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Dane on astronomy

Dane, "Hey, I can see the big dipper!"

Madeleine, "Where?"

Dane, with as much disdain as he can muster, "In the sky, duh!"

Snow Day!

So Monday brought the first snow day of the year. We just had a light dusting, but the roads were icy enough for them to delay school by 2 hours. The kids were hoping for the whole day off of course, but no such luck. By afternoon it had warmed up and the rain came back. Although I wasn't a fan of that crazy cold weather we were having, I'm now missing the sun. As I write it is gray and gloomy with a light drizzle...typical Washington for you.

Hey baby, it's cold outside!

Brrr! It has been unusually cold for these parts. The other morning I woke up and my thermometer said 10 degrees! 10? Really? Wow! Despite the frigid weather, we have managed to keep ourselves very busy. Dane has started private trumpet lessons with the director of music at Tacoma Community College and is doing very well. He still plays with the Stahl Junior High band as well. He is also continuing with piano along with Madeleine. They are both amazing at piano! I guess they get it from Brent, as I have no musical talent what so ever! ;) Madeleine is also going strong with her guitar lessons. They are both becoming very talented musicians!

We have made it to a few shows lately. We saw Little Women at Kentridge High with my niece. Next we took in a live performance of Guys and Dolls at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. Then we enjoyed a classical concert performed by the Tacoma Community College orchestra, directed by Dane's trumpet teacher. To round it all out, we went to a Jazz concert last night featuring saxophone, and of course, trumpet!

Madeleine is taking Lyrical and Jazz in dance and is working hard toward her upcoming recital. She is not thrilled with her jazz costume, but her lyrical one is very pretty. We weren't able to get enough tickets for everyone to come to the recital, so we will have a DVD for those who want to see it.

We are hoping to get up to the snow over winter break. The kids are both wanting to try their hand at snowboarding, so we have been looking into lessons. We are undecided as to which mountain we want to go with however. There are a lot of pros and cons for each. So we're working on that.

That's it for now. ~ Try to stay warm out there!

Peace

I love this picture...I love how peaceful it is...just looking out in wonder at the vast ocean...you can almost hear the sound of the crashing waves...feel the wind in your hair...Oh how I'd love to be there right now...just to have that moment in peace...

Riding in Cars with Dogs

Fu Fu's new favorite thing is riding in the car to pick up the kids from school. He gets so excited when we pull into the school parking lot. I usually roll down the window so he can look out and watch for them. The other day when it was pouring down rain I had to keep the windows up, for obvious reasons. He was so upset! He kept scratching the window like he does on the backdoor when he wants to go out. It was really comical to watch. He even had parents in other cars laughing at him. What a nut!

Turning Point

Today marked a new phase in the saga of The Puppy and The Big Fat Cat. Chester for the first time ever was playing with Fu Fu! I am so happy that Chester is finally warming up to him. Hopefully in time they will become good friends. For now we are making baby steps. :)

I'm On My Own

~ For Celeste ~ ;)

Bananas

Dane, while eating a banana at breakfast this morning. ~ "Thank you banana tree for such a delicious breakfast."

Flashcards

Madeleine doing her homework last night ~ "Parents are like flashcards. They always have the answers." :)

Nap time

The Puppy and the Big Fat Cat

Poor little Fu Fu wants desperately to be friends with Chester. Chester, on the other hand, finds Fu Fu to be a pest and really has no use for him at all. Chester will allow him within about a foot of himself, but no closer. It's quite comical to watch little Fu Fu approach Chester, very timidly, then plop down a foot away and lay his head between his paws and look up with his big, brown puppy eyes as if to say "Why don't you love me?" only to have Chester turn away with as much snobbish attitude as a high school "mean girl". Cats...you gotta love um!

Museum of Glass

A couple weekends ago we spent the day down at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma. We got to watch some glass workers in the hot shop create goblets for an upcoming auction, which was pretty fascinating. There was also a great exhibit running by Preston Singletary. His work is inspired by Native American tribal art. It was amazing how he was able to make the forms from glass and so closely resemble the original art.

The sun was out too so we enjoyed some time outside and walked along the marina. There were some gorgeous boats and we imagined what fun it would be to live on a boat. The freedom of being able to go wherever you heart and the sea could take you...then I realized I'd probably miss my garden too much. :)

Dane-ism

Dane, getting ready for bed tonight ~ "Man, I could really use another week-end."
I second that motion! ;)

The Beach

Since summer is officially over, according to the calendar anyway, I thought I would reminisce with some beach pictures from our vacation last month.

Madeleine is 10 today!

My little ballerina ~ age 5

My "little baby girl" is growing up. It's hard to believe both my kids are in the double digits now. Where has the time gone? I still remember Madeleine as the pudgy little baby who wanted to be held constantly, the funny dinosaur noises she made as a toddler, how she used to pretend she was a kitty for days, weeks on end, the 'angry' faces she made when she wasn't happy...all these memories are so dear to my heart. And now as she steps into this new, more grown up phase of her life, I am excited and sad at the same time... and as I write this I can't fight back the tears. Excited to see her turn into a young woman, and sad for leaving behind the little girl part of her life, but to me she will always be my "little baby girl". :)

San Diego Wild Animal Park

It was our first visit to the Wild Animal Park. Like The San Diego Zoo, there is so much to see it's nearly impossible to do it all in one day. There was a huge array of different animals small and large. The most impressive to me were the lions. Yes, those are real! A picture fails to grasp the majesty of these animals. It is truly awe inspiring the amount of power, as well as grace, that they possess. They are truly a magnificent creation.

Bank Error in Your Favor

Last night we were playing Monopoly, one of my all time favorite games, when I got the 'Bank error in your favor, collect $200' card. This card was especially ironic since I recently experienced a bank error that was definitely NOT in my favor. I got to wondering; "Has anyone actually ever had a bank error in real life that was in their favor???" Oh, if only things in real life worked as they did in Monopoly...wouldn't it be grand if all that paper money was real, banks really did make errors in our favor, and the tax man only took 10%!

Not so Lazy Sunday

Today Brent and Bob took the kids fishing so it was just me, the puppy, and the two cats at home. It's amazing how quiet the house is and how much you can get done when no one is around. I took advantage of it and got caught up on some much needed yard work. I also had a nice harvest from the garden this morning; cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and two large zucchinis which I was able to get 3 loafs of zucchini bread out of. Well it's starting to cool off so I'm off to mow the lawn. :)

Touch and Go

While in San Diego I experienced my first run in with the Cali Law. We were heading out for the day and we had made it approx 2 blocks when I see flashing lights behind me. I pull over and obtain my ID, car rental documents, and proof of insurance. The officer approaches my window, and as the ditsy blonde I am I say "What did I do?" as sincerely as possible, honestly having no idea what the infraction was. He proceeds to tell me how I had ran a stop sign. I really did not see a stop sign at all, but apparently there was one there. This is the funny part...I apologise and he lets me off with a warning and then says "You didn't even touch and go." He said it so matter-of-factly as if the "touch and go" is a completely acceptable practice. I found this quite amusing. Gotta love the 'California Stop'!

My new puppy!

We went over to Bob and Mary's the other night for an innocent night of pizza and fun, and low and behold, we ended up with a new puppy! Their neighbors were out walking their pekingese with pups in tow, and I completely fell in love and had to have one. Our little guy is 12wks old and is already potty and crate trained! He is the smartest little dog I ever seen and is so well behaved. Ginger has already excepted him, but Chester is a little slower to warm up. I know it will take some time for Chester to want to share his territory. The puppy's full registered AKC name is 'Grand Master Fu Ni Nan Shan', which roughly translates to 'Grand Master Fu, mythical lion of the south hill'. We call him Fu Fu for short (pronounced 'foo foo'). :)

Disneyland!

Disneyland was a blast, as always. This year was fun because the kids were tall enough to ride everything. Last time we went, about 5 years ago, there were several rides we couldn't do. Tower of Terror and the big roller coaster at California Adventure were two such rides. This time around, those were two of the kids' favorites! We of course got tons of pics with characters. Above are just a few. Scroll down to my slide show to see more! :)

Sea World

We absolutely loved Sea World! We got a pass that allowed us to go as many times as we wanted for 5 days...we went every night! They had this great new show with Shamu after dark which involved a light show too. It was amazing. We sat in the "soak zone" of course. The picture above is actually us watching the dolphin show. They get you really wet too amazingly. Dane was being "brave" without a poncho. That really didn't last long, as he got completely soaked. So the next time around he was all for the poncho. :)

They also have a great roller coaster there called "Atlantis". It's a water coaster and it's tons of fun. We probably went on it about 20 times, no joke. The line moved pretty fast after dark because people were afraid of getting wet and being cold, but for us Washingtonians it felt like home. :)

We are home!

We got back yesterday. Cali was so great! I have so much to tell, but it will have to wait because I have a ton to do today. Will update soon. Love to all!

Ms broken arm :(

Dane's new iPod

He saved up and bought this with his own money. He was very proud of himself...since he isn't much of a saver. :)

Stereotypes

Brent and I always joke that stereotypes are there for a reason. No matter how hard I try I always seem to fit that ditsy blonde mold. I'm always forgetting something, loosing my keys, etc. It's a running joke that when I leave the house I will have to come back at least once for something I left behind. So I found it quite cute today when the kids' piano teacher owned up to a particular stereotype she struggles with. She had parked in the driveway and when Brent returned home he parked down on the street off to the side of her, leaving plenty of room for her to back out. After the lesson we had said goodbye and a few moments later she returned to the door and said "I am Asian, and I am a woman, so you might want to move your van." It pleased me so much to know I'm not the only one living up to my stereotype. :)

District Convention

It was such an amazing district convention! So much good information, and I really appreciated how modern and in-sync with day to day life it was. It sometimes seems easy to detach because the bible characters and events can seem so "far away" from our own life, but I really felt a connection at this convention. It felt like the brothers were trying to help us personalise more with our ancient brothers and sisters. I loved the way they did the drama. It was so true to what so many of us are going through right now. I never really thought much about the older brother in the account of the prodigal son. I couldn't help but cry. It really hit home for my own issues and issues in my family. I feel so refocused!

It was also really encouraging to see so many friends that I have lost contact with. It really boosts you up when you see these ones still plugging away, or in some cases, getting a fresh start. Everyone I spoke with was able to gleam so much from the program. What a wonderful gift from Jehovah!

Mini Vaca

We took a short trip over to Winthrop this past weekend. It was so gorgeous. I love that drive over the North Cascades Highway...really one of the prettiest drives in WA.

Ice princess

Madeleine passed her ice-skating test and moved up to the next level!

J & J's dance recital

We went to J & J's dance recital today. It was really good! Couldn't get any pics of the actual performance...too dark.



Me and Brent being silly.

Baby Xachey

Madeleine's crayon "art" photo at Red Robin. I like that you can see the word "steak fries"

Another shot of Madeleine's. It's cool because you can see the neon sign in the background.

Me and Brent being un-silly.

Baby V looking like she's about to fall asleep in Brent's arms.

Baby V after she woke up at RR.

My Colorado Trip

Lost luggage, Meeting clothes?, Razors?, Stockings?, Getting "lost", Useless GPS, "Recalculating", Memorial, Tears, Reception, Video of Gus Cruz's life, Tears, Good friends, Family gathering at Cruz's ranch, Karaoke, Dancing, Making a fool of myself, Coconut Cream Pie shakes, Big Slide, Laughing, Funny pictures, Laughing, Long talks till late at night, Silent baby, Non-visible Bridge, Giant Southwest Breakfast, Thunder storms, Horses, Cold, Long nap, Airport, Waiting, Waiting, Waiting, Running, Barely making flight, Home, Sleep.

Only 3 days left of school!

Just not that hip

In light of my failed twitter experience...remember failure is vital to building character...I have been contemplating modern technology. Here's where I stand;

I really do not have a longing desire to know what random things people are doing 24/7. So you are walking your dog, washing your hair, baking a cake, mowing your lawn...who cares? I guess I miss the days when updates on life were reserved for dinner parties and Sunday afternoon picnics. With everyone so informed on everyone else, what is there left to talk about? Maybe I was born in the wrong era? I do enjoy the silence of the cell phone turned off on Sunday evening...gasp, I know. Yes, I do turn my phone off once in awhile. So to all you nay sayers of my reluctance to embrace the new, the now; I'm sorry, but I will stick with my good old fashioned blogging. :)

In memory of

Heading to Colorado this morning for Gus Cruz's memorial service.

Quote

Great quote I heard on NPR this morning... don't remember the professor's name;

"Failure is a vital aspect in building character."

So I must have lots of character. LOL :)

None of my peeps tweet

Opened up a twitter, which I have decided is pretty lame. None of my friends tweet and all I got was a bunch of twitter spam from weirdos. Sorry, I just don't see what all the hype is about. :/

Piano Lessons

Dane and Madeleine have started piano lessons on Wednesday afternoons. They have had 2 lessons so far and it's amazing the improvement in just that time! I found a teacher who will come to our home too. She doesn't normally do that, but she lives just a couple of minutes down the road from us, so made an exception. She is a great teacher...very patient. Dane really wants to play guitar, but we have a "deal" and he is starting with piano. :)

Field trip to the WSU wetland research center

Welcome home!

My big siss, brother-in-law, and niece moved back to Washington from Indiana and arrived today. I am sooo happy they are back. Indiana was just too far!

Dinner and a Movie

We went to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner last night...corned beef and cabbage...yummy! After we went to see "UP". I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was...Mary had said it got 4 stars, and it really deserved them. It was such a fresh story line and was truly hysterical. I was laughing to the point of tears on several occasions. There is one part with a dog...I won't ruin it, but when you see it you'll know what I'm talking about....hilarious! Definitely a must see even if you don't have kids. :)

And the award goes to...

Madeleine won an Academic Achievement Award for creative writing and was presented with a certificate at the school assembly today. There were only three students who won this award. She was also asked to read one of her original works of poetry. She was very nervous because it was in front of the whole school, but she did an amazing job. We are very proud of her!

This picture is with her teacher Mrs. Wilner.






Reading her poem.

Fun at the park

Strike a pose

Dane ~ hilarious.