Wake-up! Wake-up! Wake-up!!!

To my surprise, I was the one wanting to scream this to the boys this year! 8am and I was up and ready for Christmas day. But where were the kids? Where was the usual screaming "wake-up! Wake-up! Wake-up!" from two frantic boys, dying to see what was waiting for them under the tree? Where was the screaming "what did Santa bring me?" I was the one wanting to jump on the bed this year, I was too excited with anticipation. I could not wait to see the boys faces as they opened their presents! But where were they?......Sound asleep!

Finally after what seemed like hours, waiting patently in bed for the boys to come screaming in...it came!!! "Mom, dad, it's Christmas! WAKE-UP!" what happened next really was a blur of running jammies and contagious excitement!! We got down to the tree and it was pressie time! It really is the most magical day of the year!

The first present that was given was from Harry. He had made it at school and had been dying to give it to us for weeks. (I loved that giving was the first thing on his mind, my sweet boy!)


Next, came the frenzy of flying wrappings, squeals of joy and the sound of ripping paper as they discovered their Santa gifts. Beyblades for Harry and a skateboard for Thomas, just what they had asked for, they were so happy and grateful!

They really did have a very lucky Christmas, with many beautiful new things. We bought Harry a new bike (blue of cause) and Thomas scored a bunch of Lego sets....both as happy as piggies in mud!

Christmas this year was priceless, giving spirit and gratitude was definitely in the air and my fav gift of all was watching the boys open their pressies and give to each other....beautiful!



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Milk, cookies & celery?

Usually we leave out cookies, beer (apparently Santa loves Guiness) and carrots for the reindeer. However this year I completely forgot to get the carrots...oops! A quick look in the fridge revealed it was either going to be celery, mushrooms or Ginger? Hmmm, celery got the thumbs up from the boys, while the mushy's and the Ginger both got the "eeew gross!"
We decided to forego the traditional Guiness too, as Santa had already been drinking rum and coke...lol! Our Santa is a bit of a lush...hahaha!




Almost ready for the kids! Now all we need is for jolly old Santa to visit and the oldies to hit the hay!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!
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Santa's little groupies

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The count down has nearly come to an end, Christmas eve is here and so is Santa! There was news that Santa had arrived at our local mall, the boys were beyond thrilled!!! So in the car we jumped, dressed in our red and green. I guess the word had got out as the line to see Santa was huge. We waited and waited, eager for that first glimpse. Finally, there he sat, the boys screaming from the line "we love you Santa!" they were like little groupies waiting to see a celebrity. Hugs for Santa then on to the wish lists a mile long, time to say cheese and it was all over! What a wonderful Christmas buzz seeing Santa the celebrity!

A house that's good enough to eat!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions with the kids is to build and decorate gingerbread. Last year we did a train so this year we decided to return to the classic house. What a fun way to spend christmas eve's eve. All together, around the kitchen table, getting sticky from frosting, laughing, smiling and talking christmas. After it was completed (and very well i might add, no colapsing roofs or slanted walls this year) We decided on a chrissy movie to watch, we all snuggled in and stayed up late. The kids (and big kids) are really excited for Christmas!!! Two sleeps to go.....hohoho!
Looking forward to devouring this on Christmas day, yum!
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Location:SE 3rd St,Renton,United States

Blogging from my iphone

I am so excited about this new app I have just discovered! Hoping I can now blog a little more often and stay up to date with all our fun happenings!

And yes, I can now blog from anywhere! Including my bed when I am meant to be asleep.





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Santa is making his list and checking it twice!

We've had a few fun Santa moments this year. We came across Santa out in Burien one day. We were on our way to the Pie shop for some Aussie pies. It was a beautiful sunny winter day and who happened to be out right next to the store...Santa!!

Then, last week the boys each received a fun video letter from Santa saying he will be on his way soon! Reminding them to be good helpers and listeners and to listen and try your best...love it!
Check out these great personalized videos....

To Harrison from Santa:
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/XcwLTh9-W0zefzqGFwJpFA

To Thomas from Santa:
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/uTsSet9KSQSWgcwzwbgXJQ

The looks on the boys faces were priceless when they saw these for the first time, it really was like magic! The joy and squeals when they heard Santa say their names and then as they watched Santa as he opened his special book, only to see their photo's, name and info about the boys. It's been wonderful as I have had two very helpful boys...hehehe!

I love this time of year!!!!

November - From sunny beaches to snow angles!

Where did November go?
This year really is going by way too quickly.....

November started out as a time for ridding bikes, playing in leaves and enjoying the Fall!
We spent most of our time however laying on the beach in Fiji with Dave's family, not a bad way to pass the rainy day blues of Seattle! I will post about Fiji in its own post, too many beautiful pics to fit here.

We arrived back in Seattle towards the end of Nov, really did spend the best part of the month in Fiji. From 80+ degree weather back to Seattle's 11degree weather...yikes! what a shock!! Even more shocking was Dave wearing his Hawaii shirt and shorts through the airport in Seattle, the looks of craziness on peoples faces were priceless!

A few days later...SNOW!
Time to break out the scarves and gloves. I guess the sarongs and flip flops were going away again until next year...so sad! We had a blizzard and 4in of snow fall in a day, the temps were 10 below freezing so it stuck around for a while. 2 snow days before the Thanksgiving day break, 6 days off of school and loads of snow play! Great way to spend time couped up with the kids.
The whole neighborhood turned out to go sledding, it was great, but holly cow freezing...brrrr!



The snow had mostly melted just in time for Thanksgiving day. We spent the holiday with close friends, our hosts Maggie & Aaron plus Danielle & Scott and MJ & David and all the kiddos, what a great time!! We laughed, drank and ate loads of turkey. The kids played real well and everyone had a wonderful time...great times =) Maggie, did a fantastic job with the bird, really all the food was amazing. The best Turkey spread ever! I made a orange/ginger-cranberry-walnut stuffing, green beans wrapped in pancetta. Dave made a yummy potato bake with swiss and bacon, and a mountain of mashed potato, enough left overs for days... We had our good friends Karen and KC over a few nights later, so Dave made a yummy lamb shepherds pie, a good use of mash!

As always, I did the traditional crazy Black Friday shopping. Although this year I hit Walmart with a group of friends at midnight. The best bargains to find for me were DVD's for $1.69 got the whole collection of Lord of the rings for just over $5...not bad! The line for the checkouts were crazy, the crowds even crazier, but luck was on our side and we managed to miss the lining all together and go straight to the checkouts. Crazy luck there!!

I think one of my favorite days of the year is the day after Thanksgiving! Enjoying sleeping in (or most years crazy Black Friday shopping, then sleeps!) We decorate the house for Christmas and eat lots of yummy turkey day leftovers a great family day. We even made it out to the 3buck cinema and watched "Despicable me" we really enjoyed it.

The boys got their school pics back this month, check out my handsome boys.....

Now with all the excitement of November past, it is now December and I am bring it in with a cold. But a beautifully decorated house for Christmas. Thanks to my boys who all helped decorate the tree this year...love it! And I love my family!

Arty kinda day......

Both boys were home from school today, thanks to a teacher training day. It came as a little bit of a surprise as I have been out of action lately and didn't read last weeks newsletters to get that info. So needless to say we were all dressed and ready quite early this morning. No wonder the bus never came....lol!

So what to do? I threw that question out there to the boys, Thomas wanted to draw and Harry wanted to paint. He saw that the local newspaper had arrived yesterday so he was very excited as he knew we couldn't paint with out paper to cover the table. He's so funny what he thinks of!

Thomas sat down with his paper and crayons, while Harry and I decided to break out the paints. Harry did one painting that he wasn't to proud of (hence no photo) he then did a number of drawings that were just amazing! He's got a great sense of proportion and scale (must get that from his mommy) Thomas eventually picked up a paint brush and had a wonderful time mixing colors, loved exploring what color combination's would create a new color! It was great fun, being creative and talking at the kitchen table for hours!

Here are our completed works.....

Harry's art work of the nunu (sp?) Big flying animal the avatar rides in "The last Airbender" movie.







Another Harry artwork, this is Astro boy next to his satellite dish, saving the world!







Thomas drew a picture of himself next to a building and a control tower and fire and a mountain that was destroyed by the control tower.










Here is mommy's painting! Trying out some designs for a new line =)

Harry turns Eight!!

Happy Birthday to my big Eight year old!! You are growing into such a gorgeous, independent, funny, confident, smart, sweet young boy!
Some of the things you love at the moment are:

• Start Trek, especially Spock and drawing the USS Enterprise
  
• Zhu Zhu pets, your blue one named stone wall
• Playing your piano that Nana and Grandad gave your for BD
• Lego, you still love your building things that move
• Drawing and Painting, your artistic talents are really coming out!
• You love learning about the weather and all things science
• You are in the wolf pack at cub scouts with your good friend Jack
• Today you baked pumpkin bread and you love cooking!
• You are still a total sweetheart who loves giving mama snuggles
• Favorite food is watermelon, mac&cheese, hot chocolate, popcorn
• You love helping others and making them laugh
  

There is so much more, but these are the things that make you YOU!

Harry is a two wheelin...

The last training wheel finally broke off! "I'm OK Dad, I don't need them anymore!" and off he went. Just like that. He is now flying around the block, doing stunts and giving this mama a heart-attack. Why do boys think they won't break and will try anything...breathe mom breathe!
Harry so proud of you!!

Snoqualimie Casino

A night out with the girls...

What in the hell is Rock-a-raokee and more importantly, what am I going to wear? I have to say that a night out with the girls is one of those rare occasions I get to just be me! No worries about what the kids or hubby are doing, no thoughts of responsibility, just pure grownup fun!

On with the heels and a sexy little top, even make-up and styled hair. Tonight was going to be great! We danced, we sang, we laughed and escaped! Tonight we were just a group of crazy best friends having a fabulous time! Nights like this are better than any happy pill you can pop.

The Rock-a-raokee was great! People getting up to sing, but instead of singing to a recording like regular kareokee, they sang in front of a live band. Great for anyone with an inner rock star crying out to be released. While none of the girls had a chance to get up and sing, we supported those that did, especially when "Microsoft man" got up and sang Copacabana...priceless!!

Great night with an even greater group of girls....ah the memories!! (most of which will no be posted here...lol!)

Fly little bird....

Thomas and his first day of Kindy!


What an exciting start to the school year. He could not wait to get to school and was up getting dressed before any of us. With breakfast inhaled it was time to grab his school bag and go.
I had never seen him so full of beans before, with a goofy big grin and his little body jumping around like a crazy child, I just knew he was in for a great day.
The bus arrived and snapped a few pics, how could I get emotional when he was in such a great space. It really was a happy moment. I waved goodbye and then jumped in the car, off to meet him at the other end.

I got to the school just in time to see him get off, what great timing! I was lucky enough to sneak in the back door with the kids and staff and miss the gaggle of parents waiting out the front of the kindy room.
Actually I could not have planned it any better! It was just me, Thomas and his para-educator in the class, the bell had not gone yet so the rest of the class was waiting outside the closed door still. This was great. I got to help Thomas hang up his coat and bag, we got to explore the room a little, get some pics of him at his desk...OK see now it was setting in, my whole "baby is growing up" thing and the tears were starting to flow. He looked so grown up and ready to take on the world sitting at his desk. With another hug, (I think it must have been around the 10th one) he said "mommy I think its time for you to leave" He was right, the bell had just gone and the other kids were starting to pile in the room.
I took one more quick hug and walked out the door, totally did the mom thing and then stood at the window watching for the next few mins, looking in anticipation if there was any sign of fear or insecurities. Any sign of looking around for mommy! No not one. He is so grown up and ready to get on with school!
Love him so much, his independence and his willingness to tackle anything, not to mention his passion to fight for what he wants and his sweet loving little nature. Yes, all the teachers got Thomas hugs, even the principle was getting some love. He sure knows how to schmooze the girls and make a great first impression.

Not a little boy anymore....

The first day of school!
I now have a 2nd grade student - My how the time has flown!
The preparation for this new school year has been a summer long event, really today was 3mths in the making and I have to say I'm pretty relieved it is here.

Last night the school clothes were laid out for the day to come. The lunch box was filled with yummy goodness (as well as a little letter and candy from mom) Kids in bed early, but not sleeping from the butterflies in their tummies. Nerve's were starting to show. An excited, giddy kind of behavior, where a few times Harry remarked his tummy didn't feel well, it must be the butterflies mommy! When sleep finally came, I could take a big breath and finish preparing for the big transition to come the next morn.

Sleep last night did not come easy to me. I had a dream it was my wedding day and I was rushing around trying to find everything, I couldn't find my dress, I was late and nervous. It was like I was having sympathy nerves with Harry and anxious for him!!!
"Harry, Good morning! Time to wake up big school boy!" To my surprise he woke up with a smile on his face, asking if today was school! Few, first hurdle down, it was a great start!
He got dressed in his smart school clothes and we headed down for breakfast. I could tell he was really nervous as he was pretty silent during breakfast. Towards the end he had a lot of tears and the anxiety poured out. Quite the bumpy transition for the start of the school year. I was fighting back the tears at this point too. Some talking and some more tears, he was soon feeling a little better.
So with everything packed, kids in the car, we headed off...8am yikes that is early!
We pulled up the long drive to his school, a little intimidating to say the least, huge drive with a dominating 3 story building sitting on top of the hill. We got out of the, I could feel his excitement mixed with hesitation.
Its official, Harry is in the 2nd grade at his new school here called Hazelwood Elementary. We walked through the front doors of the building and who was waiting there, but his teacher, waiting to greet him! Love this! Harry said "OK mommy you can go now!" Big hugs were given and that was that! wow!!! Seriously, that was it! I was expecting so many other scenarios, I guess my little guy really is growing up!
I am excited for this school year and all the wonderful possibilities it holds!
A little bit about his new school: Hazelwood offers an ILC (Inclusive Learning Center) which specializes in children who learn differently. We have labeled it as his scientific school as a way to get him excited about the change. We had orientation earlier this week where he got to meet his new teacher Mrs. Olshefski (its a bit of a tricky one so we call her Mrs. O for short) she seems lovely, very sweet and patient which is just what the kids need. The class room is huge with lots of space to learn and create. Harry will start the day in a homeroom with Mrs Dyson in a general ed class where he will also attend music, PE and art with this class. Harry will have lots of opportunities to make new friends and play at what seems to be a wonderful school.

Thomas turns 5!

My baby is 5 and what better way to celebrate than in the back yard with a pool party!
We had a bunch of friends over to party, swim and decorate cupcakes. We even introduced the kids to an Aussie kids party game, pass the parcel. Instead of each layer of newspaper hiding the traditional Mintee we decided to freak the kids out by hiding plastic bugs, the kids thought it was great.
After all the playing and splashing around in our new blow up pool, it was time to decorate the cupcakes. Thomas as you can imagine went to town on the candy and sprinkles - one for the cupcake one for me...lol! It was a gorgeous relaxing day in the sunshine with lots of happy kids.

Rainy Days =

jammie day

Wordless Wednesday!!

The finished product!

Happy Boys with their finished Derby cars.
Or as Thomas likes to call them "Gerby" cars.

Thomas and his red thunder bird and Harry with his super fast blue rocket turbo car!
Tomorrow is the official track day. Will post pics and race updates...can't wait to see it race down the track and see the excitement on the boys faces! GO TEAM RULE BOYS!!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?.......

While buckling Thomas into his car seat today, I noticed a shadow fly over the car. It must of been a plane I thought, but there was no noise? I looked up and there flying over head was the largest Bald Eagle I had ever seen. And not only one but two of them, with their babies.
I stood there with my mouth wide open, gasping at their size and closeness to the car. They swooped by and landed high up in the neighbors tree. I watched for a while, mesmerized. Do I get the camera and miss seeing them fly off? or do I risk it and get some snaps? Quickly I ran inside grabbed the camera to find they were still there. So heavy that one was bending the top of the tree down, the other was in towards the trunk.
It was so sweet watching them watch their baby birds, probably learning to fly...what a treat to witness.
This is what I saw.....

Happy 60th birthday Nanna!!!

While we can't be there to celebrate your birthday Nanna, the boys want to sing you a song....

We love you Nanna! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Hugs Harrison & Thomas....xoxox

TOP SECRET -Pinewood Derby Race Car

Harry's cub scouts are taking part in the annual Pinewood Derby Races.
He's got the block of wood and is now drawing up some ideas. cant wait to see what he comes up with!
But he's not revealing anything about his design yet...

Love struck in Paris.....

Oh, how I love you!

Paris, the city of romance! The place your heart falls in love! Well I totally feel in love, with a little French man who made me the best Nutella crepe ever! OK, so maybe its really the crepe I fell in love with...but OMG, talk about love at first bite! (corny I know)

As we finished up in our last souvenir place after Notre-Dame, we came across the smell of something so sweet and chocolaty, we had keep walking to find it. Next to the souvenir store was a cafe with a cute little crepe cart set up out the front. While the smell lured us it was the site of the freshly cooking crepes and the Nutella jar the size of cookie jar that did it for me. I had to have one!
We ordered our crepes without hesitation. Standing there with our mouths drooling as he slathered the hot crepe with gooey nutella goodness, we couldn't wait to eat it. It was amazing! Every bite was incredible, lightly crunchy crepe on the outside, melted nutella yumminess on the inside. Seriously i think I went "mmmm" with every mouthful. 4e never tasted so good!
We sat and enjoyed our crepes in a little cafe called Esmeralda's. We ordered cappuccinos, which had a funky spice sprinkled on top, but seriously I didn't care, it was hot and caffeinated, perfect. The rain was coming down outside, as we people watched from the warmth of our cafe window, which looked out over Notre-Dame. What a memorable stop for lunch. By the time we left he rain had turned to a Seattle drizzle, great timing!