One pint low

Well, as is my tradition as often as I can, I donated blood today. My iron was a RECORD 44. It went really smoothly, but it was the first time since Texas that they've taken ALL my blood. In Las Vegas, they took the blood and took out the red blood cells and put back the rest along with some saline, so I wasn't nearly as wasted after I gave blood. Today I've been feeling the difference. I figured with a 44 iron count I wouldn't even miss the pint! :) Well, we went to Baskin & Robbins as a family and there were lines OUT THE DOOR at the first 2 we tried. We opted for another option completely and stumbled upon a Baskin & Robins that had hardly anybody in it - so we went in and enjoyed our 31 cent scoops - thanks to Julie for that tip!

My date with Kenneth last night was awesome. It was really good to have some one on one time with him. He was so concerned about spending the ENTIRE 2 hours and the ENTIRE $10 budget it was comical. :) I told him he'll have lots more dates to plan and we didn't have to do EVERYTHING he wanted to do on the first date. We ended up going to Cold Stone for a treat, then to BORDERS to browse (and attempt to spend the $3 change from Cold Stone that was burning a hole in his little pocket), then back home for 30 minutes of LINERIDER (see www.linerider.com)). We had a great time, and I'm looking forward to our next date.

I guess that's about it. My book club in Vegas is meeting tonight, and I'm missing all my peeps....HELLO OUT THERE! I MISS YOU!!!

Update

Saturday was our 11 year anniversary. We celebrated as a family. Steve spent the morning helping someone move, and we did some yard work. Then we did hair cuts and showers/baths -and left for IKEA. Steve had never been before - we didn't realize how far away it is. It's down by the airport...about 45 minutes South of here. We enjoyed our shopping and we bought a few things....(for Tim & Alison - we bought an oven-safe skillet - can't wait to try it). Kenneth & Daniel got to go to Smaland, and Caitlin was very disappointed that she's not 3 and couldn't go with her brothers. :(

We are enjoying long walks/bike rides as a family several times/week. There are LOTS of trails in and through this neighborhood and we have been exploring. We went on a 3 mile walk yesterday before church. (gotta love 1pm church).

I got a new calling yesterday. I'm Kenneth's new den leader for scouts - I'm immensely grateful for having lived by Angela as she was serving in cubs so that I don't feel like I'm totally clueless, but I do have a lot to learn. My neighbor down the street (really the only person I know sort of well around here) is the new Bear leader, so we'll be able to coordinate and all that. That will be good.

Kenneth is struggling a little. He's been in school for a month now, but 1 week of it was spring break, and one week of it was WASL (Washington Assesment of Student Learning) standardized testing, so he hasn't really gotten into the "groove" so-to-speak. I have considered home-schooling him next year - we'll see how it goes.

We've instigated dates with each of our kids. We're trading off and having one date/week. This week I get a date with Kenneth. I'm looking forward to it. I've already had a date with Caitlin and Steve had a date with Daniel. It's good to have some time as a family. We're in 2 Nephi now as a family, and our habit of reading 1 chapter after dinner each night is going really well.

We're still knee-deep in boxes, and I'll continue working on that.

Steve went to the doctor and had an MRI this morning on his shoulder. The doctor was pretty sure he'll need surgery. I wasn't too surprised, we've heard that before. We'll see what the MRI says. His ankle is not broken and that was good news (soccer injury in January still bothering him), but he's going to go to physical therapy to hopefully get it to a point where it won't wake him up at night with the pain.

Great Deal

If you live near a Baskin-Robbins see the web page below for a great deal!

http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Promotion/31cent.aspx

The Fair

 

Kenneth's face painting

 

Caitlin's face painting

 

Story time. We got to hear a story from a Christian group about Jesus Christ and his mission. I talked to the kids later about some of the things she said that bothered me a little bit (she had God drawn as a mist of white - we talked about how Heavenly Father has a body), but all in all I was glad my kids showed them respect, and Kenneth knew all the answers. :)

Weekend report...photos to follow

We had a fabulous weekend! We spent the weekend in Lakewood, WA (just South of Tacoma) with Steve's 2 cousins and their mom & dad (Billie, Keith, Tania, Troy, Little Keith and Sonia). We slept in their luxurious motor home (so Tasha could sleep with us - they had 2 other dogs in the house), and went to the Fair on Saturday. The fair was WET and COLD, but glorious nonetheless. I kept looking around thinking "All these people are out in this weather....wow", but we had a great time. We saw pig races (hysterical), got the boys fingerprinted (Caitlin was sleeping), rode a few rides, and did tons of fun crafts. The highlight was the DEMOLITION DERBY. It was very entertaining. We'll be sure and post pictures.

Now we know the truth...

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaHm1ecBCgw

 

Caitlin on "stage"

 

Daniel running the controls for the "stage"

 

The "controls" - they also had light controllers.

 

The water feature - which we wisely did LAST.

 

Caitlin in the dino-dig

 

Daniel going down a fireman's pole for the first time ever (on his own)

 

 

 

The play structure on the roof - it's HUGE! It's made for adults and children so I can climb up there with them.

 

The "dino-dig" - rubber chips covering dinosaur bones.

 

The sound section - lots of instruments to bang on.

 

The car - Caitlin loved - and Daniel loved the map that's in the back ground.

 

 

These first 2 are the view from the top of the building - pretty!!!

 

BIG OL' CHECKERS BOARD

 

Rock climbing - Daniel loved it.

 

Caitlin with ehr "pouch" on (tool belt). We worked in the construction room for a while, and Caitlin loved putting things into her pouch.

 

Caitlin on the tractor in the "farm".

 

Daniel LOVED this one, too. You turned the knob to the right and the balls (eggs) went up the chain and came out through the chicken at the top. The tubular pieces are modular and magnetic. You can control the path the eggs take coming out of the chicken. This was another big hit - Daniel stayed there a really long time.

 

Caitlin worked hard yesterday and today putting these milk bottles into numerical order.

 

Daniel LOVED this. There were balls and you shot them up like a pin ball, but then you could move the pieces to control where they went and how they came down. He played this for a LONG Time.

 

Caitlin - what a cutie.

 

My clay turtle...yes, I made it all by myself.

 

Daniel's clay fish - didn't he do a great job? He put a thing hanging down like the fish in Finding Nemo.

 

This is a room with a bunch of racket balls (sp?) and 7 tracks - 3 along the wall, and 2 in each of the "boats". You can see Daniel by one of the "boats", and Caitlin at the top of the 3 tracks that go along the wall. There are also giant lincoln logs in this room to build with.

 

They have a train room with a model train for the kids to climb in and blow the horn, and then a big train area with Thomas-like train tracks.

 

Who says city kids never milk a cow? This is Daniel & Caitlin milking a cow.

 

This is Caitlin and Daniel showing off our creations in one of the rooms.

This morning

 

 

Isn't Caitlin's hair lovely? It starts out looking like this....then the day happens. Oh, well. Kenneth wanted his picture taken, too, even though he was going to be at school today and not with us at the Discovery Museum.

Baseball Fun

 

 

Woo hoo!

It's April 16th. That's a happy thing. I took Daniel & Caitlin to the children's discovery museum here this morning. They had a GREAT time, so I bought a pass so we can go back on a regular basis. They are at JUST the RIGHT ages for that. Daniel could build something in every room. It's not enormous and parking is less than ideal, but we'll just go first thing when they open, and I'm sure we'll get our money's worth. I didn't take my camera, but I promised them we'd go back tomorrow and pack a lunch so we could play all morning long. I'll take my camera tomorrow.

News from the weekend...2 things:

1) We had crab on Saturday night. We bought them LIVE. One of them was 3.04 lbs! The other 2 were about 2.35 lbs or so. That was a LOT of crab. We boiled them ourselves (thanks to my bday present from Ang), and everyone ate until we couldn't eat any more. Steve and I have never had to stop eating crab because we were FULL! It was amazing. I wish I'd taken some pictures. Next time...

2) When I went to buy the crab they were having a once a year halibut sale. You purchase a halibut (entire fish) for $6.99/lb. and tell them whether you want it in filets or steaks and they cut it for you and package it for you and you bring it home...bones/head and all. (Apparently people around here either compost the bones or use them for a broth to make chowder out of...ours are in the freezer until we figure out what to do with them). We bought one that was 15+ pounds and now we've got a freezer full of halibut. We're trying it out for the first time tonight...so we'll let you know how it is. Hopefully it was worth it! We figured...when in Seattle, do as the Seattlites - right?

The weather was beautiful on Saturday and we seized the day and worked in the yard all day. I got all my flowers (that I started inside as seeds) planted, and Steve built me a trellis for my peas and some climbing flowers. I'll have to post a picture once we get the string all strung on it. It got up to 82 degrees...downright hot! :) Sunday it was back to rain, but before it started...we went on an adventure. We went for the same walk I took with the kids during Spring Break to the hidden park. Daniel and Kenneth rode their bikes, and Steve brought Tasha - so we were all together. We had a great time. Steve played a little catch with Kenneth, and Caitlin and Daniel and I played on the playscape. We didn't bring a watch or a phone - we just enjoyed the time together. It was a wonderful way to enjoy not having church until 1pm.

Monday night we went to the Mariners vs. Kansas City baseball game. It was so FUN!!! Of course, we LOVE to cheer for John Buck! We were 25 rows back - right behind the catcher. Unfortunately, he said he couldn't hear me cheering - but I assure you - I cheered with the best of them. I'm sure the people around me knew who I was cheering for! :) We went in our KC garb and we got heckled on the elevator! We got to meet one of Brooke's cousins (on her mom's side) and we all went to Denny's after the game. It was wonderful as always.

So - despite my deadline, our life here has continued. I've got lots of unpacking to do now - and laundry and housework to catch up on (it would help if I could REMEMBER where I packed the Vacuum bags!). But - this weekend we're heading to the Spring Fair! (See www.thefair.com) We're going with some of Steve's family - it will be lots of fun! We're even going to the demolition derby on Saturday night. We're looking forward to a fun weekend. I promise I'll try to remember to bring the camera!

Back to the grind

I went to Vegas last weekend for the services for my friend. They were lovely. I'm so glad I went. I'm glad I was able to help. The weather was so beautiful in Vegas, it reminded me why I loved living there in the winter. When I landed in Seattle it was 41 degrees. Brrrrrrrrr. I spent Monday grocery shopping and catching up with my kids...and I went to bed early. Tuesday I hit the ground running with work and laundry. I had a small set back with my heart, and ended up going to the doctor that afternoon. Everything seems to be OK now, and I'm plugging away. I'm looking forward to life after the 15th. :)

Sadness

I don't even know how to say this except to say that the cycle of life is weighing heavily upon me these days. Monday a friend from high school passed away. Yesterday, a dear friend in Las Vegas passed away. I am shocked and saddened by the news. It makes me contemplate just how fragile mortality is. It makes me reflect on my beliefs and my faith. It causes me to analyze my own life - were it to end tomorrow, have I been the person I wanted to be? Have I done what I was sent to do? I'd have to answer this question with a no. I'm comforted that my dear friend could answer this question with a yes. He was kind, compassionate, energetic, unselfish, and giving. He was a fantastic father and husband. A huge hole is left where he was. My heart aches for his sweet family. I wish I were still close and could drop in on those empty days to come. I will be making a trip back to Las Vegas this weekend, and another one in a month or 2. I yearn to know what to say, but there isn't anything to say, but hearts can communicate volumes. This life is about learning, growing, and improving day by day. I have a long way to go. Many thanks to those who have entertwined their lives with mine to teach me and help me improve. I'll miss you dearly, my friend.

Adventure

It's spring break for Kenneth this week, and it's sunny today, so we went on an adventure....with our legs, a stroller, and 2 bikes. 3 hours later we got home. We found a park, and a playfield, and a beautiful path by a stream. I think we walked about 2.5 miles or so. Kenneth's bike mal-functioned for a while (he says it's because I rode it, maybe it was), but it seems to be better now. We enjoyed our beautiful area and heard lots of birds (including a wood-pecker). We saw lots of "popcorn" trees...they're very fragrant. We didn't get stuck in a storm, and it didn't get too cold on us. YEA! It's about 55 degrees outside today.