Happy New Year and a few thoughts...

I have had a great time posting pictures and comments this last year.  As 2010 closes I think about this last year, all the great things that have happend. I have been incredibly blessed. We had such a fun road trip this summer(my inspiration to blog!). We all are in good health, I get to enjoy the outdoors so frequently, and  I have so many wonderful friends and family to love and be loved by. Yes, these are just a few of the great parts of my life. I welcome 2011, the new challenges, experiences, and joys that it will bring. Happy New Year and Cheers!

Christmas Eve at Grandma's house.

We spent the evening in Mapleton with my parents for Christmas Eve. Lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, and sisters were there. We had a great time just talking, laughing, eating. This picture is us on a Christmas Eve night walk. We thought there might be lights to see up the street, but after Shore Acres with the kids a few days back street lights on houses was a joke. It was fun to go out for a night walk. We sang carols even from the street, kind of joking and laughing and even making up our own words. After we got back to the house all the kids opened their Eve gift of pj's and a pillow pet from Grandma and
Grandpa. After that we headed home, hoping to make it to sleep before Santa arrived. We would be back to Grandmas for more on Christmas Day.

Shore Acres whale lights.

This one was my favorite.

Shore Acres with the family

Cousins! On our way to Shore Acres.

Dayla and Lakia came to visit their dad and we all got together to take an evening at Shore Acres State Park in Charleston. We carpooled down the coast, had a nice dinner together, and then visited to lights. This was on the list of things I wanted to do this winter break and I was super excited to share the trip with my mom, sister, brother and his daughters.  

My mom and Lakia come for a visit!

I thought my mom looked so good I had to take a picture of her. She just returned from a trip to Santa Fe, NM to surprise a friend, and had a fun time. I missed her and it felt like she had been gone for weeks, but it had only been one!

Jake working hard on demolition of the hall closets.

He made quick work of this project, and had the drywall torn off in about 45 minutes and cleaned up! We are getting ready to expand our little galley kitchen to something that would accommodate a few more helpers in kitchen. It will be nice to have more than and 3 X 3 area of space to work in. It will be a long project, but I am stoked to have it started. More pictures to come.

Happy Birthday Jacob and Amber!

I have always loved having the same birthday as Jacob. It is unique and special. Melisa cooked us dinner at home, stuffed chicken breast. It was delicious. I took a nice hike in the rain at Sutton on my birthday. Jacob went paint balling with friends the day before and the movies with Grandpa on his birthday.  I love you Jacob, Happy 16th Birthday!!

Spencer jumping on his bed.

Spencer likes to jump on his bed and dance with the music up loud, the big light off, and the lamp on. He usually listens to Michael Jackson when he is having a "concert"  or just rock'n out. I love this photo of him, since it shows his shadow so well and he does look very serious, brave, and awesome all of the images he is trying to master. This is a very serious, but super fun part of Spencer daily life. This is great exercise too, he usually stops when he is sweaty and tired and is ready for water. The loud music on his CD player always gets him motivated to give me a show. I love this show he gave me, sometimes I join and  dance too, but I  just use the floor.

Gabi's Birthday Party! Yes another Birthday in December and one more to go! We have quite a few bdays in December.

 

This is such a great picture of the kids! Of course everyone is excited and smiling they are about to get Birthday chocolate cupcakes and whipped cream!   There is Stella with the pillow pal Gabi got for her Bday, I think Stella wants one for Christmas. Gabi turns six this week, I met her when she was not even two years old.

Spencer, doing "Good Work!" thank you little buddy

Sometimes I post pics in thought of someone, like our photos from Elvis Presley birthplace was for Aunt Mary and when we post photos of our friends, it is our way to honor them. I post this photo to honor Dr. Maria Montessori. Her influence on my teaching and raising sons. Spencer was delighted to do this (it was his idea), he was so proud of his independent and meaningful work. After the sweeping, he washed the floor, and then and a window. We worked side by side, happy with our results, bonding and sharing a moment, all in the ray of sun shining through the window. I am so grateful for these precious moments with my children.

Happy Birthday Helen! Moss Fashion by Siuslaw National Forest.

Our dear friend Helen turned 4 this month. We shared a Sunday morning with her family to celebrate her birthday. After presents and brunch we went on a hike in the woods behind their home. Along the way Tres found this huge piece of moss, which broke in half and then created a scarf for Tres and a wig/hat for Mizu. I love this picture of Mizu with Helen on her back. It  inspired the idea to create a whole outfit out of things we found in nature. We all agreed  to wait until its a little warmer outside. Good times with the Burruss family. Happy Birthday to a sweet, funny, smart, and silly girl, Helen!

December Pizza party at the Jarman's house.

We love Pizza and so do our friends Gabi, Jonah, Heidi, and Ian. We get together to share good food, loud and rowdy kids, a lot of laughs and music, and a few drinks. Here is a great picture of the boys and a little video of Gabi.

Ruben's 7th Birthday! Happy Birthday!!!

Ruben gracefully turned 7 on December 1st. The unfortunate part was that was the week that the stomach flu took each one of us down for a three day virus! Poor Ruben got it on his actual Birthday, so we had no cake or party, but he did open presents. A few days later we had a party in his classroom. He was so excited to get the Birthday balloon and the eraser from his teacher Mrs. Lupton that said "For Big Mistakes". I thought it was so funny how excited he was about this little gift, but coming from his teacher is what made it special. I brought all sorts of healthy snacks to the classroom and each student assembled some sort of creature with them, they had a great time and most of all Ruben was happy. He is really growing up, and I can remember when he was just an infant, such a sweet boy and so handsome, since the day he was born although he changes as he grows these things stay the same.

Seasons Greetings!

Christmas tree decorating with the boys!

These boys of mine are a whole lot of fun, they're silly, sweet, naughty and nice! I am so grateful for the chaos and joy they bring me. Even our little dog Pancho who takes part in naughty behavior too, all the while tolerating a Santa coat. Merry Christmas boys! I love you!

Siltcoos Outlet Beach clean-up...Surfrider Foundation.

two cuties we found...Melis & Joanna

Sunfish

Surprisingly there was not as much trash on the beach as we usually see. The trash comes in pretty heavy after a storm, although we certainly found a lot of trash today, well worth the effort of picking up. It feels good to have done this with our kids. Showing our kids that we care, will in turn teach them to care. It doesn't take much to facilitate the love of the outdoors with kids, they are natural at being in love with nature. It is work though, so we try to make it fun. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny rainy morning at the beach, time well spent. Not to mention seeing some pretty special people too...Aunt Melisa, it is always a treat to see her and our dear friend Gus.

The long table, with snow.

I love this table. Tres and I had wedding photos here, and family photos too, when Jake was about Spencer's size. I never grow tired of walking this lake trail and arriving at the long table. One day I would love to have a meal at this table, it could probably hold about 40 people. I have never seen covered with snow. This was a another treat for the eyes, to see this tablecloth of snow.

Cute picture, with friends on the sled.

You can kind of see the gap of missing teeth Ruben has 5 missing teeth right now...but doesn't want them for Christmas, rather have toys.

Family picture of a rare sight...snow on the Siuslaw River Bridge!

Snow daze!

The snow man, with the second nose, Pancho ate the first carrot nose!

Ruben taking a ride behind the quad with the Prociw's, very excited!

Spencer had a snowball fight with the girl next door. Jake riding his motorcycle in back, a little slippery in the snow.

Snow Day...no school, play all day!

Snow was truly a treat for us coasties. We woke up to this thick blanket of snow, so beautiful, soft and fluffy looking. We all had great time playing outside in this winter wonderland. The neighbors had their quad out pulling the kids around on the sled, Jake took his motorcylce for a spin, snowballs and snowmen were built. Sad to see it go, but blessed to have had it. Inspiration to seek snow in the mountains to play in. I loved the reflection the snow gave us, each room in the house seemed a little brighter from the reflection of the snow outside.

Fun day biking with friends at Honeyman campground. We had the whole place to ourselves, even the playground

Family day at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Each visit to the aquarium is like the first. The kids run from each exhibit to the next, so excited. Here Ruben spots a small fish hiding in the rocks.

Watching dad surf the river of the Siuslaw

We took an evening at the beach tonight. It was much needed, just time to get out in the fresh salty air. We watched Bob and Tres catch some fun waves. The night was beautiful and the beach was covered with lions mane jelly fish. Later that night we heard the passing of pro surfer Andy Irons. Sad to hear such a talented man's life cut so short. I am glad our family had spent the evening at the beach. To Andy and his family, may he rest in peace.

The discovery of Captain Underpants!

We love Dave Pilkey! Inspired by silly stories that G'pa makes up for Spencer's entertainment I asked Jake if he still had his collection of Captain Underpants books. In less than 2 minutes he presented me the entire series and said of course I still have them. We began that same night the first of The Captain Underpants Adventures. Ruben and Spencer got a great kick out of it. While Jake got to remember the first times he read these to himself. The humor of my sons never fails...underpants, farts, burps, or wedgies will always bring belly laughs to these boys. I get to laugh at them laughing.

This little vampire lost a tooth on Halloween night! The Tooth Fairie left him 2 dollars and a coin from Jamaica.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time on Halloween just staying in our own neighborhood. Last year we had chickenpox so we didn't even leave the house. This year we decide our children had outgrown Oldtown. Tres and I thought that staying in our neighborhood would give us a chance to build community on our street that we so frequently occupy. The neighbors were happy to see us and we were especially happy to be so close to home and know each person we trick or treated. Thank you neighbors! I love Spencers costume, he is dressed as a dinosaur but couldn't resist the cheetah face paint.

Saturday morning walk in the woods

Lucky for us we don't have to go far from home to feel like we're in the woods. We went for a walk this morning in search of mushrooms, salamanders, and a creek. We were successful in all three. Although the mushrooms we found we're not the ones we were hoping to find. We were able to head to the local farmer's market to pick out some chantrells.

Biking our new favorite family past time

Here is a picture of me on my new bike. I have Pancho on the leash while I ride, a little tricky, I've only crashed once while exercising the dog when biking. Spencer is cruising on his new bike too. We make this a daily habit, even while raining or when sick. It lifts the spirits and energizes all of us. I'm stoked to have a bike, this is the first new bike I've had since 7th grade!

Just some pure sweetness!

An evening at the beach, Spencer sneeks a smooch on Mom. The sky is gorgeous even on a cloudy night we see the suns rays setting behind them. The purest of sweet...little Stella in her big girl overalls. We returned to the parking lot after our cruise on the beach to find the Duman family just finishing their cruise too. Good times, gotta love this coastal living, we are so lucky!

A little excitement on a Monday night!

We love our adventures at the beach. After a storm we like to cruise the beach looking for washed up treasures. Tonight we had a some excitement with our tires getting a little stuck. Ruben wanted to dig us out, so we let him work at it for while and then Tres let a little air out of the tires and the truck pulled right out. We didn't find to many treasures, but we did find at least 20 dead birds! I was really suprised to see so many. Not sure why, but they were every where on the beach.