November 28, 2010

Uh, yeah, so it's been a while. Gonna try to catch up a little and add some more frequent posts, if anyone really cares to read (doubt it, but here's to you!!!).

Quick updates:

Dave/Mike: Nothing exciting happenin' with him right now. Still working swing shift as a local cop and getting his kicks out of it. We love the dinnertime stories about suicide, drug abuse, runaways, and domestic violence. When he's home, our house is full of laughter and fun. I must be the boring parent, because when he's not around, it's pretty dull around here.

Audra: FINALLY (and this is why I haven't written much lately) sent in my final edits to my book to the publisher whose response was very positive. She said she'll send it to her editor the first of the year, so it should be out, hopefully, in a few months. I'm pretty proud of it. It was a LOT of work, this one. Lots of research and organizational changes and all that. Little crazy and stressful, but I'm very happy it's done. Work is going great. I have great staff, a nice office space, and such wonderful families I get to work with. I really enjoy what I do. On my off time, I mostly hang out with the fam or friends. No exciting hobbies to speak of!

Isaak: Doing really well right now. He has been taken off his special education plan at school and is "flying solo" and doing fine so far. He is also off all medication, and any lingering "issues" that the meds used to help with, he's learning to navigate on his own. He's getting straight A's which include AP Calculus II and Physics at the high school. He's also in chess club and competes with the high school math club, plays piano, and is signing up to play basketball at school next.

Lil' Audra/Maggie: Turned 12 today! Can't believe my "baby" is 12. It was really fun to go get her out of Primary today, with the Young Women, and escort her into Young Women's with us! She was so excited and ready to be out of the "kids" class. Maggie still loves to read and eat sunflower seeds more than anything. She is in two drama clubs, one community and one for school. She saved her moo-lah and contributed half to get a new puppy a couple months ago who has proven to be the CUTEST DOG EVER!

Lil' Audra with all her birthday "loot"

Katie: Was a little unsure of the puppy when she came home, but she has turned into quite the adopted mother. She lets Ellie climb all over her, bite her ankles, jowls, and stomach, and eat her food with hardly a growl. Our little anxiety scaredy-cat shepherd has become quite the guard dog (finally!). Oh, she still runs away if someone challenges her, but I think she would actually scare off a would-be thief if they tried to break in now!

Ellie's favorite hideout. Katie only tolerates it for a few minutes.

Ellie: Is half Pomeranian, half Chihuahua (Pomchi) and is now about 6 months old. She is one funny ball of energy! Puppies are hilarious, anyway, but to see her wrestle around with this huge shepherd is quite the thing to witness. She's a good, obedient dog who has been easy to train so far. And yes, she is dang cute!

All in all, it's been a good year for us. I'll try to keep everyone posted on any new antics in the near future!

From Dave

Dave wrote the nicest e-mail to my family, unbeknownst to me, about my new office...

(I can't get the text to wrap right, but you get the idea)

As you may/not have heard, Audra moved out of her broom closet to an actual office building that treats her like a business. The building is a nice little place. First of all, it’s named after a local guy who was a Navy pilot and Blue Angels team member who was shot down over Vietnam, taken prisoner, then subsequently “disappeared.” He is still considered MIA. The lobby has a nice little display about him. For me, this alone makes the location respectable.

She has an actual sign, visible from the street. Whoa.

She’s on the building directory…

A sign pointing to her office!

Another little sign outside her door.

Sure, come in, take a look around… That back room there is her own office space.

She’s got a big therapy room. For big therapy I guess.

Additionally, there is a good size storage closet for all her cabinets full of supplies, strait jackets, chair restraints, whips, and whatnot. This keeps young easily distracted minds and hands relatively un-tempted. It’s nice that her business is brisk, and that she was literally out-growing her original office. In 2 years she has gone from using our spare bedroom (ugh) to this. She’s got employees, payroll, billing, and occasional sleep. Anyway, she’ll probably blog about this when she gets time. So, don’t hold your breath. She’s got a lot of clients. She helping a lot of kids, and doing much good. She’s helping provide our living while also providing it for the people working for her. Much respect to my wife. ~dave

February 9, 2010

Dave's gone for most of the month on military duty. I'm trying to do one small thing for him each day (he's staying at his mom's, so she's my "proxy"). I asked the kids to write something to him to get one of the days. This is what they wrote:



Isaak: "Please come home now! *COUGH HACK* We're dying without you! *uuuugggh*"



Maggie: You are the best dad ever. I love you. You serve our country. For all of us. Even if your gone for a day or a month or a year I know you will always come back. You are the best cook in the world. Happy Anniversary and Valentines.

Love, aUdr4M49913

I have proof!

They used to adore each other. /sigh

I suspect it will return someday.

http://picasaweb.google.com/audra3141/OldFotos#

January 10, 2010

Dave: I waited a long time, many years, to get him. It was well worth the wait. We were talking the other day how it must have been designed that way, that it just never worked out before it did, on purpose because we probably would have screwed it up when we were younger. We had to wait for each other to grow and prepare. I can't believe what a perfect match we are. He is everything I ever wanted. He is so dang smart. I love talking to him about really serious topics (although we steer away from some political topics since we don't agree on them all :)). He can give me all the historical facts about some religious topic or who said what about what topic when or just some obscure, random fact that you'd only hear on Jeopardy. I love and respect him for that. He is also a civil servant to the heart. I'm glad he found a career that gives him a chance to "give back" because that is what fulfills him. He needs to feel like he's doing something meaningful in the world. Amazing. He has always been an involved, hands-on father. I have never, ever hesitated to drop the kids and run with him in charge. I knew that he'd know what they needed to do and where they needed to go, and do so probably in a more efficient and "fun" way than I would. He always pushed me out the door when I needed it (and often when I didn't know I did) and has never begrudged me my "girl time." He makes me feel loved and adored and sexy everyday. That's a real feat!

Isaak: He has had some real challenges to conquer in this life. He'll never be "free" of them, but I've come to accept him for who he is today and what he has to offer the world. He is an amazing young man. He is kind and patient. He is the guy I want to use as a model in my social groups for other kids because he is so flexible and patient and a good example to follow. He is so dang smart. It hurts my brain to think about the stuff that he learns so easily. Yeah, he may have to work on the normal social ins and outs that come easy for the rest of us, but I guess the trade off is we have to work at the other stuff he gets so easy! And the social stuff is coming. He'll make it. I love how cooperative he is at home. He may not always think of it on his own, but whenever I ask him to do something to help out, he never complains or rolls his eyes or tells me "later." He just says "K" and stops what he's doing (or finds a good stopping point) and goes and does it. He doesn't complain about picking up dog poop or doing dishes or laundry. He doesn't complain when he's reminded to practice piano. He, of course, rarely has homework, but if I ask him to get *something* done, he'll work on something. He loves little kids. I wish he could babysit (not possible for him) because he just loves little kids. He coos and smiles and follows them around, and they love him for it. He'll make a good dad one day. Despite his challenges, he has deep connections to his family. He loves us very much. He feels it; it's obvious. If he finds the right girl, I have no doubt he will be able to make it work. She'll just have to tell him what to do and he'll do it! He just may not know instinctively!

Audra Maggie: She has always been just this little bundle of joyful energy. That has never gone away. I expect the teenage moodiness to creep in one of these days, but no sign yet. Even when she gets down, it doesn't last long. She bounces right back with a little love. She loves people. All people. She seeks interaction. She will be a fun mother. She is so naturally talented in almost anything she tries. Her artsy brain works really well. You should see these little clay sculptures she makes. She is artistic and creative, none of which she got from me. She has her grandma to thank for that. She loves to cook, which she didn't get from me. She has her dad to thank for that. Some might says she got her energy from me, but who knows. I know that I have a really good time hanging out with her. She's at the age where I can just say, "Let's go see a movie" and it's not like a mom taking a child out to a movie, it's more like two friends hanging out. It was really cool to have her join us for the midnight release of New Moon. I love that she loves to read so much. She will devour a full-size book in a day. She bleeds me dry. I can't keep up with her. I love how passionate she is about whatever she's doing. Whatever she chooses to do in life, she will be passionate about it.

Katie: I call her "idiot" all the time, but I really do love her. I don't love how she still pees in submission if we act too dominate over her (not intentionally). I love how she knows her pack, and she is only truly happy when we are all here. When any one of us is gone, she sulks. I love how obedient she is. Such an easy dog to discipline and train. No work, really. She goes to the bathroom when and where we tell her (no poop on the grass; yea!), we can go out front and give her permission to come out, but she won't run off. She is forgiving that we don't take her on walks cuz we're too lazy (or busy). I love that I have absolutely no worries when any of my friends have their little kids over. They can crawl on her, pull her hair, stick their hands in her mouth, and she just loves it all. I hear that she has growled when a kid took food or something, but that is rare and I suppose normal dog behavior.

I love my family. Each and every one of them.

Recent fotos:

Christmas Card 2009

December 16, 2009

Maggie had a big business project at school where part of it was they had to apply and interview for actual jobs they were going to do in the faux town that was created. Here are her interview questions and answers. I thought they were cute.

1. In what school activities are you involved?

I'm in choir, patrol, and I was in track last year. Choir helps me work with others. Patrol helps me be safe and know and respect the rules.

2. What skills do you have that would make you a good employee?

I work good with others. I'm responsible and trustworthy.

3. Do you like working alone or with other people?

I can do both. I like to work with other people when I'm having fun.

4. How would your friends describe you?

Spunky and hard-working. I make new friends a lot.

5. Who is someone you admire? What is it about this person that you admire most?

I don't really admire anyone. I want to be my own person.

Hawaii Final Day

Sorry it's taken a few days, but the last days were crazy!

Morning sunrise. Then, we got some clothes on and ran off to a couple of local spots to take our annual family pics. Had to fight the wind, but I think we got a couple of cool ones. Most important was capturing the essence of our year.

After a quick trip to the beach, we spent the remainder of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Of all the things we did this week, I have to say that this might have been the highlight for me (close with swimming with the turtle and boogie boarding). If you haven't heard of it, it's zoo-like, but instead of animal attractions, it has Polynesian island attractions. There are 7 island represented in small areas. In each area, there are traditional buildings built, activities, and mini-shows demonstrating the song and dance of the island. A great educational experience for the kids, yes, but it was truly amazing. I absolutely loved every minute of it. I love to experience different cultures of the world, and this was not lacking. It made me realize how little "culture" we have here! I suppose it's because we are such a young country. The day/night ended with a traditional Luau, complete with pig from the ground and a lei ceremony. The flowers were beautiful. I also loved seeing the little kids doing traditional hula dances. So cute! Then, there was a more professional show, with probably 100 participants. It was fabulous. It told the story of a boy growing up, but it was mainly to show the different island cultures in dance and song. The finale was a fire dance with a fire eater and tossing fire sticks and all that. It was way cool! It was worth every penny and spending the whole day there. Absolutely the highlight of the week for me.

Trip to Hawaii. $Lots. Day at the PCC. $Not cheap. Seeing your 12-year-old gawking at the hula dancers. Priceless.

No joke. This is really what he looked like. :)

More pictures added. Click Here.

Couple more vids

USS Arizona

Kids Goofing Off

Hawaii Day 5

Fun day today. First, we went to a local fave, The Pancake House in Koa, for the most spectacular breakfast I've had in ages. Papaya crepes, Portuguese sausage and marinated pork, homestyle potatoes, pancakes, french toast, eggs. It was "marvelous." In fact, held us over for food until like 3 PM! I think my favorite part was that we were the only white peeps in there. All locals. Very cool.

Then, we went to a local LDS ward. We lucked out. It was one of the best Sacrament meetings I've been to. One of their young men (although a little older from what I gathered) has been called to the Tacoma, WA mission and is leaving. It was his farewell. Several young people spoke and gave great talks, and there were a couple of musical numbers that were great. Two young men sang a duet in fantastic harmony, very Hawaiian sounding. Loved it. At the end of the service, an older gentleman stood up at the front and started singing "Aloha 'Oe" (Farewell to Thee). Everyone joined in at the end. During this, there grew a huge line up to the front of the chapel where the going out elder stood, and people came up, put a lei around his neck and hugged and kissed him good-bye. Found out later that the gentleman who stood up to sing was actual the father in the movie Johnny Lingo (old, famous Mormon show). The whole ceremony was quite something to see.

Next, we went to Pearl Harbor. That was something to see, too. Watched a show on the history of the USS Arizona, then we took a boat shuttle out to the site where the ship had sunk and there is now a memorial built on top of it. Quite humbling and reverent. Went back and Dave showed them the cool missles and old guns on display. It was cool.

Went to Kailua Park and beautiful sandy beach. Little bit overcast and windy, but the water was warm and great for riding the mini-waves. Very shallow quite far out. Great for the boogie board although none of us were very good at it. Still, I could have stayed out there all day if I weren't such a wimpy girl these days. It's hard work! Once I got out of the water, it was windy and cold, so time to go. Hit the showers, then dinner at a local Hawaiian plate cafe before heading home.

Lovely day. Last big day tomorrow. Polynesian Cultural Center is the big thing on the agenda. Looking forward to it.

More photos added. Click here.

Hawaii Day 4

Time is passing too quickly. It's actually the morning of the 5th day, so we only have two more nights.

Weather has been a little disappointing. Dave loves it, but I wanted cloudless sun. I knew not to expect it this time of year, but still, a girl can hope, right? Day 4 was overcast a good part of the day. We did, however, get to the snorkel place during mid-day sun hours. That was fantastic. I guess it was murky and rough waters more than usual, but I would never have known. I thought it was incredible. At first, Maggie wasn't happy. Having problems with her snorkel gear. I have learned, though, not to push or react to her. I just casually said it was fine; I'd be happy to sit out with her. Told her it was totally up to her what she wanted to do. Didn't fuel the fire. After a few minutes, she settled down and asked to go try it again. Now, if I had *suggested* she go try it again, no way would she have agreed. It had to be her idea. (She's going to read this. Maggie, I LOVE who you are and that you are such a strong person with strong ideas. Don't get me wrong!). Anyway, when we went back in, we switched snorkel gear, and she did much better with my mask. In fact, we saw a huge sea turtle hat we ended up following around for at least 20 minutes. It was so cool.

After a while, they announced on the loud speakers that the tide was high and visibility was very low. A whole lot of people were giving up. And, since we had spend a few hours in the water already, we were ready to go, too. We got showered off and changed and then found a yummy Mexican food place.

Got back to the house, settled down for a little while, went out and got shave ice again (yum!), and then we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the little local theater. OK. So, it was absolutely MARVELOUS, but not a show for little kids or for people who scare easily (despite being a Disney film). It was quite intense! But, if you can handle a little ghost scare, Robert Zemeckis did an incredible script write, making it more literature than movie. Something to study in an English class. I want to go see it again in 3-D (this was was 2-D). Now, Maggie was not such a fan. Well, she liked the movie in the end, but was quite freaked out! There were some good scares!

Then it was bedtime again. Another wonderful day in paradise.

Hawaii Day 3

First, last night was a tremendous storm including lightening. Very fun! Maggie had a dream about a poisonous rooster attacking us. Ah, the adventure of Hawaii!

In the morning, it was still overcast. We debated what to do since we had planned to spend the day at the beach in Waikiki. We wanted to risk it, since we've found out that the weather forecast here, when it says rain, means it might possibly sprinkle a moment or two. Nothing like what we're used to. So, although it was overcast and yucky when we left for Honolulu, we took the risk. By the time we got there, about 45 minutes later, it was sunny and beautiful. Perfect beach weather. Not too hot, not cloudy, not rainy. And, we got to the beach early enough that there weren't many people there. We spent the morning on the sand. About noon, when more people were crowding the space, we got out of there, sand in our shorts and all. Very pleasant. Did a little shopping, then got back in the car.

Drove home to change clothes and de-sand-tize our bodies. Headed to the infamous Shave Ice place (Motsumoto's) where they put ice cream on the bottom, then the shave ice (note no "d" at the end of "shave"; that's what it's called here) on top. It was marvelous (Dave's good food word). Really, it was awesome.

Next was the shrimp truck, Giovanni's. Took a buttload of shrimp back to the house to devour. Yum. Fresh shrimp. Caught today. Can't get any better than that.

End of the day was Dave and I heading to the temple to do a session while the kids stayed home to watch a movie. Problem #1. Temple ends up being closed for renovations until July. Bummer. Problem #2. Stupid little DVD in the little house leaves much to be desired, so kids didn't get to watch their movie. Oh well! No big deal around here. We're in freaking Hawaii! All's good.

We will be ending the day with some fresh made chocolate cream pie we got at a local bakery. Nigh-night!

More Photos Added. Click Here

Added some videos

On the Spit
At the maze
At a beach

Hawaii Day 2

Still on Seattle time, so we were all up by 6 A.M. (some 4:30). Time enough to sit in the backyard and watch the sunrise. It was magnificent. Dave and kids got suits on and jumped in the water in high tide. Maggie got feet scraped up, but all worth it.

Cleaned up, had breakfast, hopped in the car for some island exploration. Found a couple of good spots we want to check out later in the week (with suits on). Stopped at a surfing competition going on and watched that for a few minutes, but only after Isaak, climbing a tree, took a dare from some 4-year-olds to jump off, despite him having a bum knee. So, yup, he hurt it worse. After a few agonizing minutes of him moaning and finally tears falling down his cheek, we decided we'd better take him to the doc. Stupid kid.

So, off to Honolulu to the E.R. However, he had some ibuprofen in him, and the wait was going to be really long, so I was a really bad mother and said forget it. I'm sure you're fine. Keep taking the ibuprofen, ice it, and wrap it. You'll live. Which is what he's doing now.

After the almost-trip-to-the-E.R., went with Dave to the police station where we had to wait for him to "register" his firearm. Whoopee. That was truly exciting.

Went to Sushi to a spot Dave had wanted to hit, and it was marvelous. Expensive, so we didn't eat much, but it was good.

Went to the Dole Plantation per Maggie's request which she just forgot about until I reminded her. It was cool. Has the largest labrynth in the world (in 2008). Maybe there's another one bigger now, but it was pretty cool regardless. So, we ran around there for a while, then ate really good pineapple sorbet and shopped at a fun gift shop. Highlight of the day for sure.

On the way home, we drove up to a spit, walked out to the edge, and observed CRAZY waves. Dave said he could stay there all day. I could, if it had been a little warmer. End of the day haze and clouds were rolling in.

Came back to the beachhouse where we found a dead cochroach by the sliding door. We ARE in Hawaii! Dave and the kids went swimming again in the backyard. What a way to start and end the day!

Tomorrow's plan: hit Waikiki beach and hopefully enjoy the sun most of the day. Need a lazy day or two for this to really be a vacation.

More pics: Click Here

Hawaii Day 1

We pulled it off. Some family knew, but we wanted to surprise the kids. So, we told them that we were going up to Seattle to see grandparents and that we were going out to breakfast with Grandpa in the morning (this morning). Off we went first thing this morning. Kids had no idea. We drove right up to the airport terminal (drop off) before lil' Audra finally said, "Um, why are we here?" We just got out of the car and got the bags out, refusing to answer any questions. Tension/excitement rose. Isaak remained clueless and just followed us along wherever we directed him, but Audra finally figured it out by looking at the gate number and the departure board. She went and told Isaak, who didn't believe her until I told him she was right. Then, excitement was in full swing.

Plane ride was uneventful except for some turbulance which always makes Dave poo his pants. He doesn't like to fly. 5 1/2 hours later, we arrived. It is beautiful. It is humid. The temperature is hovering around 70-75. Some showers so far, but at least it's warm! Not like Portland/Seattle rain! Rain and sun will share the skies this week.

We rented a little beach front house on the Northeast side of Oahu. The sand is coral sand where are, a little rougher than your classic white sand, but still totally toe-able. No injuries to tootsies. There is like a tidepool right there, and then a row of rocks, and then the surf beach. Makes it easy for the kids to wade around in where the water is all calm. We'll be having some fun.

We plan to just relax and explore. We plan to do one day at the Polynesian Center, but other than that, we're just winging it. I'll write about each day's adventure. Today's adventure is ending in Dave trying to find where he put the week's cash somewhere in the house. Ah, the joy.

Here are some pictures: Click Here

November 8, 2009

Emailed a friend of mine who inquired about Isaak:

"Isaak’s doing great. Had a parent conference with his block teacher, and he basically said if he could have 90 like him, he would. He pays attention, gets to work, stays on task, gets his assignments done. It was fantastic to finally have a positive conference! Although, last year was good, too. For him, it’s just been about middle school. Getting out of elementary made all the difference in the world.

This year, he’s taking AP Calculus and pre-AP Chemistry at the high school. He actually has no class in-between those two, so he just studies, then he walks to the middle school, so he spends about half his day on each campus. Everyone seems to treat him well and like him. He’s on the high school math team which is quite competitive, and he keeps up with them. He took home his first individual math competition trophy last week. He’s still as awkward as poo, but he seems to have found his niche. Although, even among the math nerds he sticks out a lot of the time. At the competition this weekend, he was paired up with a girl his age from another school he didn’t know, and his way to first interact with her was to put his arm around her. Not like boyfriend, thing, just friendly, but boy! Did she shrink away from him! Some other girls saw and laughed and stuff. He was clueless. Idiot. He also got a minor knee injury last week, and he continues to baby it (walking straight-legged on it) even though I know it’s fine. He looks like a complete buffoon. It’s like he has to re-learn to walk right because he forced himself to baby it for a week.

I just roll my eyes most days about some of his quirks. "

November 1, 2009

Ah, Halloween. Well, the kids are to that in-between stage. For a couple of years now, Isaak has already said he's "too old" for Halloween and has opted to just stay home and hand out candy. He's been completely happy with that, of course, since he doesn't like candy which makes trick-or-treating kinda senseless. Add to that the fact that he's never really had a core group of buddies to hang out with, so he's just hung at home. My, how things are different this year! Isaak now has this group of buddies that do all the normal meet-at-lunch, hang-out-after-school stuff that kids his age do. Yeah, they are loud and obnoxious, quirky kids, but they're HIS buddies, and that's saying something. I never look a gift horse in the mouth!

As for Maggie, she still wants to trick-or-treat, but she also wanted to have a party. So, I relented. I let them invite who they wanted to, and I prepped and planned a big old shindig at our hours for their friends and a few of mine. Isaak had about 8 friends and Maggie had about 5, plus some parents and my friends with families; totalled more than 30 people. The boys were incredibly loud and rough, but that's what 12-year-old boys are like, I've learned. The girls just huddled up together, which is also what 10-year-old girls do (they don't want to have anything to do with the boys yet). Groups went out trick-or-treating here and there, but mostly there was just loud noise and chaos.

In one room, I darkened the whole room, put black lights, a strobe light, and spooky music in there. I heard lots of "Thriller" going on. In another room, I had 6 covered bowls where they had to stick their hand in and figure out if the stuff was supposed to represent eyes (boiled eggs in jello), brain (steamed cauliflower), guts (spaghetti and sausage), vomit (pumpkin insides), snot (bananas and pudding), or heart (canned whole tomatoes). Lots of disgusting noises in there! There was a table with cookie decorating, but I only think a couple little kids did that. Then, I made a ton of fun, Halloween food, and a couple friend brought some great stuff, too. We watched Coraline (so creepy!). I only had to get after the boys once for going to far when they went out to ding-dong-ditch.

I learned a couple of things that I will improve upon for next year. Young teenage boys are not trustworthy. I heard later that a lot of our handing-out candy went into their own bags. Also with the ding-dong-ditch idea. I know it's normal, and we all did it, but I still need to reign them in a bit. Also, kids don't appreciate the funky foods so much. I won't go to such efforts next year until I just have my friends over. I'll do the fun stuff I know they'll eat, but not some of the other stuff that took lots of time to make but didn't get eaten much. Not worth the effort. Worth a try, though! I also learned that Maggie's friends are sweet, gentle souls, and Isaak's friends are, I say again, loud and obnoxious. I may look at transforming part of the upstairs for just the girls and let the boys have free reign downstairs. We'll see where they all are in a year.

Yes, that means I will do it again. They kids really seemed to love it. Maggie was so excited, I thought she'd pee herself for days leading up to it. Isaak is just so laid back and content, he would probably be happy with anything, but I sure love to see him having real friends. It's really amazing to me.

October 11, 2009

Not such a hot week for me...

• Very full work week, which isn't such a bad thing were it not for...
• Caught a nasty virus that turned into bronchitis. Sound like I have croup (is that how it's spelled?). Not sleeping well, feel like poo, was not getting any better. Finally went to doc and got some happy drugs. Feel better when those are in me.
• My thumb drive got broken off when it was in my laptop. It had all my edits for my book and notes from my publisher's conversation. Hours of research and work not easily reproduced possibly down the drain. I cried. I never cry. I'm more upset at how stupid I was. I know better than to not back up my work regularly. I know better! Anyway, I've had it sent into some data recovery place in California. We'll see. Stupid stupid stupid.

Well, I guess that's all the bummer stuff. Not the end of the world. I have wonderful family and great friends, and it all works out. I was just thinking the other day how cool my kids are and how much I like hanging out with them. We really have a good time. They are easy to parent (for now) and cooperative and fun and laid back. Our house is generally very peaceful and is only loud and obnoxious when certain friends come over to hang. But, I'm fine with that. I wanted to have "that house" when I grew up; you know, the one all the kids go to to hang out? I'd rather have them all come here, make a mess, and be loud than to have my kids always gone. So, I have "that house" now, at least for Isaak's friends, and I love it! And I love that he HAS friends that want to come hang out. It's so cool! We just took him to see his pychiatrist. Decided to decrease his meds since he's doing so well. He had almost nothing to say to us. He's doing so well!

Anyway, totally rambling, but I got a post out this week! Woo-hoo!

October 4, 2009

I'm sorry I'm such a feast and famine blogger. When Sunday comes around (the day I TELL myself I will update), I just think about what happened that week and think how boring it all is and how no one in their right mind would really care about reading it.

We're all sick here. Well, so far Dave isn't, but the kids and I have a cold. I thought mine was getting better but then the last two days have been worse; AND now the kids are coughing. I think Maggie has it the worst. She just took a nap. She NEVER takes a nap. Definitely not feeling well. Nice crackly cough, too. I never know when to keep them home when they don't have a fever or are throwing up or anything like that.

My friend, Dana, gave us AWESOME tickets to the Mariner's game last night. So, I farmed out the girl and dragged Isaak on the 2 1/2 hour trip up to Seattle to see the game. K, so it wasn't dragging him. He was really excited. Turns out, it was an AWESOME game! We had an absolute ball. Of course, he'd just asked me to go get him another hot dog when Junior hit a home run. I just missed it! And there was this awesome play where the first baseman caught a straight fly and THEN touched first to get the guy out who was running to 2nd. Nice double play.

Best part of the night, though, was watching a lady get thrown out just a few rows in front of us for being loud and obnoxious. She went out swearing like a sailor!

We had fun...



We won!



And some fun with friends last week...

Maggie's Art

She's getting ready to prepare a porfolio to submit in her application to the Art school for next year. I'll keep adding photos as we get them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/audra3141/MaggieSArt#