There are some special moments in life, especially a mother's, that are worth documenting and sharing. All too often, I share the stories with a few people, but don't actually document them. I'm going to try to do a better job with that here. Documenting the moments in my life that I want to remember years down the road, when I'm old and senial, or when the girls want to hear stories of their childhood, I'll actually have something to share. So, here is the first one, a pretty special moment that happened this morning and about had me in tears.
Lately, as the girls are getting older, they have been arguing a lot more. That's normal for siblings... right? But sometimes, I have to wonder how they actually love each other. From now on, during these moments, I'll have to keep this morning in mind. We're at the bottom of the hill waiting for the bus. It is raining, HARD. The bus comes and the girls get out of the car. Natalie takes her sister's hand with one hand, and with the other, she holds her bag over Alexis's head so she won't get wet with the rain. Then as they (awkwardly) walk to the bus, Natalie helps Alexis up that very high, first step of the bus. I watch in awe as I see Natalie make sure her sister is seated on the bus before she goes and sits down in her own seat. Talk about a GREAT big sister! I love how Natalie takes such care of her little sister when it counts the most. Today made me realize just how much she does care for Alexis, and it's nice to know, I know Natalie will be there for Alexis whenever she needs her... and vice versa!
I have a backload of stories to document, but they'll have to wait until another day. But keep checking back for stories like these.... short, quick, one shot special moments!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Hello, Cyber World!!
Yes, we're still here and kicking. We've just been EXTREMELY busy these past few weeks! I've been trying to get this post out for days actually; it was going to have some photos of our trip to California and a few other misc. pictures, but for some reason, every time I go to upload them, I get an error message after 5 minutes of downloads. So I guess this will just be an update, which is OK too.
During the beginning of August, Peter got a promotion at work! He is now managing two stores; the one here in Mount Vernon, and then one in Wenatchee. So once a month he goes over to Wenatchee for a week. He has also stepped into a training position, to train the new hires. So his work is going very well! He just recently returned from a business trip to Michigan where they were having a solar power conference. He and the owner of the company both went. The owner specifically asked Peter to go with him. I think that he sees Peter as an asset to his company, and that is really cool!
We went to California in the middle of August. We drove down and on the way, we stopped and spent a couple days with my mom and sister and then spent a day with Betsy and then continued on to the hotel where we were staying. We stayed in a town called Solvang. It is a town that is Denmark themed. It was really cool! We had a lot of fun walking around the town the first day we were there, visiting all the little shops. While we were there, we visited an ostrich farm and the girls got to feed the ostriches. They really enjoyed that! They also got to hold an ostrich egg.... let me tell you, those things are HUGE!!! We also went to the beach one of the days and got to play in the ocean for an afternoon. Then it was time to drive back. I tell you driving almost 1500 miles in three days is just exhausting! But we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything in our everyday lives!
When we got back from California, it was get ready for back to school time. Natalie is in the second grade this year. At the end of last year, the second grade teacher that had been at her school for years and years, retired. So we weren't sure who her teacher would be. Being a substitute in the district and friends with many of the teachers at her school, I knew they weren't going to post the position to outside applicants and I knew the possible candidates that they were going to be bringing in for the position. One being the Special Ed teacher whose position got cut out due to budget cuts (they are now sharing a Special Ed teacher with another school....) and who was rumored to have a very short temper and tended to be harsh on the students and whom I knew wouldn't be a popular choice. Another candidate was the teacher that this group of kids had in Kindergarten and had been teaching 5th grade the past year, but wasn't thrilled with that placement. And another teacher who was laid off from another school in the district. So we were a bit nervous who would be Natalie's teacher. Her former Kindergarten teacher ended up getting the position and we were all very happy!
Alexis has started preschool this year! I was, finally, able to find her a preschool that didn't charge an arm and a leg! I looked and looked this summer for a preschool for her, but all I could find were preschools that were also day cares and therefore charged the day care rate per month. I didn't want a day care, I already have that taken care of and love the lady we have been using for the past couple of years. I just needed a simple preschool for Alexis to go to for a couple hours a day during the week for her to become accustomed to going to school everyday! The program that Natalie went through (which I LOVED) that was through the district, is no longer running. I tracked down one of the teachers that worked there and asked if she knew of any programs that were just preschool and not day care. She was able to give me a few options and I was able to sign Alexis up for one of those programs. This was Alexis's first week and she is LOVING it so far!
As for me, I'm going to be subbing again this year. All these budget cuts to the schools are really taking their roll, and it makes it very difficult for the schools to hire out when they're having to lay off a lot of experienced teachers. I'm also still working at the health club a couple nights a week. I keep telling myself that this is worth it and will eventually pay off in the end.... sometimes it's harder to believe that than others. But I WILL prevail!
I was able to get one picture to upload before it wigged out on me. Here is what I got to come home to one night after a long night at work and I was exhausted! Totally made my heart swell with love for my two little, wonderful girlies!
During the beginning of August, Peter got a promotion at work! He is now managing two stores; the one here in Mount Vernon, and then one in Wenatchee. So once a month he goes over to Wenatchee for a week. He has also stepped into a training position, to train the new hires. So his work is going very well! He just recently returned from a business trip to Michigan where they were having a solar power conference. He and the owner of the company both went. The owner specifically asked Peter to go with him. I think that he sees Peter as an asset to his company, and that is really cool!
We went to California in the middle of August. We drove down and on the way, we stopped and spent a couple days with my mom and sister and then spent a day with Betsy and then continued on to the hotel where we were staying. We stayed in a town called Solvang. It is a town that is Denmark themed. It was really cool! We had a lot of fun walking around the town the first day we were there, visiting all the little shops. While we were there, we visited an ostrich farm and the girls got to feed the ostriches. They really enjoyed that! They also got to hold an ostrich egg.... let me tell you, those things are HUGE!!! We also went to the beach one of the days and got to play in the ocean for an afternoon. Then it was time to drive back. I tell you driving almost 1500 miles in three days is just exhausting! But we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything in our everyday lives!
When we got back from California, it was get ready for back to school time. Natalie is in the second grade this year. At the end of last year, the second grade teacher that had been at her school for years and years, retired. So we weren't sure who her teacher would be. Being a substitute in the district and friends with many of the teachers at her school, I knew they weren't going to post the position to outside applicants and I knew the possible candidates that they were going to be bringing in for the position. One being the Special Ed teacher whose position got cut out due to budget cuts (they are now sharing a Special Ed teacher with another school....) and who was rumored to have a very short temper and tended to be harsh on the students and whom I knew wouldn't be a popular choice. Another candidate was the teacher that this group of kids had in Kindergarten and had been teaching 5th grade the past year, but wasn't thrilled with that placement. And another teacher who was laid off from another school in the district. So we were a bit nervous who would be Natalie's teacher. Her former Kindergarten teacher ended up getting the position and we were all very happy!
Alexis has started preschool this year! I was, finally, able to find her a preschool that didn't charge an arm and a leg! I looked and looked this summer for a preschool for her, but all I could find were preschools that were also day cares and therefore charged the day care rate per month. I didn't want a day care, I already have that taken care of and love the lady we have been using for the past couple of years. I just needed a simple preschool for Alexis to go to for a couple hours a day during the week for her to become accustomed to going to school everyday! The program that Natalie went through (which I LOVED) that was through the district, is no longer running. I tracked down one of the teachers that worked there and asked if she knew of any programs that were just preschool and not day care. She was able to give me a few options and I was able to sign Alexis up for one of those programs. This was Alexis's first week and she is LOVING it so far!
As for me, I'm going to be subbing again this year. All these budget cuts to the schools are really taking their roll, and it makes it very difficult for the schools to hire out when they're having to lay off a lot of experienced teachers. I'm also still working at the health club a couple nights a week. I keep telling myself that this is worth it and will eventually pay off in the end.... sometimes it's harder to believe that than others. But I WILL prevail!
I was able to get one picture to upload before it wigged out on me. Here is what I got to come home to one night after a long night at work and I was exhausted! Totally made my heart swell with love for my two little, wonderful girlies!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Natalie's Skating Competition Part 2
I know I said I'd get this up a couple days ago. I tried to get it up yesterday, but our internet wouldn't allow me to upload the pictures. But better late than never, right?
Natalie had her first skating competition on Sunday. On the couple days leading up to the competition she was so excited. Not nervous, not scared like you'd think, but extremely, super excited! I was the nervous one. Isn't she beautiful in her skating outfit?
Natalie got to warm up before each event. Here she is working with her coach, a wonderful lady who is just wonderful with her girls, and a couple of her team mates. We just love Toby (her coach)! She is such a patient, honest, and great teacher.
Natalie during her figures. There are two circles on the floor forming a figure eight. She has to go around those circles on one foot, keeping the line inbetween the wheels on her skate, only pushing for momentum in the middle as she switches feet. It's very difficult to have that much control over her body like that, 
but when she focuses, she's pretty good at it!
Natalie chowing down on a hotdog after her figures and before the awards. It's a great blackmail picture :-).
Natalie getting her medals. Because she's in a younger category, they didn't announce, or give out, first/second/third place medals and every participant got the same medal.
Here she is showing her coach her medal. She didn't know what place she took at this point, but her coach took her over to the score sheets and showed her that she got first place points. Actually, one of the three judges scored her as a second place, but because the other two judges scored her as first place, she 
ended up getting first overall. Talk about an excited little girl!
Natalie showing off her "first place" medal. She was (deservedly) so proud of herself. She worked very hard!
Here is Natalie with another one of her coaches, Miss Caroline. As much as I love Toby, I ADORE Miss Caroline! She truly loves the girls and is always so positive with them. She has all sons and grandsons, so she just eats up the girls. She especially loves Alexis. Every time Alexis comes to one of Natalie's practice sessions, she comes up and gives her a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. As much as she teaches the girls, she's more for the moral support. (Toby's the mean one :-))
Natalie during her foward stroking. There is music playing and she hast to push off with her feet (stroke) on the beat of the music. She won this event hands down because the other two girls in the event kept trying to clap the beat instead of keeping their arms out and skating gracefully.
This is the best shot I could get of her backward stroking. The camera was not working properly (or maybe it was user error) and all the others came out very blurry. This is one of the things Natalie has struggled with in her lessons. She loses speed and then has a hard time keeping on the beat to get back up to speed. She did wonderfully on Sunday! I was so poud that she pursued through that!
Natalie with the team mates that were there for the competition.
They had the world champoin, Jackie Cross, from California come and skate for the participants. Natalie really enjoyed seeing that. "Mom, some day I'm going the beat her!" Natalie said to me after watching Jackie's performance. Such a great goal!!
This is the medal she got for her stroking event. They combined the forward and backward stroking. Again she got first. And again they didn't announce or give special medals for first/second/third place and gave the same medal to all the participants in her level. She skated in the Tiny Tots level because this was her first competition and Toby wanted her to be successful in her first one. Toby says that the goal for the next competition is to skip the Juvinile (the next step up) altogether and move into the Primary level. She thinks that Natalie is that good!
Natalie with both her medals on. They're exacty the same, so we're going to have the event, placing, and competition and year engraved on each one. These are her first medals, and therefore, very special! I want her to remember what/how she did years down the road.
Natalie had her first skating competition on Sunday. On the couple days leading up to the competition she was so excited. Not nervous, not scared like you'd think, but extremely, super excited! I was the nervous one. Isn't she beautiful in her skating outfit?
Natalie got to warm up before each event. Here she is working with her coach, a wonderful lady who is just wonderful with her girls, and a couple of her team mates. We just love Toby (her coach)! She is such a patient, honest, and great teacher.
Natalie during her figures. There are two circles on the floor forming a figure eight. She has to go around those circles on one foot, keeping the line inbetween the wheels on her skate, only pushing for momentum in the middle as she switches feet. It's very difficult to have that much control over her body like that, 
but when she focuses, she's pretty good at it!
Natalie chowing down on a hotdog after her figures and before the awards. It's a great blackmail picture :-).
Natalie getting her medals. Because she's in a younger category, they didn't announce, or give out, first/second/third place medals and every participant got the same medal.
Here she is showing her coach her medal. She didn't know what place she took at this point, but her coach took her over to the score sheets and showed her that she got first place points. Actually, one of the three judges scored her as a second place, but because the other two judges scored her as first place, she 
ended up getting first overall. Talk about an excited little girl!
Natalie showing off her "first place" medal. She was (deservedly) so proud of herself. She worked very hard!
Here is Natalie with another one of her coaches, Miss Caroline. As much as I love Toby, I ADORE Miss Caroline! She truly loves the girls and is always so positive with them. She has all sons and grandsons, so she just eats up the girls. She especially loves Alexis. Every time Alexis comes to one of Natalie's practice sessions, she comes up and gives her a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. As much as she teaches the girls, she's more for the moral support. (Toby's the mean one :-))
Natalie during her foward stroking. There is music playing and she hast to push off with her feet (stroke) on the beat of the music. She won this event hands down because the other two girls in the event kept trying to clap the beat instead of keeping their arms out and skating gracefully.
This is the best shot I could get of her backward stroking. The camera was not working properly (or maybe it was user error) and all the others came out very blurry. This is one of the things Natalie has struggled with in her lessons. She loses speed and then has a hard time keeping on the beat to get back up to speed. She did wonderfully on Sunday! I was so poud that she pursued through that!
Natalie with the team mates that were there for the competition.
They had the world champoin, Jackie Cross, from California come and skate for the participants. Natalie really enjoyed seeing that. "Mom, some day I'm going the beat her!" Natalie said to me after watching Jackie's performance. Such a great goal!!
This is the medal she got for her stroking event. They combined the forward and backward stroking. Again she got first. And again they didn't announce or give special medals for first/second/third place and gave the same medal to all the participants in her level. She skated in the Tiny Tots level because this was her first competition and Toby wanted her to be successful in her first one. Toby says that the goal for the next competition is to skip the Juvinile (the next step up) altogether and move into the Primary level. She thinks that Natalie is that good!
Natalie with both her medals on. They're exacty the same, so we're going to have the event, placing, and competition and year engraved on each one. These are her first medals, and therefore, very special! I want her to remember what/how she did years down the road.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Natalie's Skating Competition Part 1
Natalie doing her figures. There are two connected black circles on the floor and she has to skate around them on one foot, keeping the black line in between the wheels of her skate.
Natalie doing her stroking. Each time she pushes off with her leg (strokes) it has to be on the beat of the music.
This is the forward stroking.
This is the backward stroking. She struggled and struggled with this one keeping up the speed she needed. She still has some work to do, but she did it today and was so proud of herself!
I'll post more tomorrow. Pictures and maybe a video of her getting one of her medals. She had a great day and a wonderful time!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Alexis's 4th Birthday
Alexis turned 4 yesterday. She's out of toddlerhood and into little girlhood now.... Mom is having a hard time coming to terms with that thought.... Anyway, Alexis had a great day yesterday!
I decided I'd try my hand at making her a Mickey Mouse birthday cake. It turned out GREAT! (By amateur terms)
And, more importantly, Alexis LOVED it! After making it, I held it up to hide my mouth and said in a squeaky Mickey Mouse voice, "Happy Birthday, Alexis!" Boy, was that a hit! She told everyone about it. Little did I know the effect that simple act would have! When she told Natalie, Natalie was amazed and totally believed ut, asking questions like "How can a cake talk by itself?" and making comments that the cake must be magic! Alexis kept her going for 5-10 minutes when she finally looked at Natalie and said, "You do know it was Mom talking for the cake, right?" Natalie's face was priceless, because she obviously had believed the cake had talked by itself, but tried to recover by saying, "Oh, yeah, ummm, I knew that!" I was rolling!
I made her favorite dinner, mac and cheese and broccoli, for dinner and Uncle Charley and Aunt Kelsey came up. Alexis got to open a few gifts and then we had the cake. Overall, it was a great day! So far, Alexis's favorite gift was the Zooble from Aunt Lynelle, who lives in Maryland. Sunday, we're having her bowling party with friends! She's excited for that too... although I was just asked if she was going to turn 5 on her party. Explainations are all part of a parents' life! So fun!
Enjoy the pictures!
Alexis checking out her stash of presents
Natalie got her a Tinker Bell coloring/sticker book. Can you tell she loved it?
Aunt Lynelle sent her a Zooble. This picture doesn't do how excited she was about it justice since her sister kept pestering her to take a picture with it.
Her newest favorite movie Tangled.
A new princess skirt from Grandma and Papa.
Modeling the new princess skirt.
Blowing out candles.
I decided I'd try my hand at making her a Mickey Mouse birthday cake. It turned out GREAT! (By amateur terms)
And, more importantly, Alexis LOVED it! After making it, I held it up to hide my mouth and said in a squeaky Mickey Mouse voice, "Happy Birthday, Alexis!" Boy, was that a hit! She told everyone about it. Little did I know the effect that simple act would have! When she told Natalie, Natalie was amazed and totally believed ut, asking questions like "How can a cake talk by itself?" and making comments that the cake must be magic! Alexis kept her going for 5-10 minutes when she finally looked at Natalie and said, "You do know it was Mom talking for the cake, right?" Natalie's face was priceless, because she obviously had believed the cake had talked by itself, but tried to recover by saying, "Oh, yeah, ummm, I knew that!" I was rolling!I made her favorite dinner, mac and cheese and broccoli, for dinner and Uncle Charley and Aunt Kelsey came up. Alexis got to open a few gifts and then we had the cake. Overall, it was a great day! So far, Alexis's favorite gift was the Zooble from Aunt Lynelle, who lives in Maryland. Sunday, we're having her bowling party with friends! She's excited for that too... although I was just asked if she was going to turn 5 on her party. Explainations are all part of a parents' life! So fun!
Enjoy the pictures!
Alexis checking out her stash of presents Natalie got her a Tinker Bell coloring/sticker book. Can you tell she loved it? Aunt Lynelle sent her a Zooble. This picture doesn't do how excited she was about it justice since her sister kept pestering her to take a picture with it. Her newest favorite movie Tangled. A new princess skirt from Grandma and Papa. Modeling the new princess skirt. Blowing out candles. Monday, April 11, 2011
Still no pictures...
...but I am looking! Where could they have gone to????? It's mid April, we had to have downloaded some this year! Oh well! Anyway, I'm just doing a quick post to say HAPPY SPRING!!! The weather here the past few days has been WONDERFUL!!!! Sunny, not too rainy, and warmish! I love Spring!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Quick Post
So I've been accused of not updating recently. Yep, guilty as charged. Sorry about that! I was going to do a full post with pictures, but I can't seem to find them.... I have all the pictures from last year, but I can't seem to find where 2011's pictures are being downloaded....... Once I find them, I'll post some fun ones.
We've been busy, busy, busy! We're looking at houses, and have found a few we thought were OK. There was one that we put in an offer for, but it was rejected. So it's back to hunting again. We're not in a huge hurry, so we're confident the right house will find us eventually!
I just started teaching full time. filling in for a frined of mine who just had a beautiful baby girl! I'll be a music teacher for about a month. I've gpt a week under my belt, and am looking forward to this next month!
Peter and the girls are doing well. Peter has just finished up with his physical therapy for his knee. He's relieved that that is finally over with! Almost as much as I am. Between my two jobs, and his job, trying to schedule his PT appointments in was a juggling act! But he's doing much better and we're actually going running this weekend! It'll be his first pushing the limits on it since his latest surgery, outside of PT.
The girls are, as usual, busy! Natalie is loving school and is still doing her skating lessons weekly! Hopefully soon, she'll be getting into private lessons and a skating dance class as well so she can start to prepare to go into compititions! She absolutely loves skating! Alexis is as silly as every. She is my little clown. There is never a dull moment in this house with her here!
Once I find the pictures, I'll do a picture post...
We've been busy, busy, busy! We're looking at houses, and have found a few we thought were OK. There was one that we put in an offer for, but it was rejected. So it's back to hunting again. We're not in a huge hurry, so we're confident the right house will find us eventually!
I just started teaching full time. filling in for a frined of mine who just had a beautiful baby girl! I'll be a music teacher for about a month. I've gpt a week under my belt, and am looking forward to this next month!
Peter and the girls are doing well. Peter has just finished up with his physical therapy for his knee. He's relieved that that is finally over with! Almost as much as I am. Between my two jobs, and his job, trying to schedule his PT appointments in was a juggling act! But he's doing much better and we're actually going running this weekend! It'll be his first pushing the limits on it since his latest surgery, outside of PT.
The girls are, as usual, busy! Natalie is loving school and is still doing her skating lessons weekly! Hopefully soon, she'll be getting into private lessons and a skating dance class as well so she can start to prepare to go into compititions! She absolutely loves skating! Alexis is as silly as every. She is my little clown. There is never a dull moment in this house with her here!
Once I find the pictures, I'll do a picture post...
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