Ooops I did it Again.

Snow in March. I thought this only happened in Utah. Sigh. I can't move again -- although I still have boxes from the previous four moves that still haven't been unpacked.

This is looking out back, toward the pond.
I'll just deal with it. The good thing about this snow is that it is wet and melts VERY quickly.

And it is pretty .... in it's own way.

Piano Night

These two videos are of the kids during their most recent piano recital. The light is bad due to the room but I think you'll be able to see how well they played. They both played three songs, but it take FOREVER to upload a video (as some of you may know) so I'm just going to load one video each of them.

This one is of Felix.

This second one is of Robee. He was actually supposed to play four small songs, but he talked Mrs. Lish (the teacher) into not playing the first one. He is such a schemer!

This photo is Mrs. Lish and Robee after his "concert."

This is Mrs. Lish and all her students. Please note the little girl sitting next to Robee. Her name is Belle and she was in Robee's first grade class and this was her first recital with Mrs. Lish. She is a DOLL! She was excited to see Robee there too. He had to hurry and put on his jacket because he spilled some food on his shirt and he didn't want her to see it. Too funny.

And here is a recent pic of the three of us at the recital. I have several pictures of me with the kids My how they have grown! However, I think Robee's head was the same size as when he was one month.

This was taken in 2004 in our home in St. George.

This was taken in 2003 in Portland.

Don't freekin' blink, folks. Time will pass by you so dang fast you won't know what hit you.

My moment of Zen.

Bad Mom of the Year

I should receive this award.

Easter morning. How many pics do I take of the kids on their Easter Egg hunt? Count ONE.

One picture of Felix and her huge, fat sheep she received in her basket.


Bad, bad, bad Mom.

I spoke toooooo Soon!

Well, I think I spoke too soon. I walk my kids out to the bus this morning, and what do I see falling from the sky? Snow. Snow in the Northwest. Was I really skipping around yesterday, reveling in the sun of the First Day of Spring? I do believe I was.

And Mother Nature slapped me down big time, put me in my place. "Don't you DARE think that Winter has ended!" she shrieked at me. "I'll tell you when Winter is over, NOT the calendar."

And so I listen to her as my sandal-feet schlep through the slushy snow on the driveway. I should have not put all my closed-toe shoes away for the season. Sigh. I will listen a little closer next time.

However, later in the afternoon, the sun begins to peek out and melt the slush and I am at the store and see lovely spring flowers AGAIN. Do I get excited? Do I laugh gleefully, possibly encountering her wrath yet again? (especially because I have an Easter Egg hunt scheduled at my house tomorrow and I would REALLY like it to be kind of nice outside)

I do not. I take a couple of pics with my cell phone for later use (they suck as far as clarity but oh well) and walk on, knowing that March will probably go out like a lion.

Last Choir Concert

I realize that I have hundreds of pictures of my kids on this blog as well as on my Facebook page.

However, the joy of being parent (and the thorn of those around said parent) is to show off every photo possible of your kids. I had to put this one on: Felix with curly hair.

She loved it so much that she wants to do this more often. It took a good 30 minutes because her hair is very straight.

She is getting so old.

Here is another one of the two of them, all dressed up. They clean up fairly well, actually!


I wish that I had had the video camera on Robee after the concert. As the students were leaving the stage, one very show-off-y boy was dancing around the stage. I wonder who?? Is this the same boy who used to say "Don't see me?" Hard to believe.

Spring is Almost Here!!

Really.

One of my most favorite days (next to Halloween) is the First Day of Spring and following that, the First Day of Summer. The smell of the first cut of grass, the trees coming into bloom, flowers peeking out of the ground and just knowing that Autumn and Winter are now WAY behind me, makes me so happy! I'm waiting for it to come in just two days. I feel like falling on my knees and saying "Thank you G-d for allowing me to get through one more Fall and Winter so I can enjoy Spring and Summer again!"

Ahhhhh .........

It's just too bad my birthday is in the fall; I might enjoy it a tad more!

Here is another reason why I love living in Washington; see the photo below. This was taken with my cell phone at the end of a rainy day and the sun was trying to throw out a little bit of sun just before it went down. We have spectacular sunsets and sunrises around here.
As I have mentioned before, I have the opportunity to watch Owen on Tuesdays. He joins me for my excursions all over town (I love getting out of the house) as well as my outside maintenance of our land - riding the lawnmower of course; his most favorite thing to do outside.

Here he is, enjoying the local Hell-Mart crocodile. He is definitely taking this in for all it's worth!

Both of the kids were scheduled for pictures on Friday (yet another day off from school for Teacher Prep Day!) and they also had a Choir program that night. Robee really needed a haircut even though we both like his hair longer. I always like boys with long hair anyway and he looks good because of his curly hair, BUT it was getting out of control. So here we are, before the cut, mom and son on a hair cut date. We don't get to spend much time together just the two of us. I'm trying to make special time for each of them individually. I love them both so much. They are a joy (and sometimes an exasperation!) and I'm very grateful for their presence in my life.

Felix made a bet with a friend at school. The bet was this: if Leah (the friend) joined the school choir, Felix had to join the runner's club.

Now, those of you who know Felix know that she's not much of a runner. She comes from non-runner genes. But this is something she actually wanted to do and I felt that it was important for her to participate in at school. It's good exercise and maybe she'll want to further her running experience in upper grades.

However, this was an eye-opening experience for her. She had to first run the mile then she had a break and then she had to run the 400 meter.

The first photo is of her and Leah, BEFORE the meet. Notice the happy smiles in anticipation of the meet. Notice also that Felix has color in her face:

However, this next photo is taken AFTER the first event, the mile run. Felix is a pale child naturally but after she finished (and she finished not first but that is not important; she finished and I was very proud of her), she definitely lost every bit of color from her face.

She did a great job. This is her talking to her other friends about her lack of breath after her run. Or she may be telling them she almost threw up a lung --- both noteworthy.

Well, the sun has come out again (around here, you have to catch it when you can!) and Owen and I will be ready to go outside after his nap.

In the words of U2, It's a Beautiful Day.

A quickie!

For those of you who haven't seen the kids in awhile, here is the latest pic of them together .... getting along actually.





This was taken yesterday at a mini-concert for their school choir. What I see when I look at this is "Holy Cats. When did they get so big?" And "Robee needs a haircut and Felix needs to wash her hair," but that's a mom's point of view of course!

I am always amazed when I look at them from a distance and I can see that they are taller than they were a month ago. Felix's pants are all too short and Robee's sleeves are always too short.

Life does go by at a quick pace and I have always wished I could have a little camera mounted to my head so that I could record everything little thing that my kids do so I never forget it. Because as they grow older, I (very unfortunately) find myself trying to remember them when they were two, four, and six and it's definitely harder. I don't want to forget because they're going to be 18 (in what will seem like days, I'm sure) and all this wonderful stuff will be gone.

My moment of Zen.