NMS are in OR for Christmas, having fun with cousins and grandparents. The drive down took them twice as long as usual, what with the icy/snowy roads. They had to drive 30mph on the freeway for long stretches, and dealt with ice build up on the windshied. They ended up spending the night in Woodinville. Good thing I suggested they leave on Saturday instead of waiting until Monday - even though it meant losing my "Christmas" weekend with them. Still, we celebrated Saturday morning. It was fun being with them around the small, living tree (a Norfolk Island Pine).

I really miss them right now.

Halloween was a lot of fun! I borrowed a bear costume from Conservation Northwest and trick-or-treated with S in downtown Bellingham before she had to be at her face painting booth at Fairhaven Girls School, at which she painted some whiskers on me. Then S had to head down to Seattle for a dance workshop the next day.

N&M and I went trick-or-treating later that evening around Elizabeth Park, then I dropped them off at a friend's Halloween party and went to a party at H&D's. When I picked N&M up at 11:00 I was wearing the costume and was able to surprise all of them. It was pretty fun and I enjoyed being a bear.

Now we're getting ready for Thanksgiving - I need to get all the supplies needed for a fun day of eating and watching football with the kids. Should be good times.

M is working with a math tutor now, which is helping him a lot. N&S are doing well in school and still playing violin and viola respectively. I still want to find something extracurricular for M as well.

Oh boy, Halloween is almost here! The kids are very excited about their costumes and trick-or-treating. S has a dance workshop to attend in Seattle that weekend, so I'll probably be trick-or-treating with her downtown before she has to leave. N&M have been invited to a Halloween party, so that should be fun for them.

N&M are liking Whatcom Middle School and S really loves Fairhaven Girls School. M is homeschooling until 11:30 every day and then goes to WMS for some classes. Also he gets to be in the same classes as N, which helps him.

S is in hip-hop and ballet classes, and is also in rehearsals for the Nutcracker this year (she plays one of the siblings). She's also going to be starting gymnastics pretty soon, and is learning viola.

N is still learning violin and sounds better every time I hear him.

We still need to find something for M to do that he would enjoy besides video games ;).

We got pumpkins this weekend but we're holding off on carving them until next week so that they don't rot too soon.

S had a fun birthday on the 28th! It was great to hang out with her and N&M. We went to the mall and S got a full-on manicure and pedicure, complete with massage chair!

We also did a bunch of back-to-school shopping that week - now they're all in school. S is really liking her new 4th grade teacher, and N&M have started at Whatcom MS and are liking it OK too - though they're not too crazy about the homework, and both have told me that math is their least favorite class....

We're going to the Puyallup Fair this weekend and will be meeting my sister and her two sons there. We've never been to this fair, which is pretty big, so it should be fun.

N continues to play his violin and sounds really quite good - he can get a nice tone out of it. S is in a hip-hop and ballet dance class this year. Still looking for something for M to take.

I went hiking and camping with some friends to Yellow Aster Butte last weekend. It is so beautiful up there! We went up an old, unmaintained trail called "Keep Your Cool" - rough going at some spots, but almost no other people around (with the exception of some bow hunters looking for deer, and surprisingly, a lot of bear hunters!). Found a huge patch of huckleberries on the way as well. YAB is dotted with water filled tarns, covered in soft grasses and moss, and is very quite. It was warm enough that I could walk around barefoot, and we had an almost full (harvest) moon - bright enough that we went on a short walkabout in the moonlight. I really, really want to take NMS up there soon!

Nice sunny weather in the 'Ham! Now that we have our pool back (because of the petition we drew up and had everyone sign), the kids and I have been in the water almost every day they're with me.

NMS head off to OR tomorrow for a brief visit with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. I'll be down there too for work and plan on a rendezvous next weekend.

NMS are a bit dismayed about how fast summer is going by and not exactly looking forward to school, but I hope they'll be more energized and positive about it once it all starts up again - N&M starting Middle School this year!

N&M are also trying out violin and viola, are doing well and enjoying it, and will continue with private lessons. M also wants to go back to drums which I think would be very cool. S still doing well with the piano, and dance classes will start up after summer as well. I know she still wants to do a gymnastics camp this summer as well, so I hope we can still squeeze that in.

Birthdays, Fireworks, Summer!

N&M celebrated their 12th(!) birthday on the first. They came over and had the morning with me, opening their presents (Nintendo DS's, crimson for N and black for M), then had a sleep-over party with their friends at HQ.

S and I spent 6 hrs at Birch Bay Waterslides, which was a lot of fun. S was unstoppable, always in the water and on the slides, but I got drained by the hot sun. She was great, getting over her fear of the slides quickly and was soon going on her own. And neither of us got sunburned :)

The 4th was fun - we set off 30 dollars worth of fireworks (and decided to spend at least twice that much next year). The kids were great and very good about making sure that no fireworks were left smoldering, running around with water bottles to douse fireworks after they'd gone off. Here's what we bought:

Sparklers x2
Lightning Flash x2
Cracking Crazy Ground Hog x2
Ground Bloom Flower x2
Space Flyer
Jack In the Box
Purple Rain x2
Air Calvary (this one shot out a little army dude who floated back down on a parachute!)
100 Shot Magical Barrage
American Heartland (my favorite)

And now it's summer, and usually sunny! I bought myself a Redline 925 for my birthday, a sweet single speed, all steel ride that I've really been enjoying.

Summer is almost here (though it continues to rain an awful lot!), and the kids are looking forward to some warm weather. Hopefully the pool will be open, but there are some repairs that need to be done that might not get funded...which would be a bummer for all of us. I'm thinking of taking a petition around so that the owners have better awareness of how much demand there is for the pool.

S is having some problems with her fear of the dentist, but we're trying out some counseling to talk her through and ultimately overcome those fears. N is working on a recycled art project today at school - I'm going to try to take off from work to check it out either today or tomorrow. M is still cruising with homeschool/unschooling and I'm still concerned about where he will be academically when middle school starts in the Fall.

Lots of plans for the summer - music classes, gymnastics, basketball camp, language lessons, etc. They will be busy, but I hope we can fully afford it all.

I continue to be pretty sore the day after wrestling with all of them.

N got a clean bill of health today. I'm relieved that he recovered quickly and that it didn't get any worse.

N had to go to the ER last week. He'd been complaining about an ache in his side on Monday, and we thought that it was probably a pulled muscle. But the pain didn't go away, and by Thursday it was so bad that he had to come home from school very early in the day. H called me and we talked about it and decided it would be best to take him to the ER to find out what was going on.

I left work and ended up meeting H, M and N there (S was at school) and we pretty much spent the next four or so hours waiting until he could get in. They did give him some pain meds so that he wasn't uncomfortable. Anyway, once he was examined, including x-rays, the doc was able to determine that is was pleurisy/pneumonia, but just in a small area on the bottom of his right lung (right where he'd been feeling pain). The doc was surprised as he had no other symptoms (shortness of breath, a cough, etc). So he started taking antibiotics and regular pain meds and it has cleared up pretty quickly. He's not in pain any longer. He'll go back for a checkup with his regular doc to make sure it's all taken care of. We've also been making sure he gets probiotics while taking the antibiotics.

Anyway, it was weirdly nice to be together in the ER - I hung out with M while H & N were in the exam room, and for awhile it almost felt normal, as if we were all together... I suppose only emergencies like this will let that feeling happen.

I bought a couple new bike helmets for the boys yesterday. All three kids are motivated to be on their bikes again, for which I'm happy. We also finally have some nice weather (it actually snowed this last weekend!). N & M could use some new bikes, and M & I looked at some Redline BMX bikes yesterday at Kulshan Cycles - I hope I can get them both one of those, they're sweet rides. Then S can move up to M's bike. She's eager to learn how to be a better bike rider. I'm predicting she'll learn fast!

M wants a nerf gun and a WWII themed video game, so we're in negotiations around that. I don't necessarily want any of my kids to be playing with toys that are guns because I don't think guns should be seen or used as toys....but I think M gets that, and I'm beginning to think that I may be acting in a reactionary way, rather than a balanced one. It's not resolved yet, but I'm thinking M should experience these things now, when at least I'm still around to guide him.

They're all into basketball and four square, which to my mind is much healthier. M is also interested in skateboarding, which would be pretty cool, I think.

S is auditioning for the Nutcracker this weekend! She's very excited. It will be very cool if she gets cast.

Went up to Mt. Baker with the kids yesterday for some sledding and fun in the snow. It was a beautiful, clear day with blue skies and powdery snow. The sledding was fun. There were a lot of people there.

Unfortunately S got banged up a bit. M ran into her once, my heel caught her in the eye when we were going up a slope, and she twisted her wrist when we were sledding and wrecked. But she recovered pretty quickly and had fun. M really wanted to catch some air. Both he and N were ready to launch off some steep slopes. We all want to do some snowboarding and/or skiing next time. I'll start saving up my money again...

We stopped at the North Fork Brewery for pizza on the way back, and got hot chocolate further down the road as well. It was a nice time.

Everyone's been sick, except for me. H went to Victoria to perform with the Impromaniacs, so I had N,M & S for two days, which was a lot of fun - except for the sick part. All three of them have gone through fevers in the last week, one right after the other. First M, then S, now N. H doesn't sound too well either. And after the fever it turns into a yucky chest cold with a nasty cough.

I hope they're feeling better today.

Oh yeah, on the same morning that N & S had a fever at the same time N lost a tooth and M had a nosebleed! All the fluids were represented at some point that day... Now that the boys are getting older and losing the last of their baby teeth the tooth fairy has upped the bounty to $5 - they're just a little more valuable now.