Black Friday Sleepover

After a long day of shopping... we headed over to the Miracle's house for a sleepover. The kids enjoyed being together with their cousins and friends. I am not really sure that the kids ever went to bed. Here they all are eating dinner.



I think the kids in our college friends group now outnumber the adults. A lot of food, drinks and fun was had by all! Certainly this will have to be a new tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent our turkey day at home. Marc did most of the cooking. As the kids would tell you, at our house, Dad is the "cooker" and Mom is the "baker". I made pumpkin cheesecake and it was pretty yummy. Marc's mom, Merlene, and his step-dad, Matt, along with his brother Matthew came to spend the day with us. Grandma also brought "Bella" the dog, which is a hit with the kids.

Bella knew just where to "hang out" during the whole meal, right by Conner. How does she know he is the messiest one? P.S. The kids were drinking sparkling cider from wine glasses.

Fall Music Program

Garret had a Fall music program this week. He was excited to play his "recorder"! The 4th and 5th graders sang songs and played their recorders along with our school choir. It was a nice program and Garret did a good job! He is quite a singer... he knows all the local radio commercial jingles and sings them often.

Off to the Cowlitz

We spent "Late Buck" weekend at the Cowlitz. The kids had fun playing outside, running around, making mischief!



I spent most of the time in the motorhome working on school stuff for report cards. Conner and Marc headed off hunting a couple of times to see if Conner could get his tag filled... but, no luck. Maybe next year. The boys did manage to chop and stack some wood in the pile. The river was very high because of the flooding the week before, so we tried to keep the dogs and kids away from there. No more big camping trips for awhile now.




Here is Jim... dumping the "pooper" as the kids call it, why we had to have a photo? I am unsure but I promised him a spot on the blog.

Wrestling Mom

Today was Conner's first official wrestling match... Yikes! Can I just tell you that I am positive I was sweating more than he was. He is on the JV squad, so I had to sit through all of the boys who did Varsity first... about 12 matches. Then they decided who had matches for the JV squad (our school has the biggest team in the league). I heard them say "Montieth" and I almost had to leave. He made it through the first two rounds without being pinned. His first "go" at the kid was GREAT, I thought for sure it was going to be over quickly... but then Conner caught him... and well, I think he wasn't sure what to do with him then?... and we all know what happens when you hesitate, especially if you are wrestling. And not surprising... my kid is VERY flexible, shesh. Anyway, I ripped and bit off three of my nails... not a lie. And, I think I am ready to see another one soon. GO CONNER!

P.S. He did get pinned in the 3rd round... his coach told him that would happen a lot!

When I grow up...

The kids and I were in the car yesterday, having the age old discussion of, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I have to say that I have been trying to talk about this with Conner lately, just to see what ideas he has for himself. I was flippantly asking him "what job do you think you might get where you can read all day and still get paid?"(... for those of you who don't spend time with Conner, he carries a book everywhere and reads ALL the time... I am not complaining... but it does seem to be an obsession at times.) Anyway, he told me "well mom, that's why I plan to be an author".. great... poor for life and if you ever saw his handwriting, you might know why I cringed a little and for you WASL lovers, he has yet to pass the Conventions section. But, of course, Garret had an answer too (when doesn't he?)... "Mom, I want to be a mathamagician when I grow up". (I tried hard not to Laugh OUT Loud! )"You know I do love math mom". Which he does. And I am sure whatever he decides to do, he will be a perfect mathamagician. This is the funniest thing as I know just this week I had a conversation with my first grade class about all of them being "mathematicians"... Oh that boy does crack me up!

P.S. Katie is still undecided, but on a side note, she is not having kids... apparently she has decided that childbirth is not for her... too many "Baby Story" shows.

Hop On Over

Katie had a "pool party" birthday today with 12 of her friends.

A surprise visit from Katie's teacher, Mrs. Epperson... teachers are sort of like Rock Stars when you are 7 years old!

Here they all are.. ready for some cake. If they all look a little wet, I guess it was from all that swimming they did before we had cake and ice cream.

Other friends and kids came to the pool too to enjoy an hour of fun! Our neighbor and good friend Krystal made the frog cake. It was adorable! She is very talented and we appreciate that she made this cake for Katie.

The Frog Cake

Krystal & Katie

Make a wish Miss Katie! We hope you had a great 7th birthday and that your year is the best one yet.