Katie’s Turned 7!

Katie was so, so excited for her birthday this year.  She had her birthday meals all picked out weeks in advance and talked about ideas of fun things we could do to celebrate (her birthday fell on the Friday of Spring Break).  She and I went out a few days before and redeemed her birthday coupons at Red Robin and Cold Stone. 

She fully expected that she’d wake up on her birthday and find her room decorated.  She must think it was decorated last year, but it was actually two years ago that the girls decorated her room while she was sleeping.  It didn’t take much to convince Carly to spend a few minutes putting up some streamers and balloons the night before.  Katie loved it.

She gobbled up her birthday cinnamon roll for breakfast and excitedly opened up her package from Grandma & Val.

A CTR ring from her primary teacher

Justin had the day off so we decided we head out on a day trip and try to squeeze in a few special things to help Katie feel celebrated.  Including ice cream before lunch and she was the only one to get a shake at Chick-fil-A at the end of the day.  I made her birthday dinner the next week (her favorite – chicken, carrots, and rice – just like last year) and apparently double ice cream on her birthday was enough to make her forget that there wasn’t an actual birthday cake this year. 

We went over to Justin’s parents on Easter and Katie got a fun package of goodies from Grandma & Grandpa Fletcher – including more birthday money!

I’d been looking through old pictures earlier in the week and seeing my kiddos as babies and toddlers sure tugged on my heart.  As much as I love seeing them learn and grow into the people they are there are certainly times I miss these younger days.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Spring Break 2017

Last week was spring break and it was awesome!  Not in the “we traveled to somewhere amazing” awesome and not even my usual “we checked a ton of stuff off my to-do list” awesome, but it was more of the “I loved spending the week simply with my family” awesome.  Made me super excited for the summer (though no mistaking there were still plenty of moments my kids frustrated the heck out of me).  I doubt this play-by-play will be of interest to anyone, but I know we’ve enjoyed looking back on previous breaks and remembering what we did so I document to help us remember.

Friday, April 7:

• Justin has been busy at work with quarter close. Though the quarter closes every single quarter of every single year so not sure why this one required so much overtime and weekend work, but we haven’t seen much of him these last few weeks.
• Abigail went to her friend Kalli’s after school and tennis practice.  She stayed until late hanging out with Kalli and Carter.
• I try to workout at my friend Andrea’s whenever we have a free Saturday morning.  She moved the workout to Friday this week and thankfully Carly was cool putting the kids to bed so I could go.  I climbed the rope halfway a couple times, but didn’t have enough abdominal motivation to try to make it to the top.  Perhaps next time.
• When I got home Carly and I watched a Say Yes to the Dress episode – let the record show Carly wants a dress with lots of ruffles.  When Justin finally got home he and Carly went upstairs to watch a show together and I snuggled up in bed reading.

Saturday, April 8:

• One of my favorite things about breaks from school is sleeping in.  We did plenty of that though I seemed to always wake up around 8 or 8:30 ready to get up. Have a finally outgrown the desire to sleep until 10am or later?  Jason, Katie and Drew were always up before me – who knows for how long :)
• CJKD and I went to the library that afternoon to refresh our book stash and for me to meet up with someone who wanted to buy the last of my maternity clothes – that stage of life is officially closed.  I won’t miss the pregnancy part but at times I do miss my babies.
• Abigail and I were able to sneak in some tennis that afternoon in between the rain.  
• The kids and I (minus Drew) started a Settlers of Catan game during the late afternoon but we had to put in on pause since the girls had a joint babysitting gig that night.
• Justin worked from home most of the morning and then ended up having to go into the office until 7pm.  Thankfully he brought he and I home some free Qdoba for dinner and I made the kids waffles.

Sunday, April 9:

• Justin cooked us omelets this morning while the rest of us finished our game of Settlers (I won).
• We very slowly got ready for church
• I used the delayed cook on my oven for the first time today to cook potatoes while we were at church.  I grew up eating potatoes basically every single Sunday.  It was my absolute favorite food.  Imagine my disappointment that Jason was the only one of my kids excited about it – what the what??
• We ended the day playing the longest Settlers game – it took hours for Carly to finally sneak out a win.  A late night for the littles but so fun.

Monday, April 10:

• I was planning to catch a morning class at the Y this morning, but Abigail convinced me to play tennis instead while it was dry out.  Neither of us played well and if I recall we got rained out after about an hour. 
• While we were out Carly and Grandma Fletcher made arrangements to go shopping for Carly’s birthday.  Carly was gone all day/evening.  Grandma treated her to some cute new clothes and then they went to Grandma’s house to do some sewing projects – perfect day for Carly!
• JKD and I headed to the Y so I squeeze in a workout.  I still don’t enjoy it, but I’m paying for the membership so I make myself go 2-3 times a week.
• Katie and I decided to sneak out that afternoon to redeem her free birthday meal at Red Robin and BOGO at Cold Stone.  Of course we also ran a few other errands cause that’s how I roll.

• Abigail didn’t mind staying home with JD because she had decided to hold a baking extravaganza.  While we were gone she made oreo truffles, sugar cookies bars, and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Oh my!
• We had a crazy hailstorm blow through this afternoon.

• The kids were able to spend some time on the Wii this evening.  I usually pair up against Drew cause we’re more evenly matched.  Jason took this video of Drew and I playing. 

• I love that how Drew moves that wheel back and forth so much, that the kids cheer for him when he makes a jump, and that when he loses he says, “Ohhhh, I wost…again”, that Katie wants to help him win (aka get to play herself), and that Jason, always the optimistic (ha!) comments, “Katie, it’s impossible for him to win.”
• Justin and I ended up watching Cinderella with Abigail tonight after JKD were in bed.

 Tuesday, April 11:

• The girls had ortho appointments this morning on the ridge.  It was a beautiful morning so I told them they had to ride their bikes or walk it.  Boy did Abigail not like that idea.  She begrudgingly walked down there with Carly but then called afterwards fully expecting I’d be coming to get them.  Um, no.  Boy did the girls not like that.  I figure JK walks the big hill every single day, the girls can handle it.  It’s ironic because they often walk to the ridge (and back) with friends, but apparently it’s much different when it’s not for pleasure.  Anyhow, they survived and by the time they got home they’d thankfully forgotten how peeved they were at me.
• The weather was nice enough today to head to the park.  We went to the “Seahawks Park” and had a really great time.  Jason brought a basketball and we ended up playing two on two with the girls (AJ vs. HC).  I haven’t played ball in many, many years and was surprised how fun it was.  We really need to do it more often.  And I need to polish up my skills cause I wasn’t much help to Carly and we were defeated.  We also had lots of fun on the zip lines.  Everyone had such a great time even now days later I’m still surprised how that little outing ended up being so great from toddler to teen to mama.

• I picked up Justin from work this evening so we could go check out some cars at the Acura dealership.  I’ve been driving the minivan for over 10 years now and I’d love a change, but the van is so practical for our large family we can’t get rid of it anytime soon.  We’ll need a third car in the next year but figuring out what that should be is still a big question.  I’ve been checking out cars for months now and have a pretty good idea of what I would like if I didn’t have to take my family into consideration – ha!  We took a couple cars for a test drive and they were awesome, but we’re a long ways off from making any big decisions.
• After test-driving we went to dinner at The Tipsy Cow – a yummy burger joint that serves my favorite chicken sandwich.
• We had just enough time to make a few quick returns at Bell Square before they closed and then a customary trip to Fred Meyer for a few groceries before heading home.
• When we got home the girls were watching Miracles from Heaven – they’ve reached the age where they are choosing more drama and/or love story type movies.  This was definitely a tearjerker – Justin, Carly and I all admitted to shedding some tears, but our unemotional daughter Abigail was cool as could be.

 Wednesday, April 12:

• Carly was due for a well child so several months ago I made her an appt with the pediatrician we’ve been seeing since we moved here.  A few weeks ago when I mentioned it the girls both expressed that they wanted to switch to a female doctor.  I polled a few friends for recommendations and called to make the switch.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Carly would be able to get in with the new doctor during spring break – we’ve had to schedule appointments months in advance at our prior doctor and with very limited hours available.  Carly’s appointment was this morning and she liked the doctor much better than our somewhat goofy male doctor.  Now the question is do I switch all the kiddos?
• I received five free certificates to the local gymnastics gym a few months ago.  The kids were excited to use them this week.  I tried to call multiple times during the week, even leaving a message, but never got a hold of the gym to find out when we could use them.  We noticed they had open gym this afternoon so with five excited kids we drove down for some fun only to be denied.  She said we could stay for $10 a kid, but Hello! $50 for an hour in a crowded gym? No, thank you.  The kids were bummed.
• We stopped at the Seahawks Park for a few minutes but it still pretty wet and cold so we didn’t stay long.

• Then we remembered Abigail had an optional tennis practice at 2pm so I dropped off the other kids at home and we beelined it to the high school only to find the courts empty and not a soul in sight.  Not our luckiest of afternoons.
• The tennis courts at the park near our house were dry so AJKD and I spent the next 1.5-2 hours playing at the park.  The kids had some neighborhood friends show up so that made it extra fun for them. It so great that the littles are old enough to play at the park nearby while we play on the tennis courts.  Abigail and I played a couple sets.  Either she’s getting much better or I’m losing what little skills I ever had.  She beat me 8-2.  It was really fun though and I love having a tennis partner to play with regularly.
• Since I was already gross I took KD, the only kids willing, to the Y with me for a little extra cardio while Carly assisted Jason in preparing breakfast burritos for dinner.
• We had our hometeachers over tonight since there weren’t any youth activities or sporting conflicts.  Our current hometeacher was our first bishop here in Snoqualmie and he just got called to be the first counselor in the stake presidency.  The bishop that replaced him got called to be the second counselor in the take presidency.  Not sure how long we’ll get to keep him as our home teacher but we’ll be grateful for as long as it lasts.  He’s a great guy and actually a good friend as well.  His messages are always very applicable to our family.  Today he shared thoughts on the importance of studying the Book of Mormon each day.  He also checked in with Abigail on her study of the New Testament for seminary something that’s been very much talked about in recent days (she’s behind like most of the students).
• Another night of Settlers though this time just with the girls.  Might be my worst game ever – how that darn 6 never got rolled is unnatural.

 Thursday, April 13:

• The girls attended a CPR/First Aid class all day today with some friends.  They’ve taken basic classes before but this class gives them official certification through the OSHA and WA State L&I.  Nice to know someone in this house is prepared to save lives.

Carly learning how to use an AED    

• While the girls were gone JKD and I just hung out at home.  The kids cleaned the bonus room to earn some Wii time and Jason had a friend over that afternoon, but definitely a low-key day.  Gotta admit I was feeling a little discouraged with my lack of measurable productivity, but not enough to tackle any projects. 
• After the CPR class Abigail went with her friend to her house in Carnation and then to a movie that evening.
• Justin was able to leave work a little early this evening – deadline complete!  He and Carly watched a few episodes of Once Upon a Time, the show they’ve been watching together over the last several months and then I left him to decide what to feed the kids.  Figuring out meals for these kids is one of the worst things about having them home all day.

Friday, April 14:

• Katie’s birthday and a an all day trip to the Tulip Festival – Deception Pass – Fort Casey which deserves a separate post
• After our all day excursion the girls wanted to stay up and watch a movie.  I’d purchased the 1992 classic The Cutting Edge several weeks ago with a T-Mobile Tuesday promo so the three of us watched that.  Yep, I still love it. 

Saturday, April 15:

• Justin and I each got in a morning workout before we took the three youngest to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt at noon.  This is the third year our neighborhood has held it’s own hunt, but the first year it hasn’t been on Sunday.  It was great!  Lots of yummy food and snacks.  Plenty of eggs.  We have a realtor in the neighborhood that puts it together and she hires a face painter and balloon creator as well.  I’ll post pictures in a separate Easter post.
• The girls opted to stay home (I didn’t realize there would be more to the event than just a quick egg hunt otherwise I would have encouraged them to join us).  Abigail had grand plans to spend the entire day/evening with friends so she was anxious to get her chores done so she could take off.
• We did some work around the house that afternoon
• Justin and I left at 4pm for a quadruple date with friends.  Sommer spotted a Groupon for the electric boat company in Seattle a few months ago and since we had so much fun last year we were excited to go again.  Besides the Reynolds we had two different couples than last year.  The day couldn’t have been more beautiful – a perfect day to be on the water.  Beautiful views of Seattle, Gasworks Park, and we got up close with lots of lovely, and not so lovely houseboats.

We cruised by the coolest hot tub boat/raft.

• After spending two lovely hours on the water we headed to Lunchbox Lab for dinner, then Dairy Queen for dessert.  Such a fun night with awesome friends!

Sunday, April 16:

• Easter Sunday – separate post & pics to come…
• During sacrament meeting I looked down to see Drew had written his name all by himself.  I’d only ever seen him write a D so I was super impressed.  I guess Abigail had been working with him while I was up leading the music.

 

March came in like a Lion and out like a Lion

Rain, Rain Go Away!  Seattle is known for rain, and we’ve seen plenty of it this winter, but we also saw a lot more snow than normal and it seems we’ve seen much less sun.  I’m usually not bothered by the rain, but like everyone else I am ready for some warmer and dryer weather.

So let’s close out March officially...

Jason brought home a bunch of sticky notes from his class in honor of Friendship February.  Each classmate (and Mrs. Coleman) wrote notes to each other during the month. 

Apparently, Jason is known for being really smart (especially in Math), friendly, funny, and athletic.  What a fun idea!

No picture to document this memory, but it must be noted that the kids and I had our semi-annual dental cleanings this month and drum roll…. NO cavities!!!  Not a single one.  Not sure that that has ever happened, or ever will again.  Way to go kiddos!

I enjoyed a lovely GNO early in the month.  A few of us had gone out to eat to Maggiano’s in February and Debbie raved about Din Tai Fung, so that’s where we ventured this time around.  I’m not the most adventurous eater but there were plenty of vegetarian and chicken dishes to try – and their green beans were amazing.

Afterward we tried to pop into Cheesecake Factory for dessert, but the wait was too long.  As we walked by Vivo 53, we spotted some “Insane Sundaes” through the window and thankfully they were able to seat us right away.  The ladies decided we’d share just one – the Candy Esplosione at a hefty price of $19!  It was delicious and super creative. The cup itself was dipped in fudge and rolled in M&M’s – candy heaven.

a closeup from their website, just so you’re clear :)

Speaking of food… my favorite recipe blog – Mel’s Kitchen Café - held a contest this month where three winners would receive a free kitchenaid mixer and $200 to chatbooks.  I’ve yet to try chatbooks, but I’m sure I’d have no problem blowing through $200 and I know I’d love a kitchenaid mixer.  I burnt out the motor of my kitchenaid mixer several years ago when I was making a hefty batch of wheat bread.  I replaced it with a Bosch mixer, which I love, but it is too big for mixing up small batches.  Anyhow… all that was required was that you submit a picture of something you made that week.  The only tips she gave was that the food be the focus and to be creative.  So I whipped up some yummy Belgian sugar waffles and got Justin to make an omelet roll so we could both submit an entry and increase our odds of winning.  I thought our pictures we’re good, but apparently they weren’t creative or good enough to win me a mixer – Boo!  Oh well, they were both delicious to eat.

While Justin was finishing the omelet roll I was trying to figure out how we should photograph it.  I had a few photo bombers.

Notice that huge sore on Katie’s head.  She came home from Mexico with a small scratch or something on her forehead (no idea what from) and it kept getting worse and worse.  It seemed to be spreading and her forehead was swollen.  It was the weirdest thing.  As I type this I realize I should have perhaps taken her to the doctor, but I’ve become quite anti-medical now that we have a large deductible and I couldn’t bear to think of paying $300+ only to hear them tell me to keep anti-bacterial medicine on it.  We had some friends see her sore at stake conference (the same day the picture above was taken) and that evening they brought over some cream that had done wonders for some sores their daughter had.  I immediately slathered that stuff on and by Thursday her head was remarkably better.

It’s been two weeks now and you can still tell that something was there, but hopefully it will heal up completely and not leave any scars.

Back in October 2015 I came across a pair of khaki pants on the clearance racks at American Eagle.  I tried them on and LOVED them!  They were so soft and comfortable.  When I went up to buy them the cashier rang them up at full price.  When I explained where I found them and that I wouldn’t be getting them at full price he very kindly agreed to give me the discount and I left a very happy woman.  Last year I added a black and olive pair into my wardrobe and then when they added new colors this spring I just couldn’t resist ordering two more.  Granted I still haven’t paid full price for any of them, but America Eagle found a loyal customer that day.   You know you’ve found an awesome pair of pants when you want one in every color.

Carly started lacrosse season this month – the opening Jamboree was Saturday, March 18 and consisted of three shortened games out on Mercer Island.  I like the kids to support each other in their activities so I planned on the whole family attending the games together.  Justin ran early that morning and came home so wet and cold that he said that the kids would be miserable spending three hours out in that weather.  So, he and I went to the games – freezed our tails off and then came back to the house to take the kids to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie that had just come out the day before.  Justin was confident we wouldn’t need to get there more than 30 minutes early; however, when I went to buy the tickets they told me the movie was already 85% sold out – which meant we wouldn’t stand a chance sitting next to each other and would likely end up at the front near the screen – no, thank you!

We decided to run a few errands before heading home.  When we pulled up to Fred Meyer and Drew realized we weren’t going to the movies after all he was so, so sad that he didn’t want to budge from his carseat.

No worries, we knew that the T-Mobile Tuesday app would be awarding us $2 movie tickets just three days later so we all got to see the movie together – in the same row, perfectly centered three rows from the top.  It was a great movie and we all loved it – though it was a bit scary for Katie’s liking (not surprising).

Last Saturday I popped onto Facebook while I was at the gym and noticed someone on our neighborhood page had just posted up a free Wii system.  I messaged him immediately and within the hour had brought home our first gaming system.  We didn’t get around to setting it up until that evening and I must admit fun was had by all, but it didn’t take long for me to remember why I hadn’t wanted a gaming system in the first place.  By the end of this week three kiddos were already grounded from it – either by showing poor sportsmanship at losing, bad attitudes when I said it was time to turn it off, or by getting on when their jobs weren’t indeed done.  Sigh, one more thing I have to manage in life.  No regrets though, it’s been fun and you can’t beat free.  The kids are THRILLED to have it.  Jason’s first response was, “Now I don’t have to feel bad that I’m the only kid in class that doesn’t have one.”  And Katie’s journal entry on her Weekend News was ALL about the Wii.  We need to look for a few more controllers though cause having just two isn’t going to cut it in this house of seven.

The girls and I have a tradition of attending the General Women’s Broadcast together each time Conference rolls around.  Dinner is always a must and some sort of shopping seems to always fit in there as well.  Abigail really wanted to fit in some shopping before dinner so we didn’t eat until 9:30pm – the girls chose Maggiano’s – one of Abigail’s favorite places and this was Carly’s first visit.  Them girls are getting some expensive taste buds!  We had a fun night.  The conference was great, the shopping productive (for me only), the food absolutely dreamy and the company couldn’t be beat.

And just a funny email from Katie’s first grade teacher this week:

Teacher:  “I have a random question for you. Is there anyone who does not allow their child to chew gum?  I was hoping to do an art/writing project tomorrow, but it would begin with them chewing a piece of gum for 5 minutes or so. :)  If there is anyone who is opposed to this would you please just send me an email and let me know?  I appreciate it. :)”

Me: “I'm one of those crazy moms that doesn't let her kids chew gum normally, but I'm totally fine with this. Thanks for checking. Katie will be thrilled :)”

Teacher: “Not crazy at all!  I have to laugh because when I asked she was so cute and said she’s only allowed to chew it at the gum wall.  Loved that! :)”

Our elementary held it’s first ever Spirit Week this past week.  Monday was Wacky Day and neither Jason nor Katie would dress up wacky.  Tuesday was Formal Day – Jason was excited to wear his suit to school.  Which is ironic cause I can’t get the kid to wear anything by athletic pants/shorts every other day, but a full on suit is apparently not a problem.

Katie didn’t want to wear a dress to school – she had PE anyhow that day so she would’ve had to take an extra pair of tennis shoes.  Formal Day did get them a ride from me to/from school which hasn’t happened all year.  Wednesday was Animal Day.  I wanted to get a picture of them when they got home from school so before they even stepped in the house I told them I’d give them two cookies if they took off their coats and let me take a picture of their animal shirts.  I should have taken a picture with their coats on because they were soaked through! 

So Katie had zero interest in Wacky Day or Formal Day, but apparently Superhero Day was the perfect fit for her so we dug out a Batman costume from the Halloween tub and she was ready to go. Again, bribery with two cookies for a picture before school (Abigail made a double batch of brookies on Sunday and they’ve served me well all week long).

Friday night Justin was invited to go to the Sounders game with our Bishop who scored first row seats from work.  Justin was pretty pumped to watch Clint Dempsey warming up right in front of him.