Christmas or Chaos?

I have found it to be a huge challenge this year to do all the holiday activities that I had looked forward to.  Last year I wasn't working so I had plenty of time to plan, shop, bake and enjoy a slower pace during the holiday season.  The few years before that, I had a three week break at Christmas time and Logan was so young that he wasn't really involved in all of the Christmas preparation.  This year I feel a little frantic as I try to "get it done," and am not feeling nearly as happy doing it.  Hmmm....  Honestly, I don't know if I will try to do EVERYTHING next year because it just isn't fun right now.  I saw a post on Pinterest about doing daily Advent activities and the gist of it was that the mommy's attitude mattered more than the activity.  And lately, my attitude stinks.  It may have something to do with the fact that my boys are at each others' throats all the time, or that Logan has been sick with an ear/sinus infection, or that he is a potty training two year old, or I am tired from commuting two hours every day, or my class of needy students uses up all my patience.  Don't get me wrong... there have still been a few fun days of Advent activities.  We made peppermint scented glittery play-doh.  Logan and I made a big batch of gingersnaps.   We all frosted a mountain of sugar cookies.  We had a "snowball" fight indoors with cotton balls.  I do try to have fun, and sometimes we succeed.  But something just isn't as good this year.  Oh well, I can always try something different next year.

Fall Highlights

Let's see...
Stirling learned how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Before it got too cold, we found some time for a nearby playground and the dirt pile around the corner!

We enjoyed carving pumpkins that we grew in our garden for Halloween.

 We had fun visiting family at the Wright's house for Thanksgiving.

Kindergarten

Yes, Stirling started kindergarten last month.  After an meet and greet night, and a one on one assessment meeting with his teacher, he was very prepared for his first day.  Stirling was super excited his first day, and continues to be excited every day.  He consistently tells me that kindergarten is "great!"  Kinder here is full-day, and besides being a little tired and cranky at the end of the day (and who isn't?), Stirling has been handling it really well.  He goes to daycare after his school day, and has ridden the bus there one time!  He is super excited about the bus ride.  I can't believe I have a school aged kiddo now.

 Of course Logan had to pose for a picture too!

Ready for Mrs. Hamilton's kindergarten!

I love this picture.  Why is he standing on his toes?  And you can see just how thrilled he looks about standing in line to go in the classroom-what's up with that?!?

Sedro Woolley

The boys and I spent the 4th of July weekend in Sedro Woolley with my parents.  Again, RJ couldn't vacation with us.  Working two jobs now, both in retail, means holidays are sales and harder for him to get time off.  Someday we will vacation together!

On the Fourth, we went to the parade which was significantly larger than I thought it would be, and we didn't even see the end of it because someone really had to go potty!  You'll notice our super festive shirts created by Stirling and myself- we even convinced my dad to wear one!  Then we enjoyed a nice warm day in the yard, rode bikes and set off a few fireworks in the driveway for the boys.  What was really surprising to me was the amount of large scale fireworks that people in the area were setting off.  We were able to see quite a few from the yard.  I couldn't get over how many there were!

The rest of our visit was enjoyed picking raspberries in the yard, riding bikes (even Logan got in on the bike riding action with his very own new teeny tiny bike!), shopping, and going to the beach.  At Deception Pass State Park we walked on the beach, looked at rocks and searched for shells.  After a picnic lunch, we went wading in Cranberry Lake.  I hadn't realized there was such a nice area for swimming there and am thinking about going back to camp or stay longer next summer.  We ate well while we were on vacation- shame on you Dad- and just had a relaxing time hanging out.  Thanks for the nice visit!

 What?!??? They can get along??!??

 Exploring at Deception Pass State Park.

 Wading at Cranberry Lake.

Tuckered out from a day at the beach!

 Grandpa and grandsons hanging out in the yard.

Summer Fun

VBS and Swim Lessons

Stirling attended Vacation Bible School at Mercer Creek Church last week.  We normally go to First Pres. but their program was only for graduating kinders and older, so we went to this one instead.  Stirling was a little hesitant due to the crazy chaos and the multitude of kids there.  It was insane!  There were 10-12 classes of preschool aged kids alone with 18 kids in each class.  Then there were 2-3 classes for all the other age groups.  Stirling ended up enjoying it a lot.  The theme of the week was "Facing Fear, Trusting God!"  Thursday was "Dare to Stand Strong," and kids wore costumes of favorite characters, so Stirling went in a quickly made Green Lantern getup, constructed from a huge green t-shirt and some felt I had in my craft bucket.

 (the group shots are photos of photos, so please excuse the quality)

This week and next, Stirling is attending swimming lessons at the city pool.  He is really enjoying being able to get in the water and is doing pretty well at all the things his teacher is trying to teach.  Of course, most of it is trying to get the kids to hold still so she can help one child at a time to float or kick or paddle.  And five year old boys don't sit still well!  

Garden

Well I planted a garden.  And that is really about all I have done.  My dad gave me some leftover seeds from his garden and I scattered them willy-nilly planted them in the plot that John cleared for us.  We planted some tomato, pepper, zucchini, and basil plants that John and Kerry picked up, but the basil, zucchini, and pepper plants died pretty much instantaneously and the tomato plants are only reluctantly hanging in there.  Our seeds are having a little more success.  The radishes and turnips are doing really well.  The lettuce and spinach are looking prolific, and the carrots have finally come up.  One pumpkin plant is slowly growing and our peas are starting to do well.  There were several other things that didn't come up, but I've forgotten what they are because Logan stepped on all of the popsicle sticks that had the labels.  One good thing- I haven't had to water much because of all the rain, and the wet soil does make it easier to weed.

 

More cabin

This week I took the boys to the cabin and invited my good friend and her six kids.  We really enjoyed our time at the cabin, despite it raining nearly the entire time we were there.  We went on several walks/hikes, did enough paddle boat rides so that every kid got to go at least once, played games, and went on a scavenger hunt.  And yes, we did this with eight kids between the ages of 2 months and 12 years!  My girlfriend is a brave woman- I'm not sure I would have climbed down to the falls with an infant strapped to me, but she made it, and with her toddler as well!  It was a lot of fun to have her there, and the kids had a great time playing together.