The Seven C's: October 2011

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Oversize Load

My dad was in town this last Friday and Saturday and snapped this very flattering picture of me with his phone. Not only is it evidence of my state of pregnant belly, but it also says a lot about the state of my life. I feel sometimes like I have an OVERSIZE LOAD with all of the responsibilities of motherhood, church callings, being a wife, decorating jobs, pregnancy, etc. My Blog, which is also my method of record keeping for our family, has been a victim of my perceived oversize load. The more time passes, the more daunting the task of catching up seems. One thing I have learned is that time passes too quickly, kids grow up way too fast, and it's important to savor and treasure the details of life. I am re-dedicating myself to keeping a family record and am starting with the most recent events and working my way back to my blogpost announcing our new baby back on June 10th. So far, I've posted to mid- August and I'm feeling good about my momentum.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Seattle--thanks for the memories

Just before school started we decided to take a last minute getaway to Seattle. After all, the Mariners were playing the Blue Jays and this would be our chance to see the Mariners (who we love) but also Jose Bautista from the Blue Jays (who the boys think is an awesome player).We got there early and watched batting practice with our mitts, hoping to catch one of the balls. We stayed late after the game in anticipation of maybe getting to score a signature from one of the players--dreaming of the Bautista autograph. No luck.
But, we sure had a great time all the same.
That night, after the game we spent the night in a hotel just outside of Seattle in one of the more mellow, family friendly hotel areas. We headed back in the next morning and explored the waterfront where the kids rode the carousel.

We went to the Pike Place Fish Market and couldn't resist getting a picture of Carter in front of this big sign.
We walked along the pier checking out the little shops and seafood shacks.
We saw all kinds of big jelly fish in the water below. It was really cool.
We decided to make our way into the city shopping area where the kids were anxious to do a little back-to-school shopping. Chase was especially anxious to get the new Nike shoes he had been waiting all summer to be released. He, Larry, Caleb, and Chloe were in Nike town getting those, while I took Corbin and Carter over to American Eagle across the street. After a couple of minutes, I get a call from Larry saying, "You won't believe who is here in Nike? Jose Bautista! Tell Carter and Corbin." I immediately text Carter in his dressing room to tell him. On another trip to a Mariners game earlier that summer, the boys met a fake Ichiro in the Mariners gift shop and got a pic with him. Carter immediately texts back, "If this is some fake Bautista, I'm going to be so ticked." Carter, Corbin, and I quickly made our way back to Nike where Larry and the kids were downstairs. I asked, "Did you talk to him?" Chase said, "No. Dad says to just leave him alone. He's upstairs I think." Well, I wasn't about to let this opportunity for the boys pass by. It's not easy for a pregnant 39 yr. old with 5 kids to trek over to Seattle, sit through hours of baseball, walk all around town, sleep in a hotel bed, with the possible thrill of my kids getting to meet one of their sports idols, and pass it up. So, I marched my pregnant butt upstairs and told him what big fans my kids were of his and how much it would mean if he would be willing to sign their ticket stubs (which I conveniently still had in my wallet). He was very gracious and kind, signed the stubs, and even stood in a picture with the crew.
Thanks, Jose. You were the icing on the cake for the boys and for Larry because he's bigger than you.

Celebrate good times!

Corbin turned 11 at the end of August and that kicked off a little birthday season for our family.He had a party with his cousins at the local waterpark. They had a blast swimming, playing water basketball, and trying to master the obstacle ropes course.
Here is Corbin giving it his best shot. He did make it across--several times.
We also had a good time at our favorite local pizza restaurant where he excitedly opened presents--mainly football gear that was black and gold.
Just a few days later it was Larry's day. He is just 30 years older than Corbin. I surprised him by lining up our niece Kelli to babysit while the 2 of us went on a little get away to Portland. We stayed at a really fun, funky hotel called Northrup Station Inn. It was located in the Nob Hill section where there were lots of fun restaurants within walking distance, and good shops. One day we spent the morning exploring the Pittock Mansion. It was incredible. At night we rode the trolley downtown and enjoyed dinner and a movie. It was awesome spending time alone together.
On our drive home, I was reading the Food Network magazine which had an article profiling the best pizza for each state. I was sure Washington's would be in Seattle, but it was actually from a little town just outside of Oregon on the Columbia River and we were going to be driving right by. We called ahead and picked one up on our way through. It was DELISH! It had bing cherries on it which Larry thought sounded kind of weird and he turned out to love.
Shortly after returning home, the second part of Larry's birthday began. He went on a hunting trip with my brothers, Dave and Jim, and cousin Blake. They went to the Frank Church Wilderness area in Idaho where Larry was able to try out his new-to-him 4 wheeler and new gun. He also had some sweet new camo clothing to wear. Although camo isn't my first choice for menswear, he does look pretty darn handsome and manly. Let's just keep that our little secret because I'm not really super fond of hunting.
He had a lot of fun with the guys and admiring all of the state-of-the-art hunting gear they possessed. Jim even shot a big elk!
Here is the debonair 41 year old modeling his new company shirts with his handsome sons. I think by his 42nd birthday he won't be the tallest in the picture any more.
Chloe was third in the birthday line-up, celebrating her 4th birthday early in September. Here, she gets a birthday manicure courtesy of her big brother Carter. I think this is just so dang cute.
The following day the makeover continued as I took her to the Tri-cities for a fancy hair-do at the Monkey Dooz salon. She was thrilled with the pink car and tv and loved the finishing touch of glitter hairspray.
We then went shopping where she picked out a Hello Kitty t-shirt, black glitter ballet skirt, and silver glitter shoes. We had a dream lunch at her favorite restaurant, the Target snackbar--seriously. There's nothing that compares to a pretzel with cheese sauce and a slushee for her. Lastly, it was on to Toys R Us where she finally found the bike of her dreams--white and pink with kitties all over it.
Happy Birthday, everyone! I sure do love each one of you and enjoy celebrating how special you are.

School Starts

Caleb was awarded student of the month the first month of school. He is starting third grade with a bang. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Ziegler. He was also excited to find out he tested into the gifted program after going through a series of tough tests. Way to go, Caleb.Not only has Chloe started her first year of pre-school, but she has also started ballet lessons. She absolutely LOVES both.
Here are the boys on their first day of school. Corbin is a 6th grader in his first year of middle school. His favorite class is called Exploratory where he gets to use creative learning techniques to study a variety of subjects. Caleb is a third grader. His favorite subjects in school are computers and Hi-Cap. Carter is a Junior, and is really enjoying his Chemistry class where my cousin, Dr. Carlson, is his teacher and does all kinds of cool presentations. Chase is a Freshman, and especially likes his art class. He has aspirations of being a shoe designer for Nike one day, and thrives on any chance he gets to be creative and artistic.
Here is a picture of Chloe on her first day of pre-school. She goes to Apple Country Preschool where her teacher is Mrs. Katie. She has met a group of new friends and loves the things she is learning. I frequently hear her playing with her little ponies or dolls and all of their names are the names of kids from school. She has already gone on two fieldtrips! One to an apple orchard where she learned all about apples and the correct way to pick them. Then, to a pumpkin patch, where she got to pick a "big daddy" pumpkin and a "little baby" pumpkin.

Homecoming 2011

Looking for a guaranteed way to embarrass your teenager? You'd think dressing in these nerd costumes for Homecoming Spirit week would be embarrassing enough. Not so.
I wasn't looking for one, but I sure managed to do it. Carter asked a cute, sweet girl named Katie (great name-eh?) to Homecoming. In our town it is a casual dance where dates get matching shirts. Anyhow, he was triple dating with two other couples, one guy, who happened to be the only licensed driver, was taking a girl from a neighboring town. At the last minute, they all realized that they weren't going to be able to pick up dates and make it to the golf course in time if Zach was going to drive to pick up his date. Carter was nearing the last 2 weeks of his driver's permit requirement, but didn't officially have his license.So, I couldn't in good conscience let him drive himself and other teens without a license. Therefore, every teenage kid's worst nightmare--his mom had to drive him and his friend Jackson to pick up their dates. Actually, it was pretty embarrassing for me, too. I just tried to be invisble--not super easy at 6 1/2 months pregnant. Once they met at the golf course, they were all able to ride together for the rest of the date. One positive of being the chauffeur, I was able to get a picture of the kids at the golf course.

The Homecoming Football game the night before was awesome and Carter, as well as his cousin Kent, were featured in the paper for their good work. They beat rival school, Wahluke, 57-12.

Here is the dance picture of Katie and Carter in their matching Jimmer tshirts. Both are big fans of Jimmer. They went golfing, ate dinner at the golf course restaurant, spent some time at the dance, then went and watched a movie outdoors at a pond and had hot chocolate, popcorn and candy. Carter said it was a really fun date and can almost laugh at the way it started.

Making Cider

Last weekend our friends invited us over to make apple cider at their home with apples harvested from their orchard. It was a lot of fun. Here, Larry fills a jug with cider from the pastuerizer.
The ladies sort through, and wash the Granny Smiths, Fujis, and Honey Crisps for the cider press.
Larry monitors the juice as it comes out of the press.
Caleb and his friend J.C. sample the cider. MMMM. Delish.
The kids also had a blast being chauffered around the orchards in the Gator by Riley.
Chloe and some other little friends pull leaves off the apples before throwing them into the wash bin.
Carter and Chase work hard filling the cloths with the ground up apples preparing them to be juiced.
Larry and I have done this with his family as newlyweds, but it was really cool getting the opportunity to experience it with our kids. We have been enjoying the delicious homemade cider every day since. It was a beautiful day spent with great people, lots of yummy food, and fun work.