Spring Break 2014

Last week for the boys' spring break, we took a family vacation.  On Saturday we drove to Lake Quinault in the Olympic Mountains.  While there, we drove over to the beach.  The weather was sunny for a fun day to play in the sand.  On Monday we headed over to Seattle.  We visited the Science Center, the Space Needle, met up with some friends and toured Pike Place Market, went to the History of Flight Museum and took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.  It was a fun trip.

A Rare Sunny Day in Seattle

Catching Up With Friends, The Mantles

Piecing Life Together

A Space Walk

Taking Flight

A Wet Ferry Ride

Indoor Simon

Busy, Busy

Wow!  This week has been really busy for me.  I've been subbing since Tuesday.  And while I enjoy the subbing, it doesn't allow for me to have much energy or time to get things done here at home.  And tonight I am busy packing for our trip to Seattle.  I know it will be fun, and I am looking forward to some relaxing time with my family.  It's just very busy.

I just wanted to mention a couple of things we did last weekend.  On Sunday I ran in the Shamrock 15K Run.  I was pleased with myself for beating last year's time.  And the weather wasn't very cold.  It only sprinkled a little at the beginning of the race and a little at the end.

Before the Race

The start line

People ready to run!

Later that night we took the boys to their first Trailblazers game.  We got to sit in box seats which were really nice.  We also got free snacks!  Daniel and maybe Sam were able to handle it, but Simon quickly got tired and was done at about the end of the first quarter.  Still we had fun!

Jeff, Daniel and The Finger

Simon, ready to cheer!

Sam, working on his cheer!

On Monday we had our traditional green dinner in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  We ate salad, cabbage, spinach cheese ravioli with pesto, bread, lime jello, limeade and green sprinkled cupcakes.

Ready to eat green!

And Simon got a haircut!

Have a great weekend and week, wherever life takes you!

Resolutions 2014 Update

We are roughly one quarter through 2014.  I thought I'd update this blog with a mention of how my resolutions are going so far this new year.  I mainly do this for me as a way to check in and make sure I'm doing the best I can.  I find that when I make a resolution public it makes it more real for me somehow.

Here is a review of the resolutions:
1.  I want to run 1,000 miles this year.  I was about 50 short this year.  I think if I add a mile a week that should be close to hitting the 1,000 mile mark.  I want to keep doing races, but the races won't be part of my resolution.
UPDATE: I feel like I'm on track to reach 1,000 miles this year.  I also signed up to do a marathon in October and I figure with the extra training I will do for that, I should reach 1,000 miles.

2.  I want to read at least 10 books this year.  I get stuck reading magazines or the newspaper, and I don't read that many books.  I want to change that and do more book reading this year.
UPDATE: I'm not doing very well with this one.  I read one book, and was on track to average a book every 6 weeks, but then the Olympics came, and I found myself watching more TV than reading books.  So hopefully I can regain my momentum and eventually reach this goal.

3.  Continue giving away at least one bag of things a month.  I fell behind last year, and since we will be moving in a year (or two), I'd like to get rid of more stuff!
UPDATE:  This one has been easy for me so far.  I've given away several bags of things so far.  I just hope I can continue to do this so we don't accumulate more stuff!

4.  Continue spending time with Jeff on a regular basis.  Last year it was trying to get away at least every other month without the kids.  I'd like to continue that.
UPDATE:  We are trying our best with this one, but our last attempt to get away for the weekend, a snowstorm hit Portland and we couldn't even leave our house.  We may just have to settle for a date night every once in a while and still try to get away for a future weekend.

5.  More blogs!  I want to keep writing.
UPDATE:  I think I am keeping up with my blogging so far.  My goal is at least once a week, or more if I have time.  I am staying with this so far.

6.  Go off Facebook.  I will be deleting my account on January 1.
UPDATE: This one was not too hard.  I have been able to stay away from FB.  I think there have been a couple of times where I've wanted to email someone through FB, and I just need to get their phone number of email address.  I have found myself trying to reach out to more people on an individual basis, and that was one of my goals for leaving FB, so I feel like this is working.  I don't know yet if I will start another account at the end of the year.  I will think more on this one.

Have a good week!

Mr. Simon

My 3rd child, Simon, hangs out with me during the day.  He's only 3, and I haven't rushed to put him in preschool.  I'm glad he's home with me.  He's such a funny guy.  I really enjoy (and did enjoy) this stage in the life of my children.  I remember liking this age with Daniel and Sam too (my other boys) who are now 5 and 7.  Since Simon is my 3rd child, I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if we had decided not to have a 3rd child.  I can't imagine life without him, and I'm so glad we decided on having a 3rd!  Simon is quite different from his brothers.  Although he started out his life rather clingy, he quickly became very independent.  He's also very opinionated.  He likes getting attention from others and will do what it takes to get a reaction from someone, whether that is saying something funny or smiling and pretending like he never has a bad day in his life!  I say, he's my little ham, because he seems to pick up on what people want him to do and he tries to do that to his best ability.  He says funny things like, "tell me the truth....I mean the real truth" or "I want to be with you all day" or "me tired" when clearly he's not tired.  There was a time when he didn't like having his picture taken, but that has since changed.  Just the other day he asked me to take his picture, and so I did.  Here are some recent pics of my sweet Simon.

Wanting me to take his picture.

Wanting to see himself in Grandma's phone.

Enjoying some fish.

Silly

Sabbath School Sunshine

Fell asleep while hanging out with me.

Weekend Update

The boys had pink eye over the weekend.  Jeff had to work all weekend.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.  That's it for today.

Here's how I hope we'll be in a few days!

My Own Cake Wars

I recently purchased my 2014 wall calendar.  By recently, I mean I bought it towards the end of January.  I actually got it for a pretty cheap price.  The calendar I picked out for myself is a "Martha Stewart cake for each month Calendar".  It has a picture on each month, but even more fun is the recipe cards for how to make each one of these cakes.  I decided to challenge myself this year and make each one of these cakes.  Unfortunately I'm starting a little behind because I bought this calendar so late in January.  So I just made January's cake last week, on Valentine's Day in fact.  (I will need to hurry up and make February's cake).  January's cake is a chocolate beet cake with chocolate frosting and beet chips.  Although I am nowhere near Martha Stewart's abilities in cooking or baking, I thought this cake turned out pretty well.  It was fun to try.  Check back for more cakes, as I attempt to make them all (at some point) this year.

My Cake

Martha Stewart's Cake

Snowstorm Shuts Down Portland

For the past 4 days we've been stuck here at home because a big snowstorm hit Portland.  What I find hard to believe is that this city can't function because some snow falls out of the sky.  This city is just not equipped to handle this kind of snow.  Growing up, we had snow like this all winter long.  We were still able to leave the house, go to school or work, etc.  But here, we were all told to not leave the house unless we had to.  For starters, our local roads do not get plowed or sanded.  So that is a big difference.  They need to have more plows!  Also, we live on a hill, so to get off our street would be difficult because we wouldn't be able to get any traction going up hill.  Today it is starting to melt, so hopefully this mess will all be behind us soon.

Since we were stuck at home, we decided to make the best of it.  The boys got outside a couple of times and enjoyed sledding down our hill and playing in the snow.  Fortunately we had plenty of food so we didn't have to make a quick run to the grocery store.  We played games.  We watched TV.  It was nice to relax, but I'm ready to have things go back to normal and resume our routine.  I hope you had a good weekend!

The boys sledding on Friday

Snow falling Friday Evening

Simon in the snow on Saturday

Sam in the snow on Saturday

My view from the treadmill Sunday