Surprise Snow!

No one was expecting anything but rain...but then again should we expect anything more from our weather friends?! Yesterday when a few flakes started falling I grabbed the camera thinking that would be the only shot of snow I would get but three hours later there was four inches on the ground and the kids were outside making snowmen and sledding down the hill! Ellie got stuck at a friends house,Jamie got stuck at work, and our dinner guests had to cancel. So after spending a couple hours on dinner I had no one to share it with! Lily called and invited Grandma and Papa over to have dinner and they walked across the field and joined us....pretty convenient! Usually it's the other way around...us going to Grandma's for dinner! The snow didn't last...Jamie was finally able to get home (although he had to use his mom's car to get up the hill) and when we woke up this morning there was still snow but after a beautiful day of sunshine it's sadly gone. It was still a nice unexpected treat!

Christmas in the new house...

We worked so hard to get everything done in time to have all the Christmas gatherings at our house and it paid off! We celebrated Christmas Eve here with the whole Snook family, then went to Lacey's to spend some time with the Foelker grandparents and aunts and uncles. Christmas morning we got up to see what Santa had bought...the girls got ipods and Jalen got a Handy Manny workbench! After having some breakfast we went to church to celebrate the true reason for the day and then had the whole Iacolucci family over later that night for our traditional Italian feast. It was a couple long days...especially for Jalen...but so much fun to be able to spend time with everyone! The girls knew the routine but this was the first year Jalen really got "Santa"...and even then I'm not sure he fully comprehended! He is the first kid I have ever seen that I had to force him to open more presents! He would open one and then just want to play with it...I guess all we needed was one present for him! Although he really liked Braylon's new toys (his 5 year old cousin) and chased him around trying to take away all his new army gear. Now we just have another week of kids out of school, friends and sleepovers galore and constant entertaining! I think I will wait until the kids are back in school to attempt to put away Christmas...then I have to resume unpacking the other 20 boxes in the garage. I'm seriously considering tossing them...what could I need that I have managed to live without for the last 6 weeks? Other than my precious pictures of course! While we will all be working at the pizza shack we hope you have a Happy New Year!

Home comes Happy!

We have been telling the girls for over a year that when we moved they could get a dog. Their dreams of a dog turned into getting an entire farm! They were then talking about cats, rabbits, chickens, and a horse. We decided to start with a dog. We moved November 20th so naturally they thought we should go get a dog on the 21st! We then told them once we were settled we could get a dog. We are still not completely settled but I wasn't sure how much longer we could put them off without making ourselves look like liars. So like everything else we do...last minute and spur of the moment we decided to go look at one of the shelters on Saturday. We got there at 4:45 and the lady told us they stop showing dogs at 5:30 and there was a chance we may not get in. We knew the girls would hate us if we left, so we thought it was better to chance it, and if the lady told us to leave they could hate her instead! She was nice enough to stay a few minutes late and we got to meet a 1 year old lab/retriever/collie mix named Happy. She seemed good with the kids, even Jalen. After hearing how she was rescued from being an outside neglected dog that was not given food or water and forced to stay outside in below freezing temperatures we decided she needed a home and ours was as good as any. The lady asked if we would come back the next day since she had already stayed late. You should have seen the girls faces...total devastation! Of course we said yes so we went back on Sunday at noon to bring Happy home with us. As we were loading him in the car Happy slipped out of his collar and went running down the busy street...cars slamming on their brakes, everyone in the shelter running out to help chase down the dog and the girls screaming and crying from the backseat. I just hope this wasn't a glimpse of things to come! The lady afterwards mentioned that he may be a "flight risk"...really?! So...here we are with 5 acres and Jamie and I are taking turns in the pouring down rain to take Happy on his walks. Our plan of making the girls do all that work went out the door when we realized Happy has the ability to take them on walks...he is way to powerful for them to handle. I am hoping some training will help with that...and staying in our yard but guess who gets to be in charge of that?! Somehow no matter how hard you try to give your kids responsibilities it always ends up in more work for yourself. We are very happy with Happy..haha...he seems to be a good dog and will find a special place in our family.

The Dust is Settling!

I think this is the longest I have ever gone without a post but I have a REALLY good excuse...for the past 6 weeks we have been in a never ending moving roller coaster. We sold our house, did all the repairs from the home inspection, packed up our entire house, packed up my parents entire house, moved them out and then moved ourselves in. Then...we started the kitchen remodel, and decided to try to finish all the things that never got finished...think baseboards, molding, trim, etc... We have finally finished the kitchen (well...almost!) and with the exception of a few minor projects we are feeling good and settled. It was by far the most exhausting time of my life but we are happy to be in, the kids love all their space, Jamie loves his "man cave" and I love my new kitchen! I could tell you all the stressful and somewhat comical stories that went along with this process but at this point there is no need to relive that! So....the kids are out of school, Christmas is just a few days away and I still have shopping to do so I will sign out for now but promise to share some fun Christmas stories very soon!

A Day in the Life of a 2 Year Old...

 

 

 

 

So the weather has turned and I forgot how hard it was to entertain a busy little boy INSIDE all day! Jalen is not one to sit and play with toys...we have baskets full of cars, tools, books, and blocks but he would much rather be outside on his quad, on his bike or with a ball, bat or club in his hand! I know most parents would be grateful that their kid doesn't watch TV, but there are times when I beg him to just sit on the couch and cuddle with me...I'll even watch one of his silly little cartoons...just let me SIT!! So I have got him a tiny bit interested in Handy Manny...he'll even say "Mama, watch Hanny Manny, couch, me". Translates, come sit with me on the couch and watch Handy Manny. So he will watch (kind of...off and on) but the sitting doesn't last long. He has to get up and go get his matching toolbox with the tools and play along. Which is fine because at least I get to stay sitting! So between cartoons, playing chase, hide and seek and shooting hoops on the indoor plastic hoop we try to stay busy. You can see the rain on this day...it was pouring so hard our gutter clogged up and my planter bed became a pool of muddy water. I did finally let Jalen go outside after he stood at the window saying "mama...see?" He pulled his pants up and walked out onto the porch, looked in the planter bed/pool and said "mama, fish?" I cracked up as I told him there were no fish in the planter bed. So what seemed like a very long morning it was finally nap time. Even though he has been crawling out if his crib for months now he is usually pretty good about going to sleep at nap time. So we changed (he insists on wearing pajamas at nap time too), sang our songs, got the blankie and truck book and gave kisses. I took a deep breath and went to do some work on the computer. It was a good 20 minutes of silence which I very much enjoyed when I heard "Mama!"...in a very loud yell. I thought no way...he can't be done after 20 minutes. So I open the door to find he was never asleep! His room looked like a tornado hit it! Every toy was out, every book, his pillows and blankets thrown out onto the floor, the diapers thrown out of the drawer and he was standing on TOP of the changing table with no pants on dancing around like it was his own personal stage! He had smeared lotion all over himself and the mirror, gotten into the vaseline so he had a nice shine to him and knocked a wooden sign off the wall. He didn't even have a guilty look either...like it was no big deal. He said "mama...change me". Thank goodness I walked in when I did because I have a feeling the changing part he was about to do himself and that would not have been pretty! I got him changed and back in his pajamas and layed him down for a second time. This time I stood by the door for a few minutes to make sure he stayed in his crib and went to sleep. I love him...he has completed our family, he cracks us up and every night when I lay my head down I know I will get a good nights sleep because that kid wears me out!

Cousins

 

 

 

 

Cousins

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

We surprised the kids last night and took them to the pumpkin patch (well...we tried to surprise them...once we got to the ferry they knew where we were going...why else would you ever go on a ferry right?!)It was a beautiful day for it...COLD...but clear blue skies! When we got out of the car there was a family walking to their car holding 3 pumpkins and Jalen shouted out with excitement "mama, big orange!" Jamie and I cracked up as we told him they were pumpkins to which he responded "oh yeah"...like he already knew that. The kids all had fun riding in the wheelbarrow, climbing the haystack, and finding their way through the hay maze. Okay so I'm a little embarrassed to admit this since we have been going to this pumpkin patch for 9 years but I have never gone through the hay maze until this year! I know bad mom...sending my kids into the darkness on their own! The thing is they are not scared...never have been but I HATED it! I had my camera and I had to keep taking pictures just so I could use the light of the flash for a split second to slow my heart. Not a fan! We all picked our own pumpkin like we always do...Jalen's was green...if I remember right he did that last year too. He walked over the wheelbarrow saying "blue one"...everything is blue right now, his favorite color, even if it's not...but hey green is close enough! So as usual I had the camera and spent most of the time snapping away until Jamie told me my picture taking was "bugging him"...he said all he can hear are the snaps of the shutter. I said fine...here...you take the pictures. This rarely happens...for example out entire trip to Bend there was not one picture of me...it's like I wasn't even there! My kids are going to look back on these wonderful scrapbooks I make them and wonder where I was...the long lost mommy. Anyway, you all know Jamie well enough to know that of course he was going to go a little overboard just to prove him point. So he walked around taking pictures of anything and everything. And not just one...but three of the same thing...just click, click, click. Right in my face, would not leave me alone, like we were on some kind of professional photo shoot of mom. So I'm holding in my annoyance by laughing and thinking well at least there will be some pictures of me for once. Wishful thinking. I get home, plug in my camera and look through the pictures with great anticipation. Nothing. Well...everything, but nothing worth wanting to put in a scrapbook! And the few ones that may have been good, were taken directly into the sun so they were all hazy. I even put it on automatic mode for him! Oh well...I guess the proof that I am there is in all the pictures of them!

No School? Didn't we just start?

So not even a month into school and the girls had their first "inservice" days. And then on top of that Ellie got sick last weekend with a fever, and sore throat which in turn led Lily to say she was sick (with no symptoms of course). Just to be safe I took them both to the doctor and while Ellie had tonsilitis Lily did have an ear infection (funny...she NEVER mentioned her ear hurting!) The doctor said not to send Ellie to school for a couple days so what turned into Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off became a whole week off from school! So with our asymtematic kids we decided to get away and go to Bend for a couple nights. This time of year over there is always really slow which I don't get because fall in Bend is beautiful! But we had the place to ourselves...went swimming in the outdoor heated pools, drove to Sunriver and took a hike around the trails, saw the horses at the Sunriver Stables, and relaxed with some movies. Jalen had a rough trip as he dove head first into the kiddie pool that was no more than a foot deep. I think he was trying to do a sommersault into the pool but it did not go as he envisioned! Then at Red Robin that night he fell off the chair to one of the video games and got the biggest fat lip I've ever seen...it looked like there was a bouncy ball in his lip! The girls were great, I don't know if it's just the change in scenery or what but there was not much fighting going on which is a regular occurence here at home! They did so awesome on the trail hike too...we must have walked for two hours and while Jalen got to ride in the stroller, they were able to keep up and didn't even complain! Of course we had to stop at Goody's afterward for a treat! We got back home on Thursday and Friday morning Lily woke up saying she didn't feel good. I thought super...another weekend with a sick kid! This is the funny part though...I asked he what didn't feel good and she said "well, I'm not so hot" (as she's feeling her forehead), "but I just kinda feel not so smart". I started laughing and asked her what that meant to which she couldn't answer. As it turned out Lily was just fine!

Back to School and Sports!

Tuesday was the first day back to school and this week has flown by! It is amazing how quiet the house gets when you are down to one kid! But...quiet is not always a good thing. Jalen has discovered hide and seek and he's a very good hider, but he won't answer when you call (he's no dummy!) and there have been a couple times I literally can't find him. Either he's really good or I suck at hide and seek, but every time I get a small panic attack. Even though all the doors are locked and chained I imagine him crawling through a window and running down to the street. This last time he had torn the plastic child proof doorknobs off, gone into the garage and was hiding in my car. Like I said...he's good at this game! So yes quiet, but still very busy! The girls love school, love their teachers and their class and are making new friends as well as reconnecting with the old. They are both playing soccer and Ellie is playing fall softball which was supposed to be low key (no practices and a double header on Sunday's for 6 weeks is what I was told). Somehow that turned into 2 practices a week for 2 hours each. So between the girls and all their practices and games we have one day off...Thursday. It gets a little crazy but better busy than bored! And other than waking up early I am loving being back in a routine. Now it just needs to get darker earlier so we can all get in pj's at 6:00 and feel good about covering up with a blanket on the couch!

Up to the ears in sand!

One last beach getaway...

In attempt to get away for our last weekend before school starts we headed to Pacific City with Papa Jack, Jordan and Jake. It was supposed to rain both days and while it poured here in Portland we got lucky and had some great beach weather! We went to the beach both days and did the usual...climb the hill, build some sand castles and run from the waves. We actually talked Ellie and Lily into letting Jake bury them in the sand which was hilarious as they got sand dumped in their face, ears and hair...but they were such good sports! Jalen decided he liked stomping on the sand castles more than building them, whether they were ours or not which made for some little kids in tears when they found what had happened! We managed to have a couple meals at the Pelican Pub which is always fun cause the kids can play in the sand while we eat. It was great to spend time with Papa and cousins...we don't get to as often as we would like but when we do it is always a special time!