I'm In the Minority

Well, when you talk to adults anyway, I am in the minority, I like this time of year. I also enjoy the snowy, wintry weather that has arrived here in Vantucky. Most grown ups dread the weather and what comes along with it. All the kids like it though, unless of course Evergreen School District decides to make the appropriate call and send the kids to school instead of freaking out and making them stay home, then they just get upset. The snow accumulation was little to none but we did get to see it fall and put a sparse blanket on the ground. The temperatures are dipping down into the teens and topping out in the mid 30's. It's not too bad until the wind picks up then the wind chill factor kicks in and brrrrr! My eldest is currently dumping water on the deck in hopes of creating his own miniature ice rink. Which reminds me, I better let the other people in the house know what he is doing so they don't go unexpectedly sliding right off the deck onto the yard. If the predictions of a cold, white and stormy winter prove true then I should have lots to post over the next few months.

I love to watch the snow fall.

Noah refusing to smile, but he's happy it's snowing.

This boy never fails to give me a smile.

Trying to catch one or a thousand.

The little winter flowers had better luck.

Oliver is 5!

Oliver turned 5 on Tuesday. Yikes! It's hard to believe he is 5 already!! Due to our crazy work schedules, we had Oliver wait until Wednesday to open his presents. Both Joel and I wanted to be here when he opened up his gifts. I let my boys pick what they want for their birthday dinner and Oliver decided on white rice from Panda Express. Simple, plain white rice? Really? Yep, that's what he wanted. I took some pictures of him opening up his gifts but also wanted to say thanks to GrandBob for the Toy Story 3 DVD and thanks to Gammy for the spending money and contribution to his college fund! Love and hugs to all of you for making his day great!!

I know how hard it can be for a kid(okay fine, it's me) to wait on opening presents so when he woke up on Tuesday he had a huge Spongebob balloon and Spongebob Snuggie waiting for him. He LOVES that Snuggie! It also came with these fuzzy yellow socks that have these grip-dots on the bottom. Well, I mentioned to Oliver that he could turn them upside down and skate all over our floors. Joel looked at me like I was crazy. Then he said something like, "Are you nuts woman?!? Glad I'm going to work. You don't give our boys ideas like that."

Keeping it simple and in the Spongebob theme, cupcakes with yellow sprinkles were made.

Concentrating hard on that candle.
He made a wish and blew out the candle.

The pile o'presents awaiting my cute boy.

Thank you GrandPop Bruce and Grandma Heidi!!!
He also got two Matchbox racing motorcycles and a college fund contribution from them.

Monster Truck with flag from Auntie Soup, Uncle Brian and Cousins Bre and Brandon!
Woohoo!

It's a soccer shirt AND it has the number 5 on it!
Thank you Grandma Ricki, it goes perfect with the big air monster truck!!

Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Lavelle gave Oliver a gift card for his birthday. He took it to Fred Meyers, bought this game, then wrapped it and added it to the pile of gifts.

A cool carrying/travel case and this awesome game from Aunt Nana, Uncle Ron and Cousin Trevor - thank you!

Oliver has been begging for a Nintendo DS. I finally agreed to get him one but because they are a bit expensive he had to choose big gift and no party or party and small gift(s). He decided to get the big present and no party. So here it is, his brand new Nintendo DSi XL from Mom, Dad and Brother.

Don't worry, I am still taking him and a couple of his friends to play at Kids Club tomorrow but that's all it is, a couple of hours of pure play. And if I can somehow keep up with the action, I might have a couple of pictures to post. Thanks again to all of you for making his day great!

No Title

I have no title for this post, it's just a mash-up of the past couple of weeks. Pictures I'm drawn to or that make me smile. Isn't that what it's really all about...

Dewy spiderwebs...enchanting.

Fall colors are the best!

I like this picture for 2 reasons. First, I think it's kind of cool and second, it makes me laugh because I took the picture then my dog immediately sat on the dandelion.

Lloyd came to visit us this weekend, it's his bunny butt that made me fall in love with Corgis and a big reason why we have one of our own now.

These two were hilarious. A lot of silly Corgi jealousy going on. If you talked to or touched one of them then the other one was RIGHT there demanding his share.

Cousins and their dogs.

"AUNT TT, take a picture of me!!"

Can you guess who ended up with BOTH dogs?

Eastside Choral Festival

Like I mentioned before, Noah decided to participate in the Eastside Choral Festival. He agreed to get up early and meet with other fourth and fifth graders to learn a few songs. After a month of practice, the students from Illahee Elementary gathered with the students from Union High, Frontier Middle, Shahala Middle, Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary and Pioneer Elementary to perform for their community. It was amazing. The enthusiasm that the music directors have in our school district really shows in their students. We took a few videos that night, the first one is of ALL the students singing the finale, We Shall Be Free by Stephanie Davis and Garth Brooks. Actually, it's just the last couple minutes of the song. Professional musicians from the community took time out of their lives to learn, practice and then perform this song with the kids, how cool is that? The other video is of the Union High School Select Men's Ensemble singing, Amo, Amas, I Love a Lass, arranged by Marshall Bartholomew. This particular ensemble are 3 time state champions...wow!! The best part about the whole thing is that Noah really enjoyed himself. He even said that he wouldn't mind participating in more choir/music related activities and that makes me a happy mom-mom.

Needed a wide angle to get the gym...don't have that yet!

There's my shaggy boy!

Note: Having some upload issues with the second video...will post as soon as I strong-arm it into submission!! HA!!! I win. Of course I had to use Youtube to conquer but here it is...