This is from Dan's Moblization Ceremony that we had Monday and this late afternoon is when he leaves for additional training over on the East Coast and from there he will head over to Kuwait and into Iraq. We'll see him in a year or so... How we're doing? The boys and I are okay. I'll let you know how it goes...

Living Lovely

Milestones.... How do we celebrate milestones such as acheivements, birthdays, graduations and well milestones? That was the question posted by Mt. Hope Chronicles in the latest of the Living Lovely With Family series:

Birthdays: We live away from family but it has happen with great frequency that someone [family and or friend] comes to visits around/during one of the boys' birthdays.
Here is a special birthday occasion:

This was during Dan's first deployment and he came home for his two week leave and we celebrated Cyrus's first birthday.
And because 1st birthdays are so cute:

Solomon has yet to have a birthday party because it is around Labor Day and many of his friends are away vacationing one last time or super busy getting ready for school so we'll be doing something extra special for his birthday in lieu of a birthday party. I am halfway tempted to give a kid party one last shot for mid-September this coming year... So we usually celebrate both of their birthdays with just family.

Acheivements: Dan puts his acheivements on the fridge and for other less tangible acheivements we celebrate with nice homemade dinner or we go out. Praise and high fives seem to work well for the boys. My acheivements are usually an end result of something: making dinner, making or doing something, etcera so usually I get the "I love yous" and "Thank yous" which works for me since I am thankfully not working in a 9-5 job with a boss and that rocks. My greatest acheivements are my marriage to Dan and our two boys which I get to enjoy everyday...

Graduations: So far we have only celebrated Solomon's graduation from Preschool. It was a lovely affair of pining homemade butterfly wings so that the kids could soar in the upcoming year and cake/ice cream. Dan is still only 3 classes shy of his college degree and I'll let you know what we do when that is finally done! Graduations from diapers to being potty trained was a nice stash of cool underwear- Batman, Superheroes, Transformers, Sharks, etc

Cyrus believes that everything should be celebrated with ice cream which is why an ice cream maker is on his birthday wishlist and then cake or cupcakes but we usually mark the milestones with words of love and affection...

Living Lovely

Mt. Hope Chronicles has another installment in the "Living Lovely With Family" series and this week, it focus on Yearly Traditions!

So in a year month by month:

April: Our wedding anniversary is on the 20th and this year will be our 7th year and we have only been able to be together on this day twice so while we enjoy the fact that our marriage is "aging" we haven't always been able to celebrate especially on the day. We would have had more lucky celebrating on the day I wanted to marry- April 1st but Dan wasn't ready yet. This year the boys will go with me to a Beavers Baseball game- Portland's minor league baseball team.
We're starting our first garden here at home.
We are buying a grill so in the future we'll have our "First BBQ of the Season" to look forward.
This year Easter is in April- I usually take the boys to an Easter Egg Hunt somewhere else so I don't do them at home. In addition to a basket that they always get- I will be making a "Treasure Map" for them to find it this year.

May: Cyrus's birthday is May 2nd and well kid birthdays are fun. We'll be doing a BBQ that should be loads of fun.
Mother's Day- I have admit I make it fun for me and I work with the boys into making things for me. Dan usually gets me a card- usually a funny one. He'll be missing it this year so I am making him a "Guilty and should buy my wife and mother of my children some lovely things" Wish-list.
Hopefully our first campout happens in some lovely weather in May.

June: Officially launches summertime and berry pickin'!
This year there is a special Birthday party/Family Reunion happening that I hope to attend with the boys.

July: Last year we went to the Beavers Baseball game on the 4th of July which was awesome! You get a baseball game which is pretty much the ultimate American experience you can get with a fireshow afterwards. I am hoping to do the same this Fourth of July.

August: For years August meant Fairgrounds and we'll be trying a new one this year at home or visiting the one back in my hometown as we travel for a friend's wedding just around fair time!

September: September 1st is Solomon's Birthday and usually around or on Labor Day which is not a good time to have a birthday party with friends as everyone is either getting ready for school or away on their last summer vacation. We have fun anyways.
Dan's Birthday is in September [26th] and this year will be turning 30!
Apple season. I love apples.

October: Going to a Pumpkin Patch- the first pumpkin is for homemade pumpkin pie and the others are for decorations.
We love dress up and always make or get a costume and usually attend a Halloween/Harvest Party but yet to try trick-or-treating as I don't want that much candy at home. I will have the boys help me make homemade goodies this year as I have a homemade Reese cup recipe that I want to try.

November: My favorite holiday- Thanksgiving because it is about the food and giving/being thankful all wrapped into one. I am hoping that with Cyrus being 5 years old this year- we'll be able to participate at serving Thanksgiving meals to someone else or boxing up food to help families this holiday.
Day of the Dead we celebrate with Pumpkin Soup.
The countdown for snow begins for the boys.
Day after Thanksgiving we cut down our tree and start decorating for Christmas season.

December: If no snow on the ground- we go to it and sled. Want to do a family snowboarding weekend next year with Dan.
We'll participate in St Lucia Day this year.
I want to really start making Christmas gifts and ornaments with the boys this year so that is goal of ours and if it goes well then I can foresee and lovely tradition for the years to come.
Favorite Christmas Eve meal of sausage, sauerkraut, potato pancakes, and applesauce. Prime Rib Roast for Christmas Day.
My birthday is on the 10th. I like to have tea at the Heathman Hotel and Sushi for my birthday dinner this year and to do anything I want.
I hope to participate in two yearly events in Portland area: The Nutcracker Ballet and the Polar Express Train ride out in Mt Hood.

January: We ring in the New Year at Noon rather than Midnight and our meal is consisted of appetizers which is a lot of fun to make and eat.

February: The boys really got into Valentine's Day so I'll be making a bigger deal of it next year.

March: Dr Seuss’s Birthday is celebrated with Dr Seuss stories and green foods.
Breaking ground for the garden- getting seeds and plans ready for the planting season.

All year-long for family members' birthdays that we don't live near to help celebrate- I usually make a treat for us to celebrate here at home which is pretty much everyone's.

Thanks for bearing with me reading such a long post!

Living Lovely

Another post for the Living Lovely series hosted by Mt. Hope Chronicles and this week focuses on:
Share on your blog your thoughts and ideas for making connections and memories with our families in simple, but profound ways through special treats, random surprises, and seasonal activities.

Special treats is code for dessert around here. My kids love it when I make waffles every Saturday or Friday morning [or any other time of the week], our weekly [at least once a week if not more] we'll have tea time and sometimes I'll bake something like scones, brownies, or cookies. The boys love gelato and ice cream but I don't keep any at home so we have to go out and about to enjoy some and hence Cyrus has put an ice cream maker on his birthday wishlist. Snow days mean hot chocolate days! Last year I had a new year resolution of learning to make pies and those are a special treat that even the boys like to help me make. Last week we had two pies in one night: Beef Pot Pie and Banana-Coconut Cream Pie! Any time it is sunny outside the boys ask if it is warm enough for a BBQ because BBQ ranks very high for a special treat! For your birthday, you get to choose your resturant [usually Sushi] and dessert which has been ice cream cake lately.

Random surprises I love to do: go for a hike, drive, or visit someplace new. We would make a fort inside and have a "camp-in" day that we'll be taking outside with a tent this summer and hopefully camping in the great outdoors a couple of times this summer. The fun and excitement of a new lego set to build together. Checking out a family movie at the theatre. Giving everyone money at a bookstore- literally can spend hours looking over books until we each figure out what we want most.

Seasonal activities that we look forward to are: cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it, sledding, walking through the Rose Garden, theatre shows, Thanksgiving for the yummy food, Dr. Suess Birthday and everyone's birthdays, baseball games [Our first Portland Beavers game will be April 20th this year as the boys help me celebrate Mom and Dad's Wedding anniversary], military/air shows, when family from out of state come and visit us are always special events, picking out pumpkins [and making pumpkin pies for Halloween season], playing at water fountains when the weather is warm, pumpkin soup for Day of the Dead, and some events we'll be adding this year are St Lucia Day [Swedish Holiday], gardening in our own garden, and making homemade Christmas gifts together.

Living Lovely

Mt.Hope Chronicles is hosting a blog series: Living Lovely with Family and I am joining at week 2: What are some things we do weekly as a family to make meaniful connections and memories?

Games: We play a lot of games: board games, card games, outside games X-box, and now the new Wii. Solomon wants to learn how to play chess so this summer I'll teach and hopefully well so he'll learn. Most often we play Go Fish, Crazy 8s, and Battleship [at the Coffee house around the corner from our home].
Outside: We're fans of being outside especially when it is sunny [and we don't get as much sun as this Californian is used to]. Parks for play and hike, soccer, baseball, tag, tennis, and basketball. We have just added gardening to our list of favorite things to do together outside.
Food: That old saying: "The way's to a man's heart is through his stomach" is partly of how my husband asked me to marry him but I see in my boys that they seem to say "I love you Mom" and "Thank you" the most when they are eating so the saying applies to little boys too! While eating together as a family is a daily routine, cooking with mom is something each of the boys look forward to. They have their days of when they help me cook/bake and they love it! The one on one time with Mom and the chance to show off yummy creations to the rest of the family.
Farmer Market: We would go every week all year long if not twice or three times a week when we lived in California- just a wonderful place to socialize, get interested in different foods [the samples are great for growing boys], the shopping stands are lower than at the grocery store and at the boys' level which gets them more interested in grocery shopping, meeting the people who grow the food really helped their interest in gardening, and we'll always get something yummy to eat. Here in the Northwest- most of the Farmer Markets don't go year round but thankfully one starts its season tomorrow. When the weather is nice- we play afterwards.
Tea time: Not everyday but a couple of times a week, the boys and I participate in Tea Time- sometimes at home and sometimes at a cafe. We drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or something cold and talk, play game, or I'll read out loud before we discuss. It is nice to just sit and relax with the kids so we can just focus on one another instead of the never-ending to do list.
Library: We go to the library once a week [although with our recent move, we got out of the habit]- we'll browse, read out loud, check out books, comics, and sometimes movies for us to enjoy independently or together during the week.
Art: The boys love to make and do art and I'll be there admiring their use of colours and imagination as I work on my own projects: blogging [the art table is right next to the computer], cooking [as they work at the countertop or dining table], knitting, or just doodling myself...
Dad: Dan works a variety of shifts/days from week to week, month to month and on his days off whenever they may be, the boys always look forward to male bonding activities such as "wrestling", Dan's teasing sense of humor that gets us all giggling and laughing, and moments where we can all participate in games and outside activities. With his deployment happening soon, I'll be starting a weekly art/writing time for the boys to share their week with Dad and mail them off!

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, Solomon is done with school for Thanksgiving break, and I am not cooking this year. We'll be travelling Thanksgiving day [with many stops at Starbucks along the way as Starbucks is giving out free Signature Hot Chocolate on Thanksgiving Day!] to the Seattle area to break bread at Dan's friend, C and his wife E's new house. C's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving so Happy Birthday! Dan is working the Wednesday which is why we're travelling on Thanksgiving but we should be there around 2pm- just in time. We'll head back home after, what I am sure to be a wonderful visit, on Saturday. Back to our regular programming.

New schedule...

Happy November!

We have a couple of changes in our family with regards to scheduling and I thought I would share them with you.
Dan is working a new schedule that we are liking so far. Sun-Wed 3pm to 1am- the lucky dog doesn't have to put boys to bed just to wind down. I will be able to volunteer in Solomon's classroom as younger [even well behaved] siblings are not allowed in the classroom. Even though the schedule looks pretty bad at first glance- we're seeing more of him around and that makes us a happier family.
Cyrus is no longer attending preschool. The kid is genius and genuinely interested in learning that he doesn't really need the Pre-K program to get ready for Kindergarten in the way that Solomon needed that extra help. We're also starting our search to buy a home [yes even in the economic crisis that is around us all] and any extra money will help our family acheive that dream. I get to acheive my own dream of homeschooling for a little while and I am quite giddy about that. I get a better schedule as I am not dropping off, lunch, dropping off, try to accomplish something in a tiny space of time, picking up, one on one time and then try to accomplish something else before time to pick up again... Day in and day out. Cyrus's last day was Halloween and he is feeling good about it so far and is very excited about going to the same school as Solomon next year. Oh the schedule has my sleepier kid [Cyrus always wanted/needed more sleep than Solomon] going back to two naps a week which I am so sure he'll enjoy.
Solomon has adjusted pretty well to Kindergarten by now. He just finished soccer [he got better as the weeks went on and even scored a goal in the last two games!] and is considering what extra curricular activity to do next. He enjoyed soccer enough to want to be on a team for the Spring Season which I am relieved because kid soccer shoes are expensive so might as well try to get the most usage for your money's worth.
Me? I'll tell you in the next post what has happened with my schedule other than I revolve happily around my family's schedule and gain a little more hours at work...

Family Picture

A friend took this picture of us so you can see what we're looking like lately.
Solomon isn't being too aware that his picture is being taken and has his soccer uniform on because we go straight to his game after the picture, Cyrus has leaves and other wonderful goodies from his school's nature hike as we just picked him up from school, Dan got off work a little early, and I am my normal self...

"Hi everyone!"

Happy Independence Day!

We're having fun the old-fashioned American way- a BBQ followed by a baseball game: the Portland Beavers verses the Tacoma Rainiers! Go Beavers! We'll have dessert at the baseball game- the rainbow shaved ice are calling out to the boys and the freeze-dried [or whatever it is] ice cream is calling out to me... After the game they do a fireshow there and I am sure we'll be able to catch some glimpse of the fireshow over the river if the tall buildings aren't too much in our way... I'll have to get a disposal camera to capture this.

Have a merry American Holiday!

Pictures from Grandpa Dave's super nice camera

Christmas Tree

We had fun decorating a tree...

Some more Thanksgiving pictures

Helping Aunt Liz feed the horses- about 25 horses [including 2 ponies].

We tried to have a family photo taken but everyone couldn't get their act together...

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

The boys are so cute!