Sledding!!!

We took the kids sledding this morning. It finally snowed here, but you could tell that it was going to melt quickly. So, we got up and hit the 'slopes' early. Dave decided he was going to hit a jump and 'get some killer air'. Here is what ensued... (The last one makes me laugh hard every time....)

Cowboy Day & January Sussies

So, if you didn't already figure it out, I have an online Scrapbook Kit Of The Month Club, Scrapbook Sussies.  We just started the Year of the Sussie - a great, new loyalty program that is going to give out lots of fun free stuff!

The January kit is loaded with fun stuff (and there still are a few January kits left!).  Here's a layout that I did with one 'side' of the kit....

Also, today was Cowboy Day at Annie's school.  It was fun to see them wrestling, wrangling, and yee-hawing! Of course, we had to get an outfit for the day and she fell in love with these boots....  (They were a huge hit and she looked so cute in them!!!)

Will this be my year???

Should I be better about blogging?  YES.  Should I get more scrapping done?  YES.  Should I reorganize things to make more time for my family? YES.

All of these are things I should be doing and vow to do.  In fact, I just got an item that has been on my to do list ALL LAST YEAR off of my to do list yesterday.  It was just one of those things that, because of how busy I was, just getting pushed down to the bottom.  But, after two days of working on it, it's gone!

Still, I haven't made as much time for the above things as I could be.  INSTEAD...  I'll give you a little video of how the year started off.  

This is what happens when you go off on a weekend with some friends WITHOUT KIDS...

(We will not be auditioning for American Idol or any other singing / talent show.)

1st Day of Kindergarten!!!

It is finally here!  A day that I both looked forward to and dreaded!  For the past several weeks, I would burst into tears as I was filling out the mounds of paperwork or as I was reading Kindergarten books to Annie before bed.  (I would at least wait until I was out of the room!!)  My little girl is growing up and it is so bittersweet!  

I knew she would be fine.  I knew she would love it.  This morning, she ran into our room while we were getting ready shouting a la Finding Nemo, "First day of school!  First day of school!!"  It was so cute!  She was ready!  But was I???

On her way...

Kindergarteners at the bus stop...

We headed down early to the bus stop which is only a few houses away.  14 kids are at that bus stop!  It was a crowd this morning, with moms, dads, siblings, and the kids who actually had to get on the bus!  The bus arrived and the kids crowded on - three to a seat!  Annie was on, no looking back!  That's when the tears started for me!

Getting on the bus...

I followed the bus to school to make sure she got to her class.  (This will not be a normal thing for me, believe me!)  She got in just fine.  More tears for me!

Annie's two best friends...

The girls getting ready to go in...

How cute is this?  Can't you see them in 10 years???

Then the rest of the day was fine.  It did seem awfully long for me.  I'm so used to picking her up at 1:30, that 4:15 (when she gets home on the bus) seemed to take forever to arrive!  But it did, and she had a blast.  And I survived!  And I am now hoping that the rest of the days seem as long as today.  Because I know it won't take long for me to get busy busy busy again and have those moments when I am wishing for one more hour!

But tonight I just hugged her and tucked her in - as she was telling me she couldn't wait to get on the bus tomorrow!

Camping!

We finally did it! We've been talking for the past two summers about taking the kids up to the mountains for their first real tent camping trip. We've been to the mountains before with them, but always stayed in a nice cabin or condo. So they've experienced the mountains, but never full-on camping!

This summer has been so busy that I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to swing it. Last year, we ran out of time and had to tell the kids we would take them the next summer. I didn't want to do that again. So I spent Friday pulling together all of our old camping stuff, running to REI, Target, and the grocery store. I packed the car and was ready to go when Dave got home from work. We left around 2:30 to go up there.

We arrived at an old campsite that we used to camp at to find it closed. They were doing a lot of removal of the pine beetle destroyed trees. The next campsite - closed, too. The next one looked like it was only a camper site. Fortunately, it had five tent sites, one of which was open for us and PERFECT! We had to make several runs of equipment since the site was several hundred yards from the car, but that was OK. We were right next to the lake, secluded, and had enough trees for me to hang up the camping hammock (a must-have tradition from camping with Dad).







After setting up, and playing around a bit, we made dinner.
(This pic is for Kristen - see how intent I am on the corn?!?)



We roasted marshmallows and had a few beers. Then the rain started, so we got ready for bed. Then, the RAIN & WIND started. Dave had just gotten us a new HUGE tent with a big front screen room - which promptly pulled itself out of the ground in the wind. After Dave fixed it, we had to pull all gear into the screen room. It was a little bit chaotic.


Once in the tent for the night, we listened to the rain and wind. The kids fell asleep. Dave and I did not - until about 4 a.m. We were keyed up from the storm, a little bit worried that the kids would get cold, and quite uncomfortable. Apparently, we're not as young as we used to be when we would easily sleep on inch thick air 'mattresses'!



The next morning was fine - a bit chilly, but the lake was beautiful - smooth as glass. We were a bit tired, having only 2 hours of solid sleep in our system. We took the kids for a hike where Annie got to feed some chipmunks. We checked the weather and it was supposed to rain again. So, we had lunch, packed up the car, and went home. A day early, but we had a fabulous time! We made it up to the kids by having pizza and game night that night instead!





I kept checking the weather. It turns out it was 43 degrees and rainy from about 3:00 pm until 9:00 pm. Then, it was rainy and cold the next day, too! So we definitely made the right choice to come home early!

It's time to be back...

So...... long time, no update. Very long time.

I look at the date of my last post and it's very hard to believe. My last post was made right before I heard the news about the terrible car accident that my brother's family was in. If you're reading this and you know me, you know all about what happened. There's no need for me to recount it now. Maybe someday I will, but for now, I'll leave it.

I miss Michael and Cora so much.

But, now I'm back and intend on updating more often. For those of you who are interested..

Update on that Orlando Trip...

Still waiting on little sis to get those pics to me. Someday I'll be able to tell you all the stories....