Signs, signs, and more signs

Since Ryan loves to spell things, he loves to spend countless hours (and I do mean HOURS) making signs to tape around the house. These signs are taped on his door, on the laundry room door, on our sliding glass door, etc. I don't leave them up for long, but just long enough to make him feel proud of his work. He comes up with some funny things to write on the signs, but they are always things that are on his mind. He is really big into listening to music, so it is not uncommon to find signs on his door that are about the music he is listening to. He is really good at remembering song titles and knowing the artists because whenever he likes a song he asks what it is called and who sings it and it is in the memory bank. And onto the sign it goes!

I have some pictures here of some of the signs he makes from time to time, but one of my favorites I don't have a picture of yet. Whenever I am in the kitchen making something (which hasn't been much this week, thus NO picture!), he makes a sign that says Mom Chef. He hums theme music to the show and says in his best announcer voice, "Okay everyone let's welcome Moooommmmmm Chef!" He then continues with what I will be making and then asks that I give a little diaglogue with what I am making for the "viewers at home." You would think that we watch the Food Network all the time, but honestly the boy spends more time watching Disney than anything else. It is really a crack up, and the whole time I am cooking, the Mom Chef sign is proudly displayed on the refrigerator. He ooos and ahhhs over all the things I'm doing and comments how this will be my best food yet. I'm not sure what he is waiting for, but I don't think anything that miraculous is going to come out of this kitchen!

Here are some pictures of some of the other signs he has made. And for the record, this is HIS spelling:

Confused on this one? Well, it says, according to Ryan, "Yes, we have NO smoking here". When asked where it says no smoking, he looks matter a factly at you and says, "There is a circle with a line through it. That always means no!" Alright then...



He loves to watch American Idol with us and it was "too early to vote" so he just made a sign for all the American Idol people.

And just in case you were thinking of taking a shower in his bathtub, you'll find this note posted on the door to the bathroom:


And finally, another favorite of mine. When he gets his own water, sometimes it spills, so we get a wet floor sign.



For those of you not versed in kid spell, this says "Wet floor experience".

I will admit the signs drive me crazy. There are open signs, closed signs, exit only signs, etc. But for now, it is kinda cute to see what is on his mind and hey, at least he is practicing his writing and spelling.

Happy 40th Birthday Tom!!

This post is a couple days late, but with a month full of birthdays and anniversaries for our family and toss in Valentine's Day, a dance competition and some illness, I think only a couple days late is not too bad considering.

Tom usually keeps pretty quiet about his birthdays around his co-workers. The kids and I decided this year to send him a balloon bouquet with some chocolates at work so that people would know it was his special day on Thursday. It worked perfectly as the front desk receptionist called him up to receive his balloons that morning, a few of them gathered around the office and sang Happy Birthday to him.

Later in the day, the kids and I drove to Tigard and met him at McCormick & Schmicks for some yummy seafood dinner, his choice. They print their menus daily, so they even put a special message at the top of the menu that said "Happy 40th Birthday Tom" on it. We thought that was pretty cool. He dined on crab and shrimp stuffed salmon, served with mashed potatoes and veggies. He said it was really good. The waiter brought him a chocolate raspberry truffle cake with a candle too. Of course, we had to help him eat that since we had dessert waiting at home! :) That was some yummy chocolate.


When we returned home, we had arranged for his parents to come over so we could have a miniature celebration. We visited, had Chocolate Cookie Dough Blizzard ice cream cake from DQ, and he got his presents. The kids and I gave him a Blazer limited edition Brandon Roy photo that was framed and matted with Blazer and NBA gold coins. He really loved and it and overall it was a good birthday celebration for him. He topped off the evening with some relaxation and playing on the Wii. Here's to another 40 years and more!

So this is what we're paying for...

As a mom, I NEVER get tired of watching Courtney dance. She has danced for 7 years and I still love all the recitals, shows & competitions. The studio she has been with for the last couple of years has a parent watch night every couple of months so that we parents can "see what we're paying for". I get to see Courtney dance A LOT! She dances around the house, at the store, in her room, marks dances in the car, and I'm sure she has even been caught dancing in the cafeteria or the hallways at school. Parent watch night is a can't miss night for me. I really enjoy seeing her progress as well as the progress of everyone in the class. Her classes on Monday span about 4 hours since she dances in different styles & classes. It is so worth it though to see her in HER element. I can't believe how much her gracefulness has improved in this last couple of years alone. She is now doing ballet en pointe and although she has only been doing that for about 5 months, she looked good. Really, really good. I know I'm her mother and I'm sure the teachers and professionals would have plenty to critique, but there were times it was hard for me to believe that she was doing a pirouette en pointe like she was after just a few months. I mean to move that gracefully with your toes crammed into a wooden block on the floor is amazing. I can't wait to see how much more she has improved after several months of training in this new technique. It was also fun to see her getting reacquainted with some old tap moves and finding her "inner hip hopper". Jazz/contemporary style is definitely her favorite and it was fun to see her and her dance team work through their competition piece that they will take to an event on Saturday. (VERY early Saturday. We have to be in Portland by 7 am. Anyone that knows her and I knows that is VERY, VERY early to us!) I saw a lot of growth in all of the kids on Monday. It was fun watching a few girls and friends that Courtney has brought to the studio grow in their dancing as well. I can't wait to see the next parent watch night in April and the culmination of all of their hard work at the recital in June. Sometimes it is nice for us parents to get to sit back and enjoy what we are paying for.

Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse

Last night we took Ryan and his friend (and our neighbor) Faith to Playhouse Disney Live at the Rose Garden. It was such a fun show complete with songs from My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and of course Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I got seats a while after they had been on sale, so I wasn't really sure how good our seats would be, but they provided a perfect view. To see Ryan's face light up when Mickey came on stage and then a littler later out bounced Pooh & Tigger, it was really worth the whole price of admission. The kids clapped, they sang, they danced. (And truth be told, my little Prince Charming tried to grab Faith's hand a few times during the evening to which she just giggled and replied "Ryyyyan!") Afterwards we stopped at Gem 100 for some ice cream on the way home. It was a really fun Disney sort of night. Now just 2 1/2 months until we get to go see the magic of Disneyland. Can't wait!

Tag....I'm it!

I was recently tagged by my friend Sarri and asked to come up with 7 interesting things about myself. There really aren't 7 little known things about me, let alone really being all that interesting, but here is my best shot at it:

1) I used to sing in my elementary school talent shows every year. I would sing such hits as "You Light Up My Life", "9-5" and many Captain and Tenille songs. My mom made me a new gunny sax dress every year and I had matching ribbon barrettes in my hair.

2) I am extremely afraid of heights. Once in elementary school, my parents signed me up for gymnastics and I cried the whole time because I had to go on the balance beam. (It was a whopping 1 or 2 feet off the ground!) Needless to say, we knew early on that I was no Mary Lou Retton!

3) Tom & I met while I was babysitting next door to his house. I had to go to his house when I accidentally locked myself out of the house with the kids. Tom answered the door and was happy to help. I may have possibly locked the door other times just so I could see him to get the key. Maybe.

4) Tom & I broke up 8 times while dating all through high school. He was my first real kiss (not counting the time a really cute boy at church camp kissed me quick after a campfire one night.) Our first kiss was when I was babysitting at another neighbor's house. Note to self: Courtney will NOT babysit!

5) I know practically everyone camps, but I have never been camping. Let's just say I'm not an outdoorsy sort of girl and I am not a real fan of bugs and creepy crawlies. My idea of a camping adventure is blowing up the air mattress in the living room and roasting marshmallows over the BBQ and popping popcorn in the microwave. It is the perfect camp IN!

6) When I was 20, I had a Jamaican propose to me while on a travel agent familiarization trip there. He wrote me a long love letter, tried to give me a ring, the whole nine yards. And NO, we weren't dating at all while I was visiting there. He was working at the hotel we stayed at and he just took a liking I guess to my really light blonde hair, green eyed self. Needless to say, I declined.

7) Soon after the trip to Jamaica, I won a trip to the Cook Islands at a travel seminar I attended. It was before Tom and I were married, so I took my brother who wasn't married at the time either. Nightlife was rather slow there, but we went to one of the hotter restaurants/clubs there and then missed the last bus back to the hotel. Since the island wasn't very big and there weren't many cabs either, we decided to walk back to the hotel. On the way, I had to go pee so bad I couldn't hold it anymore. I couldn't bring myself to go in the bushes along the roadside(remember, not into creepy crawlies, not outdoorsy, etc?) so I wet my pants instead. Seriously! Soon after, a cab came by and gave us a ride back to the hotel. All I could think of was that I hoped I didn't smell like pee and that I didn't want to get his seats wet from my current not-so-comfortable situation. My brother has never let me live that moment down.

So there you have it, the not-so-interesting 7 things about me. Most everyone has been tagged already, so I tag whoever reads this and hasn't already had to do it!

Stars or Angels?

This past Christmas Ryan was pretty fixated on every Christmas tree having a star at the top of it. Grandma & Grandpa's has an angel on top as that is the same tree topper they have had for years...tradition. Ours at home has a star. Every year Ryan can't wait to put the star up on the tree and that to him makes it complete. In fact, this year the only smile he had while he was so, so sick during "Artic Blast 2008", was when he opened a box that Grandma had sent over. It had a homemade silver star in it just for his little tree in his room. He was soooo excited! In a continuation of his questions about why some people have angels and some have stars, he and Tom were talking about angels on the way home from dinner tonight.

Ry: Daddy, where is heaven?

Daddy: It is up in the sky.

Ry: Do angels live there?

Daddy: Yes, they do.

Ry: Daddy? What do angels look like?

Daddy: They wear long gowns, have wings and have halos on their heads.

Ry: Are there boy angels?

Daddy: Yes, there are boy and girl angels.

Ry: Do the boys wear gowns too? Those are for girls.

Daddy: Yes, they all wear gowns.

Ry: Daddy, when I'm an angel, can I wear jeans instead of a gown?

Realizing he wasn't going to win this battle, Tom replied, "Sure, Ryan, you can wear jeans."

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!