Happy Valentine's Day

I got to go help out in Emma's Kindergarten class during her Valentine's Day party. It was so sweet (literally) and fun!

Is 5 years old too young for an iPod?

We were driving to school today and heard "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on the radio, and Emma really liked the song so I mentioned to her that I had it on my iPod (note: yes, I am a child of the 80's - what can I say, it motivates me when I'm on the treadmill!) and she wanted to listen to it. She ended up listening to it all the way to school (including a quick stop at the grocery store for Valentine's treats). It is the quietest she has EVER been in the car.

Anyway, I'm thinking once I upgrade to a new 'pod she just might get my old one. Besides, it's her favorite color: PINK!

You know your folks are becoming old fogies when...

...they dress in matching outfits! (And they SWEAR they didn't even realize it until I pointed it out.) Oh brother!

Emma's amazing tower

Emma built an amazing tower this weekend at Papa & Granny's house! It is really a feat of engineering. We expect to see it on the History Channel's "Modern Marvels" very soon!

Looking forward to a new day

If you've been reading my Facebook page these past couple of weeks, you might have noticed there's been a lot going on in our lives. In addition to all the usual hubbub, we also had to deal with the tragedy of a little girl from our church being killed in an auto accident, Jeff having surgery (today!) for the hernia he endured pushing the car out of a snow drift in December, my grandpa in Denver having a stroke, layoffs at my office, and the boys transitioning to a new semester at middle school...to name just a few things that have thrown us for a loop. To put it in a nutshell, I think it's safe to say I've been a little depressed! But I have also learned a lot about friendship, and love, and loyalty this week. So all is not lost.

Tonight I looked out the window and noticed the most amazing sunset over the water. I grabbed my camera and hurried out onto the deck. The picture above doesn't really do it justice - it was a gorgeous view. And I got to thinking, as the sun sets on another hectic day, that I'm looking forward to tomorrow being a new day, full of new hope, and new possibilities, and - with any luck - new smiles, too.

Trying to understand yesterday's tragedy

Yesterday, a family we know lost their precious 7-year-old daughter in a tragic car accident north of Bellingham. Because I work for the church they attend, I was among the first to get word of the accident very early yesterday, and was able to watch events as they unfolded throughout the day. At first, we didn't know many details; then more and more information came out and the scope of the tragedy really hit home. There were many prayers, and many sad faces, around our office all day. But as the afternoon progressed, something else quite wonderful started to happen...people called in wanting to help. They had heard the news on the radio, in the local paper, and over the internet. Some knew the family well, or had known them in the past, or didn't really know them at all. But all wanted to help in whatever way they could.

Our church is pretty big. It is one of the largest (if not THE largest) in Whatcom County. It is easy for people to characterize big churches as uncaring, or a place where people don't connect, or where things are run more like a business than like a church. And yes, there may sometimes be truth to all of that. But yesterday, our church of 3000+ became a church of few. It became a place where people reached out to a family in need; where people cried and prayed together, and where every heart was touched in some way by this family's tragedy.

As a mom, I cannot begin to understand how a family could endure the loss of a child. I hope I never have to find out. And I know it's too early to look for any good or meaning in all of this sadness. But if, in a time when many in our nation and our community are reeling from the economic crisis, we have all spent the past 24 hours pondering our priorities, hugging our kids a little tighter, and realizing what is really REALLY important in life, then maybe something positive really can come from that horrible, horrible day.

Emma at the dentist

Today Emma went to the dentist. The kids have a pretty cool dentist - they have flatscreen TV's embedded in the ceiling and the kids can watch a movie while they're getting their teeth worked on. I wish MY dentist was this high tech!

Emma makes breakfast

Emma made herself some PB&J (+ banana) waffles for breakfast this morning. She was so proud. (Of course, daddy helped her just a little.)

Skiing at Mt. Baker

Today the boys and I joined our Boy Scout Troop for a day of skiing at Mt. Baker - it was a gorgeous day up there, nice and sunny, and not too cold. We had a great time!

Doing a good deed

Tonight the boys and I headed over to Western Washington University to help pack medical supplies for AIDS caregivers in Africa. It was a great experience, and nice to know that somehow we are helping people far away who are suffering from the AIDS pandemic.

Picnic in January

It was so sunny and beautiful today that we decided to brave the cold weather and head down to the park for a picnic after church! We picked up some fried chicken at Fred Meyer, stopped at the house for some snacks (and the dog), and headed off to Bloedel Donovan Park on Lake Whatcom. It wasn't even very cold there once we were out in the sun - and it was totally worth it to spend a couple of hours getting some much-needed Vitamin D (and a little family fun, too).

Emma's sticker shenanigans

Daddy bought Emma a whole bucket of foam stickers the other day, and she decided she would decorate the wall behind our bed with them! (I guess this is what I get for putting off finding some artwork for that wall.) The funny thing is, if she gets mad at one of us then she goes and rips the stickers off our side of the bed to show her disapproval! Jeff finally talked to her about not doing that...we'll see!

Christmas in January

Not to be outdone by Emma's school, Bailey's school had their holiday make-up concert tonight. Bailey plays trombone in the 6th grade band. Unfortunately I could not get a picture of him because he was sitting in the back, and he's a little camera-shy at school events. Suffice it to say, though, that the concert was great and we really enjoyed it. Bailey's a great trombone player, and hopes to go to Trombone Camp this summer!

Nolan's incredible accomplishment

Today Nolan came home with a brand new t-shirt to celebrate his amazing accomplishment: he is one of the few, the proud, the sub 7-minute runners at his school. That means he can run a mile in less than 7 minutes! As someone who can barely run a 12-minute mile, I'm impressed. Aren't you?!

(Sorry, Nolan, I blurred out the name of your school just in case any weirdos are reading this blog!)

Christmas isn't over yet

Due to the massive amounts of snow in December, Emma's school Christmas program was postponed until today. We started with a Christmas party in her classroom, followed by the entire school (and family) filling up the gymnasium for a holiday sing-a-long. It was actually kind of fun getting back into the spirit of the Christmas season!

Emma enjoys treats at her desk.

Emma and her Kindergarten teacher.

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The "nerve center" of the Kindergarten classroom, where the students begin each day learning about the days of the week, the weather, the time, the seasons, etc. You can barely see it in this picture, but they also have a photo of a soldier who is overseas, and they pray for him regularly. I think that's pretty neat!

Yes, we are still alive

You have probably all been hearing about our big floods up here. For incredible pictures check out the Bellingham Herald website. Luckily, we live on a big hill so we are far from most of the damage, but we are still affected because school has been cancelled the last 2 days. I think even the kids are tired of snow/flood days!

Meet Olivia, the pink monkey

Emma went to Build-A-Bear Workshop and got herself a cute new monkey named Olivia. She's been Emma's constant companion ever since. Meanwhile, every time I go to BABW and see all the money they rake in on bear stuff I say to myself..."Gee, I wish I would have thought of this!"

Look Grandma, you're on the internet!

On New Year's Day we went and visited my Grandma in Bellevue - she's in her 90's and looking so good! She loves seeing the kids, and they love hearing her talk about all the pictures on her wall. Yes, she's got pictures of every kid, grandkid, great-grandkid, and I yes she's even got some great-great-grandkids - and she knows them all by name and exactly how many of each she has. (I should have written it down because the numbers are most impressive. Yes, we have a large family!)

I'm dreaming of a...White Christmas

Actually, I'm not even dreaming of it anymore. It is a reality here at our house. In fact, we got another 3" of snow overnight - wow! I've always wanted a white Christmas and, well, here it is. But even more exciting than the snow was just the great day we had. We stayed home all day while the kids played with their presents, and the grandmas came over in the afternoon to celebrate with us.

Wow, how did Santa get all that down our chimney?!

This year, Nolan played Santa and passed out the gifts.
(Looks like he was hiding just one more present to sneak
under the tree!)

Emma got a Barbie doll...and a Barbie jet to go with it.

Bailey got a remote control helicopter; but it ended up not

working so we'll have to go exchange it. Bummer.

Henry got something too: a stuffed penguin to gnaw on!

Yep, Nolan got that guitar he'd been wanting!

Emma could hardly wait to play with her new "Ponyville."

As soon as we were done opening presents, Bailey sat

down for a drum solo on the new Rock Band game.

Nolan is such a good brother - he actually put Emma's

Barbie jet together for her. Awwwwww.

While the kids played, Jeff and I made breakfast. We had a yummy

ham & egg casserole, Jeff's famous "cheesy browns", and of course...

...freshly baked cinnamon rolls!

A Snowy Christmas Eve

This is probably going to come as a huge shock, but it's SNOWING again! We got about another 6-8" of the white stuff at our house today. The weird thing is it was raining just down the hill from us, but snowing at our house. Amazing what a different a couple hundred feet make! This afternoon we went to church (which is where the pics below were taken) and then grabbed Grandma JoAn and headed out for our special Christmas Eve tradition: Mexican food at Cinco de Mayo!

When we got home we let the kids open one present: a new "Rock Band" game for the Wii. If you're not familiar with the game, it's kind of like karaoke on steroids. We've been having a lot of fun with it!