More Winthrop photo's

OK, here are the rest of the photos from the other night that wouldn't load. I am home! It's nice to be back in my own house. Now its the countdown to the MeRa Koh Workshop this weekend! I cant wait!

Family picture of my sisters family. I really wanted to take their pup home.

Davis being silly.

The kids watching the fireworks at the winery.

Just after the turned all the Christmas lights on in the town. It was super crowded there! We were still in line for Santa.

Last night in Mazama

Well, today is our last day in Mazama. It has gone by pretty fast since we have been pretty busy every day. Today we let the kids play outside in the woods for awhile and then took them to the little corner coffee/grocery/clothing store. The kids got their hot cocoa and cookies and we just hung out for awhile. Then we came back and got ready to head into Winthrop for the lighting of the town. We stood in line (in the COLD!) for about 30 minutes to see Santa, the kids didn't seem to mind waiting and then we saw Santa for about 1 minute for a group photo. They were all really good and we had a great time. The town lit up all the buildings and it was very beautiful. Then we met my dad and headed over to the winery he works at. They were having a bonfire and wine, cider, appetizers and then the town put on a huge fireworks show. The kids thought that was even cooler! Fireworks in November! Tomorrow morning we will be packing up and headed for home. We had a great time on our mini vacation and I am leaving with a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside. All the kids had some great bonding time with my family. My brother Matt certainly made an impression on all the kids with all his great crafts he brought along. Steve and I leave feeling very happy and thankful for the wonderful life we have. Here are some pictures of the night, they are not all that great, no flash and it is dark out. Sorry, I just really hate using the flash.

ok sorry, all you get is this one lame santa photo. all my pictures are taking much to long to load for some reason. More pictures tomorrow.

More thanksgiving and the day after

We made it through dinner last night and it was fabulous. My aunt Joanie and Uncle Mike showed up as well, so there were lots of people!

This morning, my brother Matt had some crafty things he brought for the kids to do. He works at a museum in Chicago and creates programs for the kids, so he brought some of those ideas here. I think he has a few more up his sleeve too. The kids love it!

Everyone is out taking a little hike on some suspension bridge. I opted not to go since it is COLD and snowing lightly. We will be headed into Winthrop later for a lighted hot air balloon display. Should be cool, the kids will certainly dig it. I wish I could stop thinking about how cold it will be. Tomorrow we will head back into Winthrop again to see them light up the town. Should be beautiful, even in the snow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am blogging from my parents house right now. Hiding in a bedroom, taking a timeout, or whatever you want to call it. It is great fun, but we have 5 little kids, and 7 adults in a normal size house. Lots of loudness, but the kids are having a good time. Today was pretty cute. My step mom made the little ones, pilgrim and Indian costumes. Just whipped them up one day without a pattern. Pretty creative! Then she had my sister read the kids the Thanksgiving book and then they had a hunt outside for Thanksgiving items, just like the Pilgrims had to do. they looked for some potatoes, carrots, cranberries and a turkey. No worries the turkey was made of paper. Here are some pictures....we haven't had the turkey yet, still waiting for it to be done.

Davis and Dane the Indians

Story time

My dad, no that is not his hair, it is a hat.

My sister

My brother in law and brother

Just some more pics from this weekend...

Matt

Here are some pics of an old friend and his daughter. I have known Matt for at least 10 years, maybe even more. I had disappeared out of this small little town for a few years but when I came back I kept running into Matt and his daughter in some random places. The coffee shop, berry farm, soccer fields. I guess that's what happens when you have kids and you start doing the kid thing. Anyway, I eventually found out, through crazy facebook, that he was dating another friend of mine. I took pictures for her and he loved them so much, he recruited me to take some pics of him and his girl. Here they are...

p.s... the very top picture is my favorite. Everytime I see them together, he is tossing her in the air. He always catches her.

This made me laugh...

Dear Friends

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I can't enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose.

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor ofof a public bathroom.

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program .

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I' m pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because> someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for or which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a rapist waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Don't forget that your toothbrush needs to be kept in a separate room (or at least 6 feet away from the toilet) to protect you from getting germs from 'the flush'!!!

Have a wonderful day...

(Thanks to my mom who sent me this today)

My big boy...

Tonight we went to Dane's preschool night. We were all packed in there pretty tight, but I still managed to wiggle my way to the front to get some pictures of him singing. It was so damn cute! I just can't believe how fast my little guy is growing up. I remember very specifically holding him in my arms, his tiny baby feet cupped in my hand, thinking he wont be this little very long, I have to remember this moment. And now I look at my big three year old boy and am amazed. I just want to kiss those little cheeks every time I look at him. Dane makes me laugh out loud on a daily basis, with all his funny little sayings. And when I do laugh at him, he looks at me and says "Thas not funny moooom."

What a beautiful day! And more pictures!

Saturday, I planned on meeting a friend Mylissa to take some pictures of her and her 2 adorable kiddos. My initial plan was to meet down by the water at one of the local parks. What a mistake that was. Beautiful day + Saturday = hoards of people. Ugh! Not one place to park, and there was no way I would have gotten a picture without strangers in them. OK, change of plans. After frantically trying to recall Mylissa's cell number, she called me saying she was a little lost. "Good, don't even try to go to the park, crazy busy!" I thought we would head downtown since it is full of charm and lovely old buildings. Another mistake. Hoards of people everywhere. We finally made it to another park near by and there was hardly anyone there. Not my ideal choice and I was a little disappointed because I had a very clear image of how I wanted my pictures to turn out. Honestly I wasn't really sure how these pics would turn out. The kids, as adorable as they are, were not really into me. Plus I made poor Mylissa lug those kids all over the park in her heels. Sorry! But....I think we ended up with some good shots! Thank you Mylissa for being such a sport! I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you and taking pictures of your most adorable children!

Father Daughter Dance

I only have time to post a couple pictures, but Maia and Steve went to her Father Daughter Dance at her school on Friday night. She had been counting down the days and was sooooo excited. I snuck in and snapped a few pics. I was trying not to use my flash so the pics are a little grainy since I had to bump up my ISO speed while keeping the shutter speed as low as I could with no tripod.