The holidays are here.

I am so excited that the holidays are here. I love the feelings they bring. Everyone slows down, we spend more time together, not in a car traveling to soccer practice or cheer practice. It is cold outside so we light the fire and hang out. I say this while I look out my office window at the snow on the ground and realize I sent my daughter to the bus stop and it was 16 degrees. And the crazy thing is Garret has recess today, but only if it is above 0 degrees, including the wind chill. I have learned so much about weather just by being on the East coast and in the Midwest, usually it is that weather.com usually isn't right, so I should just look out the window to see what is happening.

Thanksgiving was nice, it was just the 4 of us, and we hung out all day, watched the parade and football. Ate some good turkey, it was a good time.

And now we have decorated for Christmas, I love it when it is all done, it is just the doing that gets overwhelming. I am looking forward to Christmas as well. This is the first time in 4 years that it will just be the 4 of us. The last few years we have either traveled to the West coast, or had family come this way, we will definately miss being with the extended family this year, but I am looking forward to sleeping in, if the kids will let us and not having to travel anywhere. And I am hoping the snow we have will stay and we will finally have a white Christmas.

Here is a picture of Garret this morning, this was how he had to be dressed, I sort of felt like the Mom from A Christmas Story, but he can put his arms down. LOL

Halloween

I totally forgot to post about Halloween, it was a fun Friday night. Payton was Little Dead Riding Hood. She desperately wanted the cape with the hood and figured she would come up with something to go along with it. Our neighbor said she looked like little Red Riding Hood, and then said, "Hey, why not be Little Dead Riding Hood", ah the imagination of an 11 year old. So, I put her hair in braids, got some white face make up along with some black eyeliner, black eye shadow and black lipstick, and voila, Little Dead Riding Hood. Now she didn't trick or treat much, she was going to a sleep over later that night, so she went to a few houses and then went back home to hand out candy. Now Garret was all into getting the candy, seeing how many houses he could hit before we went home. He was Dr. Doom. After about 10 houses, the mask came off, he was getting too sweaty. I told him next year, no masks, this was the second year that I got to carry part of his costume. Next year he can be a hobo. Oh wait, that wasn't politically correct, he can be one of the job challenged. He didn't even know what a hobo was. Next year I am all about the face paint, but no clowns, never ever in this house. By the time we got home, it was dark, and we had to recycle some of the candy that our kids woulnd't eat so we had enough to give out to the last few kids that came by. I felt bad, but there was nothing wrong with it, and I would rather not have it in the house, less for me to eat. As it is, I got all the candy that had coconut in it, yum, how can they not like coconut? And then we sent Payton off to her sleepover, Garret played a few video games and Mike and I watched some shows we had taped, or DVRed. It was a good night.

Cheer is over, sort of.

The last competition for the 2008 season was yesterday. And the girls tied for first place. I am so proud of them, they worked so hard. Payton was fantastic, she had tight arms, great facials and was an amazing flyer and backspot. Watching her cheer is so much fun for me. She has such a great time and is so loud. The girls cheered their hearts out and it showed at competition. We still have the pep rally and some play off games to cheer at, but the bulk of the season is over. I will say, not having practice 3 times a week, and cheering at games everyweekend will be nice for awhile, but in a few months, I will start missing it. But it was definately nice to go out on top. Next year we will move on to bigger stunts, faster dances, it is going to be fun.

Soccer and Football season

Soccer and football for the fall are over. It is a good feeling and a sad feeling. Garret really loved playing both, and I am sure he is going to miss playing. This was his first year playing soccer, and he had a great time. His team progressed so far from the first game to the last, there were teams that were easy to play against, and teams that really made them work. I am so proud of him. He will play soccer again in the spring. Football was also fun for him as well, it was fun watching the games. I think the kids learned alot. There weren't many passing plays, but their running game was amazing. Garret even got to hand the football off a few times. We have asked what he wants to play next year, tackle football or soccer and depending on the day his answer changes. Oh he is his Mother's son.

My garden

This summer a neighbor gave me a flat of bell peppers and some green bean seeds, so I decided, hey why not grow some other veggies. I have to say this has been one of the most interesting things I have done in a long time. Now that might sound silly, and you think my life must be boring, but wow, to put the plants into the ground, and watch them grow and flourish, so amazing. The tomatoes are just starting to turn red, I was very concerned because they were big and green for so long, I thought I must be doing something wrong, but now, here they are, red and really good. The cucumbers are doing ok, they were doing better before, but I don't think I have been watering them enough, it has been pretty hot, and we haven't had much rain, but still they are pretty good. And the green beans, amazing, they are actually sweet, the kids love eating them better than the ones from the grocery store. I just wish I could figure out how to make them last all year round. So, I guess my next big adventure is going to be learning how to can the veggies for the winter, hmm, maybe next year. Oh, and the bell peppers are doing pretty good as well, but I don't think we will have as many plants maybe one or two instead of the 11 we have now. Oh and I we are going to do some fruit next year, already have the space set, just need to level it (Mike's job). So, strawberries, cantalope and watermelon, here we come.

Summer is coming to an end

The summer is ending, part of me is happy, part of me is sad. I watched both Payton and Garret progress in swimming, Payton has now passed shark, and unless she starts private lessons, the next level for her is Jr. Lifeguards and she can't do that until she turns 12, so we have one more summer for her to be a shark to practice. Garret is a minnow, and did pretty well, he said the water was too cold, and didn't want to jump in, tried to explain it to him, but there is no reasoning with a 6 year old. I did watch some of the kids who were learing how to dive, it was so funny, there were some that were great, and some that were just putting their hands up like they were going to dive and jumping in, it was actually pretty cute. I am going to miss seeing the kids wake up on their own, coming out of their rooms all bleary eyed, hair all messed up, now it will be get up, lets go, school is going to start, lets get moving. A first grader and a fifth grader, they are growing way to fast for me. I wish I could keep them small.

Well ok then

Ok, so I started then petered out, sigh. Anyway, summer has come and is on the way out. The kids spent it in the pool with swim lessons, and playing with their friends. I was lucky enough to go to Flagstaff for 5 days to attend quilt camp with my Mom in law, it was a blast. I learned so much after a rocky start with some curves. I will post pictures when I finish the projects that I made. Garret played t-ball again, and had a blast, Mike coached him, and I think he had fun. So Cheer has started again, and soccer starts at the end of the month. I think I need to trade in my car for a mini van again.

Just starting out.

Wow, so here I am finally in the blogging world. This is going to be interesting.

So, this is a picture of the kids and I at the Christmas festival at Navy Pier. We had a blast, that was after we found Garret again.

Ok, so the mental block has set in, and I will have to post more later. This is a rough start.