January?

I kinda blew it for January.

I jumped straight from Christmas to, like, the Super Bowl on Feb. 1st.

There WAS stuff that happened in January.

There's a PTA national Arts contest called Reflections.  Katie entered a piece and it was displayed at our school district celebration along with other entries from the district.  She was so proud.

And this happened.....

Mikey lost his first tooth!!!!

It had been loose for a while, but not so loose that it was coming out any time soon.

And then, one Friday morning, Mikey was upstairs playing.

Play abruptly stopped for a visit to the bathroom.

The sink ran for an exorbitant amount of time.

Next thing I know, he walked down the stairs with a sad look on his face and then broke into tears.

He opened his mouth and pointed at his now missing tooth.

I was excited, but he was clearly not.  It hurt a lot, he told me.

After a big question with no answers session, I finally got what had happened.

There was this small Lego piece, you see, stuck to a big Lego board.....

He couldn't get the small piece off the board and decided to use his teeth to pry it loose.

Annnnnd, his tooth popped out.

I found the tooth on the floor of Katie's room right next to the lego board.

After a little TLC, all was good.

I'm not sure what this is about.

The kids wanted to sleep in laundry baskets one night.

For Mikey, it lasted about one book and then he was up in his bed.

 
Katie lasted a little longer, but also decided beds were more comfortable than laundry baskets.

The end of January was spent working on Science Fair projects.

Katie used Ralph for an experiment.

You'll have to wait until the next entry to see what her project was.

Mikey did a project too.

It was also warm (and dry) enough to break out the Trail-a-Bike and head on out to the park to play.

Katie and Mikey found an awesome climbing tree at the park and climbed up pretty far.

They climbed up so far that Mikey needed to be rescued.

Katie got to ride the Trail-a-bike too.

I guess all the park action was too much and Mikey ended up getting pretty sick and going to the Urgent Care center at about 2am in the morning.  Again.

My kids like to get really sick in the middle of the night.

He was actually doing really good in this picture.  So good, in fact, that the doctor sent us home with the all clear.

An hour after we got home he began throwing up every hour or so.

Good times.

Deflated

I thought I was oh so clever with that title above.

Turns out the news media beat me to it.

Oh well.

I swear that you could physically feel the disappointment of millions of Seattle fans (and Pats haters) last night.

There was something in the air.  It was palpable.
Like the weight of unfulfilled expectation was falling from the sky.

A cloud of silent sadness descended on all of Western Washington.

Another fantastic, nail-biting, amazing game that came to an unbelievable (and not in a good way) end.

Mikey and Katie were supporting the Seahawks AND the Patriots.

The Seahawks, because we live here and the Patriots, because our family is from New England and Matty likes them.

Mikey told me today that he was sad that the Hawks lost and he thought that it would be better if both teams could've won.  They could share the trophy and then nobody would be sad.

And so, Seahawks fans today are walking around like zombies.

Not many smiles.

Lots of sighs and "WHY's".

I was thinking this morning, during my walk with Ralph, of a way to easily sum up the feelings of the fans.

This is what popped into my head.

I'll let you work out how it fits.

Phil it up, baby and tell me where it's at!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Now, this Second Day of February, Candlemas Day in the year Two Thousand and Fifteen, being the One Hundred and Twenty Ninth Annual Trek of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler's Knob, Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, United States of America...

Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of All Prognoticators, was awakened from his burrow at 7:28am by his Handlers, John Griffiths and Ron Ploucha and by the cheers of his thousands of steadfast and faithful followers...

Phil waved to his fans, gazed at the sky and around his stump and with the help of the Inner Circle, looked for a shadow.  Majestically... speaking Groundhogese ... he directed President Bill Deeley to the precise scroll, which reads:

Forecasts abound on the Internet,

But I, Punxsutawney Phil, am still your best bet.

Yes, A Shadow I see, you can start to Twitter,

Hash Tag: Six More Weeks of Winter!

Football

I've watched a lot of football in my time.

Okay.  Let me rephrase that.

Our Dads watched a lot of football when we were kids.

So, that meant that we watched a lot of football.

I say "we" 'cause I'm including Huzbend.

I either watched football at my house or at his house (starting in the teenage years).

Once we got out of college, got married and found that there were other things to do on Sundays besides sit in front of the television, our football watching became bare minimum.

Bare minimum meaning maybe a playoff game or two and the Super Bowl.

Kinda like C&E Catholics.  You can look that one up.....

Anyways, my point is that out of all the football games that I have ever watched, the ONLY ones that I remember are ones that I watched with fans at a party.

And there are only three.

Super Bowl XXV - Giants vs. Bills - 1991

We watched this one in our friend Dave's basement.

We were in high school.  Our friend Brian was a die-hard Giants fan.

I'm not quite sure how many of us were packed into that basement rec room.  Maybe 7 or 8 of us.

We had pizza and chips (Doritos) and soda (Pepsi and Mtn. Dew) (Oh, we call it soda back east).

The game came down to the last seconds.  The Giants were up 20-19.

Jim Kelly marched the Bills down the field and within range of a field goal.

The kick went up and the words, "WIDE RIGHT!" went into the history books.

They missed.  Giants won.

Fantastic.

Super Bowl XXXVI - Pats vs. Rams - 2002

We watched this one at a friends house.

We were living in New Hampshire at the time and Patriots fever was on fire.

The house was packed.  30 + (mostly drunk) people crammed around an old-school rear-projected tv in an oddly sized tv room.  They were sitting on the sofa, on the back of the sofa, on the end tables, on the coffee table, all over the floor....packed.

I'd say out of those 30 some-odd people, 28 of them were life-long Pats fans.

I have never experienced people screaming so loudly or so passionately at a game.

There was 1 minute and 30 seconds left.

Without any timeouts, Tom Brady threw the ball down the field completing 5 passes to reach the Rams' 30 and spiked the ball, stopping the clock, with seconds remaining.

It was a 48-yard field goal attempt.

Adam Vinatieri made it.

Patriots won.

I think I became partially deaf that day.

Crazy.

Although it was nice to watch the Seahawks trounce the Bronco's last year, it wasn't really memorable.

There were some moments of joyful celebration at the beginning of the game by the resident fans, but that quickly became a pity-party for the Broncos who got totally and completely steam-rolled.

I guess I remember it because, well, it was only last year and because the ubiquitous 12th Man won't let me forget.  Super Bowl XLVIII Champs stuff is everywhere.  Has been since last February.

But, one more game has officially made my list.

That was yesterdays Seahawks vs. Green Bay play-off game.

If I wasn't deaf before, I think I am now.

And it wasn't just adults screaming, it was the kids too.  You know how high pitched they get......

The fourth quarter was coming to a close.  It was 19-7, Packers leading.  There was yet another Seahawks turn-over and then there were only 5 minutes left to play.  Just about everyone in the room looked at each other and claimed, "Game Over".

One life-long fan was not willing to give up and suggested that we leave the room for an attitude adjustment.  Seriously.  She did offer a weak smile after she said it.

And then came a Seahawks touchdown, an on-side kick that actually WORKED, another Hawk touchdown and a 2 point conversion.  WHAT?!?!?!

Packers tied it up with a field goal sending it into overtime.

All in FIVE MINUTES!!!!

Seahawks WON the coin toss for overtime and scored on the first drive, winning the game.

28-22.

UNBELIEVABLE!

Completely and utterly unbelievable.

What a great game.

Okay.  Well, the last 5 minutes were great.

Before that, it was kinda depressing.

There was a lot of nervous eating.

And, now, I get to look forward to a Clash of the Coasts.

Our new home, the PNW, vs. our old home, the Northeast.

Will this one be added to my list?  We'll have to wait two weeks......

Christmas Time 2014

I totally forgot some stuff that happened.....

Back in November, Ralph became an "AKC Star Puppy".

Always one to advocate for our peppy puppy, Katie just reminded me that we didn't take his picture and put it on the blog.

So, we got 'er done.

He got a fancy certificate and a medal

(which the kids had him wear to the bus stop to show off).

Next he can go for "Canine Good Citizen."

And I can safely say that we won't be getting that designation for a LOOOOOOONNNNNG time.

Now, the next thing I forgot.

I forgot to post a video of our Christmas tree hunting trip.

Here you go.....

And last but not least, I got to go on a date for my birthday.

An ALL DAY DATE.  "The Day of Dating."

We dropped the kids off at gymnastics camp.

We dropped the dog off at doggie day camp.

We spent three hours watching The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies

and then had a yummy lunch at a fancy restaurant.

Huzbend enjoyed a lamb burger.

He said it was good.

I did not try it because the thought of lamb makes me want to puke.

I had mac n' cheese.

Um.  Yeah.

I did.

But, it was FANCY mac n' cheese.

Okay.

Moving on to Christmas now.

Because of the addition of Ralph, The Dog Who Eats All (rocks, dirt, moss, rabbit poop...), we had to have our Christmas tree downstairs.

I liked the fact that the kids couldn't see the presents under the tree when they woke in the morning. 

We've always had our tree in the living room and because of the layout of our house, all the kids had to do was look out their doors and they could see the tree.

Here's Mikey's reaction:

And the unwrapping began......

Kindles.....

 .....the Bat Cave....

....and Smaug!  Oh my!

The wrapping paper flew about the room and, then, just like that, it was over.

The Flash would've been proud.

"Huh?"

To All: Thanks for all the wonderful gifts!!!!!

Then everyone got sick.

The flu.

I'm totally not kidding.

We spent the good majority of our Winter Break sick.

Us parents even downed some Nyquil.

Unheard of!

So, we spent the whole vacation sitting at home sniffling, coughing, having rolling waves of nausea, not eating very much, napping, playing video games, zombie-shuffling the dog through horrifically long walks, building legos and watching the MythBusters TV marathon.

Katie, Mikey and I had recovered enough to join some of our friends for a New Years party.

(Huzbend stayed home and helped himself to the previously mentioned Nyquil)

All the kids made it to midnight - Mikey's first time ever - with the help of Jello Jigglers (yes, non-alcoholic), Fruity Pebble Treats (yes, marijuana free) and the Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone movie.

A good time was had by all, but especially by the grown ups who played

Cards Against Humanity while the kiddies were engaged in the wizarding world upstairs.

Tee-hee.

It was finally, on the last Saturday of the break, that all of us were well enough to actually get out and do something.

And that something was rock climbing.

To be more specific, bouldering.

The kids LOVED it.

They climbed and climbed and climbed some more.

Eventually, they wanted to try some "non-kid stuff".

They went upstairs to a section that you could climb up and over and down the other side.

Both Katie and Mikey made it up to the top and down.

It was impressive.

They can't wait to go back.

Annnnnd, vacation over.

That was it.

Back to school.  Back to work.  Back to, uh, the house.

(that's where I hang out)

Huzbend's first day back to work and back to biking brought warm temps in the 50's.

Which meant the end of "The Hair".

 Merry Late Christmas to me!

Pre-Christmas December

Katie loves Ralph.

Ralph loves Katie.

Exploring Science Night at school was a hit with the kids.

Mikey's favorite part was the Burke Museum's table of fossil-y stuff.

Katie's was the Blood and Guts display from the Pac Sci Center.

After much pleading, we allowed a "sleep over".

Katie read Mikey books and they eventually fell asleep.

Then at about 1 or 2 am, there was complaining about lack of space in the bed and coughing keeping Mikey awake.  He had the super grumpy look on his face.  So, Katie moved back to her room and all was quiet.

We went Christmas tree hunting with the added Northwest fun of super-mud puddles.

Yippeeeee!

It was nice of the Slasher family to allow us to pay a visit to their Christmas tree farm, located right next to the Field of Screams.

At least you know the tree axes are sharp......

After chasing the kids about 4 miles into the tree field, they decided upon our tree.

Katie and Mikey tried their hands at tree choppin'.  It was decided that Daddy should finish it off.

BOOOO-YAAA-KAAAA-SHAAAAAAA!

While Huzbend carried the tree off to be de-needled and wrapped and stuff, the kids took off running again.

"Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee....."

"She'll never find us!"

"Unnnnnnlesssss, there's hot cider and candy canes.

We're all over THAT!"

The next day it was time to get busy decorating.

Mikey decorated.....

.....Katie decorated.....

..... and Huzbend pretended he was Al Bundy.

"It's a-me! Mario!"

While the dog was hanging out in the driveway and attempting to eat our battery operated snowman light decorations ....

... Mikey climbed a tree and got stuck.....

... and I put up Festivus decorations.

Happy Festivus!

(It's prettier at night, the pictures just don't come out.)

41.

Not much to say about it except that it's old.

I looked in the mirror the other day and realized that my eyebrows are disappearing.

Sigh.

That's the smallest worry of the growing list of things going wrong.

Anywaysssss, I got these in the morning.

Later that day, I got eggplant parm and apple crisp.

And lots of other cool stuff - Thank you to all!

Huzbend once again proved he is the worst picture-taker EVER!

Mikey made a gingerbread house at school.

He continues to say that every school day is awesome and that he wished he could go to school everyday - even Saturday and Sunday.

His favorite thing to do there is Math.

December 19th was the last day of school before break.

That morning, Katie had a G.I. appointment.

She was having issues again so I took her in to be checked out.

All symptoms point to a Crohn's flare up.

Which is a complete bummer.

We're kinda in a "wait and see" thing right now.

She had to have blood drawn that morning.  Without numbing cream.

They hit up both arms but didn't manage to get enough for the full battery of tests.

It was not a good morning.

Not for Katie who was stressed, screaming and crying or for Mikey who had to watch and listen or for me who had to help restrain Katie so they could get it done.

But, on a postive note, I was able to get Katie back to school in time to enjoy the last half of her Comfy Cozy Day (pjs, cocoa, candy canes, blankets and reading).

When I got home from the craziness of the morning, I found that our fish had died.

I kinda had a feeling it would happen soon as he was swimming at the top of the tank and did not eat his food that morning.

Poor fishie.  He lasted a good amount of time.

He was buried the next day in the backyard.

R.I.P. Fishie.

4 years of preschool and Mikey never wanted to paint pictures.  They only time he would paint is if I was in the art room and asked him to.

Now he comes home from school each week with about 5 or 6 paintings.

And that brings us to to past weekend.

The Neighborhood Holiday party was this weekend.  The kids went to a Kids Nite Out thing at their gymnastics place and Huzbend and I mingled with the neighbors.

The next evening, I constructed the kids gingerbread house.

They were SO excited that there was a kit that they could eat.

I was SO excited that I did not have to bake it up.

Thank you Auntie Sheila, G.F. Expert Mommy, for the gingerbread house kit tip!

It's delicious!!!

Mikey decorated side.

And the Katie decorated side.