Happy Birthday Carus!

WOW, 7 years old!!!

Then:


Now:

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My favorite gifts that I got:

My new sewing machine from Robert.

My new watch from Adam and Carus.

My favorite gifts that I gave:

MP3 players for Adam and Carus.

Digital photo frames to Grandparents.

(I took the pics from online sources)

'Artic Blast 2008'

When I said I always wanted a white Christmas I wanted it to wait until Christmas day to start snowing!

Our weather lately has been dubed 'Artic Blast 2008' by the local media cuz they're special like that.

Our first snow was 12/14/2008 and it snowed, turned to ice, and then melted, which is normal for Oregon. But we didn't stay snow free for long! We got a little bit, then a little bit more, and then a bunch more. The kids last week of school was cancelled one day at a time and so their winter break was extended by a whole week. Lucky kids!

We got to play in the snow a tad, venture out to finish our Christmas shopping last Saturday, got a cold that knocked us on our butt, and got to just stay home doing whatever. Adam has been having a grand ole time with his video games and books. And Carus has been finishing up an art project. She is so creative!

We are getting another round of snow today into Christmas morning (hehehe) and we are supposed to drive out to St. Helen's this evening when I get off work (we are hoping that I'm able to get off early). Right now it is raining and melting everything, which will help driving maybe...until it refreezes - can you say ICE RINK on the road!

Gramma and Poppy are driving up today and are due around 5-6 pm. I'm so happy they are spending Christmas with us, but sad that they are only sticking around until Saturday. Quick visits feel so rushed and inconvenient.

Here's a slide show of some pics I have, there will be more to come I'm sure. Also, you can always check out my flickr!

Faith Autumn

This is the first pic I have of baby Faith. She arrived 12/09/2008 around 9:30 a.m.

I haven't been able to get any stats on her, but I will update when I do.

Congratulations Uncle Cody and Aunt Karen!

EDIT: I got her stats. 19-1/2 inches and 6 pounds 15 ounces (which is exactly what Adam's stats were and I find that funny).

Funny stories #2

When Carus was about 3, Robert was getting her dressed and she pointed at her nipples and said, "one day these are going to be boobies."

We were lucky enough to have family visitors for Thanksgiving this year. Terye (my mom), Peter (my brother), and Carie (Peter's g/f) came for a visit and on their first night here during dinner the conversation turned to Robert's recent birthday (30) and how he was now "old". (He isn't really old, the kids and I have just been teasing him because he said he felt he was getting old.) Adam then said he doesn't feel 30 is that old and that "you're not really old until you're like 50...I mean until you're like 70 or 80." I had to say, "Terye, he corrected himself because he thought you were over 50 and didn't want to call you old."

Adam made up a song: (sung to the tune from Sesame Street's Baby Bear 'He's a hero' song)

I have an eyebrow,
It is big.
It's a monobrow,
I used to dig.

He was unable to get any further in his composition because we were laughing too hard.

Yesterday I found I have gray hairs. I really don't mind them, they just snuck up on me and surprised me. I found it while I was waiting for Carus after school and when she got in the car we had the following conversation:

Me: I have gray hair
Carus: Na-uh.
Me: Yup, see.
Carus: Ha, now your old.

After picking up Adam after choir practice she told him that I was old 'cause I have gray hair, and that Gramma Barbara (Robert's mom) doesn't even have gray hair. I laughed and said, "Yea, well she cheats and dies the gray hair!"

Baby Faith

My aunt and uncle have been hoping for a baby for several years with no luck. About a month ago, they recieved a call about adopting a baby girl that was due December 15, 2008. They said yes and have been working out the legal issues, and shopping, and planning, and getting ready to bring her home, and waiting and waiting for the call. They have named her Faith, because faith brought her to them.

This morning, I got the call that baby Faith is on her way. Aunt Karen flew out of Phoenix, AZ around 9:30 a.m. heading for Fort Worth, TX, and gramma left Roswell, NM early and was almost to Fort Worth around 8 a.m.

Now I'm just waiting for the call saying she is here and is ours...and eventually will get a picture of her.

Stay tuned!

We are suckers!

We went shopping for the kids shoes and Adam 'talked' us into getting him a pair of Vans skate shoes. They were originally $50, but were on sale for $40. So, yea, we are suckers...you can tell a kid is growing up when they start showing their styles.

We didn't get them too big and they are made for getting roughed up so I'm sure he will outgrown them before they wear out...maybe if they are still in good shape we can pass them onto a friend.

Carus's shoes were a bit more of a challange. She just needed dress shoes since her sneakers are still in good shape, but I was unable to find anything in her size, that wasn't ugly, and didn't have a 1 to 2-inch heel on them. COME ON people! They are little girls, they don't need heels on their shoes! So I gave up and passed the task onto gramma and she found some really cute slipper like shoes at Fred Meyers. YAY!

Today, while going through pictures for a Christmas project, I found old pictures of the kids. Check them out on flickr

Our camera sucked buttcheeks then, but you can get the point. Some of the pics would have been amazing if they were of better quality.

Robert is bugging me to come watch Numbers with him, so toodles! :)

Aaack!

The kids are growing too fast - I can't keep up!

Carus has taken to being hungry all day everyday. I seriously do not know how she is able to eat all that she eats! On Thanksgiving day she started munching at 9 am and was going until I cut her off at 7 pm because I was worried about tummyache nightmares and vomiting...she was golden though.

Since school has started she has outgrown/worn out: 3 pairs of shoes, 5 pants, several shirts, socks, stockings, and there does not appear to be an end in sight!

Adam isn't far behind - I don't think there is a single shirt in his closet that doesn't just barely come to the waistband of his pants, whereas they should come a few inches past. It won't be long until I can't pass them off at all and his tummy will be showing. His shoes have holes AGAIN and he is still insisting on wearing the expensive shoes that I got him last year (cuz he begged) at 2 sizes too big so he would have time to grow in to them and I would get my money out of them. It was a great idea except for the fact that they were worn out before he outgrew them. That was the end of the expensive shoes - back to Walmart/Target/Payless finds.

Adam is about 3 or 4 inches away from being the same height as me and will probably be taller than me (not hard to do) by next summer - or the end of next summer.

I have to get the new shoes now, but I wonder if I can push the new clothes out til Christmas and make that a few more gifts...knowing my luck they will sprout 5 inches overnight and come out with their clothes ripped and hanging off like the hulk.

It just seems to be one of those times when they are growing up way too fast...and I can't get them to slow down long enough for me to watch.