Mama's

I can't even begin to say how much I love my group of mom friends. It's amazing how much community means to moms. I still have great friends who are not mom's but I think that I would not enjoy being a part-time stay at home mom as much as I do without these moms! One thing about getting to know these ladies is finding how much we enjoy and value similar things. It's been really fun to do things I enjoy with a great group of ladies! This past Sunday, a group of us went up to Cypress Ski Area to x-country ski. It's right outside of Vancouver, BC. Amazing views of the city and the water, great snow and groomed trails, and then some Sushi on the way home! It was perfect. Seven of us were able to go. Two were beginners and the rest of us had varying levels but were all good to ski together. I felt a little bad leaving our beginners after a real quick lesson (real quick). But we met up with them a few times. Cypress has lots of criss-crossing trails. And lots of hills! Good for downhill but lots of work going up.

Bethany, Jill, Liliana, Daylen, me, Aimee, and Lynette.

It was a pretty nice day. Some snow early but it was really trying to clear up while we were skiing. But it was cold!

It was fun to hang out with these ladies. Some of them are amazingly fit and in shape...I can only aspire to keep up with them without skis. So it was fun for me to be able to hang in there with them for most of it.

Then we hit up some yummy Vancouver Sushi. We all ordered way too much because we were thinking Bellingham prices and sizes (expensive). So we all came home with left overs, hopefully that is legal to bring across the border :-) My car did get a random search on the way up. Luckily we were early and it only took a few minutes!

Thanks Ladies for a great time! What's our next adventure going to be ??

Then it was gorgeous out this morning, albeit cold. But Jill and I were up for an adventure. We decided to go for a hike. It had to be Corbin speed though, since I had both kids and only one could get carried.

Miles and Eliza were excited about wearing back packs, although they were a little heavy for their little bodies! They almost fell over when we started uphill! But oh they were SO cute!!

Corbin did a GREAT job. He hiked the whole 2.4 miles! I realized I had no idea how far he could go. He got a little tired on the way back down but nothing that fruit leather and peanut butter pretzels couldn't help.

Then we had to stop at Boomer's for some cheap burgers for lunch! Thanks Jill & Miles for a fun little hike, we did get some sun at the end!

Family Ski Trip 2012!

We had our 7th or 8th Ski Weekend this past President's Day weekend. 5 couples, 8 kids, and tons of fun! Some people think we are crazy to even attempt a cross country ski weekend with kids, let alone share it with 4 other family's but it's always a good time. We added a few new friends this time and missed a few with new babies. Hopefully next year it will be even bigger!

We rented the same house as last year in Plain, WA outside of Leavenworth. It has a space/bedroom for each family. Kid sleep in closets, on the floor, in nooks. This year we were a group of early risers. One morning I think we were all up and fed by 7:30 am! And then out the door by 9:15 each morning. Each family takes a meal, either breakfast or dinner and we always bring WAY too much food. This year we had two gluten free folks but it was amazing what great food everyone made.

This year we only stayed 3 nights instead of four but we got an early start and arrived at the cabin around 2pm, right before it started to snow. We sent the kids and boys out to play in the snow right away. It was one of our best snow weekends we have had in a while. The rest of our friends arrived throughout the afternoon. Since no naps had really happened and we sent kids out for fun in the snow, all kids were ready for bed at 7pm! And we adults got to eat by 7:30. It was GREAT to enjoy dinner just as adults. But as usual, we always stay up way too late.

The next morning, we were up early and ready to play. Most of us headed into Leavenworth to ski at Icicle Creek. A great place for beginners. Adam and I decided to skate ski, which turned out to be harder than we had anticipated due to heavy children :-) Corbin started off skiing but then gave up quicker than we were hoping. So carrying Eliza in the ergo while skating is harder than you would imagine. And pulling a 37 lb 3.5 yr old was harder... Eliza was asleep within 10 minutes though. But I couldn't do the big loop. But it was fun as usual!

And sharing hot chocolate with friends, Quin & Silas, is always good too!

Corbin even shared with his little sis!

We tired them out again and didn't have much of a quiet time when we got home after lunch. And Eliza's 25 minute nap meant she would not nap later... oh well. So we played in the house while the boys went outside. I don't know what it is about my children and their amazing choice of clothes but they crack me up. Eliza had on only one boot after this...

Eliza, Uma, do you want to go outside? No. Why play outside when we can dance at the window and be warm and wear just our diapers!

We have the best dad's in the world. The kids had so much fun. And so did the dads! This snow bank was a huge hit.

Corbin going down head first!

Go dad's go! And look at this gang of boys!

The second day we all split up. Aimee and I dropped Eric and Adam off to ski on their own and Aimee and I took our 4 kids to ski on the new Plain Hardware Store loop. The boys were so tired though... the day before had worn them out. Corbin borrowed a friends real x-country ski (who had rented them). He had a pretty good little rhythm going. Next year he will hopefully get some real ones himself.

Post ski snack with Alden.

Then in the afternoon the girls headed out for some skiing and snow shoeing. Jill, Aimee and I headed to ski and Jen and Daylen opted for some snow shoeing.

Dinner for 8 kids! They all did such a great job! No that beer is not Eliza's ;-)

Our last morning we had the kids go outside again while we cleaned and packed up the cars. We got in as much snow play as we could. A snow fort was also built. The gigantic snowman fell down though.

Eliza and her buddy Silas.

Oh and the sledding as GREAT too. It got pretty fast the second day...

And here is the whole gang! From top left to right; Adam, me, Silas (2 3/4), Jen, Toby, Daylen, Chris, Luca (3.5), Eric, Aimee, Uma (23 mo). Bottom left to right; Eliza (19 mo), Corbin (3.5), Quin (6), Jill, Miles (22 mo), Paul, Alden (3.5)!

What a great weekend guys! Thanks everyone. We can't wait for next year. And for the rest of the gang to join us.

My loves

Happy Belated Valentines Day!

I am working on an epic 2012 Ski Weekend post but these two pictures were on here from Valentines Day. We hope some of you received our belated Holiday cards/Valentines Day cards. Corbin had fun making cards this year for family. Some of his favorite included pictures of ghosts, goblins, monsters, and Christmas wreaths, as well as hearts!

He really wanted his picture taken but wouldn't smile for it! Silly boy.

Eliza's first lolly pop!

Coming soon will be pictures and stories from our Annual Ski Weekend with friends. 5 couples, 8 kids! It was a blast, although we did miss some friends who didn't come too :-)

To sit and rest and be

I see I haven't written a post since the beginning of September. Lest you forget that this is not, in fact, just Erin's blog, I will write a post. Then I will wait five months and then write another.

Erin's been bugging me for a while to start and finish a little house project in our play room. In said room there is a little alcove created when a tiny room was built for a water heater. It has a shelf up high, but nothing below. For a while we had a dresser in there, but we took it out when we ceded the room to our children.

So Erin wanted a built in bench/sitting/curling up spot. This is a perfect project for me because, (1) it is not hard, and (2) it should not take long.

We had a three-day weekend a few weeks back. So I figured I'd bust out a project. I finished, mostly, last week.

I framed it in. On the right is the wall of the water heater closet. As you can see, the bench is planned in the traditional trapezoidal shape, typical of most classic built-in benches.

I made it the same height as our couch. Because we're going to sit on it. And we sit on our couch.

Corbin did some actual nail pounding. Eliza did some actual noise-making. Note: I am in this picture. That is called "adult supervision."

With the help of Jen's sewing machine, Erin put new covers on some old pillows and made a trapezoidal cushion to match the trapezoidal bench.

It is Eliza-sized.

 I got a piece of plywood wainscoting for the front. It is painted the same color as the accent wall in this room. 

A winner! The only thing that looks off to me is the baseboard trim. It seems too high with the wainscoting. We'll get used to it.

Important note: You can open the top of this bench and put things inside, such as toys, single socks, children, old phone books, pets, or "other stuff." Also very useful for evading Imperial stormtroopers ("Never thought I'd be using them to smuggle myself").

There's just a little bit left to do. I need to sink the finishing nails (which means I need to get a nail sinker thingee), which will then need to be filled in and painted over by Erin. Erin also needs to finish up the cushion. In the meantime, however, the bench is fully functional.

My work here is done!

At least until I get my nail sinker thingee.

Mom's Ski Day

It's been a rough winter around here in terms of sickness. We just can't seem to get healthy for longer than a week. Colds, coughs, croup, fevers, pink eye, 24 hr bugs, ear infections, & more. We seriously get healthy for a week and then something else comes along. So this last week it's been pink eye. Yep. Pink eye. Then it turned into an ear infection and possible sinus infection. Yuck! We had planned to go cross country skiing on this gorgeous weekend but decided that Corbin should probably stay home and rest up, get a nap, etc. I was bummed about missing a skiing weekend during this nice weather. Adam was too... but our friend Jill was still going to go with her son Miles (21 months old) and convinced Aimee and I we should just go with the little guys. So we decided to make it a mom's and little ones ski day.

Here is where having a minivan would be amazing. We had to take 2 cars for the 3 of us moms and 3 kids. Bummer! But the sun was shinning and we were ready. Miles fell asleep on the way there but Eliza and Uma fell asleep within 10 minutes of skiing.

Everyone was saw was always so impressed to see us all with kids on our backs! We had a little snack at the end of the trail. Although with carrying kiddos in Ergo's and not having our male pack-horses, we had light snacks since we couldn't carry much food or water with us.

Miles, Eliza, & Uma (18-22 months old)!

We were all tired when we got back but had a good time with just one kiddo. My toe nail has some weird bruise on it though and one of my wrists hurts but it was all worth it. Everyone is tired and ready for bed!

SNOW!

We finally got our annual snow fall. I love it. I know some people don't love it and are thinking about all the days we will need to make up in June but I LOVE it! We already had a short school week because of MLK day on Monday. And now we are on our 3rd snow day tomorrow! I love it!!

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning. Going out to play!

Watching the big kids sled on the street.

The old runner sled that was my dad's. It's an old classic. I love it! It's perfect for snow covered packed down roads.

Corbin had a run-in with one of the neighborhood kids knees...although the kids shins probably looked worse!

I just love the look on Corbin's face!

Why not lounge in the tree, she says.

We had friends come over for dinner, tired the kids out, and then woke up to this! Almost 10 inches by the end of the day!

We headed over to the park to sled with friends. It was so quiet out. The snow was so peaceful. I love it!!!

Eliza and Uma weren't too into sledding but snacks and watching big brothers were pretty fun!

A little stop at Lafeen's for some hot chocolate and donuts, what could be better after sledding!

Then we had to head out to the best sledding hill in the neighborhood, next to our friend Jen and Toby's house. It was awesome! It was too big for Eliza and all Brindzi wanted to do was chase everyone down the hill. Tomorrow we will check it out even more and see how it goes with some hard cold packed down ice.

What I loved the most about this hill was that the whole neighborhood was there. Old, young, parents, kids, everyone. I loved it. On our street, only kids were out. Kids who should have been supervised. It was fun to see that just a couple of streets over with such a neighborhood feeling.

They are seriously crazy!

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so did Corbin and Eliza. Although I love the snow, it's hard. It tires everyone out. We get dressed up, undressed, look for mittens, hats, coats, etc. And today, I lost my patience with my kids. I couldn't decide if I needed some alone time or to get outside again. But one thing I did know was that I wanted to go x-country skiing out my front door before the storm was over. Tomorrow is supposed to not be so nice, so it was my only chance. It was also colder today and I had an allergy shot at 11:15 but I was determined to get out. So we bundled up again, and went out skiing. We went to the big field near Bloedell Donavan. I was a little nervous going along Electric for a bit, but we all made it. Corbin promptly decided he did not want to ski anymore and I had to leave. But I got out. I did it. Adam had to bring the kids back by himself while I hurried to my appointment. But I felt better afterward. I think we all did.

Brindzi also LOVES the snow! She was in 7th Heaven!

See this backpack. Eliza is all of a sudden obsessed. Seriously. After riding in it yesterday, she kept saying "Ba pack" over and over again. She wouldn't get out of it after we got home. She even had to sit in it while we ate dinner. Seriously. Then this morning, she sat in it for 30 minutes this morning. Whatever floats this girls boat! We had to hide it so she wouldn't see it.

Riding in the backpack makes me tired....(see our newest project...more on that later).

And down our hill again and again this afternoon. I had to sit out for the most part because, guess what, Eliza wanted to be in the backpack!

No school again tomorrow...possibly not on Friday either....wow!