Our Glorious Day

This morning was cold and foggy but we were determined to get out and do some hiking. So we bundled up & grabbed Bear & headed to a dead-end road at the edge of town that leads to a plethora of trails. We walked, jogged, and explored our way up towards McCullough Peak. Let me tell you a little something about my boys – they are Troopers! Yes there were a few whiny moments (focusing on their boundless hunger) but mostly we just enjoyed the great outdoors. We're so blessed to live here, the woods were damp & dim but as we reached higher elevations we got above that fog and found honest-to-god Sunshine, mmmmmm.

Alex found a nice rock that fits just right in his palm, and he marveled at how different it was compared to the crushed gravel on the forest service road. He loves finding objects, special sticks or rocks, and finds unique and lovely qualities in them. I wonder if he’s seeing some little spirit in each one, something intrinsically worthy in his eyes.

Casey with his short little 6-yr old legs provided a running commentary on our places, who was first, who had slipped into last position. But at one point I caught him singing a wonderful little song to himself, a song inspired by the pile of horse manure he’d just passed, so in his little voice I got to hear how to “watch out for the horse poopoo”.

We saw the occasional other folk and met some nice doggies (good job pups!) along with two especially not-nice dogs that worked together to bracket & intimidate Bear (while their owners just laughed it off, oh they don’t DO anything, just make a lot of noise) but our good-natured fellow did very well and gleefully hiked along with us, sometimes “yo-yo-ing” up ahead then back, but for the most part he just trotted along beside us. Of course if he came upon an especially choice stick he’d scoop it up & toss it hopefully in front of us, wagging his tail. We want him to relax & explore when we’re out not “do his job” of fetching, so for the most part we don’t throw things for him when we’re out walking in the woods. I’m not sure he’s got that yet, I suspect he thinks he just hasn’t found the stick we’re looking for!

After burning off so many calories we piled back into the car & took it to the Ruby Tuesday’s parking lot where it could hang out while we filled our tummies with some good food. Now I’m home with the little boys being mellow, while Derek headed across the valley to do some gaming with buddies Wes & Roger. I’ll do a bit more ‘puter work & then grab my knitting needles & finish up my latest hat (thanks Pamela for the jump-start you gave me!! I’m sure having fun!) I also have about ten more pages in my book but it’s sooooo good & interesting, it’s wrapping up a grand adventure, and I don’t want it to end!!! You know the feeling when you’ve rushed thru a book only to hit the brakes and stretch out those last few pages……

Thank you Gene for researching the spelling of the character Inigo, not Indigo as I thought. Huh! I've been quoting that wrong for many moons!

It's the End o' the Year!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to our friends & family! Wendi here, I hope your Christmas was warm & cozy like ours. As Indigo says "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up!"

The boys started Christmas break early due to wondrous S*N*O*W ! We discovered how much Bear loves the white fluffy stuff, he frolicked out there like...well, like a puppy. We have Valley Gear which means our poor boys had to play outside in less-than-perfect snow clothes. Of course neither of them complained but we had to have lots of warm-up sessions with cocoa!

Derek was beginning 2 weeks off work (1 week paid vacation, the 2nd will be without pay) so he was home with the guys while I did some work but I also spent time recovering from a kick-ass cold virus, verrrry glad to have that behind us! Daddy caught it too but it didn't take him down quite as hard. I get to visit the doctor on Monday 'cuz I may have pulled something in my back while coughing, ah gee if only you could see the slow and twisty progression from the seat to walking across the room...

On Christmas Eve we of course had two very excited Little Misters. After dinner we "blessed the house" (translated 'put away toys & tidied up') and then they could each open ONE little present. They opened the gift from the other sibling & were both happy & satisfied JUST ENOUGH to go to bed that night. Casey is our early riser so he had explicit instructions to look at the digital clock in our bedroom when he woke up and if it started with "OH-FOUR or OH-FIVE" it was too early in the morning to get up. He woke up at 4:26, came back in at 5:20, & finally we gave in at 5:57 and it was CHRISTMAS MORNING at last!

We sat in our living room where our pretty little tree sat on a table. We tore thru stockings and gifts and then had a pleasant time munching on candy, putting together Lego things and flipping thru new books. Then Derek got the boys to sit beside him & look over his shoulder at the pictures he'd taken that morning. There was lots of grinning until he got to one photo they didn't recognize, a huge box in the family room where the boys hadn't ventured yet. Alex & Casey looked at each other then BOLTED down to the family room & started tearing into the Big Gift........ a Wii! (Weeeeeeee!) What a hoot! I swear Alex did not Sit for 2 hours as he explored the wonderful world of non-couch-potato Wii games & he worked up a sweat! Casey thought the Wii was extremely cool too although he was crawling into the big box within two minutes of emptying it.... hee heee..... [in fact that box has been a tremendously popular Fort & Store ever since, and tonight is the third in a row that Casey's sleeping in it!!!!]

Derek made Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls (mmmmmmmmm!) and we had a nummy Ham/Yam/Garlic green bean (thank you Jorgen!) early dinner with our friend Pamela. She came over with knitting kneedles (ha) in hand & I enjoyed parking on the floor with her for a thorough tutorial on making a hat with circular needles. Now I'm ready to get together again for the next step as I have a knitted column several inches tall that needs to get smaller & joined together (Pamela!!!!???)

Allrighty it's time to tuck Alex into his bed with a book then sneak back into the family room and work on my Wii Bowling...... Love & Hugs & Happy Holidays !!

We've got our Tree -- Whoopeeeee!

Hey we're gearing up 'round here for a Big Fun Festive Family Christmas!

We're happy & healthy. A bit saddened by the outcome of the Civil War but we're coping. We got our Doug Fir tree from the local boy scouts and decorated it today and it looks lovely. The boys were singing carols as they covered it with ornaments, soo sweet. It's rather late & Derek and I have a date to sit our tooshies on the couch to watch a DVD so I'll promise to update soon & add some pics, sorry I've been neglecting this blog but we've been beezee beavers :)

What's up with you?

Yachats Celtic Music Festival

I went with my buddy to the Yachats Celtic Music Festival to listen to some wonderful Celtic music. The concert featured lots of local music. They put on a pretty good show here and I would like to return next year. We spent the days doing some geo-caching both north and south of Yachats. Wendi's dad and wife went to the concert too and I met up with them for some drinks before the show and during the sets. Wendi and the boys came down to the beach and everyone played at the beach before the concert. All in all it was a great weekend though I missed my family.

SUPER SATURDAY !!

The boys had their last soccer games & both celebrated victories, woo hoo!! Casey scored 4 goals & had 2 assists, Alex sprinted around for 50 minutes (no subs!) starting the game as Defender then switched to Midfielder to push the ball up to the Forwards. Both very excellent games, played in some wonderful Fall sunshine, and fitting ends to the season. They have the Winter off then start up again in the Spring. Now we're back home except for Derek who is hanging out with some buddies playing board games. I'm home with two tired kiddos who are relaxing with Shrek. I look forward to warm sudsy baths & a fairly early bedtime :)

Derek & I got to play with some more apples & put up 3 more big jars of applesauce, num num, but oh my we still have soooo many apples left!

School is going great for both kiddos. Casey came home with paperwork for us to sign acknowledging he's a smart cookie (TAG - talented and gifted, intellectually in the 99th percentile!). Alex has been coming home with very little homework because he's been working so hard in school, and has been on average slightly Ahead of his peers in math assignments, we're so proud! He's learning so much, this has been such a great year for him & we like the teacher a lot. Right now they're studying Mayans, Incas, & Aztecs. As a nosy mother I had to read what his textbook said about these cultures, and I always feel defensive about what a textbook might say about Native Americans. Lordy knows the books I had in school (and I fear more recent ones as well) painted an unflattering (and false) image of these people that were "justly Conquered". Well I was very pleasantly surprised at Alex's textbook. It was respectful of those cultures & honest about the brutality of the "invaders". It opened up a fabulous dialogue between Alex and I.

Bear accompanied Derek to work on Friday, he is looking more & more like he could grow into a certified Therapy Dog. He got lots of positive attention (hugs & snacks I believe) and then layed down quietly in Derek's office when he was supposed to. What a good boy! Follow that with this morning, when Derek took him out in search of Geocaches. Evidently Bear was much more intrigued with nasty smells on the ground & rolled in them quite thouroughly. Well, smart & cute he may be, but he's still 100% DOG which for some reason I find much funnier than Derek who had to drive back home with the smelly pup....

I'm kinda sad that the weekend is already half over! Ah well, time flies & all that....

a busy weekend

We enjoyed a fabulous fall day yesterday. After an early morning rain the weather was kind of Crispy, cool but the sun was out. Started off with two great soccer games, the boys were tickled that each of their teams won with a score of 4-1. We stopped back home long enough for the boys to change out of their sweaty clothes & toss some balls for Bear.

Then we loaded up the car with empty bags & our friend Pamela & headed out to the country to pick Apples at a co-worker's farm. It was so fun for the kids to run around, picking apples with one hand and eating apples from the other. We had a glorious time out there & came away with lots and lots of different apples and also some fresh sweet grapes. Now Derek and I need to get productive and turn them into some applesauce :)

Got home, gave Alex a quick shower & everyone some dinner, and then it was time to drop Alex off at a friend's house for a birthday party. It was extremely weird to put Casey down to bed (we finished a Scooby Doo chapter book he'd checked out of the school library) and then just Derek and I were awake in the house ....... this is the first time we've been home when Alex wasn't !! I kept my mobile phone nearby 'cuz I half expected a call. But at 11:30 we instead had a knock on the door -- Evidently Alex had called our home # (and somehow we didn't hear it) he was "missing us" and the friend's mom brought him back home!! We knew the party was going on Sunday until Noon so we took him back over this morning to do some more partying Well, that was his first attempt at a sleep-over :)

Today is pretty darn busy too, for a Sunday. Get Alex at noon, pick up friend Jon at 1:30, take all the boys to their beloved PokeMon league, I have a soccer game at 4:30 (gotta try and S-T-R-E-T-C-H and take it really easy 'cuz owie I pulled my quads 2 weeks ago), oh & I want to sneak in a trip to the Fairgrounds to see some of the doggie Agility going on there. And oh dear, we still haven't touched our apples!!

GO BEAVS !!!!!

Rout 66 !!!!!!!
Our condolences go out to our Cougar Friends.
But not really.......

Alex Update

It has been two years since Alex has had an EEG and the neurologist wanted to get another peek. He was enthusiastic about staying up nearly all night so he could be "sleep-deprived" for the EEG, he announced that we didn't need to stay up with him, he'd just close himself down in the family room and watch movies/play computer games, and joked about ordering a pizza behind our backs. I thought it would be a struggle to keep him up, but I was wrong -- he had a blast! He watched "What's up Doc" with Barbara Streisand twice (very funny movie), and played a number of games on the PC. He had a shower at 1am (gotta arrive with a clean scalp) then I put him down at 2am & was waaaay more tired than he was.

When Derek woke him up at 6am he was pretty sleepy, the boys and I took Daddy to work & drove south on Hwy 99 to the hospital. It was a challenge to keep Alex awake for that 45 minute drive in the early morning when the day was foggy and dim!! But he did it, and then got tucked into a queen-sized bed & allowed the technician to scrub his head all over w/ an abrasive q-tip & attach little electrodes with long straggling wires. Then it was Nap Time while the machine kept track of all sorts of little blips and bleeps!

Next we found some lunch & a spot to let Bear run around and chase balls... until it was time to drive across town (Eugene is a big city!) and see Alex's neurologist to go over the EEG results. This guy has a disappointing bedside manner and I had to pull teeth to get any details. In a nutshell, Alex's EEG showed some activity that could have been seizures if he wasn't on his meds. So he'll continue taking that for another year, and then perhaps take another look.

Alex was incredibly fabulous and handled each & every little thing so well, I was extremely proud of him. I'm going to ask our family doctor if we can get a referral to another neurologist, I want to talk to someone who will treat Alex as a King, & I need details about what is in that EEG. I had pencil & paper in hand but couldn't write down a single thing, and he even acted annoyed when I asked him to write it up & send us a letter! That doesn't trouble me a tiny bit, they'll be hearing from me next week to check on the status of that letter! So I'll be making some phone calls next week, trying to be an Advocate!!

Girls Weekend - a very brief account

Like they say about Vegas, baby, many adventurous tales must remain at the beach .... Derek is pretty sure a Girls Weekend involves pillow-fights in undergarments and I'm loath to burst that bubble for him.

On Friday eleven of us took our sweet time getting to the house we'd rented in Lincoln City. Ate some good food, sipped some good beverages, and hit the Outlet Stores. In fact, now that I think about it, that's what we did Each Day -- food, beverages, Outlet Stores!

Other printable highlights:
-- visited the traveling Vietnam War Memorial Wall that was at the Casino. They also had a section for those we've lost in this most recent tragic war :( :( very sobering. I didn't know any of the names (I believe dad knows some folks that ended up on that big wall) but we were all very affected by it.
-- kareoke. We had the good fortune to stumble on extremely good singers. We almost didn't stay as the bartender nearly chased us out with his bad attitide, but I'm glad we stuck it out because the music was phenominal. Our group contributed one duet (thankee Shania!), one solo (Ug, yes, I tried a very sober and sobering Gretchen Wilson "Homewrecker"), and one group song (Good Lord, who knew "RESPECT" had so many *other* words!!??) to honor our sweet girlfriend that wasn't with us since she's saving her energy to battle breast cancer & care for her eensy newborn baby. I'd like to say that our sweet musical notes were on par with the other singers, but, um, I'd be lying. We called our girlfriend so she could hear us, and her exact words were "oh you girls are sure trying!"
-- Lots of games. Catch Phrase for hours. Sequence (good game!!)

I spent the weekend headachy and nauseous for legitimate reasons (never, EVER get a tetanus shot just before a girls weekend!) so I stayed sober & enjoyed free pepsi in the bars as the designated driver :)

Good Times! Good Friends!

Weekend With Grandma & Papa

Hey, it's been awhile since we wrote anything here but I guess we've been too busy with school, homework, soccer practice and soccer games to find any time to write. Well, over the weekend I brought both dogs and both boys to spend a weekend in Astoria. (Wendi made her annual pilgrimage to the beach with her girlfriends and did not attend.) The biggest drawback of doing the Astoria trip this time of year is that both boys missed their soccer games on Saturday.

The trip was great. Both Casey and Alex spent some quality time with the grandparents. They even got to ring the bell of the Astoria Trolley. Later in the weekend we all got to visit with my brother and his family. They have a kiddo about Casey's age and the two boys played non-stop for at least an hour. Needless to say, Casey slept most of the three hour drive back home to Corvallis.

My friend Gene and I had a little time to go Geo Caching in the Astoria area. We were able to pick up 18 or so. The best hidden one was underneath a sand dollar buried in the sand! The coolest hide was off one of the docks where someone had "hidden" it on a rope, submerged in the Columbia River.