Happy birthday Bud!

Happy birthday little brother!

Hope you have a great day!

PS - Right now I could only find pics from 2001 - at my wedding. I know I have more somewhere...I'll keep looking.

Painting with Gramma

Painting with Gramma
Originally uploaded by smiles2have

Carus and Gramma Jerye painting with water color paint. Gramma gave Carus all sorts of tips on how to do certain things with the brushes, mixing paints, not using too much water but still using enough, fading, shadowing, etc.

Carus is putting all that info to work and she is painting pictures like crazy. Gramma wanted to teach some oil painting, but didn't have the time. I'm not sure if Carus is quite ready for that. Someday...

Painting with Gramma
Originally uploaded by smiles2have

This picture went home with Gramma. I'm hoping to get Carus to make another similar for me to have...we'll see. Right now her teacher is getting some pictures. I love the mountains. They are New Mexico mountains, Oregon's are blue or green from a distance.

Gramma Jerye came for a visit

Gramma came up for a little visit and to teach me to can.

I've never canned before and was intimidated by it. It really wasn't that hard.

I canned my spaghetti sauce, and was going to send some jars back with her for the boys, but forgot. I was also going to send Bud's b-day card, but guess what I just spotted on my desk. . .

Gramma arrived last Tuesday when I was in the middle of fighting 'the plague' that I caught from Carus. I really hope you don't catch it Gramma! It started Sunday night with Carus and I had it by Monday night. Adam didn't get hit until Saturday night and Robert has yet to get it. It was a brutal, awful, horrible flu and I thought I would never feel better again, but I can be melodramatic like that.

By Thursday I was well enough to make up the spaghetti sauce to can, with gramma's help, and then help her can sliced apple. That was more of a supervisory process for me.

Saturday we visited a pumpkin patch and went to a football game. Sunday was supposed to be a trip to the zoo, but Adam was sick so we ended up being lazy all day. It was nice.

Yesterday Gramma made dinner and hung out with the kids while I worked. She and Carus put together a puzzle and painted.

Gramma left early this morning to head home. She left me with clean dishes, an empty dishwasher, very limited dirty clothes, and boxes of books to go through. Gramma always takes over my laundry room when she comes and I don't mind. She enjoys doing laundry and I enjoy the break. She said she enjoys laundry because she has done it the hard way. As a child she would boil the clothes clean, wring them out by hand, and hang them to dry - washers and dryers are a good thing. And every time I don't want to do laundry, I remind myself of it could be harder. It doesn't make me like it more, but it does help me get through it easier.

Hopefully the time between visits won't be too long and she is able to come back in the spring.

We love you and miss you already Gramma!

Pumpkin patch

Pumpkin Patch 2009
Originally uploaded by smiles2have

Saturday we visited a local pumpkin patch. It was gorgeous! Bright, sunny, warm. Perfect day.

They had the usual pumpkin patch amenities of course. And they had a pumpkin canon, trebuchet, and slingshot. The canon and trebuchet were not in use while we were there. I think it was because there wasn't enough 'staff' to run it.

The slingshots were available for $2 for 3 small pumpkins. We each got a turn and it was fun.



The target was an old run-down car way out in the field, which we did not hit. None of us even came close to hitting. But it was fun to try!

Pumpkin patch 2009
Originally uploaded by smiles2have

We had yet to find 'our' pumpkin patch to return to each year and we have visited several different ones in the area. I think this one (Plumper pumpkin patch) has made the top of our list. It wasn't too busy even though it was such a nice day and the last weekend before Halloween, it had all sorts of things to do, and the pumpkins were decent price. I think we might actually return to it next year. I would actually like to go a little earlier as well to get to see the fields of sunflowers that were mostly dead this visit.

Plus, who wouldn't love another shot at the car in the field.

Game #7 - 10-/24/2009

We won!

We played the Beaverton Beavers and it was a great game.

We'd get ahead and then they would score a touchdown or two. Then we would score again. It was like that the whole game - completely back and forth type of game, very exciting.

It was cold, and our butts were freezing to the bleachers until our friend David went home and brought back blankets for us to sit on. Thank you David!

I kept getting up to go stand closer to the field for better pictures. I need another, bigger lens for my new camera. I also need to learn how to shoot at night, after dark most of my pictures came out blurry because there wasn't enough light for the sports setting, and the boys are moving when using the automatic setting (which turns on the flash).

Adam ended up pulling himself out of the game in the 4th quarter because he was getting sick and was starting to have trouble breathing. By the time the game was over and we got home, he had a fever and was feeling really crummy.

Rules of Youth Football

Some of the rules of our youth football leagues - and maybe most youth football leagues, I dunno - make sense.

Like the rule that every player gets to play in at least 10 plays each game. That makes sense to me because there are a lot of players that are new to the entire game and/or new to playing football. It allows them to get valuable experience and discover talents they didn't know they had. Or for those players that aren't new, they get practice. The best way to learn is by pratice - to get out there and do.

And it allows them to have fun. It isn't fun if you just stand on the sidelines letting everyone else play. If you are excited about how your team is doing, you want to get on that field and play too. Right? Right.

We've seen some improvements in Adam's additude from football, he seems happier and healthier than he ever has. He seems more outgoing - which is surprising there is more outgoing for him. His teacher has noticed a difference too.

I would love it if we won every game, but thats not how things work. I still have fun watching and chearing and taking pictures. I still have fun swearing at the couches for wasting the clock when they shouldn't or repeating a play 10 times that didn't work the first. And bitching that the refs don't always make a good call. And the administrations of the organization - well some of them just suck ass and need to quit, they aren't doing anything but giving all the parents someone to bitch about; BTW I'm talking about one particular administrator who decided to post on Facebook that the parents are stupid. Also note: I only swear/bitch/complain to friends and family, I'm not bugging the admin with complaints.

But there are some rules that just do not make sense.

We have won one game. One game of the six we've played. The boys have had fun at every game. I have had fun at every game, so I'm not complaining about the 5-1 ranking. But we've won one game and it was a great game. We were kicking butt! Everyone was extremely pumped up, especially the boys. To see their excitement over their success was a better thing than watching them win. If they were that excited about losing I would rather watch them lose.

During halftime of that game the couch informed the boys that if they scored one more touchdown and put them 35 points (5 touchdowns) AHEAD of the opposing team, they would automatically forfeit the game. Its like saying, "Okay, you're doing great, but you gotta suck now."

WTF!?!?!??!? In my opinion, that is some MAJOR BULLSHIT!

I have always tried to teach my kids that while it is natural to want to win, to be the best, that having fun and doing your best is the goal. Why are they teaching our kids that they can't just be a better team sometimes? That they are just better players that day? All just because we don't want to really hurt their feelings? I think they should give our 9, 10, 11, and 12-year-old boys more credit than that.

That winning game was 10/10/2009, game before last. This last game, 10/17/2009, we were losing. They had 4 touchdowns and we had 0 - and then we scored. While it was a great play, the boys played very well, and it felt good to score, I didn't appreciate it as much as I had in previous weeks. It was tainted. It felt like they let our team score so they wouldn't have to forfeit. I wonder if it felt like that to the boys?

I hope not.

Now Robert and I, after finding this out, are torn between hoping Adam wants to play again next year to hoping he doesn't.

Monday. . .

From Saturday's game. Adam is on the field - #61 if you can make out the number - crouched down, second one from the left of the picture. They didn't win. Last week's practices were small with a lot of kids out sick - and the ones that were there were practicing in low 40 degree weather and pouring down rain, fall storms. It cleared up just in time for the game Saturday and stayed dry until it was over.



Yoda loves his catepillar.



Lookie what I got today. Robert got me an early Christmas present 'cause he loves me and spoils me. The battery is charging, the maiden photo is coming soon (hopefully by tomorrow).




Carus stayed home sick today and Timmy was helping keep her warm - or she was keeping him warm, being the little heating pad she is with her high fevers. She ALWAYS gets a really high fever when sick. And I mean high. In the 104s and 105s EASY. Today its highest was 104.8, and it has been holding steady around 101 with medication. After the first few ER visits when she was an infant we learned to deal with it - medicate and bundle up to sweat that fever out.



I have a cute picture - somewhere - of Carus with her first cold at 2 months, 105 degree temp, sleeping on a sleeping daddy because she would only sleep while being held. I got to find all of their baby pictures...

Adam had the cold first, I was getting it last week but successfully held it off by leaving work early sick and taking a nap. However, Robert and I are both now sniffling and coughing - and the cough is felt in our chests...not a good sign

Gramma Jerye will be here tomorrow evening - hopefully I can get everyone better by then.

I'm off to take drink some more Emergen-C. The stuff works, but YUCK!

PS. If you want to see a bigger picture of any of these photos (or others on here) just click on them.

Football Game #5

We won!

We kicked butt! We got our first touchdown in the first 15 seconds of the game. It was great. The boys were so excited!

It was great when that kid (#12) got back to the sidelines - he got 10 times more than what he got in the endzone. He was surrounded and getting patted on the back, helmet, and shaken with enthusium from his teammates. The only reason why he didn't fall over was because he was surrounded.

A friend, Tara, came and took pictures with her new Nikon D40 so I have 1,109 pictures to go through. All these pictures in this post were taken by her or at least her camera, a few might be my shots. She let me play with it for a bit - I'm in love!! It completely renewed my desire for the camera, if only I could get them to go on sale. I need it to be about 70% off...or maybe even 100%.

Our cheerleaders do pushups for every point we have after each touchdown. The poor girls might be rethinking that idea since after each touchdown, they start at 1 and go to the score (like 1 to 18; 1 to 36, etc)

There's Adam, #61, just before the snap. He's on defense. Second picture he is blocking #57. In this play, they threw a pass and our #3 intercepted. #3 has gotten some great interceptions for us. This was one of them.

There's #3 at the bottom of that pile. And then #3 getting surrounded by his teammates.

Okay, one last picture...okay two. One of Adam blocking and one of the final score.

I have many, many, many really good photos, but too many to put here. I've talked Robert into letting me get a pro Flickr account, so I'll be able to post a lot of them on there. So many you will be tired of seeing football pictures. And think, we have three more games left this season.

Why didn't I think of it sooner?

Why didn't I think of it sooner?

Goodwill for books - for cheap. I got all these books for $20.




See that Stephen King book? It was $5. Actually $4.99. $5 for a book marked $28.00. Beautiful savings. This will be the first Stephen King book that I've read. Don't know why I haven't read of his books yet, just haven't...

It appears to have all its pages - they all do. And they look in AMAZING condition!

Cold Mountain - This has been on my to read list for like ever

Confessions of a Shopaholic - The movie is on my to watch list & there is a book? Really? Gotta read the book.

Marley and Me - Saw this in Powell's the other night for $19.99 - I paid $4 ($3.99)

The Boleyn Inheritance - One of my favorite books and the only book I bought that I've read.

Now to find more excuses to go to Goodwill and bring home a book or two at a time. Sshhh, don't tell Robert!

Football update

We have had some amazingly nice weather for the football games. It is starting to get cold, but no rain. Nice and sunny but completely clear.

We still haven't won a game (of 4 games) but we've come really close twice. The kids seem to be having a lot of fun though, so that is good. And no major injuries! We've had a few with the wind knocked out of them, or a bit of a twisted ankle, but within a few minutes they have recovered and are getting back out onto the field.

I'm enjoying watching football, watching Adam play, and would like it if he wanted to do it again next year - but I think he is still up in the air about whether or not he wants to.

Carus has said she wants to play - and the league does allow girls (there is a 3 girls in the 5/6 level with 1 on Adam's team). I'm not sure if she will really want to when it comes down to it, but if she does then she can try.

Sense of humor

Recently Robert got a new TV because he felt the big screen that we got like 2 months ago that took three people to get it up the stairs and in the house was too big for our living room - and it kinda was - but the new TV needed a stand to sit on so we start looking for a stand.

We went to four Goodwills and got other goodies, but no stand.

We went to furniture stores and just couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much money for pressboard with vinyl stickers.

So we checked out Craigslist and we looked and looked and couldn't seem to find anything that we both liked in our price range. Then getting desparate we found a $20 stand that we could cut and paint and it would sorta work the way we want. So we emailed them:

Us:

Do you still have it? How tall is it from the floor where the tv goes?

Would you take $19.58 for it?

Them:

we do still have and the TV is about 18"-24" off the ground. If the $19.58 is a serious offer we would accept it, but honestly can't figure out why $0.42 would make a difference.

Call _______ if you want to come and get it.

It is so nice to see others that get our sense of humor.

The next day, before we got their reply email, we did find the perfect stand via Craigslist. It was a teensy bit more than we wanted to pay, and Robert wasn't able to haggle them down, but I really really love it.

Now the rest of our furniture looks like crap!

Also, I now have a big screen TV parked in my dining room for sale - any takers?

Friday Funny

My kids crack me up. Carus thought up this pose on her own. She is always saying, mom look! Take a picture!

Sounding out

Don't recognize a word while reading? Sound it out.

I tell the kids that all the time and while 99% of the time I can get away with that and they will be able to get the word, there are a few exceptions to the rule.

Via Adam:

Trebuchet said tre-but-chit

Arkansas said Are-kansas

And he still says Are-kansas! Most of the time on purpose to get a laugh, but every now and then, a complete slip.

And not from Adam, but love it still. It is how I prefer to pronounce it.

Jalapeno said ja-lop-a-no

Am I old yet?

Carus has made some new friends that are a year or two older than her and don't actually live near us, but have walked down just to hang out with her. I think she actually knows them from school - Carus will make friends with anyone with no concern for age, sex, color, nationality, etc. and they are her best friend for ever. She has hundreds of best friends.

Anyways, the new friends are in the garage with her playing with Barbies and when I noticed they were there I went out to say hi and was met with . . .

Girl 1: "Are you Carus's mom?"

Me: "Yes"

Girl 2: "Wow, you look young!"

Me: "Thank you"

Carus: "Yeah, she's 27."

Girl 2: "You ARE young!"

Me - just smile 'cause what am I supposed to say, I've said thank you. . .

Girl 1: "My mom is almost 30!" (said in that can-you-believe-it-it-is-the-most-unimaginable-thing-EVA tone of voice)

Yeah, so I guess I don't have to worry about my age yet.

Book signing with Diana Gabaldon

I got to go to Diana Galbaldon's book reading and signing last night at Powell's Books in Beaverton!

This is just before the event started. I was in the second to last row - and I got there an hour and 15 minutes before the event started. Someone said some people were waiting for three hours.

They handed out tickets to those that were sticking around for the book signing (about 150ish people left when she was done talking). She was signing as many copies of Echo in the Bone as you brought or bought ($30 there) and up to three of the first six books.

She didn't read from the book, which secretly I'm glad about. I'm about 200 pages into Breath of Snow and Ashes and I got enough spoilers last night while sitting in the audience waiting my turn. Huh, not much of a secret now! The ladies I was talking with were very nice and were so nice about not giving things away since they knew how far I was in the series, but then we had to move up so the store employees could start the clean up and we ended up sitting near a discussion about the ending of Breath of Snow and Ashes and the beginning of Echo in the Bone. Its all good though, I'm very easy going and don't let spoilers spoil things for me. I'd rather not know, but knowing won't hurt my enjoyment. I can watch a movie for the 10th time and still have the same reaction as I did the first time - same with reading books.

Anyways, Diana sounded so hoarse and I thought it was because she had an event earlier in the day in Salem, but another fan said that is how she sounds all the time (and her reference was interviews via YouTube). Diana talked about how she got started writing these books and how she came up with the ideas, and told a few jokes.

"If I can keep a group of 200 students awake at 7 in the morning, than I can keep a group of 200 awake at 7 at night - and they want to be here." - Kinda paraphrasing there - didn't record it.

She talked for about 30 minutes and then took questions. Of course the very first question was when/if there was going to be a movie. Apparently there has been a couple attempts that haven't been greatly succesful, but right now she said they are looking for a director and that the script writing is in the hands of the same guy that did the script for Braveheart and Pearl Harbor. *Please oh please oh please be a good movie!*

About the scottish ghost Frank saw watching Claire in Outlander - Diana said she will explain that, wrap it up nicely, but it will be the last thing in the last book, which she is working on right now (at least I think it is the last book - it might just be the next in the series).

Did you know that she finished writing Echo 6 weeks before it was released? And it went to the publishers 4 weeks before being released. Only 4 weeks to print millions of copies and get them to stores, and preordered, and .... Crazy quick, huh.

Oh, and there is a graphic novel in the works - I believe that is scheduled to come out fall 2010 - and it is currently being drawn. It is Outlander from the view of Murtaugh and Jamie.

And check out this link for 'interactive' guides to clothing of the 18th century (helps with visualizing the characters I think) and this link for other links.

So after questions and answers - about 20 minutes - it was time for book signing.

They allowed handicapped or those with strollers to get their books signed first. I should've borrowed one and kept it covered (sleeping baby) HA! Then they called numbers - 10 at a time and she signed books and took pictures. One of the employees of Powell's was extremely kind and took camera after camera and made sure she got a good picture with each and every camera.

Finally it was my turn.



I think I look like a goober - but that's what you get when sitting around for three hours waiting for a book to be signed. It was really fun. I'm glad I got to go. She is really tiny, funny, and was very nice.

But, I still wish April and Gramps (who got me started on her books) could have come with me.

Thank you guys! I am really loving her books. They are going on my Christmas list - well except for Echo in the Bone, I have that one :)

Race for the Cure 2009

Sorry this took so long getting up. I was waiting for a copy of Barbara's pictures.

The kids had spent the night out at Gramma's house so we met at the max station to ride downtown to waterfront together. We got there after our 'race' started, about 10 minutes after it started, but it was all good. We had time to walk around a few booths, pick up a couple pieces of loot, and then start walking and we were by no means anywhere near the end of the line.

Carus was cranky, but after we got walking a bit and some minor threats from me she was starting to cheer up. . . .Then we saw Chewbacca. We saw him last year and the kids hoped to see him again this year. He was accompanied by a Storm Trooper, Bobofett, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Princess Leia. Those guys were great about stopping and taking a TON of pictures and I'm sure it took them three times longer than anyone else to actually finish the walk.

After crossing the finish line, we wondered around for a bit, got to pet a Linx cat that was sitting on someone's shoulder, and got some bread that is made without flour and is so good that it is almost - almost - worth $5 for a small loaf.

After the race we rode the max back to our cars and then went for lunch at Shari's. Several other participants had the same idea and we recognized a lot of shirts. We recognized one guy from the race, but thought he was bald and had painted a pink ribbon on the back of his head - nope, that was his hair shaved in the shape of a ribbon and dyed pink. Adam and Carus thought that was so cool and asked me if I could take a picture of it since they were too shy to ask themselves. They want to get Robert to do it next year. And Adam wants to build an R2D2 to walk with us next year too.

I hope to get to see the end of the need for this fundraiser in my lifetime - or maybe Adam and Carus will be that lucky.