I know mothers who are worried about the day that their children grow taller than them. I don't worry about that day, I accept it as inevitable and embrace it. I am really curious to see just how tall my children get. I hope that Cassadie is taller than me, not six feet tall or anything, but slightly taller would be good. For those of you who don't know, I am 5'9" on a good day. I also hope Jarod reaches 6 feet and then some.

I have been thinking a lot about height lately because I have been supervising concessions at the high school where some of my sophomore girls are shorter than Cassadie. Actually, one of them is shorter than Jarod. She had a great attitude about it all and was completely cracked up when she found out he was only 9. So we measured them both the other day; Cassadie has hit 5' 3" and Jarod is at 5' 1/4". They both ride in the front seat of the car now. I gave up fighting with Cassadie when she was over 5 feet and about 100 lbs. So they are both the size of many small women now, and I have no argument left. I actually enjoy the car ride more now with someone in front to talk to. We always talked before, but there is something about having someone sitting next to you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times...

For those of you who don't know already, I am extremely busy. I recently had to buy one of those whiteboard calendars in order to keep track of it all. I found myself getting busier and trying to remember it all. We forgot Jarod's Basketball practice two weeks in a row and that's when I knew it was time. I just filled it in for the month of February and this is it as of today.



We each have a color, so I don't have to write names. It got too much to have to write "Cass b-ball 7-8pm". We thought about initials, but decided on colors as the simplest way.

So why am I so busy? As you've read before, Cassadie is on Swim Team and also plays AAU basketball. Now, Jarod is also playing AAU basketball, and takes a Karate class. I teach at a local University (Heritage Univeristy) twice a week. So, with all that, we have at least two things to do every night of the week. The kids have basketball games and Cassadie's swim meets are on Saturdays. So on a given saturday, I may be in White Swan (a 40 minute drive to the west) for a game in the morning and then in Benton City (a 40 minute drive to the east) for a game in the afternoon. There have been 2 or 3 times where Alex has to take one and I take the other and we head in opposite directions because their games are at the same time.

Cassadie's next swim meet happens to fall on a weekend when her team doesn't have a b-ball game, so we were lucky. She hates to let her basketball team down, but we would have to choose swimming if it came to it.



You can kinda see her new team suit in this pic. Their colors are green and purple, the suit is green and purple argile. Cassadie really likes it, and most of the younger kids do as well. Most of the older kids think they're ugly.

So, I ask myself everyday, how much is too much? When do I tell my children, "no, you can't do that because you have too much going on already"? We have limited them to these two activities each, and I will continue to chaufer them all over the valley as long as they are enjoying it. When Cassadie complains about having no time for anything, or missing out on something, I wonder if we have hit the "too much". She and I have discussed this very issue on several occasions. She knows that she loves swimming and basketball, and as soon as that is not the case, she knows that she can stop.

Jarod has been playing basketball since last year, they just started up again about 3 weeks ago. It just so happens that he started karate classes at the same time. He loves karate. He has class twice a week, and always comes home with a goofy grin on his face and stories to tell. One day he told me that he has the best balance except for the girl in his class. I told him to be proud of that because girls naturally have lower centers of gravity. The next day it was that he could kick the hardest. I just love to listen to his stories, it makes me happy that he is having so much fun. We watched Karate Kid yesterday. He was completely focused for the entire movie, and he loved it, as I knew he would. You should have seen him trying to do the famous crane move (I'm sure we all tried that move).

4 Things for Angela

So here are my answers to the "4 things" - just a warning though, I am REALLY boring!

4 things I was doing 10 years ago:

Walking around VERY pregnant with my HAAS-of-a-son, Jarod  (I think this should count as two things)

Hanging out every day with Cassadie.  I wasn't working and she was two and a half.

Trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life.  I had an AA degree from YVCC and had no idea what to do next.

4 things on my to-do list today:

Take my kids to Swim practice and Karate class

Correct papers

Correct papers 

and ummm......oh

Correct papers (the end of the semester is next week)

4 jobs that I have had:

Customer Service at an AM PM where I used to get asked if I was old enough to work the cash register....I guess I don't get that question anymore

Payroll clerk for a trucking company (does this go along with Ang's desire to be a truck driver? I wonder....)

Front Desk Clerk at a Super 8 Motel - I started out as a maid and got promoted 

I was a Substitute teacher in a 1st grade classroom one time and those little monsters almost ate me alive - that was my confirmation that I was NOT meant to be an elementary school teacher.  I was exhausted when I got home.

4 movies I have watched more than once:

Top Gun

Karate Kid

Clue

Dirty Dancing

4 favorite albums:

Twilight Sound Track

Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill

Natalie Grant - Awaken

Carol King - Tapestry

4 places I've lived:

A tiny two-bedroom apartment in Yakima, WA - our first place after we were married

A nice two-bedroom apartment in Bothell, WA - our first place after Cassadie was born when Alex was working in Seattle

Another nice three-bedroom apartment in Federal Way, WA - we moved for lower rent and then quickly realized why it was lower

The house we live in now in Zillah, WA

That's it, all the places we have lived in the last 13 years since we got married...I told you all I was boring!

4 places I've been:

Phoenix, Arizona - when it's 10:00 at night and you get out of your car thinking it will be a nice cool summer evening and you can't breathe because it's still 120 degrees.

Las Vegas, Nevada - went there last spring with my sister, grandmother, 6 aunts, and 4 cousins.  We had sooo much fun, and then I got a tattoo on my way home; not in Vegas but in Portland on my way home.

Mebane, North Carolina - we went to visit Alex's Dad when Cassadie was a baby.  It is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

San Fransisco, California - we went to visit Alex's sisters about 13 years ago and we walked around downtown, but I don't really remember anything except palm trees - I had never seen them before.

4 places I'd like to visit:

Italy 

Hawaii

Australia

The area of England that is portrayed in Nodding Hill

4 TV shows I watch via DVD:

Friends

Alias

Gilmore Girls now, thanks Ang

Charmed because my husband does, and I can't really avoid the TV

4 of my favorite meals:

Cheese Zombies and tomato soup like we had at school when we were kids

My grandmother's meatloaf - she can't give me the recipe because she doesn't really know what she put in there

I guess, there are meals I like but I don't really have favorites.  I have favorites for a short time, but then I get tired of it and find another.  

4 things you may not know about me:

I like to read...I say you may not know this about me because I didn't know it about myself until about a week ago. 

When I was in High School, my friends and I would go cliff diving about once a week for a whole summer.  

I once got in a fight with a girl during a Powder Puff Football game - we both got kicked out of the game - and I'm a little ashamed to say that this is one of my favorite memories from High School.

I enjoy driving.  Not the short, everyday, here or there trips; but the long, take your time, set the cruise control and go trips.  For some reason, it is kinda relaxing for me.  It may have something to do with the fact that I am a control freak and so I can't relax when someone else is driving, I don't know.

So there you have it...if you made it this far without falling asleep or leaving, I guess you know a little more about me.

Although its been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas

I had never been to Leavenworth.  For those of you who don't know, Leavenworth is a small "Bavarian" town nestled into Central Washington.  It is about a 2 hour drive from where we live.  I had never really had an interest in seeing it.  I could not imagine why someone would think a Bavarian town would work in the middle of Washington state.  I thought it would look cheesy and misplaced.  I was wrong....very wrong.  It is tucked into the base of some of the largest, most ominous looking mountains I have ever seen.  You follow the river in and then you are surrounded by the mountains.  It is perfect.  You have no idea how completely committed to their theme the town is until you see it.  Gas stations, Safeway, every single storefront no matter what it might contain; they all look completely Bavarian.  The people working were dressed in Bavarian fashions as well.  

So why did I decide to go now?  Afterall, I had lived 33 years without seeing it, and thought I was missing nothing.  Well, we had to go to Wenatchee for Cassadie's swim meet (Wenatchee is 30 minutes from Leavenworth).  It happened to be the same weekend as Leavenworth's Christmas Lighting event.  Most of the families from the team were going, and so we thought we might as well go.  Apparently, people come from all over the country and world to see them turn on Christmas lights!  The main street is completely shut down to cars and packed full of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder.  

The lighting event was kicked off with four men playing these strange looking horns.  They sounded much like a french horn, but very loud.  

There was a gazebo in the park with a lady announcing the event, a choir, and an orchestra,  all dressed perfectly in their Bavarian attire.  They sang and played Christmas Carols the entire time we were there.  

They even did a Bavarian countdown to the lighting of the shopfronts.  I couldn't repeat it even if I wanted to, it was very strange, like numbers coupled with strange shouting. 

I mentioned the mountains earlier, if you look at the backgrounds of these pictures you get an idea of just how huge and close they are.  They were really breathtaking.  

You would think with soooo many people crammed into such a small town, there would be problems.  It was actually quite the opposite, people were extremely generous and polite.  I stopped a couple to ask what a roasted chestnut tastes like (yes they were roasted on an open fire) and they gave me one of theirs to taste.  It was interesting, like a fresh walnut in texture, but less flavorful.  I was trying to take a self-portrait of the four of us, and kept cutting off Jarod's head.  I must have taken three when a couple stopped and offered to help.  The man took the best picture.

 

So, it was a great experience, Leavenworth has won me over.  The only thing our experience lacked was snow, that would have made it perfect.  It was definitely cold enough for snow (Jack Frost nipping at your nose).  I would go back...maybe not just for this event though.  I would go if I happened to be in the area again, but I wouldn't take my family all the way up there just for this.  It might be nice to see in the summer.    

Cassadie's First Meet

Cassadie had her first swim meet today and she had a lot of fun.  She swam in two events, the 50m freestyle and the 100m backstroke.  She did really well for her first swim in a meet.  Her coach was very proud of her, as was I.  She was very nervous this morning, but I think I may have been more nervous for her.  She was so nervous, she forgot to put her goggles on for her first event.  They were still on the top of her head when she dove in.  I was almost sick to my stomach watching her because I felt so bad.  Her coach told her he was so proud of her, he said any other 1st timer would have just stopped, but she swam on and won her heat.  I tried to download the video (about 10 different times) with no success.  They are on my facebook and myspace.

She ended up taking 10th out of 23, which I think is great considering all.  She was definitely not swimming her fastest.  

Her backstroke went well.  Her coach told her that her arms looked great but he would have liked her to have kicked her legs for the entire race.  When she watched the video back, she said "yeah, I probably could have kicked harder than that."  She could have been disqualified because apparently she has to finish the race on her back and she flipped to her stomach as she was reaching for the wall, but the judge didn't see it I guess.  

She had a blast, and has another meet in Cheney, November 22-23.  We're looking forward to it.

 

Mmmmm grapes

I love Fall.  I love how the leaves change, how the weather is chilly at night and warm during the day, how you can bundle up on the couch with a blanket and feel all cozy, and how you can be driving along in the Yakima Valley and suddenly smell grapes.  It is the best smell.  It is not the best smell when they are harvesting hops right next to the vineyard and you get a mix of delightful grapes and pungent hops.  I am used to the smell of hops, but it is always shocking when you take in a deep breath expecting to smell grapes and get hops as well.  For those of you who have never smelled hops, it is a bitter smell that overwhelms and lingers.  

Cassadie and Jarod dressed as a witch and a vampire for Halloween this year.  Cassadie decided that this would be her last year to go Trick-or-Treating.  Jarod will never go alone, so we will have to either find someone for him to go with, or this was his last year also. 

We died Jarod's hair black...he loved it.  I also had to draw on some eyebrows since his are nonexistent.  Look at the way he's standing...he felt pretty cool.

Sometimes I think I get a little carried away with Cassadie's costumes and makeup.  It's the only time she actually likes to look like a girl.  Aren't the socks cute...Mom got those for her.

We had lots of fun.  They got too much candy, as usual.  Cassadie just found her bag from last year the other day, and it was still half full.  She doesn't really eat candy, but she hordes it, so she ends up with candy a year later in some bag at the back of her closet.  It happens every Halloween, Easter, and Valentine's Day.  The lesson here is this:  don't get my daughter candy.

A Dalmation Plantation.... or maybe a zoo

We have a lot of animals...3 cats, a dog, a turtle, and a parakeet.  I guess we like animals, although somedays I'm not so sure.

Cassadie has had quite a history with animals.  When she was six and a half we told her we would get her a kitten if she learned to ride a bike.  She likes to be good at things, and she does not like to have her failure be public, so taking off the training wheels was out of the question.  Anyway, she finally did it, and so we got her a cute orange tabby.  She named it Tiffany.  When we figured out that it was actually a boy we mentioned it to her as a hypothetical situation like "what if Tiffany was actually a boy?"  She was devastated at the mere mention of it and so we didn't tell her.  We got him fixed and called him Tiff behind her back.  Alex referred to it affectionately as a "shim".  It got ran over by a car about 2 years later.  About two years ago, we told her that Tiffany was really a boy.  Cassadie was so upset when Tiffany died that we got her another kitten which she named Abby.  Abby really is a girl.  She had kittens and then we got her fixed.  She is one of the fattest cats we have ever seen.  

As you can see, she has a very small head with a huge belly.  Sometimes she lays in a very unladylike position, sprawled on her back on the floor.  It is a funny sight and reminds me of the marshmallow snowmen we made when we were kids.  A fat, round body with toothpicks for arms and legs.  We started calling her Fat Abby which morphed into Flabby and it stuck.  

She has also had two hermit crabs (which have both died) and now she has a parakeet.  She named it Kianda.  We are not sure whether it is a boy or a girl.  She wanted a female, but the girl at the petstore told us it is too young and we won't be able to tell for a while.  So, we watch for a sign, and hopefully it will be a girl.  Otherwise, we'll have male parakeet named Kianda.

Jarod started with a guinea pig named Jeff, named after Ang and Beckie's friend in Jeff McLain(sp?) in Kansas.  Apparently he had quite an impact on Jarod.   Jeff (the guinea pig) was loud, smelly and dirty, so we gave him to a nice unsuspecting little girl and got Jarod a cat.  Jarod named him Jedi.  He is a solid black cat except for a small white spot on his chest and he is the sweetest cat you will ever meet.  He loves Jarod and follows him around the yard when Jarod goes outside. 

About a year and a half ago, we got Jarod a turtle.  She is a red eared slider and he named her Araynia.  She's not exactly a playful pet.  During the summer, he takes her outside and lets her walk around in the grass.  He talks to her when she's swimming in her aquarium or basking on her log and that's about it.  

Our third cat is Sammy, who was one of Abby's kittens.  He is an orange and white tabby.  He is one of the weirdest and sweetest cats.  He is very affectionate and will lay on your body...he doesn't care what part of your body.  

One day I was laying on Alex relaxing.  Sammy just jumped on my back and made himself comfortable.  He didn't move until I made him.  (Sorry about the red-eye, I know I look creepy, just don't look)

Our dog is Sabrina.  Alex and I have had her since our first year of marriage.  She is a rottweiler/shepherd mix and is about 12 years old now.  She has arthritis and incontinence problems.  Her arthritis means we have to allow her to come in the house during the winter, but her incontinence makes that impossible.  We have her on medication for her incontinence and it has gotten better.  Today I took her to the groomers so she can start coming inside.  We have had some down right chilly nights.  When I went outside to find her, I called and called for her, but she wasn't coming.  Dad helped me by whistling for her, but still no Sabrina.  I was starting to worry, and then I saw her head peak up from some weeds on the north side of the house.  She was so cold that she wouldn't even get up when we called her.  Anyway, she's at the groomers now, and she will be able to come in the house and sleep on a nice warm bed when she gets back.