Hello everyone! Last week was a busy one...hence no blog post, so I'll try to give you a recap here.
We started the week with a few of the big kids sick, which resulted in days home from school.
Jordyn had her 1 year immunizations, which Don took her to. It was very sad for both of them, but they did survive. Don says he'll never do that again.
Patience continues with her swim lessons. She got a bonus lesson again last week because Marianne lets her come whenever someone is not going to be at their lesson. She had a minor setback on Tuesday, resulting in a "time-out" on the side of the pool, and eventually being expelled from the pool because, where Patience is stubborn, Marianne is stubborn AND in charge. She returned the next day and did exactly what Marianne was asking her to do on Tuesday. Go figure...
Danica was with us three days this week (well, 2 1/2 really...more on that later).
My mom was supposed to fly in Friday evening for Jordyn's birthday and Dylan's jazz concert, but the flight loads looked heavy so she was going to try to come in at 2:30 instead. So, we made hurculean efforts to rearrange our day, including Danica's grandma picking her up at noon so I could fetch mom from the airport. I'm watching the Alaska Airlines website so I could track her flight, and it shows late. Well, shoot. We have club speeches Friday night and the schedule is getting tight. The next update on the website shows the flight is CANCELLED! I call her cell phone only to get a very depressed grandma...yes, the flight is cancelled (due to mechanical problems) so of course all of the paying passengers are getting routed on later flights, making stand-by travel impossible. Since she was going to have to fly out 5:00 a.m. Sunday, we decided it wouldn't be worth her trying to fly in on Saturday. That was a big disappointment to everyone involved : (
On Friday night, we had our 4-H club speeches. There were two heroes that night, and they both happened to be my sons : ) In 4-H, public speaking is a competitive event. You start at the club level, and the top speakers there go on to the district level; the top district speakers go onto regionals. For seniors, the top regional speakers go on to the provincial competition. For every 4 speakers, or portion thereof, a club can send 1 speaker to districts. So, if a club has 4 junior members competing, they send one on. If they have 5, they can send 2. Our club, which has EXCELLENT public speakers, had only 4 juniors competing. I needed one more junior to speak at the club level so we could send 2 speakers on to districts. But where would I find a junior who was willing to write and deliver a speech in 24 hours? Sean! That's right...I explained my dilemma and asked him to basically deliver an impromptu speech, understanding that my expectations were not that his speech would be perfect...he just needed to do his best. He did, and his speech was actually quite good! And, we did send on two wonderful speakers to disctricts. Our second-place speaker owes Sean a HUGE favor : )
The second hero of Friday night was Nathan. Nathan wrote and delivered an excellent speech on Friendship, complete with his signature examples from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. But the other senior speakers were pretty darn good, too. It was going to be a tight race. Seniors, after delivering their prepared speeches, have to deliver an impromptu speech. They all leave the room, the judges decide on a topic, and they come back in, one at a time, get the topic, have 1 minute to prepare, and then deliver a 1 to 2 minute speech. This year's topic was "The person who inspires me the most and why." Again, the other senior speakers were good. Really good. It wasn't looking good for Nathan. But HE NAILED HIS IMPROMPTU. It was the best unprepared speech I've ever heard, with the perfect combination of sincerity and humor, he had the audience laughing and crying. It was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because HIS SPEECH WAS ABOUT ME...it really was a fantastic impromptu...textbook perfect. I was so proud of him. He did place first, and will go on to the district competition this Friday night.
Saturday was another good day for our household. Dylan had his jazz concert on Saturday night, and we had planned for some time for Kelsey to babysit for us...but with Mom's plans falling through, everything kind of changed around, and instead of Kelsey watching the girls, Valarie came! It was great (mostly) except for she is clearly out of the "mom" stage and into the "grandma" stage, because both girls were still awake at 9:30 when I got home, both having a great time with Auntil Babadee, as she was letting them do anything they wanted... But it was great having her (thanks, Val!). And the concert was great! Mom would have loved it, especially "Georgia On My Mind." Dylan was in two jazz bands and one vocal ensemble, in which he had a solo. Unfortunately the acoustics weren't too good and it was difficult to hear him. But I'm sure it was amazing : )
Is that enough information? I could say that Val and I took Nathan, Sean, and Hailey shopping Saturday to get Nathan some clothes for his Ottawa trip...he needs "conference wear," which is inbetween casual and dressy. We got some incredible deals at Wal-Mart, and Val was able to lend her fashion expertise.
Yesterday a.m. Sean and Dylan had swimming, then onto church. I did some housework that I had been too busy for previously, in addition to 5 loads of laundry. Last night the kids (all but Jordyn) had movie night with a rented movie and popcorn. It's nice that Patience is getting old enough to do that. After the movie, we all participated in a "5-minute Room Rescue" (living room and girls' play area) and then it was off to bed for the girlies. The boys and I watched the amazing "Senators vs. Sabres brawl" on youtube.
It was a busy, but productive week. This week has the same potential...check back for updates!
Nathan and I had a lovely, uneventful trip to California this past weekend. We left Thursday night after dinner and baths for the girlies, and headed south to Val and Dave's. There, Nathan went to a Baker basketball game with Kelsey and one of her friends, and Val, Hailey, and I got some visiting in. I also got to see some of Val's artwork that she's doing for her graphic design course. Apparently, Val is one of those people who is good at anything she puts her mind to!
We left bright and early Friday a.m. Four o'clock to be precise. Val and Dave didn't hear us leave, but their puppies did! I drove the first bit while Nathan got a bit more sleep. I got us south of Seattle and then we switched. I drove through Portland, which really wasn't too bad during the time of day we were there, and then Nathan pretty much drove through the rest of Oregon. It rained on and off pretty much through the day. We got into the Bay Area around 7:30, which is how I planned it...I figured if we got there late enough, surely we wouldn't run into the famous bumper-to-bumper traffic. But I was wrong. Everyone and their cousin was driving from the East Bay into the SF area! So it took almost an hour to go 15 or so miles...so frustrating to be "so close and yet so far." We finally made it to mom's and had a lovely lasagne dinner. Nathan showered, I jammied, and then we settled down in front of the t.v. That's when I realized how tired I was, so I excused myself to bed and Nathan played Grandma's game cube (yes, she is the coolest grandma in the world).
Saturday a.m. I had Nathan do some homework before we headed over the hill to the home of the Sharks, HP Pavillion. We left around 10, and stopped at this wonderful little warehouse in Moss Beach, of all places. We did some shopping, much to Nathan's horror. He was very motivated to get out of there and head to San Jose.
Finally, we left, and Nathan drove over the hill and into San Jose. We got to the Shark Tank, and Nathan found out how quickly $60 goes there. Lucky for him, his grandmother was willing to buy him some Shark souvenirs, as was his mother. All in all, he left there one happy Shark fan!
After that, we did some more shopping and then headed to Cold Stone Creamery, a wonderful ice cream store that we liked so well that we even returned the next day for round two. Saturday night we watched The Guardian. Great movie! We stayed up late (for me) and headed to bed around 11:30.
Sunday morning mom and I headed into Half Moon Bay, purchased two lattes, and then window shopped our way up and down Main Street. While we were doing that, Nathan was doing more homework and watching two NBA games. We got home, thought about packing, and then sat out in the backyard where it was warm and sunny. That was really nice! Around 4, we headed back to Pacifica for a little more shopping and ice cream.
Sunday evening we watched Extreme Home Makeover, and then went promptly to bed. I set my alarm for 3:00, but actually woke up by myself at 2:40. I got Nathan up, we got in the car, and repeated Friday's drive except in reverse. I was in Richmond by 4:00 a.m., and there was actually commute traffic at that hour coming from the East. We were well onto I-5 by 5:00 a.m. And when Nathan woke up around 6, we were in Red Bluff. We gassed up, switched drivers, and then we were off. We got into Bellingham around 5 p.m., hitting hardly any traffic in Seattle. We picked up pizzas at Papa Murphy's, and dairy at Edaleen's, and then made it home by a little past 6. The girls were happy to see us, but not incredibly so. Jordyn was quite happy to stay in her daddy's arms, as that is where she had spent the past 4 days, apparently.
We had dinner, did some unpacking and cleaning up, and went to bed! This morning I forgot it was already Tuesday. Luckily Don remembered about the trash and recycling! Patience had her swim lesson where she once again did not cry at all.
So, Pam, if Danica tears your couch cushions off and uses them as an indoor play place, don't blame her.
The order of the day here is apparently lavendar t-shirts and jeans.
It's a beautiful sunny day, but cold. If it were next winter, and everyone were a year older, I'd bundle them up to play outside. But with Jordyn, that just doesn't sound very fun. We'll just have to stick with the indoor play place for a while longer.
What do you see on the couch? That's right. One-year-old (almost) Jordyn. And what do you NOT see on the couch? That's right. Cushions.
That's because Jordyn's big sister, who shall remain nameless, has taught her how to climb on the couch and throw all the pillows off. Now this is her favorite activity, coupled with looking out the window once she gets up there.
Can't she get hurt up there? Can't she fall off? Yes, and frequently. But does it stop her from doing it? No. Such is my life...
Everyone was ecstatic with their gifts. This year, the theme appeared to be "few, but expensive," which, I suppose, is normal for older kids.
Nathan was wowed with the Wii, compliments of Grandma and Grandpa Steitz, and thanks to Don, who stood in line all night long the night before it was released. If he hadn't done that, I don't think we would have been able to find one. He also got a Sharks treasure chest full of everything teal: shirts, hats, jerseys, a wallet (with Sharks/Canucks tickets inside), and lots of other things to make a Sharks fanatic happy.
Dylan got a keyboard, filled with features for a budding musician. He wants to learn to play piano, and this keyboard has a lesson mode with light-up keys, etc. He also got a cell phone/mp3/camera thingy, and a couple of serious racing suits for the upcoming swim season. Let's just say that if he doesn't win any races this year, it's not the suit's fault!
Sean is now the proud owner of a digital camera, Heely's, serious racing suits, and more stuff, I'm sure! He and Dylan got the Knights and Cities expansion pak for Settlers of Catan, and many movies...
The girlies got a kitchen, which they love, an adorable table and chairs and tea set, a toy organizer (such a boring gift could only come from their mother), the little people zoo (very cute), and a gazillion other fun toys.
I got a new digital camera from Don! It's teeny weeny and I'm afraid I'll lose it. I'm still trying to figure everything out...for instance, this morning I tried to fit the battery pack into my computer to download pictures. There wasn't a slot that size anywhere. Lucky for me, I have tech support who showed me the teeny weeny SD card (thanks Mom & Lee) that slides into a teeny weeny slot in the front of my laptop! Very convenient!
Don had a clothes Christmas! It's been a while since his wardrobe has been overhauled, so I went through all his stuff, donating some, tossing some, and organzing the rest so he can find things easily. He now looks very hip!
We had the pleasure of having Don's sister and her family down from the Edmonton area, and it was the first Christmas ever for both families to be all together Christmas morning. It was a full house, with Don, Waneta, and my mom, but it was great!
After brunch, the Murphy's and my mom loaded up and went south of the border to spend the day with Val and Dave and their kids. We had more Christmas presents there...my favorite being portraits of the girls! When my mom was up that first weekend in December, she and Lee took the girls shopping with Val in Bellingham. At the mall, they took the girls to the Picture People and got some adorable shots! Apparently is was very hard work, which is why I've never attempted to do it! But I'm so thankful that they persevered : )
In the picture is me holding Jordyn and her Christmas stocking that my mom's friend, Dani, knitted for her. Patience has a similar one, and they're both precious. Thanks, Mom and Dani!
