Awesomeness!!!

I had a GREAT birthday weekend! I'll update more when I have more time and I am able to go through the billions of pictures we took! (OK It wasn't really billions, but it is A LOT!!!) Let's just say this weekend involved boats, animals, and pictures (more than what we took).

We're headed back today. But I had so much fun this weekend! Thanks mom for the great times!

Long time, no update

So it's been awhile since I've posted anything, and even longer since I've done an actual update. So here goes.

It seems that the past couple of weeks have been busy. There was one week where I had two interviews and Peter had an interview all in the same day. Needless to say that day was a bit hectic. One of those interviews I got the job for! I am the newest receptionist at Riverside Health Club I started training on Tuesday, went in again yesterday, and go in again on Friday and Saturday. I go in alone for the first time on Sunday. I think its a bit odd that they have so many training days for this position. It really isn't that difficult. The hardest part of it is finding all the products in the computer part of it and that just takes looking around once you know how to do it. I had it mostly down the first day. So yesterday I just did what I needed to do and snooped around trying to find all the products and stuff that I'll have to possibly ring out every now and then. But its a fun part time job and I'm excited for it. The best part about the whole thing is that both Peter and I get free memberships to the club!

I also got my login and password information to be able to get some subbing jobs! YAY! So my plan is to next week start subbing as much as I can! I'm really really nervous about my first day whenever that will be. It's been a LONG time since I've been in a classroom. Hopefully things will come back to me quickly!

Peter has had a couple interviews as well, but he's getting a bit frustrated because they're either not for the original position he's applied for, or they won't pay him what he deserves. He actually had one company say to him that they were looking at him because he had his college degree but that it wouldn't be considered in the amount they would pay him, which was 10 grand less a year than what he was making before he had his degree. Ummmm how the heck does that work? Yeah not so much. So he gets to be a stay at home dad, while I bring in the bacon for a change. HEHE.

Natalie is doing wonderfully. We're waiting to hear if she's been accepted to a preschool here. I'm hoping that she gets accepted. It is based on income and is geared toward the lower income based. If we don't qualify for that then I don't know who would. She's becoming so independent and helpful. She loves to help prepare dinner where ever she can, such as setting the table, getting stuff out of the fridge/freezer/cupboards, etc. She's also been doing some chores as well. She unloads the silverware out of the dishwasher, she cleans up all the toys every afternoon just before dinner, and she makes her own bed. Most of the time she does these willingly; it's only occasionally that I really have to get on her to do them. I'm enjoying that while it lasts, lol.

And finally Alexis. I'm amazed at how big she is! Even though she's staying a 'baby' a lot longer than Natalie did, she's still starting to become a 'kid'. She's really into climbing lately. She's figured out that if she moves Natalie's stool, she can use it to climb into the couch and chairs. It's very rare anymore that she lets someone else help her. She's not saying much still. She's very slow developing in that area. Which is totally ok with me so far. If she's still not saying anything when she turns two, I'll start worrying. But for now she's just fine in my eyes! But just because she's not 'talking' doesn't mean she's not noisy! I think we're getting into the sibling rivalry stages. Natalie, at times, tries to be too helpful, or decides she wants whatever toy Alexis has and tries to take it, and Alexis lets her know that she doesn't like it, by screaming and/or hitting. It's hard as a mom to know which one to correct, Natalie for taking the toy (or invading her sister's space), or Alexis for screaming and hitting. It usually turns into a "Alexis don't hit, and Natalie you need to back off from your sister." kind of thing.

Anyway, that's what's been going on with us. Nothing super exciting I suppose, but it's been keeping us busy.

Gotta Love Little Critters! (Mostly)

So living in the country surrounded by trees brings out a bunch of little critters that you wouldn't ever see in the city. I love watching these critters do their thing! We have a squirrel that likes to gather pine cones, bring them to a certain limb in a certain tree, then hang upside down off that limb and drop the pine cones on a car that's covered by a tarp. We're guessing that he likes the sound the pine cones make off the tarp. I haven't been able to get a picture of this little guy yet, but it was fun to watch him for awhile!

And then yesterday, Skruffy treed a family of raccoons. I've never seen a raccoon up close before. They were adorable!


These are the two babies. Well, as Kathy called them, teenagers. They were older babies hehe!


And here's who we're assuming is Mama. You can't tell in the pic, but she's twice the sizes as the other two were.


And then today Peter found this...




Yes that is a snake coming out of Bill and Kathy's car.

And then comes the mostly part of the heading. The critters I don't love so much... mosquitos! Case in point...


Poor Alexis!

Here it is!!!

So you remember how in an earlier post I had posted a picture of Alexis and Peter that I said I had the same picture of Natalie and Peter doing the same thing? I found the picture of Natalie and Peter.

Here's the pic with Alexis first...



And here's the one with Natalie...



Crazy weird!

Go Band!!!

So yesterday was a BLAST!!! The UW and WSU alumni bands were going to be performing in a parade and at the Skagit County Fair. So we thought we'd go all dressed up in our Cougar gear and support the bands. We decided to leave Alexis at home and have a day with just Natalie. So where we parked we had to walk past the groups in the parade, and as doing so we passed the Cougar Alumni Band. When they saw us walking past all in our Cougar gear, they started yelling us over. They were short of a banner holder, they had one little girl, Bridget, who was going to hold it up, but they needed another, so Natalie was designated as a Junior Cougar Banner holder. AND in talking to them, we slipped that we had been in the marching band as well, so they tried to get us to play. Of course, I didn't have my sax in my back pocket so I couldn't play. But when they found out that Peter played the tuba they were extatic. As it turns out the guy who was planning on playing the tuba was also planning on trying to keep a beat on the drum at the same time. So Peter got to ride on the truck with the band and play the tuba and Natalie and I walked in front of the truck with Bridget holding the banner (well the girls held the banner, I just made sure they kept walking fast enough so that they kept up with the group in front of us). Yes they were on a truck, which to their defense, there were only 11 of them (including Peter), the drum had a stand (a little hard to carry and play at the same time), and one of the players had a bad leg, so the truck was kind of needed. I didn't bring my camera, but I did see someone taking pictures of us in the parade, so I cornered her and asked her to email me the pics. I haven't gotten anything yet, but when I do, I'll post some here.

Natalie and Bridget bonded immediately, so after the parade, we hung out with her and her parents, who were in the band of course. They had a lot of fun together, they(we) went in a bouncy house, milked a "cow" and saw a bunch of farm animals. They loved the baby pigs! We all had lunch and then it was off to the practice room to warm up for the concert. Natalie and Bridget got to dance onstage during the concert and they had a ton of fun! Natalie even got to yell "Go Cougs!" in the microphone.... twice! She had so much fun! And the band, well, let's just say they're as bad as ever. It didn't help that 5 of the 11 was low brass, 2 percussionists, 1 trumpet, 1 alto sax (that I couldn't hear at all) and a flute and a piccalo. So basically all you heard was the low brass and the piccalo. Haha but it was still fun! Peter had a blast playing again, so much so that he had me sign us up to be in the band. I think we're insane!

I took pictures on my cell phone of the concert so I changed the slide show above.

HAHA Does this count???

So this morning Alexis woke up wet through her clothes. So needless to say, she got a bath this morning instead of this evening (we'll see how icky she gets today to see if she needs one this evening too). In the middle of her bath she stands up and starts squating and turning red in the face... all us mom's know what that look means. So I grabbed her up and she went poo poo in the potty! So does that count as the first potty in the potty?

Some random ramblings

I need new ideas for books to read. I'm almost done with the series I've been working on for the past couple months. If you have any suggestions, I'm open for new authors. The series I've been reading lately is the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Straud. It's a really good series. I would highly recommend it. Before that I was reading the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, another great series. Though I think he's come out with some new ones that I haven't read yet so maybe I'll have to go to the local library around here, sign up and borrow his latest works. But I am open for new authors/genres/books. It never hurts to expand and try out new authors/genres. It seems I've been liking the fantasy genre, so maybe something different.

Peter and I went and saw the new Mummy movie. It was OK, but we were very distracted that they had a different actress playing the main female character. They kept making little jokes that referenced the earlier movies, that would have been funny had it been the same actress. Other than that small hangup for us, it was a pretty good movie, had a slow start, but overall it was entertaining. I love the theater up here. On the weekends they only charge $5 for admission for the shows before noon. You can't beat that, right?

Hmmmm what else. Not much. Did you notice that I changed the slide show? If not, check it out! I think I'm going to do that instead of making picture posts. Those are always so long. Maybe, if there's only one or two pictures that I'd like to share, I'll just make a post with them, but when there's more than that, I'll make them into slide shows. Hope you all are doing well!