December 31, 2012

A Seattle New Year

We had a beautiful drive to Seattle yesterday. Even with this cranky kid in the back seat.

Celebrating New Years Eve with our two youngest girls at The Warwick Hotel in Downtown Seattle. We're going to watch the fireworks show at the Space Needle from the comfort o our hotel room.

Should be an awesome night!!

Happy New Year!





December 30, 2012

Everyday Exciting!

I recently read a blog post, and I can't even remember where now (boo), that talked about how blogging is about scrap-booking your life. (I wish I could remember who it was, so I could give credit where credit is due. So Sorry) It's about capturing all the memories of your life and keeping them in one cozy place for your kids to look back on and remember.

This blog is a scrapbook of my life. I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself to write posts that are full of meaning and wonder and make people think about life. (Or think that I am a good writer) That is just far too much pressure for me.

This is about me! This is about my life!
No Rules! No Worry!


I want a place where I can go and be who I am! (A little CA-RaZy)

(Come on Ry, Strike a pose!)

I want a place where I can tell about myself and my family!


I want a place where I can share what I am thinking and feeling!


I want a place where I can be a bit of a show off (wink, wink)!

(The view from our back patio)

For me... This is My Place! My place to share and remember. I want the kids to look back and see everything about their lives in the scrapbook that I have created here. I know it isn't much now, but hopefully in the years to come it will be much bigger and much better. I know there aren't a lot of readers, but for those of you that have chosen to join me on our journey, I thank you! If you are new here, Welcome! Thank you for sharing in this little place we like to call our

Everyday Exciting

December 29, 2012

Like the Good Ol' Days

Yesterday we spent the day at my parents house in Deer Park with ALL of my family. It's not very often that we get the whole family together so we usually go all out when we are all in one place. With everyone living in different parts of the country, it gets harder and harder to get everyone in one location.

For us, yesterday was Christmas and I love getting to celebrate Christmas twice.

We were lucky enough to have snow on the ground this year. A little over two feet of the powdery white goodness that is perfect for snowmobiling. My younger brother, JC, brought over his Ski doos and we spent enough time out in the fresh air to effectively freeze our fingers and noses.

It's been years since I rode one of these. We had them all the time when I was a kid, but things change and it seems like we have had less and less snow every year since I was 10. I was beyond excited to be out in the open air with the wind in my face and tree line flying by me. Once the boys had their turn doing tricks and making it look much harder than I remembered, I finally got a turn. I decided to ride the one my older brother, Rob, brought over because it was a little less powerful than JC's. I admit, I was a little intimidated by the supped up one that JC had (but not next time).

It was even better than I remembered. But, it was a little harder than I remembered. I guess the ones my parents owned 15 years ago weren't quite as heavy as these. These things were terribly hard to turn. I had to stand on the platform on one side and lean over with all my body weight to turn it. Even then, it was a much wider turn than I wanted. Oh well, At least I got where I was going.  And for the first time in my life I could say, "I don't weigh enough!" Boy, is my body paying for it today. My arms and legs are SO sore. I'll take that over going to the gym any day!

After a very long afternoon we retired to the living room to drink hot cocoa and watch Brave with the kids. Later in the evening everyone was back at the house and we opened our Christmas presents and played games and visited while eating the some of the best prime rib I've ever had.

Overall... Amazing Day.











Took me back to a time when things were simpler and I spent my entire winter break from school either out in the snow or on the couch watching movies and crocheting. Sometimes I wish I could be a kid again.

Happy Snow Day!

December 28, 2012

Inflection... and Pointing

Have you ever given thought to the way that you talk to people? I don't mean having good manners or whether or not you are nice to people. I am talking about the things you do and say... or the things you do when you say certain things...

Example: The other day I was talking to my step daughter about eye brows. (Don't ask why... you really don't want to know... OK I'll tell you. Mine are a little crooked... new girl at the salon. Boo!)
Anywhooooo... While I was talking I kept pointing to my eyebrows. Like she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I wasn't pointing at them. Duh... she knows what an eye brow is, but I couldn't say it without pointing. Weird. I was talking to my husband about a mixing bowl when I was baking something. I kept lifting it up to show him like he didn't know what a mixing bowl is.

I don't think people are stupid, gosh no! But maybe I have in my subconscious somewhere that if a person can see what I am talking about, they have a better chance of understanding.

And it's not just with objects!

After the eyebrow incident, I started paying attention to how I was saying things. I especially notice it when I read to Zoie. If you have read Are You My Mother as many times as I have, you may know exactly what I am talking about.

"He looked up he did not see her" 
"He looked down he did not see her"

Now tell me you didn't just do the same thing when you read that!?!? 


There is inflection in my voice. When I say up, my voice goes high. When I say down, my voice goes low. Why is that? Everyone uses inflection when they speak, don't they? But the pointing... do you ever catch yourself doing the same thing??

Now I probably won't change the way that I speak. I may, however, stop the pointing. I wonder if it makes people feel dumb? I don't know.  What are your thoughts?

December 27, 2012

Wonderful Christmas

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas festivities!
We sure did!!

We spent Christmas Eve Evening with the kids making gingerbread houses. Talk about a new tradition., So Much Fun! We decided to make it a competition, where my parents judged the next day. We all kept our houses a secret from each other til we were done.


After a late start to our morning... Crazy I know!
We finally saw what Santa brought us in our stockings and opened our presents from the rest of the family. I think everyone had a great morning. I know I did.












The Aftermath!

Christmas in our house is always a nice relaxing day. 
We try not to go overboard with gifts for the kids. They each get 4 things (plus a gift from Santa). 
Something they WANT, something they NEED, something to WEAR, and something to READ.  
They know how many things they are getting and they understand (I hope) that we are shopping on a budget. It really forces me to put a lot of thought into their gifts and I think (hope) they have learned to appreciate that. I also hope that as they get older they will learn to appreciate the quality time we have spent together as a family and not the things that we bought them. :)

In the afternoon we spent some time with my parents, my sister and niece, and my cousins. 
Overall it was an amazing Christmas with family!

And... We get to do it all again tomorrow.
My parent, brothers, and sister and their families will be over tomorrow for the day to celebrate Christmas as a family. We are looking forward to another nice relaxing 'holiday'.

December 22, 2012

Holidazed

Can you believe it is Dec 22nd already?? -Where has the time gone?

Can you believe I have been MIA since August?? -Sorry, life just got away with me.

Can you believe we made it through Dec 21, 2012?? -Yay Us!

Things have been a little crazy in our neck of the woods. I can't even tell you where the time has gone, cause t's all a blur and I have no idea. But for now I am back and can't wait to share the holidays with you all.

It finally snowed here in the Pacific Northwest. So today, I am headed to Northern Idaho with my husband to plow some snow. Zoie loves hanging in the truck with us and we both live spending the day at work with Daddy.

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope it's great!