Halloween Party

Ashley and Lauren really, really, really wanted to have a Halloween Party this year. I was hesitant thinking about how much work it would be to throw a party. The more I thought about it, though, what a fun idea. We could do it the Friday before Halloween and have them invite a few friends. We found lots of fun ideas for food and crafts in a Family Fun magazine.

So I figured, let’s go for it! I spent my day off on Thursday preparing all of the food so that I could come right home from work on Friday and get the party started soon afterwards.

The costumes were really great! The neighbors even loaned us some fun Halloween music, so we had fun dancing, playing limbo, doing crafts and eating tons of fun food. We even had a special pizza delivery from the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz! :)

I hope the girls will have lots of great memories from this really fun party.

Fall Camping Trip – Fort Ebey

Having a camper has allowed us to do some camping in the cooler months of the year as well as in the summer. Last fall we enjoyed a trip to Deception Pass and so we wanted to try another campground this fall. We decided on Fort Ebey. It didn’t take too long to get there, but it unfortunately was dark by the time we arrived. We had a little trouble finding a hook up site and thought we were going to have to go without them, but finally found one in the nick of time. In fact it was the last one available. Whew!

The weather was nice – no rain and pretty clear skies. We were even able to have a camp fire on Saturday night. We got a lot of hiking in and we all enjoyed the fresh air. There weren’t as many gun battery tunnels as we found at Fort Worden, but it was still fun to check them out. I even read two full books on the trip. What a great relaxing time together as a family.

Family Game Night

Family Game Night is something we all enjoy but don’t find the time for often enough. On this October night, though, we were all home and everyone wanted to play games! After a quick voting session we ended up with Deal or No Deal. The girls wanted some hot cider to go along with our cozy evening together. I thought that sounded perfect.

After our first game was over, the girls wanted to play their Hannah Montana Truth or Dare game. They were feeling a little silly (maybe it was the sugar from the cider). I sat on the floor to watch them and got some fun pictures while I was at it. ;)

In our very busy life, it was nice to find some time to just be together.

No time for pictures?!?!

I had a little extra time today so I thought I would take a minute to update my blog. We’ve been so busy lately with Fall activities now in full swing, I haven’t had a chance to post anything since our anniversary.

I got my camera out to see what pictures I might have to post. Holy smokes!! I had NO NEW PICTURES since about a month ago!! That’s crazy! Since when do I not take pictures for a WHOLE MONTH?!?! I LOVE pictures. The only pictures I found on my camera were some of an old bike of Lauren’s that Kurt took so he could sell it on Craig’s List and a few sunrise pictures that Lauren had taken one morning.

I’m sad to think that we’re letting our life get that hectic. We’ve been doing so much that is picture-worthy, but just haven’t stopped to take the photos I guess.

Looking through my calendar, what you should see pictures of here are…

• the outfits the girls wore for picture day
• their first day of dance class this season (they’ve added a hip hop class along with their usual lyrical ballet)
• Lauren’s first guitar lesson
• Ashley’s first week in the school’s Jazz Band (playing alto sax)

I’m glad for a memory at least, but oh, how I wish I had taken the pictures, too. I think I need to take a cue from my daughter, who clearly knew that a beautiful sunrise was worth pausing long enough to take pictures of.

Happy Together!

On September 10, Kurt and I celebrated 15 years of marriage. We decided together that we would celebrate in a thrifty way. At first we just planned to go out to dinner. I didn’t think that would be too bad, but really wanted to mark the occasion with something a little more special and out of the ordinary.

I decided to surprise Kurt with a “Trip Down Memory Lane” to all the places we’d been “Happy Together!” It started with a  card explaining to him that we would be literally driving to all the locations. With the card were 15 envelopes (one for each year of our marriage). Inside each envelope was a clue to a location (i.e. Where we first met, Where the girls were born, etc.).  After he opened the envelope we would drive to that spot and talk about our memories of that time or place. Once there we took a picture of the spot – even if it wasn’t there anymore (Like the Bellevue Red Robin where we had our second date. It is now a Neiman Marcus.)

On the last card, it said, “The rest of our lives…”. We had the best time together, remembering where we’ve come from and dreaming about what lies ahead.

We truly have been so happy together!

Some pictures from the night…

	Our first date
	The church where we were married (remodeled, but still there)

Our first house
	Here’s to many more years together!

Fabulous 40!

As my birthday was drawing nearing all year, I had been dreading the moment when I would officially turn (dun, dun, dun, duuuuuun) FORTY YEARS OLD. Why it was bothering me so much, I can’t fully say – just the stigma of it, I guess. I don’t think it has had anything to do with ‘looking’ older. I mean really (if I can say it without bragging) I feel like I look better at 40 than I did at 30. No, the issue has been more ‘being’ older.

Well, to celebrate my birthday Kurt and I took my two best friends and their husbands (Bryce & Elke and Kyle & Terra) out to a big Sushi dinner in Bellevue. Afterwards we went to a fancy bowling alley (with all kinds of music, lights and big screen TVs) and we just had a blast together. Being in the company of these people was so easy for me. Family is a huge blessing and I love my family deeply, but these are people in my life that I have CHOSEN to love. I am so grateful that they have CHOSEN to love me, too. What a special night it was!

Also earlier in the week, Terra had taken me out for a day of pampering. After a yummy lunch and a stop at Starbucks, she treated me to a pedicure at Gene Juarez! I joked with the lady doing my pedi that I was a Gene Juarez virgin. ;)

Elke had surprised me with a beautiful book filled with affirmations (my love language) from all kinds of people I’ve known throughout my 40 years. She had collected the thoughts, memories and verses secretly and then presented the book to me and sat with my while I read them and cried. It was so special and so humbling.

My Mom & David sent me birthday money and My Dad & Joan sent earrings that Dad made for me. Lots of other friends have blessed me with various gifts and lunches/dinners out, even a special canoe ride on Lake Washington. Oh, and let’s not forget that Kurt’s birthday gift to me is a trip to Hawaii still coming in January!!

It’s crazy how blessed I have felt. So on this side of the birthday, I’m thinking… if ‘being’ older includes becoming more aware of how loved you are, then it must not be so bad after all.

Thank you to everyone who helped make my 40th so very special! I love you all so much!

I fought the school supply list… and I WON!!

If you know me well you know I love a good bargain. Well, today the inner cheap-skate in me showed up in full force and the whole family learned a lesson in Economics.

Looking over the “recommended school supply list” from the school district, Kurt and I were thinking about how much money we would end up spending if we were to go to the local office supply store to buy everything on the list. Of course we always end buying other things while we are there – they call those impulse buys, right?

I got to thinking, we buy new school supplies every year – what happens to them all? So I decided to hunt around the house and see what we had left over to try and reduce the amount of things we would need to buy.

I was APPALED at how many pens and pencils I found! Even glue sticks, which I seem to always be out of, we found MORE than enough for what was recommended. We had wide rule notebook paper, erasers, rulers, pencil boxes, pencil pouches, binders, tabs for the binders, headsets, flash drives – you name it, we found it… IN OUR HOUSE!

The final cost for our school supplies this year… FREE!! Woo Hoo! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. :)

Now I recall my Economics professor in college telling us at least once during every lecture that “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” I admit, there WAS some cost involved in hunting down the supplies at home. My time, they’re not brand new, they aren’t as cute as some of the newer designs, the mess we made in the process that needs to be cleaned up, etc... However, the same college professor also taught us that “Cash is King!”, and for now at least, I am happy to have kept a little extra in my pocket. :)