Getting ready for Christmas

We have established some holiday traditions in our house, and this year we were able to do several of them, despite the nasty weather and constant rain.  We didn't get to do some of the things I wanted to do because of the weather (namely Peacock Lane and maybe Zoo Lights), but we did have a lot of fun.

One Saturday, Trey, Randy, and I went over to Curt and Ana's house to decorate gingerbread houses.  The kids and dads did a great job while I sat back and enjoyed the festivities.

Trey's roof broke in half.  I was worried that he was going to freak out, but he didn't seem to care (thank god) and just decorated the inside of the house.

Cute kids with their cute houses 

One weekend we had a few different birthday parties.  On a Saturday night I went to Mindy's 40th birthday party, and then on Sunday we went to Silas's birthday party at Out of This World Pizza.  The kids had fun running around, and I enjoyed chatting with Sara and Ted.

Me and Mindy

Trey and Silas, now both 5 years old 

When we got our Christmas tree, which this year meant Randy picked one out at the grocery store, Trey was super excited to decorate it.  He pulled out all of my ornaments and laid them out, one by one, on the couch.  He was super cute as he unwrapped each one and exclaimed, "I love this one!" over and over again.

What is hard to tell from this picture is that the ornaments Trey hung were all clustered together in one row.

We had our staff holiday party at our principal's house, and while most of the teachers chose not to go, my entire LRC team was there.  These ladies keep our program going on a daily basis, and I don't know how I could do it without them.

Marcelle, Tanya, me, and Maryellen 

Trey's karate school had a holiday extravaganza (well, I don't know if it was really an extravaganza because Trey didn't want to stay) where we saw Santa.  It was cool that the school had a Santa to see, but the man behind the beard was so clearly not meant to be Santa.  After we left, Trey said quietly in the backseat, "I think that was one of Santa's helpers."

Later that day, we went back to karate for Trey's belt test.  Randy and I are really enjoying the karate classes and the lessons they are teaching Trey.  Not only is he learning how to be a stealth ninja, but he is also practicing focus and following directions.

Christmas break started, and I have relished every possible moment of sleeping in, relaxing on the couch, and just being stress free.  It has been amazing, and I have caught up on a lot of the sleep that I have missed out on since September.  Monday morning is looming, and I am not looking forward to the early wake-up call.  Over break I have done a lot of reading, and this was my stack of library books to get through.  I didn't get through all of them (some I had to return and some I didn't like), but I have been reading a lot and it has been wonderful.

Our local grocery store also had a Santa visit, so we decided to check it out after karate one day.  Now, this Santa looked like Santa.  It was also really cool that he spent time talking to Trey before climbing in his sleigh to take pictures.  He told Case that the reindeer were up on the roof, so when we drove away, Trey was adamant that he wanted to see the reindeer.  That was fun.  I ended up telling him that the reindeer weren't really there, but that Santa had just said that to Case.  He said, "Well, then how did he get here?  Airplane?"  "Yes," I said,  "Probably."

Another of our holiday traditions is to bake and decorate sugar cookies.  Trey and I have a lot of fun doing this, and the cookies are pretty delish, in my opinion.

No idea why he's on the counter...

One night Randy and I went out to dinner with Kris and John for our holiday gift to each other.  We started with drinks at the Victory Bar on SE Division and then had dinner at an Italian place (I can't remember the name).  It was fun to have a night out with good friends.

One day over break, Curt and I took the kids to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.  We convinced Randy to go with us, and he watched Star Wars in the next theater over.  What I thought was the best part was that Curt has a choice to see Chipmunks or Star Wars, and he chose Chipmunks.  What???

A little air hockey before the movie 

Getting ready for the best movie of the year (not)

Feeling Thankful

Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday because there is minimal commercialism and it's all about spending time with family and friends.  I love thinking about gratitude and what I have to be thankful for.  This year in particular I have been trying to practice gratitude, from the big things like my healthy son to the little things like listening to a good audiobook on a beautiful commute to work.

I am particularly thankful that Trey is having a successful kindergarten experience, has a great teacher, and has made some good buddies.  He is learning a ton right now, and it has been a real joy to watch him soak in information in a typical way, especially since I have spent 18 years working with students who do not learn in a typical way.  While I am really lucky to have summers and school breaks to be home with Trey, it is super sad for me that I do not get to spend any time with him in his classroom in his learning environment.  Randy does drop off and pick up and if anything needed to be handled during the day, Randy would be the go-to guy as he is across the street and I am an hour away.  As a doting and "involved" mother, this is tough for me.

When I saw an opportunity to help out at Trey's Thanksgiving Feast, I jumped on it.  I took a half personal day so I could drive back to Beaverton and be in his classroom.  When I walked into his room, there were several other volunteer mothers waiting in a circle with the teacher, and the teacher said (harmlessly, I know), "This is Trey's mom.  She can't help out in the classroom."  That was awesome.

The teacher read the students (27 of them!!) some stories and then led them through some songs.  It was pretty cute.

Trey enjoyed his feast with the Native Americans and the pilgrims, and it was neat for me to meet many of his friends who I have only heard about and even some of their parents.

Trey and Miguel 

Mrs. Moon and her kindergarten class 

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a relaxing morning at home.  Grady and Case came over for a bit to play, and then we went to the Kopplins for dinner.  All in all, it was a fabulous day.

I got a lot of cuddles that morning. 

Batmans! 

Cuddling up and watching some shows 

Trey took probably 200 pictures at the Kopplins for Thanksgiving (I'm not kidding) and almost all of them were garbage.  The boy needs to learn to aim at something and get the camera in focus before hitting the button.  Makes. Me. Crazy.

Ruben and Neil did the finishing touches on the meal, which was delicious, and then we all enjoyed the food.  As always, we probably overdid it on the appetizers, but I guess that's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Zander and Trey, one of the few good pictures Trey took 

Neil appreciating the moment before everyone ate 

Photo credit to Trey

 Family shot on Thanksgiving Day

On Friday, we did Thanksgiving Part Deux at my sister's house.  My dad came up, and our family friends, the Moreaus, came over for the meal.   It was delicious as well, and we wrapped up the weekend fully satiated.

Auntie Kristin with a win for the cheese and cracker appetizer tray 

Case was really excited about the pies.

Dressed up as superheroes, of course. 

 The kids' table

Case finally got his pie. 

Family dessert time 

We wrapped up the holiday weekend with a movie.

We took the kids to see the Good Dinosaur, which I really enjoyed.

How Pixar gets the scenery to look like that is amazing.  

This certainly is a year to be thankful.  I'm thankful that Randy and I both have the opportunities right now to pursue different career paths, that our son is healthy and learning a ton in school, that we live in a comfortable house with food on the table and warm clothes on our backs, and that we are surrounded by friends and family who love and support us.  We are a lucky family! 

November, the month that lasted forever

This year November felt like the longest month of the year.  I think that's because it was cold, dreary, and I was in the middle of grad school hell.  I didn't have much time for anything but work work work, and it sucked sucked sucked.  I was counting down to December 9th, when our term would end, and doing all I could to keep my head above water in the process.  Well, I survived it, have blocked it out, and am only reminded of how yucky the month was by looking back at the pictures and realizing we didn't do much of anything in November.

Trey's kindergarten school picture

I still can't figure out why he didn't take his coat off.

I even dressed him in a collared shirt! 

A normal day or evening around the Clark house.

Me with my textbook and Trey with the iPad

This is what they call quality parenting, right? 

I have a love affair with sushi, and Roth's in McMinnville actually does a pretty good job.  When I go in there to get lunch, the sushi chef gives me a little cup for my wasabi and soy sauce without me even asking.  I love being a regular.

Trey decided he wanted to have a birthday party for  Doggy.  Ana was coming over, so we went all out.  Trey made a homemade pinata, filled it with Halloween candy, and wrapped some of his toys for Doggy to open at his party.  Ana brought some of her stuffed kitties over, and the kids had a great time at the "party."

Hitting the "pinata" (aka cardboard box with pictures on it) 

that was strung up on a rope and whacked by one of Randy's fishing rod holders.   

The loot! 

Birthday cupcakes with Doggy, the kitties, Trey and Ana 

Randy is doing his best to turn Trey into a Bronco fan.  He's made more progress this year than in the past, so there is still hope.

Trey read a book for me for the first time, and I caught it on video.  I'll spare you the "show off Mommy" video, but this is a screen shot of him and how happy he was at the end.  I am so proud of him and his reading.  It amazes me on a daily basis.

Like I said, we didn't do a lot of "fun" stuff in November, but I did try to capture quality time with my boy whenever I could.  Most of this was during storytime at bedtime.  We've been reading some great books, and while there are times I wish bedtime could go a little faster, I am trying to cherish these moments with Trey while they are here.

One night I went to Woodburn to meet some of my friends for happy hour, and Randy and Trey said they had a surprise for me when I got home.  When I arrived, it was DANCE PARTY 2015!!!  Randy had ordered some strobe lights (is that what they'd be called?) and they were having a huge dance fest.  They were playing some of Trey's favorite music and we all got our boogie on.  It was awesome!

Here are some more pictures of me trying to blend spending time with my son with doing coursework.  It's not ideal, but you do what you gotta do.

We got to join Zander for his bowling birthday party at Big Al's.  I can't believe he's 11!  I remember when he was born.  It is fun to see Trey interact with the "big kids" and not be a "baby" anymore.  As for the bowling, let's say we need to work a little on the arm strength so that the ball gets all the way down the lane.  Thank god for bumpers!

On Thanksgiving weekend (more on the holiday later), I was desperately trying to get some projects done before we went out for the night.  I will say that it can be hard to get papers done when you have a monkey on your shoulders grooming your hair.

On Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend (after I turned in my paper thanks to my husband's mad Excel graphing skills), we went to see Storm Large with Mindy and Bill.  It was Storm's holiday show, and it was awesome!  It was Mindy and Bill's first time seeing her perform, and she did not disappoint.  It was also an incredible way to bring in the holiday season.

Trey has been really interested in typing lately.  He loves typing his list of sight words and then reading them back.  He has recently discovered the speech to text feature (both on my phone and the computer) and has composed long monologues that essentially make no sense.  He wants to be an author, so I definitely encourage his story telling and creating.

Bronco watching, Lego building, fire making...my boys are the best!