Pretty Darn Funny!

We DVR'd this Saturday night but when we went to watch it, it had mysteriously been deleted! Luckily, I found this lurking on my friend's blog. Gotta admit, Palin's got some groove!

Light Notes

I have to admit it, my mom is extremely talented. When I was a teenager I NEVER would have admitted this. It wouldn't have been cool and I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. What is it with teenagers? Is it the influx of hormones that turns us into disrespectful, moody, people? Why do we think our parents are out to get us?? Now, as a mother of a teenage daughter I completely feel the pain I put my mother through.

I'm happy to say now, I love my mom (always have) and she is a super-duper creative person. You have to check out her blog. http://tri-cityherald.com/lightnotes. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, always faith based and thought-provoking. Don't miss Oct. 13 & 17 about moving in with your kids. You'll laugh...or cringe at the thought!

It must be my ANIMAL magnetism!!

Signs of fall...

Little blessings

In the wake of Cooper's death I've been touched more deeply by the "little things" my kids do each day that usually I take for granted. For instance, the other day we were in the car and Hunter was writing with a mechanical pencil. The tip broke and I told him, "Push down on the eraser and more will come out." He did it and then shouted, "Whoa, mom there's more pencil in here! HOLY COW! Hailey, did you see that?" It brought tears to my eyes. He proceeded to break and push out the entire lead. :)

Football season

Hunter is playing flag football this year. Pretty funny watching a swarm of 5 year olds trying to pull each other's flags off. It doesn't matter if you've got the ball or not, THEY WANT THOSE FLAGS! At some point in the game there always ends up being tears. Unfortunately, we only have 6 players on our team (no subs) so when somebody heads off the field in tears we have to steal a player from the other team. The opposing team is usually not too thrilled about playing for us. However, us moms know that a good bribe always gets our little guys back on the field. My friend Andrea, told her son Thomas after a boo boo forced him to the sideline, "Hurry back on the field Thomas, your team needs you. And, remember that chocolate cookie blizzard afterward if you're good???" You should have seen him run. Golden.

Here are some pics of the fun...


Hut, hut, hike!


Run, Hunter, run!




Oh no, you're not getting by me!


Ya, I'm talking to you!




You better run, sucka!


Yes, the whistle has blown and the play is ended...but I'm still comin' after you!


Snacks are always an incentive for the fans.




Way to go SEAHAWKS!
(The 5-year old version)

Earning Angel Wings

This precious little 4 year old is the nephew of our great high school friend Julie. His parents went to school with us too. On September 21, 2007 he was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor called Diffuse Pontine Glioma. At the end of August, this year, he was able to spend an incredible evening with the Seattle Mariners and his hero Raul Ibanez.

Since then his condition has rapidly deteriorated and last night Cooper earned his Angel Wings and is in Heaven free of pain and suffering. I cry as I sit here writing this and looking at the pictures of this amazing little boy. I read the updates his mom would post and it amazed me the strength and courage Cooper showed. My heart breaks for his entire family. Although we know Cooper is in a better place, how does that ease the pain of his family? I can't even begin to fathom what they must feel. Please pray for their entire family.

Finally!

Hailey's first loose tooth has been on the verge of falling out since the end of August! The permanent tooth had already come in behind it. I kept trying to pull it out for her but she said it hurt, so I just let it be. Well, it finally popped out. However, since it's taken me 2 weeks to post this the one next to it has fallen out too! She was pretty excited for the Tooth Fairy to visit. The first night the Tooth Fairy gave her 50 cents. The second time the Tooth Fairy must have had one too many glasses of wine because she left $1..

What's a party without boys??

For Ashley's birthday we surprised her by inviting some of her close girlfriends over for a "Pizza & Pedicure" party. They had a great time pampering themselves.

SURPRISE!!!

Of course, the boys didn't want to be left out so a few of them came over for cake. Well, if you're going to come to a pedicure party, you're going to get your nails painted!!

One of the boys said, "Ashley, we've got your present in the trunk of the car. Hold on, we'll get it!" They ran outside and came back in with a big garbage bag. Ashley started pulling things out of it...

...a broken skateboard...

an old 7-11 mug...

a dirty, torn baseball jersey....

and best of all....a log!

The funniest part was the boys comments.."Ashley, I've got a gift receipt if you want to exchange it"...and..."Oh man, you gave her my 7-11 mug!" We all got a laugh out of it.

HAPPY 15TH ASHLEY!!

AWANA star

Hunter and Hailey are in AWANA. Last week Hailey was awarded "Clubber of the Month". They look back on the previous month to see who worked hard, didn't get in trouble, memorized their verses. She was very proud and so were we. She LOVES memorizing her verses.

Volleyball Update

Okay, so I'm way behind. Two weekends ago Ashley had a tournament with 12 other teams. We watched almost 6 hours of volleyball. For those not "up" on the vball lingo, you play the best two out of three games per match. I think we watched 6 matches, or 18 games! However, it was well worth it. They won every match (only lost 2 games) and made it to the championship. They lost their first game. :( The second game they were behind 18-8 but came back to win it (they play to 25 points). The third game was close the entire time, but they pulled it out to win only by two points. It was a nail biter but so fun to watch!



Game 6 v. Decatur
JV - win!
Varsity - win!

Game 7 v. Todd Beamer
JV - lost
Varsity - win!

Game 8 v. Olympia
JV - lost
Varsity - lost

* This was a non-league game though so I don't think it counts against the varsity for their undefeated record.