February Fun

February felt like the month of birthday parties.  I think we had one every single weekend - sometimes two - and while I love seeing Trey surrounded by his friends and people who he adores (not to mention getting to catch up with some of my favorite moms), I was ready for a break from the birthday party circuit.  Out of This World, Chuck E. Cheese, Bullwinkle's...you name it.  We were there.

On this very special weekend, we got to go to TWO birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese in ONE day.  That's right, my friends.  I went there TWICE.  In ONE day.  

Jackpot!

The first party was for Case, Trey's cousin, who turned three.  Trey was thrilled to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time ever, and he ran around like a madman putting his tokens in machines that a) took his token and did nothing (aka no tickets), b) he couldn't figure out how to work, or c) he loved.  He had a fabulous time and left with some junk that he couldn't do without that managed to stay in the bottom of my purse until just yesterday.
 

Happy third birthday to Case!

Trey has a new love for these kinds of video games.  I think he played this one about five times in a row.

Later in the afternoon, we went BACK to Chuck E. Cheese for Trey's friend Miguel's party.  Somehow Randy managed to be fishing on this special day and didn't have to go to either Chuck E. Cheese party.  How did that happen, you ask?  Because I am the best wife ever!  (Actually, it was because I was leaving for two nights the following weekend to be with my besties and I felt a little guilty.)

Air hockey with Miguel

Happy birthday to Miguel, a friend from Trey's kindergarten class!

Later that night, we went to Julie's for Case's family birthday party.  Both sets of Case's grandparents were there for the celebration as well as some of my parents' family friends, the Lockards.  It was a fun party, and Julie is so lucky to be surrounded by such grandparental support.

Julie was really excited about this gift.

Jim and my dad, friends since third grade

Happy birthday to Case, again!

A McGuire family shot with a photobomb by Trey

So, I don't know if you knew this, but someone in my family is a diehard Broncos fan.  He was just a little bit teensy weensy excited about the Super Bowl this year.  I was mostly hoping that it wasn't another repeat of the Super Bowl a few years ago.  We decided not to have a party like we did the last time...just in case.  But needless to say, the Broncos pulled it off and Randy was very very happy.

One random night Trey thought it would be hilarious to put playdough all over our faces.  I have some other pictures of this special event, but thought these two were the best.  I love my kid.

Trey brought the class bear home for the night and had to do something and then write about it for the class book.  He decided he wanted to play games, so we had a mid-week family game night with the special bear (whose name I cannot remember).   Trey has become really interested in board games, which I think is fantastic.

Later that week, we had Kris and John over for dinner and Cards Against Humanity.  We put a little G-rated game playing in before the adult game started, just for Trey.

We had a ton of fun and drank all the wine I bought for girls' weekend.  Damn!

The next morning of the three day President's Day weekend, I was leaving for the beach with Sarah, Sarah, and Julie.  It was also Valentine's Day weekend (second year in a row I've left Randy and Trey on V Day.  Oops.).  I bought Trey some Skittles and some Minecraft Legos, so he was content to say goodbye to Mama.

This is the third annual weekend away at Cannon Beach with Sarah, Sarah, and Julie, and we all look forward to it.  It is a toss-up whether we are more excited to spend time together or to get away from regular home life for a few nights...

Dinner at a random hardware store in Cannon Beach that also is a pub.

We caught a few minutes without rain, so we went for a walk on the beach.  I was told I couldn't put it on Facebook, but they didn't say anything about the blog...

Not the best beach weather...

But we were content to stay inside, do a puzzle (Julie and Sarah), 

and read (Sarah and me)

Trey's kindergarten class had the classic 100th day party at school.  I wasn't able to be there, but some of my mom friends were and they took pictures for me and texted them to me.  I am pretty bummed that I cannot be more involved in Trey's class, but I am also pretty lucky to have met some great moms who keep me in the loop and send me fun pictures like these.

One of the reasons I couldn't help out at the 100th day party (well, besides working full time an hour away from home) is that I was at the NW PBIS conference in Portland.  For non-educators, PBIS is Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, and it is commonly used in schools to assist with behavior.  I went to the conference with my counselor, my principal, and a third grade teacher, and we all learned a lot and became invigorated about the use of PBIS in our school.  But one of the greater parts was that I got to see a lot of old awesome friends from my days at the Eval Center, and that made me so happy!

Lunch walk with Ron, Kathi, and Erin

A beautiful place to have a conference

I was nearly giddy to see Rick, one of the psychologists from the Eval Center, who was at the conference to give a presentation.  I could listen to him talk for hours.  I have missed that so much.

Rick's session got packed, so they moved everyone to the lounge.  Sitting with Kerry in a lounge listening to Rick present was so perfect.  Well, except for the fact that we weren't drinking beer while listening to Rick talk.

Another beautiful lunch walk...and I took this picture because one of my groups was reading about Mt. Saint Helens.

After the conference, Mindy, Kerry, Shannon and I went to Saraveza for happy hour.  The lady at Saraveza recommended this beer for Randy since he likes Pliny the Elder so much.  I bought a four pack, and it was freaking delicious.  I have been looking for it since then, but haven't found it.  It was so good.

January, the most dreadful month of the year

Apologies, in advance, to Randy for criticizing January since it's his birthday month, but I think it is a terrible month and this is why:
1. It's cold and dark.
2. We are broke from Christmas.
3. It feels really long.
4. It takes forever.  Wait, that's the same as #3.
5. It feels like spring will never come.

Pretty much, that's it.  But, I must say, this January was okay.  It's been a mild, albeit wet, winter, so we have had some balmy days (aka in the 50's) and the time has just been flying.  I have been enjoying the sunrises on the way to work in the past week or two (last week I called Randy on the way and said, "LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.  IT'S AMAZING!!!") and I have hope for nicer weather (as I type, the sun is shining in the window and it's supposed to hit 60 degrees this week!  I expect all Portlanders to be in shorts.).

However, with all that talk of nicer weather, we had a surprise snowstorm at the beginning of January which held off school for everyone in Oregon except for McMinnville.  Randy was a crazy man, as usual, and went went fishing, while Trey and I went sledding with our friends in the neighborhood.

Trey, Zack and Owen, two buddies from soccer and kindergarten 

Trey has been waiting a long time to do this. 

School started on January 4th and I will admit I was dreading it.  The dread was a little different from last year...last year I was dreading it because I was so depressed about my job.  This year I was dreading it because I knew how hard it would be jumping back into full time work and full time grad school after a blissful two weeks off.  While the anticipation of the unknown is hard for me, so is the known sometimes...but it must be done.

I got home on Monday night, after my first day back and Trey's extra day off, and received a special surprise package in the mail from my friend Beth.  She had knit me a hat which I have carried with me ever since, yet the weather has been pretty mild after our snowstorm.  Nevertheless, I was happy to be thought of by a special friend and am grateful for the gift.

Later that Monday night I had a pretty unpleasant meeting with some university staff from my grad program.  It really threw me for a loop, and I have not had an experience, either professionally or academically, like that in my life.  I don't mean to be vague, but I also don't want to get into details, yet I'll say it was a very difficult few weeks and the impact still lingers on my daily happenings in my program.  I share the following text exchange with Nyree because it not only encompasses how I felt that week but also shows how much I love Nyree and her support.

What I've learned this month is that I can pull through hard things, keep my dignity in tact, and relish in the support of my friends and colleagues.  While I have felt like I have bent over and taken it rather than defended myself in a situation that damaged my professional and personal reputation, I think I have made the right decisions for my future and my imminent path.  It sucks, and I know I'm being vague, but that's how it has to be on my blog.

Moving on...let's talk about the Broncos.  If you didn't know, my husband is a fan and he's successfully turning our son into a fan as well.  I think this is awesome because I want our son to be just like his father in (almost) every way.  The picture below was pre-playoff game, and the outcome was positive.  The Super Bowl starts in mere hours, and I can only hope that the outcome will be the way the Clark house wishes.

The night of the game there was a birthday dinner for Uncle Tim.  We had a good time celebrating at IBU, one of our new favorite places to eat and drink. I left feeling that my sister is super lucky to have such amazing family-in-laws.

Randy counting syllables for his haiku to Nicole 

What you see there is a key hanging from my mirror on my dresser.  My dear friend, boss, and mentor, Lee Ann, gave me that key at one of our meetings and said it was from her keyhole experience.  She described it as looking through the keyhole and not knowing how you'd get through to the other side with all of the stuff that has to fit through (I'm not paraphrasing it well).  What I love most about this key is that I have the support of Lee Ann through my grad school experience.  I have a lot of mentors in my special ed world (A LOT) and I am so lucky, but if I could be like Lee Ann when I grow up, I would be so lucky.  As I look at these words next to the picture of the key and me and my mom, I only wish that Lee Ann and my mom would have met.

I'm not sure what night this was from, but it is of Trey, Grady, and Case at Julie's house playing with the cushions and watching a movie.  Trey has been asking for a little brother lately,  and that makes me pretty sad.   Another baby is not in our future, but how do you explain that to your "only" child?  Any ideas from you readers would be welcome.

I've been knee deep in grad school, and while the above mentioned meeting was difficult, I still have to forge on.   It has been busy, and I have had to accept a messy house and not being able to cook normal food for the family.  I realized that not only have I hit midterm for winter term (scary since there are A LOT of big projects to do in the next five weeks), but I have hit the midway point for the full-time coursework I am doing.  THAT is encouraging.

What a normal night looks like in the Clark house 

Trey has definitely been missing the attention that he normally gets from me.   He wants to be near me whenever he can and constantly seeks my focus.  One night we had movie night, and while I'm working on the computer which is on the arm of the couch, he gradually worked his way into my lap and was holding my hand.  Super sweet.

Trey is still doing karate, and I think Randy and I enjoy it more than he does.  As I've said before, we enjoy the direction on focus, listening to your parents, and stranger danger.

Our first visit to Krispy Kreme after Saturday morning karate 

Getting some work done with Trey right next to me, of course 

Saturday afternoon playdate at Hopworks with Camille and Mindy 

You get the idea, right? 

There's a reason it's hard to get any work done around here... 

Sunday morning playdate at Pump It Up, Jr. with Trey's preschool friends.  We don't get to see them as much as we'd like, but our connection continues.  Here Trey is with Torryn, Ryland, and Everett.  Xander, Torryn's little brother, would not get in the picture.

Trey has been writing a ton and wants to be an author.  He likes to sit at my dresser in my bedroom and work on his writing.  As you can imagine, I love this.

Lastly, I wanted to include this picture of my Woodburn friends.  It showed up on my Facebook wall recently in their daily memories feed.  This was four years ago and includes Ardis, Susan, Shelley, Dora, Cindy, Stacy, and Steve.  I love that this group of friends continues to get together.  I continue to think about Shelley, who passed away this past summer, and miss her.  There are still moments where I want to text her (usually about the Bachelor or Top Chef) or expect to see her when we all get together.  I think I even had a dream about her last night.  

Time to stop procrastinating and start cleaning or doing coursework.  But I'm proud of myself that I got my January post done so soon after the month ended.  This is progress, people!