Puff Ball Jar

Months ago we started a reward system for Gracie for good behavior. I saw the idea on Pinterest and with a quick trip to the Dollar store had all I needed. Gracie got to decorate the fish bowl with fish stickers and I put "caught ya being good!" on it too. For good behaviors she earns some puff balls and when it's full she gets a new movie (she has filled it three times so far) It works really well for her...but she had been working on those last puff balls for awhile now and she started before we moved! I knew her choice of movie was going to be Sleeping Beauty (she's only read the book) so when I saw it for a great deal I bought it and stashed it away. Well tonight was the night. She had a great day and over dinner she earned the last couple puff balls (okay so there were like ten left but close enough ;) I asked her what movie she was going to pick and she told me...asking if we could go tomorrow and get it. I ran upstairs and got the movie and brought it down. It might as well have been Christmas morning because that's how excited this child was...she just had sweet, genuine joy and surprise on her face and in her voice. So now we get to start over and watch the good behavior!!

Spend Less, Give More

I heard on the radio this morning that the top most requested gift for Christmas this year for 4-5 year old girls (and boys and many other age brackets I am sure) are iPads or other tablets. 

Hidden in my closet is the Cinderella gown that Santa will bring Gracie this year. It's gorgeous, sparkly, with lots of layers...and I got it at the resale kids store half off after Halloween...and that's her only Santa gift. 

The church we have begun to call home here in Oregon has been speaking about something called Advent Conspiracy. All this means is at Christmas time spending less so you can give more. They don't mean giving to friends and family, though that is special too. Our families are blessed to have what they need and don't want us to go out and spend money on them. We have used our gifts and talents to make most gifts this year. What we were also able to do to give more with some money was participate in packing a box for Operation  Christmas Child. Gracie helped with every step from picking out the toys/toiletries/shirt/school supplies to pack a box for a little girl in another country to praying over that box that will be opened by a little girl who has waaaaaaay less than she probably ever will.

This year I know our girls will be spoiled by their loving family and friends...and that is totally fine. But as our girls grow older I am just glad we have gentle reminders this time of year to not give in to all the spending and the show...and remember the meaning of Christmas and this time of giving. 

The little things...the simple things...like snuggling on a couch before watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ;)

How can it be almost December?!

I guess finding out we were moving as the calendar barely turned to September... followed by packing during that month...moving...then unpacking and getting settled and we find ourselves at Thanksgiving next week and then...what? Christmas a mere three and a half weeks after...

I still feel like we just moved and I catch myself starting to say "Oh we just moved..." but it's been almost two months...TWO MONTHS.

One of the hardest things for me has been being so far from my mom.  We still talk all the time but I used to see her about once a week.  When I was teaching I would just swing by her house because it was so close to school.  It had been 7 weeks since we had seen each other when we decided to meet in Medford for the weekend to visit and see my grandparents (her parents) and my aunt (her sister).  I drove down with the girls and made a stop at my aunt's house first.  She wanted to bless us with one of her awesome wind chimes she makes with antique silverware.  She had also made a little leather purse for Gracie with a braided strap.  My aunt is a lot of fun to be around and even gave Gracie a piggy back ride as we walked around the property where she lives.

We were able to visit with my grandparents who are 83.  My grandfather has helped with the Vietnam Veterans and volunteers at many events.  We went to the Memorial Park and captured a few pictures.  

Finding Grandad's name on the wall

The girls loved staying in a hotel and so do I.  Gracie was even up and ready to swim early Sunday morning.  Saturday night my mom stayed in the room and I went down to the Jacuzzi with my magazines and sat there...all.by.myself.  It was what I needed.

Reading their new books from Gammie before bed

We stopped by Harry and David before heading out of town to come back home!

It still feels pretty surreal that we live here.  Driving home from Medford I was pretty much still in awe of the surroundings.  

We have been having such nice, dry weather lately which I hear is very out of the ordinary for here...but it has been so cold.  This morning Gracie and I were heading to MOPS and the car said 27 degrees.  For many other states, 27 is still "warm" but coming from Sacramento this is a new kind of cold.  Thankfully I like gloves, head wraps, warm boots, and warm coats!  

The girls have continued to adjust just fine.  Charlotte is officially a toddler, and will walk mostly around the house but isn't quite ready out in public yet.  Gracie came to MOPS with me for the first time this morning and was so excited to play with all the other kids.  She came home with a "Five Little Turkeys" book she made in class as well as a Thankful Pie craft.  Her teacher is amazing and reminds me of my mom's friend Cathy, who is a long time teacher and has such a warmth about her.  

We still miss everyone back in California and it is getting easier and easier as the days and weeks go by.  We do look forward to having more visitors in the months to come and in the meantime we have been able to communicate other ways...we Skype with Tim's parents and grandparents, Facetime with family and friends and in fact Gracie got to Facetime with her little bestie, Reese, today.  If you want to see cute, watch 3 and 2 year old girls chatting face to face on their Mommy's iphones...

More posts in the coming weeks with Thanksgiving at my Dad's and then Christmas fun!

Our First Houseguest

We had our very first houseguest this last weekend.  Karlin is twelve years old, and she flew up by herself to spend the long weekend.  I kept it a surprise from Gracie and picked up Karlin alone so we could shove her in a box on the front porch and Gracie was able to come to the door and open her "package".  It was a very fun way to start the weekend.  She was too excited to nap, so we headed to the Zoo for the afternoon.  We also got a call that we had won a raffle at the Children's Museum and we won dinner for four at The Spaghetti Factory!  It would make a fun day to visit the zoo and go to dinner.  We were there for the feeding of the penguins, and one of the orangutans decided to come up to the window and put his big hands up on the glass!  He was huge, hairy, and pretty scary!  The good part about going in the afternoon on a day that had been raining is that NO ONE was there...it was great having the whole zoo to ourselves.  Dinner was fun too.

After the big surprise...

This was the one who decided to "make friends" with us!

Saturday we hung out and went to the craft store to find some Pinterest projects to make.  Tim was working and we just had a low key day and did Baja Fresh for dinner...but Karlin decided to make it interesting and dress crazy with an old lady wig and everything (I will not post pictures of that!).  We had a ton of laughs.

Making dessert.

Singing songs in the microphone

Sunday we got up and went to church and had my Auntie Lynette's 95th birthday party.  She is my great-great-aunt on my Dad's side.  She was a Kindergarten teacher for many, many, many years, and it was wonderful to see all of her kids, grand kids, and great grand kids as well as other family gathered to celebrate such a special person.  I remember her and Uncle Fred (her late husband) and many visits at my grandparents' house growing up.  Auntie Lynette went up in a hot air balloon recently and she wants to go back to New York for a trip AND her kids had to talk her out of para-sailing during her most recent trip to Hawaii!

Yesterday Karlin came with me to Gracie's gymnastics and we did more projects at home before heading to the airport.  We were so happy to have her here and look forward to another visit!

We made one stop to get a picture with the swoosh at Nike World Headquarters which are here in Beaverton.

A Warrior

When I was still teaching 6th grade I had a student in my class named Zach.  He is everyone's friend. He is the kind of kid who will (and did) volunteer to sit next to the kid in class that no one else wants to.  He is a fine. young. man.  In the Spring of his 6th grade year Zach was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma which had metastasized in his knee.  He had surgery and chemo and was out the rest of the school year.  The kids rallied together sending cards and notes.  They organized a fundraiser and sold special "Zach" school shirts.  Everyone was there for Zach the way Zach has always been there for everyone.  He kept up on his work so he could eventually go back to school with good news of being cancer-free.  And he was.  Through it all Zach has continued to maintain a positive outlook and he knows God is on his side.  During a visit to school he joked about the possibility that he may lose his leg and said if he did he would be able to dress as a pirate for Halloween and "I'd make the best darn pirate ever".  With all he had been through and the warrior he had proven himself to be, if Charlotte had been a boy she would have been named Zach.  He got the news that he was in fact cancer free and returned to school.

At 8th grade graduation there were many tears of joy (myself included) as Zach Johns walked the stage.

He is in 9th grade at Capital and just got concerning news that he has a nodule on his lung and will need surgery soon.  Apparently if this cancer comes back, this is where it goes.  I am partnering in prayer for Zach and his family.  I am praying for our little cake maker Nicky who used to be just Zach's friend and has become his girlfriend and has been by his side since the beginning.

This was Open House in spring 2012...a visit from him was the highlight of my night.

Halloween 2013

Finding out we were moving in the fall, my mind went directly to Halloween.  Because of Tim's job I always just err on the side of caution and assume he won't be there most holidays and special events.  This is our first year for trick or treating with the girls since in the past we have always been at a church event on Halloween.  I have been looking forward to it for a long time.  My Dad and Debbie live almost 60 miles away and I was not going to expect them to rush down after work to come with us.  Plus, Debbie did a cute little party for little kids which included young families she and my Dad work with as well as our girls and their cousins Xander and Cannon and they were able to see the girls in their costumes that day.  My aunt lives here but would be out of town, but my cousin Sara happily accepted the invitation to trick or treat and I was excited to do it in their neighborhood.  As it turned out, Tim's co-worker doesn't have kids and switched shifts so Tim could be off at 5 and come with us!  We took the girls for "kids eat free" at Baja Fresh (our FAVORITE) and then on to meet up with Sara.  My girls love Sara and she is so good with them and lots of fun to be around! They only lasted about 40 minutes but it was perfect.  It was cold but dry and there were leaves all over the ground.  My picture perfect fall night.  The people answering the door were so sweet (it's one of the neighborhoods with families whose kids are mostly grown so almost every house had their lights on).  Charlotte is still not walking but was able to hold one hand with her bucket in the other and walk up to nearly every door!  She left her wig on (which shocked me) but I was glad because she looked so cute and that thing took me hours to make.  All in all, it was a great first holiday in our new city and a great memory.

Practicing trick or treating

Fueling up!

My Dad and Debbie at their Halloween party for kids

I also carved pumpkins with Gracie...though she wanted nothing to do with the cleaning out part! She liked the end result

Beautiful Day

It was seventy degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Tim was off so we headed back to the zoo with a picnic lunch. We saw a whole section we missed last week...we sat on a blanket on the grass enjoying the sun, some sandwiches, and the laughter and conversations of strangers around us. It was a beautiful day.