Ski days

Last week, to top off mid-winter break and avoid any whining we went skiing Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I was surprised that the kids did so well for that many days in a row. But they did great and we all got lots of exercise. There were a couple of sunny days, which was so good for my soul. The kids even seem to thrive on the sunshine. I love that we have season passes and it is a fun thing that we can do together as a family. My kids are going to be awesome skiers. I wish I started that young! It's also fun to be able to go up with friends every weekend and watch the kids ski in a large flock. It was cute last Friday night to watch Darren ski with the kids. He, Gillian, and a few other kids her age skied together for a while. Gillian insisted on going off the groomed trails into the trees-- fearless, that girl. From the lift I would see Darren skiing with a small group of kids tailing him like little ducklings following their mother. Such a patient guy and the kids loved it. At one point I heard Gillian say how when Jaxon goes over a jump he lands on his bottom, and when she goes over a jump she always lands on her feet. Funny girl. She did catch air a couple of times and land on her feet, but Jaxon was going much faster and higher and had some good wipeouts.

Today I went skiing after I got the kids off to school. I went with Katie and Cindy and there was about 13 inches of fresh powder. We had a blast. It's fun to be at this point where I don't have to be home all day. Dishes and laundry can wait!

Saved by the Belle

Another day down, three days of fun to go.  Drew and Gavin spent the night at Joelle's house last night and Isabelle spent the night with Gillian here.  They stayed up late watching Sleeping Beauty in my bed and eating popcorn (also in my bed).  I didn't mind so much about the popcorn as long as they didn't bug me.  

The whole day the only thing that Gillian asked me for was pancakes in the morning.  Bliss.  She and Belle played barbies, playdoh, Twister, and everything else they could think of.  I happily cleaned the house, did laundry, dishes, the usual.  Which made me think:  how could it possibly be a happy thing to be doing housework?  Maybe I was just thrilled that a 6 year old wasn't asking every 5 minutes what she could do fun.  I just need to have permanent house guests over for her on every no-school day.  But the splendid quiet ended the minute we drove out of Belle's driveway after dropping her off.  "Why didn't I get to spend the night at Isabelle's and Drew and Gavin did!"  This after a whole day of not whining.  "It's not fair!!  Drew and Gavin always get to sleep over there!!!!"  And of course my constant reassurances of "Gill, you really did have fun, and you and Isabelle had the whole house to yourselves all day long" didn't mean a thing. Wow, she has a set of lungs.  Loud lungs. Oh well, it couldn't last forever, but at least it is one more non-school day under my belt.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

First day of mid-winter break.  We awoke to a bright sunny sky.  Not a cloud in sight.  Weird. So I took the kids to the zoo with Joelle and her kiddos.  It looked like it was supposed to be warm but it was not.  Not at all.  Luckily I brought my down vest at the last minute, but that didn't keep my toes from going numb.  I'm ready for some warmth.  Maybe I should go to a tanning booth.  Hmmm.  Even as I sit here at the computer my right toes are cold.  It's crazy!  I would be a horrible eskimo.  Thank heavens I live in this modern day with heaters, rice bags, microwaves, and stuff.   But it was fun at the zoo and it was one day that Gillian could not accuse me of doing nothing fun.  One down, four to go.

Sunday Funday

Happy Birthday Grandma!  You can see where Drew gets her good looks!  

What a great week we had with grandma.  We don't get to see her all that often up close and personal, so it was great to have her here.  She is tireless in her laundry skills, dish skills, George skills, kid skills....  She's had a fair bit of practice and I really loved the help, but mostly the company.  Every day we got to go to lunch by ourselves.  I can't believe that I'm at that point in my life where the kids are gone all day.  EXCEPT for this next week where they have mid-winter break.  I swear Washington dreams up reasons to let our kids out of school just to torment us.  I've already geared up for a whole week of "what can we do fun today?"  I'm so excited!

Gillian learned a couple of days ago that our beloved neighbors Angela, Mooma (Fuma), and Donovan will be moving next week.  Angela said that when she told Gillian this that Gill's eyes welled up and she looked away, rubbing her eyes.  Then Gillian said "sometimes when I'm sad my eyes get real watery."  So sad!

Today after church we had the Peay's over for dinner.  For the past few years they have had us over numerous times after church so we figured it was well overdue.  Plus it killed a few hours of Gill not having to ask what we could do fun tonight.  Patsy had prepared an awesomely delicious pot roast before she left, which we had with other taco makings for a big burrito bar. Mmmmmm. Another thing I will miss about mom.  Cooking skills.

Afterward we crowded into the family room to watch a movie.  There were 4 kids trying to share a bean bag, and Peay's and Greenhalgh's all over.  No wonder we usually go to Peay's--square footage.  But it was cozy.  And of course George went wherever he could get the most attention.  Now that  Patsy is gone he's gone back to the kids.

Only in Washington

Only in Seattle do kids resort to doing sidewalk chalk in the rain.

Lost Week

This has been a very strange week for me.  Lots of mixed emotions about the trial I was on.  In some ways it was nice to do something different for a change, but that novelty wore off the minute I got into the jury room with the other jurors to deliberate.  The lawyers both did a good job presenting their arguments.  We took a vote and 9 jurors voted guilty, 2 undecided and 1 guilty.  I was one of the undecided because I had lots of questions and I wanted to cover all bases. Soon I was the only one arguing not guilty and I probably added a few hours to the process, but I had to view all the evidence and video again.  In the end I sided with the guilty vote after seeing the video up close.  I felt terrible all day because it was a 32 year old guy guilty of assault.  He felt like his life was in danger but he took it too far when he attacked this guy.  I have no idea what the sentence will be and I think that that is what bothers me the most.  It's sad to see what people will do to each other.  I came home and told Gavin to stop being so obsessed with airsoft guns and weapons because I didn't want him ending up violent and in jail some day.  He said "Mom, I'm a Mormon boy, of course I won't do that."  That made me happy, he seems to be very proud of his religion.  As I sit here on Sunday night I just can't believe that a whole week passed.  I haven't been to the grocery store, I threw laundry in whenever I could, and Becky pretty much raised my kids.  It's nice to have great neighbors.  But I do feel like I lost and entire week.

So anyhow, when that was over on Friday I had to come home and take Gillian to Bingo night and then get up early on Saturday to go to an all day indoor cycling instructor certification. Then I rushed straight to Drew's gymnastics meet.  She was so excited and did a good job.

So today was Stake Conference and I opted out because Darren is still out of town and I wasn't feeling well.  We stayed in our pj's all day and Gillian made a mess with playdoh.  She has a special gift of being able to walk through a room and magically make everything that was on the counter end up on the floor.  Here is and example:

I mean, come on! There's glue, a banana, paper....  I can't keep up with her.  But she did look cute today playing with her playdoh.

Tired

Monday morning I started jury duty.  Then yesterday I got chosen to be on a jury.  Since I can't talk about it at all I will just sum up the last 3 days and say I'm tired and my eyes ache and my brain wants to shut off.  But all in all it has been an interesting process.  Also it has been nice to interact with other adults.  Thats all.  Now I'm home and it's night and the kids have had cup o' noodles for dinner.  Whew.  And Gillian is crying that she doesn't get to have fun and it's not fair because Gavin is at scouts and Drew is at Activity Days.  How do working moms do it?  I guess I don't want to find out.  Darren just left for Scottsdale and then LA. He will be gone until Sunday night and will be greatly missed.