Christmas Day

The Spaceship (don't ask us about putting it together)
The Christmas Nap

In the new Christmas pj's

I am not great about taking pictures. To be honest, I suck. Jeff is much better at it than I am but he doesn't take a lot of indoor pictures. Here are a few from Christmas. When I say a few, I really mean a few.

I told you so

See post below about Bryce for any questions. Here is Bryce in his underwear helping make pretzels.

Bryce

Speechless. That is what this little beast... I meant angel, makes me. Speechless. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry. He makes me doubt the decision to become a parent because he is difficult to parent. He tests me and NEEDS me all the time. He sticks to me like glue and wants to play with me all the time. I love him to pieces. I even love him in the middle of the night when he wants to sleep in my bed. I love him when he has said "mom" for the 50th time in 20 miles (not kidding - I counted). I love him when he wants to help in the kitchen and help with laundry or help feeding the dogs. He is actually helpful quite often but we all know the help of a child makes whatever task you are doing last three times as long. Oh well, I try to take a deep breath and smile and enjoy the time with him. Sometimes I do a really good job and sometimes I fail... miserably. As I have been trying to write this he is standing next to me playing his Leapster. And, by "right next" I mean he has to be touching me. When I type my arm bumps his arm and he gives me the stink eye because I ruined his game. This is how close we are. He is so different than Cayden who could play for hours by himself. Cayden had such an independent imagination. Bryce needs someone to interact with him ALL THE TIME. It is tiring and I try to think about it in a positive light. I try and I try and sometimes I have patience (can you see the halo above my head?) and sometimes I have been known to tell my own child to stop talking to me. I know, I know. It is awful. But, c'mon people, if you were in a car with him for hours and he says, "Mom what if" a million times you would be tempted to turn up the music a little louder and a little louder and toss pretzels in the backseat. Not that I have ever done that :)

I have no idea what his future will hold. I do know that he watches every move I make and I will be his role model. I hear my words and my tone come out of his mouth and I think "great" or "uh oh". And, just so you know, just because he loves me like crazy does not mean he always listens to me. Just this morning he colored on the table with crayons while he was writing his Christmas thank you notes. What kind of paradox is that? Then, I send him to his room and before he goes he wants me to hug him. He walks slowly down the hall to his bedroom while telling me that I am "mean". I cannot make this stuff up. How many hours until bedtime?

Here I am again

After being gently reminded by my mom that my blog had not been updated in awhile I decided to get back on here. But, to be honest, I got carried away looking at the updates on my friends' blogs and alas, no updates for me when I sat down to do it. Currently I am sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by Christmas decorations that need to be boxed up. Bryce is sitting VERY CLOSE to me as well chattering with me nonstop. I guess this is why I don't blog like I should... there is always something else (or someone else) that needs my attention. I guess it is also like when you have a friend or relative that you don't call because you are waiting for the "perfect time" (when there is total quiet and the laundry is done and the house is sparkling - so never). It gets to be that there is never the "perfect time" but it gets to be so long that you don't pick up the phone at all. Am I the only one who has that happen? To make a long story... well... longer... that is what happened with this blog. It was never the perfect time to sit and write and the longer I stayed away the easier it was to avoid.

I do think about my blog and I think about what I can write. Most of the time I think about it in the car or while I'm teaching or sitting at Jeff's basketball games. Now that I am sitting I don't remember all the great things I was supposed to blog about. I didn't stop to write down the cute things Bryce says or the awesome accomplishments of Cayden or how piano lessons brought me to tears but I am sticking with it. I didn't write down that Jeff bought a new (used) truck one day while he stayed home with Bryce when Bryce was sick. I didn't write about how thankful we were to have Jeff's parents here at Thanksgiving or about so many other things. Where do I start? What do I leave out? I have never really suffered from Writer's Block (maybe because I'm not a "writer" ha ha) so this is new for me. I'm not sure if I can do this today at all but I will try.

Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to the pumpkin patch with the Smith family. My mom couldn't make it this year (she is still recuperating from her zip lining broken foot). The Corn Maze was a Star Wars theme this year and that was AWESOME for everyone. Our only snag was figuring out that the Death Star only had one way in with the same way out. We went in that circle a couple of times before looking at the map.


Palmer and Bryce by Darth Vader


Cayden and Bryce with their pumpkins

All 4 boys with their loot

They had "still enough" for a picture with their mom!

No training wheels? Whaaaat?

I haven't blogged in ages but we definetely felt like this was blogworthy. Bryce is now riding without training wheels. He is now 3 1/2 and I feel like that is pretty good for no training wheels. Cayden also rode without training wheels by this point but I wasn't sure Bryce was going to do it. He just isn't a pleaser like Cayden is. What he lacks in the "desire to please" he makes up in stubborn independence. Good for him.

Treehouse Day 2

At the Treesort one of the activities you can participate in is zip-lining. Cayden, my mom, and I decided to take the "plunge" and sign up for a beginners course. My mom is sort of on this bucket list check list. She is signing up for every activity she can. For those of you who know what happened maybe we should have sat this one out.

Here we are with our gear on.

Here is Cayden getting directions from the instructor.

The first zip. It started way up in the trees and ended nice and close to the ground. I don't think I was breathing the whole way down.

Fortunately, we all had a great time. Unfortunately, my mom's experience led to ankle/foot surgery. She was enjoying "flying" through the trees so much that she forgot to put on the breaks therefore using the bottom of her foot to stop at the next platform. She finished zip lining and was a trooper through the rest of the vacation. Her ankle was swollen and she slept in the car on Day 2 so that she wouldn't have to do the stairs. I bet she doesn't have any regrets though...

Cayden and I liked it well enough. At the end of the beginner route they ask if you want to sign up for the next level. Both of us were shaking our head "no thank you".

Treehouse Trip Day 1

This summer we had some great vacation experiences. I love teaching and I love it even more because of the 3 months I get to spend with my family doing AWESOME things. In Oregon there is a Treehouse resort (known as the Treesort). We made reservations the November before and finally in August we got to go! My mom travelled with us to Southern Oregon and here is where we stayed for two nights.

The Serendipitree

Many of the treehouses were accessible by bridges like this!

Me on the bridge. Can you tell I'm shaking. The boys were so intrigued by my fright they thought it was fun to shake the bridge.

Bryce and Cayden. NO FEAR.

Stay tuned for Day 2!

Spring Piano Recital

Tonight I enjoyed the musical abilities of some talented young'ins. We had guitar, voice, and piano students at my house for the Spring Recital. They were all amazing. It was bittersweet for Cayden and me because our piano teacher (Miss Robin) will be letting us go as piano students. And, no, it is not because I'm THAT hard to work with. Robin is a vocalist and guitar player by trade. She enjoys doing beginning piano and believes that Cayden is ready to jump into bigger and more advanced piano'ing. So, we are on for a search for a new piano teacher. Thank you to Robin! You are amazing.

Honors Reader

Cayden accomplished something GREAT today. He earned an Honors Reader Award at school. Here is how this works- At the beginning of the year kids are given reading goals. There are levels i.e. beginning, advanced, classic, and the very last level that is possible is Honors. Usually, to move from one level to the next requires reading three books worth a certain amount of points and within a reading level. For the Honors Reader he had to read 27 books. Yes, 27. There was categories of books and the books had to reach a total of 100 points. In the end Cayden's books were worth 160 points. Here is the complete list of books that he has read since February (and some of them are really amazing reads):

Who Were the Beatles?
Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?
Who Was Amelia Earhart?
Island of the Blue Dolphin
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
Little House on the Prairie
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It
Bad News for Outlaws: Bass Reeves
One Crazy Summer
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez
Who Was Albert Einstein?
Mummies in the Morning
Simon Bloom: Gravity Keeper
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story
Sit in: How Four Friends Sat Down to Stand Up
Baseball Saved Us
How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse
How to Twist a Dragon's Tale
A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Hank the Cow Dog
Hank the Cow Dog - Slim's Goodbye
The Boy at War

We are so proud of him!

P.S. Cayden's teacher has only ever had one other student complete this reading level while in the 2nd Grade. Wahoo Cayden.

The Egg Hunt

We were pleased to be invited to the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's house. She has a beautiful property which is made for hunting for Easter eggs. The day was beautiful and the boys SCORED big. I was pretty lucky to have them pause long enough for me to catch a couple of pictures. I'm still not sure why Bryce wanted his Hawaiin shirt but hey, what says Easter more than palm trees and surfboards?

We miss her

I have been meaning to post about our loss for awhile now. Aspen, our dog of 14 years, died on January 30th. We had to put her to sleep as she was suffering from a liver tumor. Jeff picked out Aspen when she was just 8 weeks old. She was Jeff's before Jeff and I ever knew one another. She was a naughty puppy who chewed on EVERYTHING and got into everything that she didn't chew. She could be grumpy and sweet. When we first got Columbia Aspen growled at him constantly. Eventually they became the best of friends. When we had Cayden Aspen was quiet and well-behaved. At the end we were sad to see her suffer and knew it was time. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye. Here are a few pictures of her in her "prime" out on a hike with Jeff and Cayden.

Sunshine?! Really?

It has been a long and cold winter for us. We have been waiting (not very patiently) for a nice day. Today was beautiful and the kids and I went into Redmond to ride bikes on the Canyon trail and then to play on the climbing walls. The sun was warm and there was no wind. The kids loved being outside and I needed the exercise. I got some pretty good pictures with the exception of the vandalism/tagging on one of the rock walls.

Before and

Before

On Friday Cayden was supposed to get two teeth pulled at the dentist.

No Go.

1 shot of Novocaine- check

2nd shot of Novocaine - check

3rd shot of Novocaine - check

Nitrous (laughing gas)- check

Even after all of that Cayden still said he felt it when the dentist would try to yank it so he decided it would be better to refer him to an oral surgeon so Cayden could take a nice nap and then wake up without his two teeth. We will try this again in the summer. Stay tuned for the "AFTER" picture.

Chocolate What? Waffles

In browsing through the internet recently I found out that one can use a cake mix (made according to instructions) and cook it up in the waffle maker. I guess it makes sense with the main ingredients in both products the same. But, I for one, would have never thought to put a cake mix in the waffle maker. However, I don't believe our family will ever be the same. Dessert will never be the same. Who doesn't like warm cake fresh from the oven? Who doesn't like warm cake fresh from the oven with ice cream on it? My family certainly loved this dessert treat. Warm cake-waffles or waffle-cakes with ice cream, whip cream, chocolate syrup and strawberries. My next try will be a lemon cake mix! Yum.

Cayden participated in Parks and Rec basketball for 1st and 2nd graders this Winter. He had a good time learning skills and playing in scrimmages. Here is their last day which was a "Fun Day". Jeff took a picture of the kiddos that were there on that day. These are all 2nd graders and Cayden is the tall one in the middle. Go figure. I, unfortunately, did not get to go because Bryce (aka puke a potamus) was sick that day.

My Sweet Cayden

I had a conversation with a friend recently because I was feeling guilty that Cayden gets less attention in general with Bryce around. Bryce has such a ... demanding, shall we say, personality that everything and everyone seems to get pushed aside. I know it happens and I feel bad for Cayden. He has always been so patient and so understanding and so NON DEMANDING that he ends up waiting and waiting and waiting. He also ends up taking the brunt of my grumpiness. My confession here will hopefully prompt me to think twice about this arrangement. I will make an effort to make sure that he gets more attention, more time, and more gratitude. Here's to loving Cayden the way he deserves.

On another note we recently received a sample of Cayden's writing from school. It makes us laugh and so I thought I would share it with you (misspellings and all). The writing prompt was something about Parties.

"you will want to come to my partys when you lissen to this. The first thing you need is deceraeshshuns (decorations). the deceraeshuns that you will need are bowls, plaets, cups, spoons knighs, and forks. Next you will need food you will need chineas food and for desert you will need ice cream, topings, whip cream, cake and frosting. The last thing you will need is drinks. For grownups you will need beer and wine and for the kids you will need water and milk. Now you know my partys are best."

Also, know that all of his "f's" were backwards! We are a bit embarrassed about the "beer and wine" part but ah well. At least he knows that the kids get water and milk!

Muffin Monday

Our Monday tradition is to have muffins. Can I first admit that I don't always love to make muffins on Sunday night but the kids (and the adults) love having muffins on Monday morning. We obviously make muffins a lot so I have had to branch out from the ordinary blueberry muffins. Plus, I try to make them from scratch. I am really REALLY trying to have less packaged, processed, and artificial food in my house. Partially, because I am trying to have less trash and partially because I want my kids to eat healthier.

Here are some of our favorite muffins from a great recipe book, "Nothin' but Muffins":

Pineapple Muffins (that have sour cream in them)

Spicy peach Muffins

Peanut Butter Muffins

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Let me know if you have some great muffin recipes. I would love to have some new recipes

Rough Week

Long Week

Really Long Week

It seems as though the last week was really a month. Here is a quick breakdown:

Jeff's basketball season ended with a heartbreaking 3 pt loss

Jeff's heart was broken because of the loss - never seen him like that. EVER.

Bryce got sick. We called him puke a potamus if that tells you anything.

Bryce stayed sick. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, WEDNESDAY, and THURSDAY.

Jeff and I were each in our classrooms only 1 day this week because of classes, and sickness, and other classes.

We have been running from activity to activity to activity...

2 Weeks Until SPRING BREAK

Thanks Aunt Chris. No, Really, Thanks.

Have you met my sister? She is the FUN one. She was the fun sister and she is the fun mom and she is also a FUN aunt. She is also a bargain shopper and sometimes the bargains she finds are FUN. For Bryce's bday she sent a giant (and I do mean big) card that plays "The Chicken Dance". Yep, the one, the only, annoying wedding song with a tune that gets stuck in your head for hours at a time. Along with the chicken dance card that Bryce kept opening and closing and opening and closing and .... well, you get my drift she sent these glasses. There were 4 pair which was perfect. We posed for a picture that might be the best family picture we have taken since Halloween. We stuck our tongues out on this one to complete the CRAZY look. What do you think? So thanks again Aunt Chris (for the glasses but the jury is out on the card). We love you.

Happy Valentine's Day

We are unbelievably lucky that they do some super COOL crafts at Bryce's daycare. This one was a Valentine craft and it was out of this world with hearts and flowers and all things pink. I can't even imagine what Vicki's house looked like when the kids got done with this one. And, by the way, Bryce is in these p.j.'s in a ton of the recent blogs but I promise he has others :)

Jeff's Birthday

Jeff turned 38 (or 37 if you ask his mom) on Friday, February, 18th. He had a basketball game that night (and unfortunately didn't win) but he was ready to celebrate on Saturday. His parents were in town and they and the boys put together this very cool "Racetrack" cake. It was very good and had LOTS of sprinkles.

Cayden's 8th Birthday

Cayden and Hogan. Clay was taking a last run down the mountain.


For Cayden's Birthday we decided to move away from the big group pizza fest at the local germ plex. I mean no disrespect as we love contracting whatever contagious germs are there for us but this year we wanted to do something else. I decided to convince Cayden that he wanted to go snowboarding and slowly but surely he agreed. He invited his two bff's Hogan and Clay with him. Jeff was the brave volunteer to take three 8 year olds up to the mountain, get them signed up for lessons, and outfit them with the correct gear. My friend Denise (Clay's mom) also went up to take pictures, video, and help with lunch. I think Jeff gets a gold star for the day-except if you tune in for what I ended up having to do while he was up there :( They all had a good time and I'm hopeful that Cayden and his friends will get to spend many a fun weekend up on the mountain with one another.

Looking cool riding the lift

Even cooler

My name is Carrie and I use too many paper towels.

Now, this blog update could be funny but I'm afraid it won't be. After reading an article in Sunset magazine about a household that throws away as much trash in a year as I do in a day I started being reflective.... about trash. Then I realized that the mom/wife of that household had a blog and I sat down to read.... about trash. Or, the lack of, in their house. I was in awe and totally impressed and a little inspired. I shared the blog address (www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com)

and the article with some friends and we began to talk about what the life of this family might be like. My friends told me that their households had given up paper towels and ziploc bags and I began to think. Uh oh. And I began to observe my family and their paper towel usage. Here is what I noticed: In one morning we used 10 paper towels (4 for picking up dog poop- long story, 3 to cook bacon and 2 for holding bagels and one for under a sandwich) . If that is average (and I'm afraid it might be more than that) than we go through 6 rolls a month and 72 rolls in a year . In my 10 years of married life works out to be 720 rolls of PAPER TOWELS. That is embarrassing. How much space in some landfill have I used? How much money have I wasted? If I figure an average of $2 per roll that is $1440. In case you are losing focus because of my impressive math skills - refocus. Paper Towels here people. I am talking paper towels. I use a wasteful product that could easily be replaced with a normal towel or plate that can be reused over and over and over again. So, after I am done with my Costco sized package of towels (that each come individually wrapped with more trash) I think we will be giving up paper towels. Cayden is on board but don't tell Jeff. He will be the most difficult paper towel convert. I think he is addicted. Step 2 - Ziploc bags. I will let you know on that one.

Here is a quote I found about paper towels: "Today, the United States is the biggest consumer of paper towels, consuming 50 percent more towels than Europe and five times more than the folks in Latin America. I believe it too. After all, I know when I go to the grocery store, an unbelievably large portion of the paper products aisle is devoted to paper towels."

Wow. Go USA.

I love when he says that

Cayden (who hears EVERYTHING) often gets many words wrong. However, we love it!

He says "ordament" instead of ornament

He says "milenican falcon" instead of millenium falcon (Star Wars for all you non-experts)

He says "Calvin and Hobbeeessss" instead of Calvin and Hobbes

He is such a great kid. The other day I realized that I asked him to do about 10 different chores in a row and he never said, "why?" or "how come?". He just did them. I also realized I didn't say thank you. Ugh. Time to be humble and tell him I'm sorry.

Bryce has a hard time with his "L's". The other day I was wearing a pair of leggings (yes, they are back in style) and Bryce came up to me and started feeling my legs. He said, "mommy, what are these?" and I said, "leggings" and he said "what are those weggings?" Ummmm... pants... I guess. He was fascinated by my weggins. He also likes to go swedding. His favorite question is still, "Why?" as in "why is it dark outside?" or "why isn't the sun out?" or "why is it Sunday?"

His big thing when he doesn't want to do something is to tell us that "I am tired of doing that". Oh Brother.

Basketball

Jeff coaches basketball. We all know this. And, to be honest, it is sometimes difficult. Okay, I will be really honest and say that sometimes I really hate it. I resent the hours away from home from November to March (and all the other months). I resent the time rehashing the games and I resent the hours spent providing support to others. But, sometimes, I am supportive and proud and enjoy his dedication. I go to games and I keep dinner out for him and I try to make his schedule a bit easier during season. However, I am afraid that I spend more time being bitter and unsupportive and that makes me ashamed. Sometimes I wish he didn't coach but then I think about being responsible for taking away something that he truly LOVES and is passionate about. I know he would quit if I asked him to but when I search deep in my heart I know that is not the right answer. When it comes down to it I miss my husband. However, I know that he is doing more than coaching basketball - he is mentoring young men in the lessons of the game and in life. He is paying it forward because he had amazing mentors in his life who coached him in basketball (and in life). I am proud of that and hope that he gets the opportunity to play that role for his own kids and I hope that the countless kids who have played for him realize what a sacrifice he has made to be good for them. Good luck this year honey!

For those of you interested in following the team there is a facebook page for Crook County Boys Basketball. And, here is a link for his recent tournaments wins:

http://www.centraloregonian.com/PCOSports0.shtml

Sledding

Can he even see?

Sledding blind?

Looking good!

Oregon is a beautiful place full of lots of activities for us! Today we went sledding a little east of town to help a family friend celebrate his birthday. It is the 4th time so far this winter that we have been to this sledding hill. I think that I got a few great pictures of our little people, and not so little people, today. The weather was good - cold, but sunny.

Some Christmas Gifts

As I said before Cayden got a small dump truck full of legos this year. They included "The Burrow", "Hogwart's Express", "Hogwart's Castle", and the "Apple Tree House". He wanted me to post a picture of all of his creations which took him exactly 4 days to put together. "Hogwart's Castle" was the biggest with almost 2000 pieces. I got a picture of a couple of them before the battery in my phone needed charging. I will have to put some more on here later!

The Day after Christmas

We decided to brave the elements the day after Christmas and go up to Hoodoo for tubing. It was snowing like mad and the roads were awful. I didn't take many pictures because it was so cold and windy and snowy. However,

the kids (and Jeff) braved the chilly temps and went down the hill about a dozen times before taking a lunch

break. Our group included the Crofchecks and Smiths (and a few others). The roads home were worse than going up as it had snowed 4-6 inches while we were there! We made it home safe and I only got these two pictures.

More Christmas

As posted earlier Christmas Day was an exciting day from beginning to end. I recently had Cayden write his thank you notes and we got to re-visit how fortunate he was this holiday season. I received a new camera for Christmas (thanks Dad and Deb) and I am working on making sure that I know how to use it. I still am taking pictures with red-eye but maybe that is just the curse of the blue-eyed!

Calvin and Hobbes - one of Cayden's favorites!

Bryce "cheese"

Good lookin' kid

Dinosaurs from Grandma and Grandpa