think You Can Dance finale. (Pretty exciting, eh?)

Tomorrow I will:

Do more of the same!! Maybe I'll treat myself to a pedicure too. :)

Next year I will:

Reflect on this year as a great time with family, friends and lots of fun memories. This time next year, Courtney will have completed her first year in middle school (yikes!) and Ryan will have finished kindergarten. We hope to do something Disney near Christmas next year too.

Now it's your turn!

Another big day in his "big boy" world...

Ryan has been so excited for today to get here all week. On Sunday, after we dropped Courtney off at church to go to Camp Tadmor for the week, we headed into town to pick out a big boy bed. Since 1 1/2, Ryan had been sleeping in his toddler bed since he had prematurely learned how to crawl out of his crib. We have been noticing he's getting taller and taller and well, that meant he was pretty much outgrowing his toddler bed. Since this is the year he finished preschool and will start a new chapter of the "big boy world" in the fall by starting kindergarten, we felt this was the time to move the little boy furniture out. Everyday this week, "I can't wait until Thursday when the people bring my new bed!" We asked Ryan what kind of theme he wanted in his room, and he wanted to go with trains. Since his room has a similar theme now, we lucked out by not having to change the wall border and several accent pieces. It didn't take him long to find just the stuff he wanted.

Here is what his room looked like before:



















Here is Ryan trying out new mattresses to find one just right:






















And his last night on his old mattress:

















And here is how the day he looked forward to unfolded:

























Then while Ryan napped on his old mattress in Courtney's room, Grandma and I worked on cleaning out the closet, organizing toys, and getting the bedding all ready to put on. And then Grandpa came and moved some shelves and helped us hang a few things on the wall.




Here is the finished product:

















I'd say he is pretty happy with his new room and his new big boy bed!



















One final test....how does teddy like sleeping with Ryan in his new bed???


















Looks like teddy is happy too!






Ryan also took a moment to show Grandma & Grandpa "around" his new room.




















We're so glad you like your new bed Ryan!



And here is the real test.....BEDTIME! Looks pretty comfty to me!

If only...

If only I could go back in time and freeze Courtney to be a little girl again who played with dolls and baked delectable treats in her Easy Bake oven. It seems she has really grown up over the last couple of years and she hasn't played with her Easy Bake oven for while, but when we were getting some clothes out for next week's church camp, Ryan spotted the Easy Bake oven on the top shelf and wanted to bake some cookies. She thought it would be something fun they could do together today.

They got everything out with the promise that they would clean it all up when they were done and make something wonderful and above all....GET ALONG! Courtney went through every packet of mix with Ryan so they could come up with just the right thing to make. They couldn't even wait until they got out of their pjs to get started. They just wanted to have a little cooking fun. They decided on chocolate brownies.

So they mixed:
















and sampled:


















and mixed some more (well, okay nothing mixing here, but he's having a great time thinking about mixing!):


















and pushed in the oven to bake:



















and viola! Chocolate brownies! (Such teensy, tiny brownies for ALL that work!)

















The clean up went smoothly too.

















Ryan had a little trouble focusing on making the frosting because he kept insisting that the brownies were done, but other than that I am happy to report that they partook in brownies, worked together well, and handled it all themselves! Job well done!

We are headed 2 Hawaii

So long for a bit. We are headed to Hawaii for a wonderful family vacation. You can see all the fun we are having here

Aloha and more blogging soon...

Courtney's Dance Recital

We spent Saturday at Courtney's dance rehearsal and then the recital later that evening. She did a great job dancing and you can tell that she dances with every part of her body, mind and spirit. She was in 4 routines and had a couple of quicker changes that she was initially a little stressed about, but all turned out perfectly. As last year's Overall Dancer of the Year, she got to present this year's award to her friend and teammate Erica Johnson. She was so proud of Erica as she has worked hard all year and is so dedicated to the team. Courtney also won a special award of her own. She was selected as the Ballet Dancer of the Year for 2008. Her ballet has really come a long way this year and she has improved her technique so much! Anyone who knows Courtney knows that moving around a lot comes naturally to her, it is a little more work to keep the movements as slow and exact as ballet requires. She is becoming very graceful and it has been fun to see her grow in her abilities as a dancer. While ballet is not her favorite (lyrical and jazz currently hold that spot!) it is the foundation of everything in dance so she knows it is important to continue to improve her ballet skills and the rest will improve as well. She also takes a ballet class at the Newberg studio and was invited to dance en pointe starting in the fall. We are not sure if the schedule will work out yet with all of her commitments at the McMinnville studio, but she was excited to be considered ready for pointe work which requires lots of foot and ankle strength as well as balance and flexibility.

It was a fun recital and all the girls worked hard to put on a wonderful show. We get to take a week off and then classes start up for summer again.

I will have some pictures of the recital on the site soon.

Lions and Tigers and Dragons, OH MY!

Well, Courtney went this week to visit the middle school to check things out for this fall when she will officially go from being a Newby Tiger to becoming a Duniway Dragon. I personally am scared to death of middle school and all the changes (some good, some bad) that it brings. Courtney however is so excited and totally ready to be a 6th grader. We met several of the 6th grade teachers last night at a parent orientation and got a tour of the school and a briefing of all the things Duniway has to offer. There really are a lot of things that will suit Courtney there. They have a drama club, volleyball club (which she has decided is something she has to try out), a good leadership program for upper classmen that she is excited to be old enough to do in another year, etc. So much more freedom and the best part according to her: "We can actually wear flip flops and chew gum!!! How cool is that??" Well, apparently, that is pretty cool since she is so excited about it. The teachers were all very nice and welcoming and the programs all sound so fun that I can almost get excited about middle school. Then I remember, oh yea, this is when the fun times begin (or continue as the case may be)...girl moments, girl/boy moments, moodiness, attitude, and the list continues. I am hoping that we will make it through as well as my mom and I did. We didn't always get along then, but we are closer than ever now. I will keep hanging onto that hope and know that Courtney is a remarkable girl, with strong values, a good heart, and many talents and maybe, just maybe we'll come through it all okay.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

I can't believe that it was 5 years ago today that our world was changed by the sweetest little boy with big brown eyes, long lashes, a little button nose, and a smile that could light up the world. When I think back over the last 5 years, he has changed and grown so much. Then he was fascinated with eating and sleeping, now he is into tinkering with light switches, helping Grandpa operate the sprinkling system, fixing things with Dad and oh yes....SPELLING!!!!!!!!! He has to know how everything is spelled and the thing is, he usually remembers most words you spell for him after only one or two times of repeating it. I'm not talking only 2 and 3 letter words that 4/5 year olds know. I'm talking big words like school, Courtney (his sister), play, clean, dry, bath, tub, drink, water....you get the idea. He sounds out everything and knows that "oo" in a word makes the eww sound, "ch" in a word makes a cha sound, and knows what sound each vowel makes. (Yes, he even knows what a vowel is!) We don't quiz him or school him, he just is interested in learning what sounds make words and has a fantastic memory. (there are times that memory doesn't come in so handy! :)) My otherwise active 5 year old will spend 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours playing spelling games and making words with letter trains that he has. Ryan loves school and can't wait to start Kindergarten in the fall at "N E W B Y, Newby". We just went yesterday to Kindergarten round-up to get him registered and he is really excited now to officially enter "big kid school like Courtney".

Ryan also LOVES being outside! He loves to swing, race cars down the slide, help pull weeds (bet that one won't last!) water things with his spray bottle, ride his bike, ride his scooter, draw with chalk. He takes every moment of sun and just soaks it all in. If it is rainy, he waits until the sun comes out for even a few minutes and wants to go out in between rain showers. Another thing Ryan LOVES is chocolate milk or more specifically "Not so Hots" from Dutch Bros. He has those 12 ounce drinks gone faster than I can usually even pull out from the drive thru onto the highway! He is really a big music fan too. Ever since he was 3, he could sing songs in tune and remember different verses to songs. He always wants to know "who sings this" and "what is this song called" and even usually has a guess as to the song title based on what words were "peated in the song".

Ryan will officially party for his birthday tomorrow when Grandma & Grandpa Kent, Grandma & Grandpa Joel, Dave, Rhonda & Jason come for BBQ hamburgers. We won't have cake or cupcakes (pupcakes as Ryan calls them) because Ryan doesn't like cake. We'll have his favorite "brown cow ice cream", chocolate chip cookies and brownies that are chocolate. (Do you think he might be a chocoholic??) We'll all also be going to the local community theater to see a live performance of "High School Musical". All of us (well, okay maybe not Tom) are HUGE fans of the Disney movie that hit the world by storm a couple of years back. It is a modern day "Grease" and has lots of great music and dance numbers in it. Ryan has been really excited to see it. Courtney and I will be watching from backstage, since we are part of the backstage crew, but I'm sure that Ryan will enjoy every minute of the show!

Happy 5th Birthday sweet Ryan! and we look forward to the many more changes you'll go through during the next several stages of your life!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame....or NOT!

Courtney's school choir was invited to sing the National Anthem at a Portland Beaver's baseball game. There was a lot of coordinating that went into planning when/how the kids would go. A date was finally decided on and it just happened to fall on my birthday. Early on, Courtney didn't want to go as she didn't want me to spend my birthday that way, but I insisted that it was fine and we could celebrate me turning 37 another day. How many times would a group she was with be invited to sing the National Anthem at a ball game? It is a neat opportunity and not one that many of these kids would get to do again. Well, the 22nd of April arrived with rain, wind and hail. However the teacher checked with the Beavers and they said that the game wouldn't be called until right close to game time because their field could absorb a lot of water. She was assured the group would sing anyway and if the game had to be delayed or cancelled once the first pitch was thrown, at least the group would get to sing. So off we headed to Portland with Grandma & Grandpa that afternoon. The whole way there was showers and we had all taken long underwear, blankets, gloves, etc for the mid 30's night we were going to endure. Tom was meeting us there since he worked close by. We got there, paid for parking, etc only to arrive to the box office with a less than energetic response from the girl working in it. A sign on the window said the game had been called. Are you kidding me, after all this and after we drove over an hour to get there! The bus was just pulling up too to learn the news. What a disappointment for all the kids and parents that had come to take part. Although, frankly, none of us were totally surprised since the rain really had not let up. Grandpa suggested we not waste the trip into town and go out to Olive Garden in Lake Oswego for dinner, so we met up with Tom and had a great birthday dinner (Grandma & Grandpa's treat!). Details are still being worked out on when/if the school will be able to coordinate a game with the Beaver's to do it again, but hopefully if they do it will be a sunny day and at least 60 degrees!

Circus L A

My colleague Laura always likes to do something special and out of the ordinary to thank me for the travel business I coordinate with her. The last two Christmases my family has been treated to seeing the Christmas lights in a limo which is very fun! This year in addition to that, she decided that she wanted to take some of my clients and my family to Cirque du Soleil when they came to Portland a few weeks back. With Courtney being involved in theater and dance, my family has been to several theatrical shows. This was something we had never seen before though and we weren't really sure what to expect. I was afraid that the storyline would be in a foreign language or too hard for the kids (and the adults) to follow. We were treated to the Tapis Rouge experience, which was absolutely amazing! It is a private tent reserved just for Tapis Rouge guests where they serve drinks, food, private shopping, private restrooms, etc. We had great shrimp, turkey sandwiches, skewers of seasoned fish, fresh carved prime rib, etc. before the show. Then during intermission, we went back to enjoy the huge chocolate fountain with a selection of fresh strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, cherries, etc to dip in it. It was excellent and chocolate heaven. The kids were really enjoying themselves. Now for the show...we all agreed that it far exceeded our expectations. Little did any of us know that we wouldn't really even be concerned with the storyline and rather be captivated by all the tricks and talents on the Cirque stage. These performers had skills that just took your breath away. They twirled on a chandelier in the air with no harness, showed amazing flexibility and courage and were just overall such a talented group. They had a scene that the performers bounced on beds doing acrobatics and Ryan first of all was just surprised that "the people were even allowed to be naughty and jump on the bed". We told him it was part of the performance and he quickly settled in and just sat still and clapped with everyone else in the audience. He also loved when the angels came flying down. Courtney loved the whole performance and can't wait to see it again someday. (although at $205 per ticket for the Tapis Rouge experience it may be awhile!) Each of us received a souvenir program, a keepsake (the adults a CD and the kids a mask) and just a lot of fun memories. When we got home, Ryan was telling us he just loved "Circus L A" and that he wanted to go again tomorrow. Evidentally he overcame the issue with the bouncing on the beds scene too. Later that night, we caught him bouncing up and down on his bed humming the theme song from that night with his arms flapping up and down like he was going to do some sort of acrobatic trick. We quickly told him that those tricks were reserved for the Cirque du Soleil performers and couldn't be done at home. He laughed and said "But Mommy, I just wanted to be in Circus L A and fly." Hopefully I'll have several years to convince him that he doesn't want to join "Circus L A" and that a nice, safe job is the way to go rather than performing death defying acrobatic tricks for a living.

"I'm Like a Bird"

A couple of weeks ago, Courtney's dance team had their second competition, Thunderstruck, held at Tualatin High School. There are four girls: Eliza Payne (7), Erica Johnson (13), Audrey Pattishall (10), & Courtney (11). Courtney has competed before, but the rest of the performing company has not. They have all really improved and come a long way this year under the direction of their Artistic Director Kimberly Harris. They do three competitions per season and the first one was held in Oregon City called Spotlight Events in February. Most of the competitions run on an adjudicated points system so each group is assigned a points score that falls within first, second, third, fourth place range. Then within those groups, there are overall winners with the highest scores within each category. At Spotlight, the team received a Ruby award, which is the equivalent of the first place award placement. This was very good for their first time out, especially considering all the girls were nervous and not sure what to expect. Aside from the parents, it was the first time they had performed this group number in front of an audience. The judges at that competition also awarded them a "Joy of Dance" special recognition award. These awards are given to dance numbers that really stand out in a particular way and each of the three judges only awards two or three special awards for each division. At the most recent competition, Thunderstruck, the girls improved even more. They received a Thunderstruck Gold which also is the equivalent of first place. In addition, they were rated #5 overall out of 18 routines in their division of junior novice small groups. Way to go girls! All of us are very proud of you!

"Look Daddy! It's the Grand Nebula!"

Ryan is constantly amazing us with his knowledge of various landmarks from different countries such as the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, and our personal favorite...The Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Ryan once was in Fred Meyer shopping with me and saw a picture of the Leaning Tower that a lady was holding and he said "Look Mommy! It's the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy!" The lady did a quick doubletake when she realized this was a 4 year old who was recognizing this famous landmark.) Well tonight was no exception. We were leaving Grandma & Grandpa's house and he skips out to the car with Tom and notices how bright the moon is. He says to Tom "Look Daddy! There's the moon. Oh, oh and look Daddy! It's the Grand Nebula!" After Tom picked his jaw up off the driveway, he asked how Ryan knew what the Grand Nebula was. He said "Oh Daddy, it's from Little Einsteins (a very popular Disney preschool series on TV). Grand Nebula is a big star." We decided on the way home, who needs school?? We'll just set Ryan up with the DVD series of "Little Einsteins" and let him learn all about music, geography and science from them.

Ryan's other favorite terms from "Little Einsteins" are adagio, moderato, and allegro. He likes to listen to music and tell if it is "happy or sad songs" based on how fast the music is played. If it is allegro (or fast) it is declared happy music. If it is adagio (or slow) it is a sad song and if it is moderato it doesn't really feel "anyfing". This boy is wise beyond his years! Can't wait to see and hear what else he comes up with!

"See this finger? It's telling you to LEAVE..."

Ryan is always full of such expressions and sometimes when we are disciplining him it is hard to keep a straight face. This was one of those times. Ryan is at the age where he wants to do everything "all by myself". Well, last night he was not getting ready for bed like he was supposed to, so Tom told him that if he didn't get busy that he was going to come in and help him get his jammies on. Ryan kept giggling thinking that was funny, dancing around (with only his underwear on!) in the bathroom, etc. So Tom went in and said that was it and that he was going to help him get dressed into his jammies now. Ryan looked at him with his "fed up face" (see below) and pointed towards the door and said to Tom, "See this finger? It's pointing out the door NOT in it. It's telling you to LEAVE!"

Tom continued to help him and then when Ryan was getting the point he finally made up a reason to leave the bathroom long enough to share this story with me and we had a good (silent) laugh about it. With Ryan, you sure know where you stand when he gives you that "evil eye".

Part of Ryan's bedtime routine EVERY night (and I mean every single night!) after he gets his jammies on, he comes bounding in like Tigger and makes this "hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo" sound (like only Tiggers can make) and stands proudly with his jammies on and waits for you to tell him he is handsome.

We always joke that we hope that he outgrows this part of the routine otherwise his future wife will have to tell him he looks handsome in his jammies every night too! For right now, it's pretty cute though....

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We headed to the beach in style yesterday in Grandpa's new 2008 Honda Odyssey minivan. It is loaded with comforts for all and lots of entertainment options for the kids and he had been anxious to take it for its first trip to the coast since they got it in December. We frequently make trips to the beach to have our favorite clam chowder and shop at the mall. Today we were celebrating something special though....Grandma's 71st birthday (AND the minivan's inaugural trip to the beach!) It was decided that Courtney could "play hookie" from school for a couple of hours in the afternoon and so Grandpa, Grandma, Michelle, Courtney & Ryan all headed off hungry for yummy chowder to celebrate. Courtney and Ryan got all set up in the back seat with their "Snow Buddies" DVD and they were glued to that the whole way there. It seemed the cars weren't going fast enough as the "rumblies in our tumblies' got louder and louder in anticipation. Well, we pulled up to an empty parking lot at Captain Ron's Seafood & Chowder House and knew we were in trouble! Since it is off season at the Oregon Coast, the restaurant was closed for a couple of days during the week and this happened to be one of those days. Major bummer! :( Ryan and Grandpa announced they were not happy one bit. The birthday girl was going to make the best of it and decided we'd head to another chowder restaurant since we had to pick the next best place. Ryan announced as we pulled up to Mo's that he was "ready to eat, but still NOT happy". He insisted it was not nice of those people to close when WE were coming to lunch! However, when we had a little nourishment it took the edge off his mad face a little. Courtney had grilled cheese (of course!) and Ryan had chicken strips (of course) and they shared a cup of chowder. Grandma had a nice bowl of chowder and Grandpa had a sourdough bread bowl filled with shrimp topped chowder (aka Slumgullion...not a very appetizing name, but apparently this refers to chowder with shrimp in it!) Michelle had the same thing, except in a regular bowl.

After that it was off to the beach for a short bit to let the kids run around in the sand. We found a log that looked like a "stage", at least to my kids (although anything can be a stage in their eyes) so the kids took turns "performing" their dance moves up on the top of the log.

It was a sunny day, especially for February, so we decided to seize the moment and take a few family pictures too.

Then we headed to the outlet mall to browse a bit before heading back home to meet up with Tom for dinner (who had to work all day while we played!) Thanks for sharing your special day with us Grandma! It was fun celebrating, even if we had to be flexible and not go to "THE" chowder place on the Oregon Coast! :)