A Celebration

Emily, a friend of ours and Jessica’s running partner just finished the year with 4,015 running miles.  Go Emily!  She totally rocks.  That is an average of eleven miles a day every day.  Some days were shorter mileage days and others were way longer.  She recently had a 160 mile week.  That is a hair over 22 miles a day for seven days.  Like I said, she rocks.  I just read on her blog that she had a couple of 130 mile weeks as well.  The girl has determination.  She just does it.  One foot in front of the other and doesn’t stop.  Today she ran 30 miles, and we were there to see her finish and offer our support.  In honor of her running 4,000 miles Cody made her a cake.  When Emily finished her run we all stood around our vehicles and ate cake.  Okay, after running 30 miles Emily wasn’t in the mood for food yet so the rest of us ate cake.  The cake that Cody made was three layers with Butterfingers and peanut butter mixed in.  Hey, carbs and protein, just what you need after a run.  Anyway, it was such a big cake that even though I tried to cut the cake in small pieces they were still huge slices.  Joel, Emily and Jessica’s coach, couldn’t eat all of his and gave it to his dad to finish, which he did.  Then after eating his and Joel’s pieces of cake he finished off Noah’s, Ryan’s and mine.  And, like I said, they were big pieces.  I don’t know where that man puts it all because he is really thin.  Emily got to take the rest of the cake home with her.  That is if Jim didn’t get to it first.

That is Jim with his slice of cake.                                                   Emily after completing her 30 miles.

Jessica, Joel, Emily and Jim

Christmas in Washington

 A belated “Merry Christmas!” to our family and friends.  I hope everyone had a fun and peaceful Christmas.  Our first Christmas away from home was, surprisingly, great.  I wondered what the kids would think about not being able to see all the family this year.  Every year we would go to four different family member’s for some type of Christmas Celebration, five if you include our own.  It was always enjoyable, but when the children were smaller it made for tired and cranky children by the end of it all, okay, and tired and cranky parents as well.  This year on Christmas Eve we sat down and watched Christmas movies like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and one of my favorites, Elf.  Chad and Jess fought me a little on the movies, but I made them do it anyway.   

 The next day we got up and opened presents.  The kids all received one big gift and several smaller ones from us.  Jess received a hiking backpack.  Since then she has been bugging us every day to go hiking.  Ryan received a camera and Noah received some Wii game that has weird creatures that you place on some pedestal thingy to play different games.  That was Chad’s idea.  Cody received a leather jacket.  Since we wanted her to be able to pick it out the only thing she was able to open (besides her smaller gifts) was an envelope which had a picture of two guys, one was wearing a leather jacket.  When she opened it she just said, “Uh, Thanks for the guys?  I don’t get it?”   I told her to look closely at the picture and she actually figured out what it meant.  She is a smart one that girl.  I’ll tell you about getting the jacket in a minute.

Anyway, after we were done with our little celebration we went over to my cousin Verna’s daughter’s house.  Every Christmas they have a huge meal served as different courses.  First the salad, then what Verna called macaroni, it was pasta, but,  made like lasagna.  Then there was the ham, roast, mashed potatoes, bread, green beans, and carrots.  And finally the desserts, a huge tiered chocolate cake, apple pie, cookies and a bunch of smaller desserts, and a pecan pie that Jessica made and a chocolate torte that Cody made.  By the way Pastor, I thought of you every time I took a bite.  It was REALLY good.  We had good food and good laughs.  Verna was really happy to have extended family at dinner this year and was thrilled to be able to introduce us, her family, to her son-in-law’s side of the family.

I am going to have to add to my “Ten Things I Like about Washington” post to include Verna and her family.  They are truly the best part about moving out here.   She, and her family, has made us feel so welcome here.  She is a New Yorker transplanted here many years ago, but her accent is so strong that she sounds like she just walked off the bus from New York yesterday, and her daughters sound just like her. 

Apparently Canada has a holiday called Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas and has nothing to do with boxing.  This does not affect Oklahomans, but it does Washingtonians.  I think they should change the name from Boxing Day to Shopping Day.  People from Canada come here to go shopping.  So, not only do we have Americans returning their unwanted gifts on the 26^th, but we have Canadians shopping until they drop.  I’ll be honest here.  We were warned ahead of time of this.  But, we promised Cody a leather Jacket and we were going to get her one.  So off to the mall we went.  EVERY parking spot was taken.  People were even making their own parking spaces.

A very nice lady grabbed our attention to tell us she was leaving and told us to get her spot.  Some teenagers tried to take the parking spot before we could get in it, but Chad used his super miming powers, and, a lot of pointing, to relay to the teenagers that they better get the heck out of Dodge and not even think about grabbing that spot, once parked we were off to the store.  Cody found the jacket she wanted.  We bought it and we left.  There were just too many people.  Next year we will stay home and lock our doors and windows until it is safe to come out again.

Anyway, once again, I hope you had a great Christmas and that this coming year is filled with love, laughter, and health.  We miss everyone back home and love all y’all.

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours.  Have a Merry Christmas!

A Little Video I Made Of Our Ski Trip To Mt. Baker

I will post details later.  I just wanted to get this up so you could see it.

Injuries, Running, and Running Injuries

Noah's hand has pretty much healed.  The burnt skin has fallen off and now there is nothing but fresh pink skin.  It is a different color than his normal skin color, but if you didn't know he had burned it you wouldn't notice it.  Really the only time you would probably tell that he burned his hand is if you saw it when he was cold.  For some reason the fresh pink skin turns a dark pink, then you can tell there is something wrong.

We have finally met Joel, Jessica's running coach.  He is back for the month.  I took Jess for her practice yesterday and Ryan went with us.  Joel asked where Noah was because he wanted to get him started with running.  I told him he could have Ryan and, that, Noah and Cody would be there next time.  So, Joel had his father, who usually trains Jess, take Ryan on the loop to show her the course.  Ryan ended up running three 1000 meter runs along with sprints and drills.  She also went out for a run with Chad last night.  This morning she said her legs hurt.

Jessica is nursing an injury to her lower right shin (on the inside of her leg).  It is hard and lumpy, and Joel felt it is basically a knot and proceed to rub it out.  Jessica took it all in stride, but there were a few times I think she would loved to have come up swinging.  We ended up taking her to a doctor yesterday.  Oh, how I miss our doctors.  Our sports medicine doctors back home understood Jessica and they actually had an office.  The doctor's office here was in a house.  Doesn't that just seem odd.  Then come to find out he was a family doctor who also dabbled in sports medicine.  Maybe he did more then just dabbled, but I want a guy who does nothing but sports medicine and not deliver babies as well.  Anyway, after asking her how many miles she is running, studying her shoes (yes, he made her take her shoes off and studied them), watching her walk back and forth, and a few mobility tests, he decided she has a stress injury maybe even a stress fracture.  To be honest the stress injury was a no brainer for me.  He basically inferred that Jess needed new shoes because she has about 240 miles on the ones she has now and she could use some orthotics in her shoes.  He also didn't want her taking any pain medication because all she was going to do was mask the symptoms and we wouldn't know if she was really healing.  He also said that she wasn't very flexible (like most runners) and prescribed physical therapy to help her gain some flexibility.  Funny, Jessica is very flexible.  He sent us for some x-rays to make sure that there wasn't a stress fracture and sent us for some blood work to make sure she had enough Vitamin D.  I found out at the lab that insurance does not like to pay for people to get their Vitamin D tested here in Washington.  Apparently to many people like to know their Vitamin D numbers here and insurance is tired of paying for it.  No joke.  I had to sign a waiver stating that I would pay for the test if insurance declined it.  I have never been asked by Jess's previous doctors about her Vitamin D levels.  So, what does Vitamin D have to do with her leg, you ask.  The very short version is, simply, Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium which she apparently needs for her leg to heal properly.  We will get the results from that test today.  We received the results from the x-ray last night and the doctor said the radiologist indicated it was normal, no stress fracture, but, that he would know more when he received her Vitamin D levels.  I still don't know where that leaves us.

Ten Things I Like About Washington

Ten things I like about Washington in no particular order.

1.  Cousin Verna and her family.  This is the only one that is in a particular order. 
     She and her family are THE best things I like about Washington.

2.  The Trails

3.  No Ticks

4.  TBD

5.  TBD

6.  TBD

7.  TBD

8.  TBD

9.  TBD

10.  TBD

We Love Eggs From Our Heads Down to Our Legs.

One of our favorite breakfasts is bacon and eggs.  Back home it was almost a daily meal, sunny side up, Scrambled, omelets, or Noah’s favorite, the egg and the toast cut up in a bowl and mixed together.  I like it with the egg piled on top of a piece of toast and I break apart the yolk to let it run out over the bread and egg.  Then I sop it all up with the other piece of toast while enjoying it all with bacon.  Now, to be able to sop it all up you need a jumbo sized egg, easily found in Oklahoma.  Not in Washington.  Because of this our egg breakfasts have become almost nil.  We have tried finding jumbo eggs at all of the different stores that we shop at to no avail.  We have tried extra-large eggs, but it just isn’t the same.

Well, this week Chad and I went to a grocery store called Trader Joes.   While we were there I checked the eggs and they had the jumbo size, but the eggs were very expensive, $2.79 a dozen.  We didn’t get any but I would keep it in mind for the next time we were in that area.  This past Sunday Chad wanted to make waffles for breakfast and we had run out of eggs.  Since he had started the batter before he found this out he went to The Market, near the house, to get some eggs.  He came back with jumbo eggs!  The little store near us sells jumbo eggs and I became a very happy person that day.  The eggs were still expensive at $2.69 a dozen.  I looked at the carton and read that the farm where the eggs come from is in the next town.  I called them up and guess what?  They sell to the average person!  That’s me!  I am the average person!  So, guess what I did today?

 That’s right, I bought some eggs.  Did you read the box?  I had to purchase 15 dozen at one time, but it was only $1.66 a dozen.  There is some interest from some of the families at Chad’s office wanting to go in with us on the eggs, but with all of us and the way Cody bakes I really think we will be fine before the eggs go bad. 

 
The best part is that as I was telling the man behind the counter my “woe is me” story, he brought up that they sometimes have specials (they didn’t this week).  They will sell the double yolk eggs for a dollar a carton.  I almost jumped over the counter and kissed that man on the lips I was so excited.  Double yolks are our favorite kind of eggs.  We fight over them.  I asked him why they didn’t sell them in the stores.  He told me that they will if the store wants to have a special to sell the eggs at a cheaper price.  What is wrong with these people!  No jumbo eggs.  No double yolks.  That’s okay, I will be more than happy to purchase my double the yolk double the yum eggs for a dollar a dozen.  And, I will enjoy the extra cash in my wallet as well.  Ah, the incredible edible egg. 
 

Now we just need to work on finding some good bacon.  That's a whole other blog post.

Yay, I Actually Wrote Something!

Wow, umm this has kind of become momma’s blogJ. Everybody else is just too lazy to get on here and write something! But since it is Thanksgiving, I thought I might make an effort to jot down a few things.

Lately it has been super-duper cold in our house. It could be because it is even more super-duper cold outside but, that isn’t an excuse! Seriously, I am really glad I own a pair of fuzzy pajamas!

It has been so cold outside that when we wake up in the morning to take the dogs out there is heavy frost on the ground! That is just totally crazy! Mom was telling me the other day it was 70 degrees in Oklahoma! I really wish it was 70 degrees here!

The other day Cody and I took the dogs down to the beach for a little bit. I wore my new awesome Nike tights, a jacket, gloves, and the scarf I made. On the way to the beach I was fine but, coming back I was so cold. It made me realize that I just might need to invest in some actual winter clothes. Running shorts and racer back tank tops aren't going to cut it anymore!

Since I have been complaining about the weather this entire post, I might as well tell you about the fact that it is supposed to rain all this week. I miss the sunshine so, so, so, so much!!! It gets rather depressing up here without sunshine. And no, taking vitamin D isn’t the same, trust me! No wonder the Vampire’s like it up here!

Oh now that I am over griping about the weather, I guess I should tell you a few things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I am Thankful for:

· God

· My parents

· My sisters and my brother

· My best friend!

· Amazing food

· SUNSHINE!

· Hot chocolate. It is a life saver right now!

· Fuzzy pants. HAHA

· Photography 

· And, the best TV Show in the world “Psych”. Never a dull moment in the life of Shawn and Gus!

Thanksgiving Preparation

Chad invited a guy from work and his wife over for Thanksgiving.  Had it been just us I wouldn’t worry about when everything would be done so we could eat.  If we ate at noon fine, if not, fine.  But since we will be having company the pressure is on to make sure we eat at a decent time.  So, in a feeble attempt to do just that we started our cooking for Thanksgiving yesterday.  I got up and made the cornbread for the stuffing.  I think we started that a bit late.  Hopefully it will go stale before tomorrow.  Then I made Spinach dip.  The moment Chad walked in from work he started eating it, and the threat that I was going to break his fingers if he didn’t stay out of the dip fell on deaf ears.  So, now I have to make more.  The pumpkin pie was not one of the food items that made the “Things we want to eat for Thanksgiving” list.  Thanksgiving without pumpkin something or other just seemed wrong to me, so I decided on a pumpkin roll instead.  Cody likes to bake, so she got that job.  She did a good job on it.  It tasted really good.  Now, she has to make another one.  At the rate we are going we are going to have to order pizza for Thanksgiving dinner.

Today we are going to be doing the rest of the cooking and baking.  Hopefully there will be enough left over for Thursday.

An Update on Noah's Hand

It was a week ago yesterday that Noah burned his hand.  It looks a lot better, but he lost the skin on his ring finger (about the size of a nickel).  I think that he will eventually lose the skin on his middle finger, starting from the base of his bottom knuckle to just above the the middle part and around the finger.  We have been keeping antibacterial ointment on it at all times.  For two reasons, the most obvious one is that we don't want an infection setting in, and the other is to keep it moist so that it doesn't dry up and the skin peel off.  We are trying to keep the dying skin on long enough for the new skin to form so it won't be as tender when the dead skin comes off.  He says it doesn't hurt, but I think he will be whistling a different tune if and when the skin comes off and it is still raw underneath.

I used the word skin a lot in this post!

P.S. An Operation Psych update coming soon.

Last week in Cody’s health class she was to make a splint for an injured person.    I got to be the injured person.  Jessica decided that a touch of reality was needed, so she gave me a black eye (with make-up).  As I lay on my bed wailing and writhing in pain, and playing Blackjack on the Kindle, Cody started making my splint.  I learned two things that day.  1.  Never take the hints the Kindle gives you for Blackjack.  I lost every time.  2.  If you are in need of a splint DO NOT let Cody put it on you.  It started off with her asking me if I was okay.  Then it was, “I know first aid.  May I proceed to help you?”  That was the start of me cracking up.  My leg is shattered, I am thrashing about in pain, and she is asking me if she may proceed.  Then she grabs a hold of my leg and just about lifts it over my head trying to put the splint on it.  I lost it.  All I could think about was that the poor person who Cody helps is going to wish she hadn’t.  Thank goodness Jessica stepped in and showed her how to carefully place a splint on my leg.  Cody made two different splints, and the second one was quite good.  She passed.  Still, when it comes to an emergency Cody panics, a lot.  I know, she gets it from me.  Do you remember the movie Airplane?  There is a scene where this woman is losing it.  One by one the people line up to slap some sense into her and to get her to calm down.  That woman is me.  I don’t do well in emergencies… until Saturday.

Saturday Chad was off with Jessica running, so I was home with Ryan and Noah (Cody was at work).  Noah decided to make Ramen Noodles for his lunch.  I didn’t know this.  All of a sudden I heard this cry coming from the kitchen and I knew it was serious.  I ran to the kitchen and saw Noah clutching his hand.  It was his left hand.  The same one he had in a cast after he broke his elbow and ended up having surgery on it.   The same one he uses for writing.  His broken collar bone was on his left side as well.  Ahhh, the joy of having a boy.  I think he has given me most of my gray hairs.  Anyway, I asked him what happened and he said he spilled his Ramen noodles on his hand.  I asked to look at it.  When I did the panic started to set in.  It was red, really red.  At one point almost a purplish-blue color, but that was a little later.  I took him to the sink and ran cool water over it, all the while trying to remain calm on the outside while I was in panic mode on the inside.  Chad walked in while I had his hand under the water.  While I was telling him what happened Noah said, “I’m getting dizzy.  I think I need to lay down.”  I looked at him and he was white.  I helped him to the bed and told him to relax and breathe.  Since Chad was there I allowed myself to panic a bit.  It didn’t help that Chad was a bit more serious about it than the usual, “Ah, He’s okay.  Boys are supposed to have scars” speech.  Chad called a work buddy to see if there was a clinic that we could take Noah to.  While we were still deciding on what we were going to do Chad went and bought some burn cream.  In the end we decided we would keep an eye on it and keep putting medicine on it.  That night it looked really good.  The next day, not so much.  He blistered in between his pinky finger and ring finger.  Later I noticed he blistered in between his index finger and his middle finger.  He has small ones at the base of his fingers on his palm side as well.  A part of me kept thinking we should take him to a doctor, but what could they do really.  There isn’t a magical cure for a burn.  We have been giving him pain medication, even though he says it doesn’t hurt, and alternating burn cream and antibacterial ointment.



Eureka, I Have Found It!

Well, I can’t say that I found it, but I must start from the beginning.  I just knew with my new found detective skills that it wouldn’t be long before I knew where my Psych buddy lived.  I had a plan.  I was going to ask the office where he lived and hoped they would tell me.  I was sure that I could bring it up in a way that they wouldn’t feel the need to alert him or call the police.  But, while doing some gathering of information I found that all I had to do was ask for a directory of the residents and no one would be the wiser to our plan and there would be no cops and no alerting of the Psych producer.  Apparently, I took too long to go ask for the directory.  Ry took it upon herself to look up the information on the internet and found out everything in less than 5 minutes.   She even found a picture of the house and a map to get there.  I couldn’t believe it.  All at once I was elated at knowing where he lives and sad that the chase is now over.  I have to admit I think it a bit scary that, these days, one can find out all they need to know in a matter of minutes on the internet.  But I digress. 

I immediately called Chad and told him what Ryan had found out and that we had a mission when he got home.  Once he got here, we all, including dad, walked to my Psych buddy’s house.  We took pictures along the way to document the moment.  When we reached his house there were lights on, so we knew someone was there, and Noah wanted to go knock on the door.  I wouldn’t let him.  I suddenly got the feeling that we were being a bit creepy.  Noah was not a happy person.  He told me the only reason he came was to meet him and now it wasn’t worth it and he should have stayed home.  He had tears in his eyes all the way home.

On our way home we were trying to decide how best to meet this man.  We came up with the idea to put a pineapple in his driveway with a note underneath it mentioning our blog.  That just struck me as really creepy and I don’t want to scare him.  I just want to be best friends with him.  Just kidding.  We just want to meet him.  Then, while I was telling my friend Jennifer about it, it hit me that we had the perfect opportunity to meet him and we missed it!  We could have gone to his house during Halloween as trick or treaters.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think about it until after Halloween.  So, we are back to the drawing board on how to meet him.  It will happen, I just know it.  I just need a non-creepy way of doing it.  Now that I think about it, I can totally picture Shawn and Gus leaving a pineapple on his driveway and running away.  I may just have to entertain that idea again.

Pike Place Market

About a week and a half ago Verna took Dad and us to Pike Place Market in Seattle.  It has all kinds of shops from vegetable stands, bookstores (all extremely liberal), clothing stores to the famous fish place where they throw the fish to each other.  The fish stench was just gross.  And the people, so many people!  Cody and I had to take a breath and relax, because, there were just too many and they made us a little nervous.  I was constantly counting heads to make sure we all stayed together.  I knew we would be okay with the girls.  They would make sure they stayed near us, but Noah has a tendency to not pay attention to his surroundings.  I was worried that he would walk off thinking we were behind him when we really weren’t.  He did really well though.  He stayed near one of the adults most of the time and the one time I had to call out for him he had just turned a corner and was waiting on the rest of us.

There is a doughnut stand there where they make the doughnuts right then and there.  Miniature round chocolate covered doughnuts with sprinkles, powdered doughnuts or plain doughnuts, and they were good.  Verna bought three dozen of them.  I tried one of each and was happy to leave the rest to the kids.  Noah and Chad stopped to feed the pigeons some of the doughnut leftovers.  They got one of the pigeons to come and eat right from Noah's hand.  You can tell they were feed leftovers a lot.  They had no fear of humans.

There was a stand that sold different kinds of pasta and Ryan got to try chocolate pasta.  Yes, you read that right, chocolate pasta.  It wasn’t even cooked yet.  What do you put on chocolate pasta?  I am usually up for anything chocolate, but not that.  She said it was bitter to start with but was actually pretty good.  I will have to take her word for it.

So the market has a gum wall.  It is a side of a building where people have put their gum over the years.  It was so thick you couldn’t see the brick underneath, just the gum.  People would go and write out stuff with their gum or draw faces with it.  On the windowsill they would place their gum and pull it down so that it would look stringy and covered the windowsill that way.  Everyone but me put their gum up on that wall, even Jessica.  I would never have thought she would do it, but she did, without wipes or hand sanitizer.

We finally left and went to look at the Space Needle.  There is a convention center near it that was having a Battlestar Galactica convention.  Chad wanted to get tickets to go.  Thankfully and much to Noah’s dismay, I talked Chad out of it.

Dad left this past Wednesday.  It was nice to have him here and it was hard to watch him leave.  He was a piece of home right here in Washington.  That may sound strange, but I don’t know how to explain it any other way.  He spoiled us all and reminded us of what we were missing back in Oklahoma.  I love you dad.

Tidbits of Thoughts

 A beautician recently told me that it would cost over a hundred dollars to color my hair since it was so long.  I was so shocked at the price I told her I would keep the gray.  Chad said he would do it if I bought the color.   I haven’t, not that I have a problem with him doing it.  I am just too cheap.  I feel the same way about haircuts.  I don’t like paying for them, so I wait until I can’t stand it any longer.  I have gotten to that point.  I did tell Chad I wasn’t going to cut it until I went back to Oklahoma, but I couldn’t take it any longer.  Jess offered to cut my hair.  At worst, I thought, I would go get it cut again.  At best, I thought, “Hey, free haircut!”  Jess cut my hair and did fine.  The next day she cut Ry’s.  Two free haircuts.

We have smoke alarms in the house.  They are tied together into the electrical system and have a battery backup.   When the girls take a shower the smoke alarms go off.  It starts with the one outside the bathroom , then, one by one they all join in.  We tried turning the breaker off, but the battery backup kicks in and the alarms never miss a beep (get it, beep instead of beat).  The first time it happened I had just turned on the stove which is fueled by propane.  I about hit the floor when they went off (duck and cover).  The alarms will finally turn off on their own.  You just have to wait it out.

Did I ever tell you that the squirrels here are gray not brown.   Well, at one of the parks we run at there are black squirrels.  They are so cute!  We couldn’t believe it the first time we saw one.  We have only seen them at this one park, but we have seen them on multiple occasions.

I got a bread machine the other day.  I haven’t used it yet.  It makes bread (obviously), pizza dough, and jams.  I can’t wait to make blackberry jam. 

I also bought an enameled cast iron skillet.  Cody was ruining my other cast iron skillets when she would make hamburger helper.  Nothing that cooking bacon in it wouldn’t fix, but I got tired of trying to season them up. 

The gyms here are VERY expensive, so we haven’t joined one.  They all have different sign-up fees and monthly fees, but they all have ridiculous prices.  One gym wanted me to pay a $120 sign up fee for me and $80 per child.  Then the monthly fee was going to be $80 for me and $30 per child.  All the gyms are like that, a sign up fee per person and a monthly fee per person.  For those prices I could slowly build my own gym here at the house.  I refuse to pay that much for a gym membership.  It’s just ridiculous.

On my computer home screen I have two weather gadgets, one for here and one for home.  It is funny to watch.  I get up in the morning and it is either warmer here or the exact same temperature.  Like today, I woke up and it was 48 degrees in both places.  It is now 54 degrees in Oklahoma and 52 degrees here.  It is 7:39 a.m.  Oklahoma will get up into the 70’s today.  It will stay in the 50’s here.  In Oklahoma the temperature rises quickly.  Here it just maintains.  Okay, well, it’s funny to me.  By the way, it has been raining for the past couple of days.  We were told, “Welcome to Washington winters.”

This one is for Miss Heather, but you can read it too.  We miss you too, Miss Heather.  Please tell Thomas and Sarah we miss them as well.  I don’t know why you can’t comment.  Dad can’t either.  I checked the settings and it says comments are allowed.  One day I will figure it out.  In the meantime, email us so we know you are still there.  And remember, book club and skype, we gotta do it.

An update on Psyche.  I still don’t know where he lives, but I am one step closer.  I know who his neighbor is (don’t know where he lives either).  Between me and the kids, that man is not going to know what hit him.  There is a scene in one of the shows where Shawn and Gus are trying to see who can get the most face time on a news camera.  The kids want to go to Vancouver, where they shoot, and do that scene to them.  They have it all planned out.  We just have to get the passports.

Chad’s sister bought Cody an OU shirt for her birthday.  Cody squealed when she saw it.  Jenifer told us her money doesn’t buy orange.  Right now it is all about the statement, so Crimson and Cream is just fine.

Cody’s best friend bought her an OU hoodie for her birthday. 

The other day I put forth a contest between the kids.  It started with a push-up contest and ended with a sit-up contest.  Noah did 210 sit ups.  Oh, yes, he did.

Look at his shoulder blades. 

Look Who's Here!

He is here for 3 weeks.   The lady with him is my cousin Verna.  She lives less than an hour away, so at least we have family nearby.  She’s a hoot!  Anyway, the first full day dad was here I took him on a walk around Lake Padden.  It was cold and misting before it was all said and done.  We walked 2.44 miles that day.  About four or five years ago dad walked in a mile fun run/walk with Noah.  It took them 24 minutes to complete the mile, and I couldn’t figure out why.  I mean, let’s face it, that is slow.  Well, I found out the hard way.  It took me and hour and three minutes to complete two miles at Lake Padden.  I say me because I finally started to walk ahead of him, not far ahead, and Noah and Ryan stayed with him.  When we got done I asked him how far he had been walking back home.  He told me he didn’t go by distance, but walked fifteen minutes at a time.  So, he went from about a quarter mile walk to 2.44.  Go Dad!  Today we took him to Whistle Lake.  We went kind of late and it got dark before we could get back to the truck.  We had to use our phones to see since we forgot our lights.  We walked 2.08 miles today and the trail was mostly uphill.  Chad and Jess ran it while we walked.  I think he now appreciates how flat Oklahoma is.

Okay, so I have to tell you the story of him coming.  The only child that knew was Jessica.  Ry did find out that morning.  Anyway, Cody and Jess were dog sitting for a friend the day dad flew in.  Jess kept telling Cody, “Today is going to be a good day Cody.  I can feel it.  It’s going to be a good day.” We planned to meet Chad and Dad at a restaurant that evening.   We got there first and my poker face started to fail the closer we got to the time that Chad and dad were supposed to meet us there.  My face started to turn bright red and I just started laughing.  The kids wanted to know what was so funny so I had to make up a story.  I told them that one of Chad’s coworkers had a wreck and he was dropping him off at the hotel.  Jess who knew what was going on decided to have a little fun at my expense.  She kept asking me to tell them about the wreck and why was I laughing about him wrecking his car.  I told her, through the laughter and tears, that it was a funny story and that I would leave it up to Chad to tell them, since he could tell it better.  Anyway, Chad finally walked in, alone.  After the kids did their “Daddy!” bit Papa walked in.  They were so excited and totally surprised. 

It has been nice to see a familiar face.  I wish all of you back home could be here to experience this new adventure with us.  Writing about it just isn’t the same as you experiencing it with us.  You don’t get to hear the laughter of the kids as they slide down the snow, or see them covered in mud because they ran out onto the ocean floor as the tide was out, or the screams of excitement of them seeing a starfish in the water (it was a big starfish), or watching them watching the eagles soar right over our heads.  I just have to rest in the knowledge that God is a sovereign God and He has a plan for us.  Right now that plan is for us to be in Washington.  Hopefully, one day, that plan will bring us back home.

How to Make Friends

I have this habit that I got from my mother.  At least I am going to blame her for it.  I do it to get a rise out of Cody, and it is easy to do so.  All I have to do is pat her on the rear end when I walk past her.   She jumps in the air and spins around, arms flying everywhere, trying to defend herself, all the while screaming at me to, “Watch it!”  Jackie Chan would be proud.  Soon it became a habit.  Anytime I wanted the girls’ attention I would pat them on the rear end.  When we would go into a store or someplace similar and they were in my way, I would pat them on the rump and say excuse me.  Now I just pat and walk by.  They know the drill.

Anyway, about two weeks ago we went to the library which is rather small.  The girls and I were looking at the movies when one of the girls got in my way.  So I patted her rear end and said, “excuse me, please”, and walked on by.  The instant I patted I knew that rear end did not belong to me.  I looked up and saw this blushing 70ish woman looking at the movies where, previously, my children had been.  As I apologized to the lady, my girls, who witnessed it all, began laughing, hysterically and loudly.  Unfortunately, the girls and the poor lady involved were not the only ones who witnessed my mistake.  One of librarians saw it all and began to laugh just as loudly as the girls were.  Tears were shed that day.  Luckily, the 70ish women took it all in stride, although, she never said a word, only blushed and smiled.

We went to the library the other day to turn in some books and movies.  When we walked in the librarian looked at me, and with a huge grin said, “No butt grabbing today.”  She then began to crack-up all over again. 

As a side note, Cody has been going around doing her “happy dance” while saying “woot woot”, because, she got a job at the library, an actual job not a volunteer job.  Go Cody!

I am angry with Chad for going back home...Psych!

Yes, Chad gets to go home for a few days while the rest of us have to stay here.  I was a little upset by this when I found out.  I want to be able to go home for a few days or more, mainly more, and, so do the kids.  Let’s face it.  He is the one who wanted to move here.  Yes, we chose to move here together, but I chose to do so for him.

I still do not feel like this is home.  The house we live in now is not home to me, it’s just a house.  I don’t feel comfortable here.  When we turn onto the driveway I don’t get that feeling of, “Ah, we’re home!”   It isn’t comfortable.   It’s just familiar.

So, why am I no longer too upset about Chad being able to go home while the rest of us have to stay here?  Let me tell you!  I just found out that the producer-director for one of our most favorite shows lives in our neighborhood.  Seriously!!  The Producer of Psych lives in my neighborhood, MY NEIGHBORHOOD!  Now, you know that I am going to be walking up and down all these streets trying to see if I can see him.  And, yes, I do know what he looks like.  Chad even mentioned putting a sign out on our street corner saying, “If you are the producer of Psych, turn here.”  We all LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Psych.  We have all the previous seasons on DVD, and we are constantly watching them (and we still laugh every time).  We regularly spit out Psych one-liners to one another and the kids often find a Blueberry while we are driving down the road.  We even try to spot pineapples in our everyday lives.  And if you don’t know what in the world I am talking about, you don’t watch Psych.

So, am I upset about not being able to go home?  A little.  But now I have a purpose in Washington, a goal.  I WILL find this man and when I do, I will …well, do nothing.  Before I could even reach him the kids will have pushed their way through (yelling and screaming mind you) and already be performing every Psych scene they can think of or be in the process of singing every version of the Psych theme song before I could ever reach the man.  You know that’s right!

It runs in the family (just not my side)

Chad’s parents will probably appreciate this story more, but I have to tell it because it is hilarious.  Chad’s mother once told me story about him when he was little and running a high fever.  He began hallucinating and was seeing butterflies floating around him.  I don’t know if he remembers that moment.  I have never asked.  But, since we have been together there have been other instances with butterflies.  The real kind.  There was one time we were driving down the road and he started to drive off into the ditch.  After I hysterically very calmly told him to get back on the road; I asked him what he was doing.  He told me he was following the butterfly.  I tell you this because you will know where Cody gets it from.

Jessica was nice enough to blog about our trip to Mt. Baker.  She even put up a video she made about our trip.  If you haven’t seen it you need to, it is too funny.  She missed one of the most hilarious moments of the day though.  While the other kids were using their bodies as a sled, Cody stayed where it was safe, with me and Chad.  I have to say, she is a lot like me.  Some call it fear.  I like to call it commonsense.   Anyway, out of the corner of my eye I see Cody moving across the ice and snow.  Quickly.   I look over and she has both arms stretched out in front of her like a child saying, “Ooh, a butterfly!  Ooh, a butterfly!”    She began to chase that butterfly across the snow covered mountain trying to get it to land on her hands.  The chase didn’t last long though, because the next thing Chad and I see are Cody’s feet and arms flailing in the air.  And with a thud she hits the ground on her rump and back.  All she could do was lay there in the snow, and all Chad and I could do was laugh… hysterically.  After relaying to us, dramatically mind you, that she had to have broken her coccyx she slowly picked herself up and brushed off the snow.  All the while Chad and I are still laughing…hysterically.

Suffice it to say, her coccyx was not broken and the butterfly, unharmed by it all, gracefully floated away.

This is Cody.  All I have to say is I was trying to save the butterfly from a horrible frozen untimely demise.

The Business of Streaking

Did I say that I liked Jessica’s new coach, Joel?  I changed my mind.  Let me explain why.  Joel and his father are both streakers.  Okay, seriously!?  Get your mind in the right place.  Streaking is when you run for at least a mile everyday, fully clothed mind you.  I guess you could try it without clothes, but that would just be gross and no one wants to see that.  Anyway, I was so excited because this was my second day of running for a mile straight (I walked and ran the rest of the 2.23 miles or 2.24 miles depending on where I start my Garmin and where I stop it).  I was SO excited as I bragged about my streaking accomplishment to Joel.  Who then quickly informed me that I actually was NOT a streaker, and that I would have to run at least a mile everyday for a year to actually be considered one.  So, thanks Joel.  Way to bring me down… thanks.  Okay, he did turn around and immediately congratulate me on my two days of running.   And, he did promise Jess one of the coolest gifts EVER if she reached a certain goal.  I won’t tell you what it is though.  You will find out when it happens.  But, it is so cool that I asked him if I ran a 40 minute 5k if he would go ahead and do it for me.  Because I can so totally do a 40 minute 5k.  He told me no.  I think he laughed as he said it too.  But, think about it.  I may not be able to run a 5k in 25 minutes, but I CAN run it longer!  I like to think of it as having more endurance.   That’s right, I am an endurance athlete.  How is that for putting a positive spin on my running abilities?  And as for the streaker business, I may not be one yet, but I will someday.  One way or another...

Okay, as a PS, I really don’t dislike Joel, but he better watch it!  

New shoes, Candy, and Lost a Cat

That's right new running shoes!!!!!!!!! After we went to Jessica's XC meet we went to an outlet mall. There are a couple of things you should know about the malls 1. For some reasons all the outlet malls I have been to all outside. 2. They are very very EXPENSIVE. 3. They are very cold. 4. They all have chocolate stores, YUM.  Here's a list of thing we got. Momma got a Turtle, Daddy got a Carmel covered Apple, Cody got a Turtle, Jessica got sour warms (as usual), Noah got a 27" gummy snake, and I got these sour Raspberry strips. Anyways the shoes I got are BRIGHT PINK, I mean really  they are hot pink. Here's a pic

LOST a CAT

We have lost a cat. We are horrible people. Somebody had left the door opened and our cat Parker escaped, we searched for about thirty minuets when I found her behind the old shed behind the house. I called Jess and told her then my parents unfortunately she ran off somewhere and now we cant find her Hope we find her soon miss her so much. Hope she comes home soon keep you updated.


LOST a CAT 2

She came home! We left the door open all night and she came in on her own around 3:30 in the mourning. Momma heard her and got up and closed the door.


Today Jess did my hair. She did cornrows hahahaha.

Races and Coaches

Jess had her first race this past Saturday.  It was a college race where she ran an open 6k (3.73 miles).  She finished the race in 24:43.  She started out last, like always, and ended up passing 73 people along the way.  No, she didn't come in first place (not even close).  But, she ran against college aged women from the USA and Canada.  From what we could see she was the smallest one on the start line, some of the women actually towering over her.  Maybe some day she will be the one towering over the other runners.  Okay, that will only happen if she is running against kindergartners.  But, running here has been different than in Oklahoma.  Well, I should say, the focus is different.  In Oklahoma it was all about winning that particular race (instant gratification so to speak) .  She trained for the races.  Here it is more about goals and reaching those goals and that takes time (no more instant gratification).  So, it is not always about winning the race.  She was placed in an Invitational already knowing that, not only would she not win it, but there was no way she could win it, that wasn't the goal.  And, that is difficult, Jess is driven by competition. She wants to win...at everything.  Jess not winning is new to us.  That may sound like bragging but I am her mother and I feel that affords me some rights in that area.  Anyway, she is learning to change her mindset a bit and see the big picture along the way, and not focus so much on the here and now.

I like her coaches here.  Jim and Joel are a father and son coaching team.  Jim is very laid back and Joel is always excited.  Jim has not missed a day of running in 40 years and always has a story to tell.  He is here keeping track of Jess's workouts and progress.  Joel hasn't missed a day of running in 15 years.  He, for the time being, is in another state, and calls, emails and skypes to make sure all is okay and that she is doing what she is supposed to be doing, and makes comments on what his father tells him about Jessica's workouts and progress.  He also provides a lot of comic relief.  They both love running.  They love distance running.  Jim is an ultra-marathoner and has a few records to his name.  Yet, he is very humble about it all.  What I like about them, is that it isn't all about Jessica.  There are some of you that will know exactly what I am talking about.  They are interested in all of us, no matter what our abilities.  Jim cheers all of us on when we are at the track running, no matter how fast or slow we are.  Joel gets excited about running no matter what.  Even if I just ran for 45 seconds at a time (hey at least I'm running).   He is just happy your running.  He has skyped Jess and ended up asking to speak to each one of the kids to discuss their running.  Even Cody is willing to discuss it, maybe not do it, but at least discuss it. What she doesn't know is that she is going to start training for a 5k.  Don't tell her.  What she doesn't know...

Bravery in the Face of Uncertainty and Danger

A little retraction, of sorts.  We went to get the plates for the van about a week ago and they do give them to you right then.  Chad's truck's plate, being a work truck, was purchased through the dealership, and they sent it in the mail.  But, they don't give you your driver's licenses right away.  They mail those.  We received ours in the mail two days ago.  They have Chad's height listed as 5'4".  I had to laugh.

With my trusty sidekick, Tom, by my side (okay mounted to the windshield), I ventured out on the roads of Washington for the first time yesterday.  I know you are probably thinking, "Well, it's about time."  I know Chad was.  But, the town we live in has no grocery stores, none that we can afford anyway.  So, I either have to go to Anacortes, Burlington, or Mt. Vernon.  Anacortes I have got down, for the most part anyway.  But, Burlington or Mt. Vernon I don't.  And, like I said Chad never took me the same way twice.  Usually I wait for Chad to come home so he could take me to get what we needed.  Since he isn't getting off when he is supposed to it makes for a late night.  So, like I said, with Tom by my side and a feeling of uncertainty, I did a little shopping yesterday.  First to Anacortes then Burlington, which, by the way are in opposite directions from each other, and I didn't get lost.

I went to Safeway in Anacortes first.  I am telling you this because I am about to brag.  With coupons and sales I walked out of the store spending less then thirty dollars and having saved sixty-one percent on my bill.  If you aren't using coupons, you should.

Then I went to Costco.  I LOVE Costco!!  Almost anything I need I can purchase there and purchase it in bulk.  Meat, veggies, dairy, dog food, cat food, laundry detergents, cleaning supplies, ink cartridge refills for $7.99, you get the idea.  AND, they give Costco coupons.  COUPONS!  Oh, you can get gas there too and it is cheaper then anywhere else.  I love Costco.  The refrigerated areas that you walk into to get the veggies or dairy are frigid, almost freezing, unbelievably cold is what they are.  But two, one gallon jugs of milk for under six dollars, I'll brave the cold.  As a side note, I will have to insert a picture of the milk jug at the end of the post.  I think they are odd looking.  Where does the bravery come into this post?  Right here.  Apparently everyone else loves Costco as well.  Chad and I have learned, the hard way, that there are times to go to Costco and there are times you NEVER go to Costco.  Never go on a Saturday. Never go on a Sunday. And, Never go when people are getting off work.  They become Psycho!  No, really, it is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  They lose all sense of logic and Sanity.  You see, I think shopping is like driving a car.  You keep your cart to your right hand side of the isle.  That way no matter which way you are heading down the isle it leaves room for those coming in the opposite direction.  Not at Costco.  It is every man for himself and don't you dare get in their way or they will run you over with no apologies.  If you think I am exaggerating, ask Chad, he will gladly confirm it.  I swear, about two weeks ago, this lady was trying to kill us in the parking lot.  We were walking towards the store and she turned down the parking lot and was coming our way on the wrong side. She was looking straight at us and would not move over. Let me repeat that, she was looking straight at us, at two adults and four children. It's not like we are hard to see. I thought she was fixing to turn into a parking spot and needed a wide berth to get in it, even though she had one of those fancy little cars, but she wasn't. Then the thought crossed my mind that she was from another country where they drive on that side of the road and she was confused. She wasn't, she was just expecting us to get out of her way.  What would she have done if there had been a car behind us?  Then, I apparently came between some lady and the chocolate covered pretzel sample she had made a beeline for.  I couldn't get out of her way fast enough, her determination was such that I either should move it or lose it.  It was just comical.    Anyway, I made it out of Costco yesterday without incident and arrived home without getting lost. Thanks Tom.

I don't know if you can tell real well by the picture, but the milk jugs are tall and square.  At least you get to see Sophie.  Isn't she pretty.  By the way, the pudding came from Costco, 36 cups of pudding.  YUM!