It was a fun birthday weekend!

Happy Birthday, Sean!

Happy Birthday to our 8 year old boy who loves Legos, reading, building forts out of old boxes, digging in sand or dirt and bacon and cake (though not necessarily together). Our life is filled with adventures and laughs because of this awesome guy!

Who's afraid of a little rain?

Birthday fun

 

The cake was delicious. It's the creme fraiche chocolate bundt cake with ganache from http://www.stephmodo.com/. (Actually it's from her blog, but she links to http://www.zupas.com/). It turned out really well (or at least that's what my taste testers told me!).

It's the birthday season

Jim turns 44 today...we celebrated by playing in the slushy snow up at Mt. Hood, baking a cake and making dinner plans...once March hits, we have a steady stream of birthday fun. Jim, Sean (next Saturday) then Jackson in April.  And, as usual, March can't make up its mind...first it's Spring! Then, wait, Winter is back! Then , within 24 hours, Spring returns. The warm sunny days have been a nice break from the grayer late winter days. And, more daylight definitely helps us get through the pacific Northwest winter. We had a spectacular spring skiing day Friday...no pictures, but a nice reminder of why we love this part of the country. The rain can get old, but there's nothing like a day of blue skies, skiing below snowy Mt. Hood and breathing in that pine scented mountain air. It's definitely a good place to be.

This just makes me laugh

From our summer 2010 trip to Seattle/San Juans

Sunday sunshine

I don't think it reached 60 degrees but it was sunny and dry, so that means....shorts! We love George Rogers park. The boys don't hang out on the playground as much, but they love exploring the rocks all along the river. There is also an old iron furnace that has been designated a historical landmark and the boys love checking it out.
It was so nice to see the sun but Monday rolled around and it was cold and even snowed for a little while. It does look like we finally have a stretch of sunny dry weather coming up so maybe that's the last of the snow.

Sleepover...the aftermath

We had 5 boys under the age of 10 sleepover last night. Lots of laughing, pizza, cupcakes, wii and a special showing of the Mighty Ducks. This morning was a little more subdued!

Recent scenes

Legos are a constant activity around here. Sean is working on a control center that we will be able to take a picture of and send to Lego.com.
Jackson can make French press coffee...that is incredibly exciting. He may need to lighten up on the cream! It sure was yummy...

A little weekend recap

First off, I have to say this is one of the things I love about Sean...do you see him in that top photo? He was running around with those glasses/nose on with a balloon in his shirt. Then suddenly he stops for a reading break at the kitchen counter. I just love that he's so focused on reading and seemingly unaware of how crazy he looks. Next up, we have the newest chef in the family. He is already very skilled at slicing vegetables, mincing garlic and always wants to help in the kitchen. Here he's helping make a bacon wrapped Belgian endive recipe. (Unfortunately it wasn't that great...hard to believe since just about anything with bacon is good).
Finally, the chalkboard door...chalkboards are everywhere on design blogs lately so this is hardly earth shattering news. But our chalkboard door has neon liquid chalk!! And I have to say, Jim did an expert job on applying the paint so neatly, it looks like it's always been there.

Valentines Day...the aftermath

Its been sugar craziness since about 2:30 when the Valentine's Day parties took place at school. My prediction is major meltdowns beginning at about 7pm accompanied by whining, crankiness and upset tummies.
I'm wondering if it's too early to have a glass of wine....
(Unfortunately no photos from Jackson's class since I was busy helping in Sean's class...where they definitely needed more helpers!).

working on Valentines

Valentines are a funny thing for a 9 year old boy. He's too old for most of the cartoon themed Valentines sold at places like Target. But 4th graders still exchange Valentines, so we needed something that wouldn't be too cutesy. I really didn't want to have him bring candy since most holidays are already too infused with sugary snacks. So, a Fruit Roll Up with a printed address label greeting was the compromise. Cute but not too cutesy and a treat but not over the top sugary.

The age defying super dog

Talus loved the beach...so much that he ran himself ragged in the two days we were there. Monday morning rolled around and he's doing a bit of the old man shuffle. But I don't think I've ever seen him in such a state of crazy happiness!

Pretty nice for February

It was actually pretty nice for anytime of year. The Oregon coast was spectacular this past weekend. Shorts in February? Unheard of around here! You never know what the weather will do but we lucked out and had a great weekend of exploring on the beach. The boys are perfect ages for this kind of weekend. They could spend hours digging and playing and collecting sticks, shells and rocks.  

Friday morning

Catching up

Wednesday always feels crazy around here. I'm up at school from 9:30-11:30 but today we also had the training on Toulouse Lautrec for our next art literacy session from 12-1. Then I ran home to make chicken picatta for a friend who lost her Dad to cancer in December. And also made baked french toast since tonight is "breakfast for dinner".  And did a complete sheet/towel laundry cycle, etc., etc.,
In other news, Sean has turned the bonus room into "Sean's Clubhouse". You must have a ticket to enter ( free for family members) and stations are set up all around the room...learn to juggle, pillow rides, Bop-It....all for a nominal charge. There's even a sign on the front door: "Yes, we're open" or "Go away, we're closed".
We skied Saturday and Jackson convinced me to go on a run called WeeBee GeeBee. Bad idea. It was a narrow, mogul-y, black run that I almost immediately wiped out on. I watched him gracefully zig zag his way to the bottom and then I attempted to gather my poles and skis which had gone off in four different directions. Fortunately a snowboarder saw me and must have sensed my desperation. He helped me slowly gather my gear and then I worked on getting my skis back on. The whole time Jackson was waiting at the bottom yelling "MOM...hurry up!!". I finally got down that hill and decided it was a good time to call it a day.
Next time, no WeeBeeGeeBee!!